There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) (7 page)

One more smear
of the blood that still trickled from her hand and she felt the
emergence of the familiar warmth deep inside her mind. The presence
that was Julius. Gentle as a feather, but solid as granite. She
leapt from the bed, retreating from him, her back to the bedroom
door, her hand outstretched to yank the door open if she needed to.
She’d already cleared the few remaining Werewolf staff from the
mansion. That way, if he chased her naked through the house, she
wouldn’t be forced to dig any of the females’ eyes out afterwards.
Under other circumstances it could’ve been an extremely
entertaining start to the evening.

And then Julius was a rush of air and masculine scent
barrelling directly for her. She let out an undignified squawk and
yanked open the door to tumble out into the hallway, barely keeping
her feet. Razor’s warning hiss mingled into the confusion as Gabi
hurled one thought at Julius across their link.
It’s me, it’s me, it’s me.

Julius caught
her wrist in a bruising grip, yanking her towards his chest and
knocking the wind from her as she collided with him. “Shit,” she
wheezed, trying to draw breath into her empty lungs. Just when
she’d thought she was getting better at this.

And then Julius
stilled. “Lea?” he growled, confusion tainting his voice, a man
emerging from a dream. Her bleeding hand was just millimetres from
his mouth, and his fangs glistened, large and prominent, as he drew
in her scent through his open mouth.

“
Yes, it’s me,” she gasped, still trying to refill her airways.
He brought her hand to his mouth and licked the small stab wound,
closing his eyes as he savoured the taste.

“
You woke me for an emergency, I assume?” he asked, his words
slow and measured, regret already tinging them.

“
Of course.” She coughed a little and automatically snapped her
mental defences back into place before he could read the riot of
emotions engulfing her.

“
Gabrielle.” Julius released her wrist and plunged his hands
into her hair, turning her face up to his, concern narrowing his
eyes. “What is it?”

Anxiety rode
Gabi hard, the constant flow of adrenalin was causing her chest to
tingle and her stomach to knot. She barely noticed the sting of the
self-inflicted bite wound in her lower lip, but she was aware
enough of the three Vampires in the room with her that she made an
effort not to draw blood again. Being still was physically
impossible.

Pace, pace,
pace…

Exactly six and
a half paces and then she had to turn.

Pace, pace,
pace…

In the
comfortable, informal space they called the entertainment room,
Julius stood with his arms folded, outwardly calm and just two
steps from the centre of her pacing track, close enough that she
didn’t feel alone, far enough that she didn’t feel smothered. Razor
was seated on the bar counter, his intelligent yellow eyes
following her every movement and his tail twitching with his own
disquiet. She would soothe him if she could, but right now, if she
opened her senses towards him, she’d only unsettle him further.

“
Fill us in. What have we got to go on?” Alexander asked,
concern etched across his perfectly drawn features. He and Fergus
had joined them minutes after Julius had gone to rouse them,
despite the last rays of sun still colouring the landscape.
Alexander was now at Master level, with Fergus not far away from
it, but neither would take the final test so long as Julius was
still alive. And not for fear of Julius but instead out of loyalty
and respect.

“
Kyle says that whoever took her was professional about it,”
Gabi said; her voice sounded dispassionate to her own ears. “They
used a blow-dart to take out her tyre and made their move when she
pulled over. They knew exactly where to take her from, the only
blind spot to street cameras. And they knew the kind of people who
would be trying to track her. They used perfumed aerosols all over
the scene. Not even Kyle could pick up a scent marker.” Her voice
cracked just a tiny bit, and she had to clear her
throat.

Julius took
over the account. “Her car was closed and locked, the keys left in
the gutter, her bag and phone missing, no evidence of their
presence left at the scene. There were also no traces of blood or
any signs of violence. Whoever took her was careful of her
well-being.” He was gently reminding Gabi that her mother was more
than likely safe. At least for the moment.

