“Isa! Wait!” I turn around. I could see a little figure sprinting closer through the deserted street. “Kath?” I grunted. Daimon and I both decided it was far too dangerous for Kath to come with me.
True - Kath had taken and passed her initiation before I did, but that was through wits rather than muscle. Although I would never ever say it to her face, she was a better researcher than a hunter. She knows it. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
“Please, Kath.” I felt my stomach turn as I saw the determination in her eyes. If anything, Kath was smart. She was the one who let me copy her homework when I spent the evening fighting and gaming instead of doing maths. She had been accepted to Alistair Abernathy Campus of Edinburgh university which is the Oxbridge of the hunter world.
Yeah. My friend is pretty smart, and I am incredibly proud of her. But sometimes she is so stupid I just want to smack her on the head.
“We discussed this.” I grunted. “You would stay with Gustav while I go to the Apollyon and Daimon tries to recruit some more walkers.”
Kath crosses her arms. “I am not staying with Gustav.” She says. Her voice sounds a bit wonky. “He is old, and he stinks and… and I deserve a piece of the action.” I laugh at that last one. She reads so many books that she is starting to sound like one. “What if something happens?” I take a step towards her. “You have a place at Abernathy for fudge sake!” I bite my lip, trying to come up with more reasons for her to turn back and stay with Gustav for tonight.
“What good does it do for me to learn everything there is to know about hunters and demons and warlocks when I am the worst hunter of the novices?” She looks at her shoes. “I failed so much, Kath. Everyone was laughing at me. I have never ever felt so embarrassed.”
This was new for me. “I thought you aced your exam?”
Kath does not look up. “Yes. My written exam.” She says. “I got a U on my physical.”
“Shit.” I say softly. Kath looks up, tears in her eyes. “Please let me try and help. I don’t want to be useless.” I take a few big steps towards my best friend and welcome her in my arms. “You are not useless Kath!” I whisper in her hair. “You are one of the smartest hunters I know.” I plant a light kiss in her fiery ginger hair. “If anything, I am Pinkie and you are the Brain.” That makes her laugh.
“Please don’t send me away.” She pleads. I look at the girl that used to make me special sand cakes in the sand pit, the one that stood up for me when my kindergarten nemesis Esmeralda bullied me again.
I look long and hard.
Inviting her to come with me is dangerous. She might be a full hunter, the U on her physical test means that she is a liability. But then again, I would hate being left out myself, and the last thing I want to be is a raving hypocrite.
I sigh and give in. She can be the lookout, or something else that wouldn’t put her in the middle of the action. “Okay.” I grunt. “You can come.” I shoot her a small smile. It was enough for Kath to erupt in “whoops” and “Yays” and for her to make a little victory dance.
We are following the old brown bricks of the Victorian train line. We are on the other side of the river again and I can see the futuristic glow of The Shard light up in the distance.
It should not be far now.
Boot and flogger, Daimon had said. Little small door at the side. There will probably be a password, but it would be something easy.
Sometimes it is a little line from a children’s song, sometimes it is the name of a mythical artefact. He said he would join me later that evening. Will he be mad when he sees I gave in to Kath?
The rain is coming down hard now. A woman is fighting the wind with her umbrella and a taxi slows down beside us, but I wave him away. The cabbie shrugs and drives off looking for other wet customers to pick up.
I look up at the building in front of me and read its name. This is must be it. A couple of old steps at the side of the building lead us down to a little door. I raised my hand, but it was Kath who knocked first. A pool of water had gathered at the bottom of the stairs and the drain was so clogged up with leaves and rubbish it couldn’t swallow the water.
A little window in the door opened. “I killed a million petty souls.” Said a man on the other side. I could see the side of his bald head and the beady eyes peeping through the little rectangular window.
I killed a million petty souls… what was that supposed to mean? I looked at Kath who was deep in thought. I prided myself in having quite a good knowledge of our history – the only academic course I actually enjoyed, but this was something I have not yet come across. Kath is clicking her fingers as if the answer is perched on the tip of her tongue and for the love of God, I hope it is!
