by Sue Tingey
The suit was a tad big around the waist and hips, but once the belt had been pulled in a couple of notches it didn’t look too bad beneath the jacket – though judging by Jinx’s expression he didn’t think the same.
The woman whose clothes I’d appropriated was bigger in the bust than me, but the suit didn’t look too bad, especially with her pretty white camisole peeking out between the lapels of the buttoned-up navy jacket. My biker boots didn’t do much for the whole ensemble, but it was way better than being wet and stinking.
Jinx was still frowning at his reflection in the mirror. ‘I do not like this.’
‘Do you want to walk around in soaking wet clothes all day?’ I started to plait his long locks.
‘I really do not care.’
‘Dressed like this, we’ll be a little less conspicuous – and if you could try to pass for human, that would be good too.’
‘I don’t know how.’
‘You can’t remember?’
He continued to stare at himself.
‘I had to try and remember what I looked like before I became my daemon self, but I suppose as you’ve never been anything but a daemon that wouldn’t apply.’
‘You know me well?’
‘I don’t make a habit of sharing showers with men I don’t.’
He didn’t crack a smile. ‘Good.’
This was going to be very interesting when we got back to the Underlands – if we got back … If Jinx didn’t regain his memory, I had no idea what he’d make of Jamie. But I had plenty of other things to keep me occupied; that would have to wait.
‘Come on. Time to go.’
He took one last look in the mirror. ‘I really do not like,’ he said as he followed me out into the hallway.
I smiled. He looked gorgeous, actually.
Back on the street we hurried along with our heads down, hoping no one would pay us much attention. There were people about now, but everyone was in such a hurry that if they did notice Jinx, they’d already moved on before anything registered.
‘Where are we going?’ he asked.
‘We’re heading back to the Thames. I must try and find Pyrites,’ I explained. He was our only hope of getting back to the others, and I was worried about him – and even, somewhat to my surprise, Vaybian.
*
When we reached the Thames I could see Jinx was right: the blood was dissipating. If Persephone and Amaliel had been aiming for full-on Biblical Devastations, they must be disappointed; this would be yesterday’s news in a few hours, forgotten in a week.
We walked along the Embankment until the buildings gave way to a little piece of green within the city. The Victoria Embankment Gardens were just what we needed; the trees would hide us from view from above.
Then I came to a halt. Three men were walking towards us, and they might have been dressed like businessmen, but with or without wings, I knew angels when I saw them.
I swung Jinx around and we started back the way we’d come, but there were two men in black suits, followed by another three in jeans and trainers, and they were all making straight for us. These five were all human, and Joseph was leading them; that was the giveaway that they were the enemy.
How on earth had they found us? Or had they been following each other and we’d stumbled into the middle of whatever was going on? The river was on the other side of the road, so the park was our best bet – except for a low wall topped with railings barring us from entry.
‘We need to get in there,’ I told Jinx.
He didn’t ask why; even if he hadn’t recognised the Guardians, he certainly knew Joseph and his colleagues. He swung me up into his arms and with a single bound was up and over the railings. As soon as we touched the ground he dropped me back down, took my hand and we were off and running and I thanked any gods who might have been listening that I hadn’t purloined the woman’s high-heeled shoes.
I hoped the Guardians would be more interested in the Satanists than us, but I doubted it would take them long to polish off five humans, even of the Satanic variety – then I heard automatic gunfire … the Guardians might not be our friends, but they were the good guys, and I really didn’t like the idea of them being all shot up.
Then my common sense kicked in: there was nothing I could do to help them, so I should keep running – but running to where? We had nowhere to go, and we couldn’t just keep running for ever.
Desperation bubbled up inside me, and if it hadn’t been for Jinx’s tight grip on my hand, I might have faltered. Then up ahead, I saw Vaybian, striding towards us with a Jack Russell trotting along at his side. I’d never have believed I’d be so pleased to see him. He started to lift a hand in greeting, and paused as his attention shifted to something going on behind us.
