Hellcat: To Hell And Back Part 10

"Ladies, gentlemen." Byron stood up from his seat, catching everyone's attention. "I think it's time for a short recess. Take a few minutes to digest and regroup. There are refreshments in the next room." He glanced at his watch and at Irene. "We'll reconvene in forty-five minutes."

There were no words of disagreement, though more than a few suspicious gazes were fixed on Julius and Benedict as the rest of them stood and began to file out to an adjoining room.

Gabi mouthed a word of thanks to Byron and saw his face cloud over with concern. She sent him a rea.s.suring ghost of a smile, and he nodded, leaving the room with the others.

In a few moments only Julius's retinue, Athena, Kyle, Mac and Benedict remained. Gabi stood, hoping her legs would hold her; she felt off kilter, as though the world had shifted underneath her and she hadn't moved with it.

"You and you," she said, pointing at Julius and Benedict. "We need to talk somewhere private."

Julius was close to her, but she was still avoiding his gaze, and she had blocked their mental connection while she tried to make sense of this new reality. She pushed away from the table and strode for the door, anger flooding in to replace the confusion and shock. Alexander, Kyle and Athena all made to follow the trio as well, but she turned back and glared at them. Something in her gaze made all three falter and stop. She didn't bother with words; she didn't know what would come out when she opened her mouth. Better to limit the extent of the blast when it happened.

She marched down the wood-panelled corridor, the two men making barely any noise in her wake, until she found a small, deserted sitting room. A gas fire warmed the room, and book-filled shelves lined two walls.

"Seal it," she commanded Benedict.

His eyes narrowed at her tone, all hint of amus.e.m.e.nt gone, but she felt the familiar pressure against her ears as he did as she told him.

"Did you know?" Her words were flat as she finally rounded on Julius, her eyes searching his. The gold in them was all but gone, the sapphire bleeding to black. They made for a sinister look, and Gabi resisted swallowing as some part of her psyche reminded her that she was in the presence of two beings who could kill her as easily as look at her.

"Don't fear me, Lea," he said, his voice a husky whisper. He was fighting hard to control whatever emotions were running through him at that moment.

Benedict moved away from them towards the fire, giving them what privacy he could in the small room. Julius reached out a hand towards her, leaving it to her to make contact. She didn't move.

"I didn't...know," he finally said, his words hesitant. "I swear I'm as stunned as you are. Probably more so. I..." He trailed off and raised his eyes to the ceiling. "It seems so obvious now, but I never connected the dots. I just explained it all away with the Vampirism. I've just always been different."

Gabi could understand the sentiment. She hadn't connected the dots either despite him telling her about his occasional flashes of clairvoyance; he'd seen a vision of her bleeding to death at Dante's hand. Then he'd saved her life when the car bomb exploded in the underground garage, collapsing the mansion and sending both of them plummeting several floors downward; he'd used his telekinesis to limit her impact with the concrete floor. Then there was their inexplicable mental link. Lord and Lady, how could she not have known? How could he not have known?

"Touch me, Lea. Open your mind," he whispered. "You'll see the truth. I wasn't trying to mislead you, I swear it."

In her anger and confusion she didn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Didn't want to be reasonable.

"I didn't come here to cause strife between the two of you." Benedict's voice broke in as he moved closer to them again. "Julius, my apologies, I know I have a propensity for making mischief when I can, but I didn't come here with that in mind. I truly a.s.sumed you knew of your heritage. It's so clear to me; I've known since the first time I saw you. I a.s.sumed your Consort would know too, though suspected you'd have kept it secret from the others." He turned to Gabi, his face almost as serious as it had been at the Princeps' vote. "Gabrielle, I ask you to do as Julius suggests. We need to move forward here. The threat against the City is genuine and imminent. If you need to set your mind at ease over this, and you have a way to do it, please proceed."

"I a.s.sume you don't often beg," Gabi said dryly, Benedict's words stealing the anger and annoyance from her. She knew her anger wasn't justified; it was just a quick, easy coping mechanism. Benedict's self-deprecating smile answered her question. She took a deep breath.

"Actually, it doesn't matter. Even if you did know, there was no obligation for you to tell me," she said to Julius.

