A Cold Day in Hell (The Hellcat Series)

by Hannaford, Sharon

  His smile grew wider and colder, eliciting an uncontrollable shiver down Gabi's spine. So unnerving was his reaction that Gabi found she had a dagger in her hand from one of her boots without consciously deciding to draw it. The emissary turned on his heels, after one more assessing look at Gabi, and strode from the room, accompanied by the guards. In seconds it was just the six of them again. Fergus took up a vigilant stance at the door, and the others returned to their seats, including Caspian.

  "I'm not sure whether that was a stroke of genius or the actions of a desperate man," Caspian commented. "Either way, it will not be what they are expecting. They are not accustomed to being thwarted."

  "I don't care what they expected. We will do this on my terms," Julius growled.

  "As you say," Caspian said, his tone mild, but in the way a parent might react to an unreasonable child.

  "Tomorrow night you will swear fealty," Julius reminded him. "I will ensure that a feeder is sent to you tonight. You will need to feed."

  A fleeting look of disdain flashed across the Spaniard's face, so fast Gabi wasn't sure she'd seen it. Then a calm mask settled.

  "Thank you for your kind hospitality," he said, his tone now carefully neutral. "I will retire to my quarters until tomorrow night, then." He gave a semblance of a bow and allowed Fergus to escort him out of the house.

  Kyle let out a pent-up breath. "Right," he said. "Now to find out what the Oracles are on about."

  Gabi tucked the dagger back into her boot and nodded, only sure of one thing: She really didn't want to know what they'd seen; it could only be bad news.

  The mood when they entered the small meeting room was sombre. A round table sat in the centre of the room. Byron, Athena and Irene were already seated, talking quietly to another man Gabi had never seen before. He was tall and thin to the point of being skeletal, with dark hair and a pale complexion. Though Gabi hadn’t met him, she was fairly sure he was a Magus. Something about him made her edgy, though she couldn't say exactly what it was or why.

  "Ah, Gabi, Julius, come in," Byron said, rising as they entered. He made quick introductions. "This is Vincent. He is one of the Oracles. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important it is to keep his identity amongst ourselves only."

  Gabi's eyes widened in shock. As far as she knew, no one outside of the Magi High Council had ever met any of the Oracles. For some reason she'd always pictured the trio as all female. The dread sitting like a lump of lead in her chest grew even heavier. Byron introduced Kyle and Alexander, and they all took seats.

  "There is grave danger coming to the City," Vincent declared without further preliminaries. "A hungry beast that is coming for you." He looked directly into Gabi's eyes, and then over to Julius. "But once it infiltrates the City, the threat grows teeth and claws; it becomes greedy once it sees the riches that abound here." The man was talking in riddles. It didn't make any sense to Gabi, but he continued in his trancelike voice. "Twelve tentacles adorn the hungry beast. Some not so hungry as others, but not enough to overcome the mindless appetite of the whole."

  "Shit," Gabi burst out. "Twelve tentacles? The Princeps. Julius," she exclaimed, "they're coming to the City. They knew we wouldn't go to them, so they're coming here."

  Julius placed a hand over hers, trying to calm her, but his own tension was impossible to conceal. "What are the riches you're talking about?" he asked the Oracle. "What will they want once they get here?"

  "The twins are said to be pets of the Vampire Court." He looked almost challengingly at Julius. "If the Vampire Court comes to the City, the twins will come with them, and we will not be able to keep them from discovering our most closely guarded secret. They will know the truth." The way he said 'truth' made Gabi sit forward.

  "Who are the twins, and why does it matter if they find out about the Oracles?" she demanded.

  "The twins are Dark Magi brothers known as Gemini," Irene explained. "Individually extremely powerful but together they have no equal. To many they are a fairytale made up to scare Magi youngsters, but the High Council knows that they live and breathe, and that they revel in their Dark Magi powers." Irene paused and took a deep breath, glancing at Vincent before continuing. "The Oracles, while precious to us, and therefore well protected, aren't our most valuable treasure. The City is actually home to the largest known pool of psychic energy in the world. It is known as the Source, and it is the powerhouse that keeps the Veil from crumbling.

