To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) (34 page)

She was just getting antsy enough to think about going for a
shower, or perhaps a swim in the newly built, heated, indoor pool
when Athena arrived back. Alone. She looked tired to the point of
collapse, and Gabi wondered when last the woman had eaten or
slept.

“
Where’s Benedict?” she asked, going over to paw through the
takeaway containers until she found one that had barely been
touched. She shoved it at Kyle and nodded towards the bar, where a
small microwave resided under the counter. Kyle took the hint and
went to warm the food.

“
He’s, uh…” She looked slightly uncomfortable. “He’s gone to
find…nourishment.”

Gabi understood her discomfort intimately, but it was a fact
of life: Vampires needed to feed just like the rest of
them.

“
You didn’t offer yourself?” Alexander drawled from the couch
to Gabi’s right. There was a strange note in his voice, making Gabi
glance over at him. His eyes were narrowed, and his face had a
pinched look to it.

“
I…No…He…” Athena’s cheeks went pink as she became
uncharacteristically flustered and broke off.

The microwave pinged, and Kyle walked over to push the food
into her hand along with a plastic fork. Gabi could practically
drink the tension in the room.

“
What the…” she began, and then saw Mac tilt his head and
widen his eyes so only she could see; he was trying to tell her
something with his expression. He flicked his gaze from Athena to
Alexander and back. Then she got it. “Oh,” she said in an
undertone. Damn, she was blind sometimes. Alexander and Athena had
quietly been developing something between them, until Benedict
showed up and began displaying his own version of interest in
Athena. Alexander was jealous, and this could be turning into an
unpleasant love triangle just when they least needed any
distractions. Gabi hurled a decorative pillow at Alexander; he was
distracted enough that it almost hit him.

“
Give it a break,” she grumbled at him. “Can’t you see she’s
almost dead on her feet? Get her something to drink.” Then, “Sit
down, Athena, before you fall down. Eat. Then tell us what
happened.” The biggest surprise of the night was that both
Alexander and Athena followed her orders without comment. She sent
a mental spear of thought to Julius; he’d know what it
meant.

Less than five minutes after Gabi’s summons, Julius walked
back into the room. Athena was almost finished a box of Thai beef
salad, according to the handwritten note on the side of the box.
She looked drawn and worried but a little less pale. Gabi was
sitting on one side of a sofa, her legs curled up next to her,
nursing a glass of wine with apparent calmness, but impatience
oozed from every cell of her body. Joshua Maclary had taken a walk
onto the patio outside, Kyle was on his phone, checking on Trish,
and Alexander was brooding over a glass of bourbon, avoiding
everyone’s eyes. He wondered what Gabi had said to his second in
command to both annoy and subdue him. He knew that Alexander’s
feelings for the Magus were deeper than mere lust, stronger than
casual dalliance, and he knew that Benedict was feeling the same
attraction to the woman. It was going to come down to her choice.
As much as Julius felt for his long-time friend, he was intensely
glad that Benedict hadn’t set his sights on Gabi. Things would not
be nearly so cordial if another man tried to get between him and
his Lea. Speaking of which.

“
Caspian is back,” he told the group, walking to fold himself
onto the sofa next to Gabi.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?” she asked in disbelief. “He’s
here?”

“
Not at the Estate,” Julius told her. “He’s back in the City,
though. I can sense his presence. He’s not terribly close yet. I’m
not sure he’s even heading our way.”

“
How convenient,” Benedict drawled as he sauntered into the
room. His complexion looked better; he’d obviously availed himself
of one of the Feeders. As usual, a storm of power surrounded him,
Julius was intrinsically aware of it, though it didn’t seem to
bother the others, so he assumed they didn’t feel it like he did.
It must have something to do with his magical heritage. Then Gabi
shifted, shivering a little and rubbing one of her upper arms. So
he wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“
What do you mean?” Gabi asked him, her voice carefully
controlled.

