There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) (3 page)

Her whiskey
arrived with ice and a flourish. She wondered if the barman figured
her for an alcoholic, which was laughable considering she couldn’t
actually get drunk. And yes, she’d made some valiant efforts.
Christopher set a glass of chilled white wine in front of her
mother, removing the empty water glass as he laid menus down beside
each of them and then ghosted politely away.

Her mother
hadn’t faltered in her detailed description of each of the other
ladies in her yoga class. Unexpectedly, a soft bubble of happiness
blossomed in Gabi’s chest as she listened to her mother speaking so
excitedly about life. For so long she’d carried the memory of her
mother as a woman broken. One whose reason for living had been
cruelly snatched away, a child in an adult’s body, crying
helplessly in a corner. In the absence of any grandparents and with
her only aunt estranged, Gabi had been forced to become the adult,
taking on the responsibility of not only looking after herself, but
trying to keep the house running, ordering food deliveries,
arranging cleaning services and paying bills. Byron, her dad’s best
friend and literal comrade-in-arms, had helped out as much as
possible, but her mother had been very adept at pushing people
away. And then came the abusive, money-grabbing, asshole boyfriend.
When things inevitably turned physical, Gabi had dealt with the
problem, and Byron had cleaned up the mess. She snapped back to the
present as she realised her mother had stopped talking and was
watching her with knowing, sad eyes.

By an uncommon
miracle of timing, Christopher chose that exact moment to return
for their food order, gleaning her several more minutes of
respite.

“
Your hair looks great,” Gabi told her mother as Christopher
departed for the kitchen, but she knew the look in her mother’s eye
too well. The interrogation was about to begin.

“
Yours looks as though it could do with a trim, sweetheart.
When last did you see your hairdresser?”

Gabi was
stumped for a moment; she truly couldn’t remember the last time
she’d had a haircut. There simply hadn’t been enough hours in the
day, or night, in the last couple of months.

“
And you’re looking very pale,” her mother continued, “I think
you need to get some sun. Have you had a check-up with Ian lately?
I really must remember to call Byron and catch up with him next
week.”

Gabi suppressed
the sigh trying to escape as well as the suddenly pressing desire
to hide her hands under the table where her mother couldn’t see
them. That would simply be giving herself away. The positive side
to rarely seeing sunlight recently was the lack of a pale, telltale
mark on her left ring finger where the stunning engagement ring
from Julius usually rested. The bare spot itched with wrongness.
Her mother knew that she was in a serious relationship, she even
knew that Julius was a Vampire, but she didn’t know that the two of
them were connected by a Vampire bond that went way beyond the
human concept of marriage.

“
Are you having symptoms again?” her mother asked, worry
forming a little V between her eyebrows. Her mother was referring
to her unusual dietary needs and appearance of ill health that were
a direct result of her having Vampire DNA embedded in her own
genetic code. She was a Dhampir. Her mother still had no idea that
the essential ingredient her diet had been lacking was blood. More
specifically Vampire blood. Gabi had no intention of ever filling
her in on that particular detail. “I’m sure Ian will be able to
help. I know he’s become senior physician at the hospital, but he’d
make time for you.”

“
No, I’m fine, Mom,” Gabi assured her, forcing a smile as she
raised the sweating crystal tumbler to her lips and relished the
spicy bite of whiskey over her tongue. Ian would indeed help her
any time she called him. He was Byron’s son and had been the only
doctor she trusted with her secret until she’d become a part of
Julius’s life and had been able to open up to his resident Vampire
doctor, Jonathon, as well. Between the two of them they’d somehow
managed to keep her alive the past year despite the world’s best
attempts to the contrary. “I’ve just been really busy with the new
job as well as handing over the bulk of the animal business to
Russell.” She hoped the heavy make-up was succeeding in hiding the
dark rings under her eyes. She made a mental note to remember
bronzer on all her exposed skin in future.

Her mother’s
lips thinned into a stern line.