His lips moved, and Pyrites appeared in all his Jewelled Drakon glory.
‘Are you mad?’ I muttered, but after risking a look behind me, decided on balance he probably wasn’t.
There were now at least eight men running after us, none of whom were Guardians, and several were carrying the type of weapons you normally only see in movies or war-zones.
Vaybian jumped onto Pyrites and reached out a hand to pull me aboard, then Jinx clambered up behind me.
‘Let’s go!’ Vaybian cried and, with a flap of Pyrites’ mighty wings, we were airborne, leaving our pursuers behind.
‘Tell him not to go too high,’ I shouted to Vaybian. ‘We have to keep below radar.’ Then I remembered none of them would know what radar was. Still, Pyrites did as he was told.
Of course, flying low to avoid being picked up by air-traffic control meant we were in full view of anyone below who happened to be looking up, or out of the windows of any of the dozens of skyscrapers surrounding us. The streets had been empty only an hour ago, but now it was back to business as usual. It would take just one to look up and cry out and that would be that: a dragon would have been officially seen flying over the streets of the capital.
‘It’s a shame we haven’t got a cloak of invisibility,’ I muttered to myself.
Surprisingly, we made it almost as far as the Houses of Parliament without being spotted, but of course people were staring up at Big Ben or the Palace of Westminster or some other bloody building. A shout went up and when I dared to look down, it was onto a sea of open-mouthed faces peering up at us, and a cacophony of frantically clicking and whirring cameras and mobiles. YouTube was going to be inundated.
At least Vaybian wasn’t green, and I too was in my human form – that my skirt had ridden up almost to my waist and I had a maroon-skinned horned daemon wearing a very nice suit clinging to me was the downside. I was thankful he’d kept his tail hidden from view – he’d stuffed it down one leg of his trousers, although he’d not been at all happy about it. Sitting on Pyrites was probably making him pretty uncomfortable.
‘The Guardian is not going to be happy,’ Vaybian said, leaning back.
‘I don’t expect he will,’ I said. I really hoped he wasn’t in trouble with anyone.
Pyrites flew along the river and took us down to land in the first expanse of green he could find, one of the Royal Parks. As soon as his feet touched the ground he began to shrink and within moments we were standing astride a Jack Russell. I scooped him up in my arms and gave him a hug and was rewarded with an enthusiastic licking.
‘Is he all right?’ Vaybian asked, giving Jinx a pointed look.
‘He doesn’t remember who he is, or we are, but apart from that I think so.’
Jinx frowned at Vaybian. ‘Who is he?’
‘He’s a friend,’ I said.
‘I’m not sure I like you,’ he told Vaybian.
‘Do I look as though I care?’ Vaybian said with one of his arrogant looks.
Jinx glowered at him.
‘Will you both stop it?’ I said. I really didn’t need two petulant daemons to deal with, not just at that moment. ‘We need to find Amaliel.’
‘Maybe you should have let them take you up into the skie
s with their mechanical beast,’ Vaybian said.
‘Yeah, right. I want to find them and rescue Kayla, not need rescuing myself. Anyway, I’d rather not become part of Amaliel’s jewellery collection.’
‘A fair point,’ Vaybian said, ‘but we will never find them if we keep running away.’
Which was also a fair point.
‘I know where they are,’ Jinx said.
Vaybian and I both stared at him. ‘You do?’ I asked.
‘Yes. The woman has a residence not far from here.’
‘She does?’
‘Why would I lie about such a thing?’
‘I wasn’t doubting you, Jinx, I was just surprised.’
‘Could you take us there?’ Vaybian asked.
Jinx gave him one of his arrogant looks. ‘I don’t want to take you anywhere.’
‘Jinx, for goodness’ sake! We have to find Amaliel and Persephone and rescue Kayla.’
‘Who did you say Kayla is?’
‘My sister and my friend,’ I said. This was like pulling teeth.
‘Does he have to come with us?’ Jinx asked, jerking his head in Vaybian’s direction.