“
That’s good tae know.” Fergus spoke up for the first time. As
usual he was standing near the door. The ruggedly built Scotsman
with the vicious scar down the side of his face was always on
guard; it was his natural state of being.

“
Trish was able to track the suspicious van to the outskirts of
the central city, and then lost them.” Gabi spoke again, her throat
still tight, but her voice clear. “There aren’t as many cameras
once you leave the main CBD. These guys were acutely aware of
cameras when they…when they took her, so it stands to reason that
they would know how to escape without leaving much of a trail. They
were last spotted on the eastern fringe near the university. It
looks as though they were heading for the southern motorway, but
that might just be what they want us to think.”

“
The Werewolves are mobilising; teams have been sent to the
airports, train stations and all major routes exiting the City,”
Julius continued. “They have the description of the van and the
suspects.”

Alexander’s
eyes narrowed contemplatively. “Has this got something to do with
one of SID’s cases?” he asked. He left the rest unsaid, but they
all knew what he was alluding to. Before anyone could reply, the
doorbell rang and they could hear Kyle’s voice.

“
Send him through, Claudia.” Julius barely raised his voice
with the order to his newly appointed head steward. Gabi and
Maximillian, the previous steward, had never truly seen eye to eye,
but they had tolerated each other: Gabi because she could annoy the
man for sport any time she chose, and Maximillian because the
alternative was losing the best job he’d ever been offered. The
relationship, however, had not withstood the introduction of Razor
and Rocky to the household. The first night Gabi left on an errand
without Razor, Maximillian had attempted to evict her pets. The
Vampire had lost an eyeball and three fingers for his audacity. It
took a good twenty-four hours or more for a Vampire to regenerate
after that kind of damage, so it was obvious what had transpired
when Julius arrived home later that evening. Maximillian had been
packed off to supervise the cleaning of one of Julius’s office
blocks before Gabi returned to the house. Claudia, his replacement,
was much easier to get along with, and she immediately accepted the
pets as part of the household. Razor even appeared to like
her.

Kyle strode
into the room moments later, his expression grim. He nodded curtly
to the Vampires and ran a quick, assessing eye over Gabi. The fact
that he didn’t say anything to her meant she was either holding up
better than he expected, or he was treating her like a rabid
tiger.

“
Do you have any idea what or who we’re dealing with?” he asked
of Julius instead, not wasting time with greetings.

“
There are several possibilities,” Julius replied. “Each as
likely as the next.”

“
All tied to Gabi being a Dhampir?” Kyle posed the question,
but his tone implied it was rhetoric.

“
Not all.” Julius shook his head. “Aside from those who want
the knowledge of Dhampir creation or control of Gabi herself, we
can’t forget that SID is responsible for the execution of several
Master Vampires. Any of their underlings could be out for
revenge.”

CHAPTER
4

“
Well, we need something to go on, somewhere to focus.” Kyle’s
voice was uncharacteristically impatient. He was taking Gabi’s
mom’s abduction personally. “We could start with the cases SID has
closed or is working on. How much can you discuss?”

Gabi paused in
her pacing and looked at Julius. Their eyes locked, both asking the
other the question. They’d never been officially told to keep
details of the cases confidential; keeping the secrets of Vampires
as well as the Princeps was tacit and non-negotiable, details of
their cases on the other hand… Well, there was no precedent for
that.

“
I’ll take the rap,” Gabi said, “if they have a problem with
it.”

Julius’s gaze
turned flat and annoyance tainted the link between them. He didn’t
bother to respond, but his feelings were clear. Still, if it ever
came back to bite them, Gabi would protect Julius, Alexander and
Fergus. She would tell the Princeps it had been her decision, and
Faruq, their Vampire lie detector, would confirm the honesty of her
statement.

“
They’ll never know.” Alexander broke the tense silence in the
room. “No one will repeat anything said here. It will get no
further than this room and the five of us.” The atmosphere in the
room began to thicken, and goosebumps prickled up Gabi’s arms as
Julius gathered his power to issue an unspoken command. She could
feel the power radiate outward and the way it sought out each of
the Clan members on the Estate. No one would dare come close enough
to overhear them now.

