A Cat's Chance in Hell (38 page)

The date and time on the phone eased Gabi’s anxiety; it was 10am Wednesday morning, so at least she hadn’t slept another whole day away. The fight with the ghouls had gone down only nine or ten hours ago, so she couldn’t imagine there was wholesale panic about her state of health just yet. And yet, between Kyle and Byron, there were seven missed calls and five new messages. She sighed with relief when the second door she opened led to a huge modern bathroom complete with robes and huge, fluffy towels. She slipped into the smallest of the robes, it was miles too big for her, but warm and comfortable, before calling Byron. She felt a stab of guilt as she heard the relief in his voice when he answered her call. She assured him she was fine, that she was healed and didn’t even need to go and see Ian. It was only as she spoke to him, answering his worried questions that she realised she wasn’t hungry. She hadn’t eaten since the couple of pastries the previous night, before the mission to the warehouse, and normally she’d be absolutely ravenous by now. She dealt with Byron’s concern as quickly as she could, promising to pop in at his house later in the day to prove she was fine and answer the rest of his questions.

Her second call was to Kyle. He was a little less concerned about her injury, he’d seen the wound close in front of him, and more concerned about any other side effects. She side-stepped the questions as best she could, she wasn’t ready to tell him what had gone down a few hours ago between her and Julius – she hadn’t quite figured that one out herself yet. He was also calling to say that Razor had threatened to rip him into little shreds when he’d gone to her place this morning, and even Rose was having a hard time keeping him from destroying the house.

“
I’ll be there just as soon as I can grab a quick shower and find some clothes to wear. I assume mine were unsalvageable, as I can’t find them anywhere in J….. uh, the room I was sleeping in.” She hoped Kyle didn’t notice the slip. “Drat, I also need to find my car keys.”

Kyle was chuckling into the phone. “I’m on my way to the Estate now, I have some clothes for you, as well as coffee and breakfast. I was hoping you’d be conscious sometime soon.”

Gabi could hear the roar of the van’s engine as he started it up. “Thanks, Wolfie,” she said, grudgingly appreciative. “Sometimes you prove to be surprisingly useful to have around.”

Kyle’s chuckle grew evil. “I should warn you that I have ulterior motives this morning though,” he told her.

Gabi drew in a breath and sighed. “What now?”

“
Oh, I don’t know,” he tried to sound casual, but failed miserably, “I’m just interested to know why Gregory refused to call Julius or you to the phone just before sunrise this morning, even though he insisted that you were, and I quote, ‘definitely not injured or unconscious’. He sounded rather uncomfortable, in fact. Just what were the two of you up to?”

Gabi growled low into the phone and found herself in front of the bathroom mirror checking the state of her throat where she’d made him bite her. She was relieved when she couldn’t find any sign of puncture wounds or bruising.

“
None of your business, Wolf.” She hit the disconnect button. “Shit,” she cursed softly, belatedly realising that Julius wasn’t going to hear her anyway. Bloody Gregory, surely he could have come up with some better story to cover for his boss. Kyle wasn’t going to leave her alone until she gave him an explanation. She just hoped she could put him off until she figured it out for herself. She started the shower and stepped in, a hundred thoughts running in tiny, confusing circles through her brain.

She drank her latté in silence and picked at a croissant as Kyle relayed what had happened at the warehouse after she passed out. Athena had gone down into the ‘Ghoul Hole’, as it was now being dubbed, and declared that they needed to seal off the inhabitants until it became clear whether the rest were going to turn or not. So food and water had been taken in to those still alive, under heavy Vampire guard, and corpses had been removed and burned. Hunters with full field teams were supposed to return that night to see what had developed. Magi were working hard today trying to track down anecdotal evidence or records of how long it took for humans to complete the change to Ghoul, or how to prevent the change. No one was holding out too much hope there, though. Julius had ‘questioned’ the Vampire that Alexander had managed to capture alive, but he hadn’t known anything of use, he was just a hired hand who was supposed to watch that the Demons did what they were supposed to. He didn’t have any idea where Danté was hiding out. The only contact he had with Danté was a phone number, which Sebastian was following up.

