All Hell Breaks Loose (3 page)

As the two wolves tussled
,
Gabi calmly walked within range and fired two darts into the unknown wolf’s hindquarters.  It broke off the attack on Kyle to spin and glare venomously at her before it slowly collapsed to the ground
,
growling deep in its throat.

The two other wolves moved to stand protectively between her and the downed wolf until it gave a final snarl and subsided into
a
deep sleep.

“Ok
ay
,” Gabi sighed, “
y
ou two can stop acting like idiots and help me get him into the van.”  She tucked the dart
gun into a small holster behind her back and bent to pick up the ta
s
er.  “I’m
not hauling him in by myself.”  She indicated vaguely in their direction with the ta
s
er before tucking it in a pocket.

The smaller, darker wolf gave a small
whuff
and loped off back the way he’d come.  Kyle’s larger, sand
-
coloured wolf cocked its head at her for a second
;
the blue-grey eyes held concern.
 
A second later
,
Kyle, in human form, was pushing off the ground and striding towards her.  Stark naked, of course, but they’d long ago stopped feeling uncomforta
ble about trivialities of that sort
.  That kind of attitude towards one another had, for years, fuelled rumours that their relationship was more than simply pl
a
tonic.  That was before her recent, not-as-secret-as-she-had-thought hook-up with Julius
,
the oh-so-sexy, oh-so-powerful
Master Vampire of the City.
 
According to Kyle
,
the entire membership of the SMV as well as the greater part of the ‘Community’ (as the greater supernatural family referred to
themselves
) was discussing her relationship with Julius in great detail.  She would’ve been interested to know what conclusions they
’
d drawn because she had no idea how to quantify the status of the relationship.  She
’
d only seen him twice in the past six weeks, and both of those times he had been polite, concerned and unreachably remote.

“Are you ok
ay
?”  Kyle’s concerned question brought her back to the worries of the present.

Gabi rolled her eyes.
 
“I’m fine,” she said in a warning voice.  “A few bruises, nothing serious.”

“He had your elbow in his jaws,” Kyle persisted.  “Let me see.”

“Kevlar reinforced, remember?”
s
he said
,
holding up her arm to show him the padded jacket sleeve.  She was careful to keep the tooth hole out of his line of sight.

He raised one eyebrow at her.  “We both know that doesn’t protect against everything.”

She remained mutinously silent.

“And even with the
stink
around here
,
I can smell the blood,” he said, “so just give up and show me the wound.”

“
A
rghhhhhh
,” she growl
ed
.  “It’s fine, it’s nothing
.  S
top fussing.”  Not that it was feeling fine.  It hurt like a son of a bitch.

“What’s nothing?” a female voice
asked as a van pulled up to the two of them. The brown-haired woman who hopped out and threw Kyle some clothes looked barely more than a girl.  She chastely averted her gaze as Kyle dressed, but Gabi knew she was no blushing youngster.  Melinda had been a Medic for the SMV for several years before Gabi joined as a Hunter.  She was a Mage Healer and a very gifted one at that.

“Gabi was bitten by the
Werewolf
,” Kyle told Melinda as he finished pulling on his jeans.

Gabi glared at him.
 
“Traitor
!
”

“What?” Melinda demanded in shock.  “Let me see. 
Rory, my medical kit.
 
Now!”

A
second van pulled up
,
and pan
demon
ium erupted as Melinda’s sudden alarm infected the rest of the crew.

Gabi gestured to the barely controlled chaos in exasperation.  “You see?” she
grumbled
at Kyle.  “Look at the bedlam you create.  It’s one tooth mark that we could
’
ve dressed at home without all the fuss.”

Kyle simply grinned, unrepentant.

“It’s ok
ay,
everyone,” she shouted over the hubbub.  Nobody took any notice of her until she grabbed Melinda by
a
sho
ulder
a
nd
shook her lightly.
 
“Calm down
,
Melinda,” she shouted at the Medic.  “Have you forgotten I’m immune to the virus?”

Melinda stopped trying to pull from her grip, the fear on her face turning to dawning comprehension.  The panic left her features and relief flooded in.

“Of course!
  How could I have f
orgotten that?” she said, slapping a palm to her forehead
. 
“Sorry
,
Gabi.
 
Sorry for the panic
,
everyone.”
  She set the medical kit down and took a deep, calming breath.

Kyle ruffled her hair like an annoying older brother, a broad smile on his face.
 
“It’s understandable, she does usually manage to avoid getting bitten,” he said in a loud aside, grinning when Gabi narrowed her eyes
at him
.  “She still need
s
the bite looked at, but let’s get the new wolf loaded and secure first.”

The team sprang into action with the ease of long practice
.  M
inutes later
,
the first van was on its way back to SMV headquarters
,
carrying the still
-
sedated
Werewolf
.

“Shouldn’t he have shifted back by now?” Gabi asked Kyle as they watched the departing van turn the corner.

