A Cold Day in Hell (The Hellcat Series) (39 page)

"Finish '
im, lass," Fergus yelled urgently.  "We hav te go." 

Gabi's head was still spinning from the blow to her face, but she quickly located one of her lost blades, which Santiago had dropped.  She dove for it, grabbing it as she came to her feet, slicing across the back of Santiago's thighs, hamstringing him.  The Vampire collapsed to the ground. 

"No," he yelled hoarsely.  "You can't do this. You will not get away with this.  My Clan will hunt you down and take you apart, piece by tiny piece."

"Oh, shut it," Gabi snarled.  "You disgusting piece of filth.  I'm more likely to get an award for exterminating you."  She brought the sword down on his throat.  Blood and gore spurted as the Vampire thrashed around, his tongue protruding from his mouth.  Her first blow hadn't severed his head.  It took several more attempts to finish the job, and Gabi was having a hard time keeping control of her stomach.  Yes, she'd killed before, but that didn't make this particular kill any less horrific.  Chopping a living being's head from its shoulders was not a pretty job, and she desperately prayed she'd never have to do it ever again.  As Santiago's head finally rolled free of his neck, the rest of his body stopped moving, and a second later it began to shrivel and decay. 

Straightening, she quickly assessed the rest of the apartment as she wiped Santiago's blood from the side of her face.  Fergus had cut down the Vampire guard; his remains were shrivelling as she watched.  In the main room five Werewolves still lay in unruly piles where they'd fallen, darts protruding from their bodies, the dart gun was smashed into pieces on the carpet, and Wolf was looking strained as he kept one of the other wolves pinned with his superior Alpha gaze.  Fergus was wrestling with the other one.  Santiago's body continued to degenerate until there was nothing left of him but a large pile of ash and an empty robe.

Gabi
coughed, her throat sore where Santiago had tried to choke her.  The side of her face was agony, her right arm weak and shaking, the pain would set in soon.  Damn, the apartment looked like a war had taken place.  It wasn't going to take long for anyone who walked in to figure out that Santiago had met his maker against his will. 

And the Werewolves, what the hell were they going to do with them?  The five who were unconscious they could drag somewhere and leave to wake up and make whatever they could of the events that had taken place while they slept.  But the two Alphas were another story.  She wondered if she could convince them to leave the castle and not come back.  The simple answer was to kill them, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do that.  They'd only been protecting their Master. 

"Stop," she commanded in a rasp, ramming the command into the two Alphas. 

Both wolves turned on her and then
froze, eerie wolf eyes boring into hers. 

Razor stalked to place himself between her and them.  Kyle's wolf relaxed a little, and with a quick shake, Kyle appeared in his stead.  It didn't matter how many times Gabi saw it, it still amazed her
how fast he Changed.  He was naked, of course, and there were bite marks and lacerations all over his body.  He was panting a little from exertion.  Fergus sprang lightly to his feet from the floor where he'd been rolling around with the second Werewolf. 

"Kill '
em?" Fergus asked, as she threw him the short sword she was holding. 

"No," she replied, "I'm going to try to force them to leave and not return."

"And if you can't?" Kyle asked, dragging a pair of jeans off one of the unconscious men.

"Let me try first," Gabi said. 

"Hurry, there's no time to spare," Kyle warned. 

She blew out a breath, steadying herself, and then gathered her command into a tight spear.  Normally she tried to be as gentle and unobtrusive as possible, to make suggestions rather than give orders.  This time she knew she had to be cruel.  She flung the order at the first wolf and watched as it hit home.  The wolf flinched and let out a small yelp of surprise and fear.  Gabi had several times forced a wolf to take a back seat and allow the human side to dominate, but so far she had done it with Werewolves she knew and already had some kind of established relationship with.  These were hostile unknowns. 

