A Cold Day in Hell (The Hellcat Series) (31 page)

"No," Gabi replied firmly.  "While some in the Vampire world may be unmoved by the plight of humans, I stand with one foot in the human world and one in the Vampire world.  I was born to protect
both, and all other innocents."  She avoided looking at Santiago as she spoke those words.  "I know the death and destruction that would affect both my families if my secret got into the wrong hands.  I will give my own life before I reveal the secret to anyone who may use it unwisely."

"She speaks true," Faruq said into the silence that followed her declaration. 

Helene and Klara appeared ready to continue her interrogation, but Oleksandra rose to her feet.

"Then we have heard enough."  She pinned the others with a stern glance to either side of her before turning back to the group standing in front of them. "Master Julius, do you have anything else you wish to add?"  When Julius shook his head, she said, "You may return to your apartment.  We will meet again tomorrow night.  I trust you will continue to enjoy our hospitality in the meanwhile." 

Gabi didn't dare reply to that.  Faruq would know the instant she spoke that something had happened.  So she merely nodded agreement, along with Julius.  The rest of the Princeps stood and took their leave, filing out of the room with Benedict bringing up the rear.  Just before he disappeared through the door, he lifted his ever-present sunglasses and gave them a look, one that was the subtle equivalent of a round of applause.

It was almost dawn when Xavier made his entrance through another secret door. 

"It's just me," he said as soon as his head cleared the door frame.  A man who learned by experience; Gabi was impressed. 

Without being prompted, Athena stood and began the invocation to seal the room from prying ears and minds.  Xavier was plainly tired; dark semi-circles marked the skin under his eyes like bruises. 

"You need to get some sleep, human," Alexander remarked.  "You look ready to drop." 

Xavier smiled weakly.  "I'm fine," he said.  "Really."  He was more adamant at Julius's raised eyebrows.  "I have my day off-duty tomorrow; I'll catch up then.  I promise." 

"What news do you have?" Caspian was less sympathetic to the man's plight. 

"You certainly stirred them up again.  They only just retired to their rooms and only because their guards were starting to suffer with the onset of dawn."  He stifled a yawn and rubbed his face wearily.  "There are now five firmly on your side and calling to dismiss the charge.  Fianna and Faruq are siding with Benedict, Oleksandra and Cassandra, and I sense that Thibault is teetering on the edge of joining them.  He has begun arguing for the saving of the Dhampir secret.  The rest are still for finding you guilty, though Eliasz and Lennert are wavering a little, I guess because they can see the sense in holding the secret.  Unfortunately Eliasz will never go against Klara, though, and she is still strongly against you, as are the rest.  Akshita because she firmly believes that the secret should be destroyed, but Santiago and Helene seem to have more personal reasons that they are reluctant to voice.  Their arguments are weak, but their sentiment is strong."

"What happens if the vote is tied?" Gabi asked, she couldn't remember if anyone had explained that yet.

"The tie-breaker is chosen at random," Caspian said.  "A bag containing eleven pure white balls and one with a small red dot is passed around.  Whichever Princep draws the ball with the dot has the deciding vote."

"Huh," Gabi huffed.  That meant even if they were lucky enough to get Thibault on their side they wouldn't know until too late which way the vote would swing.  Part of the escape plan hinged on being able to get out as soon as they knew the vote would go against them. 

Discussion turned to security detail for the day that was fast approaching.  Julius wanted to stay awake again, but Gabi knew it wasn't a good idea.  She adamantly insisted he rest in case they had to flee the following night.  If they ran, Lord and Lady only knew when they would next get a chance to rest.  All the Vampires had made use of castle feeders earlier in the evening, at Julius's insistence, so they would all be at full strength the following night, but he still refused to back down and leave her, Athena and Kyle to protect themselves.  Their heated stalemate was broken when Caspian stood and, taking his life in his hands, got between the two of them.

"I'll stay up," he said firmly, glancing from Julius to Gabi and back again as though he wasn't sure who the bigger threat was, or who he had to convince more.  "I'm the oldest Vampire here.  I have no trouble resisting the daysleep for one day.  If I haven't got the strength to keep going with you when you flee, I have places I can go to ground nearby.  I'm quite well prepared to stay out of sight." 

