Raising Hell: A Hellcat World Novel (Hellcat Series Book 7)

by Sharon Hannaford

  As quickly as the flurry of movement began, it ended. The Ghouls slumped to the floor of the station as though whatever life they had possessed had magically drained from them, including the two that hadn’t yet been harmed.

  As much as he wanted info, Kyle wasn’t taking any more chances; he drew a second butterfly sword from a sheath on his left leg, stepped forward and, ignoring the disturbing milky eyes staring up at him from those already decapitated, removed the heads of the two who still possessed theirs. They didn’t even flinch as the sword sliced through flesh and bone.

  Kyle stood looking down at his grizzly work, when Gabi’s hand touched his forearm.

  “Come,” she said, pulling at his arm.

  He backed away, keeping a close eye on all of them, still waiting for something more to happen. The others joined the two of them backing away until only Julius was still in the centre of the room. He threw the ball of fire up into the air and then turned, his black duster swaying around him.

  And then Gabi was tugging Kyle out the ruined door and off the station platform. As they hit the gravel on the old tracks of the railway line, they spun in unison. Julius was standing in the doorway with his eyes closed as flames, already taller than the Vampire, licked the window frames and cavorted in the doorway. When the small building was entirely engulfed in flame so hot that Kyle was finding it uncomfortable standing several metres away, Julius finally joined them.

  On the walk back Kyle debriefed Trish via the commlink, suggesting she give the building another few minutes before relinquishing the surveillance feeds back to the human authorities so that they could bring the blaze under control. He couldn’t quite shake the disappointment that they hadn’t found any obvious clues to the Ghouls’ origins.

  “This still doesn’t feel right,” Gabi muttered as they picked their way over the broken track. “I know it’s been a few years since we last came across Ghouls, but those just didn’t act like I remember.”

  “The ones we found underground back then, the ones who weren’t part of the army, they had normal heartbeats,” Julius said. “The ones that attacked us that night had unusually slow and irregular heartbeats.”

  “And these tonight had no heartbeat at all.” Gabi slowed as they approached the rear of the motel building, and they all wordlessly began to wipe down and conceal their weapons.

  “Do you think it matters who created them?” Kyle asked. “I mean…there are so many different types of demons; maybe different demons make different Ghouls.” It was the only theory he could dredge up. Maybe Trish and Murphy could dig up some more lore about Ghouls.

  “That’s as possible as anything,” Gabi conceded.

  “You should talk to Athena.” Stewart spoke up at last and then looked a little shocked that words had come out of his own mouth when they all turned to him.

  “Go on,” Kyle encouraged the Magus.

  “There will be documentation on…on…” Words failed him for a moment, but then he breathed deeply and set his jaw. “On what happened with the unchanged humans from the attack three years ago. Nothing we tried saved any of them, but maybe something in the notes and research gathered will help you.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Julius agreed. None of them had asked what had happened to those poor infected humans, but someone had to have put them out of their misery. It would’ve gone against everything the Castius Magi stood for to take lives like that. It seemed it still weighed heavily on them as a whole.

  “We need to check in with her anyway. Hopefully the break in the Veil has been located and repaired,” Gabi said. She vaulted the fence, followed closely by Mac and Fergus, and they returned to the vehicles in silence. They had just packed the last of the weapons away when they heard the first siren.

  Kyle was just about to ask Gabi what the next move was when a phone rang. ‘Thunderstruck’ rang out, and he couldn’t help the grin. He’d put the ringtone on Gabi’s phone several years ago as a prank; every time she got a new phone, he found a way to do the same thing. He’d decided that she secretly liked the ringtone, even though she grumbled about it and threw a fit every time he did it. She’d given up bothering to change it now. She threw him shade before answering; her expression changed as soon as she heard who was on the other side of the call. She beckoned him over with a flick of her head, and Julius joined them as well as Gabi put the call on speakerphone. The others stopped what they were doing to listen in but didn’t gather closer.