His eyebrows drew together in a frown. "It matters to me, Gabrielle," he said, reaching over and taking her hand. "I wouldn't keep something like that from you, and I don't want you to believe that I would." He pulled her fingers to his lips, kissing the ring he'd given her, and opened the gates to his mental defences. It was the first time he'd ever truly let her inside his mind, and he didn't only open the gates, he yanked her inside.

It could've been seconds or hours later that Gabi became aware of the feel of Julius's shirt against her forehead. She was breathing heavily, and he was holding her, supporting her as she withdrew from his mind, pulling away from his whirling emotions, his confusion, self-recrimination and sense of amazement at what this revelation meant. To him, it meant he had more power to protect her and his Clan.

"That wasn't very subtle, Julius," Benedict admonished. "You could do with some training."

"Until ten minutes ago I didn't know I had anything that could be trained," Julius replied. "Besides, I seem to remember you sending her to her knees the first time she met you."

Benedict chuckled, unrepentant. "I was just showing off," he countered. "And testing her." He threw himself into one of the wing-back chairs, sprawling gracefully across it, apparently satisfied that the tension between Gabi and Julius was over. "She's very sensitive to all supernatural power. It's an unusual talent, and not one I've ever seen attributed to Dhampirs."

"What are you thinking? Is there something else we should know?" Julius asked him.

Gabi pulled away from him, looking sharply between the two men.

"I'm just musing, Julius," Benedict said. "If there's one thing I've learnt in my years on earth, it's that things aren't always as cut and dried as we think. Rules we a.s.sume to be written in stone are more like general guidelines, and there's almost always an exception."

"Like you," Julius said, "and me, apparently." He kept Gabi's hand in his as he moved to a double-seater couch and pulled Gabi down next to him. "You've always said you managed to survive the Turning because you were so young, young enough that your powers hadn't fully manifested yet." He c.o.c.ked his head at the other Vampire. "I was a lot older than you when Simone Turned me. How come I survived? And the biggest puzzle in all of this is how I became a Magus after I was Turned. I wasn't born a Magus, Benedict, my parents weren't Magi. I didn't go through any kind of rite to accept Magi powers. Are you absolutely sure?"

"I just told you there are exceptions to every rule," Benedict pointed out. "I know of cases where Magi are born to couples where just one of them is Magus, so perhaps only one of your parents were, or perhaps you were a foundling. Is that not also a possibility? If you didn't know of your heritage and didn't make a formal choice of whether or not to accept your powers, they would lay dormant until you made up your mind. Did you never have anything unusual happen to you as a human? Get a sense of impending doom before a disaster happened, know what others were thinking, turn people to your way of thinking even if they didn't like you?"

Julius was quiet, giving the questions some serious thought. Gabi knew without a doubt that Julius was a Vampire Magus, the how of it wasn't important, but something else was bugging her.

"Benedict, why did you bring this up in front of everyone?" she asked him. "You could've just ruined the tentative alliance Julius has worked to establish. You already said that you figured Julius hadn't told everyone else. Were you just stirring trouble, or did you have a reason?"

"While stirring mischief is its own reward, I did need to deflect some of the attention off of myself, and Julius's little secret seemed a good way to do it at the time." Benedict pulled a sour face. "If I'd known you hadn't accepted the truth yourself yet, I'd have tried something else. But we do need the Council to stop focussing on me and start worrying about the Dark Ones." His lip curled again as he referred to the Elders. He had a serious grudge against them, which Gabi was going to hear about, but not right now. Those details could wait a few hours. "We've thrown their attention off me. They already know and trust Julius; they'll get over the revelation soon enough. Now we can redirect their minds back to the matter at hand. Trust me." He smiled sarcastically. "I have some experience manipulating a group of high-ranking, self-important bureaucrats."

This time Julius snorted.

"So what's your plan of action?" Gabi asked, willing to give him the reins when it came to things she couldn't beat up or kill. "What are we going to tell the rest of the conference hall when we go back? How much are we going to tell them? And how do we get them back on track?"

"I think we need to get some of the others here. It'll be good to have some extra opinions," Julius said.

Gabi suddenly felt a twinge of guilt at how she'd sent them away in a fit of childish temper.

Julius snorted a small chuckle. "Consorts are expected to have moments of pique," he a.s.sured her. "The Clan won't hold it against you. Athena and Kyle may be a different story, though."