  "The proximity of the power emanating from the pool seems to produce particularly powerful Magi children, those like the Oracles and Athena. And Mariska." Gabi felt Julius stiffen at the mention of the name. "It’s one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Magi community, and we are putting a large responsibility in your hands by sharing this information. But it may be the only way to safeguard the secret. Gabi," she leaned forward, "I wouldn't ask this of you if I had any other choice. Believe me." Sadness tinged Irene's tone, and her face showed her inner turmoil.

  "I must leave the City." Gabi was surprised by the sound of her own voice. Calm, deadly calm. Somehow, by some inexplicable intuition she'd known it would come to this.

  "What?" Kyle and Alexander demanded at the same time.

  The small room erupted. Byron's voice chimed in with Alex's and Kyle's, adamant there had to be other options.

  "I have somewhere I can go," Gabi said evenly, speaking over them. "One of the last places they'd bother to look for me." The thought of leaving everything and everyone she knew and loved for an indefinite time was like a physical pain in her chest. Julius's face darkened in anger; she could see the denial. "Until things calm down and something more interesting catches their attention," she said, knowing full well that Vampires had long memories, far too long for her statement to have any validity.

  Julius unclenched his jaw and opened his mouth to speak, but Vincent interrupted.

  "That will not help the City," he stated. "They will come to find you regardless. They will tear the City apart trying to find you. There is only one course of action that will ensure the safety of the Source, and in that, the Veil." His face was set in a merciless mask, but his eyes held a faint glimmer of something softer, perhaps remorse. This time it was Julius who saw the truth first.

  "We go to them," he said, finality in his voice. "Then they have no reason to come to the City."

  "I." Gabi emphasised the word into the sudden silence. "I go to them. It's me they want." She knew her words fell on ears that had gone deaf. None of them would let her go alone.

  The table erupted again, a new course of action discussed. She held her tongue; her plan remained the same, only her destination changed. Lord and Lady, now she just needed to keep the plan from her thoughts long enough to keep Julius from figuring it out before she put it into action. And she needed information. She'd have to take a chance on one of Julius's people to tell her what she needed, and it had to be someone with knowledge of the Princeps' Court. Someone who'd be willing to keep her secret in order to keep Julius and the Clan safe. In an instant she knew who she could trust.

  "How long do we have?" Julius asked, snapping her attention back to the meeting.

  "They will arrive in three days," Vincent replied.

  Julius glanced at Alexander, and immediately his second in command stood, excusing himself as he pulled out his phone and left the room. "I have a private plane," Julius explained. "We leave in two days. I am assigning my seat on the SMV Council to Liam. He is third in the chain of command of the Clan. I trust you will treat him with as much respect as you would treat me, and liaise with him on any supernatural issues that arise in my absence." He allowed his gaze to settle on Byron, Irene and Athena in turn.

  "I'm going with you," Athena suddenly declared.

  Irene and Julius both opened their mouths, clearly about to disagree, but Vincent spoke over them all.

  "If you care about the personal outcome and not simply the safety of the City, then the defender should go," he announced, again with almost
no inflection in his tone, as though this didn't bother him one way or the other.

  Athena's eyes narrowed as her gaze flicked to the thin man.

  He didn't seem to notice her attention but looked at Gabi with his head cocked. "Your plan is not a sound one. It will fail in any case."

  Gabi's blood ran cold, and anger mingled with resignation. Julius would never let her out of his sight now.

  The Oracle’s eyes went distant, but he didn't take his gaze from hers. "Take the cat," he said, sounding confused by his own words.

  "What?" Gabi asked, the strange declaration halting her internal conflict.

  "The cat," he repeated. "Don't let on how much control you have over animals, but the cat is important if you wish to resolve the conflict."

  Gabi's mind must be in reverse gear; she couldn't understand his reference. What would be represented by a cat?

  "Razor?" Kyle asked, bemused. "You're talking about Gabi's pet cat, Razor?"

