The Silver Cage

by Mathilde Madden

  Alfie was lying on the floor of the cage. His left wrist drawn up and chained to the bars behind his head, his right wrist still lying useless. Lilith’s magic had not crossed through the veil.

  Sabrina was using some more of the Silver Chains to attach his ankles to the other side of the cage, drawing him out – a tight and familiar sensation. This was how sex had been for him once, for years.

  Through the door to the cellar, which had been left open for once, Alfie could see the room beyond. There were two chairs drawn around a fire and a cauldron from which strange steam was rising.

  Divinia was pacing outside the cage, muttering angrily, ‘There’s not enough. Nowhere near enough for the potion.’ She jabbed a finger at Sabrina. ‘And it’s your fault. Your stupid game to humiliate that dumb cub. We wasted two emissions for that.’

  ‘That wouldn’t have made any difference. Your thrall isn’t tight enough. That’s the problem.’

  ‘My thrall isn’t the issue at all,’ Divinia said, bristling.

  Sabrina bent down and took Alfie’s face in her hands. ‘You still thinking of your girlfriend?’ she cooed.

  Alfie didn’t say anything. He was beyond spent now.

  ‘You want to see her, baby? I showed her to you once before, remember?’

  Alfie recoiled at the memory. In the caverns of the Silver Crown, Sabrina had taunted him by making herself look like both Iris and Misty. ‘Please. Don’t do that.’

  But it was too late. Sabrina’s face melted and Iris’s appeared before him, smiling. So real.

  ‘No,’ he moaned. ‘I know it isn’t you. Iris!’ He expected the Iris in his head to answer, but there was nothing.

  Then Divinia shouted, ‘Don’t you dare! He doesn’t need her to please me. He bends to my will.’

  Alfie heard the cage door open and Divinia was over to him, yanking Iris away from him as her face morphed back into Sabrina’s.

  She closed her fist around his cock. ‘Come on, werewolf, cub, wolf, man, pup, give me more. Your body needs to obey me.’

  Alfie groaned.

  As she increased the pressure and the speed of her hand, Divinia said to Sabrina, ‘Can’t you make some magic on him. Increase his yield somehow?’

  ‘Not really. I mean, I can, but then that will upset the potion. You can’t use magically procured ingredients to make magic. It gets complicated.’

  ‘You witches always have an excuse,’ Divinia said sourly.

  ‘Oh, like I haven’t done anything useful? I’ve located the other sacred objects for you. They’re not even all that far away. Ten more crowns and the Silver Collar, right?’

  ‘Oh yes, yes,’ Divinia said, sounding brighter. ‘I have the chains, the cage and two crowns, but the potion will work far better with all the Sacred Silvers.’

  ‘Two crowns?’

  ‘Oh yes. Alfred had one with him and the other one I already had.’

  ‘I don’t know why you didn’t bring the others with you from the caverns.’

  ‘I didn’t think to. I didn’t know then what my magnificent new cub would be capable of.’ Divinia stroked Alfie’s chest with the hand that wasn’t tormenting his cock. ‘Close to the skin,’ she whispered. ‘So rare and precious.’

  ‘So do you want me to go and get them then? The other Silvers?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Divinia, as Alfie suddenly screamed in pain and convulsed in her hand as he came. ‘And hurry.’

  50

  ‘I SHOULD GET that. It’s probably Vikram.’

  ‘If it is, you’ll be looking at his charred remains.’

  ‘Well, I should get it anyway,’ Iris muttered, turning and heading down the stairs.

  Behind her Blake muttered, quite audibly, ‘Er, why, exactly?’

  When Iris opened the door, she found Cate stood on the doorstep, looking as serene and uncreased as only a witch could. ‘Hi,’ she said, her voice as smooth as her perfectly pressed paisley-print skirt. ‘I just thought I ought to check on you. Morphial connectors can be a little wearing.’ Cate cocked her head. ‘Not feeling unhinged at all, are we?’

  Iris stared at Cate in disbelief. ‘No more than circumstances would dictate,’ she said, her voice sounding dry and hollow. The sight of Cate, so cool and easy, made Iris realise how red her face was, how hard her heart was banging, how dirty and sweaty and messy she was as she stood on the doorstep.

  Cate said, ‘Are you sure you’re OK, Iris?’