The two of them were sitting on the tiled veranda just off the entertainment area they usually converged in, soaking up the morning sun. The house had been quiet and empty except for two women (Werewolves, Gabi thought) who were cleaning the house. They had looked a little quizzically at the two newcomers but hadn’t tried to make any conversation, just nodded politely and carried on with their duties. Kyle confirmed that there were Weres on duty at the front gate too, they’d buzzed him through with no problems.

“
Have you eaten already this morning?” Kyle asked suddenly, changing the topic.

“
No,” Gabi said, confused by the odd question. “Why?”

“
Well, I’ve never seen you pick at food first thing in the morning. It just struck me as odd. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” He hadn’t yet started interrogating her about what was going on with her and Julius, but Gabi realised he was heading that way now.

“
I think it’s the blood, you know?” she answered a bit hesitantly. “I feel great, better than I can remember feeling for a long time.” She paused and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “I don’t feel hungry at all, and that’s a new experience for me,” she tried a smile, but she knew he could tell it was forced. She buried her nose back in her coffee.

“
And the place you were staked, it’s completely healed?” he asked, “You don’t seem to be stiff or sore when you move.”

She stood up and pulled the edge of her T-shirt up to show him her ribs. There was only a faint, pinker patch of skin where the terrible wound had been. He leaned forward to run his fingers over it.

“
Wow, that’s amazing,” he breathed. “I’m not sure I would believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. That’s faster than I heal.”

Gabi flashed him an impudent grin as she sat down again and resolutely finished off the croissant in front of her.

“
And something more happened between you and Julius?” He made it more of a statement than a question.

Gabi flashed back to half an hour ago when she’d emerged from the shower, clean and awake, but no less confused by what had happened between her and Julius. She’d gone back to the bed, brushed his tousled blonde hair back from his angelic face and resisted the urge to place a kiss on his slightly parted lips, then had pulled the blanket up to cover him before she gave in to the compulsion to climb back into the bed with him and go back to sleep.

“
I’m not ready to talk about it yet,” she said flatly.

Kyle’s eyes flashed darkly, and his expression became grim. “If he tried something that you weren’t ready for —” he started to say.

Gabi cut him off with an annoyed glare. “I’m a big girl, Wolf, I can take care of myself. Whatever happened between us was by mutual consent. I wasn’t forced into anything.”

Kyle backed down a little at her fierce glower, but not entirely. “It didn’t have anything to do with you taking his blood?” he asked, still a harsh edge to his tone.

“
I don’t know, alright?” Gabi almost shouted in irritation. She stood up abruptly and paced out into the garden. “I don’t know if it was the blood, or just a natural animal-based reaction to adrenalin, or some weird chemical connection we have. I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Gabi wanted to be her normal angry self, anger was a good way to deal with stuff she couldn’t figure out. It made people leave her alone and stop poking at her. But today she couldn’t get true anger to flair up, irritation was as good as it got. “So just leave it alone. I’m not in the mood for discussing it!”

Kyle studied her with a pensive frown, as though watching a car fire; not quite sure if it was going to peter out by itself or explode any second.

“
Ok,” he finally said. “But when you want to talk….” He left the sentence hanging.

Gabi drove home, chafing at having to drive at the speed limits. She wanted to put her foot down and feel the engine roar under her. When she finally made it home, Razor was waiting out on the porch for her. Apparently, he’d heard her car turn up the driveway. He watched her walk up the stairs and then pointedly turned his back on her and stalked off into the garden without any kind of greeting.

“
Oh, dear,” she sighed and went inside to find Rose busy in the kitchen.

“
What’s the matter,” Rose asked, hearing her.

“
Razor has the sulks,” she explained.

“
Ahh, yes, he’s been throwing temper tantrums all over the house this morning,” Rose agreed. “He’s worse than having a jealous boyfriend waiting at home, hey?”

