To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) (7 page)

“
I came across him in a forest in the dead of night. My horse
actually stood on him. He’d been attacked by robbers. They’d taken
everything he had—his horse, his belongings, his shoes and
clothes—and then they’d stabbed him and dragged him into the
forest, leaving him to the wolves or whatever else found him. He
was naked, alone and dying, but he still had the strength to swear
at me for a full two minutes before his breath left
him.”

Gabi snorted; she could hear the cussing in her mind. Alex
could cuss like he’d been born on a pirate ship, and the centuries
had only added to his repertoire.

“
Did you…” It was her turn to pause as she thought how to
phrase her question.

“
Ask if he wanted to be a Vampire?” Julius supplied
helpfully.

“
Yes,” Gabi said.

“
Of course.” His tone was mild, but there was an edge to
it.

Then Gabi remembered that Julius had been Turned without his
permission or even the knowledge of what his maker had been. Julius
wouldn’t do that to another person without very good
cause.

“
Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean—”

He kissed her into silence. “I know you didn’t,” he breathed
when he released her mouth. “I’m just rather grateful he was
conscious enough to understand me. I don’t know what I would’ve
done if he’d passed out. I was quite desperate for a companion by
that point. I may well have done it anyway.” He gave her lower lip
another quick biting kiss before lifting away from her and rising
from the bed. “He still bargained with me over it, though. He would
only let me Turn him if we could go after the ones who robbed him
and get his stuff back. How I marvelled at his arrogance, his sheer
audacity.”

“
Well, nothing has changed there,” Gabi muttered.

Julius wandered to the bay window looking out over the Estate
lit only by pale moonlight.

“
So did you? Go after them?” she prompted.

“
A bargain is a bargain,” he said. “Once he’d settled into his
new…state of being, we did track them down. To their den in a
nearby village. They’d just robbed another man and were bragging
about how many times they’d stabbed him and how he’d screamed
before he died. My intention had been simply to scare them off and
retrieve what was left of Alexander’s things, but…” His voice
trailed off.

“
The world was better off without them in it,” Gabi finished
quietly.

“
Hmm.” The gloom was back.

Gabi climbed out of bed and wrapped a silk robe around herself
before going to him. She put her arms around his waist, resting her
face against his back. She loved the feel of his smooth skin under
her cheek and his clean, male scent.

“
You don’t really think you should’ve let the murderous
thieves live, do you?” she asked.

“
No, they deserved what they got. It was only a matter of time
before they turned on each other in any case. Men like that don’t
cooperate for long,” he replied.

“
Then what is it?” Gabi was puzzled. The conversation had
taken a wide circle; Julius was skirting something.

“
It’s…” He shook his head.

“
Don’t say it’s nothing.” Gabi’s voice carried a thread of
steel.

“
I still forget how much you can feel.” He wasn’t really
talking to her, but she answered him anyway.

“
Yes, it can be quite intrusive,” she commented dryly. “Now
spill what’s on your mind before I’m forced to torture it out of
you.”

“
It’s the thought of Clan succession,” he said finally. “I
keep hoping that Alexander will come into his full abilities soon.
I know he has it in him to be a Master, but until he does, the
whole Clan is at risk.”

“
Because of the succession thing?” she asked.

He turned and put his arms around her, drawing her close and
burying his nose in her hair, as though needing her strength. She
liked that thought.

“
If I were to die the true death, who would lead?” he asked.
“Fergus is currently the only one with the potential to be a
Master, and he won’t accept the role. He knows as well as I do that
he doesn’t have the heart for it, nor the charisma or patience to
lead a large Clan.”

“
How long do you think it will be before Alex reaches that
point?” Gabi had no idea what the standard was for achieving
Master-level Vampirehood.

“
For the most part, Masters rarely get there before three
centuries,” Julius supplied.

“
So, just another hundred years to keep you alive and kicking,
then,” she mused. “I think between me, Alex and your guard, we can
make sure that happens.”

He pulled back and tipped her face up to his, his fingers
tangled in her curls. “It is such a strange thing for me to be able
to share these concerns with someone. You have to forgive me if it
takes a while before it comes naturally.”

They both knew there was nothing to be done about Alexander’s
powers or lack thereof, but sometimes a shared burden was a
lightened burden. Gabi hugged him a little tighter.

“
Don’t worry. I promise to keep wheedling things out of you,”
she assured him. “I can be quite charming when I want to
be.”

“
Really?” he asked in mock astonishment. “That I have to
see.”

In a lightning-fast move, she had him prone on the floor
beneath her with a knee to his chest. “I have a charm all my own,”
she countered with a devilish smile, dropping the robe from her
shoulders.

Gabi stifled a yawn as Trish opened the door and entered the
bustling coffee shop. It had been a long morning helping a
celebrity couple with their pack of spoilt, overfed, undertrained
and never exercised miniature poodles. Exhausted after the Consort
ceremony and subsequent bedroom antics with Julius, she’d found her
new clients particularly trying. Celebrities and the super wealthy
were often the most troublesome of clients, expecting miracles
without any effort on their own part, and this morning Gabi had
been hard-pressed to keep her temper reined in. Only dangling the
threat of having the dogs removed from their care had finally
broken through their little fantasy world and made them
focus.

Every time she treated a case like that, she vowed never to do
it again, but her name was now being thrown around by some highly
influential people, and in the end it was the animals she felt
sorry for, and it was for them that she kept accepting the jobs.
They may not thank her once she’d forced their owners to take
responsibility for healthy feeding routines and robust exercise
regimes, but they would lead far happier, healthier lives in the
end. If their owners stuck to the programme, of course.