“But I couldn’t kill you!” She finally blurted out. I smile at my best friend and give her a little high five. “Queen of the Damned! Love that movie!” She whispers. I smile as the bulky man opens the bolted door and lets us in. I love having kind, smart movie buffs as friends!
Chapter 13
Inside, the place is teeming. A woman in a silver bikini dances around a vampire. I catch a glimpse of her yellow eyes reflecting in the stroboscope.
A warlock.
I shudder. I push myself past a group of dancing Harpies and try to avoid the fight that is going on by the bar. Wolves. I have never seen werewolves this far south.
Kath grabs my hand. We are massively out of our depth. As a hunter we are taught that we are supposed to keep the balance between good and evil. That we are the barrier that protects humans from our world, protect them from finding out that their biggest nightmares are real.
Synthwave booms through the speakers. I pull my friend through the thick crowd and remember what Daimon said before he left. O’ Dougherty will be sitting on his own in the back with a couple of pretty human boys fluttering around him. He told me to be careful and not to accept anything he offers me.
The band switches to something slower and the crowd thins down. The harpies decide to go back to their seats and the warlock girl is leading the vampire to the toilets.
I shake my head. I had no idea there were this many others in London. Why weren’t we hunting them? I looked around, stunned at the wolf and the harpy making out in the corner. I had no idea others would nix…
And that’s when I saw him. His eyes were blue as cornflowers and his hair was molten copper.
Like Daimon had predicted, four or five half naked human men, not older than 23, were sitting next to him, feeding him chocolates and topping up his glass of champagne. His hand went up to stop a blond, muscular guy putting another chocolate in his mouth as his eyes met mine. A little smile appeared on his lips and then he gave me the slightest of nods.
My heart fluttered.
He was not handsome but there was something about him. Something that pulled me in. I took a few steps into his direction before Kath pulled me back.
“Careful Isa!” she shouted in my ear. Her eyes were big, and I could read naked panic. “Do not accept anything he gives you. Especially not gold.”
Why would anyone want to give me gold? I felt an urge to walk up to him, to talk to him, to be with him. I looked at the man sitting in the booth. How dangerous could he be? I could feel his eyes on me, tugging, pulling me towards him.
Kath held my hand as we walked up to his table. Before I knew it, we sat down and one of the bare-chested men was pouring us a glass of champagne each. Kath slapped away my hand as I reached for the glass.
“Smart girl.” The man smiled. His teeth were perfectly straight and white. It was unnerving. Kath exchanged a few words with the man, but I could not hear them. My ears were filled with music and all I wanted to do was dance and drink and be happy.
And then the music fell away. It was as if I woke up from a dream. A nightmare even. It was as if I was finally dropped back into my own body.
“Better?” the man on the other side of the table pouted at Kath. Kath nodded.
“He’s a leprechaun.” Kathr
yn explains matter-of-factly. “They’re mostly harmless. They extract their magic from dance and party. Nothing too bad.” She goes on without lifting her eyes off the man opposite me. “But when you accept their gold…”
“I can read your thoughts, track your every movement or even put you under my command. Bladibladiblaaa.” The man completes Kath’s sentence as he rolls a gold coin through his knuckles. Kath nods. “And they are sneaky little bastards.”
“Auch!” O’ Dougherty plants his hand on his chest as if her words have deeply wounded and hurt him. “That is not nice, missy!” he exclaims, but Kath shrugs.
“Anyway.” O’ Dougherty waves his hand and an olive skin man lifts another chocolate into O’ Dougherty’s mouth. “What brings you here. Never seen you here before. In fact, you seem like two nice little huntresses who are up waaaay past their bedtime.” He swallows the chocolate and takes a sip of the champagne. A light blush slides over Kath’s cheeks and I suddenly feel very small and incredibly young.
