Hellcat: To Hell And Back Part 7

"We figured you could do with one of these," Mac rumbled, holding out one of the coffees.

She accepted it gratefully, drawing the hot steam into her lungs before taking a long sip. In the ensuing silence, Harry finished up on the gash and began cutting away the ruined leather of her jacket to get a better look at the burn on her shoulder.

"Just clean it, Harry," she told him. "No need to dress it." She'd be taking some blood from Julius later, and the burn would be mostly healed by midday. Julius had insisted that she have the wounds cleaned, though, saying it was better not to have any of the demons' bodily fluids trapped in her body. It made sense, but it wasn't pleasant. The sutures on the deep gash would also mean the gouge healed with less scarring, though she'd be able to take the st.i.tches out before dinner. She concentrated on the sweet caramel coffee while Harry worked, and Razor continued to send waves of relief and happiness as well as concern her way.

Julius and Mac held their silence until Harry finally packed up his supplies and went looking for more patients.

"You can wipe my memory if you feel you need to," Mac said carefully, looking at the ground as he clutched his own coffee cup. "But you'd have to go a bit further back than tonight." He glanced from the ground to Julius, for once looking the Master in the eye. "I've suspected for a while that Angeli Morte was more than simply human. Her father was good, but she's in a completely different league. I know most people attribute it to taking Vamp blood, and now that the two of you are together that story sounds more plausible." His words faded away as he schooled his thoughts before continuing. "But there's a little voice in the back of my head, and it's rarely wrong. That little voice tells me you're something else altogether." He looked at Gabi, his eyes narrowed in thought. "I won't be telling anyone of my suspicions, I can promise you that, but I understand if you feel you need to protect yourself."

Gabi pursed her lips, leaning against Julius, liking the feel of his solid body against hers. "I'm too tired to think it through right now. You don't know enough to be a danger to me, only to yourself," Gabi told him. "There are others who want to know exactly what I am and how I came to be; if they suspect you know something, you may become a target. So right now, it's your choice."

Mac looked away, to the destroyed garden. "I think my inner voice will just bring me back to the same conclusion over time, so it seems like a waste of resources," he said finally. "I've been a target for much of my life; your story won't change that."

"We'll see," Gabi muttered sourly. "But for now we'll respect your wishes." She was about to say more on the issue when Kyle came striding towards them, Athena following in his wake, a little slower and more careful of what she was stepping in as she walked.

"You okay?" Kyle checked Gabi over as he reached them.

She nodded. "You?" she asked; the last two times they'd fought demons together he'd been badly hurt.

"Nothing serious." He nodded. He had a few burn marks on his face and arms, and a bandage wrapped around one hand, but otherwise looked fine.

"Athena has something she needs to tell us," he said, his voice suddenly dark and foreboding.

CHAPTER 10.

"That f.u.c.king goodie-goodie Magus, the Dhampir who won't f.u.c.king die, and their f.u.c.king annoying Vampire sidekicks," the woman cursed as she paced the hotel suite. With an irritated sweep of her hand, a large vase filled with flowers flew across the room to smash into the wall, the crystal shattering and water and petals raining down into the plush, cream carpet. "I've had enough of those interfering b.i.t.c.hes," she ground out between clenched teeth, whirling to glare at the two men who stood pa.s.sively on the far side of the suite, watching her with detached curiosity. "All that preparation, all those resources, wasted. It'll be days before we'll be able to try that again."

"You want to try,"

"To kill them?" the ginger-haired men asked her, one beginning the sentence and the other seamlessly finishing it. They were studying the angry dark-haired woman with clinical interest. The woman continued her angry pacing as she thought.

"No," she finally snapped, "that would require more resources than we have. The Castus is too adept at spell breaking, and the Dhampir is too well protected. We need to be conserving our strength for the next summoning."

"Then what do you,"

"Suggest we do?" the two men with identical faces asked.

"Distract them." The woman had stopped pacing, a cold smile replacing her angry expression. "Give them all something else to worry about while we go about our business."

"A Wraith? You're sure?" Gabi demanded.

Athena drew in a breath and nodded. As the dim light of dawn brightened the church garden, Gabi could see that the Magus was drawn and pale, looking as exhausted as she felt.

"Myself and a trio of Banishers only just had the strength to send it back," the blonde Magus explained. "I knew what it was the moment I saw it, not only from your descriptions but from the sheer force of the malevolence emanating from it."

"f.u.c.k," Gabi swore. She turned her head to look at Julius. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Julius looked pensive, but it was Kyle who spoke the name.

"Mariska. The Maleficus is back, and stronger than before." He put all their fears into words.

