Come Hell or High Water (Hellcat Series Book 5)

by Sharon Hannaford

  So far, Julius had slept alongside her every night she’d spent at home since the ward had fallen. They alternated between her place and his; she was stubbornly clinging to keeping her own space, as much for her pets as for herself, and desperately trying to not lose herself in Julius entirely. She knew that Razor wouldn’t bat an eyelid at being moved to the Estate, and Rocky the tiny squirrel would settle in easily enough as well. Her concerns were for Slinky, her ferret, who’d never quite seemed to recover his normal personality after Gabi’s abduction from the house, and Roman, the patient, obedient, adorable Rottweiler Gabi had taken on from Trish when her friend had been infected with Lycanthropy. Dogs and Werewolves did not see eye to eye. Gabi feared that Slinky would regress further into himself if she moved him, and that Roman would struggle to cope with the number of Werewolves that lived and worked at the Estate.

  A small rustle reminded her that Kimberley was still there. She sighed inwardly, shelving her domestic worries for the meanwhile. They could wait another few days. Rose had just last week told Gabi that one of her nieces had left high school and was studying to be an animal behaviourist; and she was at the age where she couldn’t yet afford her own place, but was butting heads with her mother, so she’d be only too happy to house- and pet-sit whenever Gabi needed her to. Gabi had already asked Rose to bring her around to meet the pets.

  “What do you need me to do, Kimberley?” she asked the other woman, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. Kimberley had arrived at Gabi’s house a few minutes ago, shortly after Gabi herself got home from the Estate, and Rose had made them coffee before bustling on with the housework, leaving them to talk without interruptions. Rose was a true gem.

  “Just continue your day,” Kimberley told her again, with irritating pleasantness. “I just need to watch how you walk and talk, see your mannerisms when you approach other people. Please, try not to mind me and just go on with what you would normally do.”

  Gabi’s teeth clicked together, and she fought to breathe evenly. The woman didn’t just need to be able to mimic her exactly, Gabi also had to lend her clothes and boots. And not only because Kimberley owned nothing that looked like it belonged to Gabi; part of Kimberley’s Doppelganger gift was the ability to erase her own scent, but she wasn’t able to replicate another person’s smell. The clothes would help to conceal the absence of Gabi’s actual body odour.

  Kimberley was going to be tested after the sun went down. She would have to fool Julius, Alexander, Kyle, Patrick and Fergus; otherwise they’d be at this for another twenty-four hours. Gabi had no intention of subjecting herself to another day of this stranger’s scrutiny, so she would make damn sure she got it right the first time. Razor shifted in his seat next to Gabi, his tail twitching and his flat stare trained on the Doppelganger. Kimberley’s eyes flicked to the big cat and she swallowed convulsively. He didn’t trust the woman one little bit and was making his feelings perfectly clear. Gabi couldn’t blame him. After all, it had been Razor who’d known that Kimberley was concealing herself with Kyle’s body all those months ago, and he was fully aware of her gifts and tendencies. Realising that hanging around at home wasn’t going to get them anywhere, and Razor was going to distract Kimberley from what she was supposed to be doing, Gabi stood.

  “Fine,” Gabi said. “I need to see the new High Magus of the City about something. Let’s go.”

  Razor turned his disgruntled look on her when she conveyed to him that he was staying home for the day, but she grabbed Rocky from the nearby counter and stuck her on the cat’s back. Rocky would keep Razor amused for the morning. With a yelled goodbye to Rose, she collected her keys and jacket and led the way back outside, Kimberley trailing in her wake.

  She hadn’t seen Athena alone since the aftermath of the battle for the Source, and she had a few questions for the Magus. She hoped that now Irene had been laid to rest, Athena would talk to her. She even knew where to find the Magus at this time of the morning; the Magi might have broken away from the SMV, but Gabi still had friends. Friends in all kinds of high, and low, places.

