There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) (17 page)

Razor’s growl
woke her from a deep sleep. Her hand was searching for Nex even
before her eyes were open.

“
Hellcat, it’s just me.” Alexander’s voice broke through the
haze of sleep and adrenaline. “Razor, give it up. I don’t feel like
healing lacerations tonight.”

Gabi fully
cracked one eye and sat up, stretching. “What’s going on? Is there
news? What’s the time?” she demanded, pulling the sheet over
herself, even though Alexander had seen it all before.

“
It’s almost six p.m., and yes, there’s news, just not the kind
you were hoping for.” He was clearly regretful. “We have a guest
who wants to speak to us.”

“
Stop beating around the bush,” she grumbled. “You know I hate
that at the best of times.”

“
Athena,” he said. “The High Magus wants to speak to you and
Julius. I get the feeling she’s not supposed to be here, so
whatever she has to say, it’s important.”

Gabi sighed. If
anyone knew Athena, it was Alexander. If he thought the Magus had
something that needed to be said, she probably did.

“
I’ll be down in two minutes,” she told him, dropping any
pretence at modesty and jumping out of bed.

“
Julius is just finishing up a meeting with Liam; he won’t be
long. We’re convening in the bar; coffee will be waiting,” he told
her before vanishing from the room. Speed freak, she thought
uncharitably as she went to splash cold water over her
face.

Athena had
changed out of the dark suit and cape that she’d worn to the
stadium into cream yoga pants, a loose-fitting top and trainers.
Gym or dojo, Gabi wondered, knowing there was no other reason
Athena would be dressed so casually.

“
Twice in one day,” she said to the Magus, “we’re
honoured.”

Athena’s eyes
narrowed on her for a moment, assessing, trying to decide if she
was being facetious. It was borderline. Alexander was behind the
bar counter, and Gabi could smell tea brewing; there’d better be
coffee as well.

“
I’m here to tell you what’s happening with the Source,” Athena
said, folding her arms and lifting her chin, “but I’m not here in
any official capacity.”

“
You’re going against the wishes of the rest of the council?”
Julius asked, striding into the room and closing the door behind
him.

“
You could say that,” the Magus hedged.

“
She’s going against direct orders,” Alexander filled them in,
placing a steaming cup of tea and a larger mug of coffee on the
counter.

Athena walked
to get her cup of tea but didn’t take a seat. She was clearly
restless and on edge. Gabi could empathize. “I come here as a
friend, one concerned for the City and its inhabitants. I come to
you because you understand the delicate balance that keeps us all
relatively safe. The High Council feel that filling you in would be
akin to laying ourselves open to the enemy, showing our weakness
when we are at our most vulnerable. It goes without saying that
what is said here needs to be kept private.” She took a sip of her
tea and then placed the cup on a low table.

“
Of course,” Julius agreed, “you know your secrets are safe
with us.” Those few words said so much: Athena had been through a
lot with them; she knew more than her fair share of their
secrets.

“
You might want to sit down,” she said, smoothing her hands
down the front of her pants as though her palms were
clammy.

Alexander and
Julius took her advice; Gabi chose to pace.

“
The Source is the problem, not the Veil, and not the Magi.”
She paused, her eyes lowered. “It’s true that the magic within the
Source was severely depleted during the battle, but in all previous
records of depletion, the Source has refilled itself within days or
weeks. There are two possibilities. One, that there is some kind of
unusual leak or drain on the power. A large and constant one. Or
two, that the Source has simply reached the end of its natural
lifespan, and in essence it is dying. We’re focusing on the first
possibility. Stewart, the Tracker who found you,” she looked over
to Gabi, “is trying to trace an unknown energy pull that seems to
be tied to the Source. It may be what we’re looking for. If we can
find where this pull originates, we should be able to cut off the
leak and the Source should return to normal.”

“
And if this leak isn’t what you think it is?” Julius was
keeping calm while Gabi’s mind was spinning too fast to form a
reasonable question.

“
That is a much more dire scenario and the main reason I’m
here,” she said. “If the Source is dying, the entire Magi race will
be left vulnerable. Our only hope would be to wait for the birth of
a new Source. That could happen in weeks of the original’s demise,
or months or years or centuries. We have no way of knowing for
sure.”