Mac hadn't left when the other two arrived, and he was taking everything in with a calm interest. She was about to ask him if he wanted to hear any more details or if he'd prefer to remain ignorant when Athena cleared her throat.

"The High Council has invested in some research into the Wraith, as you call it, after the last time you encountered it, when our Banishers sent it back." Her voice held a note of deep concern.

"What did they find out?" Julius asked, and Gabi already knew she didn't want to hear the answer.

"As far as they can tell, it's a demon called a Larvalis Ariolus. It's also known as a Seeker," Athena said. "There are reports going back centuries of them being summoned by Dark Magi because they're powerful diviners. The ancient texts say that if kept under control with the right blood magic, these demons can be bent to the will of a Magus, and they can be used to find things."

"What things?" Gabi asked, dread filling her stomach.

"Anything," Athena replied in a flat voice. "Absolutely anything. It's said that nothing can be hidden from them."

The group fell into an apprehensive silence.

"I think," Julius finally spoke, "that this needs to be discussed with the Magi High Council. There's something bigger going on here, and it's about time they filled us all in before things in the City get any worse than last night."

Athena swallowed, crossing her arms over her chest as though to ward off the morning chill. "Yes, I think a meeting is in order. I'll arrange it and make it as soon as possible," she agreed.

"In the meantime, let's get moving. Soon we'll have early morning joggers, and then news vans and spectators to contend with," Gabi suggested, not envying Byron and the clean-up crews the task of smoothing this over with the human population. "We could all do with some food and some rest."

Kyle nodded agreement. "I'll take Mac back to his truck," he said. "Athena, are you all right to drive? You look ready to collapse."

"I'm fine," Athena said briskly. "I'll contact you all as soon as I have news from the Council." She gave them a nod and turned to walk back to the cars, her steps quick but a little unsteady.

"Mac, do you mind if we push back the viewing of the body to this afternoon?" Gabi asked the older man.

"I'll take a rain check. Don't worry; I won't be rushing off back home just yet," he rumbled. "This looks like it's just about to start getting exciting."

Gabi frowned. "I really hope you'll refrain from doing any more investigations this morning," she told him. "I have a feeling all of this is tied together somehow, and I'm not sure it's safe to go nosing around without some backup right now."

"I'm pretty good at looking after myself," he a.s.sured her dryly.

"Humour me," she said. "I have plans for you, and they don't include an early burial."

He gave a wry chuckle. "All right, all right," he conceded with a wave of his empty coffee cup. "I was only planning on catching up on some sleep this morning anyhow. How about you call me when you're ready. You got my number?"

"Good, yes, your number's on my phone," Gabi said.

He saluted her one more time, gave Julius a respectful nod, and turned to follow Kyle back to the van.

"I'm serious," Gabi shouted after him. "Keep your nose out of it." But she was pretty sure he'd ignore her if something interesting came up.

"Let's go," Julius told her, putting a hand under her elbow to pull her up and into his chest. She drew in a deep breath, savouring his scent, detectable even through the stench lingering in the air and clinging to their hair and clothes. The first true rays of sunshine streaked over the nearby building and threw long, distorted shadows over the smoking ruin that had not long ago been a pristine public garden.

"Yes," Gabi agreed wholeheartedly and tugged Julius away from the questing fingers of light and towards the safety of the Aston Martin, Razor at their heels.

Gabi couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. On the trip back to the Estate with Julius, the warning bell rang in the back of her mind continuously. If Julius noticed her distraction and concern, he must have been putting it down to the shock of the demon raid or he himself was contemplating the sheer size of the raid, because he held his silence.

As soon as they had made it into the car, he'd slashed a fang across his left thumb and offered it to Gabi. She'd taken the blood without comment, knowing she needed it; the pain and exhaustion were intense enough to cloud her thinking. And she needed to be thinking clearly. It had taken a supreme effort on her part to pull back from the taste of his blood. It was still like a drug to her; even after months of taking blood from him, she still craved it like air and water whenever the scent touched her nose. He'd smiled a sad smile; he knew her inner conflict and sympathised. She would've offered him her neck, but she knew he wouldn't take from her when she was injured. He would wait until they got back to the Estate and take a donation from one of the resident Feeders. She hoped there were enough to go around. All of the Vampires had taken a beating tonight; all would need a feeding to help with the healing process.

The feeling of wrongness intensified when the Aston Martin pulled into the underground garage beneath the manor house, and that surprised Gabi. She'd been a.s.sociating the warning with the demons and Mariska; there was no way either of those could be here at the Estate. Could they? Her increase in alarm registered with Julius, who looked sharply at her as he slid the car into the parking bay and cut the engine.