Benedict smiled, but it wasn’t pleasant. “You know you can’t
trust that sociopathic piece of scum, don’t you?” he asked her.
“He’s only come back now because he’s found out that there isn’t a
price on his head.” He turned his sardonic gaze on Julius; then his
eyes narrowed suddenly. “You’re just luring him in, aren’t you?” he
asked speculatively. “Once he’s back under your control, you can
find an excuse to kill him. I like your thinking.”

Gabi, who’d gone tense at the mention of Caspian’s name,
unexpectedly relaxed a little.

“
That’s not what I intend,” Julius felt the growl in his
voice. Gabi’s unease was back.

“
You know he’s going to try to find a way to kill you or to
lure the Dhampir away from you,” Benedict pressed. “Every second
he’s around, you’re going to have to watch your back and your
woman.” The predatory smile on the teenage face made Julius
distinctly uncomfortable.

Mac arrived back from his walk, and Julius decided to steer
the conversation away from sensitive matters.

“
He’s not an important issue right now,” Julius said. “I’ll
deal with him after this crisis is over. Tell us what happened with
the Oracles.”

Benedict pursed his lips, thoughtfully studying first Julius
and then Gabi. Julius wasn’t sure he wanted to know what the
Vampire Magus saw. Yesterday he’d been relieved to find out that
Benedict didn’t have any true offensive or even defensive magical
talent. His greatest strength was his ability to magnify the
talents of others, but his secondary strength, and secondary didn’t
mean weak, was clairvoyance and clairaudience. Benedict was a
person who always knew more than he let on. There was something he
wasn’t telling them about Caspian. When they had time to worry
about it, he’d have to heed Benedict’s warning.

“
Benedict’s assistance helped the Oracles push through some of
their shielding spells,” Athena said, pushing all thoughts of the
troublesome Spanish Vampire out of his mind. Her tone wasn’t that
of someone who had good news. “The reason they’ve been so
impenetrable is that they were multilayered. One of the Magi
working with them is a very talented Shielder, able to build very
complex walls.” She drew in a long breath. “The Oracles were able
to
see
several
dozen future possibilities, but there are too many unquantifiable
elements at play here. There isn’t much concrete.”

“
Is there anything they know with relative certainty?” Julius
asked.

“
That any attacking moves we make will be countered,” she told
them. “In most cases with serious consequences for us. Our only
real hope of overcoming them is when they attack and try to gain
control of the Source.”

The silence was heavy.

“
At that time every ounce of their magic, energy and
concentration will be poured into one goal,” Benedict took up the
explanation. “If we’re strong enough to stand against them then, if
we have the numbers and resources we need, we can obliterate them.
We need to wipe them off the face of the earth. It’s the only way
to protect the stability of the supernatural world.” Benedict’s
gaze bored into his meaningfully.

Julius felt his jaw muscles tighten, his teeth clamping
together. If he’d been harbouring any hope that he could get
through this fight without having to utilise his newly discovered
abilities, Benedict’s look just blew them away. They were expecting
him to step up to the plate. A virtually untrained Vampire
Magus.

Benedict’s mouth lifted in a slight smile. “Eventually you’ll
believe me when I say you’re underestimating yourself. Consider
this your trial by fire.”

Julius had learnt a little of the Magi ways and knew there was
a trial all trained Magi faced when their mentors considered them
ready to pass from Apprentice to full Magus. Apparently the trial
of a Vampire Magus was a little more serious.

“
So we’re back to sitting around waiting for them to attack?”
Gabi sighed, leaning back and agitatedly turning her ring around
and around on her finger.

“
Well, not exactly.” The barest hint of a smile touched
Athena’s mouth. “We know a lot more about how many are coming
against us, and when and where they plan to attack. We can now make
plans of our own. The Magi High Council has already put out a call.
Every able-bodied Magus on the continent who can make it in time
will rally to aid us.” Then her smile was gone, and she dropped her
gaze. “There is some bad news, though, and according to the
Oracles, there isn’t a damn thing we can do to prevent
it.”

Julius had never heard Athena curse before. She’d paused,
working up to what she had to say.

“
What, dammit?” Gabi burst out. “Just tell us.”