  Kimberley was quiet in the car. Gabi had chosen the BMW again so as not to attract unwanted attention, but it was still the kind of car that tended to warrant a second look from some men, and the occasional woman. She blamed the darkened windows. Other road-users probably suspected a celebrity of some kind inside. Anyhow, at least no one bothered them when they were stationary. Not that a human would pose any kind of threat. Certainly not to this car. They would need to be armed with a rocket launcher to get even close to harming the occupants. The coating on the BMW was Savannah’s special protective formula. The one she used on clothing for Julius to go out in the daylight, and the one that had saved Gabi from a sniper’s bullet through the windshield a few weeks ago.

  Gabi still didn’t know for sure who or what was behind the sniper’s attempt on her life, but the general consensus of the Vampires was that Helene, the Princep whose ambition it had been to bed and ensnare Julius, was behind it. She glanced back as she stopped the car at a red light; her protective detail was three cars back—two Werewolves, one fairly new to Julius’s employ, the other an old hand. On another morning she would be tempted to try to lose them, just for practice. It was a secret game they played, and it had its own rules, one of which was that Gabi wouldn’t ever truly evade them, that might cost her bodyguards their jobs, but this morning her energy was focused elsewhere.

  She caught Kimberley staring as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting at traffic lights made her impatient, but the woman was openly fascinated by the movement.

  “What?” she demanded from the Shape-shifter.

  Kimberley’s eyes flew to hers and she gave a little start, reacting like she’d been caught doing something rude. “Uh, sorry.” She gave a little shrug and looked out at the traffic. “I guess it’s just that I expected you to be more like them.” She put emphasis on the last word.

  “Them, as in?” Gabi was confused. The light turned green and Gabi eased the BMW forward with the other vehicles.

  “Vampires,” Kimberley said, as though the answer was obvious. “You know…they move so differently to humans and even the rest of us. I expected you to be more like them, but you’re not.”

  Gabi glanced over at her, a little intrigued. “What do you mean?”

  At her question, Kimberley’s eyebrows shot upward. “You mean you don’t see it anymore?” she asked. “Hmm,” she made a contemplative sound, “maybe it’s just always seemed natural to you, or maybe it’s because I’m always watching other people and studying how they move.”

  Gabi turned a flat stare on the woman; people rambling on was a pet peeve.

  “Well, Vampires are so naturally still,” Kimberley hurried on. “They don’t fidget or shift or have tics like the rest of us. They rarely breathe and don’t swallow nervously or blink regularly. To me they seem quite alien, but they must fool others, as they do walk amongst us at times.”

  Gabi made a little grunt of surprise, she’d never thought of it, but what Kimberley said was true. Was her life so bizarre that she didn’t notice such an obvious thing? Or was her mind just too occupied with more serious concerns? Either way, it was an interesting observation, one she would be making more note of in future.

  “Werewolves tend to move more than the rest of us; Magi and Shifters are quite similar to humans in that respect. We shift weight, scratch, stretch,” she explained to Gabi. “Vampires rarely do any of the unconscious things we do all the time. They make an interesting study when you can get over being intimidated by them.”

  Gabi might have discussed the matter further, but they’d arrived at the dojo a block away from Magi Headquarters.

  Athena had called Gabi just days after the battle and asked her advice on taking up some kind of combat training. The events of the battle as well as those leading up to it had changed something in Athena, she’d obviously hated feeling vulnerable in the face of the demon and Dark Magi onslau
ght. Gabi had given it some thought before suggesting kick-boxing and jujutsu to Athena. Jujutsu was based more in defence than outright attack, and taught ways of using the attacker’s own movement against them as well as moves like joint locks and throwing techniques, while kick-boxing improved all-around fitness, speed and stamina. She’d referred Athena to this dojo, based on a referral from Derek; he’d known the sensei for years, and one of his specialties was empowering women, so he wasn’t rigid about the style of fighting as long as it incorporated something useful to self-defence.