‘He’s Kayla’s partner, so yes.’
‘Partner?’
‘Boyfriend, lover, betrothed.’
‘Is that what we are?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ I said, and he smiled.
‘Then I shall take you there, though to be close to that woman is something I would rather forego.’
‘You can leave Psycho Bitch to me,’ I said. There really was a different side to me, and I’d never even suspected: not only could I steal if I had to, but it turned out, I could also bear an enormous grudge against anyone who tried to hurt those I cared about.
‘Should I phone the Guardian and tell him you are safe?’ Vaybian asked.
I shook my head. ‘I don’t want to get him into trouble.’
‘Then I shall text Shenanigans.’
We’d shown everyone how to use mobile phones, but for Vaybian to say he would text Shenanigans so offhandedly when only a day or so ago he had found cars, refrigerators and electric lights unsettling made me feel like I was in the Twilight Zone.
‘What is this “Tecs”?’ Jinx asked.
‘It’s “texting” and it’s what I was doing on my mobile when you very kindly threw it away.’
His face cleared. ‘Ah: Tecs is sending messages.’
*
We started walking, but as Jinx was still maroon and had horns I didn’t see how we were going to get very far without getting ourselves into trouble of some description.
‘Apparently we have been on the television,’ Vaybian said, looking up from his mobile.
‘I thought we might.’
‘And three Guardians have been injured.’
‘Are they all right?’
‘Yes; Shenanigans says their pride was more hurt than their bodies, although there was a lot of blood.’ He paused a moment, eyes fixed on the screen. ‘He says the Guardians are looking for large open areas where a drakon could land.’
‘Wonderful. So they could be here any minute?’
‘Apparently so,’ Vaybian said, tapping off and sliding his phone into his back pocket. ‘It would help if the Deathbringer would at least try to blend in.’
‘He says he doesn’t know how.’
‘Nor did I, until I tried,’ Vaybian grumbled.
‘Jinx, please, try to look human?’ I asked him again.
‘I don’t want to look human.’
‘Please – for me.’
He cocked his head to one side. ‘It would please you if I had the appearance of a human?’
‘Jinx, I love you just the way you are, but in this world you stand out like a … like a … Well, you just stand out, and we can’t let the Guardians or Persephone’s men catch us.’
‘All right, I will try.’ He stopped walking and closed his eyes. His forehead creased in concentration. He stood like that for quite some time, then opened one eye.
‘Have I changed?’
‘No,’ Vaybian and I chorused with varying degrees of frustration.
He closed the eye, pressed his palms together, raised them to his lips, then bowed his head as though he was praying. The air around him rippled, sending out shockwaves a lot more powerful than when any of my guard had changed, and it belatedly occurred to me that this probably wasn’t a good idea; it was exactly the type of disruption that would lead the Guardians straight to us. But by then it was too late.
Even though he was standing only a few feet away, for a moment I could see only his outline – then there was a rush as the air came back in and I felt a sucking sensation pulling me towards him. It stopped as abruptly as it began.
Vaybian gave a gasp, and Pyrites made a weird mewling noise.
Jinx had changed.
Oh yes, he’d changed all right.
*
I’ve been lost for words a time or two, but for the first time in my life I was totally speechless.
‘Jinx, when I said change, I sort of meant into a human version of yourself,’ I stammered.
‘There is no such thing.’
I exchanged a look with Vaybian, who was clearly as gobsmacked as me. ‘At least it will cause some confusion when we find Amaliel’s hideout.’
‘Who for?’ I looked Jinx up and down, feeling distinctly odd.
‘You said I was to change into human form and I have. This’ – he gestured down at himself – ‘will ease our way into the woman’s den.’
‘It was bad enough when you opened your mouth and Psycho Bitch spoke, but this is something else.’
Vaybian circled Jinx and began to laugh. ‘You make a very good woman, Deathbringer.’
I felt a little sick: he’d become human all right – but he’d become Persephone.