Julius not only
held the physical power of life and final death over each of his
Clan members, but had the mental ability to control each of them if
he chose. Throw in the Magi abilities of both an Air-bender and a
Fire-bender and you got the kind of package very few beings on the
planet would trifle with. But Julius never acted like he had that
kind of power and rarely used his gifts unnecessarily. Gabi
regularly thanked every god listening that they hadn’t bestowed
those gifts on someone like Caspian.

Julius reached
out towards Gabi, his palm up, and waited patiently for her to put
her hand in his. When she capitulated, he pulled her close to the
cool strength of his body. It was the first time she’d allowed him
to touch her in comfort. The unspoken reassurance and understanding
undid her, as she’d known it would. Tears pricked the back of her
eyes and her throat felt thick. He kissed the top of her head
before drawing her down onto a sofa with him. He kept her close,
his arms wrapped around her, outwardly shielding her emotional
meltdown. There was no way to truly keep the others from witnessing
her moment of weakness. Razor jumped up on the other side of her,
purring quietly as he too pressed close to her. For a brief moment
she experienced a crushing need to lash out at Julius for making
her vulnerable in front of them, but she firmly clamped it down,
reminding herself that she trusted each one of them as much as she
trusted Julius. All of them would lay down their lives for her, and
she would do the same for them. She knew that word of her unguarded
moment would never leave these walls either.

“
We’ve dealt with three confirmed cases so far,” Julius began,
his voice a low rumble above her head, giving her time to compose
herself. “Three that have been tried and found guilty by the
Princeps. They were executed without delay. There was another case
where the Master had been making plans but hadn’t actually followed
through with any of them, so he wasn’t executed. We’re currently
following up another suspected case.”

There was the
faintest clink of glass on the small table to Gabi’s left, and the
enticing aroma of a hearty Merlot teased her nostrils. She pulled
away from Julius, brushing away tears, before reaching for the
glass with a nod of thanks to Alexander. She was hesitant to meet
his eyes, not sure she could deal with sympathy or compassion, but
when she did, all she found was calm determination.

She buried her
nose in the wine glass and leaned back into Julius’s side as
Razor’s purr deepened, her anxiety levels tempered by the quiet
strength of those around her. Three Vampires, a Werewolf, a Dhampir
and a crazy cat—if anyone could get her mother back in one piece,
it was the six of them.

“
It’s highly unlikely that Duncan, the Master who wasn’t
executed, would try something like this,” Julius continued. “He’s a
plotter, but not much of a doer, hence the leniency of the Princep
Council. He’s well known for planning all kinds of mischief, but
never actually gets around to perpetrating anything. He was
stripped of his Mastership and is indentured to the Council for the
next hundred years. He’d have little access to the people or funds
required to pull off a kidnapping of this calibre.”

“
And our current case is so far unaware of SID’s interest,”
Alexander put in. “I only received the intel two days ago.” Despite
being relegated to the City, Alexander was still an integral part
of the initial investigations. One of his responsibilities was to
sort through all tip-offs and information sent to SID from all over
the world and to sift out the important cases, then to arrange
preliminary inquiries into the case before handing it onto Gabi and
Julius. Once they were handed the file, it was up to them to obtain
proof of the unlawful activity, generally only achieved by
travelling to some far-flung part of the world, and then
apprehending the culprit. If it was deemed too dangerous to take
the offender, or offenders, into custody, they could call on the
Princep Enforcers to do the apprehending for them, but so far
they’d done it on their own. Very few Vampires were able to resist
Julius’s power over them. It would take a well-prepared army to
stop Julius, and even then, there was no guarantee who would come
out the victor. Alexander broke Gabi’s reverie. “Of the other three
I would say that only Sergei’s Clan would hold enough of a grudge
to try something like this.”