To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) (29 page)

“
It’s done.” Athena’s voice echoed in her head just as the
Vampire Gabi was sparring with stumbled, almost impaling himself on
Gabi’s spare dagger. She jerked the knife back, sparing a glance to
the outer door of the warehouse, where Alexander stood protecting
Athena as she worked. The Magus swayed slightly, and Alexander
reached back to grab her as he kicked a dazed-looking Werewolf in
the head.

“
They’ve stopped.” Kyle was breathing hard as he spoke.
“They’re confused, but mostly not attacking.”

As Gabi dropped her aching sword arm and looked around, lights
suddenly flicked on above them, flooding the scene. Her team were
all still standing, most bloodied to some degree, but each had
limbs and heads intact, so that was something. The floor was
littered with bodies, some in human form, some big shaggy piles of
fur. Those still conscious were looking around in confusion, some
staring at the weapons in their hands like they’d never seen them
before. A few began backing away from the invaders, hands up in
surrender.

“
The silver darts are here,” Trish said. “Do you still need
them?”

“
I don’t think so,” Gabi replied, “but I’ll send someone for
them anyway. I’d rather have them available. Just because this lot
were fighting unwillingly doesn’t mean there aren’t others fighting
by choice.”

“
I’ll go,” Derek’s voice came over the commlink. Gabi could
see him on the far side of the floor, near one of the emergency
exits.

“
Fine,” Gabi agreed. “Fergus, Kyle, Athena, you’re with me.
Alexander, you’re not supposed to be in here.”

He merely grinned a cocky smile in her direction. He was no
longer supporting Athena. She seemed to have regained her
equilibrium.

“
Well, if you’re here, you may as well make yourself useful
and oversee the clear up here. Don’t be complacent with this lot,”
she warned.

“
I’ve got this, Hellcat,” Alexander assured her, with a
strange emphasis to his words.

Gabi didn’t have time to work out what he meant, and hoped he
could be trusted to do the smart thing; at least Patrick was here
too. Gabi gave instructions to Trish to cut her group’s commlink
feed from the rest and just to keep a link open to the van; Trish
could relay any vital information to them, and they wouldn’t be
disturbed by the ongoing chatter of clean-up. Kyle came jogging
through a door to the left of Gabi as she divested herself of the
flame-thrower and picked up a MacBow off the floor. She tossed it
to Kyle and found a replacement MacDart for herself; then the small
group started for the door Benedict and Julius had disappeared
through an eon earlier.

Beyond the metal doors ran a narrow corridor to a flight of
stairs heading downward. The way was pitch dark and the air
stifling despite the open doors. A soft yellow light filled the
corridor, chasing back the dark. It emanated from a smooth, pale
crystal the size and shape of a quail’s egg cupped in Athena’s
palm.

“
Neat trick,” Gabi commented approvingly as they approached
the stairway. “Kyle, can you follow their trail?” Gabi asked. Her
friend paused on the top step and inhaled, closing his eyes and
opening his mouth as though tasting the air.

“
I’ve got the scent. Unless there are major air currents or a
flood down there, I should be able to follow it,” he
confirmed.

“
Good, lead the way,” Gabi
said, moving behind him and indicating for Athena to follow her.
Fergus automatically fell into line as rearguard. She had a vague
sense of which direction Julius was in, but not exactly how to get
to him. By the complete lack of communication from either Vampire
Magus, Gabi was going on the theory that either they’d turned off
their commlinks or they were both unconscious. As she could still
sense Julius, the latter was unlikely, so she figured they didn’t
want external interference. She wished that her Vamp sense extended
to Magi. Not knowing what they were about to walk in on was
worrying. She adjusted her grip on Nex, ready for
anything.

At the base of the staircase was a small room with rough,
unpainted walls and a bare concrete floor. The ceiling wasn’t
visible in the pale light thrown by Athena’s Mage-light. All four
walls looked solid. The only doorway was the one they’d just come
through. They all looked around, confused.

