A Cat's Chance in Hell (49 page)

“
Stay with us Lea,” Julius said sternly to Gabi when it looked like she may slip back into unconsciousness, “Ian is almost here with blood and pain meds for you. It’s going to be alright. Just try and stay with us.”

The two Magi who had been working on her slowed their chanting and took deep, steadying breaths as they moved away from her. They both looked pale and tired.

“
We’ve done what we can,” Melinda said, “she needs blood and fluids now more than anything.”

“
Thank you,” Julius said gratefully. “I can feel how you’ve eased her pain. I am in your debt.”

As the Magi medics melted away, taking a still trembling Athena with them, Ian, Kyle and a human medical team burst into the room. Ian rushed straight to Gabi and Julius, shouting orders at the two human men who were setting down a stretcher and other medical supplies nearby. Ian gave Julius a cursory nod of greeting and set to work fastening a pressure cuff around Gabi’s upper arm, trying to avoid a partially healed burn, and a heart rate monitor onto one of her fingers. He was keeping his expression carefully neutral and business-like, but Julius could taste the anxiety and horror he was actually feeling at seeing Gabi in this condition. He calmly asked Gabi a few questions, but when Julius could hear how hard it was for her to speak he broke in and told Ian what Athena and the other Magi had said about her injuries. Ian listened carefully to the list of her worst injuries as he deftly set up two IVs, one with blood and one with saline, with Kyle acting as IV stand. Ian tried to find a vein in her hand, and then in her arm, growling in frustration as the needle didn’t find what he was looking for. The heart monitor bleeped erratically, warning them that her heart was beginning to fail; the lack of blood was taking its toll with each passing second.

Julius suddenly put out his hand. “Let me try.”

Ian hesitated for a second and then handed the needle to Julius; the doctor knew there was no time for arguments. Julius took the needle and lifted Gabi’s arm in his large, pale hand. He closed his eyes and ran his thumb softly over the crease on the inside of her elbow, once, twice, a third time. Then, in a blur of motion, he sank the needle home; he was rewarded almost immediately with a drop of blood from the other end of the needle. Ian let out a breath he probably didn’t know he’d been holding and quickly injected a full syringe of Morphine into Gabi before hooking up the blood and saline.

As the Morphine and the blood slowly helped steady Gabi’s heart rate, and her blood pressure began to normalise, the rest of the world came back into focus for Julius. He realised he had no idea what was happening above-ground. Kyle had reported that the worst of the fighting seemed to be over, and since Dantés death many of his followers, the Vampire ones anyhow, had surrendered and were throwing themselves on Julius’s mercy. Julius was only interested in finding Mariska and making sure they had eliminated all the Demons. He gave Alexander a look and his second in command left on quick, silent feet to check what was going on.

The other two medics helped Ian splint her broken ankle while Kyle and Julius helped keep her still. Julius closed his eyes and breathed deeply when she screamed in pain, reminding himself to keep his grip on her gentle. At that moment in time he could have destroyed Danté a hundred times over without a single moment of regret. Finally, Ian allowed Julius and Kyle to lift her onto the stretcher. As they were preparing to leave, Julius stooped down and picked something up; he put it on the stretcher with Gabi, tucking it in against her thigh, in reach of her right hand. She noticed the movement and moved her hand down to touch the object. An almost contented smile lifted one side of her mouth as she closed her fingers around the familiar shape of Nex’s hilt. Then they left the horror of the underground cellar and headed for the helicopter as fast as they could without jostling her.

Chapter 25

Voices in the dark. That was all. No sight, no smell, no feeling, no pain. Just murmured voices. Soothingly familiar voices. Nothing to worry about. She didn’t need to leave the dark numbness. She could put names to the soft voices. She could hear words, but she couldn’t make sense of them, yet. For now, she was content to absorb them, she’d process them later.

“
How is she?” Alexander’s voice.

“
Ian and Jonathon say she’s stable.” Kyle’s voice. Stressed, tired.

“
She hasn’t come around yet?”

“
No, they’re keeping her in a coma for a few days so the head injury can heal.”

