“Mack Attack! It’s you! Where the hell have you been, dude?”
I couldn’t face telling him the sad story right now. Instead I prevaricated. “I’ll explain later. I need you to stay away from that shop now though, Alex. Do you hear me? Don’t go anywhere near it. Go home and stay home.”
“Eh?” he sounded surprised. “I’ve been in already. You were right, there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of in the slightest. In fact,” his voice took on a confidential tone, “I also take it back about the Batibat being hideous and scary. She’s actually rather charming.”
“Um, okay. Still, go home now and don’t go back there again.”
“If that’s what you want. You want to hear what I found about the shop owner or not though?”
Pain glanced through me. “Yeah, Alex, I guess so.”
“Well, you could sound a bit more enthusiastic, Mack Attack. This is a dude we need to be scared of. Apparently his name is Endor. Even without the info from the Batibat, you know what that means.”
“Not really,” I said, suddenly pausing. Was this really more Otherworld general knowledge that I was completely ignorant of? Would knowing whatever Alex was about to reveal have meant that this night’s terrible events could have been avoided?
“Oh,” he said, somewhat deflated. “I guess you didn’t go to Sunday school then. The witch of Endor is in the bible. She’s a medium who King Saul calls up to contact the ghost of Samuel. Needless to say, bad things happen as a result.”
I shook my head frustratedly. The bible? That was hardly up to date, of the minute information. “I don’t see what this has to do with our Endor. He’s not a woman.”
“You’re missing the point, Mack Attack. The witch of Endor could call upon ghosts because she had the power of the dead. The Endor here and now is using her name because he’s using the same power. He’s a necromancer. It’s serious black magic, dude. He’s a nasty nasty guy.”
No shit. That explained why he had been so keen to kill the dryads, I supposed though. The more dead dryads, the more dark power he could glean.
“That’s useful information.” Sort of. Not really. It wasn’t exactly surprising.
“Wait, there’s more!”
My heart sank and fingers of dread clutched at my heart. How much worse was this likely to get? “Go on.”
“The Batibat came across some stuff in the back of the shop. She doesn’t like her boss very much. Apparently he’s using her to look after things there so he can make some money and keep his other operations going. She’s not very happy about it. I think he’s using various Batibats to do his evil bidding, or else.”
Yeah, I thought, or else he’ll suck the life out of them.
“Anyway,” Alex continued, “she found this thing that was ripped out of some book. She reckons it’s his plan to get more power. It seems that he’s looking to harness the four elements in order to boost his own strength. That’s…”
“Earth, air, fire and water,” I filled in.
“Yes. Mack Attack, you have to understand, that’s crazy. First of all I have no idea how you would even go about doing such a thing. Second of all, it makes no sense. Those elements don’t have anything to do with necromancy. Thirdly, can you imagine how powerful someone would be if they really pulled that off?”
I stopped walking and closed my eyes, resting a hand on a nearby tree. Fuck. “Did she mention whether she knew if he’d been successful at all?”
“Nah, Mack Attack. She reckons he’s pretty much delusional. I’d say the same as well to be honest. I don’t see how anyone could do it.”
There was a moment of silence as I absorbed all of Alex’s intelligence.
Eventually he filled the void. “So? Did I do good? I gotta tell you, I’m really proud of myself. I mean, I don’t believe much of what she said. It’s a lot of pie in the sky stuff, but maybe I actually have a bit of a calling for this, you know?” He deepened his voice dramatically. “Alex Florides, the super spy.”
“Yeah, Alex, you did great.” I could almost hear his smile from across the phone. “Look, I have to go now. Thanks for the info. I mean it though – stay away from that shop from now on. It’s too dangerous to go back.”
“What, really? Dangerous how? Wait, do I need to hide myself? Is that Endor dude going to come after me because of what I found out?”
I reckoned he probably had bigger plans than bothering with a surf loving mage. “No. But still, it wouldn’t hurt to stay out of sight for a little while.”
“Sure, sure. Okay, I’m going to go now then. Maybe I should go abroad? Not, that’s too obvious. Um, perhaps up north somewhere?”
“Bye, Alex.”
