A Cat's Chance in Hell (7 page)

Rose was grandmother to several Shapeshifters and several more non-Shapeshifters; the ability had skipped two generations, but had kicked back in with the youngest generation. She was well aware of the strange and dangerous things that lurked in the shadows of our world. She knew what Gabi did, though she wasn’t actively involved with the SMV. Several years ago Rose had been sent by Byron to help Gabi around the house for a few weeks when Gabi had been severely injured in a fight with three Vampires. The weeks had passed and Rose had just continued working for Gabi; now years down the line, the two had developed a close bond and Rose had become like a second mother to Gabi. It was Rose’s touch that ensured there was food in the fridge, coffee in the cupboard and the house was always clean and tidy. Gabi would not have won any awards for domesticity; it was definitely not her forté.

Rose deserved Sainthood, Kyle decided as he surveyed the scene in the open-plan lounge, from the safety of the kitchen. Razor had indeed decided to make his displeasure known, and the sofa was another write-off, as was one of the wingback chairs. It looked as though a pack of rabid dogs had attacked the place. Fabric and stuffing lay over every square inch of the carpet, lamps had been knocked on the floor, side tables overturned and ornaments lay scattered and broken on the stone hearth of the fireplace. He shook his head and glared at the unashamed culprit

“
If it were up to me you wouldn’t get fed for a month, you bad tempered monster,” he grumbled at the impudent cat. He was tempted to wave an accusing finger at the animal, but decided he liked having all his fingers intact. He knew Razor was as fast as he was enormous; if he decided to swat you for being irritating he could give you lacerations that required stitches, if he bit you he could probably take your hand off. He was named Razor for good reason; Kyle had the personal experience to back that up.

Gabi sighed. “How bad is it this time?” she asked resignedly.

“
Let’s just say I’d better feed him before I tell you about it. I wouldn’t want him starting on me.”

“
Raz, you’re a bad boy!” Gabi admonished without any real rancour. That cat could get away with murder when Gabi was around.

Kyle hoped Rose would give him a dressing down of momentous proportions later. Rose was the only other person Razor had more than bare tolerance for. Though she lectured him, chased him outside when the sun was shining and wouldn’t tolerate him destroying things like Gabi did, the cat seemed to actually like her. The same could not be said for Kyle, who Razor delighted in harassing at every opportunity. Maybe it was the age-old Cat versus Dog, or in this case wolf, thing. It was for Gabi’s sake not Razor’s that Kyle opened a cupboard and took out two tins of the most expensive cat food on the market, opened them and emptied both into a large ceramic bowl on the kitchen counter. Razor gave Gabi one last, big kitty smooch across her face, making her wince from the sting in the burn on her cheek, and walked languidly over to devour the food, pointedly ignoring Kyle.

Gabi reached out patting at the counter until her fingers found the sweet bowl. She delved into the bowl pulling out a toffee, unwrapping it and shoving it in her mouth, then she began to unstrap the multitude of sheaths and holsters from her body and lay the weapons in a heap on the counter.

The smell of fresh percolated coffee began to permeate the kitchen and Kyle opened another cupboard to pull out two large mugs with pictures of kittens and puppies on them. No wonder she didn’t invite other people over, Kyle thought slyly, if some of their SMV or her work colleagues saw these, her tough girl reputation would be in ruins. He poured coffee into both, added milk and sugar to one and pushed it over to Gabi, directing the fingers of her unburned hand to it. She gratefully breathed in the warm aromatic steam and quickly finished her sweet to take the first sip.

“
Hey,” he called cheerfully as another furry body galloped into the kitchen, “here comes Stinky, oops, I mean, Slinky!” he pretended to correct himself.

He took a large slurp of his own coffee and bent down to pick up the ferret that had scampered in, blinking and half asleep, to see what the commotion was. At least the bandit-faced, little animal seemed to like him.