“Hmm
.
”
Kyle considered the question.  “Sometimes with real newbies you have to actually coach them into shifting back.  Even the unconscious mind isn’t strong enough to overcome the wolf.  It could be that h
e shifted at the last full moon
and hasn’t been able to shift back yet.”

Gabi frowned.  “I didn’t know that could happen.”

“It’s one of the reasons we’re so quick to try and get to newly turned
Werewolves
, and why there
’
s such a strict code of conduct enforced by the
P
ack leaders
,
” Kyle explained.  “It’s rare that one is turned and left to fend for himself.  There
’s
a harsher punishment for that than if you turn someone by accident and report it immediately to your
P
ack leader.”

Gabi finally capitulated to Melinda’s attentions and sat down in the open doorway of the second van.

“Could it be a Lone Wolf?” she asked Kyle.
 
“One who was just passing through?  Don’t they often have less self-control than those in
P
acks?”  She hissed in a breath as Melinda started pulling off her jacket.  The Medic
knew better than to try
cutting through the toughened fabric
.

“Sorry,” Melinda breathed, “almost off.”

Gabi winced as the sleeve slid off her injured elbow and the extent of the bruising was revealed.

“Good one,” Kyle said
,
admiring the deep red and purple marks
.
“
W
here’s the bite?”

Although Gabi gave him a withering look
,
she was relieved that he
’
d
given up the
overly
protective
crap
.  She turned her hand palm-up and exposed the tender inside of her elbow where an ugly half
-
inch
-
wide hole was seeping blood.  “Now, what about the Lone
W
olf theory,” she prodded Kyle, directing her attention away from the wound as Melinda set to cleaning and stitching it.

Gabi was trying to pay attention to what Kyle was saying
,
but a
n ominous
feeling had the hairs on the back of her neck prickling.  She tilted her head slightly
, concentrating,
trying to get a
better
sense of
the threat.

“Gabi
.
”
 
Kyle’s voice brought her back to the van and the sting of Melinda injecting her with something.  “What’s up?”  Kyle knew her well enough that he
was
already
on instant alert.

“I’m not sure,” she replied slowly, expanding her senses again.  “But I think we’re being watched.”

Kyle’s body coiled to react as his gaze began roving the dark places that the streetlights didn’t reach.

“Stop that,” she said between clenched teeth.  “
D
on’t let on that we’re aware of it.  It’s going to great pains to stay hidden.”

Kyle forced his body into a semblance of ease and stopped
visibly searching the shadows.
 
Gabi referred to her inner sense as her Vamp-o-meter as it was infallible at detecting Vampires, but sometimes it alerted her to other presences as well
.  S
he reached psychically for a stronger sense of their watcher, trying to at least work out if it
was an immediate threat
, but it was like trying to grab hold of smoke.

“What are you picking up exactly?  Do we need to call Tarryn back?”
h
e asked, referring to the Magus who’d gone with the first van.  She was what the SMV called an Eraser
:
a Magus skilled at being able to manipulate people’s memories. 
An invaluable asset to the SMV.

“No.  If anything
,
it wasn’t human
,
” Gabi answered and realised that Melinda had finished bandaging her arm and was looking wide-eyed and slightly nervous as she packed up her medical kit.  Gabi touched her arm reassuringly.  “It’s fine
.  I
t’s gone now. 
Whatever ‘it’ was.
  It was either just observing or didn’t like being outnumbered.”

The Magus
nodded and relaxed a little.
 
Everyone in the SMV knew
Gabi
had unusual talents, and they
had come
to trust her evaluation of most situations in the field.  Her instincts had saved a crew from a trap or dire situation more than once.

“Keep an eye on that wound,” she told Gabi
. 
“I know you’re not prone to infection, but that was a really deep one.  I’ve given it a little help to get the healing started
,
and it feels clean
,
but it wouldn’t be good to leave it if gets any worse.”

“Thanks
,
Melinda
.
”
 
Gabi knew it took a lot of energy for the Magus to use her power of
direct
healing.
 
She always appreciated the effort, especially when it was used on a minor injury.  “I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’ll see Ian if it isn’t.”

“You guys can head back to HQ,” Kyle told Melinda and the driver.  “Let them know that I’m taking Gabi home
,
and then I’ll be in to help with the new
Werewolf
.”  Gabi immediately started to protest, but he interrupted her
,
saying, “
B
ecause if she goes in
to HQ,
Byron is bound to find out about the bite wound and will probably take her off duty for a
couple of days.
”
H
e was speaking to Melinda, but
making his point to
Gabi.

She pulled a face at him.
 
“Fine,” she capitulated sullenly, grabbing her jacket and striding off in the direction of her car.

Kyle suppressed a grin and closed up the van rear door as the driver started the engine.  He gave the van a parting pat and trotted to catch Gabi up.