Bitter Seed of Magic (9781101553695)

by Mcleod, Suzanne

  ‘I’m not talking about Darius, my liege.’ I stuck my hands on my hips and gave him a ‘so-there’ look. Childish, I know, but hey—‘I’m talking about Francine. All I have to do is ask for her help in your name and she’ll give it me. And she’s a kick-ass lady who does a mean line in illusions. Not to mention she hates Maxim, so she’ll be thrilled to coax him into telling the police and me whatever we want to know. Then let’s not forget Cousin Fyodor, and whatever stories he’s got to tell.’ I mimed pulling out a stake. ‘He’s old enough that it won’t take long to get him back into talking order again. Oh, and don’t think your little order about staying out of Sucker Town will make any difference; the police can take me there by force if need be.’

  ‘No.’

  I shot him an impatient glare. ‘What does “No” mean?’

  He brushed a hand over his shorn head. ‘No, you do not need to ask Francine for her help,’ he said, conceding with obvious reluctance. ‘I will accompany you, and I will do all in my power to assist you. On two conditions.’

  ‘Which are?’

  ‘One: your safety is my prime concern,’ he said firmly. ‘And two: if you are putting yourself in danger, then you should be better prepared physically. You will allow me to heal your injuries first.’

  Take his blood? My pulse quickened in anticipation. I wanted to say it wasn’t a good idea, except it was, and we both knew it.

  ‘Agreed,’ I said, adding, ‘Just being practical,’ at his surprised look. Reaching down to the threshold, I wiped away some of the dried blood and broke the Ward, then opened the door. I nodded at the two trolls standing to attention. ‘We’re going with Plan A,’ I said.

  ‘Right-o, Genny,’ Constable Lamber said.

  ‘Plan A, Genevieve?’ Malik raised an elegant, enquiring brow. ‘You are aware that I had ordered you not to leave, and therefore these two gentlemen would not have been able to pass your blood-Ward to retrieve you until it dissipated?’

  ‘Not true, sir.’ Taegrin held out his hand to me.

  ‘Plan B,’ I said, taking the red jelly bean from his palm, and the green one that Lamber gave me, and showed them to Malik. ‘Ward-Key spells.’ I’d had a lo-oong chat with Ricou about blood-Wards. ‘A drop of my blood and will in the sweets means they can cross the Ward without breaking it, in the same way I can.’ I tossed the sweeties in my mouth and ate them and their magic with a smug smile. ‘Therefore rendering them able to retrieve me while still leaving you trapped.’

  ‘Bravo, Genevieve.’ He inclined his head in acknowledgement. ‘Speaking of practicalities, how do you intend to take us inside the Tower?’

  I pursed my lips. ‘Actually, that’s the difficult bit of the plan. I know someone who can help, but I’m not sure if they will.’ Or what it was going to cost me. I gave Malik a sideways look. ‘We’ll leave off the healing bit until after they’ve agreed.’

  Chapter Forty-three

  I hunkered down in my seat and contemplated the vampire daylight travelling kit, a.k.a the zipped body bag provided by the police. It was made from leather, not the more usual thick plastic. Apparently leather stops vamps from being more than just victims of fashion. The bag – or rather, Malik – was stretched out on the floor between the two rows of seats in the back of the police van.

  Malik and the two constables had treated the whole ‘getting into the bag and being carried out to the van’ project like it was something they did half a dozen times a day. The tourists in Covent Garden hadn’t been so laid-back. The mobile phone/camera brigade had been out in force. I’d cringed and hurried, head down, into the van; I just knew I was going to end up with the media hounding me again after all this. Still, better that than dead. And at least I hadn’t blown up any bridges this time. Not yet anyway.

  A half-heard voice made me look up.

  The headlights of the passing traffic glinted on the specks of gold in Constable Taegrin’s polished black skin. He was sitting with his feet propped up on the opposite seat, as I was, to leave room for the bag. Had he said something? But he caught me looking and just winked. I smiled back, thinking I must’ve imagined it. And that my life would be so much easier if I could just unzip Malik and force him to tell me whatever it was he and Tavish had going on, and what it was the pair of them were hiding. Yep, like that was ever going to happen. But the main thing was, I’d got Malik to agree to what we wanted, which was a big relief. I closed my eyes, hoping Hugh and his crew had been just as successful with the rest of our master plan preparations—

  ‘—understand you have a son, Maxim.’ Malik’s distant not-quite-English voice popped into my head.

