A Cat's Chance in Hell (22 page)

The unlikely assortment of Hunters and Vampires spilled out onto the road and headed towards their respective vehicles. The extra Vampires had arrived in two identical vehicles, some kind of Range Rover 4x4, Gabi was too tired to bother identifying them further. Julius barked out a couple of orders to Nathan’s group and Alex took over holding Kyle upright. The others each nodded a respectful goodbye to Julius and Gabi, and quickly climbed into their vehicles, speeding off as the sounds of multiple sirens approached the scene.

“
Let’s go before the cops get here,” Gabi prodded, pulling away from Julius and starting across the road to their cars. Julius caught up to her silently, leaving Alex to haul Kyle across the road.

“
Neither of you is in a state to drive,” Julius said quietly, “would you let us drive you home, or maybe somewhere that other friends could collect you from, if you don’t feel comfortable with that?”

He was being polite, but he still had a strange distance in his expression. Gabi would’ve loved to tell him that she was perfectly capable of getting them both home, but truly she wanted to discuss the message from the Wraith with him, she quickly came to a decision.

“
Let’s go to my place,” she said. “I’m sure you know where I live anyway.” A slight grin lifted one side of his mouth, and he had the decency to look moderately guilty. She sighed and rolled her eyes, surprisingly happy to see a glimpse of his usual character.

“
Alex,” he ordered, tossing the other Vampire a set of keys, “you take Wolf in my car and follow us, we’re going to Gabrielle’s house.” He caught the set of keys Gabi threw at him, but walked around to the passenger side to open the door for her first.

She raised an eyebrow. “A Vampire with manners, what will life throw at me next?” she muttered sardonically, and climbed in, collapsing into the comfortable bucket seat gratefully.

An instant later he was in the driver’s seat and bringing the Mustang to roaring life.

Chapter 11

As Julius navigated the dark roads in the Mustang, Gabi pulled out her phone and called Byron.

“
Gabi!” Byron’s voice was full of relief. “What’s happening on your side? Are you alright? Do you need any help?”

Gabi smiled despite her exhaustion. “Calm down, you’ll give yourself a heart attack one of these days,” she teased him. “The fight is over, we got every last one of them. I’m fine; Kyle has a concussion, but he’s conscious. We’re heading home now, and the clean-up team will probably call you in a few minutes to re-open the station.”

“
What happened with the Vampires?”

“
Well, that’s a longer story. The short version is that without them we’d have been in deep, deep shit. Julius is driving me home now.”

“
Gabi,” Byron said, concern darkening his voice. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

She sighed. “It’s not like he doesn’t already know where I live,” she shot Julius a sidelong glare. “We have a lot to discuss. Something happened at the train station, and I now have no doubts that Julius is telling us the truth about the war with Danté. You’ll have to call another Council session; you have to meet with Julius.” There was a moment’s pause on the other side of the phone, then a sigh of capitulation.

“
Alright, Honey. I trust your instincts. I’ll call them first thing in the morning and arrange it,” Byron agreed.

Gabi was quiet on the other side.

“
Gabrielle?” Byron’s voice called softly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Gabi bit her lip, and then decided to lay it out for Byron. “There’s a war coming ByBy,” she said tiredly, unconsciously using the nickname she’d given him as a little girl, “and it’s not going to be pretty.”

“
Don’t you worry about that, Sweetheart,” a protective steeliness entered Byron’s voice. “We have a lot of allies and plenty of resources. We’ll find a way to protect our city and our loved ones. Now get yourself home, eat something and get some rest. We’ll tackle this all in the morning.”

Gabi managed a weak smile. “Yeah, ok Daddy Fusspants.”

“
Call me if you need anything.”

“
I will. Bye.” She hit the ‘end call’ button and tossed the phone onto the dashboard.

“
That was your contact in the Council?” Julius asked, smoothly guiding the car around slower vehicles on the highway. He was speeding, but not pushing the car to its limits. The calm had returned to his face, though there was still a hint of tension to the set of his jaw.

“
Uh huh,” she answered, pulling a chocolate bar out of the glove compartment.

Julius flicked a glance her way, watching her devour the sweet. She studied him in return, wondering if he had shaken off the shock yet. His eyes had returned to their normal exquisite gilded sapphire and she found herself caught in their astounding depths.

“
He’s more than just an acquaintance then?” He pushed for more information.

Gabi blinked, dragging herself back to reality. She forced her brain to concentrate on his question instead of his effect on her. She pursed her lips speculatively, gathering her addled thoughts. “I answer yours, then you answer mine,” she finally challenged.

“
Fair enough,” he conceded after a moment’s consideration.

“
Byron was my father’s best friend,” she began, watching closely for Julius’s reaction to what she had just disclosed. “He was a member of parliament in his younger days, and he still consults for the City Council. His parents are both Magi, and he is one of the founders of the SMV.”

Julius’s eyebrows rose abruptly, in what appeared to be astonishment. “So he is the famous Byron Reeves? The man you regularly accompany to social events in the City?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

Gabi grinned archly. “You mean you really didn’t know? Our all powerful Master Vampire had no idea who ran the Malus Venatori?”

“
That information is an exceptionally well kept secret.” “Yeah, and it needs to stay that way,” Gabi’s tone suddenly changed to one of warning.

Julius nodded. “I will keep the secret, I promise,” he vowed, looking steadily into her eyes as he said it.

“
Uh, the road?” Gabi said pointedly, not sure she would be able to drag her gaze away from his again. They were travelling at high speed on a dark highway and Julius didn’t seem too concerned with keeping his eyes on the tar in front of them. “You crash my car and I’ll be forced to hunt you down and kill you.” She hoped the threat didn’t sound as hollow as it felt.

