A Cold Day in Hell (The Hellcat Series)

by Hannaford, Sharon

  In the last few days his disquiet had grown to proportions that he couldn't hide from her. It'd begun leaking through his mental defences into her mind. He'd been protective of her from the very beginning, even though both of them knew full well that she didn't need protecting. They'd discussed the topic and come to an agreement. She accepted that he was going to feel the need to protect her, and he was going to work hard at keeping his protective streak to within reasonable boundaries. He knew she would never give up the fight against evil in the City, and he wouldn't stand in her way when it was time for her to resume her Hunter duties. In a fight he treated her as an equal, trusting her self-taught skills and innate Dhampir talents to get her out of a tight spot. But lately his security measures were betraying a previously unseen level of paranoia.

  He'd started off trying to be subtle about it, but the past week she hadn't been able to turn around without tripping over a Werewolf or Vampire guard. She'd initially dismissed it as post-Jason reaction; they still weren't sure they'd caught every one of his Werewolf recruits, and there was also the furtive stranger who’d been working with Jason, the one that pricked Gabi's extra sense, the sense that told her non-norms were close by. Whoever, or whatever, it was hadn't been at the compound when they attacked. The only things they knew for sure was that it was female, she wasn't human, and she liked to stir up trouble in the City.

  Gabi's gut told her it was Mariska, a Dark Magus who'd helped Dantè bring Demons across the Void and through the Veil into their world. The Magi High Council had declared her Maleficus, a term they gave a Magus who’d turned to Blood Magic, gaining power from the sacrificial deaths of living creatures. The declaration carried with it a death sentence by the High Council’s hand. But so far, they hadn't been able to trace the female that triggered her alarm bell. It seemed she'd disappeared as quickly and silently as she'd arrived.

  But when Gabi put all of those things into a mental list titled 'Current possible threats to my safety', it didn't seem nearly enough to warrant Julius's attitude. Even if she added in her ongoing PTSD problems, it just didn't add up. She and Julius had started working on curing her of her manic reaction to being held down by her wrists, a residual effect of being captured and tortured by Dantè several months ago. They hadn't made much progress, and Julius was becoming more insistent that they seek professional help. She'd told him that would happen over her cold, dead body and not a second before.

  Gabi had rarely had the opportunity to feel vulnerable since the day she'd beaten up her mother's abusive boyfriend with a golf club at the tender age of twelve, and she wasn't dealing well with the emotion now. The one thing she had control over in the situation was how many people knew about her weakness. She didn’t question Julius's integrity; he'd promised her he wouldn't discuss it with anyone without her permission, and he wouldn't, but if something didn't change soon, he was going to nag her ears off.

  As she eased the dark red vehicle through the mid-morning traffic, she kept one eye on the car tailing her. It had become a game in the past few weeks; they tried to stay on her tail, and she tried to lose them. When Julius had found out that she'd shaken them the first time, he'd come down hard on the duo she'd got away from, so they were much more vigilant now.

  Gabi had felt a tad guilty about their roasting so had arranged a quiet agreement to keep it to themselves if she managed to lose them again. She would let them know where she was if she lost them, and Patrick was always kept in the loop, he was much more level-headed about her safety. Which also led Gabi to believe that there was probably some kind of tracking device attached to her car. Patrick may not worry about her safety as much as Julius, but he knew Julius well enough to know the consequences if something happened to her on his watch.

  This morning she didn't feel like playing the game, though; she had too much on her mind. She wondered briefly if the guards would be relieved or miss the fun of the chase. One could never be sure with a Werewolf.

  Mentally she started up a new list. She labelled it 'Odd behaviour for Julius'. She realised that she’d probably have to run these ideas past Alexander or Jonathon, someone who knew Julius for longer than the few months she had. It was possible that he had reacted like this before, and it wasn't anything to worry about, but she doubted it. Julius just wasn't the type to overdramatise things. She began her list: overprotective, distracted, secretive, overly cheerful whenever she asked him if something was wrong, quick to try to distract her after such a question. And most worryingly, the sense that every time they were together lately it was as if it may be the last time they saw each other.