  There was a short silence, then Maxim’s voice muttered, ‘Bleeding sidhe. Knew nothing good would come of her slurping up my blood.’

  I briefly wondered how I was picking up their conversation – Mad Max’s blood maybe? – and how they were managing to have it; then scrunched my eyes tight shut and concentrated on listening.

  ‘Where is the boy, Maxim?’

  Hmm, why isn’t he asking who he is? Does that mean he knows, or that he doesn’t think it’s important?

  ‘Haven’t a clue, old chap,’ came the breezy answer.

  ‘This is not the time for your games.’ Malik’s tone was impatient. ‘If it is he who is behind these disappearances, then he needs to be stopped, and if it is not him, then he could be in danger.’

  ‘All that ruckus with the faelings is the fae’s problem, especially now you’ve stopped us sticking our fangs in,’ Maxim said bitterly. ‘And my son’s safe enough without your help. So bleeding safe I haven’t seen him for twenty years. That bitch won’t let me.’

  ‘Ah.’ Malik’s voice was soft. ‘So you do have another child.’

  Mad Max has two kids? There was another, longer silence. I waited with Malik for Mad Max to answer.

  Finally Malik gave up and said, ‘The witch has left a note, Maxim, saying she cannot protect your dog’s offspring any longer. If she is not protecting your son, then you must have other offspring. The witch has now vanished.’

  ‘I saw the new hairdo, old chap,’ Maxim said cheerfully and seemingly at random, ‘so I take it His Brattiness has been enjoying himself at your painful expense again. Still on the old eviscerating kick, is he? Or is it the old starvation diet? Must be hard when you can’t snack on any passing pigeon and have to rely on His Princely Benevolence. Bet his little royal heart jumped for joy when you made yourself Oligarch and dropped yourself back in his bloody little hands again.’

  Terror rolled through me at the mention of the Autarch, and the thought of Malik being in his clutches. I clutched Grace’s pentacle at my throat, and swallowed the fear back. Was that why Malik was so hungry – he could only feed off other vamps and the Autarch wasn’t letting him? I shuddered and tuned back in.

  ‘—nothing to fear, Maxim. I will not give up your secrets,’ Malik was saying calmly.

  ‘No, you bleeding won’t,’ he replied angrily, ‘because you’re not getting to know them.’

  ‘Maxim, this situation is as a result of the curse; it could be what we have all—’

  ‘No! Not my problem any more,’ Mad Max interrupted sharply. ‘I’ve washed my hands of the whole sodding business. I’ve lost too much already assisting you and your horsey friend. I told you both, don’t ask me again.’

  We? Who did he mean by we? And what had Malik and Tavish asked Mad Max to help with?

  ‘I understand,’ Malik said gently after a moment’s silence, then added briskly, ‘There is another concern. Genevieve knows about the faeling, the one you took from Francine.’

  ‘So what? The little bitch is under the protection of the witches now.’

  ‘But it appears there is a vampire interfering with the family. This was not what we agreed.’

  ‘You’re not laying that one on me, mate. Oh, no, nothing to do with me. I haven’t been near the little cow, not since she took a fancy to that pipsqueak of a wizard.’

  ‘Francine?’ />
  ‘Your butt-licking little illusionist? Doubt it; she’s too busy playing with the girls she’s still got.’

  ‘Fyodor?’

  ‘The old man?’ Maxim gave a barking laugh. ‘Good God, you’ve got to be joking. He’s so trussed up in all his promises to everyone and her dog, he has trouble managing a nibble without checking what night it is.’

  ‘Who then?’

  ‘I’m not a bleeding oracle, old chum. If you’re all fired up about it, ask my nutter of a cousin to sleuth for you. She’s the one who’s pally with the fae. But then, you’re not her type, are you?’ His voice took on a taunting tone. ‘She likes them a good bit younger and a good bit more impressionable, like our yummy Darius. Quite a feat that: jumping bodies. Old Francine’s got the heebie-jeebies about it, not surprising, really, but it makes you wonder just what my cousin and her pet-fang have been up to, doesn’t it?’ He lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘I suspect they’re a tad closer, if you know what I mean, than we all thought. Not that I’d want to get that close to her; the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree with that one, my bleeding face still hurts like the devil—’

  ‘Maxim, who is Andy?’

  My ears perked up: Andy was the name Darius had been thinking of when I’d wanted to know why Mad Max was taking my bagged blood.

  ‘Maxim?’ Malik’s voice came again, but however they were communicating, Mad Max had obviously gone offline.