  ‘Well,’ said Iris, ‘in a couple of hours the Divine Wolf will reverse the power of summoning to spirit I don’t know how many werewolves to wherever she is. Then she’ll use some kind of potion that I strongly suspect is made from Alfie’s semen to change them all into Ancient Beasts with the power of being close to the skin. Beasts who can change practically when they want and who can control their wolf bodies with the rational minds. And they’ll all be thralled to her. And she’s going to try to overthrow humanity. And Alfie is thralled to her tightest of all. And, if I find her and kill her, her power will dissipate through me and it’ll kill me.’ Iris took a deep breath. ‘But you’re a witch. You already know all this.’

  ‘Yes, Iris, I do. I think we’d better get Blake down here.’

  Iris turned and called up the stairs and Blake came clattering down. ‘Hey, Hecate,’ he said. ‘Have you seen Lilith? How’s my witch-girlfriend in a coma.’

  Cate shrugged. ‘Still in a coma.’

  ‘Right, right. And I don’t suppose, what with her being all sleeping beauty and all, there’s any way I can get out of . . .’

  ‘Of the binding?’

  ‘Well, yeah. Even if just for a bit.’

  Cate grinned. It was more of a soft smile but by Cate’s normal standards of expressions of facial mirth it was a Cheshire-cat beam. ‘Well, the short answer is “no, obviously not”.’ She made a mixed-up face. ‘Well, there is one way. But that would only work if another woman could prove a prior claim to your loyalty.’ Cate gestured at Iris. ‘Um, Iris, I don’t suppose you still have any kind of . . .’ She stopped and thought. ‘You’re not still married, are you?’

  ‘Signed the papers this morning.’ Iris grinned back at Cate.

  Blake scowled at them. ‘It really isn’t funny, you two bitches.’

  Iris batted his complaints away. She turned to Cate and said, ‘So can you help us?’

  Cate looked slightly blank. ‘Help you how?’

  ‘Help us find Alfie, find the Divine, kill her, save the world.’

  ‘Oh,’ Cate rolled her eyes, ‘you don’t need my help for that. You’ll find them fine.’

  ‘We’re out of options,’ Iris said, her voice jarring with a desperate note.

  ‘Oh no. No, you’re not. Come on.’ Cate turned and began to walk down the front path.

  Iris called after her, ‘We need to bring Zac and Pearl with us.’

  ‘We do?’ said Blake.

  ‘They’re all we’ve got.’

  Cate turned, and just smiled.

  Iris dashed back up the stairs, dimly aware that Blake was behind her. She pulled her gun. ‘You two have to come with me,’ she said as she burst into Zac and Pearl’s room.

  Pearl’s face was hard. ‘I’m not moving him.’

  ‘Yes you are. It’s full moon tonight and you’re werewolves. I’m bringing you both in.’

  Behind Iris, Blake said, ‘Is this really necessary, Iris? There is some other stuff going on right now.’

  Iris turned. ‘Yes, it is. But God knows what’ll happen to him when he changes after all the stuff she’s done to him. He needs to change under observation at Cobalt. He’s a potential threat. We need to get him in the SUV, or –’ she turned to Pearl ‘– or I shoot you both. And I will, you know. I’ve killed over a hundred lycs.’

  Behind Iris, Blake muttered, ‘Human-form lycs?’ But Pearl and Zac were already raising their hands.

  Outside, Iris and Blake helped Zac and Pearl into the back, and Cate got in after them. Iris and Blake followed.

&nb
sp; ‘Are you going to tell us where to go?’ Blake said.

  Vikram was still sitting in the driver’s seat. He turned. ‘Is everything OK? You get the chains? Who are all these . . .?’

  Cate met Vikram’s eyes. ‘Witch,’ she said, hissing like a riled cat.

  Vikram drew back a little. Witches and vampires just didn’t mix. ‘Ah,’ said Blake, ‘no need for introductions then. Also, Mr Animated Cadaver, you might like to meet this lovely dog and bitch couple we found. He’s feeling a little peaky.’

  Vikram nodded at Pearl and Zac, as Pearl helped Zac to lie across the backseat with his head on her lap.

  Iris said to Cate, ‘So where are we going? You said we aren’t out of options.’

  ‘Oh, you’re not. You’ll get there. But you also need to know this. In order for the Divine’s power to dissipate safely through whoever kills her, you need to kill her inside the Silver Cage, OK. That’s important. She doesn’t know it, but that’s what the cage is for. Ironic, really. She built it herself. The cage will dissipate her power safely in a way that won’t upset the bonds of thrall that run throughout werewolves. But, well, the one downside is that whoever kills her will probably take the brunt of the power through their body. The recoil will probably destroy whoever wields the killing blow.’

