To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) (15 page)

“
You’re damn lucky you’re not entirely human,” Harry told Gabi
as he pulled out a needle and sutures from his bag, oblivious to
Mac’s approach. “If you were, you’d be on your way to solitary to
see if you went ghoul on us.”

Gabi’s gaze flew to Mac’s, and she knew immediately that he’d
heard. His step faltered a moment, and his face registered surprise
before he quickly covered it with a blank mask.

“
Shit,” she whispered.

“
Don’t worry,” Julius whispered in her ear. “He’s human. It’s
not a problem.”

Gabi let out a breath in relief as Julius stated the obvious.
Human minds were easy to manipulate. Then Razor was on her lap,
purring loudly and head-butting her face, clearly overjoyed to see
her in one piece.

“
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
stitches 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 fucking goodie-goodie Magus, the Dhampir who won’t
fucking die, and their fucking 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 bitches,” she ground out between clenched teeth,
whirling to glare at the two men who stood passively 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.”

“
Fuck,” 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 assured 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 associating 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.