All Hell Breaks Loose (16 page)

“Whoa,” Gabi gasped and would’ve fallen on her butt as a wave of exhaustion rocked her, but a strong, firm pair of hands caught and steadied her.  Julius, she knew without turning to check.

“Interesting ability, Gabrielle,” his masculine purr sounded in her ear.  “You’ve been holding out on us.”  He kept his hands lightly on her back as she dragged herself upright and tried to shake off the head-rush.  “The two
rogues
are dead,” he informed her.  “I can hear vehicles; I think your crew is almost here.”

“Just as well,” Kyle muttered, still hunched over Doug.

“Shit, is he…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“He’s hanging in,” Kyle assured her, “but I’ll be glad when the Healer gets here.”

Just then, a grey van screeched around the corner, followed closely by two larger, white vans emblazoned with Hazmat stickers.  Melinda jumped from the grey van as soon as Gabi waved to her.  In moments, the experienced Healer had slowed the worst of the bleeding in Doug’s chest and set about stabilising his condition.  She put in a phone call to Ian, Byron’s doctor son, who headed up the ER at the City’s main hospital.  As a Shape-shifter, Doug had an almost human physiology; Ian would be able to treat him in hospital without raising anyone’s suspicions. 
Werewolves
had to be treated at special private facilities, due to their accelerated healing abilities and the chance of them losing control of their wolf while sick or
i
n pain.  Ian would be waiting to take Doug straight into surgery when the crew arrived with him.  Gunshots were unusual but not unheard of, and Byron would ensure that the report ended up on the desk of a police officer who was part of the Community.  The investigation would end there, at least from a human perspective.

Melinda left her crew to secure Doug to a stretcher and set up an IV while she went to help Tim.  It took her only moments to draw the tiny flecks of silver from his wound.  Tim sagged in relief as she taped a dressing in place. Crews from the white vans quickly loaded the two
, now human-shaped,
bodies of the
rogues
into one of the vans and cleaned up the scene.  Lance and James offered to ride with Tim back to HQ in the other one.  Tim tried to refuse, but Kyle overruled him, reminding him of the room full of other
Werewolves
he would have to face injured, and the younger man capitulated, somewhat gratefully.  The graze on the side of his head would already be starting to heal, but the silver had taken a toll on him.

“Well, I guess
it’s
back to the meeting,” Kyle said, as they watched the vehicles, including the
rogues
’ car, drive away.  “There’s even more to discuss now.”  He, Matt and Patrick turned to make their way back to the hotel.

Gabi’s head had cleared, but a bone-numbing weariness had settled over her.  She realised that her new-found ability was going to need some practice.  In her worry for Tim she’d thrown too much at his wolf; if they were still in the middle of a battle, she’d have been in trouble.  Alexander joined her and Julius; the two bullet holes in his shirt were painfully obvious.  Gabi cleared her throat.

“Thank you, Alex,” she said.  “I owe you one.”  She met his eyes even though she found it humiliating to thank someone for saving her life.  It meant she hadn’t been able to take care of herself.  It wasn’t a thought she liked having, and it had happened far too often lately.

Alexander snorted.  “We’ll call it even for saving my hide from the
Demons
in the train station, hey?” he replied, reminding her of the first time they’d fought side by side.  Alex had seriously underestimated the threat
Demons
posed.  “Just try not to get shot at again anytime soon.  Because, fuck, that hurt.”  He grimaced, rubbing at his chest.

“You’ve had worse,” Julius said, putting a hand under Gabi’s elbow as they climbed the short staircase to the hotel.  “Just thank your lucky stars you aren’t a
Werewolf
.”

“So the ‘silver being deadly to Vampires’ thing is just a myth, then?” Gabi affirmed.

“Yep,” Alexander confirmed.  “Holy water, religious articles and wooden stakes, too.  Not sure how humans even come up with this shit.”

