A Cat's Chance in Hell

by Sharon Hannaford

  “There aren’t really any specifics involved. It has more to do with mental power and strength, as well as ruthlessness and experience in playing the political side of things. A Master is a Vampire who had reached a point where they can do things that other Vamps are not capable of. Such as,” he continued as he saw the demand in her expression, “not having to sleep through the daylight hours,” Gabi’s felt her eyebrows shoot up at that piece of news, “not needing to feed as often, being able to mentally compel another Vampire to do something and having control over Weres and other animals.”

  He said the last few words with a discreet look at her, as if watching for her reaction. She felt her eyes narrow in contemplation, and quickly concealed her interest by burying her nose in the coffee cup.

  “Go on,” she said in a carefully neutral voice, filing away that enlightening piece of information for later consideration.

  “Not all Vampires have the ability to become Masters. Many can live to be a thousand years old and not ascend to that higher level. It is something innate, the ability is either there or it isn’t. Something like an Alpha wolf; if you concentrate on the ability and have the determination to strive for the higher level you will eventually be able dominate others, but if you’re not quick enough, strong enough, powerful enough, clever enough, another will take you down before you hit the top. The age old story of ‘survival of the fittest’.”

  Gabi nodded, it made a lot more sense to her once he compared it to the Alpha ability.

  “What made you a Master before the rest of them thought you were...” she paused looking for the right word, “experienced enough.”

  “I had, shall we call it, a certain advantage over others of a similar age to me,” he said cryptically, leaving her to ask him the obvious question.

  She simply raised an eyebrow and waited, refusing to be baited.

  He bit off a slight smile and gave in. “I have been able to compel other Vampires to do whatever I want them to since I was first turned. And I have very strong mental defences against the ability in other Vampires.”

  “So, in short, any other Master with you in their ‘Clan’ would always be looking over their shoulder, wondering when you were coming for them,” she surmised almost to herself.

  He smiled wryly; apparently she’d reached the crux of the matter.

  “Yes,” he confirmed. “That’s the main reason I was allowed to challenge for my own Clan at such a comparatively ‘young’ age.”

  “So,” she took her eyes off him to study the pastry she’d pulled from the bag and nonchalantly asked the question that was burning a hole in her, “how old are you actually?”

  He actually let out a burst of laughter, which startled her more than anything else he could have done. “That is personal information, and not relevant to our discussion,” he said, “but I might be tempted to divulge the answer for some personal information from you in return.”

  Gabi’s expression turned instantly wary. “Maybe another time,” she said, her voice implying that he had about as much chance of that as a Vampire had of surviving five minutes in full sun.

  A teasing grin touched his masculine features. “You don’t even know what I would ask you. Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious to know what I would like to know about you?”

  The curiosity was gnawing at her like a million termites, she had a thousand questions she wanted to ask him, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him.

  “Are you going to get to the point of the meeting sometime before the sun comes up?” she asked instead, stifling a yawn. “Some of us do have work in the morning.” Weariness was starting to make her crotchety, probably not the best attitude to have when trapped in a building full of Vampires.

  The grin disappeared from his face. “Yes, of course. I forget sometimes that others do not keep our hours. I will try to summarize this as much as possible.” He took a deep breath, reminding her of another question to add to the growing list in her head. “There is a challenger for my position as Master of the City. This of itself would not normally be a problem to the citizens of the City. For the most part fights for this kind of position take place only in the presence of a select few, along the lines of the ‘duel at dawn’ scenario. They would rarely affect anyone in the contested city, besides the top level of Vampires associated with the two Masters. This case, however, is not a normal contest.” He paused for a moment, as though fighting down anger, but before she could interrupt with a question he continued. “The challenger to my position is something of a radical in our world. He has not been ‘approved’ by the other Masters to challenge me, but they will not stand against him either.”

  Gabi was confused. “But everything you’ve told me so far indicates that the Masters as a whole will not tolerate anyone overstepping their given authority. So why is the challenge against you any different, and why would this affect the rest of us?”

  A number of emotions crossed his face as he looked down at the desk for a brief moment, and Gabi’s heart rate jumped as she recognised unease and guilt as two of them. Abruptly his face went passive, as he exerted rigid control over those emotions and looked back at her.

  “The challenger has some unique talents, and some unique allies; making him a virtually unstoppable force. The other Masters would not be overly distraught to see the end of me, as I do not play the political game the way they think I should, and I am too powerful for them to force me to play it their way. They are also hoping, of course, that once he takes the City from me he will be content to stay and play here rather than challenge them for their cities. If I defeat him, they are no worse off than before; if he defeats me they believe he will leave the rest of them in peace, so they believe that either way they will win in the end. They have decided to be Switzerland in this case, and will not interfere or assist either side.”

  “So spit it out,” Gabi demanded, “why is he such a threat to you.”

