A Cat's Chance in Hell

by Sharon Hannaford

  Donovan chuckled even louder. “Not sure I would put you in the ‘Good Girl” category,” he retaliated.

  Gabi stifled a yawn and headed for the kitchen where she could smell a pot of coffee on the brew. Rose had obviously heard her take the call.

  “Oh, I’m good,” she drawled, “I’m really, really good.” She found Rose in the kitchen and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as she headed to the coffee pot like a Magus who’d spotted a henge.

  “I don’t doubt that for a moment, Angel,” he countered with a mock seriousness.

  Gabi smiled wryly; Donovan was a wonderful flirt. “I take it you didn’t just phone to check up on my personal life?” she prompted him.

  “No, unfortunately there’s no rest for the wicked as they say,” he replied, sighing dramatically. “The script writer for my latest movie has sprung a fight scene on me involving a black panther, so I am in dire need of your rather unique talents.”

  Gabi took a much needed gulp of hot, strong coffee and headed to her office. “Let me just get my computer awake,” she told him, hitting the power button and sinking into her chair. The computer purred to life as she opened her diary to today’s date.

  “Ok,” she said, putting Donovan on speakerphone. “What dates are we looking at? Do you have animals lined up or do I need to track some down?”

  It was standard practise to use more than one animal on a movie set. The animals could only be used in short bursts, and in the case of large animals, if one got particularly grumpy it was safer to give it a break and use another.

  “It’s a fairly short scene, so we’re hoping to do it in a single day,” Donovan replied. “We have animals available, but there is a catch.” He sounded a little apprehensive now.

  “Just spit it out, Don,” Gabi said calmly, she was used to the film industry after working in it for the past five years, the word impossible was not supposed to exist in the movie world.

  “Well, we need you today. I know what short notice this is, and I know you have other clients, but we can only have the panthers today, and their regular trainer was mauled by one of them over the weekend. He just got a bit scratched and a single bite, nothing serious, but no other trainer will go near them now. Our stunt man is prepared to go ahead with the scene if you take over as trainer. He appears to think, as I do, that you have an uncanny knack with big cats, and isn’t worried about them mauling him with you around. He thinks the other trainer did something to piss off the cats, and they were just putting him in his place.”

  Gabi sighed. She didn’t like to upstage other trainers; it just drew more attention to her abilities, but he was right, the stuntman would be perfectly safe if she was there.

  “Let me guess, the stunt man is Derek,” she said with weary resignation. She could really do without dealing with Derek today. He was a really nice guy. In fact, he was the whole package; rugged good looks, charm, mouth-watering physique, he was even single and he had shown obvious interest in Gabi from the moment they met on a movie set two years ago. She couldn’t deny that he appealed to her on many levels, most of them physical, but he had one major short-coming in her book; he was human. Fully, completely and unchangingly human. It made a relationship with him impossible.

  “I’ll owe you for a life-time,” Donovan wheedled, obviously sensing her wavering capitulation.

  “I hope you know that you are the only client that I would consider doing this for.”

  “You will have my eternal gratitude and undying admiration,” he persevered, sensing victory.

  “I’m sure I got those the last time you needed me on such short notice,” Gabi replied archly.

  “You can never have too much eternal gratitude and undying admiration,” he intoned in a serious voice, but suddenly his voice turned victoriously mischievous. “But just to prove my sentiments, how about I throw in dinner at Olivella with unlimited choice from the wine list?”

  Now that was just playing dirty. Gabi chuckled wryly; he had played his trump card, but she would make his credit card cry for mercy before she was finished with the wine list at Olivella.

  “Time and place?” she asked, now resigned to the prospect of a full days work. “Oh, and you better get Russell there too. I’m on light work for the next two weeks, so I’ll need some muscle to help out.”

  “What did you do this time?”

  “A frisky thoroughbred,” she casually used the same lie she had fed the maitre’d at Olivella. “Bust ribs and collarbone.”

  Donovan didn’t bother telling her to stay home if she was injured, he knew better. “I’ll get Russell here come hell or high water,” he promised and gave her the address of the film set downtown, asking her to be there as soon as she could make it.