  “We’ve done a full sweep.” Athena’s voice came over the phone. “In fact, we’ve done it three times.” She paused for just a moment, but no one interrupted her, they just waited for the bad news. “There is no breech. The Veil is fully intact, and there haven’t even been any ripples to suggest an attempted breech.”

  “You’re sure?” Gabi asked, but she didn’t sound surprised. Nothing had been normal about this, and things were just getting weirder.

  “Absolutely.” Athena’s voice was clipped, but she didn’t sound genuinely offended. Everyone in the know took the idea of demons in the City very, very seriously.

  “What about other traces of demons?” Kyle checked. “Could one have somehow come in from somewhere else, have travelled from another city?”

  “We’ve put our very best and brightest on this,” she assured them. “They’ve come up completely empty-handed. If there is a demon in the City, it’s concealing itself in ways we’ve never come across before.”

  “Well, at the risk of sounding like a broken record,” Gabi sighed, “this whole thing just stinks. Something strange is going on here, something that I don’t like one little bit.”

  ********************

  Trish’s wolf prowled the back of her mind restlessly as she climbed into her car and waited for Riley to do the same. She’d been tempted to remove the woman’s handcuffs, the ones reinforced with silver and magic, but Trish figured she’d used up all of her good luck for the week with the stunt she’d pulled at Brendan’s house, and wasn’t keen to take any more chances with her own safety. To her credit, Riley hadn’t asked for them to be removed either. She’d sat quietly in a chair in the small bunker crammed full of surveillance equipment, computer gear and David Murphy.

  Riley had run appraising eyes over Murphy when they’d arrived, and Murphy had returned her blatant appreciation with his usual cockiness. Murphy was attractive in an alternative kind of way; tattoos and piercings were his weakness and only added to his bad-boy magnetism. And he was in very fine fitness, especially for a human. Although his day job consisted of sitting at a desk, his passion was parkour, and he still regularly joined the Werewolves on patrols through the City, challenging each other to flit through the most populated areas at breakneck speeds without alerting the norms to their presence. The respect Murphy held within the Pack was a testament to his prowess. It took a lot to impress a Werewolf.

  When they’d first met Murphy, he was heading up a group intent on killing Werewolves, acting under the influence of a vicious Vampire who had been sent to destabilise the City and cause trouble for Gabi, Julius and the Werewolves. After they’d broken the back of the anti-Werewolf uprising, they’d been left with several humans who had been fed Vampire blood and so couldn’t be mind-wiped to forget everything supernatural. Murphy and the others had opted for employment by Julius rather than banishment to outer Siberia. Although he’d started out working for SID as an investigator, he’d also had months with nothing to do between jobs and had begun helping out the Alliance as well. Over time he’d just naturally migrated to becoming Trish’s 2IC. His skill with all things technological, stint as a black hat, and knowledge of the dark web complimented Trish’s own hacking and programming skills, and between them there wasn’t much they couldn’t master in the virtual world.

  “Murphy is quite unusual for a human.” Riley broke the silence in the car, giving Trish a little side-eye as though gauging her reaction to her mention of the man.

  “He’s as close to Pack as anyone without the
virus can get,” Trish said, keeping her eyes on the dark road. She hoped the comment wasn’t too subtle, this woman was an unknown quantity, and Trish didn’t want her thinking that being human made Murphy an easy target.

  “Fair enough.” Trish could hear slight amusement in the woman’s tone. “Warning acknowledged.”

  “Are you going to give us trouble?” Trish asked after several more minutes of silence. She doubted the woman would answer truthfully, but whatever she did say could be telling.

  “Not the kind of trouble you’re thinking of,” she replied after a few moments. “I can truly only discuss the reason for my visit with Kyle, but I assure you that I’m not here to hurt anyone, if that makes you feel better.”

  Not the kind of trouble she was thinking of? What kind of trouble did she think this woman was bringing? She honestly didn’t know. Perhaps some kind of Werewolf challenge. That she would ask Kyle to set Trish aside as Alpha’s mate? Did she think that she was better suited to the position? It was all too much to process right now. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. She really needed some rest.