Julius glanced back at him warningly; they were back inside the hotel already.  Alexander grumbled to himself, but didn’t say anything more about humans.

When they stepped out of the elevator on the third floor, Kyle was in the corridor heading back towards them.

“I figured I should go and clean up while you guys explain what happened,” he said.  His hands and shirt were still covered with Douglas’s blood.  “The others are waiting for you.”

“Coward,” Gabi hissed at him.

Kyle smiled triumphantly.  He hated meetings and hubbub as much as she did.

When only five of the original ten of them entered the room and the gathering got a glimpse of Alexander with two bloody holes in his shirt, pan
d
emon
ium erupted.  It finally took a roar from Julius to regain order.  Gabi could feel the backlash of his power like the crackle of energy in a dry lightning storm.  His outer
façade
of genteel manners made it easy to forget exactly how powerful this man was.  He was the youngest Master Vampire in existence by several centuries.  One didn’t come by that title easily and not without a great deal of supernatural muscle to back it up.

All of the Pack leaders, as well as the Council members, subsided instantly back into their chairs, their eyes a little wider than normal and varying degrees of shock on their faces.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a voice all the more dangerous because of the lack of volume, “we’ll conduct the rest of the meeting in a calm and respectful way.”  He looked pointedly at each of the excitable Pack leaders as he spoke and not one of them challenged his gaze.

Gabi had to bite her lip to bleeding to keep from smiling.  She’d rarely seen one of the Pack leaders cowed, let alone all five of them by one person.  No one even dared move except for Gabi, who’d gone to retrieve her jacket from Byron.

“Gabrielle, would you like to brief the Council and guests on what just happened outside?” Julius asked her.

Gabi glared at him, but kept her tone civil and sweet, he probably didn’t know just how much she hated this kind of thing.

“I wasn’t there for the whole event, so I’m probably not the best one to do the briefing.  I’m sure you or Alexander would do a better job than me,” she said.  “In fact, I have a baby to feed, so I’m going to take my leave and join Derek until you’re ready to hear from him.”

Julius narrowed his eyes a fraction as he looked at her.  She suspected it was worry more than annoyance.

“Would you like an escort to the suite?” he asked, confirming her suspicions.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him firmly.  “If the Council will excuse me,” she remembered her manners at the last second.  At Byron’s nod, she left the meeting with a sigh of relief.

She found Kyle hovering outside the meeting room.

“Hoping not to have to go back?” she asked him.

“Let’s just say I was considering it,” he replied, grinning.  “You think they can get along without me?”

“Come on, let’s go to the suite.  I need food and caffeine,” she said, dragging herself off towards the lift.

Derek was pacing the room like a boxer prepping for a fight.  Kyle picked up the phone to order room service as Gabi collapsed into a sofa and gently pulled little Rocky out to feed her.  Then they filled Derek in on the events of the last half an hour.

“What does this all mean?” Derek asked, concern colouring his voice.  “I feel like I’ve dragged you all into something terrible.”  He couldn’t meet their eyes.

“Derek,” Gabi said and waited for him to truly look at her.  “This is what we do.  You haven’t dragged us into anything.  We would be involved regardless of you.  If anything, what happened to you has brought the severity of the problem to our attention sooner than it might have otherwise.”

“Gabi’s right,” Kyle chipped in, “this is why the SMV exists in the first place.  We should be apologising for not protecting you.”

“We’ll sort this problem out, and then we can help you get back to your life,” Gabi said.  “We’ll find you a Pack, and they’ll help you function in ‘norm’ society again.”

“I’m not sure if that’s what I want,” he said dully.

“Don’t make hasty decisions now,” Kyle suggested.  “Let’s get to the bottom of what’s going on in the City first.  When this threat isn’t hanging over you anymore, life will feel less overwhelming.”

Room service arrived in short order.  Gabi devoured the sweet pastries and a bowl of chocolate mousse, while Derek and Kyle tucked into BLT sandwiches.  Afterwards they poured coffee and tried to avoid having it knocked out of their hands by an overexcited baby squirrel,
who
delighted in bouncing from one sofa to another and tearing over anyone and anything in her way.