  Vincent's eyes refocused, and he blinked a few times, owlishly. "I…" He swallowed and shook his head, trying to collect himself. He'd had a vision right in front of them. "I'm not sure. In most instances it would be symbolic, but in this case it could be a real cat."

  "Guess we'd better pack some kitty litter and some tetanus shots," Alexander declared, striding back into the room. "The plane will be ready," he told Julius. "Who else is coming with us?"

  Heated discussions continued around them, but Julius and Gabi were having a silent conversation of their own: Julius angry she'd been making plans behind his back; Gabi determined that her plan was the safest course of action for all of them. Neither of them willing to back down.

  "It's not happening your way, Gabrielle," he growled quietly. "Give up trying. You won’t find your way to them without me. None of my Clan will dare to give you the information you need."

  Her chin lifted in defiant fury.

  "Neither will Caspian," he ground out, reading her thoughts. "Not if he wants to live to see another sunset."

  Gabi felt a growl of her own building in her throat.

  "I’ll lock you in my dungeon if that's what it takes, but you are not leaving the City without me."

  She broke eye contact with him, set her jaw, and crossed her arms. The man was infuriating, but she wasn't having this argument in front of everyone here.

  Julius stood, addressing the group. "If no one has anything else to add, we'll be leaving so that we can make final plans. Athena, if you are accompanying us, be ready to leave in two nights. Alexander will contact you with the time and location." He put his hand out to draw Gabi to her feet, but she ignored it and rose unaided, going around the table to Byron.

  "I'm so sorry it has come to this," he whispered. "If there was any other way."

  "Shhh," she said, hugging him. "No goodbyes. I'll see you at the end of the mission. Same as always." She kissed his cheek lightly and strode from the room. She heard him imploring Julius to look after her, and she blinked back tears. For the first time in her adult life, she actually considered that she might never see him again.

  She considered climbing into Kyle's van instead of Julius's Aston Martin but knew that would be childish. And cowardly. Childish she may be on occasion, but cowardly wasn't her style. And Kyle needed to go and tell Trish that he was going on a suicide mission. She knew that trying to convince him to stay behind would be futile. She sighed and climbed into the sports car. Julius slid into the driver's seat moments later and started the engine.

  "I need to go to my place to pack," she told him, her arms still tightly folded.

  He didn't say anything but turned the car onto the street in the direction of her house rather than the estate. The heavy silence lasted almost the entire trip.

  As they turned onto the rural road that her property nestled on, she couldn't take it anymore. "You know it makes more sense if I go alone. Your Clan needs you. The City needs you."

  "Did you honestly think I would sit back and allow you to hand yourself over to a den of Vampires more powerful than the world could ever guess at? Most of whom would see you dead, or imprisoned and tapped for your blood." He almost spat the words. "Do you have so little regard for me that you simply don’t care what I would go through when I realised you had gone to sacrifice yourself?"

  Gabi had never heard him so angry. She knew others regarded him with fear, but he’d never truly frightened her. Until now.

  He didn't look at her as he continued. "I know you may not love me, Gabrielle, but I thought you had some affection for me. Perhaps I was wrong." His voice, gone quiet, was even scarier than his previous angry shouting.

  "You know better," Gabi said quietly. "I…I don't know if what we share is love. The word seems too mild to explain what I feel for you. It's not cute or schmaltzy or romantic. It scares me." Her voice had dropped to a whisper. "The thought of being without you, it's worse than contemplating death."

  The car stopped in front of her gate, and Gabi could feel the rage drain from Julius. He finally looked at her, his eyes intense. He slid one hand around the nape of her neck, under her hair, and drew her towards him.

  "Then, if I said I could stop all of this by going to them and making myself their slave, could you let me go?" he asked, his sapphire-blue gaze imprisoning hers.

  She closed her eyes and allowed her forehead to touch his chest as she shook her head. "No." She sighed, the anger draining from her as well. She couldn't lie to him. "No, I couldn't let you do that."

