There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6)

by Sharon Hannaford

  Fergus grunted in what Gabi assumed was agreement. “Aye, there isnae much left ay Isabella’s Clan, an’ their new Master willnae tak’ kindly tae any ay them steppin’ out ay line.”

  Gabi grimaced; Isabella’s case had certainly stood out from the rest. She had been an older Vampire and had had her sights set on joining the Princep Council, only she hadn’t been powerful enough. She was, so far, the only one who had perpetrated her crimes with the full, knowledgeable agreement of the majority of her Clan.

  “While most are doing this in secret,” Gabi told Kyle, seeing his confused frown, “only trusting a handful of lieutenants or their Consorts with the truth of what they’re up to, Isabella included a large portion of her Clan in her crimes. All those found to be colluding with their Master or House-leader are tried and punished in the same manner. The Princeps executed not only her, but more than thirty of her Clan members as well.” It had been their second case and it had been the hardest case they’d worked on, not only because of the arrest, trial and execution of so many Vampires but because of the utter depravity of the things Isabella had done to humans. “Those that were left have been taken in by Princep Thibault until they decide where to settle.” She chewed on her lip while she considered the idea. “Yes, I think they would be too bemused and disorganised to instigate something like this. What about Charles?” She glanced sidelong at Julius in question.

  “I think if Charles’s House wanted revenge, they’d be taking it out on Carmen’s Clan before us,” Julius said, his words measured. “So far most of our cases begin with information fed to us by other Vampires,” he explained for Kyle’s benefit. “The law not only incorporates Clan and house members who try to create Dhampirs but those with knowledge of the crimes. Any Vampire who knew or suspected what was going on and who hasn’t spoken up will join the rest of the guilty Vampires on trial. This decree is being taken very seriously by most Vampires, making our job a little easier. But in general the Vampires sending us information ask for anonymity. In Carmen’s case it was happening in a town not far from her city, and Charles was the leader of a House not a Master, so she didn’t feel the need to remain unidentified.

  “Instead of simply joining with Carmen’s Clan, the remaining members of Charles’s House have gone Solas Nomas, spurning Carmen’s offer of protection. We’ve warned her that they may be planning some kind of revenge, and she is keeping vigilant, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll focus on us when she is much nearer and more prominently in their sights.”

  “So what about this Sergei?” Kyle asked. “You think his Clan might come after you or Gabi?”

  “They were one of the strongest Clans in the Russian territory,” Julius told him. “He was a strong Master, but demanded unquestioned loyalty and obedience; he ruled through fear and aggression. I think he felt neglected by the Princeps and possibly was trying to overcome some inner self-doubt. He had no especially strong Vampire powers, just several average abilities, but enough of those to achieve Master level. His Clan has been taken over by his second, and though the man was cleared of any involvement in the Dhampir-creation attempts, he was adoring of his Master. While I still think it’s a long shot, it is possible that he would try to find a way to get even or possibly finish what his Master started.”

  “Even the last one sounds unlikely,” Kyle muttered after a moment’s consideration. “Who else makes the short list?”

  “Any Vampire with dreams of creating Dhampirs.” Alexander snorted in disgust. “If they can pull it off quickly enough, they could set up their own army before we figure out what’s going on. I doubt any of them realise it’s years before a Dhampir reaches maturity, but, for all we know, the Dhampir effect could be present in an infant’s blood. In many respects we know as little as the next person.”

  Everyone in the room understood how much a Dhampir’s blood supercharged the abilities of a Vampire, none more so than Julius and Alexander, who were the first to benefit in hundreds of years, though Fergus too had had a tiny taste when Gabi had once needed to rouse him from daysleep.

  “If the kidnappers know anything about Gabi,” Kyle said, “and they’d have to know plenty to pull off abducting her mother—they’ll know that she, the Clan and the Werewolves will pursue them relentlessly. They’ll be fully aware that they’re playing with fire.”