“We’re here for the Aberrant Sword.” I had gathered all the courage left in my body and tried to make the words sound strong and confident.
It worked. The playful glint had disappeared out of O’ Dogherty’s eyes and his hand and champagne glass hovered in the air, ready to be drunk.
“Excuse me?” He tried to call our bluff. “I know nothing off a sword. You are in a club. Not a weaponsmith.” He laughed and as by magic the young men around him started to laugh in chorus.
“You came to London in 1529.” Kath spoke up. “The sword was not made until 1666. Forged in the hellfire that swept through London.” She takes a deep breath, quickly catching my eye. I give her an approving nod. “And there wasn’t anything happening in the city that you did not know off.” She pressed him for answers as she slid a picture of a magnificent painting towards him. The man on the painting looked exactly like the leprechaun sitting in front of us.
O’ Dougherty swallowed hard and with a click of his fingers he sent away the guys doting on him. “I know you. Don’t I?” He caressed his chin, looking at me. “You are Bridget’s granddaughter…” I nod.
O’ Dougherty shakes his head and curses under his breath. “I am going to regret this.”
“Come.” He stands up out of his seat and beckoned us to follow him. He takes us through a hallway and up two flights of stairs into what I can only imagine to be his apartment. The large open plan kitchen living room provided a stunning view of The Shard and a massive aquarium transformed the whole room into what I would describe as the ultimate Bond Villain Lair.
O’ Dougherty opens the fridge and pours himself a glass of water. “You girls want something?” I was thirsty but remembered not to accept anything the man offers me. Both Kath and I shake our heads. “Why are we here?” I snap.
O’ Dougherty wrings his hands nervously. “Too many ears downstairs.” He shakes his head. “It’s not always very safe for a small fella like me you know.” I roll my eyes as O’ Dougherty stands almost 6 feet tall.
All of a sudden, the man did not look as majestic and confident anymore. I started to notice the wrinkles in his face, the bags under his eyes and even the thinning hair on his ginger head.
“Look girls.” He started again. “You look like…” He considered his words for a second. “Nice girls. But you are in way over your head with this one.” His eyes shoot from the roaring fire in his fireplace to the door. “You have no idea who…”
I cross my arms and spit out the name Asmodeus. “We know he is after the sword.”
O’ Dougherty wrings his hands together even tighter now. His eyes don’t leave the flames in the fireplace that seem to be burning harder and higher since we came in a few minutes ago. “Girls… You…” He sighs. I can see that he is battling something, that he is contemplating helping us.
The fire crackles loudly and now I can see fear seep into the leprechaun’s eyes. “Look.” He swallows hard. “Take this.” He says as he takes a square of what looks like parchment out of his inner pocket. “No matter who I give it to, poor old O’ Dougherty will be de...” I shake my head. “We were told not to accept anything you offer us.” Kath stops him.
“Oh, for Finnegan’s sake!” O’ Dougherty curses as he puts the map on the table in front of him. “I do not offer you the map.” He says as his eyes shoot back to the fire. “Look girls.” Sweat is pearling his forehead and I can see a nervous twitch playing around the corner of his mouth. “Please go. I don’t want you two to get into any trouble.”
I look from him to the map. “Do not take the map.” His eyes widen as if to tell me to bloody take it already. “It houses important clues as to where the sword is kept.” He says. I take a step forward. Is he playing us? What is the matter with this fire? “Go now! Please!” He begs. I can see how the fire is swelling up, taking over the whole fireplace.
“It’s a Demon!” Kath screams. “A Demon is trying to get into the room via the fireplace!” She pulls me by my shoulder as I lurch forward to snatch the map off the table.
The fire whooshes and I see a tall muscular man with long black hair appear in the fireplace before Kath pulls me through the door. “You will find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!” O’ Dougherty screams before the door slams shut and Kath and I run for our lives downstairs, through fire doors and over cobbled side streets.