Gabi could feel the conflict rage through Julius.  As much as he'd been arguing with her, he knew the wisdom of getting his daysleep, but there were several reasons he didn't want to allow Caspian to stay awake with Gabi, not least of which was a soul-deep mistrust of the man.  Gabi nodded at him as he wavered.

"He's sworn fealty to you," she reminded him.  "If he tries anything stupid, we'll kill him."  She
meant it.  Neither she nor Kyle would hesitate to kill him if he proved that he was untrustworthy.

"I meant what I said, Jul—Master," Caspian corrected himself.  "I will protect her with my life.  I swear it." 

Julius's eyes bored into the other man's for a moment, and then he nodded.  "You'll have to forgive my lack of trust," he told the Spaniard as Gabi felt the room fill with the weight of Julius's power, "but I'm not yet willing to put her life in your hands without a little insurance." 

Caspian's eyes grew large as the weight of Julius's will came down on him.  His mouth dropped open, and his hands fell slack at his sides.  "You will protect Gabrielle's life with your own.  You will not betray us in any way." Julius's voice brooked no dissension as his power pounded into Caspian. 

The other Vampire fell to his knees, his head bowed.  "Yes, Sire," he breathed hoarsely, his compliance now unquestionable. 

Julius nodded curtly and withdrew the storm of unseen power back into himself.  "Now I will sleep," he said shortly.  He turned and strode towards the bedroom.  "Get some rest, all of you," he ordered. 

Gabi was slower to turn and follow him, so only she noticed Caspian's look as he lifted his head and stared at Julius's retreating back.  His eyes were cold and hard as diamond, his jaw set and his face immobile.  A finger of ice shivered up Gabi's spine as a different side of Caspian showed itself, one she was sure would eventually cause them all grief.  An instant later he caught her watching him, and the look was gone, as though it had never existed.  He smiled weakly as he came to his feet in a fluid motion, visibly collecting himself.

"It is one thing to hear of the power he possesses," he nodded towards the room Julius had disappeared into, "but quite another to experience it for oneself." 

Gabi nodded.  "So I hear," she agreed.  "He was betrayed from within the Clan a few months ago.  It may not excuse his actions tonight, but perhaps it will explain them."  She wasn't sure it would make any difference to Caspian, but she hoped it may temper the hatred she'd seen in his eyes a few moments before. 

Caspian's face lost the hard edge, and he appeared somewhat mollified.  "I wasn't aware of that," he said.  "It does explain his lack of trust.  And, believe it or not, I do understand his compulsion to protect you at all costs.  He truly didn't need to use his power over Vampires to force my compliance; I will always do everything in my power to keep you safe." 

Gabi nodded, his words rang true; she felt that soul-deep.  Whether Caspian would give his life to save Julius, however, was a different issue altogether.  Gabi would be keeping an eye on Caspian where Julius was concerned.

CHAPTER 17

It was Razor who roused her, patting her cheek with a soft, heavy paw.  She cracked an eyelid with a sigh, telling him to shoo for at least a couple more hours.  She knew he had plenty of food, as well as water and a clean litter
box, she'd made sure of it before she fell asleep.  With Julius in his daysleep snuggled up behind her, his arm a possessive weight over her hips, she had every intention of sleeping until late afternoon.  The paw landed on her cheek again, this time with a hint of claw behind it.  Damn, drawn to a higher level of consciousness by the tiny stings on her cheek, she realised that Razor was radiating excitement and distress.  Something was wrong.  She sat up, instantly alert.  The room was quiet, and a hasty check with her Vamp sense only turned up the usual suspects in the apartment.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  But the alarm bell in the back of her mind was already dinging, growing louder by the second. 

"Okay, angel," she said quietly to Razor, putting a calming hand on him, "I'm awake."  She swiftly pulled on jeans and a sweater and grabbed
Nex, then added a couple of extra daggers from her luggage.  She took a few precious seconds to strap the spare blades to her calves through the custom-made slits in her jeans, but kept Nex ready in her hand.

