‘Why the time limit?’ Ceri asked.
The woman started for the door. ‘The last guy who read this stuff for longer than an hour murdered fourteen people and is currently occupying a room in Broadmoor.’ Ceri blinked; the sound of the lock re-engaging seemed louder than usual.
It really was a collection. The pages were all different; different languages, different paper, different inks and scripts. Some of the paper looked like hide. One of those looked alarmingly like treated human skin and the ink had a dark brown colour which suggested the donor’s blood had been used. Ceri felt discomfort all right, but it was mostly revulsion. Handling the sheets through fixed, two-ply rubber gloves which felt as though they had a silver-iron mesh in them was hardly easy. She was relieved to discover what she was looking for not far down through the pile.
The page was torn, stained, and had holes in it, but the cabinet had a magnifying lens on a goose-neck stand in it to help. Ceri began to pick her way through the text. It could never be killed, the Son of the Trickster… The true nature of the beast is beyond… seeks only destruction. It is the spirit of the Beast and has dominion over all of wild blood. When Its Time comes again all of wolfen blood will turn to… Then will Luperca’s Corruptor stand at the head of the Army of Fenrir.
Alexandra had said that Remus had been corrupted by Luperca’s essence and that he had corrupted it. From what she had read, Ceri could guess that Remus planned to raise the spirit of Fenrir and that somehow this would give him an army.
By foul magic, the noble beasts are… and become great in power and ferocity. The Corrupter drives them mad that they accept Him freely. That had to refer to the howls of agony Lehrner had heard. Remus tortured his prisoners until they… what? Turned into members of Remus’ pack, presumably. It seemed to imply that the Remus Pack were possessed. Did that mean they could be cured?
The last part of the page was almost complete and seemed to be a prophecy of some sort. The Corruptor will come, seeking an ancient place of stones, gathering the Horde of Blood. With all together blood will flow and the Beast’s Blood will rise. The sun will grow dark as it did in ages past and the Time of Wolves will come again. Let the Fair One, the Reborn, make… lest all become darkness.
Soho
‘It would all seem to fit with what we know of Remus,’ Carter said. They were in his office at the back of the Jade Dragon. The club would be opening in about thirty minutes, but Ceri was not really there for the night life.
‘I had trouble making much sense of it, to be honest,’ she said. ‘I think Remus’ pack are transformed by some sort of possession.’
‘I know of some forms of demon able to physically alter a host body by possessing it,’ Carter said, nodding thoughtfully. ‘It is possible to revert the victim to normal in most cases, though the psychological damage can be permanent.’
‘There’s a type of demon Dad told me about,’ Lily said, ‘that tends to infest teenage girls. Turns them into a more aggressive form of succubus. The damage that does to their mind is irreparable.’
Carter nodded. ‘I know the one. This seems different, but the torture Remus uses to cement the possession may be too much to overcome.’
‘So we might be able to save these people,’ Ceri said, ‘but they may be psychotic after we do. Joy.’
Carter looked at her. ‘How long were you cooped up in Fitzlawrence’s cavern today?’ he asked.
‘Uh… I don’t know… I got there at nine-thirty and left at…’
‘She got home at seven,’ Lily said.
‘I was trying to find something useful!’ Ceri exclaimed.
‘You need to switch off for a night,’ Carter said. ‘Your brain is going in circles, ever tightening ones.’
‘I can’t relax,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll go nuts if I don’t keep occupied.’
Carter considered for a second. ‘I have a favour to ask,’ he said. Ceri blinked at him. ‘It’s Friday night,’ he went on, ‘my bartender is off trying to get himself killed and one of my waitresses has come down with the flu.’
‘You want me to play waitress?’ Ceri said, not quite sure she was believing what she was saying. ‘Somehow I have to find Alec, Dane and his pack, and this “Fair One” before the Solstice. I have no idea where to look or even what I’m looking for, and you want me to serve drinks?’
‘Yes,’ Carter said flatly. ‘Concentrate on something else for one night. Get tired doing something mundane and forget about the end of the world. Go home in the small hours so tired that you sleep like a baby’
‘He’s right, y’know, Ceri,’ Lily said. ‘You’re wound up tighter than a bowstring.’