  Tension shivered through Gabi’s body. While they’d been discussing the cases, it had been easier to shift the dread to the back of her mind, focusing on the facts of the cases, pretending this one wasn’t personal. But it was, and nothing would change that. Julius’s hand gently tightened on her arm, reminding her that he was there.

  “We cannae ignore that th’ Decuria hae bin quiet.” Fergus spoke up from his position near the door. “It isnae beyond reason that they ur behind this.”

  The warning bell in the back of Gabi’s mind awoke at the mention of the Decuria, and she sat up straighter, pulling away from Julius to turn and lock eyes with him, gauging his reaction. They’d pushed their concerns over the Decuria to the back of their minds while they focused on SID assignments and Caspian. The Decuria—the Ten—and their sidekicks the Centuria had taken a back seat on their list of priorities. The antithesis to the Lucis. In Gabi’s mind they were the evil working against the good, but to each other they were merely factions with differing agendas. The Decuria had a simple vision: Vampire supremacy, a world where Vampires ruled, where humans were puppets and slaves and other supernatural races bowed to their commands. The Lucis fought to keep the status quo, allowing the races to intermingle on their own terms and keeping other supernatural races from domination.

  Julius had been approached by both sides, indirectly by the Decuria, who had tested them to see if their reactions were in alignment with the intentions of the Ten, and directly by the Lucis, who had explained some of the background machinations of the two opposing forces. With Julius’s burgeoning strength and abilities and his alignment with the only living Dhampir in the world, he’d been given no choice about being drawn into the power struggle. He, Gabi and the Clan had been forced to pick a side.

  As much as they would’ve preferred to stay neutral, they’d chosen the Lucis and, through their current work as SID, were fulfilling their assignment both to the Princeps and the Lucis. While the Princeps never were fully on either side, currently the Lucis had the upper hand, and, unless someone began offing Princeps, it would remain that way for the foreseeable future. Gabi liked that outcome. Having the Princep Council working against you was an uncomfortable position to be in.

  So far there had been no repercussions from their decision to spurn the advances of the Decuria, but that didn’t mean there never would be. While Princep Benedict, a member of the Lucis Higher Order and their direct contact with the Lucis, assured them that the two factions had a tacit agreement not to assassinate each other’s ranking members, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t make an exception. And having the only Dhampir on their side might well be the kind of advantage that provoked the Decuria into action. Benedict had warned them it was a possibility, but as there had been no signs of revenge or retribution since they’d made their affiliations clear, they’d gradually relaxed about that particular threat.

  Fergus was right though, it was just as likely to be them as anyone else, if not more so.

  “Yes,” Julius said at last, his gaze still locked with Gabi’s, “this feels more like something they would do, like something they have the manpower to achieve.”

  Gabi felt her breathing quicken as a clammy chill spread through her. “What will they do to her?” she whispered as a barrage of sickening possibilities flashed through her brain.

  “Wait, we’re being stupid,” Kyle suddenly said, jumping up from his seat. “We’re forgetting the Magi. They can track her, like they tracked you.” Gabi didn’t like to be reminded of her stint of torture under the brutal ministrations of Mariska and Dantè, Julius’s demon-controlling younger brother, in what, they’d since discovered, was Dan
tè’s attempt to gain entry into the upper echelons of the Centuria. She’d survived long enough for a talented Magi Tracker to find her and for Kyle and Julius to arrive with the supernatural cavalry. “We need to get hold of Athena.”

  Holy shit, why the hell hadn’t she already thought of that? Renewed hope surged in Gabi’s chest.

  “I’ll do it,” Alexander said, rising as well, his phone already in his hand.

  Gabi was surprised. Athena, a member of the Magus High Council, and Alexander had been in an on-off relationship for several months, but Gabi had thought it was more off than on. The speed with which Athena answered the call belied Gabi’s assumptions.