  Gabi signed off, telling him she’d see him in an hour. Then she drained her coffee, grabbed a lollipop from the jar on her desk and headed for the shower.

  She made one stop-off on her way to the film set; the local Dunkin Donuts, for one extra large caramel latté, two breakfast bagels and three dozen donuts — crème-filled, choc frosted, glazed, sprinkled, sugar-powdered decadence. She hoped there would be a few left for the crew when she got to the set. She seemed to have an even bigger craving for sugar today than usual, so big her whole body felt like one big itch that needed to be scratched. She wrote it off to the injuries and lack of sleep, but it still niggled something in the back of her mind. Much to her disgruntlement, all the donuts were still in the boxes when she pulled into the set car park. She’d discovered that it was annoyingly difficult to eat and drive at the same time when you have a broken collarbone. She’d resorted to wolfing down her coffee and bagels when she got stopped at a red light. By a lucky hiccup of fate, Russell pulled into the parking lot a few seconds after her. She greeted him by depositing the three boxes of donuts into his arms, opening the top one and helping herself to a Double Cocoa Kreme Puff.

  “Morning, Russ Bear,” she said cheerfully around a mouthful of donut. She liked to tease the short, friendly looking man. With his unruly, wavy, russet red hair, he reminded her of that annoying range of fluffy teddy bears that was a requisite purchase for any new baby.

  He was a Shifter by nature, and as such, appeared vastly younger than he actually was. Gabi knew he was well into his thirties, but he appeared barely twenty. They made a good team on film sets. As he knew her true nature, he was able to help her cover some of her unnatural abilities, and he was quick to warn her when she was over-stepping the boundaries of human capabilities. It made things much easier for her not to have to constantly hide everything from her assistant. He was also exceptionally good with animals; not that he had any kind of supernatural control over them, his talent stemmed purely from experience and a deep, innate understanding of animal nature.

  “Hey, Archangel,” was his wry riposte. Referring both to her Hunter nickname as well as to the belief of Magi and Shifters that the Archangel Gabriel, along with many other biblical figures, was actually female and named Gabrielle, before the Catholic Church stepped in and patriarchalized everything. Guardian Angel of Death; an interesting oxymoron, she mused to herself.

  “Be nice,” she warned, “or I won’t let you have any of those donuts you’re carrying.”

  “I take it the fantastical stories that have been flying around the community are true then,” he said with one russet eyebrow raised as he watched her tuck her right arm into the unobtrusive, black sling. The community was a euphemism for the wider family of Shifters and Magi of the City, who all gossiped like fifth grader girls about everything.

  Gabi pulled a face. “I’m not sure what fantastical stories have been flying around, so you would have to tell me the stories before I confirm or deny them.”

  “How about you just tell me the story straight, and I can fill you in on the embellishments at the end?”

  “Later,” she said as they rounded a corner and entered the melee of people and cables and lights and sound equipment and props. “For now, the story is I was injur
ed by a horse, no one has any real details, so I’ll make it up as I need to,” she told him in a low voice.

  “Collarbone and ribs?” he asked astutely as he watched her grimace when a gaffer spun around to yell at a technician, and she had to dart aside to avoid a collision.

  She grunted agreement.

  “And the burn on your cheek, how are you explaining that one?”

  “Shit,” she swore softly, covering the offending mark with her hand. She had forgotten about it. “I’ll have to get to a bathroom with some concealer.”

  Russell shook his head pityingly. “You haven’t been around humans enough recently. You’re out of practice,” he admonished. “But don’t panic, head for the make-up caravan just over there. I have a friend there who’ll help; she’s part of the community.” They put their heads down, hoping to avoid anyone they knew and darted into the caravan marked ‘make-up - extras’.

  When Gabi and Russell emerged from the caravan five minutes later; no one would look twice at Gabi’s cheek, and Jenny was happily devouring a donut. It didn’t take them long to find Donovan, and for the boxes of donuts to be received with grunts of approval. Donovan greeted her enthusiastically with a kiss on each cheek, and she mentally thanked Russell again for reminding her about the burn mark.