She cracked the bedroom door and did a quick sweep of the living room.  The curtains were drawn, and the fire was burning, but the room was unoccupied.  The door to the outside passage stood open, and Gabi could hear distant shouts of alarm.  As she reached the outer door, Athena nearly ran straight into her, rushing back into the room. 

"What the Hell is going on?" Gabi demanded, tugging Athena inside and poking her head out to check the corridor.  It was deserted, but footsteps and more shouting could be heard from other levels of the castle. 

Razor positioned himself at the door, growling warningly.  Athena was panting, and her hair was mussed.  She was dressed casually, for Athena, in dark yoga pants and a cream sweater; she'd obviously already been awake when the excitement started.

"Mariska," Athena gasped.  "That thrice-dratted Maleficus."  Frustration and anger twisted the pretty Magi's face.  It was the first time Gabi had seen her truly pissed off. 

"What about Mariska?" Gabi wanted to shake the other woman for taking too long to explain.

"She's escaped."  Athena tried to pull Gabi back from the door.  "Kyle said we need to stay here and protect the others."  By others she meant the Vampires in their daysleep, which was another surprise to Gabi, as Athena appeared to be preparing to do exactly that.  She was already beginning some kind of spell.  Caspian and Kyle must be going after Mariska.

"Wait," Gabi nearly shouted.  "Why is everyone running scared because Mariska has escaped?" 

Athena paused in her chant and looked at Gabi like she was a little stupid.  "Because she's busy summoning Demons," Athena practically yelled in fury. 

"Fuck," Gabi spat, her mind now racing with adrenalin-fuelled clarity.  She grabbed Athena by the arm, once again interrupting the spell, and dragged the Magus to the food trolley pushed to one side of the room.  She quickly grabbed a glass, emptied the water uncaringly onto the carpet, and pulled a dagger from her leg sheath.  With a quick, sure slice she nicked the vein in her left wrist and let the blood flow into the glass.  Athena was watching her as if she'd lost her mind.  Gabi thrust the glass into her hand, and sucked on the wound briefly.

"Take this," she told the Magus.  "Protect the room with whatever spell you had planned.  If anyone manages to break through it, wake Julius with my blood.  I'm trusting you with their lives," she warned as she resheathed the dagger; then she turned and ran to join the fray.

"Gabi, wait," Athena cried after her.  "It's not safe.  I'm supposed to…" 

Gabi didn't hear what Athena was supposed to do; she was already at the first flight of stairs and flying down them, Razor close on her heels.  Now that she was away from the familiar Vampires, she could sense what she hadn't before.  The evil malevolence of at least two Demon presences.  They were several floors below her, and Gabi didn't have any idea of the full layout of the castle.  She’d have to follow her senses and hope she found them before they got free of the confines of the buildings. 

As she navigated yet another flight of stairs, she prayed to all the gods who may be listening that Mariska hadn't managed to bring the Wraith across the Void.  She had no aspirations of going another round with the ghostly Demon that had once blinded and electrocuted her when she tried to attack it.  Even scarier had been its second appearance, when it claimed it had only been toying with her the first time.  She had no doubt that it could kill with a touch if it chose to.  Their only hope in that case was that one of the twins was a banisher.  Athena couldn't help there; it was a very specific gift, and not many Magi had the ability. 

Her mind was so filled with thoughts of dealing with the Wraith that she never saw the trap. 

She'd just leapt a dozen steps, pounding onto a landing, prepared to spin and charge down the next flight of stairs, sure she was almost on the same level as the Demons, when something solid hit her in the chest, sending her sprawling backward and knocking every particle of air from her lungs.  She hit the banister behind her with a bone-jarring crunch and slid to the floor.  Instinct made her roll to one side, narrowly saving her from a savage kick to the ribs.  A menacing growl was the only warning her attacker got as Razor launched himself directly into the fracas.  Yells reverberated around the narrow confines of the landing as a furred ball of fury laid into her attacker with teeth and claws.