  The heels of his hands pressed against her jaw, his cool fingers framing her face. He lifted her face to his so his mouth could capture hers. There was nothing soft or gentle about the kiss. It was savage and desperate. She barely noticed as he broke away to swiftly go through the annoying security measures to open the gate and drive up to the house. She didn't see Roman poke his nose out of his warm kennel to check it was them, she didn't see Razor lift his head and glare at them from his heating pad on one of the sitting room chairs, she wasn't aware of Julius discarding her clothes and his as he carried her down the corridor to her room. Their lovemaking was urgent, frantic. It was what they both knew it was, possibly the last night they had together.

  Julius left before daybreak. He had countless things to put in order before they left. But before he left her arms, he extracted a promise from her that she wouldn't try leaving without him. He refused to leave until she'd made the solemn vow. He knew as well as she did that once she spoke the words, she wouldn't go back on them. It had taken her long minutes of thinking; he didn't interrupt her consideration. Finally she thought again how she would feel if he went off to the Princeps on his own, and she knew what her decision was. She'd swear not to leave without him as long as he swore not to leave without her. Julius had smiled wryly before agreeing.

  Once he'd left, she couldn't make herself drift back to sleep, so got up and turned the coffee maker on. She, too, had arrangements to make before they left. She had a few jobs to reschedule or pass on to Russell, her Shape-shifter animal behaviourist sidekick. While he didn't have her supernatural talents with animals, he had a knack with them and an innate sense of understanding animal language; he could cope without her.

  She and Julius had discussed Vincent's revelation about the cat and decided it had to mean Razor. He'd travelled with her before, so it wouldn't be an issue to take him with them now. There were only two problems. The first was not being sure how local authorities would take to having a cat enter their country. Julius refused to tell her where they were going, insisting it was safer if she didn't know, not that he didn't trust her vow, so she'd have to trust Julius to smooth any problems in that regard. The second was a small, red, furry problem called Rocky.

  Gabi knew that the tiny squirrel would pine for Razor if left behind, so she had to make plans for someone to look after the squirrel. Someone who Rocky liked and trusted. Her final concern was what would happen to Razor if the worst outcome came to be. If they were all dead or incarcerated. Julius swore that he ha
d contacts in the court who would take care of him if the worst happened, and ensure that he was shipped back to the City, to the care of Byron and Rose. The fact that they had to discuss these considerations was enough to make Gabi's blood run cold.

  She shuddered, trying to throw off the feeling of doom, and poured a steaming cup of coffee, added sugar, and wrapped her hands around it to warm them. The mornings were getting cool now. She realised that she hadn't thought to ask Julius what clothes to pack. If she didn't know where they were going, she had no idea what temperature to pack for. She wondered if he'd give her that much information or if she'd have to pack for all possibilities. Roman and Slinky also needed someone to care for them while she was gone. She could ask Rose to come in and feed them, but then she had another thought. A thought that might solve all her pet worries. It was a little early to phone Derek, but if she left now, it would be a little after dawn by the time she got to the estate.

  CHAPTER 9

  Gabi's Werewolf escort was right behind her as she pulled up to the gate at the estate. She waved to them and carried on up the drive to the little cottage near the rear of the property. She knocked loudly, waited a minute, and then knocked again.

  "Rise and shine, Bo boy," she called, sounding more wide awake than she felt. The sleepless night was suddenly catching up with her.

  The door swung open to reveal a boxer-short-clad Derek yawning and scratching the dark stubble shadowing his chin and jawline. He was on his crutches, not having had enough time to strap on a prosthetic.

  "God, Gabi," he groaned, "I didn't know you were a morning person. What are you doing here at this godforsaken time of the day?"

  "I'm not a morning person. I just haven't been to sleep yet. Make me some coffee; I have a favour to ask."

  He let out a heavy sigh and swung his crutches around to make his way to the kitchen, leaving her to close the door and turn on some lights. She followed him into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter as he poured some coffee beans into a grinder and turned it on. His crutches rested against the stove, and he manoeuvred himself using the counters and his one whole leg. She drew the scent of the freshly ground beans deep into her lungs and watched the muscles ripple across his back and shoulders as he worked. She should probably tell him to go and put a shirt on, but she was enjoying the view too much. A broke girl could still look in the shop window, couldn't she?