  Julius looked her straight in the eyes. “His biggest strength is the ability to control Demons. He has power over them like I have power over other Vampires. He also has a Magus allied to him.” Gabi’s blood ran cold as she knew intuitively what he was going to say next. “She is one of the very rarest types of Magi; one you would call a Dark Mage, one who can open gateways in the Veil; pathways for Demons to cross the Void to our world. I believe he is planning to attack us with an army of Demons at his command.”

  Gabi sat in stunned silence. She realised the implications of this challenge to Julius’s position without him having to lay them out for her. She’d already had a taste of what would be sent against them. A number of things clicked into place in her head at the same time. This revelation explained the unusual behaviour of the Demons, their willingness to work together, the appearance that they had goals in mind, the sheer number of them appearing in the City. She tried to clear her chaotic thoughts, filtering out things she could discuss with Byron later, and figuring out what other information she would need from Julius before her meeting with the Council.

  “The Masters who make the decisions, the old ones…” Gabi said.

  “We call them the Princeps,” Julius supplied helpfully.

  “Alright, the Princeps,” she continued, “you said they are adamant that secrecy is maintained, that it’s one of the oldest and most unbreakable rules. If this contender…”

  “Dante,” he supplied again.

  “Ok, if this Dante is bringing hordes of Demons against the City, it is going to be obvious that there’s something supernatural going on here. You can’t hide dozens of Demons from the human population for very long. Why are they going against one of their oldest rules and letting him attack you? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

  Julius sighed broodingly. “It doesn’t make sense to me either, and I can’t give you a straight forward answer to that. I can only surmise that they assume they can limit the fallout, somehow keep it contained within the boundaries of the City, and later, once the dust settles, find a wa
y to blame it on some other source. Mass hallucination, rabid animals, tainted water, something like that. They seem actually scared of him. Of Dante. Their main concern at the moment seems to be to keep him from challenging the rest of them. They seem to think he will be content with my City; they don’t realise he has a much bigger plan in mind. They don’t realise how much of a radical he actually is. And they don’t realise he is almost completely insane.” Julius’s voice had a morose edge to it.

  Gabi frowned. “You sound like you have personal knowledge of him, like you know him well.”

  “I do,” he confessed bitterly. “I turned him. I am his Maker,” he bit off angrily, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.

  She sat still in the ensuing silence; digesting the latest revelation. Then the common sense side of her kicked in. “So, what if you simply stood aside for this Dante? Let him take control of the City. You could go off and find another city to challenge for. Why are you so determined to fight him?”

  Julius didn’t open his eyes when he replied. “Two reasons,” he said quietly. “Firstly, he will destroy life in the City as we know it. He sees humans as sheep or cattle, simply a food source. He doesn’t understand why we hide from them; he sees it as cowardly, to live as we do now. He wants to live in a world where he is openly the top of the food chain, and humans cower in his presence. He is humanity’s worst nightmare come to life; he is what humans make horror films about. Secondly, it wouldn’t matter what other city I took control of, he would want to take it from me. He is determined to destroy me, as he knows I am one of the few true threats to him, and he knows I will stand against him in his quest for a new order of Vampire Clans.”

  He sat forward now, looking at her again, his sapphire eyes boring into hers. “You and the Malus Venatori have three options here. You can try to continue the fight on your own to the best of your abilities, you can flee the City and save those you love the most, or you can join forces with me and we can try to bring Dante down together.”

  He stood up and walked around to stand in front of her. “This is what I need you to present to your Council. I will fight this war with or without you, but I know you have strengths that would be valuable to me. I think the best chance we have of bringing the City through this without major human casualties is to stand together.” He paused briefly. “If you choose to stand with me, and we defeat Dante, I will give the Malus Venatori my full support in the future. I will provide staff to assist you and information that will help you in your dealings with Rogues, and your protection of friends and relatives.”

  Gabi stood as well, though he still towered over her, she needed to bring them back to some kind of level. She moved to place the chair between them; having him stand so close was playing havoc with her heartbeat, and she knew it had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the sudden surge of primal lust she was feeling as she watched him move. It had been a while since she found a man this sexually attractive, and she was almost angry with herself that she was having those feelings for the Vampire standing, looking pensively at her from the other side of the chair. She knew Vampires could have that effect on humans, it was one of the weapons at their disposal that helped them draw in prey, but she had always thought of herself as immune to that, as well as to their mind control. Maybe it was just a combination of her exhaustion and injuries that had her defences down. She fervently hoped so. She needed to get away from him before her body betrayed her feelings in a way that he could detect.

  His eyes had taken on a speculative gleam, but he continued as though nothing had changed. “Is there anything else you need to know before you leave?” he asked, his voice, deep and sultry, seemed to vibrate through her body.

  She deliberately took a deep breath, making a small groan when her ribs sent a sharp protest ripping through her side. Anything to curb her body’s current desires.

  “No,” she said through gritted teeth. “I think I have enough to take to the Council. I can’t tell you how long it will take them to reach a decision though. You’ll have to give me a way to contact you.”