Perhaps she'd been a little overzealous, she thought, as the Alpha's head bowed and his nose touched the ground.  She felt his utter capitulation; she knew that when she opened the door, he would run.  Run from the castle, run for days, staying wolf until he was many miles from here.  He'd never return.  She’d be surprised if he ever managed to Change back to human.  She actually felt bad, until she remembered that the alternative was death.  Gathering the last of her strength, she formed the command for the second one, this time lacing it with an order to keep an eye on the other one, to not attack humans, and to keep the other one from doing the same. 

As she released the second mental command, the expulsion of energy left her swaying.  Kyle was at her side, propping her up.

"Holy cow, Hellcat, you did it," he said, wonder in his voice.  He could feel their submission. 

Relief weakened Gabi's knees almost as much as the effort of forcing their compliance. 

Suddenly there was a movement at the door.  A figure appeared in the open doorway.  Panic froze Gabi where she stood.

CHAPTER 22

"Ha, I knew
ye'd do it," a voice crowed.  The first figure was joined by others, and Sally marched into the room, followed by Athena, Xavier and, of all people, Amelia.  In Sally's one hand was a vacuum cleaner and in the other a bucket with cleaning cloths and spray bottles. 

"Get out of the way," Gabi warned in a rasp as the two Werewolves bolted for the doorway.  The newcomers scattered, and the wolves were gone in less than a heartbeat. 

"Come, we have to go," Athena said urgently.  "Sunset is coming." 

Amelia's and Xavier's eyes widened at the sight of Gabi caked in Santiago's blood and gore, but Sally just busied herself with the electric cord for the vacuum cleaner. 

"Get goin’," she ordered, making waving motions at Gabi.  "We'll take care of the rest.  No one will know there was a fight ’ere, not even that bastard's dust will be found."  She grinned evilly, and Gabi finally figured out what the vacuum cleaner was for.  "Xavier will sort out the Werewolves, and Amelia will take the girls."  She nodded at the female Vampire, who was still staring at Gabi with a flabbergasted and slightly fearful expression.

"What's she going to do with them?" Gabi demanded, not trusting the annoyingly cute blonde, after the few run-ins they'd had.  She also wanted to know how Amelia was awake so early.  She had to be older than she appeared, but there was no time for twenty questions.

"I'll take them in as mine," Amelia said quickly.  "I swear I'll do my best to help them.  I was never lucky enough to be a mother, but the instinct is there.  I promise you on my life, I won't let anyone else take advantage of them."  There was a note of pleading in her voice, but it was underscored by steel when she spoke of protecting them.

"Ye can trust ’
er in this," Sally assured Gabi.  "I'll stake me own life on it.  Now get.  Get to the entrance ye came in; there’ll be a car wain’ for ye."  She began spritzing the room with a heavy citronella-scented spray.  Kyle sneezed and wrinkled his nose at the over-powering smell. 

Gabi shook her head in rueful amusement; then she gave Sally a final grateful grin and turned to hurry from the apartment, Razor and the rest on her heels. 

They all but tumbled into the secret passageway, Kyle taking the lead, navigating back by their scent trail. 

Gabi felt the instant Julius woke; she was running through the passages, fuelled purely by
adrenalin.  There was no way he would fail to know something was going on.  His mind was calm for a few seconds; then his connection with her flared.  She actually stumbled as his anger and concern pounded into her.  Fergus grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back onto her feet.  Power flared, and Gabi knew Julius was rousing the others.  There was going to be hell to pay for going behind his back, but she would never regret the decision.  A quick look back at Fergus told her he would never regret this either.  A fiercely triumphant grin lit his scarred face.

Gabi all but fell through the opening from the secret passageway into their apartment.  The rest of the Vampires were awake, and luggage was quickly being assembled near the door.  Gabi was relieved he'd thought of it.  It would look suspicious if they left in such a hurry that they didn't even take their belongings.  It had to look like they'd simply left to get back home.  One look at Julius's face confirmed what Gabi was feeling through their link.  He was furious.  Absolutely livid.  His face was set in a rigid mask, until he got a good look at her.  Exasperation chased away some of the anger, and Gabi thought he might forgive her.  Eventually. 