  Russell put the donuts on the catering table set up for the senior crew, grabbed one himself and headed back to the parking lot to collect his and Gabi’s gear. Gabi would sit in on a quick set meeting between directors, actors, camera crew, and stunt crew to find out exactly what was required from the panthers for the day. Then she would meet Russell at the animal enclosure and spend some time getting to know the panthers before shooting started.

  She poured herself another cup of coffee from the catering table and was just stuffing a third donut into her mouth when her glance strayed across the set and met silver grey eyes across the room. Derek. She had thought that perhaps having been in Julius’s and Alexander’s presence recently, Derek would be a pale, bland comparison, but there was just something so vibrantly alive within him; a spark of humour glinting in the liquid mercury depths of his eyes, a supreme, confident maleness about him, that he would never, ever be considered pale or bland. She could hear the females in the vicinity tittering among themselves as he strode through their midst; a few of the more confident ones stared at him boldly, trying to catch his eye. If he noticed any of them he didn’t show it, his slow, easy smile was all for Gabi. Damn, she sighed inwardly, this was going to be a long day.

  “Into the coffee and the sweet stuff already, Bradford?” he teased her in his warm baritone; one dark eyebrow quirked in amusement. A slight smile played at the edges of his sensual mouth, not even the slight scar running down to his top lip could detract from his blatant sex appeal. The smile vanished as soon as he got close enough to her to notice the sling. A frown creased his forehead and his molten grey eyes narrowed.

  “Morning Bo,” she greeted him cheerfully, interrupting whatever he’d been about to say. She’d been going for brisk and cheerful, why did it sound to her ears as though her voice had just come out low, husky and inviting?

  He paused for a second, annoyance at the nickname narrowing his eyes; the Bo Derek thing got to him every time, but his easy smile was back a second later.

  Gabi resolutely pasted her teasing, sardonic mask on her face. He was now standing less than a foot from her, and he smelled absolutely delectable. She found herself wanting to run her tongue across the smooth skin of his neck, just below his ear, to see if he tasted as good as he smelled. Arghh, she thought wildly, straining to keep her face impassive, what was wrong with her this morning?

  “Ready to wrestle with man-eaters this morning?” she asked nonchalantly, forcing bored indifference into her tone. It was taking real effort with him this close to her. Was she really that tired, she wondered, or was her lack of a sex life catching up with her?

  “First, I’m going to wrestle one of those sinful donuts into my stomach, and then I’m going to wrestle what happened to your arm out of you,” he stated matter-of-factly, reaching around her to open one of the boxes of donuts.

  After the set meeting, Derek was sent off to make-up and costume, and Gabi hurriedly escaped to the panther enclosure before he could stop and question her. When she got to the enclosure Russell had already laid all their gear out and was talking to the panthers through the fencing. Gabi took some quiet time to sit in the enclosure with the panthers and get to know them.

  Roughly petting the two panthers Gabi found herself wondering how supernaturals would be treated if they ever ‘came out’ to the general public. Would the world consider it type-casting to use a real Werewolf to play a Werewolf in a movie? How many computer and animatronics geeks would be out of work if producers discovered the existence of Shapeshifters and Magi? Would the world still consider supernaturals super villains and burn them at public stakes or lock them in a macabre version of a zoo, or would it welcome them and protect them, treating them like superstars and celebrities? It would create an uproar of unprecedented proportions, that was for sure.

  She was enjoying the quiet time with the panthers; being around animals like this was like warm, candlelit bubblebath for her soul. It washed away the grim reality of her other life. Interacting with them was the most beautiful part of her birthright, a counterweight to the ugliness of the violence and destruction necessitated by her crusade against evil.

  The male, Tynan, was just coming out of adolescence and was trying to assert himself as dominant. It was Tynan who had bitten the other trainer, so it was merely a case of the panther testing his new power and maturity. Gabi had to put him in his place twice, but after that he settled down and submitted to her dominance without any further animosity. The female, Ciara, was a real sweetie and within moments of Gabi’s entrance into the cage had settled down with her head on Gabi’s lap, demanding attention like a domestic cat.