  Last night at the nightclub they'd danced as if it was their last dance, and afterward they'd made love with a frenetic energy and sort of desperation. This was what had her the most convinced something was wrong, this intangible feeling that he was preparing himself to say goodbye. That last thought had her chest clenching in something akin to terror.

  Gabi hadn't been in love before. She didn't consider herself in love now. In her mind, being in love was about sappy displays of affection, red roses, love poems, wanting to be part of the other person's every waking moment, dependence on their approval for happiness. When she thought of her and Julius, words like animal attraction, lust, desire and passion jumped into her head, not cupid on a cloud shooting arrows tipped with love potion. But if it wasn't love, then why did she feel such anxiety at the thought of never seeing him again, of him packing up and disappearing without her.

  The dawning realisation distracted her to the point that she didn't notice the small, blue Toyota coming to an abrupt halt in the road in front of her. Only her Dhampir-quick reflexes saved the little car from being annihilated by the much larger, and, Gabi suspected, armoured SUV. She grimaced as her ribs protested the extreme braking. The Toyota's driver ogled her with big round eyes in her rear-view mirror, before driving off in a rush. Gabi glanced back to see the two Werewolves expressions change from concern to amusement. She could see the words on their lips: "women drivers". She flicked them the bird, hoping they could see it out the tinted back window.

  So back to the topic that was bugging her. The last thing she added to the 'odd behaviour' list was the way Trish had been acting the last few weeks. Trish was working for Julius on various projects, only some of which were business related. Julius financed his little empire through many large- and medium-sized business enterprises. To the norm world he was Julian Edwards, reclusive business magnate, rarely seen, but always on the lips of the rich and powerful of the City. Trish went about digging up impossible-to-find information on businesses and business owners, finding obscure links between companies, and ferreting out clandestine partnerships and business deals.

  She was really good at her work and seemed to be enjoying the job, which made Gabi happy, but last week when Gabi took her and Kyle to dinner to celebrate Kyle's birthday, Trish had started to say something about another avenue of work she was doing for Julius when she caught herself and stopped midway through a sentence. She'd changed the subject very quickly and refused to be drawn on what she'd been about to say. At first Gabi hadn't worried too much about it, she didn't want to be sticking her nose into Julius's finances, and she didn't want Trish to end up on the short end of his temper for leaking information he didn't want disclosed, but the more she thought about the incident, the more that nagging little voice in the back of her mind said there was more going on than she realised. The other thing the crafty voice was sure of was that it had something to do with her.

  Her annoying little voice had rarely been wrong in the past.

  She sighed in frustration, but it came out more like a growl, as she drove up to her gate and waved at the guys behind her. As much as she'd prefer that they simply went back to the estate, she knew they'd be waiting outside under the trees until she left the house again. She could've just let them inside, but she valued her privacy too much for that. Her home was her castle, and it was only open to a select few, and most of those only by invitation
.

  She was safe on the property; even Julius couldn't fault her latest security measures. Dantè had attacked her at home, invading her precious space with a small army of Vampires and Demons. Gabi had never seen the devastation they left in their wake. She'd spent weeks recovering in Julius's personal medical wing, and when she returned home, the place had been remodelled and a multitude of security measures had been installed in her absence. She'd only kept two of the security measures: the electronic security gate out front, with its retina scanner, and the Magical security ward which had been invoked by Irene, one of the senior Magi of the City, a powerful Magus who sat on both the Magi Council and the SMV Council.

  The only reason Gabi still had the gate was to keep any innocents from accidentally tripping the ward. The ward kept everyone and everything out with very few exceptions. Each of those exceptions had their DNA coded into the barrier to allow them past without being thumped by a magical force strong enough to render a Werewolf unconscious or paralysed. For anyone else Gabi had to disengage the ward using a spelled ring and a short incantation, and that only gave them access to the house and grounds for an hour, after that the ward reinstated itself unless Gabi disabled it again. She grumbled about it constantly, but the truth was that it was the only thing that had allowed her to get to sleep at night for the first few weeks after her return home.