“Yeah, bye, Mack Attack,” he responded distractedly.
I hung up and passed the phone back to Aubrey. He was watching me carefully. “There are bad things afoot, aren’t there?”
“Yes, there are.”
“Worse than vampires?”
“Much much worse than vampires.”
Aubrey nodded. “Okay, then. What do you need?”
“I need to get back to London as soon as possible. Can you run?”
His eyes widened. “To London? Isn’t that kind of far?”
I patted him on the shoulder, trying to avoid appearing patronising. It was hard. “No, you prat. The car park. Come on.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Twelve hours I was later I was at least feeling physically refreshed. I’d had what was probably the longest shower of my life, eight hours’ sleep, and a good breakfast with lots and lots of coffee. If you could call a meal at three o’clock in the afternoon ‘breakfast’. There was a hard numbed shell around both my heart and my thoughts whenever I even began to consider the terrible events on Haughmond Hill, but I kept pushing that oh so very recent memory away, knowing that I needed to start feeling more prepared to deal with all this necromancy bullshit. At least for once in my life I’d really appreciated being able to travel halfway across the country via a portal. It meant that there was far less faffing around, and far more time to really get down to business.
I’d known when I’d entered the now shiny red door to my little flat in the wee hours of Sunday morning, with all the others outside watching me as I’d entered, that Corrigan had been hoping that I’d invite him in. I had desperately needed the hours of solitude to get my head into gear, however. It had nothing to do with pushing him away, and everything to do with just wanting to sort myself out. As much as I wanted to feel his arms around me, I had decided that some real undisturbed sleep was more important at this point. I wasn’t completely convinced as to whether he had understood that or not, but I was damned sure that I’d make him realise it.
Leaving a note for Mrs. Alcoon to explain (although how I could possibly appropriately convey that there was an ex-vampire sleeping in her shop on a scribbled bit of paper, I really had no idea) I’d installed Aubrey in a campbed at the back of Clava Books. I’d pointed out to him in no uncertain terms that it was a very temporary measure. He had been pathetically grateful. Out of all of us, I was pretty sure that he was the one least happy to be back within the steel and cement arms of the nation’s capital. I had been debating whether to invite him along to the formal meeting of the Otherworld’s great and the good that had been called for later that day, but had eventually decided that as an ex-member of the undead himself, he might have some insights that he could shed on necromancy. Vamps weren’t exactly the same as necromancers, but I reckoned they probably lived in the same metaphorical neighbourhood.
Considering what on earth the future could possibly hold for Aubrey, I lifted up my half-empty coffee cup and stared down at my hands cupping its still warm exterior. My mind flitted immediately back to when they’d been in the same position around the dryad’s delicate skull. I winced in the pain of the memory and dropped the cup abruptly. Then I picked it up again and threw it with all my might against the bare wall facing me. The china smashed into shards, and I watched as t
he remaining coffee dribbled down the wall. I reached out for the vase containing Corrigan’s now very dead flowers and did exactly the same. The decaying stems mingled with the dark caffeine infusion in a messy heap on my floor. I didn’t feel any better.
I flexed my fingers and held them out in front of my eyes. They didn’t look any differently to how they had before I’d used them to kill the dryad. They didn’t really feel any different. But the knowledge of what they’d done was gnawing away at me. Atlanteia had asked me to help save her extended family. Instead I’d helped destroy them.
A sharp knock at the door broke me out of my self-absorbed reverie. Somehow the tinge of arrogance that lent itself to the sound made it clear who was there waiting. A wave of relief shuddered through me. Standing up I walked over and opened it.
Corrigan took one look at my face and pulled me towards him. For once I let him, allowing myself to lean towards his hard body. He rested his chin on top of my head, and I sucked in his familiar spicy citrus aftershave. Neither of us said anything for several moments. Finally he drew back and looked me in the eyes.
“How are you doing?” he asked softly.
