All Hell Breaks Loose (40 page)

Chapter
21

Julius watched her wind through the crowd towards Byron.  The older man looked at her with sad eyes.  Julius could tell that Gabi’s accusations of what her father would have wanted had struck deep within the man.  He still missed his old friend, and he carried with him a burden of grief and guilt over his friend’s death.  As Gabi reached him, she put a finger over his lips, silencing whatever apology he’d been trying to make.  Then she hugged him.  Some of the tension left Byron’s stance, and he patted her back.  As she released him and stepped back, Byron smiled, a smile filled with regret.  He nodded at something she said, and then she walked him to the exit.  She gave him a final peck on the cheek at the door and then watched him go.  He could clearly sense the internal war raging through her.  Not wanting to be the source of Byron’s unhappiness, worry for Kyle, concern that she should have fought harder to rescue him tonight, guilt that she hadn’t acknowledged Julius’s loss.  He smiled grimly.  That one, at least, he could assuage.  He left the bar and went to her.  He pulled her into his arms, drawing the delicious scent of her deep into his lungs.

“You’ve made my life a whole lot simpler tonight,” he murmured as she rested her forehead on his chest, letting his strength comfort her.

She looked up at him, a slightly incredulous look on her face.  “What?” she
asked,
confused.

“Well, I’ve spent the last several hours wondering how to get you to take a vacation and fly to Europe with me,” he explained.  “You see, I will soon have a beautifully rebuilt mansion that needs decorating.  I have an art collection I need to replenish, and I know a man in Germany who is unrivalled in restoring damaged weapons.  I think most of my collection is salvageable, but many need attention.”  There was another reason he needed to get to Europe, but she didn’t need to know about that yet.

Guilt flashed across Gabi’s face, and she dropped her eyes from his.  “I’m sorry, I feel like a right—”

He cut her off by lifting her chin and capturing her warm, irresistible mouth with his own.  “You can make it up to me later,” he whispered, finally dragging his mouth from hers, suddenly aware that they were the centre of attention in the club.  Good, he thought.  It would save him having to spell out to the males in the City that they were to keep a wide berth from her.  Something in his expression must have given him away, or perhaps she was picking up as much through their psychic link as he was because she suddenly stepped back from him, shaking her head.

“Males,” she muttered disgustedly, striding back to the bar, but something in the seductive sway of her hips told him he wasn’t in serious trouble.

The others were deep in a discussion of strategy when Gabi joined them, closely followed by Julius.  They quickly filled her and Fergus in on the plans for the night.  Liam, Nathan and Charlie were going to collect Trish and Derek, and then they would meet at Julius’s secure underground facility.  This would be the base of operations for the next two nights, or until they had Kyle back and Jason under SMV control.  Lance and Matt were tracking down a Shape-shifter friend who had some military training and was one of the few Shifters who shared Doug’s ability to Shift into a large bird of prey.  They were going to send him to do an aerial recon of the airbase at first light.  Alistair had a friend who’d been stationed at the base many years ago; he was going to try to make contact with the man to see if he could glean any useful information from him.  Gabi, Julius and the rest of the crew would go straight to the underground base and co-ordinate the incoming data as well as begin planning the assault and Derek’s insertion into the base.

Once in Julius’s rental car, he finally revealed the location of his facility.  Gabi was astounded to find out that it was underneath one of the less extravagant, inner City hotels.  The hotel, while nothing remarkable, was not exactly small or inconspicuous.  It was, in fact, one of the longest-
standing hotels in the City and had a reputation for being an excellent place to stay if you weren’t expecting the Ritz Carlton experience.  Not even Gabi would’ve guessed the clandestine events it harboured.  Her impromptu interrogation revealed that, as with most of Julius’s businesses, the hotel catered largely to humans, but also to Vampires and
Werewolves
.  They entered the underground parking garage, having bypassed the parking attendant with a curt nod from Julius.  Julius flashed a security tag at the pad placed strategically near the lowered boom, and the boom raised smoothly out of the way.

Gabi glanced back to see that Alexander and Fergus’s vehicle was in the traffic not far behind them.  The plan was to arrive in dribs and drabs so as not to attract attention.  Julius eased the car through the upper-level car park and down a short ramp.  Then he drove the car directly towards an enclosed parking bay and stopped, right over very clear yellow ‘No Parking’ markings.  A click from another security tag and a garage-style door closed down behind them.  As the door concealed the car from general view, the car began a sudden descent.  Gabi gave a startled, very un-
Hunterlike
yelp as the sensation of falling made her grab for the armrest.  She could feel Julius’s amusement, but he manfully kept back a chuckle.  The downward motion cut off as abruptly as it started, and there was an opening in front of them.  Julius smoothly pulled the car out of the giant lift and parked it in one of about a dozen parking bays near a solid metal door set into an unpainted wall.

“We’re three floors underground now,” he told her as they left the car and walked towards the door.  There was no lighting down here, and if Gabi hadn’t had supernatural eyesight, she would’ve been as good as blind.  “Let’s get
inside,
the others will get here soon.”  He pressed his thumb to a small scanner pad set to one side of the door, and it clicked open.  He captured her hand in his as he guided her down a long undecorated corridor and into a room, turning on lights.  It was a spacious room with a large rectangular table in the centre. The blueprints and several other documents that they’d looked over earlier at the Estate lay in a neat pile on the table, along with several other printed sheets of paper Gabi hadn’t seen before.  Several laptops were arranged in an orderly fashion on one side, and a large map of the City covered half of one wall. 
On the wall farthest from the door hung a bank of LCD screens, currently blank.
  Another table stood in a corner and was laid ready with bottled water, a hot-water urn, tea and coffee supplies and several trays of food.  There was something to be said for secret underground lairs connected to hotel kitchens, Gabi thought with wry amusement.