  After a few more minutes of silence, I opened my eyes. We were driving past the Gothic towers of Tower Bridge, its brightly lit walkways flashing colour into the heavy grey sky. Not far now. I frowned down at Malik in his bag, resisted the urge to kick him and ask what the hell he wasn’t telling me, and tried to work out what I’d learned by eavesdropping. That Mad Max had two kids was the obvious one, not that the info got me any closer to finding out how Mad Max and his kids were involved with Helen and the missing faelings. The only thing I did know was that Mad Max was afraid of the Autarch finding out – not that I blamed him – which suggested Max wasn’t quite as mad as he seemed. Then Malik had asked about the fanged cuckoo nesting in with Ana’s family, and while Mad Max had denied having anything to do with Ana, hadn’t in fact appeared to like her much, he hadn’t seemed surprised, so I was betting he knew who the vamp was—

  The van braked, and I winced as Malik’s body bag slid into the back doors with a soft thud.

  I looked up to see we’d arrived at our destination: the War Memorial at Tower Hill.

  Hugh was waiting on the pavement outside, in front of the long stone-built corridor with its Greek-looking columns and huge engraved bronze wall plaques. I grinned as an idea hit me. Maybe Hugh could get Malik to reveal his secrets – after all, the annoying vamp was going to have to do something while he was waiting for me to collect our ‘Tour the Tower’ entry tickets. I jumped out, thankful that the rain had stopped. We said our hellos, then Hugh silently watched as the two constables carried the bagged-up vampire through the gate and into the vaulted building.

  Finally he said, ‘I see you managed to convince Mr al-Khan to cooperate.’ His ruddy face creased into a concerned frown. ‘I hope he didn’t cause you any problems?’

  ‘Nothing I couldn’t handle,’ I said, keeping the grimace off my face as he gave me a searching look. Hugh doesn’t have a sense of humour when it comes to vamps. ‘Any news on Finn’s daughter?’ I asked anxiously.

  ‘Sorry, Genny, no.’ He gave my shoulder a gentle consoling pat. ‘Finn’s out with a couple of WPCs, canvassing all of Nicola’s friends to see if they can come up with any helpful information. He should be along shortly.’

  I sighed, worried about how Finn was coping, then asked, ‘What about the doppelgänger plan?’

  ‘That one’s not going too well.’ Dust puffed from Hugh’s headridge and settled on his black hair. It was beginning to look like someone had emptied a bag of red flour over him. ‘Constable Martin spent half an hour talking to the Raven Master and six of the ravens, all of whom claim they know nothing whatsoever about the dead faelings, nor are they interested.’ He ushered me through the gate and we walked down towards the Memorial Garden. ‘She is currently chatting with Victoria Harrier and her daughter-in-law, Ana, about the antics of Ana’s large brood of children over tea and cakes in the café in Trafalgar Square.’

  ‘Damn. So Victoria Harrier didn’t buy the switch.’

  ‘Or she is as she seems, and her connections with everything are entirely coincidental.’

  ‘She can’t be,’ I said, ‘unless the vamp’s got her so locked up she hasn’t a clue what she’s doing.’

  ‘It’s possible, Genny, but unless I have proof otherwise, the judge won’t issue a warrant. My hands are tied.’

  Which meant everything rested on my part of the master plan. ‘No pressure then,’ I said, determined to make it work.

  ‘Once Victoria Harrier and Ana have finished their chat with Constable Martin,’ Hugh said, ‘if nothing develops, then we’ll bring them in for questioning. We’ve already had Ana’s husband picked up in New York, and we’ve got Dr Craig down at Old Scotland Yard.’

  ‘Don’t suppose he’s spilled any interesting beans yet?’

  ‘Until we finish talking to him, Genny, I can’t be certain, but so far he is exactly what he appears to be: a workaholic doctor who spends more time at his job than there are hours in the day. Unless that changes, he’s not going to be of help.’

  ‘What about the Old Donn?’ I asked, hoping that one lead might pay out and give us something helpful. ‘Did you find out if he’s really dead, or not?’

  Chapter Forty-four

  ‘The Old Donn’s definitely dead,’ Hugh stated, deflating my hope. ‘I’ve had it confirmed by the Lady Meriel. After the incident with the sidhe he was executed, along with two other wylde fae, Hallbjörn the White and Arthur Ursa.’

  Executed! Well, executed sounded pretty dead to me, but—‘What about Sylvia mentioning his remains?’