She sighed. "I'll go and get them."

Julius held her in place with one hand. "I'll call them."

She felt the brush of his power against her skin as he sent out the call, and the slight pop as Benedict disengaged his spell of protection around the room. Gabi wondered if either of them realised how naturally they'd just fallen into working in unison. Less than two minutes later several pairs of footsteps approached the sitting room.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Gabi mused on the drive back to the Estate.

Benedict's ploy had done the trick. When the meeting resumed, the focus had shifted away from Benedict's presence and back to the problem of the Dark Elders. Athena had more than a little to do with the smooth acceptance of Vampire Magi in their midst. Gabi had to give her credit for that. She'd done some fast talking during the recess and convinced the rest of the Magi Council that both Benedict and Julius could be trusted as allies. Gabi was going to be keeping her eye on Benedict, though. While she trusted him to be helpful against the Elders, her gut told her that there were ulterior motives at play here, and that Benedict shouldn't be blindly trusted in all things. She could sense similar feelings coming from Julius. He was still reeling in shock from Benedict's revelation, though his outward demeanour was calm and in control. His mind was whirling with possibilities, and he didn't for a second believe that Benedict had revealed the knowledge of his heritage purely to get the Magi Council to move on with their discussion.

"Yes," Julius agreed, glancing over at her, "they were surprisingly well behaved."

"You aren't happy about the suggestion that you undergo training, though," she noted, keeping her tone mild.

Julius was quiet for a long time, watching the road unseeingly. Gabi didn't fill the silence, knowing he needed time to think.

"Old dogs don't like being forced to learn new tricks," he finally said with a wry twist to his lips. He looked at her, his gaze serious. "It's a lot to take in. I guess I just need time to process it all, wrap my mind around it. Their suggestion is valid, when looking at it from an outsider's point of view."

Gabi had to concede that one, especially after the way Benedict had sold the others on the idea that having two Vampire Magi on their side was a major point in their favour. The Magi Councillors had been quick to counter that Julius was entirely untrained in their ways.

"Valid maybe, but not practical." Gabi snorted. "How much can they realistically expect you to learn before the Dark Ones make their move?"

"I suppose anything is better than nothing." Julius took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I've been muddling along on my own for so long that it's all I know. Who knows what other talents may be lying dormant?"

"I still think Benedict is the better person to train you. He's at least a bit more open-minded."

Julius smiled at her slightly disgusted tone, but didn't comment.

"Do you think Benedict is right?" Gabi asked. "Will we have time to prepare? So much has happened in the past few days that I find it hard to believe they won't just throw everything at us as soon as possible, while we're still on the back foot."

Julius glanced into the rear-view mirror. Benedict was following behind them in a Bentley. He'd brought two guards with him, and one of them was driving. Gabi had no idea where the Bentley had come from, perhaps the Princeps kept a spare car in every major city.

"I think Benedict is a very gifted Clairvoyant. I think he's also Clairaudient. I've suspected it for a while. He alludes to having a spy at Court and knows exact details of conversations, word for word in some cases. But I don't think his spy is a person. I think he can use his power to listen in on anyone's conversation, within the radius of the Castle at least, if not further. And possibly 'hear' and comprehend more than one conversation at a time." Julius was still watching Benedict's car with a brooding expression.

Gabi wondered if Benedict was listening to them right now. It was something she needed to keep in mind. The thought of Benedict 'listening' in to anything he chose made Gabi even more relieved that she'd talked Julius into going back to her house tonight.

Alexander had acted a little strange when she made the suggestion earlier, insisting it was safer at the Estate; he'd been unusually adamant. She put it down to his recent near-death experience and hoped he snapped out of it soon. He seemed fine physically, but something had changed in his att.i.tude and bearing. Thankfully Julius sided with her. He understood there were times when she just needed to be in her own s.p.a.ce.

They hadn't actually discussed living arrangements. Julius had never suggested she move in with him at the Estate, but she knew it wasn't reluctance on his part. He just knew her well enough not to ask, and that meant more to her than he realised. It may be tricky juggling time between the two residences, especially with the pets, but they would manage. As soon as they'd settled Benedict into one of the vacant accommodation units at the Estate, they were going to her place.