Gabi had rescued the orphaned ferret from some illegal animal traders a couple of years ago. She’d brought him home with the intention of getting him healthy and finding him a suitable new home, but obscurely enough Razor seemed to quite like the other animal and had even deigned to keep the little mite warm during the cold winter months that followed his arrival, so Slinky had become a permanent member of the household. Slinky grew up with no real idea that he was a ferret, and, as Razor was his only animal companion, Slinky acted more like a cat than anything else. He did still have a distinct ferret odour to him though; hence Kyle’s continued mispronunciation of his name.

“
Come here baby,’ Gabi crooned to the wriggling animal, “don’t let Kyle be rude to you. He’s just a Labrador in any case, and have you ever smelt a wet dog?” she continued conspiratorially, trying to keep a wicked little grin off her face and failing.

“
Hurmph,” Kyle snorted, letting Slinky climb onto the kitchen counter and scamper over to Gabi. “Just remember who’s making your coffee at the moment. If you’re rude I’ll take it away,” he threatened.

“
Ok, Ok, anything but the coffee.” She scooped Slinky up and let him nuzzle her cheek and ear, then he climbed onto her shoulder and, weaving around her neck and under her hair like a live fur stole, the ferret settled down in his favourite spot.

“
The painkillers are in the cupboard above the oven,” she told Kyle. “Take what you want and give me a double dose; I’m getting a headache of gargantuan proportions.”

Gabi was, as a rule, resistant to the effects of most drugs, including painkillers, so her cupboard contained some really strong medications. Through their SMV medical contacts they could get hold of most medicines, even the prescription only ones. Kyle took down a bottle of morphine based tablets and shook out a dose for her, then took out a codeine and paracetamol mix for himself. He healed far quicker than she did, and he wasn’t resistant to painkillers, so those would be good enough to dull the pain in his side and thigh while he healed. He handed her the tablets and a glass of water, took his own tablets and then went off to inspect the rest of the little house for Razor damage.

“
Well, there is one piece of good news this morning,” he told her as he returned from his once-over of the house. “The destruction was limited to the lounge this time. The bedrooms are still intact.”

“
Oh, thank all the gods of ancient Rome,” Gabi proclaimed with feeling. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“
I’ve got sad news for you if you think Byron’s going to stay away past ten o’clock,” he reminded her.

She groaned at the thought.

“
Do you know where the rubbish bags are?” he asked her. “I can start clearing up the lounge while you go and shower.” He wasn’t relishing the thought of bending to pick up couch shrapnel but Gabi wasn’t going to be able to do it.

“
Don’t be absurd,” she grumbled at him. “You’re hurt and just as tired as me. Rose will be here in a few hours, it’ll give her something to grouse at Raz about for the next few weeks. You hit the shower first, I’m sure the spare bedroom is ready for you, and you know where the towels are. I’m going to soak in the tub once you’re done.”

“
OK,” he capitulated, trying to keep the relief from his voice. A shower and bed was exactly what he had in mind right now. He would normally drive back to his pad now, it was only ten minutes away, but he didn’t want to leave Gabi alone, even though she was trying to pretend not to feel the same way. Usually it took them both a couple of hours to wind down after a good fight, but the unexpected consequences of this one seemed to have drained the adrenaline straight out of them. They were both exhausted and missing the usual post-battle high.

“
Do you want me to take you to your room?” he asked, trying for a casual tone.

“
I do know the way around my own house,” she said reprovingly. “I’ll find my own way once I’m finished my coffee. Now, scat before I send you home, Labrador.”

“
Woof, woof,” Kyle responded obligingly, and, grabbing his coffee, headed for the shower.

A few minutes later she popped her head into the bathroom. He was already standing under the flow of hot, soothing water, trying not to wince as the water washed over his lacerations. Nudity didn’t bother either of them and they had long since stopped worrying about the societal norms for opposite-sex best friends. Slinky was still wrapped around her neck and Razor was winding himself between her legs.

“
Do you need new dressings?” she raised her voice to be heard over the noise of the shower.

He looked down at the wounds to see how far the healing had come.

“
Hmm,” his voice floated back. “Yeah, probably a good idea if you don’t want blood on the sheets.”