I shook my head slightly, realising that if I tried to speak, I’d end up sobbing hysterically. He seemed to understand. I sank back into his broad chest again, and remained there for several moments, trying to re-compose myself. It occurred to me, in some dim recesses of my brain, just how happy I was that he was here. Despite what I’d overheard from his conversation with Lucy, there had been the chance he’d feel he’d gotten everything he wanted from me during our session in the woods. The fact that the Lord Alpha of the Brethren was right now standing in my little doorway, with his muscle steeled arms around me, meant that he still wanted to be with me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t invite you in last night,” I said, my words somewhat muffled as I spoke them into his chest. “I just needed the time to sort myself out. To get some sleep and get things straight in my head.”
His voice rumbled above me. “I understand, kitten. You know I do. And you should also know that things haven’t changed since yesterday, not with us and not with the reasons behind everything that happened and everything we did. There wasn’t a choice to make. Endor forced our hand and we had to react.”
I sighed deeply. “I know. But that doesn’t make it any better.”
I pulled back and looked into his warm eyes. “What’s going to happen at this meeting? Is everyone going to be able to work together against him?”
Corrigan’s expression was serious. “There’s no other way this can go. If we can’t find a way to work as one to bring him down then we really will have failed.”
I nodded, trying to ignore the hard little nugget of worry in the pit of my stomach. We’d all managed to sort ourselves out and be a team at Haughmond Hill, even if the results of that collaboration hadn’t gone our way. But that had only involved a small group of us, and the fact that neither the Arch-Mage nor the Summer Queen had been there had meant that there were less authoritative egos to have to manage. I knew as well as anyone that the clash of different Otherworld species and personalities could cause a lot of problems. I reckoned that it would just have to be down to Corrigan and me to try to encourage them all to keep the peace.
“Shall we?” Corrigan asked, motioning out towards the open door.
I blinked in assent. “I need to pick up Aubrey first though.”
For a moment, Corrigan didn’t answer. I could see that his muscles had tightened infinitesimally at the idea, however. I felt the need to elaborate.
“He’s on our side,” I said. “And he might be able to help. If anyone can provide some insight into what an evil fucker who deals with death might do, then it’s got to be a vamp. Ex-vamp.”
The tension in Corrigan’s frame remained. I had to bite my tongue to stop from snapping at him that he was already letting his pre-conceived ideas about other members of the Otherworld get in his way. Thankfully, however, he finally nodded grimly. I let out an inward sigh of relief and already felt more optimistic. If Corrigan could put aside his antagonism towards Aubrey, then there was a good chance the rest of the Otherworld’s leaders would be able to do the same with each other.
An expensive looking car was sitting outside, looking somewhat incongruous against its slightly shabbier surroundings. It seemed ridiculous to climb into it to drive a couple of blocks to the shop, so I gestured to Corrigan that I’d meet him outside Clava Books once I’d picked up Aubrey. Corrigan was having none of that, however, and flicked a hand towards the invisible driver to instruct him to follow us. Then he carefully manoeuvred himself between my body and the road, in some old-fashioned idea of chivalry. I shot him an irritated glance, but he chose to ignore it, and the pair of us walked down in silence. At one point, his hand brushed gently against mine. I didn’t know whether it was by accident or by design, but it still made my heart skip a beat. Stop acting like a love-sick teenager, I told myself firmly, you’re a grown woman. Then he shrugged off his jacket and folded it over his arm. His black t-shirt stretched across his body in a manner that made my mouth go dry. Damn it.
When we reached Clava Books, Corrigan waited outside, clearly not wanting to spend any more time in Aubrey’s company than was strictly necessary. I entered, surprised that the door was already open, but that was nothing compared to my shock when I took in the scene beside the small till area. Slim was hovering in the air, a smile stretched across his face, and a cup of tea cupped in his small hands. He’d substituted Mrs. Alcoon’s scarf round his waist for a pair of bizarre looking Bermuda shorts that were probably designed for toddlers. Mrs. Alcoon herself was propped up against the counter, her head cocked to one side as she listened intently to the stream of nonsense that was coming out of Aubrey’s mouth.
“So, then Mack tells me to order a pizza, which is no mean feat in the middle of a forest. Giving directions without a postcode is hard, you know? She trusted me enough to choose it for her, and I thought that she was going to eat it herself, but then she took it and went to Corrigan and told me that they were not to be disturbed. At first I thought she was just hungry, but then I realised…”
I cleared my throat. All three of them suddenly sprang up to attention, with slightly guilty looks on their faces. Mrs. Alcoon was the first to recover.