“
Don’t worry. Modern men may have a problem doing two things at once, but those of us who’ve been around a while do eventually learn to multi-task,” he replied dryly, finally blinking and switching his gaze back to the road. “Nice car, by the way. It suits you.”

Gabi decided to ignore that comment and avoid the dangerous places it could take the conversation.

“
My turn now,” she said, firmly changing the course of the discussion. She was silent for a moment while she went through the hundreds of questions that she had stored up to ask him.

Julius waited patiently, still paying more attention to her than the road.

“
Why did you seem so shocked at the train station?” she finally asked.

He glanced at her looked slightly confused.

“
After the Wraith said its piece,” she clarified.

“
Ah,” he said, understanding. He looked back at the road, as they turned off the highway and began to navigate through street lit suburbia. His face became a tightly controlled mask; as though he was straining to erase any trace of emotion from his expression. “I guess it was that the truth of situation had finally become reality. What I told you the other night was the truth, but I don’t think that I had actually accepted it.”

The mask started to slip, and frustration and anger tightened the muscles of his jaw, narrowed his eyes, and etched his cheek bones even more prominently across his face. “I was holding out the hope that some sanity remained somewhere in Danté’s mind, and that he would come to his senses. That he would make some threats, and throw his weight around but back off once he was faced with a strong challenge. That was the main reason for the unity between us and you; a show of force. It was meant to make him back down.”

“
And now?” she prompted.

Julius’s pale hands clenched the steering wheel so hard Gabi wondered if he was leaving permanent finger impressions in it.

“
Now, I know that he will not back down for anything,” he said with savage certainty. “What he’s put in motion is impossible to stop. He has gone further than I ever thought him capable of. He has become truly evil.”

Julius paused for a moment, calming himself before continuing. “I think that’s what shocked me the most; that someone I once trusted with my life, someone I thought I knew inside and out, one of my own bloodline, can have become such a mindless, power-hungry monster.” He turned to look at her again, his eyes flashing, now dark and angry; the colour of deepest ocean on a moonless night. “The plan has changed. I no longer need help from the Society. You can call Byron back and cancel the meeting”

“
What?” she exclaimed in bewilderment. “You were there when the Wraith threatened to take us all out. You’ve just acknowledged that the threat is worse than you expected. How can you now decide you don’t need our help?” She was utterly confused.

“
Yes, I
was
there when the Wraith threatened your and Kyle’s lives,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. “The creature made it clear that you were targets, and you would be taken out. I want you to pack up and leave the City until we can take care of Danté.”

“
You’re insane!” she almost shouted, irritation replacing confusion in an instant. “You need every ounce of help you can get. And, Hunters do not run from a fight, especially one that threatens the whole city and all its citizens!”

“
Gabrielle,” he said, now in a frustratingly reasonable tone. “This is not your fight. I’m sorry I got you involved, it was never meant to go this far. I don’t need your death on my conscience. I brought this here; I will deal with the consequences.”

Gabi snorted derisively. “You underestimate us. This is our city and we will not go down without a fight. I can’t speak for every member of the SMV, but I’m not leaving. So deal with it!”

Julius let his head roll back onto the headrest, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply. “You don’t understand,” he growled, all pretence of calm reasoning gone again.

“
Then explain it,” she challenged furiously.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, still not looking directly at her. “There is another reason I looked shocked, though I think perhaps you misread anxiety for shock,” he continued quickly before she could interrupt. “I have very occasional flashes of clairvoyance, and before you ask, no, I don’t know why. While listening to the Wraith I had a very clear vision.” He paused, steering the car into her driveway and bringing it to a sharp halt outside her front door, then he turned to look at her with a brutal, almost tortured look on his face. “It was a vision of you lying dead at my feet, my hands covered in your blood.”

They were still arguing when Alexander came into the house a few minutes later, half supporting Kyle.

“
It was probably a vision put there by the Wraith to get exactly this reaction,” Gabi growled in exasperation.

“
The Wraith was contained by magic; it wouldn’t have been able to project a vision.”

”
How do you know? It was obviously able to project its voice, why not a vision?”

“
I know my own visions when I get them,” he threw back, his voice rising savagely. “You need to get out of the City and stay away from this fight.”

“
The future is not set in stone. If it was a genuine clairvoyant vision then we’ve had fair warning, and we’ll know to be more careful. I’m. Not. Leaving.”

“
Hey, guys,” Kyle groaned. “Can you keep it down? Man with a titanic headache over here!”

Gabi stamped over to the fridge and hauled an ice pack out, wrapping it in a clean tea towel.

Julius followed her into the kitchen. “And what did the Wraith mean when it spoke about your last encounter? Did you fight that thing” he asked, horror tingeing his voice.

“
How am I supposed to know what it was talking about?” she grumbled defensively. “It was at the Old Stadium a few nights ago when we fought off a whole horde of those things, the Magi took care of it that night too.” She stalked out of the kitchen back to Kyle. She pushed him down on the long couch and pressed the ice pack to his head.

“
Hold this while I put on the coffee,” she ordered almost tripping over Julius on her way back to the kitchen. He reached out quickly to steady her, strong, cool hands on her waist. It was in that moment that Razor made his appearance, and all hell broke loose.

It took Gabi several minutes to calm Razor down, even once she got him into her bedroom and closed the door. With all his hair standing on end he looked massive, taking on the proportions of a snow leopard. He had still been hissing and spitting when Gabi hauled him in and shut the door. Once he had finally allowed Gabi to soothe him back to normal size and even managed to give her a few apologetic head butts, she left him on the bed and quickly slipped from the room, closing the door securely behind her.