  Although Gabi loved all the big cat species, lions were her favourite. She wondered if it was because of the time she had spent in South Africa at a lion sanctuary. It was her first proper assignment after graduating, and she had absolutely loved it, even though there were many heart-breaking moments during her six months there. The sanctuary took in cubs that had been orphaned or rejected at wildlife reserves, often weak and sickly, as well as lions confiscated from unscrupulous, so-called canned-lion farmers. The sanctuary tried to rehabilitate these lions and put them back into reserves, but often the rehabilitation didn’t go well, the lions’ familiarity with humans made them very dangerous. Gabi had concentrated on these difficult cases, and had been very proud of her success with some of them. She had vowed to go back again as soon as she had a few months to spare. There were some lions with serious disabilities or injuries that prevented them from being released, and these had a permanent home in the sanctuary. Gabi had come to love every single one of them, and she still got regular e-mails from the secretary of the sanctuary updating her on their lives.

  “Gabi.” Russell’s voice broke into her reverie. “The set is ready. We can take the cats through.”

  *******************

  Kyle was just warming up in the gym. He wanted to stretch out some kinks and then relax with twenty lengths in the pool before going into HQ to see what the roster was for the next few nights. As he got into position at the first piece of apparatus, his phone rang. He grimaced but jumped up to grab it, ignoring annoyed looks thrown his way by other patrons. He was surprised when he saw the caller’s ID.

  “Alex?” he asked by way of greeting. He walked out of the main gym area into a deserted corridor.

  “Kyle.” Alexander’s clipped voice was unmistakable.

  “You’re still awake?” he asked, confused.

  “I am indeed,” the Vampire confirmed. Kyle could picture the accompanying smirk. “Actually, I was about to go and get some rest, but wanted to give you a heads up and see if you were free to join us on a reconnaissance run tonight.”

  K
yle felt the icy tingle of excitement flood him. “You found something?” He moved further down the corridor as a pair of women came out of the saunas and paused to chat.

  “Sebastian has an address for us to investigate. It might not be anything exciting, but Julius and I will take a small group to check it out at sunset. You want in?”

  “Of course I want in. I’ll have to check with HQ though. I can let you know in an hour or so.” Then he had another thought. “What about Gabi? Have you called her yet?”

  “No, I contacted you first. Julius was concerned that she needed rest and recovery time, but we thought we’d let you make the final call on that one.”

  “Hmm.” Kyle chewed at his lip. “She texted me earlier to say she’s working on a movie set today. She definitely hasn’t had enough recovery time today. If we can get things wrapped up early enough, she won’t even know we’ve been out until it’s too late.” He said the words confidently enough to Alexander, but he knew she was going to be seriously pissed once she found out that they’d left her out of the mission. Well, he would deal with that later.

  “Fine,” Alexander agreed, “If you’re coming with us, be at the Estate before sunset.”

  *************************

  After some discussion with Russell and Donovan, Gabi decided to use Tynan for the close up shots of the panther tracking and then springing off a ledge because he was bigger and looked more dangerous, and Ciara for the shots of the tussle between the panther and the hero, because she was the less dominant and more playful of the two, and because Gabi didn’t want Derek and Tynan to have a male dominance standoff. She’d have to keep the two males as far apart as she could, and would still probably have to use subtle mind control to keep Tynan in check. Thank the Lord and Lady they hadn’t tried this without her and Russell, she would have to have a word with Tynan’s owners and get them to pull him from movie work until he got over his teenage nonsense and settled into responsible adulthood. Gabi let Russell do all the rehearsal shots with Ciara to make sure cameras and lighting were perfectly placed and everyone knew what to do and where to go. Derek practised his tussle with Ciara, and spent some extra time petting her and making friends, while Gabi occupied Tynan, making him practice his leap and trying out a selection of lures to find the one he liked best. They would use this to initiate his hunting behaviour for the ‘stalking panther’ shots.