  She drove up to her little house and climbed out, soon greeted by a large, muscular bundle of excited Rottweiler. Roman had been Trish's dog until she was infected with Lycanthropy. Dogs and Werewolves didn't mix well, not even when the Werewolf was in human form. Gabi had taken him on as a temporary solution and then became too attached to the dog to rehome him. Now he had the run of her property, which had several acres of natural bush and a small wooded area. Roman was fine with being an outside dog, a lucky thing as another large animal ruled the roost inside the house.

  Razor was in her arms almost before she'd opened the front door. The enormous tabby cat was inexplicably large, closer to the size of a retriever than a cat. A normal woman the size of Gabi would've been knocked over by the affectionate attack, but she was both accustomed to and expecting it. She caught and cuddled the huge, fluffy creature, lifting her chin for him to lovingly rub his scent all over her face.

  She'd barely gotten three steps into the hallway when a tiny, red-brown streak hurtled towards them across the floor. It didn't hesitate once it reached them, flying up Gabi's leg and torso to come to an excited, chittering stop next to her right ear. The little red squirrel moved with such quick, sharp movements that it was comical, flicking between scolding her and Razor, and avoiding Razor's lazy paw as he swatted at it playfully. Rocky, the baby squirrel, was now a firmly entrenched member of the family. The only one who didn't seem enamoured with the overactive little tyke was Slinky the ferret, but that was possibly because his favourite spot was entwined around Gabi's neck like a living scarf, and he now had to vie for that spot with Rocky.

  Typically unable to sit still for more than two seconds, Rocky was off her shoulder and bounding ahead of them as Gabi made her way through to the kitchen to say hello to Rose, her housekeeper. Rocky was already on the counter chirping excitedly at Rose.

  "Yes, yes, my little one," the older woman answered the tiny animal, for all the world as though she was speaking to a young child, "I know your mommy is home, and it is very exciting." She laid a few nuts and seeds down in front of the squirrel before turning to beam at Gabi. "Good morning, sweetling," she said in her usual bright, cheerful voice.

  Gabi dumped Razor on the counter next to Rocky and went to give Rose a hug. Over the years that Rose had been Gabi's housekeeper, she'd become more a second mother than an employee. Rose reciprocated by worrying and fussing over her like Gabi was one of her own brood.

  "Good grief, where did you get those bruises?" Rose exclaimed, taking Gabi's face in her hands and turning it this way and that to inspect every bruise and cut. "What happened? I thought you were off duty."

  "I'm fine, Rose," Gabi cut off her concerned litany. "It’s nothing serious. I just had a…uh…training session with Derek. We had a bit too much fun, that's all."

  "Fun?" Rose’s voice went up an octave in disbelief.

  Gabi grinned. "Yep, best fun I've had in weeks." She kissed the other woman's cheek and turned to head out of the kitchen before she got more of a tongue-lashing. "I'm hitting the shower. Would you mind putting some breakfast in my office for me? I've got a hectic day, and I need to answer some emails before I head out."

  Rose was still grumbling, but Gabi knew she'd be over it soon. She was used to Gabi's attitude towards injuries. A couple of months ago Gabi would've had to at least put an ice pack on some of the worst bruises, and possibly surgical tape over some of the cuts. She'd always healed fast, in about a third the time a healthy norm would’ve, but nowhere near as fast or as well as a Werewolf or Vampire. However, with regular ingestion of Julius's blood, she now healed twice as fast as before. It was a serious plus in her books; she'd always resented Kyle's ability to heal faster than her.

  It was in the shower that she finally came to some kind of decision about dealing with Julius. As the hot water coursed over her, rinsing the subtly scented body wash from her skin, she knew she needed to crack someone in the know. Aside from Julius, that would be Alexander and Trish, she couldn't be sure of anyone else. Though honestly, after the way Kyle looked at her last night, she wouldn't count him out of the loop, at least to some degree. Much as she hated to put her on the spot, Trish was definitely the weakest link; the others knew her too well.