Mac was also offered a cottage at the Estate; Gabi felt he was too exposed at a normal human motel. Now that he knew as much as he did, he could be used as leverage or tortured for information; that made him an a.s.set they couldn't just leave out in the open. He was patently unhappy about being put up at the Estate, and Gabi couldn't really blame him, any human would feel uncomfortable amid so many supernaturals. Kyle smoothly stepped in and offered the spare room at his place. He and Trish had recently bought a small house in a quiet suburb not far from Gabi's. Mac accepted his offer without prolonged consideration and was on his way to collect his things and check out of the motel. Gabi liked the idea of having at least two Werewolves to protect Mac, and two battle-hardened men to protect Trish.

It wasn't quite midnight when she shoved some frozen pancakes into the microwave to defrost. She'd grabbed some Chinese takeout on her way to the meeting, but her stomach insisted she was in arrears with meals, and was demanding immediate debt recovery. Hazelnut coffee was steaming on the counter next to her; Julius had surprised her with an espresso maker a few weeks ago, one with all the bells and whistles. When it arrived, it was accompanied by about a year's supply of coffee capsules with so many different flavours that each morning was like a little adventure in taste. It was sheer heaven having downright awesome coffee without having to leave the house.

Slinky was wrapped around her neck, nuzzling her ear contently. Razor was grooming himself on the counter, having just finished three tins of gourmet cat food, and Rocky was tormenting Julius in the sitting room. Well, Julius was pretending to be tormented by the energetic little rodent. He was holding a large gla.s.s of red wine in one hand and fending Rocky off with the other. It was a game they often played and one that Gabi thought Julius secretly enjoyed. The little squirrel's goal was to get on his head and burrow into his hair, by any means necessary, and he pretended to be determined to keep her from achieving her goal. Every now and then he'd 'let' her slip by his defences, and she'd chirp elatedly at her perceived victory. Gabi didn't for a moment believe his martyred expression when Rocky turned his artfully tousled hairstyle into a mussy squirrel nest.

She gave Razor a pa.s.sing smooch as she grabbed the syrup and whipped cream. He was so much more relaxed now that she let him come with her for some outings; she hadn't come home to a wrecked house for weeks. And Rocky, as annoying as she could be with her unending supply of energy, was company for Slinky when Razor came with her. She felt a little guilty about Roman, who was still relegated to outside. Though he had a doghouse the size of a one-bedroom apartment, every toy known to canine-kind, and loads of room to run and play, he was probably lonely during the day. She wasn't always home to go for a run with him, and probably didn't spend enough time just playing with him. Maybe it was time to visit the local puppy shelter, she mused. Her musings came to an abrupt end as Julius stalked silently up behind her; she'd been in the act of squirting whipped cream onto her syrup-laden pancakes. He pressed up against her back and reached over to pluck the can from her fingers.

"Hmm, whipped cream," he murmured, a seductive purr in his voice.

She tipped her head back, letting it fall onto his chest, exposing her throat, the pancakes forgotten as another hunger speared through her.

The whipped cream didn't actually make it back to the bedroom, but nor did her clothes, or his, so it didn't matter. He almost got away with it, almost made her forget that he'd tortured her with pleasure until she begged for mercy a few nights ago. She'd sworn she'd return the favour, and now was her chance. She never fought a battle unprepared, so her weapons were already in place. Two silk scarves hung from one of her bedposts. She allowed his talented mouth and hands to bring her to her first o.r.g.a.s.m, lulling her willing victim into the baited trap. He lay over her, eyes dark gold with pa.s.sion, drinking in the sight of her pleasure, ill prepared for her a.s.sault. In a quick, fluid move she had him on his back, and before he could antic.i.p.ate her next move, his right arm was bound to the ornate, wrought-iron latticework of her headboard.

"Lea," he growled warningly, surging upward to run his tongue across one nipple as she leaned over him to grab his other wrist. She deftly avoided his marauding tongue and bound his other wrist above his head. His smile was a touch sardonic as he moved his head to look at the wrist with a raised eyebrow. She smiled, straddling his chest. No, he wasn't truly at her mercy, he could break the bindings with the smallest tug, but she had a game plan.

"Now," she said, leaning down to nip his shoulder, "the rules for tonight." She nipped her way over his collarbone, loving the way his body tensed and his breathing hitched.