“
Wolf?” Gabi made the name a question.

Kyle was running his hands over the far wall. “They were
definitely in here, and their scent leads to this wall,” he said,
beginning to rap on the wall with his knuckles.

“
You think there’s some kind of secret doorway?” Gabi
asked.

“
Has to be,” Kyle said, but sounded like he was trying to
convince himself.

“
Hold on,” Athena said, brushing past Gabi, holding the
glowing crystal closer to the wall. She closed her eyes in
concentration, and Gabi only barely resisted tapping her foot
impatiently. “There’s something…” Athena broke off, putting her
hands out but not quite touching the wall. “There’s a strong ward
here. It’s complicated. I’m not even sure what it’s supposed to
do.”

“
Can you break it?” Kyle asked her.

“
It’s going to take me a little while,” she replied. “That
compulsion spell took a lot of unravelling. I’m not at my
peak.”

“
We have to get to them,” Gabi said. “There’s no telling
what’s going on behind there. It’s two against five.” She wondered
if it was the ward keeping her from sensing Julius properly or if
he was unconscious. There was only one thing she was certain of
right then, that he wasn’t dead. Yet.

Athena drew a deep breath and nodded, but even in the faint
light it was obvious that she was an unhealthy shade of exhausted.
A movement behind them had Gabi and Fergus whirling, swords ready,
but they relaxed in sync when Alexander appeared at the bottom of
the staircase.

“
What are you doing down here?” Gabi growled at him. “You’re
supposed to be upstairs.”

“
They’ve all surrendered,” Alexander said with a shrug.
“There’s not much else to do. Patrick has taken charge of trying to
figure out where they all came from. Why are we in an empty
room?”

Gabi scowled. “There’s a ward in here. We suspect it’s
concealing the doorway to wherever Julius and Benedict have gone,”
she told him. “Athena is going to try to break it so we can go
after them. You can just go back upstairs and help Patrick.” She
pointed an imperious finger towards the stairs.

“
Athena’s exhausted,” he pointed out, looking at the woman in
question with a worried frown on his face. “She’s barely
upright.”

“
I know,” Gabi ground out, “but we don’t have much choice in
the matter.”

“
Can’t we call in another Magus to help?” Alexander
suggested.

“
I’m the only one strong enough and with the right magic to do
this,” Athena cut in tersely. “I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment
to centre myself.”

Alexander chewed the inside of his lip and frowned deeply. As
far as Gabi could tell, he was having some kind of unsettling
internal debate; either that or he was constipated.

“
What, Lex?” Gabi demanded. “If you’ve got a better idea, spit
it out.” Every moment of delay was eating at her, her internal
voice demanding action.

His gaze flicked from Athena to her and back again. Finally he
came to some kind of decision.

“
The Dark Magi are stronger because they use Blood Magic,
right?” he said.

Gabi nodded, resisting the urge to shake him until his fangs
rattled.

“
What if…” He paused, and Gabi knew by his reticence that his
suggestion was going to throw the shit at the fan. “What if Athena
took blood from me? Wouldn’t it make her stronger? And if I was
giving it willingly, would it still be Dark Magic?”

The silence in the small room was absolute for a full three
heartbeats; then all eyes turned to Athena. She was staring at him
with her mouth just the tiniest bit open. Gabi could see the
instant denial in her expression, but she’d caught herself before
she spoke the words, turning the idea over in her mind. Probably
because it came from Alexander; Gabi was sure she wouldn’t have
given it the same consideration if it’d been anyone
else.

“
Ah, it’s…I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she finally said.
“I don’t know if it would stain my magic somehow, make me Dark. We
haven’t exactly been taught about this stuff. And…and I’m not sure
if I could…” She drifted into silence.

Gabi could relate to that thought. It had taken months for her
to come to terms with taking Julius’s blood, and it still made her
uncomfortable if she gave it too much thought.

“
I don’t think you should make that kind of decision in this
kind of circumstance,” Kyle said. “It needs careful consideration
and input from someone knowledgeable.”