Trish’s happy smile immediately lightened Gabi’s mood. At
least the argument with Derek hadn’t ruined her and Trish’s
friendship. She stood up to hug her friend and beckoned to a
waiter, who arrived promptly with a couple of menus and took drinks
orders. Trish took the seat opposite Gabi and looked at her with a
serious expression for a few seconds.

“
What?” Gabi asked, wondering if she’d developed a boil on her
nose or sprouted a third ear.

“
You look tired,” Trish admonished. “That husband of yours is
keeping you awake too late.”

Gabi snorted, Julius wasn’t technically her husband, not in
human terms at least, but the gorgeous new ring on her left hand
certainly made their commitment feel more real. Husband certainly
sounded better than boyfriend and was less likely to attract
unwanted attention than Consort.

“
I’m sure Kyle isn’t allowing you your full night’s beauty
sleep either,” Gabi shot back, enjoying the faint blush that
immediately rouged Trish’s cheeks. “It’s just the damn virus that
keeps you looking fresh as a daisy while I look like death warmed
up.”

Trish turned her embarrassment into a smirk; she was still in
the early days of adapting to the effects of the Lycanthropy virus,
but she was coping remarkably well.

“
I’ll spill if you spill,” she challenged Gabi
cheekily.

“
Lah lah lah lah lah,” Gabi responded, pretending to block her
ears. “It’d be like hearing about my brother’s sexual exploits,
which is almost as bad as hearing about your parents having sex.”
She shuddered theatrically. That wasn’t strictly true; she and Kyle
had often swapped notes on their sexual partners in the past, but
she had no intention of discussing exactly what went on in the
bedroom with Julius. She’d never been a wilting violet in the
bedroom before, but Julius, and the addition of blood-taking as
part of the fun, had taken her places she’d never dreamed
of.

Trish giggled. “Chicken,” she accused, but dropped the
subject. “So?” She put a questioning inflection into the word as
she dropped her voice to a low rumble. “How did you cope with all
the introductions last night? Some of those Vampires are just
creepy. And the females…some of them looked like real pieces of
work.” There was a brief lull in conversation as a waitress brought
over their iced coffees and took their meal orders.

Gabi pulled a face. “It was a long night, that’s for sure.”
She paused, not wanting to bring up the unpleasantness, but knowing
she had to. “How is Derek? I’m sorry about what I said.”

True to form, Trish waved her concerns away, but sighed. “He’s
fine,” she said, pulling an exasperated face, “and he deserved what
he got for the things he said about Julius. He was trying to rile
you in a very stressful situation. He’ll get over
himself.”

“
I still should have handled things better.” Gabi pulled a
face. “You’ll have to teach me how you do it. You keep such an even
temper, even with the Change.”

Trish chuckled wryly. “Someone has to be the adult in the
family, and right now Derek isn’t doing a very good job of
that.”

“
Do you think we can find him a Werewolf shrink?” Gabi asked,
only half joking; it was getting to the point that she might just
start asking around.

“
Maybe we just need to find him another sexy female to pine
over instead of you,” Trish suggested. “Speaking of females…some of
those Vampire females were dressed seriously OTT. Talk about
dressing to impress.”

Gabi rolled her eyes. “And you should’ve seen the poisonous
stares I got from some of them when Julius wasn’t looking; if looks
could fry, I’d have been a spit roast before the evening was over.
I’ll be watching my back for the next while.”

“
But surely they wouldn’t dare, not with the reputation that
follows you around or with that overprotective, super-powerful
Master Vampire doting over you?” Trish looked aghast at the
thought.

“
You never know.” Gabi shrugged. “They might be Vampires, but
that doesn’t necessarily make them intelligent. I hope I don’t have
to kill too many to make my point.” Both women grinned
evilly.

“
So, how do you feel about being his Consort, aside from all
the Vampire politics?” Trish pressed cautiously.

A small smile tugged up one corner of Gabi’s mouth. “Well, it
all happened a lot sooner than I was comfortable with, but I don’t
regret the decision.” She looked down into her tall glass. “I know
it’s early days and that we’re cocooned in the bliss of love and
passion, that it all might wear off in a few years or few months,
but I guess it’s got as much chance of lasting as anyone else’s
relationship. It’s something we’ll have to work at, and there’ll be
times that it’s difficult, but we’ve had bad things thrown at us,
we’ve both made bad decisions, and we’ve found ways to deal, so
that’s gotta be good, right?”

Trish smiled as though she’d said something as obvious as
sunrise. “Of course you’ll have to work at it, but the way the two
of you have dealt with the shit that’s come your way in the last
few months really is a testament to an incredible partnership. You
two were made for each other; there’s no question about that. And
he is madly, deeply, insanely in love with you. I’m so happy for
the two of you.”

And Gabi knew that Trish was truly happy; the happiness
spilled from her in waves. She was one of the most genuine people
Gabi knew, and though she’d lost parts of her relationship with
Kyle when he fell in love with Trish, what she’d gained in her
friendship with Trish more than made up for those
losses.

“
And you’ve managed not to strangle Kyle in the last two
weeks, despite his annoying tendency to be a neat freak?” Gabi
asked Trish. Moving in together had been a big step for the two of
them, as Kyle had been trying to avoid tying her down too early in
her Werewolf life. It had taken some persuasion on both Trish’s and
Gabi’s parts to get him to cave in.

Trish laughed. “Luckily I’m a bit of a neat freak myself, so
that isn’t too much of an issue. I’m still not sure I’ll ever be
able to compete with his van, though.” She looked
mournful.

Gabi nearly snorted iced coffee out her nose. “Yes, sadly
you’ll always only be the second great love of his life after that
damned van,” Gabi agreed. “Fortunately the van can’t cook or bake
like you do.” Their casual chatter and exchange of gossip continued
through their meal, Gabi happy to be in the company of a woman who
could match her for appetite. As the lunchtime rush passed and the
café emptied, conversation turned to other issues.