  Alexander didn’t waste time with pleasantries, quickly summarising the events of the last few hours and rounding out with a just-slightly-short-of-terse request for help from her best Tracker. There was no need for speakerphone when everyone in the room had better than human hearing. Athena had remained quiet while Alexander spoke, and her silence stretched on after he finished speaking. Gabi knew it was a lot to take in, and she knew that there was much going on in the Magi world that they were no longer privy to, but the lack of an instant offer to help still stung. Before the battle for the Source, with its terrible repercussions ripping through the Magi community, she and Athena had been poised on the brink of a reluctant friendship.

  “Please tell Gabi I’m truly sorry to hear about her mother’s abduction,” Athena said, the honesty of her words clear even over the phone. “Unfortunately Stewart, the Tracker who found Gabi, is not in the City at the moment. He is tracking a…something…very important to us in the wilds of Scotland. Right now he isn’t even contactable.”

  The hope Gabi had been trying not to allow to life died before it bloomed, but she still felt its death keenly.

  “When will he be back?” Alexander asked.

  “I can’t give you an exact answer.” Athena sighed, and the weight of the world echoed in her heavy breath. “I wish I could, but he will be back when he finds what he’s been tasked to track, and not before. Even if I could contact him, I don’t have the authority to call him back. I’m sorry.”

  “Is there anyone else?” Alexander pressed. “Another Tracker who might be able to help us? Even one from another city or another country?” There was another pause.

  “Stewart is without peer as a Tracker of living beings. There are many who can track objects but only a handful like Stewart. His closest rival is now retired; she is close to a century and a half old and no longer travels. The best I could offer is Trinity; she is one of our strongest Banishers, but she has a lesser gift of Tracking, though she can only track objects. Perhaps you can give her enough to work with that she can help narrow your search.” She gave them a moment to absorb her words. “Would you like me to send Trinity to you?”

  Alexander looked at Gabi and Julius. They both nodded before exchanging a look. Any chance was better than nothing.

  They met Trinity at Julius’s hotel in the City centre. Gabi remembered the tall, slender woman from her days hunting demons and rogue Werewolves for the SMV. She was one of those special Magi who had the ability to banish demons back to the Etherworld, the poisoned plane that demons existed in. While the best practice was to kill a demon here in the natural world, if it managed to cross over, occasionally a Hunter wasn’t available or too many demons crossed at once. In those dire times Banishers sent them back to their own plane alive, but unfortunately with the innate knowledge of how and where to cross the Veil again.

  The Magus was escorted into the secret elevator behind a high-tech security door and down into Julius’s Lair, as Gabi had dubbed it. A secure level of rooms and lockable chambers below ground level that would serve as a bolt-hole for Julius and his Clan if the shit ever hit the fan one day. Alexander brought her into the comfortable meeting room, where Kyle, Gabi and Julius waited around a dark, glass table.

  “Hello, Trinity.” Gabi was the first to greet her. “Thank you for agreeing to help us.”

  “Of course.” Trinity smiled sadly. “I’m sorry about what has happened. I’ll help in any way I can. Please know that the Magi of the City aren’t keeping their distance because we no longer care. Quite the contrary, actually. Athena wanted me to reiterate that she will always render any assistance she can, and asked that I convey to you not to hesitate to call on us in the future.” Trinity paused for a moment, looking down at her hands, but it was obvious she had more to say. “Athena walks a fine line with the High Council. She is so much younger than the rest of them, and they hold it against her, but she is on your side and she does care, I swear it. More than you have any idea.” She looked up and pierced Gabi with her gaze.

  Gabi nodded and sat back in her seat with a sigh, any tinge of animosity towards Athena dispelled by the obvious sincerity of the message that had been sent.

  “Please explain to us how your gift works,” Gabi said as the Magus took a seat in the chair brought over by Alexander for her. “Athena only said that you can track objects, not how or what objects.”