  They rode the rest of the way back to Haven in silence. Trish was relieved when Sicarius greeted her at the front door. He’d only returned yesterday from some secretive mission that he refused to discuss with anyone in the Pack. Trish suspected it had something to do with Eka. Sicarius and Eka had some kind of ongoing arrangement. She wasn’t sure how long Sicarius was indebted to Eka for, but she figured he wasn’t quite done with his tenure to the Vampire. The assassin had been sent with Flora ostensibly to act as her bodyguard, but Trish got the feeling there was a little more to it than that. Despite her misgivings about his sideline activities, she trusted him implicitly to keep Flora safe and, by virtue of that, not to betray the Pack or the Clan, who had all sworn to protect the girl like one of their own.

  “How was your trip?” she asked as she trudged up the stairs to the front door, Riley in her wake. Sicarius never seemed to change; his short-cropped hair, watchful eyes and military bearing were an innate part of his character. He would be packing several weapons, including a very illegal handgun and several knives, though you’d be hard-pressed to find them all.

  “Informative,” he replied enigmatically, his eyes flicking to the woman in handcuffs. “Rory filled me in on the events of the evening. I took over protection duty and let him go to get some sleep, as he’s on morning rotation. I assume this is the very mysterious Riley?”

  Trish suppressed a tired sigh. “Yes, this is Riley. Riley, this is Sicarius.” She turned slightly to study the woman’s face in the porch light. The woman was trying hard to keep her expression neutral, but she was clearly intrigued by the name. Trish wasn’t about to enlighten her. “Another human under Pack protection, not that he needs it,” Trish continued. “I wouldn’t try anything with him around if I were you. Not if you value your life, anyway.” She was too tired to sugar-coat her words.

  “You look exhausted,” Sicarius noted, his eyes narrowing on her. The man didn’t miss much; the accuracy of his assessments could be quite disturbing. “I’ve got orders from Kyle to place our visitor in med bay for the night. I’ll see she’s fed and has whatever she needs.” He moved past her and jogged down the steps. “Tell Flora I said goodnight.”

  “Thank you,” she said, grateful she had one less thing to worry about. “Just don’t forget we would like to speak to her in the morning, so let’s keep her in one relatively healthy piece, please.”

  Sicarius glanced back with a grin that could in no way be described as cheerful before ushering a suddenly nervous-looking Riley off towards the Hive.

  Trish stepped inside the house, closed the door, dropped her keys and handbag on the hall table, kicked off her shoes and dragged her weary body upstairs.

  CHAPTER 6

  Trish used an exorbitant amount of foundation to cover up the dark semicircles under her eyes and opened her rarely used blush to add a little colour to her face. She looked pale and drawn in the bright light of the bathroom mirror; it definitely wasn’t a good look for Pack Alpha’s mate. She’d dressed with particular care today: dark dress pants with an ivory silk blouse and stylish ankle boots with a three-inch heel. Then she’d added her beautiful but understated blue zircon bracelet and matching earrings that Kyle had given her for their first anniversary.

  Drawing a breath as she paused in front of the full-length dress mirror, she knew she wasn’t anywhere close to being prepared for whatever Riley would present to them this morning, but she would handle it anyway.

  She knew Derek was in the kitchen before she made it downstairs.

  “You stink,” she told her brother as she rounded the corner to find him pouring coffee. He was dressed in gym shorts and little else besides the prosthetic blade attached below the knee of his left leg.

  “Sorry, sis. Morning run and I haven’t hit the shower yet.” He turned to greet her, the smile fading from his face the second he saw her. He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  She sighed; it had to be him she saw first. “I slept badly, and it’s been a hectic couple of days,” she told him as she opened the dishwasher and took out a coffee mug.