"Rules?" he hissed. He was being deceptively good; she knew what he was planning, despite them both currently shielding their emotions.

"If you break my bed," she said, trailing her hot tongue over the cool skin of his chest, "or the bindings before I give you permission," she circled one flat, taut nipple with her tongue, then grazed the tip with her teeth, making him groan, "then you get dressed and go home immediately." She was learning how to put a purr in her voice and was quite pleased with her progress. "Do you understand the rules?" she asked, practising the purr again. She wriggled her body further down his, making sure to avoid letting him cheat by thrusting into her before she was good and ready.

"You're going to kill me," he ground out from between clenched teeth. She continued working her way down his body with her mouth and teeth.

"No, I'm going to make you beg," she corrected, with a deliciously evil grin.

CHAPTER 14.

Gabi busied herself in her kitchen, making coffee with her new espresso maker. She was grateful that it used coffee capsules. She didn't think she had the touch required to be a true barista, and now she didn't even have to grind coffee beans. She slotted a Sumatra dark roast capsule into the machine and pressed a b.u.t.ton. In a few seconds a dark stream of fragrant coffee bubbled into the waiting mug. The scent was delectable. She turned to put the mug next to the plate of bacon, eggs and sausages in front of Mac at her kitchen counter.

Rose was chatting cheerfully to Slinky and Rocky in the bathroom as she cleaned, Julius was in his daysleep sprawled out on her bed, and Razor was eyeing Mac's plate of breakfast with interest from the other side of the counter. Gabi's lip twitched in amus.e.m.e.nt as she slotted another mug under the spout of the coffee machine. She selected an Ethiopian blend capsule, and once the satisfying gurgle of hot coffee hitting the bottom of the mug stopped, she set a milk pod into place and watched as the creamy froth mixed with the rich dark coffee. Adding a squirt of caramel flavour, she gave a gentle stir and went to join Mac at the counter with her own plate of breakfast.

It had been a surprise to wake to a call from Mac, but she'd been quick to give him directions to her house. His trip had given her just enough time to grab a shower and catch up on her email and some other office correspondence. She could've done with a few more hours' sleep, but she didn't feel the effects of a four-hour night as much anymore. Another score for Vamp-blood therapy.

"Don't forget to remind me when the hour is up," she told him again, glancing at the clock on the microwave. She'd negated the powerful ward that protected the house so that Mac could come inside unharmed, but the downtime only lasted about an hour, and then the ward kicked back in automatically unless she deactivated it again. A few people were keyed into the spell and could enter unhindered; it was a short list that included Kyle, Rose, Byron and Julius. She didn't want to subject Mac to the magical kick it rendered to anyone not on the approved list; she had it on the best authority that it was an entirely unpleasant experience. Mac grunted acknowledgement around a mouthful of food; then he lifted the mug to his lips, and Gabi watched his eyebrows rise in surprised appreciation.

"Not bad," he conceded, studying the contents for a moment before taking another sip.

"I told you it was good s.h.i.t." Gabi grinned, forking a piece of sausage onto the counter for Razor, who purred as he seemed to inhale it rather than eat it. His purr deepened as he looked expectantly back at her plate. They all ate in companionable silence for a few minutes, watching the flick of images from a news channel on the small TV screen embedded in the fridge door. Gabi's little intuitive voice was telling her to be patient. Mac had something to tell her; he just needed time to work up to it. He emptied his plate almost as quickly as Gabi did, and as soon as he'd taken his last mouthful, he rose and took both their plates to the sink.

"Leave them there. The dishwasher will do that," Gabi told him as he began to run water into the sink.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "And what are the chances of another cup of that G.o.d-awful coffee?"

"Ha," Gabi snorted indignantly. "Insult my coffee machine and she'll burn the next cup." But she snagged his mug and selected another capsule from the box. With two cups refilled, they moved to the sunny sitting room. Mac sank into one of her vintage-look wingback chairs while Gabi took the sofa, curling her legs up under her. Mac's gaze went distant, and he wrapped his hands around his mug, as though needing the extra warmth despite the morning sun.

"My first encounter with the supernatural," he began, his voice a little rougher than usual, "was a little less rounded than your father's, unfortunately." He sipped the hot black coffee and sighed. "I was walking home one evening and heard a commotion in a vacant lot a few blocks from my apartment. I couldn't just mind my own business, of course, and went to see what was going on. Three men had a middle-aged woman cornered, laughing and jeering. One held a knife, another a baseball bat. I hesitated; I was only nineteen and a bit on the scrawny side."

