To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) (26 page)

“
Flame-throwers,” Gabi said, joining in the conversation. “If
we have demons running amok, we could have ghouls, and for ghouls
we need flame-throwers.”

CHAPTER 16

“
You need to tell Trish she can’t go,” Gabi announced,
flouncing into Julius’s office early the following
evening.

Maximillian was cleaning the glass display case that housed
some of Julius’s antique weapons collection, and Julius was reading
something on his computer monitor. She was trying to get him to
upgrade to a tablet, or at least a laptop, but he was resisting the
transition. He glanced up at her with one eyebrow raised in
question, his face deceptively calm.

“
Maximillian, you can leave that,” he said to his head
steward. He made a slight nod towards the door, and the bone-thin
Vampire made a macabre attempt at a smile, then, with a slight bow,
collected his cleaning supplies and ghosted out of the room, with a
daring, narrow-eyed sneer at Gabi as he passed her. The two of them
had declared their dislike of each other months ago, and being made
Consort hadn’t done anything but exacerbate his antagonism towards
her. Gabi knew he was treading on thin ice; if Julius caught one of
the vicious looks he sent her way, the steward would be demoted to
floor scrubber at one of Julius’s clubs. Gabi bit back a cold smile
at the thought of their ongoing little game. She watched his
black-clad figure disappear down the hall before stepping fully
into the room and closing the door.

“
You were saying?” Julius asked her, one hand now propping up
his chin as he watched her warily with his sapphire and gold
eyes.

“
Trish seems to be under the impression that she’s coming with
us on the mission,” Gabi informed him, her annoyance flaring again
as she stomped to the front of his desk. “What has given her that
idea?”

“
She asked me, and I agreed she could come,” Julius told
her.

“
What?” she demanded, outraged. “She has no experience in
combat, she isn’t a Hunter, and she hasn’t trained to fight demons.
She’s going to get herself killed. What were you thinking?” Gabi
seemed to have lost control of her voice as it rose in pitch and
volume. The idea of her dearest friend caught up in a fight with
Dark Magi and demons was too much for the fragile grasp she held on
her temper lately.

“
Gabrielle,” Julius said, his voice irritatingly calm, but his
eyes bleeding to black, a sign of his own annoyance. “Trish is a
Werewolf, in case you’ve forgotten. She’s stronger than you,
probably faster than you, and heals quicker than you.”

“
And you think that’s all that’s needed to fight demons?” She
managed to bring the high pitch under control, but her volume was
still on max. Most of the house would be hearing her right now, and
she didn’t care. “Werewolves aren’t immortal. If they were, there’d
be a shit load more of them as Hunters. In fact, as you may have
noticed the other night, they’re at more of a disadvantage fighting
demons than anyone else. They can’t risk changing form, so they’re
stuck using human form, making them vulnerable. Did you even notice
that Callum, a trained Hunter, nearly got himself killed at the
cathedral?” She ran out of breath around about then.

Julius stood, his jaw set. “I didn’t intend on allowing her to
be in the middle of the fight,” he said through clenched teeth. “I
realise what she is and isn’t capable of. I realise that she’s your
friend and Kyle’s mate. I wouldn’t let her come to
harm.”

Gabi had caught her breath. “And how exactly do you think
you’re going to ensure that?” she demanded, her voice gone
deceptively quiet. “In the heat of battle, going in virtually blind
to a deadly situation, how are you going to ensure that? You will
put all of us at risk. Have you thought of that? I’ll be distracted
worrying about her, you’ll be distracted keeping an eye on her, and
Kyle will be consumed with making sure she’s safe. How is that
anything but a calamity waiting to happen?”

“
She was never going to be part of the attack force,” Julius
cut into her tirade. “She will be outside with the vehicles, part
of our contingency plan, prepared to use her skills to get us out
of there if we need her to.”

But his words didn’t register in Gabi’s mind. Red was seeping
across her vision, a thin fog, creeping in uncontrolled after too
many nights of little sleep and days of too much worry.

“
Lea, breathe.” Julius’s voice was outwardly soothing, but the
concern was almost tangible. He was in front of her now, his hands
gripping her shoulders as though prepared to shake her. “The Rage
will just exhaust you further. Come back to me.” His mind pushed at
the wall she’d erected to keep him out, nudging to find a weakness
he could exploit.

Her first reaction was to push him back, strengthen her
shields, but her annoying rational voice butted in and began
sprouting words of wisdom, reminding her that she needed her
strength, that it would take her days to fully recover after a Red
Rage incident. She closed her eyes, ground her teeth, and staunchly
forced back the invading red mist. She couldn’t give in to the call
of the mindless fury. Forcing rationality into her mind by
visualising a crisp, clean breeze blowing the fog away, she brought
her mental wall down enough for Julius to know she was fighting off
the Rage. His presence swamped her mind, strength and calm flowing
to her despite his own anxiety and inner turmoil.

“
I’m fine. I’m sorry,” she mumbled, stepping away from him. “I
should have more control than that.” She’d overstepped the mark,
allowing the Rage so close to overwhelming her, but the problem
remained. She didn’t want Trish on the attack mission with them.
She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed Julius.

He sighed and relaxed his stance a little, leaning to rest his
butt against the desk. “I only agreed to her coming along under
strict guidelines, Gabrielle,” he said. “I know how dear she is to
you and what might happen to Kyle if something were to befall
Trish.” He paused, actually biting his lower lip, and Gabi knew he
was trying to find words to explain something he found distressing.
“Trish is…scared of me at the best of times,” he said. “It was
unusual for her to ask this of me. I didn’t feel like I could shut
her down without making her more fearful.” He looked right into her
eyes now. “I know you find this hard to believe, but most people,
human or otherwise, are instinctively afraid of me. It’s hard to
deal with sometimes. Especially when it comes from those I value
most. When she asked, I didn’t want to give her an outright no. I
figured we’d find a way to include her without her being directly
in the attack.”