Frustration was the dominant emotion. They were right, but… ‘I haven’t got one of those absurd dresses,’ she tried plaintively.
Carter sized her up expertly. ‘Ten or twelve,’ he said. ‘I think we have a spare.’ Ceri’s eyes widened. ‘We always have spare ones on hand,’ he explained. ‘Drinks are spilled, werewolves get over-excited. It pays to have a replacement available for accidents.’
Ceri looked at Lily, resplendent in her nearly non-existent garment. ‘I can’t wear that,’ she said. ‘I’d feel…’
‘Gorgeous?’ Lily suggested.
‘Naked,’ Ceri said.
‘As I recall,’ Carter said, ‘you’ve turned up here in skirts about as short, wearing semi-transparent nothings to cover your chest. If anything you’d be more covered up.’ He could see her weakening; unfortunately they were making sense. ‘I would, of course, pay,’ he added.
‘C’mon,’ Lily said, bouncing gleefully to her feet, ‘you’ve just got time to get changed. This is going to be so much fun!’
Ceri climbed to her feet slowly and followed Lily to the door. It was insane. She was going to strut around a nightclub in a micro-dress carrying drinks on trays while somewhere a demigod-wolf creature was plotting to take over the world. Somehow it seemed like it was exactly the right thing to do.
~~~
As she bent over to put the drinks down on table fourteen, one of the booths near the back of the club, Ceri once again felt a hand slipping under her skirt to grab her behind. She turned and smiled at the creep with the hand, and his two friends sniggered. They were werewolves, probably Royals, out for a night on the town. It was not just that this was the fourth time he had snuck a feel, it was that they seemed to have absolutely no respect for her or any of the other waitresses.
‘You better leave me a real big tip when you go,’ she said to the man with the hand. His eyes went slightly vague for a split second as her spell hit home. Straightening up, she strutted away from the table, putting as much swing in her hips as she could manage. Carter and the girls had done some shuffling so that Ceri’s territory was adjacent to Lily’s. Partially it was so that Ceri could see how Lily worked, and partially it meant that they were together so that Lily could lend moral support where required.
As she approached the bar, Carter waved at her and then gestured toward the doorway. Diverting, she headed to the small waiting area to take care of the newly arrived patrons and almost dropped her tray. They were a moderately attractive couple, not film star quality, but good looking. Without even switching her Sight on, Ceri could tell that the woman was a vampire. Her skin was pale and her eyes had the oddly intense quality the vamps tended to have. Her straight, black, shoulder-length hair set off her complexion beautifully, and beside her he looked ordinary. Gathering herself up, Ceri stepped forward and smiled. ‘Good evening, Detective. This must be your wife. Pleased to meet you, Mrs Radcliff. I’m Ceri, and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’
A hint of red appeared in the woman’s eyes. ‘I thought you’d never been here before, John?’ she asked and Ceri could see Radcliff trying not to flinch.
‘I haven’t,’ Radcliff said.
‘Your husband met me on a case, Mrs Radcliff,’ Ceri supplied. ‘Please follow me. I’ll take you to your table.’ She turned and started through the tables, checking over her sho
ulder that they were following and noting that the vamp’s eyes still held a dull, red glow. Radcliff’s partner, DS Kate Middleshaw, had told Ceri that Radcliff’s wife had been turned against her will. Like lycanthropy, there was no cure for vampirism. There was no way back for her, or her husband. She stopped at one of the booths, table twelve, and smiled back at the couple. ‘This okay?’ she asked. ‘I know a lot of vampires prefer the booths.’
Mrs Radcliff’s eyes flared red again, the wave of unconsciously generated fear the vampire pushed Ceri’s way simply diverting around her. ‘How did you know I was…?’
‘I’m a mage, ma’am,’ Ceri replied. ‘That’s how I met your husband.’
Seeming nervous, but a little mollified, the vampire slipped into the booth, moving toward the back where her eyes were out of the light. Vampires did not burn or turn to dust in sunlight, but they were adapted to the dark and bright lights irritated them. ‘I didn’t know you worked here,’ Radcliff said as he slipped into the seat beside his wife.