"What's wrong, Lea?" he whispered, already scanning around him, his power becoming a storm of tingling sensation around them. Razor sat up from his sleeping position at the back of the car, his eyes alert, a low growl in his throat.

"I..." She stopped, shaking her head. "I don't know. I've never felt such a strong instinct that something was wrong, but I don't know what." Her distress was made worse by the memory of the car bomb that had flattened the original mansion around them just a few weeks ago. It was only thanks to Julius's incredible powers of telekinesis that either of them was alive.

She slowly opened the car door, climbing out and scanning the area with her own extra sense. Nothing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few Vampire presences registered weakly in the rooms above them, the household staff in their daysleep. The rest of the Vampires were in their cottages or the bunkhouse. Werewolves were moving briskly about, doing whatever they usually did in the daylight hours. She bit her lip, looking at Julius.

He shook his head. He wasn't picking up anything unusual either. She knew his sense of smell was better than hers, but she began walking through the other parked cars, making sure nothing smelled wrong.

As she approached her own car, looking over the sleek lines, it struck her.

"The Ferrari," she gasped, spinning back to Julius. "Where is Alex's Ferrari?"

Julius looked around quickly, confirming her a.s.sessment. All the other vehicles that should be here were, but the red sports car wasn't in the garage.

"Do you think he might have left it above ground?" She knew the answer before she asked the question, but she couldn't help hoping.

"No," Julius's reply was curt, "it was too close to dawn. Alexander can't take the sun yet; he wouldn't have risked it." She felt the sudden whip of Julius's power beat against her as he thrust it out, searching. "I told him to come straight back here, but he's not here. Where the h.e.l.l is he?" There was anger in his tone, but Gabi sensed the fear underlying the annoyance.

"Maybe he's with Kyle," Gabi suggested, but the dread inside her belied her hopes. She pulled out her phone and hurried for the steps next to the elevator. She needed a signal to make a call, and the garage was a dead zone. Julius ghosted after her up the stairs. As she reached the landing, the phone was already dialling Kyle's number.

"Where else could he be?" Gabi demanded, pacing the length of Julius's office.

Kyle hadn't seen Alexander after he'd left the cathedral car park, but suggested calling Athena. Athena hadn't picked up immediately, but had phoned back within moments of Gabi leaving her a message. She hadn't seen him either and sounded instantly worried. She had just cause to be worried; Vampires didn't just disappear that close to sunrise without a very good cause, or without some kind of foul play. And even more worrying was that Julius couldn't sense his whereabouts. A Master Vampire could generally find any of his Clan members as long as they were within range, and Julius's range was huge. If Julius couldn't feel him, it was likely he was no longer in the City. The only bright spot to the morning was that Julius would've felt if Alexander had died the true death. No matter how far away, Julius was adamant, all Masters felt the death of any Clan member.

"Something has happened," Julius said. "Perhaps it's something as mundane as that the car broke down and he had to take cover underground. If he was several floors underground and in his daysleep, it's possible I wouldn't be able to sense him."

Gabi knew he was grasping at straws, but she needed a few straws to grasp at herself. The alarm in her head was still ringing loud enough to give her a headache. She was grateful she'd taken the blood from Julius when he'd offered. The pain of her injuries had lessened to a dull throb, and the fatigue had faded. Julius didn't look so good, though.

"I'm going to call Byron and alert him that Alex is MIA. He can keep his ear to the ground in case you're right," she told Julius, then took his hand and dragged him towards the door of his office. "While I do that, you're going to find a Feeder."

He opened his mouth, obviously about to protest.

"You get a bye today, anyone you like, no restrictions," she told him with an attempt at a smile. "Hurry up before I change my mind." And with that she shoved him out of the room and closed the door behind her. She waited until she felt him capitulate and head down the corridor towards the guest wing, and then she pulled out her phone.

Gabi couldn't rest. She couldn't even sit still long enough to eat; she'd consumed the burger and fries one of Julius's staff had brought in as she paced the length of the office. That she could eat despite the circ.u.mstances spoke volumes about the level of her body's need for sustenance.

Her own concern for Alexander was exceeded only by Julius's. In sharp contrast to her nervous energy, Julius had gone to that dead still place only Vampires could go. He looked much healthier after his intake of blood from a Feeder, but his lack of motion as he sat in front of his computer monitor was unnerving.

She'd spent some time watching the news on TV and marvelling at Byron's inventiveness and his ability to source just about anything. All the regional newscasts were excitedly reporting the catastrophic accident near the centre of the City. Shortly after her and Julius's departure from the cathedral grounds this morning, a tanker full of dangerous chemicals had lost control and 'crashed' through the cathedral parking area and into the well-known gardens, destroying large areas of the gardens and even portions of the adjoining graveyard. People were being urged to stay away as the chemicals were contained and the area decontaminated. If she wasn't so worried about Alexander, she'd have been chuckling at Byron's audacity. After a while the newscasts moved onto other stories, leaving Gabi to fret about Alexander again.