  ‘The heir,’ said Iris. ‘The heir will pay the price. So who’s the heir? Me or Alfie?’

  ‘Oh, that’ll be clear enough when the moment comes,’ said Cate smoothly. ‘Just make sure whoever it is kills her inside the cage.’

  ‘But we don’t know where the cage is,’ Iris said, almost whining. ‘Look, Alfie said he’s in some kind of place that witches built for the Silver Crown. Doesn’t anyone know where that is?’

  Cate shrugged. ‘Only Sabrina.’

  ‘And Sabrina’s dead.’

  ‘No, she’s preserved in case we need her knowledge.’

  ‘Great,’ said Blake, ‘you need her knowledge right now.’

  Cate shook her head. ‘I can’t access her without Lilith.’

  ‘Arrgh,’ Iris screamed. ‘But Lilith made herself unconscious precisely so she could help me find Alfie.’ Iris stared at Cate, full of fire. ‘Just get out of here,’ she shouted. ‘Get away from me. Unless you’re going to help me properly, stay out of my way.’

  There was an audible intake of breath from Vikram, Blake, Zac and Pearl. And then Cate said, ‘You have all the answers you need now, Iris.’ She turned, and calmly got out of the SUV.

  51

  A COUPLE OF hours later, Iris, Blake, Vikram, Zac and Pearl were all sitting in the SUV, on a shady back street just around the corner from Cobalt’s building, with Vikram showing Blake how to use the tracing program on the laptop.

  Iris fished out her MCD.

  ‘Fuck,’ Blake said as he saw it. ‘I forgot you had that. They’ll know we’re here.’

  Iris shrugged. ‘They’ll know in a second anyway. I know they’ll be waiting for me, Blake. That’s why I’m tooled up as if I’m . . . As if I’m you or something.’

  Iris had spent the journey up from Oxford ferreting for every weapon that was stashed in the SUV and strapping it to her body.

  ‘You know, Cobalt want to find Alfie too. I’m sure it won’t come to that. When you explain . . .’ Vikram began.

  ‘Vik, I’ve been AWOL all day. And Erin Cobalt isn’t the most understanding boss. Frankly, I’d rather take what I need by force than work with her again.’

  Blake snorted.

  Vikram turned back to the screen. ‘OK. I’ve got you,’ he said.

  Iris looked over and saw a small flashing point moving on the laptop screen. Her.

  ‘God, Iris,’ said Blake, ‘don’t fucking die.’

  Iris laughed. Once. Short and sharp. ‘Oh, Blake, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Anyway, not a worry – destiny, you know, I’ve got to live long enough to die killing that queen bitch. I just have to go in and find one of the crowns or the collar. And, like Vikram said, maybe Cobalt will help me. I am actually just doing my job. On the other hand, no harm in being very, very armed in case they’ve changed my job description while I was away.’

  As Iris turned to get out of the SUV, behind her Pearl said, ‘I’ll come too.’

  ‘What?’ said Iris, turning, looking at Pearl’s pale generous face.

  ‘I’ll come too. You need back up. Zac’s too ill, Blake’s too high on their death list, Vik can’t get out of the car. It has to be me.’

  ‘Can you shoot?’ said Iris.

  ‘Is it hard?’

  ‘I reckon that one can handle herself,’ Blake said. ‘How long did you work for the NHS, sweetheart?’

  ‘Three and a half years.’

  ‘You work in A&E much?’

  ‘Plenty.’

  ‘Then you’re probably the toughest one here. Take her,’ Blake said, turning to Iris. ‘She’s Pure’s cousin. She’s right. You need someone.’

  Two combat boots and then two white rubber clogs hit the pavement as Iris climbed out with Pearl behind her. Iris pulled a gun out of her belt and two knives out of each sock and handed them to Pearl, who put them in the deep pockets of her uniform.

  ‘You sure about this?’

  Pearl nodded. ‘You say Leon’s in there being tortured?’

  ‘Er, yeah. He’s Zac’s sire, right? Part of your pack? You want to get him out of there?’ Iris said, hefting her crossbow on to her back.

  ‘Not really,’ said Pearl. ‘But, if he’s suffered really badly, I’d like to see it.’

  Iris didn’t ask anything more. She led the way out of the side street and round the corner and there was Cobalt. Somehow, even with its white walls and sparkling windows, it seemed to loom just as much as any of the dark castles in which its prey would have lived.

  Iris led Pearl past the noise and clang of the nearby building site and up to the front door.

