There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) (8 page)

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 Dantè’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.”