There'll be Hell to Pay (Hellcat Series Book 6) by Sharon Hannaford Page B
Authors: Sharon Hannaford
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calming the atmosphere in the room
with a breath of power. “Benedict, you really should announce
yourself. We’re all a little tense at the moment.”
Benedict’s grin
just widened. “So I’ve noticed. But I’ve come to ease the tension
just a little. Come along, pup.” It was then that Gabi saw he held
something in his left hand. A length of chain. Something was
obviously attached to the other end of the chain. Everyone tensed
again, Gabi and Kyle automatically putting themselves between the
door and Murphy while Julius strode forward.
Without changing
expression, Benedict moved to one side of the doorway and yanked on
the chain. A man stumbled into view, the chain padlocked around his
throat, his arms secured behind his back. His face bore red welts,
one eye was swollen shut, and blood trickled from the corner of his
mouth, but Gabi still recognised him. As the man from the
surveillance photo.
CHAPTER
6
“ How did you get in here without my guards alerting me?” Julius
asked their unexpected guest. Fergus and Alexander had still not
moved from their positions blocking Benedict’s entry into the war
room.
Benedict shoved
the chained and beaten-up human away from the door, and Mac stepped
into view.
“ Sorry, Sire,” the grey-haired Vampire muttered. “He swore
you’d be happy to see him; I didn’t think to check whether you were
actually expecting him.”
“ You’d better all get inside,” Julius growled. “Benedict, I
hope you have a legitimate reason for showing this human where we
live.” He stalked away from the door to Gabi, pulling her with him
towards the far side of the long table. Fergus and Alexander stood
down, Alexander moving to join Gabi and Julius while Fergus stayed
on full alert to one side of the door. He’d sheathed his sword, but
his right hand hovered just millimetres from the hilt. Kyle and
Murphy retook their seats.
Gabi stood
frozen, caught between confusion at Benedict’s sudden arrival and
wanting to rip the human male to shreds with her bare hands. Mac
was her one tiny spark of hope and relief; his weathered face,
greying beard and the mischievous glint in his eye never failed to
lift her spirits. As a recently Turned Vampire, he understood her
brushes with Red Rage and her human idiosyncrasies better than any
of the others. He was a true and trusted friend.
Mac entered
first, going straight to them, bowing his head subserviently to
Julius in greeting and casting a worried gaze over Gabi, but he
held his tongue, just taking up a position near them but closer to
the door. Benedict strolled in behind Mac, yanking the human in
behind him. He slammed the door shut with one booted foot and then
kicked the back of the human’s knee so that the man fell to the
floor, landing hard with a barely suppressed grunt of pain.
“ Sit,” Benedict commanded redundantly, a dog handler cussing
out a recalcitrant pup. Then he turned to his audience. “He already
knew where you live, Julius. He’s been spying on you for
months.”
“ What?” Alexander demanded, his eyes narrowing in anger and
suspicion. “How? And how do you know this? How long have you known
this?” His tone was curt to the point of disrespect. The animosity
between Julius’s second and the Princep hadn’t abated since the
battle for the Source. A love triangle had the tendency to do that,
Gabi sighed. If Athena could just pick between the two men, maybe
they would settle their differences and move on, but, with the
Magus attracted to both men and unable to make a choice, she’d
instead been keeping both at arm’s length while she figured out her
own feelings. Gabi sensed the thread of warning Julius sent to his
second. Benedict might be an uninvited guest, but he was both a
Princep and one of the Higher Order of the Lucis. They needed to
tread carefully.
The amusement
had left Benedict’s face, his lips thinning slightly, but he
allowed Alexander’s insolence to slide.
“ We received intel a
with a breath of power. “Benedict, you really should announce
yourself. We’re all a little tense at the moment.”
Benedict’s grin
just widened. “So I’ve noticed. But I’ve come to ease the tension
just a little. Come along, pup.” It was then that Gabi saw he held
something in his left hand. A length of chain. Something was
obviously attached to the other end of the chain. Everyone tensed
again, Gabi and Kyle automatically putting themselves between the
door and Murphy while Julius strode forward.
Without changing
expression, Benedict moved to one side of the doorway and yanked on
the chain. A man stumbled into view, the chain padlocked around his
throat, his arms secured behind his back. His face bore red welts,
one eye was swollen shut, and blood trickled from the corner of his
mouth, but Gabi still recognised him. As the man from the
surveillance photo.
CHAPTER
6
“ How did you get in here without my guards alerting me?” Julius
asked their unexpected guest. Fergus and Alexander had still not
moved from their positions blocking Benedict’s entry into the war
room.
Benedict shoved
the chained and beaten-up human away from the door, and Mac stepped
into view.
“ Sorry, Sire,” the grey-haired Vampire muttered. “He swore
you’d be happy to see him; I didn’t think to check whether you were
actually expecting him.”
“ You’d better all get inside,” Julius growled. “Benedict, I
hope you have a legitimate reason for showing this human where we
live.” He stalked away from the door to Gabi, pulling her with him
towards the far side of the long table. Fergus and Alexander stood
down, Alexander moving to join Gabi and Julius while Fergus stayed
on full alert to one side of the door. He’d sheathed his sword, but
his right hand hovered just millimetres from the hilt. Kyle and
Murphy retook their seats.
Gabi stood
frozen, caught between confusion at Benedict’s sudden arrival and
wanting to rip the human male to shreds with her bare hands. Mac
was her one tiny spark of hope and relief; his weathered face,
greying beard and the mischievous glint in his eye never failed to
lift her spirits. As a recently Turned Vampire, he understood her
brushes with Red Rage and her human idiosyncrasies better than any
of the others. He was a true and trusted friend.
Mac entered
first, going straight to them, bowing his head subserviently to
Julius in greeting and casting a worried gaze over Gabi, but he
held his tongue, just taking up a position near them but closer to
the door. Benedict strolled in behind Mac, yanking the human in
behind him. He slammed the door shut with one booted foot and then
kicked the back of the human’s knee so that the man fell to the
floor, landing hard with a barely suppressed grunt of pain.
“ Sit,” Benedict commanded redundantly, a dog handler cussing
out a recalcitrant pup. Then he turned to his audience. “He already
knew where you live, Julius. He’s been spying on you for
months.”
“ What?” Alexander demanded, his eyes narrowing in anger and
suspicion. “How? And how do you know this? How long have you known
this?” His tone was curt to the point of disrespect. The animosity
between Julius’s second and the Princep hadn’t abated since the
battle for the Source. A love triangle had the tendency to do that,
Gabi sighed. If Athena could just pick between the two men, maybe
they would settle their differences and move on, but, with the
Magus attracted to both men and unable to make a choice, she’d
instead been keeping both at arm’s length while she figured out her
own feelings. Gabi sensed the thread of warning Julius sent to his
second. Benedict might be an uninvited guest, but he was both a
Princep and one of the Higher Order of the Lucis. They needed to
tread carefully.
The amusement
had left Benedict’s face, his lips thinning slightly, but he
allowed Alexander’s insolence to slide.
“ We received intel a
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