  Blake watched Iris go. Then he turned and watched the dot marked II (who else in the world had the initials II?) moving across the sketchy map.

  ‘Fuck it, killer bitch,’ he whispered. ‘I hope you’re right about your destiny.’

  ‘Blake?’ Iris’s voice was a crackly whisper through the speakers. ‘Did you say something?’

  ‘No, no,’ said Blake. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m in reception. Pepper’s, er . . . Hi Pepper.’

  Blake couldn’t make out what Pepper said and then Iris said, ‘Are you sure you’re OK? You’re bleeding. Your forehead’s bleeding.’ A pause and then. ‘Right. OK.’

  There was another pause. The sounds of Iris’s footsteps and then: ‘Blake, OK, Pepper seems odd. Vague. It’s very quiet here. There’s hardly anyone around and . . . Arrgh!’

  ‘Shit, Iris. What? What?’

  Vikram leant over. ‘We’ve lost her. Change frequency. Quick. Quick.’ Vikram started jabbing the keyboard.

  Blake shouted, ‘Iris! Iris!’

  Then Iris’s voice came back. She was breathing hard. ‘OK. It’s . . . I’m OK. Someone just came around the corner with a pen, kind of, in his eye. God. What the hell has happened here? Blake, everyone’s wounded. Walking around as if it’s all fine. Blood and bruises. It’s, God, I don’t know, not right. People seem to be . . . I don’t know, like they can’t see. People are walking into the walls.’

  ‘Get out of there, Iris.’

  ‘No, Blake, no. It’s fine. Look, I need to get the Sacred Silvers. No one is bothering me. It’s like they don’t notice me. This is fine. It’s good.’

  ‘It’s magic, isn’t it? Don’t pretend you can’t tell. It’s bad magic, isn’t it?’

  Blake was about to say something else, but Vikram pulled the headset from his face. ‘Leave her alone, Blake. Let her do her job.’

  ‘Why?’ Blake looked at Vikram. ‘What do you care? What even are you? You don’t work for Cobalt? Cobalt doesn’t employ vamps. What the fuck are you playing at?’

  Vikram shrugged. ‘I’m just an interested party. Not sure w
hich side I’m on, but I’m keen to see Iris do what she needs to do. I’m here for her, to help her and, right now, she needs you out of the way.’

  ‘Oh fuck off, blood boy. I know what this is, you’re jealous. Jealous of how Iris feels about me.’

  ‘Well, you’d know jealous. You’re defined by how much you want her,’ Vikram said.

  Blake could feel him, spider-crawling through his mind. ‘Get out of there, you filthy corpse,’ Blake shouted, shaking his head, but he couldn’t shake Vikram free. ‘Fuck you.’

  ‘Empty threat from you these days.’ Vikram shook his head as if disgusted. ‘Witch’s pussy boy. I bet you wish you could fuck. You wish you could fuck almost anyone else. Just because you can’t. Even me.’

  There was something mesmeric about the way Vikram was speaking. Blake inhaled sharply through his nose, trying to clear the fog. ‘Don’t you dare try that psych stuff on me, vampire.’

  ‘Kiss me, Mr Tabernacle,’ Vikram said in a soft voice that seemed to pulse a little like a heartbeat.

  ‘I can’t, it’ll . . . Oh, for fuck’s sake. No!’ But even as he realised what Vikram was doing – taking an easy route to putting him out of action – Blake could feel his body responding. God, it was so fucking wrong. Was this what the dirty little bastard had done to Iris? Blake felt his cock stir in Lilith’s binding.

  ‘The last person to kiss me was Iris,’ Vikram said in that same gentle pulsing rhythm of a voice. ‘And I know how you feel about her. I know exactly.’

  Blake screamed inside, but he leant forwards and caught Vikram’s lips with his own. The coolness was strangely pleasant. The taste and scent of Iris was almost certainly imaginary. But Blake had a good imagination. Always had. A sharp burn of pain intensified and shot through his body, as a low explosion of sound crashed around him. And he felt his body pulled and thrown backwards, away from Vikram, and into the back windscreen of the SUV.

  52

  BY THE TIME Iris was walking down the steps to the basement, she’d had a number of disturbing encounters with the uncanny employees of Cobalt. They were moving jerkily, zombie-like. Most were injured, but Iris quickly discovered that this was not because of any malevolence going on. The injuries were being caused by the creatures’ mindlessness as they walked into walls or stumbled out of windows. This was – as Blake had said – magic. Nasty magic.