“
Julius and Benedict both do magic under the influence of
Vampire blood,” Gabi put in as neutrally as she could. She didn’t
want to put Athena on the spot and have her regret the decision
later, blaming Gabi for pushing her to the wrong choice, but she
also wanted to open Athena’s eyes to the possibilities. After all,
she, and most of the Magi race, had been living under false
teachings for centuries. Perhaps it was time to remove the
blinkers. “Does that make them intrinsically Dark?”

Athena was the one chewing her lip now. Gabi could hear
nothing coming from behind the wall, nor could she sense anything
from Julius, but an increasingly intense sense of urgency filled
her. Something was going on behind there, and they needed to get
through. Fast.

“
I’ll do it,” Athena said, her expression composed, but a
slight tremor ran through her body.

“
Don’t do this if you’re not sure,” Gabi warned her. “I won’t
allow you to blame anyone here for your decision if you regret it
later.”

Athena drew in a breath, and the familiar haughty mask fell
across her pretty features. “I take full responsibility for
anything I do and every decision I make. I do not blame others for
my actions.” Her voice was stronger, resolute. She turned to
Alexander. “How do we do this?”

CHAPTER 18

Gabi, Kyle and Fergus retreated back up the stairway, stopping
about halfway up to give Athena and Alexander some privacy. Gabi
could barely contain her impatience, and her anxiety was intense
enough to be almost tangible in the small space.

“
Breathe, Hellcat,” Kyle said. “We’ll get to them.”

“
This better work, or I’m going to use Alexander as a
battering ram to get through that wall,” she grumbled.

“
I heard that.” Alexander’s voice floated up the stairs to
them.

“
Good,” Gabi muttered.

“
You can come back down. Athena’s working on the ward,” he
called.

As they re-entered the bare room, nobody spoke, but Athena was
certainly looking less haggard, and the light thrown from the
crystal was several watts brighter than it had been before. Her
eyes were closed, and she was rubbing the dark stones of her
bracelet as her lips moved in a silent litany.

Gabi paced the few feet of space from one wall to the other.
The men formed a loose line between her and Athena; either keeping
her pacing from bothering the Magus or keeping her from trying to
hurry the process along with the help of Nex, Gabi wasn’t sure
which. With a low frustrated growl, she shoved Nex back into her
sheath and drew a smaller dagger from one of her thigh sheaths.
When she got to the far wall this time, she dug the tip of the
dagger into the smooth surface of the wall, trying to chip a piece
free. The blade made almost no impression on the wall, leaving
nothing more than a faint scratch, as though the wall was made of
granite instead of brick and plaster.

“
Stop that,” Athena snapped, and Gabi glanced at her in
surprise. The blonde woman had her eyes open and was frowning at
her. Before Gabi could decide whether to be pissed with her, Athena
cocked her head, her expression changing to one of bemusement.
“Actually, do it again,” she ordered, an edge of excitement in her
tone, “but use the other blade, the magically enhanced
one.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Gabi said sarcastically, but she pulled Nex out
and put the blade to the wall. Instead of meeting rock-hard
resistance, Nex slid through the wall as though it were made of
children’s play dough. Before Gabi could react to the bizarre
change, Nex was sucked from her hand and disappeared.

“
What?” Gabi squawked, lunging forward, but being brought up
short by the solidity of the wall once again.

“
Holy Lord and Lady,” Athena breathed. “It’s a magic
trap.”

“
What do you mean? Where’s my sword?” Gabi
demanded.

Athena focused on her. “A magic trap,” she repeated. “Anything
touched by or intrinsically magic will pass through. Or more likely
be sucked in. Anything not magic can’t pass; it’s
impenetrable.”

“
So if you’d touched it earlier, you would’ve been sucked
inside like Gabi’s sword?” Alexander asked.

Athena nodded. “Luckily it’s in our training not to touch
something warded until we’re sure it’s safe.”