  She shut off the water and stepped out to towel herself dry, then caught a glimpse of her body in the full-size mirror and was instantly torn between annoyance and pleasure as she looked at the stamp of Julius's mouth and hands clearly imprinted all over her skin. The only place he'd avoided was her face and neck. She needed to present the world with a professional face for work, and he respected that. For the rest, well, she'd be wearing a long-sleeve shirt for the next day or two. Pity she hadn't told Derek the no-face rule, she'd have to come up with a way to explain the black eye, cut lip and shiner on her right cheekbone before one of her clients put her on the spot. She left the bathroom, shaking her head. If she didn't have a plausible excuse, someone would think she had an abusive boyfriend and start handing out 'women's help' cards again. She quickly picked out a smart but practical pants suit from her wardrobe and brainstormed how to get Trish alone to do some interrogation.

  It was much later in the day when she finally settled on the perfect way to get Trish alone and where no one could overhear them. She'd spent the morning working with a big cat trainer who was a regular supplier of cats for movies. He had a female black panther who'd recently given birth to a litter of five, but she was struggling to cope with the cubs, and the trainer feared she was about to give up on them completely. The cubs could, of course, be hand-raised, but that was never a preferred choice. Gabi was their last resort. She'd worked with the big cat before and liked her calm, mature character. She'd had to come up with some believable mumbo-jumbo to feed the trainer while she spent nearly two hours locked in the cage with the panther and the tiny, still-blind cubs.

  In the confines of her mind she spent the time first calming and reassuring Ciara and then calming the fretting cubs. Slowly, one by one, she'd reintroduced and strengthened the bond between mother and cub, and then shown Ciara how to calm them herself. One cub was particularly easy to upset and would set the whole lot off mewling and in turn worry Ciara to the point that she didn't know what to do to help. Gabi marked the cub, fearing it may have an underlying medical condition that needed treatment. When she left the nursery pen, mother and all the cubs were calm and content, the little ones purring as they nursed. Ciara gave her a slow blink of acknowledgment as she looked back.

  After that she spent some time working with a young male panther, another one she'd worked with previously. He was a stunning example of the breed, large and muscular
, but way too full of himself. There wasn't much she could do to help with his behaviour; he was a teenager, full of the joys of life and his own self-importance. She advised the trainer to simply give him time to settle down; he wouldn't be any good for movie work for at least another couple of months.

  It was in the trainer’s kitchen that she found her answer. His two almost-adult daughters were in the kitchen when he made himself and Gabi coffee and pulled a chocolate cake out of a cupboard, homemade by his wife, who Gabi decided she had to get to know better once she tasted the cake. The young women were excited about the prospect of a girls' night out that they had planned. A night to party, talk nonsense about guys, and maybe take in a show. Gabi realised it had been well over a year since she'd last had a night out with a bunch of female friends, and it would be the perfect excuse to get Trish alone. She just needed to include a couple of Werewolf friends, and the guys wouldn't have any excuse to send bodyguards along. The Werewolf women she was friendly with wouldn't hesitate to give them a bit of privacy if she asked them to.

  It took surprisingly little convincing to get Trish to come out with her for a girls' only night. In fact, it was Kyle who appeared the most put out by the fact that they wanted to go without him. Gabi rounded up three other Werewolf females to come along too. She'd carefully hand-picked those she thought would be the best for Trish. Ones she knew would take the newer Werewolf under their wing without being patronising about it. They would also take her cue to give them some privacy during the evening.

  She'd been careful to keep everything but excitement from her mind when she told Julius of her plans for the following night. He'd narrowed his eyes and searched her face thoroughly before agreeing, on two conditions: that she did, indeed, take at least three other Werewolves with them, and that they went to one of his clubs. It was that or have an additional retinue of bodyguards following their every step, so she reluctantly agreed. She knew most of his staff would be too busy to pay much attention to her and Trish, and she knew just how far away she needed to be from them so that they couldn't overhear their conversation.