“Mackenzie, dear, your friend was just telling us about your exploits. I thought you were going to have a proper rest and a bit of a holiday, not go gallivanting around the countryside.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. It was interesting the way in which she could turn the fact that she’d clearly been involved in a deep gossip about what I’d been up to into apparent concern that I hadn’t been sat on my sofa for four and a half days watching daytime television. She smiled at me innocently.
“So I suppose you won’t be here for the fecking opening tomorrow then?” growled Slim.
“Don’t you worry about that,” I said, walking over and patting him on his little purple shoulder. “I’ll be here. I just might have some other things to take care of too.” Like working out a way to kill an apparently unkillable necromancer who had a penchant for slaughtering innocent creatures.
Mrs. Alcoon suddenly cast me a concerned look. She reached and touched me gently then drew back with troubled eyes. I guessed that her weak mage skills were springing to the fore.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said softly. “You’re too hard on yourself.”
I watched her carefully. “What else do you see?”
She shook herself. “Just…” she lifted her blue eyes to mine. “Nothing, dear.”
“Mrs. Alcoon…” I began, before stopping. Maybe it was better not to know. “I need Aubrey.”
He snapped up, straightening his back. “I’m ready! Where are we going? Are we going to kick some nasty shit’s butt?”
I shot him a look. He was definitely no longer the aloof and slightly scary master vampire that I’d first met. “We’re going to a meeting. You’re
going to come along and only speak if you’re spoken to. Okay?”
He nodded vigorously. “Okay, okay, yes, no problem.”
I gave my old friend an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I will be here tomorrow, I promise.”
She smiled at me, although it was with a tinge of sadness that worried me. “I know you will, dear. You go and sort them all out. The council needs you.”
I was momentarily confused. Council? Before I could ask her about it however, there was a rap on the glass. Corrigan was getting impatient.
“We should go.”
Mrs. Alcoon nodded, and both her and Slim raised their hands in almost identical salutes of farewell. Weird. I left them to it, with Aubrey trotting happily at my heels.
By the time we were outside, Corrigan was already there at the car, holding the passenger door open. I bit back a retort about how I was perfectly capable of opening a car door by myself and instead slid myself in. He climbed in after me, leaving Aubrey to sort himself out. The ex-vamp rather clumsily stepped up, bumped his head on the edge of the car and winced in dramatic pain. Corrigan rolled his eyes and pulled him inside, then reached over and shut the door. Almost immediately the car rolled off.
Aubrey picked himself up off the floor and sat on the leather covered seats opposite Corrigan and myself. He fumbled for the seatbelt for several moments, then eventually managed to slot it into place and leaned back. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then, as if remembering suddenly that I’d compelled him otherwise, snapped it shut again. His eyes drifted from myself to Corrigan and back again, as if he were watching a particularly engaging game of tennis. I gave up watching him and turned to Corrigan instead.
“So where is this meeting?”
He half turned to me, and smiled. I was so conscious of his proximity that it was almost difficult to breathe. “It’s at a neutral location. Somewhere I believe you’ve been before?”
Oh. “Alcazon?”
He nodded. I cursed inwardly. Fuck. I still really wanted to ask him about the dark-haired shifter I’d seen him with before. There was no way I was going to do it in front of Aubrey, however. I could have used the Voice to ask him about it, but for some reason this was a conversation I wanted to conduct aloud. It seemed that it would be more honest that way. So, instead, I leaned back in my own seat, and stared silently out of the window. The edge of Corrigan’s hand scraped gently against my thigh, seemingly as if by accident. I allowed my own hand to fall down against his. His skin was warm to the touch. A tiny smile lit the corners of my mouth. Not much more than twelve hours’ earlier I’d done some terrible things, unspeakable things. And I was facing an opponent about whom I knew next to nothing, other than he had far more power than I could begin to imagine and shady plans afoot that were absolutely terrifying. However, with Corrigan by my side, it somehow felt as everything was going to be alright.
Blood Politics (Blood Destiny 4) Page 23