  “Well, usually I ask the person seeking the object to join minds with me while thinking of the object,” Trinity explained, with no hint of impatience or condescension. “If they can capture the true essence of the object in their mind, I can usually sense where it is to within a few hundred metres. Generally speaking, the seeker needs to have touched or seen the object in reality, not simply through a photo or video, for example. I can be fairly precise, but I can’t track over vast distances. About a hundred kilometres is my outer limit. The most reliable way to track is also the least common, in my experience. If you have an actual piece of what you are seeking, I can get the bearings of the rest of it just by holding it, and usually I can lead you to within a few metres of it.” She paused to see if the rest of them were following her; when Gabi nodded, she continued. “Most importantly, the closer to unique the object is, the better the chances I can track it.”

  Gabi’s confusion must have shown on her face.

  “I probably couldn’t track your lost black iPhone, because there are so many of them in the world, but if it was a blinged-out, pink iPhone, I could probably work with that. A white Toyota hatchback would be almost impossible, but a licence plate I could track.”

  Gabi nodded her understanding.

  “My mom’s engagement ring?” Gabi asked after a quick mental catalogue of the objects her mother might have with her.

  “Yes, that would be a good piece to start with,” Trinity agreed. “It’s individual and will have meaning to you; that helps as well.”

  “Do you need anything special before you get started?” Julius asked in a calm voice. He’d stayed quiet up to now, aware of how overwhelming most people found his presence.

  Trinity’s eyes flew to him, and her cheeks flooded with colour before she just as quickly dropped her gaze. “No, no, nothing special,” she said, hiding her fluster by dipping her head and allowing her long, dark blonde hair to fall over her face. “Just quiet, no disturbances, please. Gabi, would you come and sit in front of me?” Her professionalism took over and she turned her chair so that Gabi could place another chair in front of her.

  “We’ll leave you; call if you need anything. I’ll make sure a car is ready for us,” Julius told Gabi, placing a hand on her shoulder and flooding her mind with warm reassurance.

  She nodded, reaching to squeeze his hand for just a moment, and then sat down in the chair to face Trinity. A second later the door closed and the two of them were alone.

  “I know this is hard, Gabrielle.” Trinity spoke with quiet firmness. “But I need you to utterly clear your mind of all worries, concerns and fears. Close your eyes and concentrate on my voice instead.”

  Gabi pulled a long, slow breath into her lungs. Everything she’d thrown into the back of her mind earlier was now flying around at dizzying speed. Closing her eyes, she began, one by one, to face each fear and place it carefully into a box inside her mind, visualising putting a heavy lid on each o
ne and moving to the next until finally the frantic buzzing of thoughts inside her head had gone still. Trinity’s calm voice instructed her to relax each muscle in her body one by one, and she followed the instructions, slipping into a semi-meditative state with surprising ease.

  “Now, Gabrielle, I need you to think of your mother’s ring.” Trinity’s voice was far way but clear in the quiet of her mind. She allowed a picture of her mother’s hand wearing the dainty white gold and diamond ring to fill her mind. “Once you have a picture of it, think of what the ring means to you and what it means to your mother then allow those emotions to fill you.” The image in her mind was crystal clear; her mother’s hand betrayed her age, the first signs of wrinkles as the plumpness of youth receded, and a few age spots where once pale, unmarred skin had been. Gabi hadn’t taken the time to think of her mother aging before. And what it meant. Her father hadn’t reached the age where it had become a consideration, but now the stark reality of human-speed aging hit Gabi in the chest. She had grown used to living amongst those who aged slowly or not at all.

  “Have you got the image in your mind, Gabrielle?” Trinity’s voice brought a halt to her meandering thoughts and she refocused on the ring itself. “I need to meld my mind with yours now. I’m going to take your left hand in mine.”

  Gabi felt the cool touch of the Magus’s fingers around her hand. She concentrated on the ring, thinking of the day her mother had married Evan. It had been a quiet ceremony with a handful of friends from both sides. The morning had begun with rain and grey clouds, but by the time the official ceremony was over and they left the tiny church, the sun had come out. Her mother had looked radiant, a decade younger than the grief-burdened woman Gabi remembered from her teenage years. She allowed the happiness of the day, the relief that she no longer had to worry about her mother and sense of right in the world to infuse her, pouring the memories into the image of three sparkling diamonds in a classic setting.