She didn’t hesitate to tuck into a slice of quiche and a couple of neatly cut pastrami sandwiches.  Plate in one hand and bottle of water in the other, she went to join Julius at the table, reading the new documents around his shoulder.  The outer door clicked again, and a moment later Alexander, Fergus and Marcello joined them in the room.

Julius sent Marcello to check that the other rooms had been prepared to his specifications.  Gabi learned that this place was essentially the Clan’s bolthole if things went badly pear-shaped
for Vampires and
Werewolves
and they needed somewhere safe from humans.  There were enough rooms and beds down here to accommodate all the members of the Clan as well as a large portion of the
Werewolves
working for them.  There were full kitchen, sanitation and communication facilities and enough secret exits that the Vampires could leave to find food sources when they needed to.  Gabi suspected the hotel guests would be the initial food sources, but she didn’t ask for details.  The best they could hope for was that the facility was never needed for its primary purpose.  This was why the facility was treated with the utmost secrecy.  Gabi was the only person outside of the top echelon of Clan members who knew its location.  All other ‘guests’ had, and would continue, to be blind-folded before being brought here.  She itched to go and explore the lair, as she’d silently begun to refer to the place, but she didn’t want to miss anything important, so she went instead to study the map on the wall.

She turned as she heard the outer door click once again.  At least two sets of footsteps that, while quiet, weren’t as quiet as Vampire tread moved down the corridor.  Charlie poked his head inside.

“Sire,” he greeted him, “where do you want the computer lady and her brother?”

“In here, thank you, Charles,” Julius told him.

The lanky Vampire moved from the doorway and guided Derek and Trish, both still blindfolded, into the room.  He quickly removed the blindfolds, and the siblings blinked in the sudden onslaught of the bright lighting.

“You can relax in the
rec
room for now, Charles.  I’ll send word if we need you.”

The Vampire bowed and vanished back out the door.  Anxiety was swirling around Trish, but Derek was calm and in control.  He had a portable printer tucked under one arm and a ream of paper under the other.

“Hey, guys,” Gabi greeted them, wanting to make Trish feel more at ease.

Trish flashed
her a
quick smile, but worry lines creased her forehead.

“Where do you want this, sis?” Derek asked, nodding at the printer.

“Ah,” Trish hedged, clearly still daunted by the presence of so many Vampires.

“Make
yourself
comfortable, Trish,” Julius said in a low, calm voice.  Gabi could feel a very subtle wash of power seep into the room.  “Set up wherever is best for you.  We need the laptops linked to the monitors and the printer.  There is Wi-Fi down here, so connect us to that as well.  Alexander can help you; he has a few computer skills.”

Alexander directed a baleful glare at his Sire, but then turned and gave Trish an encouraging smile.  “At least some old dogs can learn new tricks,” he told her, relieving Derek of the printer and paper.  “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Trish flushed bright pink the second Alexander turned his attention on her.  At least her fear ebbed, Gabi thought wryly, realising how quickly she forgot that Alexander was devastatingly handsome.  Handsome enough that even ice queen Athena tended to get tongue-tied around him.  As the two of them set to work, Gabi turned to Derek.

“Has anyone filled you in yet?” she asked him.

“You mean about letting the
Werewolf
Men-In-Black capture me?” he affirmed.

“You are under no obligation to do this,” she said.  “We can pull off the operation without you going inside alone.”  She was being careful how she phrased her thoughts.  She knew Trish was listening.  The thought of having her brother in mortal danger wouldn’t help her keep control.  It wasn’t too many nights to full moon, and too much stress right now could prompt her first Change early.

“It would be much safer for the rest of you if we have an idea of the set-up and the numbers we’ll be facing,” Derek pointed out.  “Gabi, I want to do this.”  He glanced surreptitiously at Trish.  “I won’t try anything stupid, I promise.  No heroics.  I swear it.  I’ll go in, gather info, reassure Kyle if I can, and then wait for the cavalry.”

“No matter what we do to get you into their clutches, they’re going to be suspicious,” she said.  “Any wrong move or word on your part could alert them to what we’re up to.”

“Hey, I may not be an actor, but I’ve worked around them long enough that I think I can pull off whatever script you give me,” he pointed out.

Gabi glared at him.  “You need to remember that
Werewolves
are living, breathing lie detectors,” she reminded him.  “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, heart rate, sweating, blood pressure changes, minute changes in pupils, these are all detectible.”  She ticked items off on her fingers as she listed them.  He was being far too cocky and confident about this.  “You’ll need to avoid outright lies.  Twist the truth, or embellish or play down stuff, but don’t let them catch you in a lie.”

The more she thought about all the things that could go wrong with this, the more she thought it was a terrible idea.  Derek suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly, his face close to hers.  She felt Julius and Fergus go still.  Dangerously still.

“Gabi,” he growled, frustration in his voice, and completely ignorant of the danger he was currently in.  “I
want
to do this. I
need
to do this.”  There was a glimmer of desperation in his eyes, but it was overshadowed by the bright flare of excitement.

If he wasn’t careful, he was going to get more excitement than he’d bargained for.  She lifted a warning hand to the silent threat of the Vampires and deftly broke away from Derek’s grasp.  Julius and Fergus subsided, and Alexander went back to helping Trish.

“Fine,” she breathed.  “You know the…” she fumbled for some milder terms for Trish’s sake, “risks involved.  You know the orders regarding the human?”

He nodded.

“You made me some promises here tonight, you best not break them,” she warned with a pointed glance towards Trish.

Derek followed her gaze, and his expression lost a little of its excitement, but gained something in fervour.  “This man must be stopped,” he said to no one in particular, “and I will help stop him.”