"You four took out Santiago?"  It was a rhetorical question; they all knew the answer.  "What the hell did you think you were doing?" he demanded.  "We agreed we'd do it another way, another time. 
Without putting the entire Clan at risk." 

Alexander was standing a pace behind Julius.  He looked just as pissed off as Julius.

"We didn't agree," Gabi reminded him, her voice still rasping.  She desperately needed to clear her throat, but that would show too much weakness.  "You made your decision.  I made mine.  The job is done.  We just need to get out of here before they lock the place down."

"What would've happened if he'd killed you instead?  He was a Master, a
Princep."  He rounded on Fergus and Kyle.  "You two supported her in this?  Allowed her to do this against my wishes and knowing the dangers."

"Sire, I ken ye be angry
noo, but we haf te get oot of here.  Ye can tear strips off us all in te plane," Fergus replied, his tone bland and calm.  The wounds the Scotsman had sustained from the Vampire and the Werewolf were already healed, but his clothing was torn in numerous places; a testament to the ferocity of the fight. 

Julius let out a wordless growl, but turned from them, knowing Fergus was right but not liking it.  He stalked towards Gabi, still stiff with disapproval.  She held her ground, but Razor stepped in front of her, between the two of them, facing Julius with his hackles raised in warning.  Julius's lip twitched in annoyance.

"I'm not going to hurt her, feline," he grumbled.  "I want to see how badly she's injured."  He visibly took control of his temper, and after a second of assessment, Razor backed down and moved out of his way. 

"I'm fine," she tried to say, but her voice cracked, and she coughed.  Though she'd tried to clean up as they ran, she knew she was still caked with Santiago's blood, and a trickle of her own blood was still seeping from a cut in her mouth. 
If only Vampire blood turned to dust when the Vampire did.  Julius's eyes were dark and unreadable as he reached to touch her jaw, gently turning her head so he could see the cheek that Santiago had struck.  Gabi knew it was puffy, and the bruising was probably already blossoming into shades of black and purple.  Her head was throbbing; the sight in that eye was blurred.  She cleared her throat, and his eyes travelled to her throat, where there would be a clear imprint of Santiago's hands.

"We need to go," she whispered.  "Can you lead us back the way we arrived?"  She wouldn't ask him for blood to heal her injuries.  It didn't seem right after she'd gone behind his back.  She knew he felt betrayed, by her as well as Fergus.  The feeling cut
deep, and he couldn't hide it from her.  She couldn't blame him, but she stood by what she'd done and why she'd left him out of it.  She just hoped he'd understand once he calmed down.  Hoped he'd trust her again given time.  "Just give me thirty seconds."  She was exhausted, so tired she wasn't sure she could keep putting one foot in front of the other, but she had to get rid of the scent of Santiago.  It was making her feel physically sick. 

She turned and stumbled to the nearest bathroom.  Quickly stripping off the long-sleeve shirt she wore, she turned on the tap, throwing a washcloth under the stream of water.  She was relieved that the black T-shirt she'd worn underneath was relatively unscathed and the colour hid any bloodstains.  As she scrubbed the blood and grime from her face and neck, she felt a surge of Julius's power.  He was calling someone.  She ran the washcloth under the water until the water flowing from it was no longer pink.  She didn't dare leave it behind, in case a Vampire or Werewolf came across it and could smell Santiago, so she squeezed it out as well as she could with one hand and rolled it into the bloodstained top, balling them up ready to shove into a bag.  She was cold without the top but getting warm would have to wait until they were safely out of the castle.

When she returned to the main room, the rest were ready and waiting, with the exception of Caspian, who was conspicuously absent.  Iris was standing at the open door, a slightly glazed look on her face. 

"Take us to the courtyard we arrived at," Julius ordered Iris, his power surging around the small woman.  She nodded mutely and obediently turned to lead the way.  They followed her, but the moment they stepped into the hall, they could hear that something was wrong.  Shouts and calls could be heard in the distance, distress and confusion clear in the tones.  Santiago's Vampires had begun to rise.