Gabi raised an eyebrow in surprise at that, but held her tongue.

"I backtracked quickly, looking for something I could use as a weapon. It probably saved my life, but not in the way I expected. As I returned, I heard a cry and grunt of pain and thought I was too late. To this day I can't tell you what made me pause before rushing in. I could say I wanted to a.s.sess the situation before I did something stupid, but it wasn't that. I stopped at the boundary wall and looked cautiously back into the lot. What was unfolding froze me. One of the men lay dead, his neck obviously broken. The one with the baseball bat was on his knees; he was the one crying and moaning. The third one..." He paused, sipping his coffee. "Well, the middle-aged woman was holding him by the throat; his feet were several inches off the ground, even though she was half a head shorter than him. He was just dangling there. I'll never forget the look in his eyes. There was just enough light from the streetlights for me to see his expression. She lowered him to the ground, gripped him by the hair, tugged his head to one side, and then bit into his neck."

A slight clatter sounded from the kitchen, making Mac pause.

"It's Rose," Gabi rea.s.sured him. "Nothing she overhears here would ever be repeated, but usually she's too busy chatting to the pets to hear anything anyway." As though to confirm her words, Rose began telling Rocky off for trying to scratch open her treat jar.

Mac nodded, using the break to finish his coffee.

Gabi glanced at her watch, holding up a finger when Mac looked ready to continue. "Give me a second; the hour is nearly up." She quickly touched her small turquoise pinkie ring and muttered the short incantation. A slight shiver in the air told her the ward had been reset correctly. "Okay, all good," she told Mac. "Sorry for the interruption."

"Is it really that bad?" Mac asked her, intrigued.

She shrugged. "I'm the wrong person to ask, but I hear it's not much fun."

Mac's lips twitched in an almost smile; then he heaved a sigh. "Where was I? Ah, yes. So this crazy-strong, middle-aged woman sinks her teeth into this lowlife's neck and looks to be drinking his blood. I just stood there staring, telling myself I was dreaming or in the middle of a movie set and just hadn't seen the cameras. Finally she pulled back and let the guy go. He dropped like he was unconscious or dead, and she delicately wiped the corners of her mouth. The kneeling guy was just sobbing by that stage. I a.s.sume she'd disabled him in some way or he'd have been trying to get out of there. I must've made some small sound or perhaps my scent finally reached her, because she suddenly looked up and directly at me. My mind told me to run, get the h.e.l.l out of there, but my body wouldn't move. Sometimes I wonder how things would've turned out if I'd run that night," he mused, but then shook his head and carried on. "The thing that saved me was the piece of wood I'd found to use as a weapon against the thugs. I'd ripped it off a broken pallet next to a dumpster. It had a sharpened tip where the wood had splintered when I tore it off. Do you get days when you think fate is just toying with you?"

Gabi c.o.c.ked her head. She couldn't disagree with that; fate certainly seemed to enjoy throwing curve b.a.l.l.s in her direction.

"The Vampire didn't see my excuse for a weapon until it was too late. She lunged at me so fast it was all I could do to get the piece of wood between us. She staked herself. And then she glared at me accusingly, but before she could say a word, her face began to decay, her hands that had been clawing for my face withered, and her body shrank in on itself."

Gabi had witnessed the death of a Vampire more often than she cared to remember, but she didn't stop him. He needed to tell the story in his own way.

"She shrieked and wailed as she died. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like hours. And then she was just a pile of ash and clothing on the ground. I picked up the clothing and the piece of wood, and I threw them in a dumpster on the way home. I reported a disturbance to the police, had a shower, and went to bed. I have no idea what became of the three men or what the police found. There was never any mention of it in any newspaper; I checked."

"How did you cope with the shock?" Gabi asked, sure there was more to the story.

A wry grin. "I ignored the incident for weeks, pretended it hadn't happened. Then I went out and got thoroughly drunk one night, and it hit me. I was a quivering wreck for about three days. When I came out the other side, I'd made a decision. I would kill every last one of them or die trying."

"And you did," Gabi said, seeing it in his eyes.