‘In this form, the Deathbringer may well be able to get us close enough to rescue my lady,’ Vaybian said, ‘maybe even without the need for us to enter.’
‘And how would we know if it was her or Jinx who came out?’ I asked.
‘We’ll have a secret sign,’ Vaybian suggested. ‘Though I recommend we get moving: the Guardians were already seeking us; the power of the Deathbringer’s transformation will lead them straight here.’
As we hurried through the park, I had to suppress a slightly hysterical giggle. Jinx might have been the absolute image of Persephone, but he was striding along like Jinx, and in high heels, which was no mean feat.
As soon as we were back on the street I started looking for a taxi, then I stopped abruptly. ‘I don’t suppose you know the address?’ I asked Jinx.
‘I will know it when I see it.’
So a taxi was out of the question. ‘So which way?’
He pointed a long painted nail, and I knew London well enough to recognise we were headed in the general direction of Belgravia. I hurried them across the road and into a side street, hoping the Guardians wouldn’t risk taking to the air to find us.
Jinx strode along as if he knew exactly where he was going – and I noticed glumly that he was coping with high heels better than I ever had. Which set me to wondering … I immediately pushed the thought aside. Nah – there was no way Jinx was a cross dresser. I doubted whether daemons even knew what it meant.
It wasn’t long before Jinx slowed and took hold of my arm. ‘That is the place,’ he said, pointing to a beautiful four-storey Georgian mansion.
‘Wow!’ I muttered. ‘I knew she was rich, but …’
The house must have been worth millions. A limousine was parked out front in a residents’ parking bay – how much did that permit cost her a year? Why this woman dabbled in the occult I couldn’t fathom. And something else puzzled me: her connection with Amaliel. I wasn’t sure who was using whom, but Amaliel had clearly come to the Overlands as her partner-in-crime.
‘What now?’ Vaybian asked.
I studied the front of the house. Just like the Sussex mansion there were discreet cameras
trained on the front door and at either end of the building. Persephone probably had good reason to have twenty-four-hour security staff, so there was a good chance they were continually monitored.
‘Shall I attempt entry?’ Jinx asked.
‘You can hardly go and ring the front door bell – Psycho Bitch would have her own key.’
‘No key,’ Jinx said.
‘No?’
He shook his head. ‘Numbers.’ He mimed stabbing a code into a keypad.
‘I don’t suppose …?’
He grinned at me, which was rather disconcerting, as it was with Persephone’s face. ‘6666.’
‘At least she’s predictable.’
Both Jinx and Vaybian gave me puzzled frowns – Jamie was interested in human theology, but Vaybian didn’t have a clue and Jinx wouldn’t remember if he had known to start with.
‘Do you think we could do that?’ Vaybian said, gesturing with his head at Jinx.
‘What, change into Persephone?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘No – but make ourselves look like someone else?’
‘I really have no idea.’
Vaybian closed his eyes, his brow creasing in concentration, muttering, ‘If a damned drakon can do it, so can I.’
That was a point: if Pyrites could change into any kind of dog, and even a bird – why couldn’t daemons look like other daemons? Too late, I remembered the Guardians would sense the magic and cried out, ‘No!’
But it was done: the air shimmered for a moment more, there was the same weird sucking sensation as when Jinx had changed, Vaybian’s image blurred and flickered – and then Joseph was standing there.
‘Wow,’ I said, ‘just look at you!’
‘We know Joseph is currently out, so my entering shouldn’t cause a problem.’
‘He could have come back,’ I said, indicating the limo.
‘I doubt this Persephone woman suffers failure with kind words and jugs of ale,’ Vaybian said. ‘If I were him, I wouldn’t return until I had found what I’d been sent for. Therefore, I will return with you and Persephone’s lookalike, and hope she isn’t the first person we encounter.’
‘If she is, you have my leave to kill her.’
‘The Guardian said we weren’t to harm humans—’
‘She’s no human,’ Jinx snarled.