  She felt herself sway slightly and gripped the back of the chair. Julius’s face instantly took on an expression of concern.

  “Do you want some more painkillers? Or shall I get the doctor back to look at you again.” He started to move around the chair towards her, his hands ready, as though to catch her if she collapsed.

  Gabi waved him away, and retreated from him again. “I’m fine. I just need some rest. I’ve had worse.”

  Julius didn’t look convinced but backed off, giving her some space. “I will give you a number to call. You can leave a message for me. We can meet in a more neutral place to discuss the Council’s decision. Perhaps a club or restaurant. You are welcome to bring the Wolf if you like, but I would prefer to keep it to just the two of you at the meeting. You name the time and place.”

  “Can I trust you not to try anything stupid?” she asked bluntly. “Wolf and I will be armed, and we won’t take kindly to being disarmed by a Vampire.”

  Julius sighed, “No, I won’t try to disarm you or the Wolf, none of my Clan will touch you, and I expect the same of you and yours.”

  Gabi looked sceptical. “You don’t have any more Genevieves in your closet?”

  Anger flashed across his face and his voice turned so deadly she had to suppress a shiver. “There will not be a repeat of that. I will make sure of it,” he ground out through suddenly extended fangs. Then he took a deep breath and calmed himself. “And speaking of weapons,” he moved back to his side of the desk in a single fluid motion, and opened a drawer. He pulled out Nex and two of her butterfly swords and laid them on the desk. “I believe these belong to you.”

  Gabi’s eyes lit up at the sight of Nex. Gods alone knew how that sword kept finding its way back to her, but she was unbelievably glad to see it. Her hand itched to close around the solid comfort of the hilt, but she held her ground, waiting to see what Julius would do. He reached into another drawer and pulled out a piece of black satin, Gabi found herself wondering what kind of person kept pieces of black satin in their desk drawers. He spread the material on the desk and carefully laid the three swords on it and began wrapping them up.

  “This is a truly beautiful sword,” he commented as he carefully laid the cloth over Nex, “A one of kind, and obviously bonded strongly to you, it is a priceless piece of weaponry. There are not many bonded Krises in the world anymore; the two of you are a good match.” He finished binding the swords and looked up at her, “I hope I never come up on the wrong side of the two of you,” his expression turned musing, “but it would be an interesting fight.”

  Then he sent out a short spike of power. Seconds later a Vampire knocked quietly on the door. “Come,” Julius called. Nathan, Liam’s brother, entered the room.

  “Sire,” he said deferentially, his head bowed. “What can I do for you?”

  “Gabrielle needs to get back to the City. She’ll tell you where to take her. I trust you will ensure she gets there safely.” The deadly tone in his voice left no doubt as to Nathan’s punishment should he fail again.

  “Of course, Sire,” he was practically grovelling now. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make up for our previous errors. I will not fail you again.”

  Julius picked up the black bundle containing the swords. He held them out to Nathan. “These are to be returned to Gabrielle in the car. Bring a car around to the rear entrance; I will bring her down to you in a few minutes.” Nathan took the bundled swords carefully and bowed his way out of the office, disappearing on swift, silent feet.

  Great, Gabi thought, a few more minutes to keep her treacherous body from betraying her. The damned Vampire exuded confidence like a pheromone. Maybe she could test the fractured collarbone this time.

  Julius couldn’t help himself; that hint of sweet, musky arousal lacing the air earlier had called to him on a base level. It had been a long, long time since he had found a female this entic
ing, this exquisitely tempting. He knew he had to have her, even if it was just to end the itch he could feel building deep inside his body. It would be an interesting hunt. He knew he would have to be patient and cunning to seduce her, but it would be a delectable distraction from his current situation. The challenge was an even more formidable one, in that she seemed to sense when he used his power, so he was down to his own natural charms to win her, the victory would be all the sweeter that way, he smiled languidly.

  “So have you reconsidered my offer to exchange personal information,” he almost purred. It felt good to try out his rusty flirtation skills again; he’d never had much trouble attracting the opposite sex, even before he was turned, but it didn’t hurt to know how to best utilise the tools you had been given to work with. He was rewarded almost instantly with a return of the scent he had been hoping for. Rape was definitely not his thing; he would only pursue a willing victim. This little cat was about to be stalked by a much bigger predator. But the little cat still had claws and teeth, and he figured she wasn’t going down without one hell of a fight.

  “You’re not that interesting,” she declared airily, but he could see her left fist clenching like she was driving her fingernails into her palm, and she broke eye contact with him.

  Julius’s smile turned predatory as he reached down into a desk drawer again and drew out another piece of black cloth. He knew she wasn’t going to like this one bit, on a number of levels, but he also knew he would get his way in the end.

  “I’m afraid I need to bind your eyes on your way out of here. Until I’m sure we have an agreement of some kind, I wouldn’t want you to be able to find your way back here and do away with all of us while we sleep. You understand I’m sure, just as you would not want us knowing where you or the Wolf sleeps.”