About an hour ago Trish called with the news that they'd tracked Alexander's car. It had been found abandoned on the street just a few kilometres from the cathedral; all four tyres had been badly punctured. Kyle and the other Werewolves who'd gone to check it hadn't been able to find any hint of Alexander, though Kyle tracked his scent for a few metres from the car before the trail disappeared. It looked as though Alexander had been taken by someone in another vehicle, but with the myriad of other scents on the road, it was impossible to figure out who had taken him. Every available Werewolf was out scouring the City, but there was little to be done beside wait for nightfall or hope one of the searchers struck it lucky.

To distract herself as they waited for news, Gabi found a small pair of scissors in one of Julius's drawers and slumped into a window seat to begin pulling the st.i.tches out of the demon-bite wound on her arm. It was healed enough to be little more than a thick scab, and she didn't want the st.i.tches growing into it. Her shoulder was itching where newly healed skin had already formed. She flinched as the phone on Julius's desk suddenly rang, almost dropping the scissors. Razor p.r.i.c.ked up his ears from his spot on the chaise longue next to her.

"Athena," Julius muttered, coming to life and s.n.a.t.c.hing up the phone. "Yes," he said tersely into it.

Gabi was too far on the other side of the room to catch what the Magus had to say, so she hurried closer, straining to hear. Relief and distress flooded Julius in a confused flood. He didn't say another word to Athena but was suddenly standing.

"The Magi cast a searching spell. There was some kind of shield spell around his location, but Athena broke it. The Werewolves have found him," Julius told her. His voice was tight with rage. "We have to go to him now."

"What?" Gabi demanded. "Where? You can't go out now; it's almost midday. Tell me where, and I'll go to him."

"I have to," he insisted tightly. "We'll go in the Aston Martin, and I have my protective gear from Savannah."

Gabi remembered the hat, coat and gla.s.ses he'd worn to come to her side after the sniper tried to kill her and Derek. Now she understood why he'd been able to wear them in the sunlight; Savannah's amazing chemical innovations weren't limited to cars, apparently. Gabi didn't waste time arguing. She could feel the insane urgency in Julius and knew it was a matter of life or death for Alexander. She ignored Razor's plaintiff meow as she sent him an order to stay put. They were in the car in seconds and driving out the gates, for once already standing open.

Kyle and three other Werewolves were in a small knot around an opening in the ground. They were holding a thick blanket over the opening, shielding it from the sun as best they could. A st.u.r.dy rope lay coiled to one side.

None of them said a word as Julius and Gabi rushed to them. For a moment Gabi couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. The hole in the ground was almost six feet wide and Gabi would guess at over twenty feet deep. It was a perfect cylinder inside, smooth as gla.s.s from top to bottom, and it glinted with the telltale flash of silver.

"We can't touch it," Kyle said tightly. "He's too far gone to help himself out, and we can't get to him." Kyle's wolf was dangerously close to a.s.suming control. Alexander had quickly become one of Kyle's closest friends.

Gabi leaned over a little to see the bottom of the pit, knowing she didn't want to see what lay inside. With the sun just nearing its zenith, there would be nowhere to hide from it inside the pit. A figure lay curled in a foetal position at the bottom, a metal stake protruding from his ribcage. The sickening stench of burned skin and flesh a.s.sailed Gabi's nostrils, making her gag.

An insane roar startled her. Julius could see and smell all that she could. The coat and hat seemed to be keeping the worst of the UV rays from him, but the skin on his face was already bright red, about to blister.

"Julius," she said, alarmed. "Get back to the car. You'll be no help to us if you end up like him."

"I'm going down to get him," Julius snarled.

"No," Gabi said clearly. "I'm going down to get him."

Julius ignored her and prepared to jump, but Gabi caught his shoulder.

"He needs blood," she said simply. "I'm the only one here who can help him."

"I can fetch him out."

"As bad as it is down there, there is a degree of protection from the sun," Gabi pointed out. "Once he comes up, it'll be much worse."

Julius closed his eyes, his jaw muscles rigid, but Gabi knew she'd made her point. The Werewolves were already lowering the rope down the side of the hole.

"He'll be like a wild animal, Lea," he growled. "Do you remember the pain when you gave me blood after the explosion?"

Yes, she remembered it very well, in fact.

"It doesn't matter," Gabi said firmly. "It's Alex. It's one of ours down there. And you can stop him; you won't let him rip me apart."