“
I don’t think Rose needs that much extra work; come to my room when you’re done, and I’ll help,” she called retreating from the bathroom. “The emergency kit is in the hall closet, bring it with you,” she yelled over her shoulder as she headed down the corridor to her bedroom.

A while later they had clumsily managed to redress Kyle’s wounds. He grimaced when he saw the tears and bruising on his side, eternally grateful for the werewolf blood that would heal him in a matter of days. If he’d been full human he would’ve been out of action for weeks, if not months.

Twenty minutes later Gabi sank into stingingly hot bath water in her large en-suite bathroom, wincing as she submerged her burned fingers, and then sighing as the heat began seeping into her stiff muscles, easing the tension in her neck and shoulders. She wondered how bad Kyle’s injuries looked as she thought of them clumsily trying to redress his wounds. By the size of the dressing pads he’d given her to hold in place they were not little scratches. He would be appreciating his Werewolf blood right about now. When they’d finished patching him up he’d given her a quick hug, jumping back before she could smack him for it, and left her to her bath. She heard him draw her bedroom curtains closed before he left the room and wondered if it would make any difference to her whether the sun was streaming into her room in a few hours. She doubted she was going to get any sleep; although utterly exhausted, her mind was whirling with “what-if” scenarios. She tried using some of the meditation techniques her various martial arts instructors had tried to drum into her, but she hadn’t been particularly good at them, even in the best of circumstances. Eventually the water cooled and she reluctantly got out, towelled off and crawled into her huge comfortable bed, snuggling up with Razor sprawled out on one side of her and Slinky on the other. Somehow the exhaustion won, and she slept.

She slowly became aware of voices somewhere in the house, trying to stay hushed, but clear to her hearing anyway. She didn’t even bother opening her eyes; she hadn’t had nearly enough sleep yet, so she resorted to burying her head under a pillow. As the pillow came in contact with her cheek the burn mark stung, and memories of the previous night flowed back like a tidal wave. Now, having not opened her eyes on waking, she was extremely reluctant to do so, and discover whether dark fog still blanketed her sight. In fact her stomach began churning anxiously at the thought of it. Like a little girl hiding under the bedcovers because she thinks there are monsters in the room, she berated herself. She hadn’t been scared like this since she saw Byron’s face when he came to the house to tell them of her father’s death. She knew she would have to do it eventually, and with the voices in the house she knew she wasn’t going to be left alone for much longer. Still procrastinating, she began picking out the individual voices, so that she knew what she was up against when she did venture out. Kyle’s voice was clear but muted; Rose answered him now, in very quiet, worried tones. Then Byron, of course, she knew better than to think he wouldn’t be here already. She idly wondered what time it was. So, it was the usual suspects out in the kitchen discussing her. Then another female voice spoke up, not attempting to keep to her tone low and hushed like the others. Gabi’s emotions flashed from fear and worry to rage in an instant. What was Athena doing in her house? She thought furiously, her eyes snapping open instinctively as she sat up, tipping a disgruntled Razor onto the floor and rolling Slinky half way across the bed. She had the covers off and was almost standing before she realised she could see.

She sat back down with a thump, for once ignoring Razor’s annoyed grumbling, her hands tentatively going to her eyes. Well, “see” was probably a strong word for it. Her vision was still far from perfect, it had gone from a pitch black fog to a light grey fog, but she could make out shapes and see the sunlight streaming in through cracks in the curtains. She was still blinking and doing ridiculous eye contortions, trying to clear her vision when the door opened a crack and Kyle peeked in. Razor stopped languidly scent marking her legs and deliberately moved to place himself between Gabi and Kyle, facing Kyle with what Gabi knew would be a ‘give me an excuse’ expression on his face.

“
Uh, hi,” he greeted. “I thought I heard movement in here. Can I come in?”

“
As long as you don’t bring the witch in with you,” she said in a steely tone, almost hoping Athena would hear her.

“
So you heard her, did you?” he asked, coming in and closing the door.

“
I could be rude and say I smelt her, or heard her broomstick touch down,” she said archly.