Gabi pursed her lips, turning his revelation over in her mind.
Julius was as vulnerable as she’d ever seen him; it unnerved her a
little.

“
People are scared of you, aye?” she asked him, with a raised
eyebrow.

He closed the distance between them, lacing his fingers into
her hair and tugging to tip her face up to his, studying her
expression thoughtfully. “But not you, my Lea,” he mused. “I’ve
never scared you, have I?” His voice was tinged with
wonder.

Gabi’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “I seem to have this
strange attraction to dangerous shit.”

“
And dangerous shit seems to have this strange attraction to
you,” Julius muttered as his mouth descended on hers.

“
So she’s still coming?” Gabi asked when Julius finally pulled
back and allowed her to breathe.

“
I swear to keep her away from any danger,” Julius assured
her.

“
How is a terror-inducing Vampire so good at compromise?” she
complained. “You should be used to everyone just falling into line
at your every order.”

“
I’ve had two hundred and fifty years of practise, waiting for
someone worth using it on,” he replied smoothly, a twitch at the
corner of his kiss-reddened mouth.

“
I keep waiting for the day when you finally lose your
patience with me,” Gabi mused. She tried everyone’s patience sooner
or later; it was just part of her charm.

“
As you’re the only one I use my patience on, I have plenty in
reserve,” he told her; then his eyes darkened. “You’ve touched my
mind, Lea. You know that while I won’t always give in to you, I
would never risk losing you.”

Gabi closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She did know how
he felt about her, and she still wasn’t quite ready to deal with
the depth of his feelings for her. His feelings went beyond the
human idea of love. He’d had hundreds of years alone, waiting for
the right one to come along. He knew what he wanted, and he wanted
her. Gabi just hoped he had as much patience as he said he did,
because she wasn’t very good at this relationship stuff
yet.

“
Trish will have good company,” Julius said, changing tack,
aware of her discomfort and prepared, for now, to give her the time
and space she needed.

“
Who?” Gabi demanded, unable to think of anyone else who’d be
content to stay out of the action.

“
Joshua Maclary, for one,” Julius answered. “If we don’t
include him, he’ll just find a way to follow us, I’m sure. He seems
like a resourceful and determined man.”

Gabi couldn’t argue with that. Giving Mac their Werewolf
computer whizz to protect should satisfy his need to be
involved.

“
Who else?” she asked, as Julius obviously had at least one
other in mind.

“
Alexander,” he said shortly.

“
What?” Gabi thought she’d heard wrong. There was no way his
second in command was going to let Julius march into a battle as
dangerous as this one without his personal protection. “Alexander
will never stay out of it.”

“
Yes, he will.” Julius enunciated his words
clearly.

“
If you force him, he’ll never forgive you, you know,” Gabi
warned.

“
Alexander understands the stakes,” Julius disagreed. “He
knows we can’t risk both of us in this mission. If something
happens to me, there has to be someone to lead the Clan. I have to
be involved, so he has to stay out of it.”

“
But he’s never stayed out of dangerous situations with you
before.” Gabi was confused. “Why now? Is there something you’re not
telling me?” She gasped, a cold splash of fear hitting her chest.
“Have you had a vision? Is there a risk to you I need to know
about?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “You’ve seen your
own death.”

“
No.” Julius’s hands caught hers and brought them up to his
lips. “No, Lea. It’s nothing like that. I guess I should’ve told
you sooner, but we haven’t had much privacy lately.”

Gabi had had enough of being out of the loop. “Spit. It. Out,”
she growled, annoyance flaring again.

“
Things have changed because Alexander is now at Master level,
Lea,” Julius explained. “If something happens to me, the leadership
of the Clan is secure. Alexander is strong enough to be made Master
of the Clan.”

“
But…” Gabi’s brain was just not working fast enough to keep
up. “Wait…you said a few days ago that…” And then it dawned on her.
“Oh,” she gasped, her mouth staying in the surprised little ‘o’ as
her brain finally got with the programme. “My blood,” she said,
looking up at Julius to check she was understanding him
correctly.

His radiant smile was answer enough. She realised she was
trying to catch flies and snapped her mouth shut, still speechless
as she processed the new development. At least that explained some
of Alexander’s new eccentricities, though not his overbearing
protectiveness, and the new attitude the Clan seemed to have
towards him.

********************

“
What is so urgent, brother?” Elder Deimos
demanded.

“
They have one who can track us,” Elder Phobos replied, his
voice grim. Silence fell for several interminable
seconds.

“
Even through our wards?” Deimos finally asked, but his tone
suggested he already knew the answer.

“
Yes.” Phobos sighed.

“
How?” The beginnings of anger tinged the old man’s voice. The
light from the candelabra flickered slightly.

“
That I do not know. The identity of the tracker is obscured.”
Phobos couldn’t contain the frustration he felt either. Several
books flew off shelves to land heavily on the carpeted floor. “I
see only that they come and that we will be found. Before we are
ready.”

There was a pause, and the air in the room grew thick. Both
Elders were still as they thought.

“
We must provide a distraction. Keep them otherwise occupied.”
Deimos spoke first.

“
The strike team will not be fooled again.” Phobos waved a
hand dismissively. “And they have the numbers to disseminate and
cover many places.”

“
Then what?” Deimos demanded. “You have a plan?”

“
It will not be easy, but yes,” the other Elder said slowly,
as though the plan was still formulating in his mind. He took his
time explaining his scheme.

“
We have never tried that particular magic before,” Deimos
warned. “I’ve only heard of the spell, never heard of it actually
being cast successfully.”