Even though I only caught a small glimpse of the man in the fire, deep in my mind, in my heart, I knew who he was. I knew what he was. Asmodeus.
Chapter 14
Kath kicks a can through the street. We into a back alley and walk back to the apartment. I sent my parents a message I was staying over at Kath’s and she had done the same – something which would not be a problem until the day after tomorrow, the day the council convened.
“I can’t see how this map is going to point us towards that stupid sword!” She curses. We had spent the morning and most of the afternoon peering over the map, looking up places and pinpointing streets and monuments.
It was a map of London just after the 1666 fire all right, but it was still hard to read, and we had no idea how it would bring us closer to finding the sword.
“And what did he mean by ‘We will find our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’” She turned to me. We were both tired. When we came home, Gustav made us some hot milk. After Daimon arrived back at the apartment – it must have been close to 3 am, we filled him in on what happened, and Gustav made us a bed of sofa pillows and old duvets next to three large piles of books.
I had decided not to tell Daimon that I think I saw Asmodeus. I did not want to worry him and the last thing I want him to do is pull me from the project entirely, putting me on a train back home and ultimately letting the baddy win!
“Where can we find rainbows in London?” I tried again. “Soho.” Kath tried. “But I don’t think Soho was as interesting then as it is now.” She threw me a smile. I nod. “What about murals or paintings or even stained glass.” She shrugged. “Sure, but rainbows weren’t used much in art at that time.”
We turned a corner and found ourselves in the middle of a pack of Chinese tourists. The little tourist tat vendor at the end of the street looked at the chattering tourists with glee. He would definitely earn a pretty penny of this lot. I let my eye slide over the magnets, the keychains and the gordy T-shirts.
I never particularly understood the appeal of this kind of souvenirs. I let my fingers slide over one of the magnets… And that is when it caught my eye. The colours fluttered through my field of vision as I turned my head to say something to Kath about tourists and souvenirs. But then something clicked. Something very important, very big… just clicked.
I take a few steps towards the little framed print of an ugly watercolour painting. I clench my jaw as I look at the romantically drawn rainbow over St-Paul’s Cathedral.
It was staring me in the face. But what was it? What just clicked? I turned to Kath who was looking at me as if I just lost my mind. “You know th
e great fire, right?” I whispered. Kath rolled her eyes at me. Of course, she did! The Great Fire of London was probably the most important Hunter history ever.
Hordes of Demons had set London aflame in an attempt to take a hold of the city. The archangel Michael saved London from the Demons, and infamously awarded those who fought the demons with special powers, creating the first real hunters.
“I faintly remember something about a rainbow.” I tried to unravel the piece of string this thought was connected to, digging into my memory and piecing together what I hear about rainbows and St-Paul’s Cathedral.
Kath nods. “You never really did pay attention in class, did you?” She shoots me a broad smile as I shrug and shake my head. Kath leads me to a little bench next to a rose bush. I can imagine the roses bloom beautifully in the spring.
“When the demons lay waste to London during the 1666 great fire.” She starts. “The humans who stayed behind to try and get the fire under control started noticing that it was not the wooden houses that were feeding the fire, but rather demons and demon spawn.” I nod and roll my eyes. I have heard this story many times, I just needed her to get to the part where there was a rainbow. Or well – I was almost certain there was a rainbow in this story!
“As the humans fought the Demons, on the third day, Archangel Michael came down to help. He awarded the great humans with powers that help them to combat evil and on the fourth day, the now hunters, were able to defeat the demons and their spawn.”
“And to this day Hunters go through initiation night in St Paul’s Cathedral on their 10th Birthday marking the beginning of their official training and commemorating the place and the act of receiving their powers from the Michael.” I rolled my eyes. I knew that. Everybody knows that. I sigh.
“Does the story involve a rainbow?” I ask. “Like, anywhere? Even maybe a small one?” I try to poke her memory. If anyone would know about the legend and its details, it would be Kath.
The Aberrant Sword Page 6