  He was silent. He knew she wasn’t telling him everything. She’d never really been able to hide anything from him, and he’d only gotten better at reading people since he’d become a Werewolf. She set the mug on the counter next to him, and he filled it, waiting as she added cream and sugar.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s really going on?” he asked at last, leaning back against the kitchen counter and studying her face.

  “Not right now,” she told him firmly. She needed to keep it together, not collapse in a blubbering wreck this morning.

  “It has to do with the woman?” he pressed. “The one we’re interrogating this morning?”

  “I’m not sure interrogating is the right word, but she’s part of it,” Trish replied. She knew she had to eat, but her stomach was churning unpleasantly. The thought of food was vaguely nauseating.

  “Nothing she says will—” He was interrupted by a tiny whirlwind on two legs, who streaked into the kitchen, giggling hysterically and wearing nothing more than a pair of pink knickers. She slammed into Trish’s knees with the force of a small wrecking ball. Trish hugged the girl to her and brushed the untidy locks of blonde hair off her face.

  “Unca Derek, Unca Derek,” Breanna squealed once she noticed him, running to hug him as well. “Ooh, you been runnin’. You got the fast leg on today.” She patted the prosthetic. He had several other options depending on what he would be doing. Few people outside of the Pack even knew he was missing part of his leg; he had a tendency to wear long pants except when at home or at Haven. The first few years after he lost the lower part of his leg, he’d walked with a slight limp and had struggled with running. Now there wasn’t even the tiniest hitch in his step, and he could keep up with the best of them on the running trail. Even in wolf form he’d learned to compensate so well that his Beta position in the Pack remained unchallenged. “Can you chase me, Unca Derek?”

  Flora rushed into the kitchen with a harassed look on her face. She was holding a handful of pink and purple clothing liberally decorated with sequins and glitter.

  “There you are, you little runaway,” she panted, shaking her head with a rueful smile. “I hope you have someone fast looking after her today,” she told Trish, nodding a casual hello to Derek.

  Trish smiled. “Casey’s on morning duty; Adriana has afternoon. Between the two of them they should be okay.” She held out her hand for the clothing. “I’ll get the monkey dressed. You grab some breakfast before Jade arrives to get you to class.”

  “Good luck.” Flora grinned as she held out the clothing.

  Derek intercepted it, having picked up Breanna like a small sack of potatoes and flung her, squealing with pleasure, over one shoulder. “I’ll do it,” he told Trish. “You. Eat. Flora, make sure she eats.”

  Trish shot him a lethal glare,
but he was already out of the room with the wriggling child and the clothing.

  “You heard the man.” Flora raised both eyebrows in question, but turned to put four slices of bread in the toaster.

  Trish pulled a face, then went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. “Fried or scrambled?” she asked the girl as they set to working side by side with easy familiarity.

  “Scrambled is easier,” Flora said, already reaching into an overhead cupboard for a glass jug to pass to Trish. A sentimental pain hit Trish in the chest as she wondered if she would ever have this with Breanna, or if the girl would be off with the Magi once her gifts manifested, not looking back at the people who had raised her. She tried to shake off the melancholy. Kyle would be in from his morning debrief soon, and then they would have to face Riley.

  “I’ll be home latish tomorrow night,” Flora said, surprising Trish. “Is that okay?” It was still strange to have the girl ask permission despite them not being her parents or even legal guardians, but it was true to her character. She treated everyone around her with the deepest respect.

  “Of course, just let Sicarius know and make sure your phone GPS is on.” Trish hated being so much of a policeman, but between Flora’s powerful gifts and her association with Eka, she had a bright bullseye painted on her back. They couldn’t afford to take any risks with her safety.

  “Do you think…” Flora hesitated, busying herself buttering hot toast and not looking at Trish. “Do you think you can ask Sicarius to hang back and give me some space?”

  Trish paused in the act of pouring the beaten egg into the pan and glanced over at the girl. With her dark complexion it was impossible to tell for sure, but Trish thought that perhaps she was blushing. Her heartbeat was definitely faster than normal.

  “Are you going on a date with Deshane?” Trish asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral and light.