“
She’s strong, she’ll be alright.”

A snort. “Yep, she’s Hellcat.”

The voices were quiet for a moment.

“
Have they found her yet?” Kyle’s question.

“
The Maleficus?” Alexander’s hard-edged query. “No.” Sharp, annoyed. “They’re looking under every rock, but it’s like she simply vanished.”

“
The Magi will find her. Eventually. What about the Demons and Ghouls?”

“
Obliterated. None left. The Magi even found away to damage the Wraith. They don’t think it will be back in a hurry. There were a few more humans who’d been bitten or just held captive; they’ve been taken to the asylum with the rest. We found Gregory’s remains.”

“
How is Julius?”

A heavy sigh. “I’ve never seen him like this. He’s been questioning the Vampires who surrendered. I had to get away for a while. He’s not himself. Nathan and Fergus are trying to reason with him.” These words made something tense inside her.

“
Has he found out anything of value?”

“
Gregory claimed to have interesting information about Gabi. None of the Vampires know what it was or whether he told Danté. None of them were high up in his Clan, they were just following orders.”

“
Do you think he told Danté about her being Dhampir?”

“
We don’t know. It seems that at least one of his commanders wasn’t at the vineyard when we attacked. We don’t where he is now, or what information he may have.”

“
Shit.”

“
Why don’t you take a break, Wolf? Get some food, a shower, some clothes,” a trace of amusement in Alexander’s voice. “I’ll stay with her.”

Darkness and silence.

“
I don’t think that’s…….” A louder voice that took her a moment to find a name for. Ian. Yes, Ian’s voice. An edge of panic in it.

“
Don’t worry, he won’t hurt her.” Kyle’s reassurance. “He’s going to hurt himself if we don’t let him at least see her. Not even Rose can keep him calm anymore.”

“
It’s alright Ian,” Byron’s voice, soothing. “Razor won’t hurt Gabi. Let him see her, and be near her. It will do them both good.” Muttered grumbling. Then a bone deep, soul massaging purr enveloped her.

Darkness and peace.

“
What’s the news, Wolf?” Alexander’s voice.

“
Jonathon just left. They’re going to bring her out of the coma tomorrow.” Kyle’s voice. Lighter, happier. “I’m just trying to work out how we’re going to keep her in bed for the next few weeks. She’s a terrible patient when she’s conscious.” A wry chuckle.

“
Good luck with that.”

“
So, do you think this thing is really over?”

“
Well, the influx of Demons and Ghouls should come to an end without Danté around to control them. But with Vampire politics there will always be power struggles. If Danté knew about Gabi and managed to get word to the Princeps……” A deep sigh. “Only time will truly tell.”

“
Well, they’ll have a lot of people to get through first if they come after her.” Kyle’s voice. Hard, resolute. A mutter of agreement. “There is some good that came out of this mess. The Werewolf packs have called a truce and are trying to work together to form their own Council and play a more defined role in the SMV. Byron has had seven promising Hunter Trainee applications. The Magi High Council is overhauling its systems and looking at ways to prevent others like Mariska slipping through the cracks.”

A long pause, then Kyle spoke again. “The Council will welcome Julius and the Clan to the table if he wants to be a part of it. They are trying hard to understand your kind. Now would be a good time to cement alliances and formalise boundaries.”

Alexander’s voice. Heavy, weary. “Julius will need some time. Vampires…..” A pause. “Older Vampires don’t react well to emotional turmoil. His feelings for Gabi, the betrayal by his Children, taking Danté’s life, these are harder for him to cope with than you might expect. It would be helpful if you could try to explain this to the Council. Buy him some time to recover.”

“
Okay. Yeah, I can do that.” Kyle’s voice dropped to a whisper. “What about him and Gabi?”

“
I don’t know,” Alexander’s voice. “I guess that’s up to the two of them.”

Darkness and disquiet.