“
What would that mean for the Veil?” Gabi asked, and even she
could hear the horror in her voice.

Athena just
shook her head, as though she couldn’t bear to put the idea into
words. She picked up the teacup and downed the contents before
setting the cup on the bar counter.

“
I have to go. If I stay here any longer, my…minders will
become suspicious enough of my absence to investigate where I’ve
been. I know this is terrible timing, but I’m due to leave for a
conclave tomorrow and I want you to know what may be coming. You
should make contingency plans. We have at least a couple of months,
but beyond that I can make no guarantee.” With a final nod to
Alexander and a look that said a thousand things, she hurried from
the room. The coffee in Gabi’s mug had cooled and any hint of an
appetite she might have had was long gone.

“
Sire, there is a human at the gate who says they have a
message for you.” Gabi recognised Ben’s voice over the phone. “They
won’t hand it to anyone besides you personally. Under other
circumstances—” It felt like they’d spent days arguing over what to
do about Athena’s warning, so the ringing of Julius’s phone had
come as a sort of relief.

“
Thank you, Ben,” Julius interrupted the guard’s attempted
apology. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

Gabi glanced at
the time on her own phone, two minutes to midnight. “Right on
time,” she noted. Adrenalin and anticipation exploded through her.
The troubled Source was forgotten; she wanted to face her mother’s
kidnapper. Very soon they would have this out, one way or another.
No one else would dare to touch one of her loved ones ever
again.

“
Gabrielle, Fergus and I will go,” Julius announced, standing
and holding out his hand to her. Alexander, Mac, and Patrick
bristled a little, but none voiced their dissent.

“
You’ll need me as well.” The assassin known as Sicarius stood
up from his seat on the far side of the room. He had yet to divulge
any other name, so Sicarius it was. “I am the go-between; I can
confirm the identity of both sides.” He was moving a little
stiffly, but the large bruises mottling the side of his face were
fading. By the slow rate of his healing, he hadn’t had any Vampire
blood for some time. He was still in the same clothes he’d been in
the previous night, but the dried blood had been cleaned away from
his face and hair. His hands were once again fastened behind his
back with black zip ties. He was probably just as anxious to
finalise this meeting as Gabi was.

Julius nodded
agreement and Fergus moved to one side, allowing the stocky,
muscled man to shoulder his way to the front.

“
Dornt forget, assassin,” Fergus said quietly into his ear,
“paralysed frae th’ neck doon is still alive, an’ he willnae be
able te Turn ye quickly enough tae heal th’ damage.”

The human male
said nothing, staring straight ahead; a jaw muscle twitched beneath
the bruises though. Gabi had to hand it to him, he handled the
terror Fergus could inspire with admirable composure.

Fergus stepped
forward to open the door and then stood aside for Sicarius to walk
ahead of them. Julius and Gabi brought up the rear, a silent
procession to the gate. Razor followed quietly in their wake. As
they left the mansion itself and started the walk down the
tree-lined drive towards the gate, a tiny ball of red fuzz scooted
out of a tree and hurtled directly towards them. Sicarius reacted
instinctively and jerked aside, but the excited squirrel didn’t
even seem to notice him. She darted for Gabi, zipping up her leg
and onto her shoulder, chittering as though scolding her soundly.
Fergus used the opportunity to give the human a shove in the small
of his back, but Gabi caught the bemused expression on his face
before he turned to continue walking. She allowed the tiny animal a
few seconds of fussing and then gently but firmly gave her a mental
push to return to the trees. The little fluffball gave Julius a
mournful look, she had wanted to burrow into his hair and play
games, but she obeyed Gabi’s encouragement without further fuss
and, after briefly exchanging a nuzzle with Razor, scampered
off.

Gabi suppressed
a pang of guilt. One of these days she’d have the time to sit up on
a branch and just breathe with her little friend. She hoped that
time wasn’t too far away. Julius gave her hand a barely perceptible
squeeze. She squeezed back, giving herself a mental shake.

Rest when
you’re dead, right?