It was over an hour later, when Rocky had finally played herself to a standstill and curled up in Gabi’s pocket, that Alexander arrived to ask them to bring Derek to the meeting.

Derek was more confident and less anxious as they took the lift back to the third floor.  Gabi wondered if it was the food, the inane banter between her and Kyle or the squirrel’s hilarious antics.

It was well after midnight when the meeting was finally adjourned.  Each one of the Pack leaders had committed to working together until whoever was behind all the recent ructions was found and dealt with.  One of the leaders had contacts in the gun-running black market and was going to start a quiet investigation into who was ordering weapons in the City.  They needed to know what they were up against.  In the meanwhile, Hunter teams were going to be augmented by squads of
Werewolves
as well as Vampires from Julius’s Guard.  A list of vulnerable areas had been set up to be thoroughly patrolled at night.  The Magi had promised a dedicated team of clairvoyants to try to pick up where attacks might occur, as well as extra Healer staff if needed.  They also put their best Tracker at the SMV’s disposal to see if he could pick up anything from
the dead
rogues
’ clothing.  Byron promised to arrange bulletproof vests for everyone.  Alistair had offered to find out more about how and where the
rogues
had managed to conceal the liquid silver, and try to find a way to counter it, in case they got the chance to capture more of them.  There wasn’t much else to be done, anyone with a sniff of information would report to Byron, and he’d see that everyone was kept in the loop.

Derek made it through the meeting on two legs, and remembering all the advice Kyle had given him, he’d conducted himself with aplomb and without insult to any of the Pack Leaders.  Gabi had noticed at least three of them sizing him up appraisingly.  She had a feeling he’d be able to pick and choose which Pack he joined when he was ready.

They’d received good news from Ian towards the end of the meeting.  Doug had come through surgery well and was in a stable condition.  The bullet had missed his heart by millimetres and had lodged in a lung.  The healing Melissa had done had saved his life, and Ian had been able to repair the rest of the damage.  He’d be out of action for several weeks, though, and Gabi had the feeling they may have to tie him to the bed before long.

She was torn in two directions as they left the hotel.  She was desperate for a bit of alone time with Julius.  They still hadn’t had a chance to talk since he’d rescued her from
Danté
, and after what happened between them last night…Well, truth be told, if she got him alone again, she wasn’t sure how much talking would be done, but she would try.  At the same time, she was still feeling guilty about not telling Derek about her relationship with Julius, and hadn’t forgotten her vow to explain it to him after the meeting was over.

The decision was taken out of her hands when her phone rang just as they were approaching the cars.  It was Jonathon to say that Trish’s fever had broken and she was becoming coherent; she was asking for Derek.

They drove in convoy to Julius’s estate: Gabi’s Mustang, Julius’s Aston Martin and Kyle’s ugly stepsister of a van.  Gabi really didn’t want to intrude on the reunion between Derek and his sister, but someone else needed to be in the room with them in case one of them lost control.  When Gabi offered to find someone else, Derek had been adamant that he didn’t want anyone but her.  She knew it was going to be a difficult time for him, and she didn’t want to make it worse.  She agreed, smothering her reluctance.  She told Julius that she needed to go with Derek to see Trish, but wanted to talk to him before she left to go home.  She had an anxious, unfamiliar need to be in his company, which she fought hard to keep from her voice.

“I’ll be in my office when you’re done, Lea,” he said quietly.  He reached out and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, allowing his fingers to brush her cheek.  “Join me when you’re ready.”  His voice stroked over her like a velvet glove, and she had to suppress a shiver of anticipation.

“Just keep Maximilian out of my way,” she warned with a growl.  Then she hurried to catch up with Derek before the scent of her desire could betray her.  Sometimes being around
supernaturals
was a serious inconvenience.