  Though Gabi herself had trained in many other varieties of Japanese combat over the years, she’d avoided jujutsu; she wasn’t too keen to get up close and personal with the creatures she regularly fought. For Athena, though, it was about peace of mind, taking back her life and feeling in control once more. It was highly unlikely she’d ever need the skill set to actually fight off a supernatural attacker, but a human one would get a proper fright if he tried.

  Gabi hadn’t seen any of Athena’s training sessions, but she’d heard reports that Athena was throwing herself into both disciplines as thoroughly as she threw herself into anything she considered worthwhile. She might never make black belt, but she was holding her own against some of the more experienced students, and that was a considerable accomplishment in such a short space of time.

  Gabi found a parking spot easily enough. This part of the City was set away from the main hustle and bustle. At the door to the dojo she respectfully removed her boots and waited as Kimberley followed her example. It wasn’t required of guests, but the habit was long ingrained in Gabi.

  ********************

  Athena brushed the sweaty strands of hair from her face with the back of her boxing glove. Then she began the routine again. Left, right, torso, head, knee to the groin, left, right…she blinked as a bead of sweat trickled into her right eye. She wiped it away against her shoulder without breaking her rhythm. She’d never thought this kind of expenditure of physical energy to be in any way beneficial to a person. Until she’d tried it for herself.

  Spurred by an entirely unfamiliar feeling of helplessness when caught in the middle of the most bloody Magi battle in centuries, she’d vowed to train herself to fight with her body instead of simply relying on her Magi abilities. Seeing how capable Gabi was, able to handle herself in almost any situation, had sparked a tiny flame of envy inside Athena. Gabi had been one step away from killing or permanently disabling the Maleficus despite being injured, exhausted and fighting one of the most powerful Dark Magi on the planet. How close she’d come to allowing Gabi to pull the trigger on the crossbow would haunt Athena forever. She’d known the instant she came within sight of Mariska that she was hosting two new souls; just as she’d known that one of those souls was so pure that it shone with a light brighter than the sun, and that the other shone with an entirely different kind of light. In Athena’s mind the aura surrounding the other one was a deep, dark, blood red.

  Left, left, right, right, torso…

  Thunk, thunk, whump. The connection of her glove against the dummy made satisfying noises. Her breathing was becoming more ragged, and her arms were growing heavy, but she didn’t slow or falter.

  The two contrasting souls were growing brighter by the day. Contrary to the stories allowed to filter through the Community grapevine, Mariska wasn’t being held in a dungeon five stories underground in one of the most secure facilities on the planet. She was in a medical facility on the outskirts of the City, under twenty-four-hour surveillance after trying twice to take her own life. The first suicide attempt had very nearly been successful, so ongoing treatment and observation at a medical facility was vital. Pregnancy for a Magus had the largely unknown side effect of negating the Magus’s Magi powers. Bizarrely, the more powerful the Magus, the more entirely her powers disappeared. Mariska wasn’t taking the disappearance of her power well. She was living under the assumption that the Magi High Council had found a way to bind her power. Not that she was any kind of rational. Athena wasn’t sure she was completely sane.

  Having only heard of her exploits, the Council, and Athena too, had simply assumed Mariska had been born a sociopath, simply unable to feel the emotions and empathy that the rest of humanity felt. But whether through circumstance, or perhaps the effect of Dark Magic upon the psyche, it seemed she had entirely lost touch with reality.

  Thwack, a final knee to the groin and she knew she was done. Her breath rasped in her lungs, sweat obscured her vision, and the world was beginning to sway a little. She leaned forward, her boxing gloves on her knees, swallowing back down the cup of herbal tea she shouldn’t have drunk before her session.

  Too many responsibilities swirled through her head. Usually a good session like this was enough to clear the thoughts, even for just a few minutes, but not this time. Irene’s absence still hung heavy on her. Despite regular disagreements and common differences of opinion, Irene had been a constant in her life since the day she turned twelve and her powers awoke.