“
I’m not sure about this new job, Gabrielle,” her mother began.
“You have worked so hard to build your business and your name as an
animal behaviourist. You’ve become world renowned”—Gabi only barely
stopped the roll of her eyes—”and it was such a relief to hear that
you weren’t working for the Society anymore. Why do this to
yourself?” And there endeth the pleasant conversation. The pent-up
sigh left Gabi with a gusty whoosh.

The excellent
beef carpaccio was almost enough to calm her temper, even her
mother’s Caprese salad looked good enough to steal, but they’d
reached the point they seemed to reach in every conversation since
she’d become a Hunter for the Society. The stalemate. The point
where her mother rejected the fact that Gabi was her father’s
daughter and stubbornly refused to try to understand why Gabi
couldn’t spend her entire life pretending to be purely human. She
wanted Gabi to have the life she’d yearned for. The renovated house
with the white picket fence, a husband who left for work at a
normal job every morning while Gabi ran her own business part-time
and spent the rest of her time rearing beautiful children for her
mother to dote over. It wasn’t a ridiculous dream for a mother to
have, but it had never been Gabi’s dream, and it would never be her
reality.

Even poor Christopher sensed the tension as he arrived to
clear their plates and bring fresh drinks. He caught Gabi’s eye
with a pointed look; he’d do anything to help, she just had to give
him a sign. Gabi’s gaze flicked to the phone lying face down on the
table next to her elbow. One
urgent
phone call could put an end to her
misery.

No, she shook
her head almost imperceptibly; she needed to have this conversation
with her mother. If she could just hang onto her temper a little
bit longer, maybe they could finally come to some kind of
compromise. Their relationship had been strained for more years
than Gabi cared to think about. Christopher gave her a
surreptitious thumbs-up and retreated to check on another table
while Gabi buried her nose in her drink and tried to collect her
thoughts.

She truly did
want her mother to be part of her life, but for years had kept her
at arm’s length. At times that was for her mother’s own safety;
even now she was anxious about meeting her mother in public, where
the wrong person might see them and make the inevitable connection.
Meeting at midday in the hustle and bustle of the central City made
it hard, but not impossible, for those stalking her to track them.
But if she was being honest with herself, this ongoing disagreement
over her lifestyle choices was the main cause of the distance
between them. Her mother had been elated when Gabi had told her of
the SMV’s demise, and she’d hinted repeatedly that Gabi could now
begin to live her life, the one her mother wished for her.

Of course, Gabi would never live that life. Even setting aside
her role as Consort to one of the most powerful Master Vampires in
the world today, she was a Dhampir, the only living Dhampir
currently known to exist, and she was in demand with the darker
elements of the Vampire world. There were those who would stop at
nothing to gain possession of her. And then there was her new role
as a key member of SID, the acronym for Special Investigations
Division, the task force she and Julius led on behalf of the
Princeps, the governing council of Vampirekind. As the lesser of
the three most dangerous aspects of her life, this was the one
she’d chosen to tell her mother about. The last time the two of
them had spoken, Gabi had explained some of their duties, including
traveling the world searching for rogue Vampires. Her mother was
acutely aware of what dangerous Vampires could do; Gabi’s
eccentricities
, as her
mother called them, were a direct result of her mother’s encounter
with one. And even though Gabi had skimmed over, or left out,
details of the more life-threatening aspects of the job, her mother
had read enough between the lines that she was desperately unhappy
with Gabi’s decision to join the squad.

“
Mom,” Gabi said at last, setting the drained glass back on the
table. Yep, the barman definitely thought she was an alcoholic.
“I’ve said this before, but I really, truly need you to listen to
me.” She leaned forward, reaching across the table to cover her
mother’s agitatedly drumming fingers with her own. Her mother
stilled. The thin line of her mouth still radiated tension and her
eyes were hard, but she met Gabi’s gaze. “I’m sorry I’m not the
daughter you wished for,” Gabi said quietly.

Her mother’s
mouth opened, the disagreement clear in her eyes.