‘I don’t,’ Ceri said. ‘Carter’s short staffed and I was here anyway. It’s hard to say no when you’ve got a succubus and a playboy millionaire persuading you to do something.’ She smiled. ‘What can I get you? The Jade Dragon prides itself on carrying all manner of drinks for all manner of clients. We have a broad selection of cocktails suitable for our vampire clientele, as well as all the usual range of human beverages.’ She grinned. ‘And the coffee’s pretty good too.’
Mrs Radcliff’s undead demeanour slipped. ‘Sorry, cocktails for vampires?’
‘I told you, Lorna,’ Radcliff said, ‘and you can have a couple of drinks without worrying, can’t you?’
‘If you’ve never tried one before,’ Ceri said, ‘I can get Carter to recommend something. He’s not a vampire, but he knows his bar almost as well as the regular bartender. The drinks are mixed with a little warmed, synthetic blood. One of the few things the drinks industry can be said to have created which does some good for people.’
Lorna looked uncertain, but her husband obviously wanted her to have fun so she nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘If he can recommend something… fruity, that would be nice.’
‘I’ll take a beer,’ Radcliff said. ‘Newcastle Brown, if you’ve got it.’
Ceri nodded. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she said. Turning, she headed to table fourteen and picked up the wad of cash which had been left there by the departing werewolves before heading for the bar.
‘You know them?’ Carter said as she walked up.
‘Him,’ she replied. ‘Detective Inspector Radcliff, one of the Greycoats assigned to my case in the summer. He’s a norm, his wife was turned vamp against her will. And do you stock Newcastle Brown Ale?’
Carter smirked and produced a cooled bottle of beer from a cabinet. ‘For the lady?’ he asked, flicking the crown cap off the bottle with practiced ease.
‘Could you recommend something fruity and suitable for a vampire?’
Carter placed a beer glass down beside the bottle and turned to his array of bottles. ‘I believe I can,’ he said. ‘Dragon Blood usually goes down well.’
‘It’s a Mai Tai with Syn in it,’ Lily supplied as she appeared behind Ceri as if by magic. The half-succubus’ hands landed on Ceri’s bare hips, long fingers curling around to stroke at places which made Ceri’s breath catch, but this time Ceri did not object. ‘That was Radcliff I saw you wheeling in right?’ Lily asked.
‘And his wife,’ Ceri said. ‘Out for an evening on the town, I guess… Yeah, the shows should be about wrapping now, right?’
Carter placed a drink down beside the bottle. ‘See how she likes that,’ he said. ‘And yes, the shows are mostly over, we’ll get a bit of a rush, so make sure table fourteen is cleared.’
Ceri produced the cash she had been carrying and said, ‘What did their tally come to?’
Carter’s fingers tapped quickly at the till. ‘Forty-two, twenty,’ he said.
Ceri counted out three, crisp twenty pound notes and handed them to Carter, tucking the remaining two into the little pocket she had discovered was sewn into the bodice of her dress; she had always wondered where Lily put her tip money, and now she knew. ‘They might have stayed longer if I hadn’t got sick of one of them sticking his hand up my skirt,’ she said. ‘That’s to cover lost revenue for my impatience.’
Carter chuckled as she picked up her tray and disengaged herself from Lily. ‘An honest waitress,’ the playboy commented. ‘You can come work here again.’
Ceri giggled as Lily began protesting her total honesty. She had given up trying to put too much strut into her walk while carrying a full try. If she were ever to do it again, she would make sure she had better shoes; her heels were just not high enough to give the right effect. She would also practice carrying things while being outrageously sexy beforehand; it was way harder than Lily made it look. As she walked over to the Radcliffs’ table she mentally kicked herself. She was doing what she usually did, what her parents had fostered on her from their own habits. Brents did well at everything because, given the opportunity to do the best they could at something, they found themselves lacking and tried harder. She came from a family of over-achievers.
She placed the cocktail down in front of Marion with a smile. ‘Apparently,’ she said, ‘it’s basically a Mai Tai for vampires. Carter called it Dragon Blood.’ She lifted the bottle and glass down for John. ‘Of course we do Newcastle Brown. This is the best nightclub in London.’
‘So I heard,’ John said. ‘I admit it has a bit of a reputation, but it’s the first chance we’ve had to go out for a night since I got Lorna moved down.’