Gabi snorted in amusement. “It’d be far easier to break up with a jealous boyfriend than to re-home Razor. Guess I’ll have to find something special to tempt him with before he tears my whole house apart.” She wandered into the kitchen, giving Rose a quick hug and putting on the coffee pot, more out of habit than real desire for coffee.

“
Are you hungry?” Rose asked. “I can whip up something quickly.”

“
No, I’m fine, thanks. Kyle brought food when he brought my clothes.”

“
Are you alright after last night?” Rose asked, worry colouring her tone. “The rumours are flying like locusts in the ‘Community’ this morning. Kyle filled me in on a few of the details: Demons and Ghouls on the loose in the city. I wish you weren’t caught up in the middle of all this my sweetling, it worries me so.”

Gabi gave her another reassuring hug. “I’m fine, honestly. I have a lot of people watching my back.” Then she backed away to look into Rose’s eyes, still keeping her hands on Rose’s shoulders. “I can’t back away when the City needs me, I’m my Father’s daughter, and I have special gifts that will help keep the people of the City safe. We’ll get through this nasty war, and we’ll send those Demons back to where they came from.”

Rose patted Gabi’s hands. “I know. If anyone can do it, you and Kyle can. I’ve heard the way the Community talks about your Father. He’s spoken so highly of, he was so respected. I know he would be so proud of you.”

Gabi silently gave Rose a fierce hug. “Now I could do with a good workout, but best I make up with Razor first.”

Gabi pulled up outside SMV HQ a couple of hours later, having done sufficient grovelling to get Razor to quit sulking and having dealt with any urgent business e-mails and phone calls. She’d meant to go straight through to see Byron but his secretary told her he was busy in a meeting, so she headed instead to the practice hall — a specially laid out area the size of football field, partly undercover and partly open to the elements, which the Hunters used for training. It was extremely well equipped with a full gym, an area for weapons practice and, Gabi’s favourite, a brutal obstacle course. Gabi quickly changed into spandex leggings and a tight-fitting crop top and went to warm up. The hall was empty; just the way she liked it. She spent a few minutes warming up in the gym and then headed for the obstacle course. The course was interactive; it had pop-up dummy enemies, hidden booby traps and was redesigned on a daily basis to keep the trainees on their toes. She was looking forward to seeing what it had to throw at her today.

It felt amazing to let rip after days of taking it easy, of freedom from the constant companions: pain and stiffness. It was incredible to experience her enhanced abilities and capabilities. Julius’s blood had done more than just heal her and curb her appetite; it had made her faster, stronger and more agile. Her reaction time was infinitely quicker, and she blew through the obstacle course like a bottled hurricane — destroying the dummies set out to catch her, leaping the climbing walls almost without touching them, barely registering the blunt darts shot at her at irregular intervals and nimbly leaping over the floors that fell away from her feet. She swung herself onto an overhead cat walk with one hand and worked her way into the rafters, only to leap down from the height of two stories to instantly decapitate two dummies waiting for her on the ground. She was laughing with sheer pleasure and barely breathing hard when she rounded the last corner and nearly crashed in Byron who was waiting for her to finish.

“
Gabi,” he said in delighted greeting, catching her around the waist before she knocked him over. “That was quite a display.”

There was a smattering of applause from the viewing deck above where she and Byron stood. Normally, it was where tutors and assessors stood to review performances of the Trainees, but today Lance, Doug and Athena were standing on it watching her. Lance and Doug were giving her a reluctant round of applause, Athena was simply standing with a disdainful look on her face.

“
I think you’ve just blown your previous best time away completely,” Byron said in proud amazement. “I guess there’s no reason to send you to Ian for a check-up after all.”

Gabi threw a challenging wink at the other two Hunters and gave Byron a quick hug, trying not to get sweat all over him.

“
I told you I was fine,” she said in mock exasperation. She didn’t really expect Byron not to worry about her, she knew better. “In fact, as you can see, I’m a bit better than fine.” She grabbed a towel from a pile on a nearby bench and used it to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. “I take it you’re not all here just to watch me do the course.”