“
They’re building a Demon Gate,” Benedict inserted when Athena
still seemed to be choking on the words she needed to get out. “A
permanent doorway into the Etherworld. A doorway that will allow
demons in and out of our reality at their will and whim. And not
only demons, but other Dark Magi, there are ways for Dark Magi to
travel the void and converge at the Demon Gate. That’s what they’re
fighting to protect; that’s what they’ve been so desperate to keep
us from finding out. Much of the chaos they’ve already caused has
been purely to keep us looking in the wrong places.”

Silence as each of them digested the revelations in their own
way. It was Kyle who broke it, in typical, as Gabi called it,
Kyle-style.

“
Well, now we do know about it,” he said. “We’re a step ahead
of where they think we are. It means we have an advantage. It means
we know it has to be destroyed.” He popped the cap off a beer
bottle and took a quick swig as the beer foamed up the neck of the
bottle. “We can destroy it, right?” His optimistic attitude
suddenly stalled as he realised his assumption may not be
correct.

Athena stood, wiping her hands on a napkin and brushing
non-existent crumbs from her slightly creased trousers. “There is
one person we think would be able to destroy it, but it needs to be
destroyed at the same time that they launch their final attack. We
have to wait until they are entirely committed, have put everything
into the assault against us and their attempt to break through to
the Source before we destroy the Demon Gate. And we have no idea
exactly how many demons they will have brought through the gate
once it’s open.”

“
Who?” Gabi asked, an edge in her voice; she seemed to know
already who Athena was talking about. As Julius looked up to frown
at Athena, he saw the answer as well.

“
Julius,” Athena said, “we think you have the best chance of
destroying the gate.”

A sick kind of terror hit him in the chest.

Gabi felt the fear punch through Julius. It was strong enough
to make her glad she was already sitting; if she’d been standing,
she may have swayed from the onslaught. Outwardly his face remained
impassive, no trace of his terrible uncertainty, though she noticed
Alexander glance his way with a frown.

“
What makes you think I, of all people, can destroy this
gate?” he asked at last. “I have barely any Magus training. I know
little of spells and enchantments, nothing of shielding or breaking
wards. I’m assuming we don’t have months until the Dark Ones make
their move?”

“
You’re an Air-bender and a Fire-bender, Julius,” Athena said,
her tone carefully neutral and patient, but Gabi caught an
undercurrent of awe mixed with frustration in her voice. “The
strongest Fire-bender we’ve ever heard of. You make Lance look like
a first-year apprentice.” The awe was more apparent in her voice
now. “That combined with your control of air, well, it makes you
the strongest offensive Magus in existence. The testing we did
showed you could even have an affinity for other elements, like
metals and water.”

“
Hold on,” Gabi interrupted. “You say Air-bender. That’s like
James, right?” One of the newer Hunters had actually deflected
bullets during an ambush a few months ago; it had been very
impressive. “I thought what Julius used was telekinesis, and I was
under the impression those are two separate things.”

“
They are, and Julius was under a mis-assumption,” Athena
confirmed. “Telekinesis is the ability to affect solid objects, to
move them, compress them, drop them, kind of like using a mental
hand. Air-bending is one of the elemental powers. It’s the ability
to manipulate the air itself. By using the air, you can also lift
and move solid objects, but it’s the air you have control of, not
the object. Does that make sense?”

Most of them nodded, including Gabi.

“
It’s more difficult to move solid objects using air-bending
talent than using telekinesis, which is why it seems to take so
much of Julius’s strength to do it, but air-bending has far more
real-world applications.” She turned from addressing them all to
face Julius again. “Once you learn how to use air-bending properly,
it won’t be so difficult to move solid objects, but the real
strength, and danger, in air-bending is its lack of limits. Once
you can manipulate the air around yourself…” She broke off for a
moment, shaking her head. “Well, you could pull the air from
someone’s lungs, cause a tornado inside a room, prevent a poisonous
gas from spreading or direct it straight at someone. You could
force an air bubble into a person’s vein or draw the oxygen from
their bodies.”