Consciousness returned to Gabi in stages. The first stage was an awareness of the pain. Not the acutely blazing pain which was her last real memory, more of an all-over, dull hum of ache. She yearned to slip back into the warm, dark pool of oblivion where the pain didn’t exist, but her mind was inexorably making its way to the surface. The need for information stirred her to the next level of consciousness. She could hear the faint, steady beeping of a heart rate monitor, the hum of other electronic equipment and the almost inaudible drip of liquid. She could feel a cool sheet touching parts of her body, other parts felt cocooned and warm. She could smell antiseptic, but not as strongly as she would’ve expected in a hospital. Her next level of awareness told her it was too quiet to be a hospital, and curiosity broke the final layer of oblivion. She heard her own groan and held her breath while she learned how to cope with the sudden assault of a hundred different hurts.

She knew he was there. Without opening her eyes, without hearing him move, without smelling his scent in the air, she knew he was in the room with her.

“
Julius?” she tried to say. Her voice came out a hoarse rasp. She swallowed, trying to work some moisture into her dry mouth. She opened her eyes finally as she felt the faint disturbance of the air near her. The room was almost dark, lit only by the monitors that surrounded her on two sides and the moonlight streaming in the window. He was a dark, silent shadow near her right hand. She could feel the tension and anxiety rolling off him like a palpable wave.

“
Water?” she croaked, lifting a hand to search for a cup. As she started to lift her shoulders to sit up, she could feel stitches pull and muscles and tendons scream in protest. A cool hand pressed her down.

“
Wait,” his voice was a mere whisper.

A moment later, the top half of the bed gently tilted upward with a slight hum. A loud purring started from somewhere in the vicinity of her feet, but the cat didn’t move. Some dim memories of voices in the darkness clicked into place.

Julius leant in close to her, and with infinite care, slid his hand behind her head, holding her upright enough to take a sip from the glass of ice water he was holding to her mouth. “Slowly,” he cautioned. “Not too much.”

She nodded minutely but was finding it hard to control herself when her mouth felt like a long abandoned salt pan.

He allowed her three small sips and then settled her back on the pillow. “Do you need more pain relief?” he asked. “We weren’t sure how much to give you, Ian had a general idea, but we were being cautious. I can up it.” He moved to reach across her to the dripline.

She raised her right hand to catch his; it made her wince. “It’s fine,” she rasped, her voice a little stronger. She grasped his fingers and pulled his hand to her face, waiting. Finally, he turned his face and looked down into her eyes.

She didn’t know where exactly she was, or how many hours or days she’d been unconscious, but none of that mattered when she looked into his face. Grief, horror and guilt were etched into every line. His eyes were coal black and dark shadows underlined them. He opened his mouth to speak, and she knew what he was going to say and interrupted him.

“
Sit,” she said, indicating the edge of the bed. “We need to talk.”

He pulled his hand away from hers, gently but firmly, his features hardening into a controlled mask. “I need to call Kyle. I promised I’d let him know the moment you woke.”

“
Is it true?” she asked him. “What Danté told me, is it true?” She heard his broken sigh and then a chair being moved to her bedside. She turned her head to see him collapse into it, his head in his hands.

“
If he told you I was his brother, then yes,” he answered roughly, “it is true.”

She waited; she knew he needed to say more.

“
My Maker’s name was Simone; she seduced me, pretending to be human, and later turned me without my consent. She expected me to forgive her and join her in a life of eternal, sadistic fun. I couldn’t find it in myself to forgive her, and I didn’t want to become like her, so I walked away from her to find my own way in my new and difficult life. Simone didn’t like to be thwarted, and like the petulant child she was, she sought revenge. She went back to my family’s estate a few years later and seduced my younger brother. Unlike me, Danté willingly joined her cause. He was the baby of the family and his lack of maturity made him easy to manipulate. When I discovered what she’d done, how the two of them were travelling the world committing atrocities in the name of ‘fun’, I hunted them down. I had grown strong over the intervening years, and I killed Simone: a true death. Danté was under my blade, and I could have killed him, too. I should have killed him, too.” Julius’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “I looked into his eyes, and I couldn’t do it. I warned him to change his ways. I offered to help him. He ran from me, spitting curses and swearing vengeance for Simone’s death. I should have killed him then.” Centuries of despair and regret made his last words leaden.