  The confusion over how she felt about the two men who’d recently come into her life had been forced to take a back seat as she dealt with the aftermath of the battle, largely on her own. Arranging more than a dozen Magi funerals as well as the special ceremonies to commit the bodies of the Dark Elders and the dead Gemini twin to the ground, in such a way as to prevent anyone using them to commit further evil.

  The other Gemini twin was another concern. He was catatonic; alive, but not alive. His body functioned, he was perfectly healthy with no sign of injury or disease, but his mind was completely absent. The loss of his twin had destroyed any remaining hint of sanity. Athena was of the opinion that euthanasia was the most humane option, but so far she’d been unable to convince the rest of the High Council. They wanted to give him more time to come back to himself. They wanted him to stand trial and be dealt with according to the outcome of that trial. Athena chafed at the bureaucracy.

  As her breathing became less laboured and the room came back into focus, she drew herself upright, straightened her shoulders and prepared to hit the showers. As she grabbed her towel off the bench near the wall and mopped her face, her phone, which lay beneath it, rang. Benedict’s name flashed on the screen and something in Athena’s chest tightened. She picked up the phone, her finger hovering undecided over the two icons under his name. Answer or Ignore? Before she could make up her mind, the doors to the gymnasium swung open and Gabi strode in, a vaguely familiar woman at her side and a determined look on her face.

  ********************

  When Gabi pulled the BMW up to the security gates outside the Estate, her mood had not improved. She’d left the dojo in a foul temper. Athena wouldn’t tell her anything beyond that Mariska was alive, pregnant and securely contained, and that the remaining half of Gemini was still non-responsive, essentially catatonic. Despite the fact that Mariska had tried repeatedly to have Gabi killed, the Magi considered their claim on her the overriding one. Athena claimed her hands were tied by the rest of the High Council; she was under strict instructions not to reveal anything more to Gabi or anyone not of the Magi High Council. Gabi could see and hear the ring of truth to her words, but that didn’t tamp down Gabi’s flare of temper one iota.

  And it didn’t help that Kimberley was around to witness her near loss of control. Nor did it help that her behaviour seemed to actually excite the woman. Throw that on top of the prospect of Julius heading to the Princep Court with another woman at his side, one who could possibly get him killed, and she was beginning to see the first signs of red at the very edges of her vision. The Werewolf guards at the gate sensed her mood and didn’t bother with their usual cheery small talk, instead standing smartly at attention as she eased the car through the gates.

  “Is Patrick on the Estate this morning?” she asked the one closest to her, slowing the car and opening her window.

  “Yes, he is,” the man confirmed. “Shall I radio for him?”

  “Just ask him to meet me at the gym
when he has a spare moment. I’ll be there for the next couple of hours.”

  The man nodded sharply and jogged immediately towards the guardhouse.

  She drove too fast along the narrow drive towards the large gymnasium building nestled on the far left side of Julius’s ninety-acre Estate. His place dwarfed her fifteen acres of rural scrubland, and looked like an entirely different world. Large trees, sculpted gardens and manicured lawns filled the spaces between the large mansion house, the smaller staff cottages and the outbuildings that housed things like communal kitchens, sports facilities and recreational outlets. Julius provided everything his staff, Clan members and the human Feeders needed to live in relative luxury. The gym building she was heading towards had a full hall of gymnastics equipment, an Olympic-size indoor pool, a basketball court, tennis court and a room full of the kind of workout equipment you’d find at a typical inner-city gym.

  “I’m going to burn off some steam,” she told Kimberley as she swung the BMW into a parking space and slammed on the brakes. “Join me or watch me, whatever you need to do, but stay the hell out of my way.”

  After thirty lengths in the pool, she dried off and changed into leggings and a crop top, replaced her knee and ankle brace, and hit the weight circuit. Kimberley stayed a safe distance away and simply watched in silence. Gabi was into the third round of the weight circuit when a fit, middle-aged man of medium height, with dark hair just beginning to grey, pushed through the doors into the gym.