“
No, Mom, just listen,” Gabi cut her off. She was aware that
several conversations around them had quietened. A mother-daughter
squabble was much more interesting than their own chit-chat. “I
need you to hear me and know that I’m not confused about what I
want in life. Dad didn’t brainwash me into wanting to be something
I’m not; I just am what I am.” She squeezed her mother’s hand
gently. “I’m sorry you’ll never be a grandmother; I’m sorry you’ll
never be able to come over for Christmas lunch at my house and see
my husband firing up the barbeque or playing ball with the kids in
the backyard. I’m sorry you’ll never get to introduce me to your
book club or your yoga friends. Most of all, I’m sorry that there’s
a chance what happened to Dad could happen to me too.” She had to
glance down, away from the sudden sparkle of tears in her mother’s
eyes. “But I can do what I’m good at, I can do what I love. I can
try to make the City safer for everyone in it.”

She glanced
around the restaurant, noting some of the clandestine, sideways
glances. She was good enough at assessing people to make some
educated guesses. She nodded towards a nearby table. “So that that
lady’s children can play in their local playground,” she glanced at
another table, “and that man’s teenage son can go out clubbing with
his friends and come home safely at the end of the night,” then to
a table with an older woman and a child, “so that girl’s father
will make it home tonight to tuck her into bed. So that
Christopher,” her gaze settled on the young man hovering at the
door to the kitchen, “can meet the girl of his dreams and have
three naughty but perfect children who may or may not do incredible
things with their lives.” She looked back down at her hand covering
her mother’s. “So that when terrible things happen to people,
there’s a friend to help them pick up the pieces and rebuild their
lives.” She’d had to word things carefully because of the
eavesdroppers, but she knew that her mother would understand her
hidden meanings. Hopefully the uninvited listeners thought she was
police or military personnel.

Her mother’s
hand turned in hers, palm up and fingers clasping hers. Gabi dared
to look back up at her. Tears were running unheeded down her
mother’s cheeks.

Five minutes
later the rest of the diners had resumed their own conversations,
her mother had returned from repairing her make-up in the bathroom,
and their main course had arrived. After her impassioned speech,
Gabi felt drained but hopeful. Her mother hadn’t said much, but
Gabi sensed it would take time for her to rearrange her thoughts.
Gabi was learning to give people time and space when they needed
it. This was their chance to restart their relationship on a good
footing; Gabi prayed to the Lord and Lady that her mother would
come around. She had so many other seemingly unsolvable problems to
deal with that resolving this one would feel like a victory. And
right now she needed a victory, no matter how small.

She tucked into
her delectable seared fillet of salmon while her mother cut into
her parmesan chicken. They ate in pleasant silence for several
minutes. Gabi was just beginning to think that she’d been wrong
about her mini victory when her mother put her knife and fork down
and pushed her plate away.

“
You’re right, Gabrielle. I’ve been stubborn and I haven’t been
listening to you. I’ve walked around with blinkers on for years,
hoping that what you did was simply a misguided attempt to make
your father proud. I was wrong, and I’m the one who should be
apologising. I’m very proud of you, and I know I haven’t told you
that enough. Truth be told, you scared me a little when you were
younger. Your dad was always better at coping with
your…eccentricities.” She smiled sadly. “I’ll try harder to accept
your decisions in life, sweetheart, I promise.” This time she
reached across the table for Gabi’s hand, and Gabi took it. “But
please be patient with me, old habits die hard. And, sweetheart, as
long as you are young and healthy, I’ll never give up hope of one
day having that grandbaby.”

Gabi didn’t
have the heart to tell her the truth that would be the final nail
in the coffin of her mother’s hope. She’d stopped having periods by
the time she was eighteen, and several years later Ian had
confirmed that she wasn’t ovulating. She’d suspected from the grim
set of his mouth that he wasn’t telling her everything either, but
she’d been too much of a coward to press him for the whole,
unvarnished truth. But the fact remained the same, even if she’d
wanted to, she would never bear a child of her own.