The gatehouse
was alive with Werewolves and Vampires. Every hand on duty had
besieged the area.

“
Back tae wark,” Fergus growled, and several bodies scattered
out of their way. “Tae yer assigned posts. Noo.” His tone grew
harder, and more than half of the bodies melted quickly away into
the shadows.

On the far side
of the gate was a sleek, black motorcycle lit by several
high-powered spotlights. Sitting casually astride it was a dark
figure, one booted foot planted firmly on the tarmac, helmet in
place and visor down. The guards on duty moved aside as the four of
them approached.

“
Open it,” Julius said.

One of the
guards jumped to obey and the electric gates slid smoothly apart.
Gabi knew, even before the figure removed the helmet, that it was a
woman. The physique beneath the tightly fitted motorcycle gear was
curved in all the right places. She trailed her fingers through her
mass of raven black hair to shake out the inevitable helmet head
and then deftly twisted the strands into a bun at the back of her
head, tugging a long pin from her sleeve with her teeth to secure
it in place.

“
Astrid.” Sicarius strode forward as the woman swung her leg
backwards over the bike in a lithe dismount. “I didn’t expect to
see you here.”

“
Sicarius,” the woman greeted him. Her tone was neutral, but a
twitch of her lips gave away her pleasure at having surprised him.
“You look a little the worse for wear, are you alright?”

“
I’m fine.” Sicarius’s voice was flat and unfriendly, putting
Gabi on alert as Fergus tensed next to her and Razor came to
attention. “What are you doing here?”

“
Now, now, assassin,” she took a couple of sultry steps
forward, “that’s no way to talk to your new partner.”

Surprise
stiffened the man’s body. “Yeah, right. He’d never employ you.” He
didn’t sound even remotely convinced.

A smirk curled
the woman’s lips as she tugged off her thick gloves and tucked them
into a pocket in the leather riding pants. Gabi was very close to
losing her temper; she hadn’t come out here to witness a spat
between ex-lovers. Then the messenger reached a hand towards the
zipper on her bike jacket and Fergus growled warningly, appearing
in front of Gabi and Julius in a whoosh of air. She immediately
held out her hands in a partially submissive gesture.

“
Relax, big guy,” she said. “I’m just getting what I came here
to deliver. First, I have a message for my old friend,” she batted
her eyelashes mockingly at Sicarius, “and then I have another one
for tall, dashing and dangerous behind you.” She upped the wattage
on her sultry smile to Julius, and Gabi’s teeth snapped together
involuntarily.

“
I’d ease up with that if I were you, Astrid,” Sicarius bit
out. “The lady next to him could snap you like a twig. Not that I’d
mind the show, but we have bigger concerns right now.”

The woman
sighed gustily. “Being a captive makes you too grumpy to be any
fun,” she griped and pulled two thick envelopes from her jacket.
“For you, loverboy.” She held one out to Sicarius. “Oh, that’s
right, you’re a bit tied up. I’ll just give it to this brawny dose
of Scotland, shall I?” Before she could move to hand it over, both
envelopes flew from her grasp as though snatched by an invisible
hand. The first landed in Fergus’s outstretched hand and the second
in Julius’s. The woman jerked back, her eyes wide, her mouth
forming a bemused O.

“
Open it,” Sicarius demanded of Fergus. “I’m not sure we can
trust her.”

Fergus glanced
back at Julius, who nodded. Gabi kept her eyes trained closely on
the woman, who seemed to have made a quick recovery from her shock;
she was holding her ground. Fergus drew an evil-looking kukri from
the sheath at his waist and slit the envelope open with a quick
flick of his wrist. He kept the blade in his hand as he tugged the
folded sheet of paper out and opened it. Gabi’s attention settled
back on the messenger, who stood feet apart and fight ready but not
unusually tense; her heartbeat was calm and regular. She was one
very cool cucumber for a human.

“
Fur ye,” Fergus said, holding the paper open in front of the
assassin so he could read it. Now Gabi had to divide her attention
between the woman and Sicarius. His eyes quickly scanned the
contents of the letter and then paused at the bottom, as though
checking and rechecking something.