  ‘The three were decapitated, then burned, and their ashes were mixed with salt on Tower Green. Apparently a spell was cast to stop them from fading until after the execution had been carried out.’ Hugh’s ruddy face paled. ‘The Lady Meriel chose to explain it in detail for me.’

  I patted his hand; his skin felt dry and gritty, a sure sign he was disturbed by what he’d been told. But then, Hugh was a softy at heart. No wonder the Librarian’s old newspapers had called their deaths a ‘Brutal Slaying’. The execution sounded a bit barbaric, but personally, I thought it was well deserved.

  ‘Good to know the Old Donn is a dead end then,’ I said brightly. Hugh rumbled, and I gave him another pat to cheer him up. ‘You know I couldn’t resist.’

  ‘Hmph.’ Hugh gave me one of his patented looks that was meant to have me shaking in my boots. I grinned wider; the last time it had worked I’d been sixteen. He sighed, and pointed towards the garden. ‘It’s not long until sunset, so you need to get going. Ricou has organised everything. Good chap, that.’ Hugh nodded approvingly, then hit me with his ‘concerned’ look. ‘Are you sure calling up the Morrígan for help is the right thing to do, Genny? Goddesses can be dangerous to deal with.’

  ‘She’s been giving me pointers all along, and she’s had her messenger stalking me, so I’m pretty sure the Tower is where she wants me to go.’ Of course, typically, she was now making me do things the hard way, since I hadn’t seen a single black feather of Jack the raven, her messenger, once I’d decided the Morrígan was my back-door way into the Tower’s Between. But hey, that’s goddesses for you. Not to mention she probably wanted something, so making me ask, instead of offering, was just standard negotiating tactics.

  Not that I told Hugh that. Instead I reassured him I’d be fine, and quickly filled him in on the conversation I’d overheard between Malik and Mad Max. Then I followed the path and went down the steps into the sunken garden.

  Last time I’d been in the garden I’d been on Spellcrackers business. It had been high
summer, and I’d had to remove a flight of garden fairies attracted by the sunbathing tourists and their picnic lunches. The place had been full of life and noise. Now it was full of hundreds of small jasmine-scented tea-lights placed around the base of the high stone walls that enclosed the garden. The candlelight cast an eerie glow over the tall bronze panels inscribed with the names of those merchant seamen who lost their lives in the two World Wars. And in the darker corners, frail shadows shifted independently of the evening wind, drawn by the promise of ritual magic, shadows I tried not to look too closely at, for fear they’d take on more substantial ghostly forms. I shuddered; ghosts are so not my favourite things.

  Sylvia was sitting on one of the benches in the better lit section of the garden. Her pink and white dress and pink cycle helmet shone brightly in the last throes of dusk. She waggled her fingers at me, but didn’t get up, just gestured towards the centre of the garden.

  I walked towards the middle, careful to step over the collection of weapons that was laid out in a circle around the edge of the grassy area. The weaponry circle was large, around twenty feet in diameter, and consisted of swords, daggers, poles, axes, a metal breastplate, a pair of armoured boots and a black-plumed helmet. It looked like someone had raided a mediaeval armoury.

  Next to the small bronze pool – the centrepiece of the garden – Ricou was waiting for me in his true form. His blue-grey scaly skin shimmered in the candlelight, his spiny headcrest was flat to his head, his fluted fins flared out either side of his face, and his long whip-like tail was wrapped round his waist, securing what looked like a Union Jack flag in place. As I reached him I realised it was another towel.

  ‘Ricou here’s not sure this is such a good idea, luv,’ he said, his membranes flickering nervously over his black orb eyes. ‘Calling up a goddess isn’t going to make her feel too charitable towards you.’

  ‘I think she’s sort of expecting me to call,’ I said wryly.

  ‘Oh, well, on your head be it.’ His headcrest snapped up, then down again. ‘Everything’s been done as per the Librarian’s instructions. She provided the bull’s horn herself.’ He pointed a clawed finger at where the aforementioned bull’s horn, longer than my arm, lay next to the bronze pool. It was curved like a scimitar and the pointed end looked sharp, but the head end was hollowed out enough that my fist could’ve fitted inside. I had a brief thankful thought that it wasn’t the Old Donn’s, since I was calling on his mother. Beside the horn was a short silver knife, a bottle of Jameson’s whiskey, a crystal tumbler, some milk and a pile of clothes – the same clothes that had been found pillowed under Aoife’s head when she’d been discovered in Dead Man’s Hole this morning.