‘We saw Les Miserables,’ Lorna said happily. ‘I’ve been wanting to see it for years and now we actually live in London…’
‘Perfect opportunity,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, I hope you enjoy your drink. Just call if there’s anything you want.’
Lorna smiled. There was something a little childlike about the vampire who had been Lorna Radcliff. Ceri knew very few vampires, and relatively little about them, but she knew they were dead. Ceri turned away to go to table fourteen and clear. She knew that Lorna’s personality would have shifted when she turned. Vampires were predators; the older they got, the more the predator took over and their humanity subsided into a mask to hide their true nature. But Lorna had been turned against her will, an act as vile, and violating, as rape. It was fairly apparent that Lorna had not totally adjusted to her unlife yet, and Ceri suspected that John had not either.
Ceri carried her tray of empty beer bottles back to the bar, placing it down for Carter to clear. ‘Best take your break now,’ he said as he removed the bottles. ‘We’ll start filling up soon. Lily and Tess will cover for you.’
The Dragon operated what Ceri thought was quite a clever system of scheduled breaks for the waitresses. As Carter had said, it was damn hard to look fantastic when your feet hurt, and since the girls were required to wear heels, blisters would result fairly quickly if they did not get adequate breaks. So, each girl got a break every hour with the other girls expanding their territories to cover the gap.
Perching herself on a stool at the bar to take the weight off her feet, Ceri smiled at her temporary boss. ‘It doesn’t seem too busy,’ she said.
‘Actually,’ Carter said, ‘I’d be expecting more werewolves in by now. The moon’s waxing, it always makes them upbeat. We get more undead on the waning moon, more werewolves on the waxing.’
‘Well,’ Ceri said, ‘we had those Royals in. At least, I think they were Royals.’
Carter nodded. ‘Browns,’ he said.
‘Alec tell you the difference?’ Ceri asked and Carter nodded in reply. ‘Are you quietly telling me that the more pure-blood werewolves are staying home?’
‘I hadn’t really noticed it until now,’ he replied, ‘but it does seem like it.’
‘I’ll go over to Battersea tomorrow night,’ Ceri said. ‘Maybe I can get some better idea of what’s happening there.�
�
Carter passed her a glass of water and she gulped it down, suddenly aware of how thirsty she was. ‘Enough of that,’ he said. ‘You’re supposed to be relaxing, sort of.’ His face suddenly lit up with a bright grin. ‘I have to admit,’ he said, ‘I’d never have believed I’d see you in one of those dresses the first time we met. Your father would not have approved.’
Ceri tugged at her skirt. ‘I don’t think either of them…’
‘Your mother was more of a free spirit,’ he interrupted. ‘I think you get your more rebellious side from her. Your father was the meticulous, cautious one.’ Ceri could not really deny that; it had been her father who had wanted to keep her sorcery locked away behind powerful enchantments, though her mother had gone along with it. Ceri’s thoughts flashed back to Fitzlawrence’s revelation and she wondered whether this might be a good time to bring it up, but then she felt hands on her sides and knew that Lily was there.
‘Mrs Radcliff would appreciate another Dragon Blood,’ Lily said, ‘with compliments to the owner for his selection.’
Carter turned to start mixing the drink with a slight smile. ‘You don’t get to be appreciated for your actual work so much, do you, Carter?’ Ceri said.
‘No, my dear,’ he replied, ‘I do not. Truth be told, I learned to do this from Alec just in case. I’ve never had to do it in anger, and it is rather pleasing to be doing something with my hands, so to speak, rather than just playing the host.’ He placed the drink down on the counter.
Ceri slipped off her stool, doing her best not to feel embarrassed since she was positive there was no way of doing it without flashing the room. ‘I’ll take it over, give Tess a break,’ she said. Placing the cocktail on her tray, she started off toward the Radcliffs.
December 11th
It was just past two in the morning when Ceri spotted John Radcliff looking annoyed and listening to his phone. Lorna did not look happy either and Ceri moved over to their booth. The concern must have been obvious on her face because the look of surprise on Lorna’s features showed that she was not expecting that from someone she had just met.
Thaumatology 02 - Demon's Moon Page 13
