She raised her hand and pointed to a glyph in the centre of the pattern. ‘What’s this?’
‘That’s the only one you don’t recognise?’ Ceri nodded in reply and Ed turned, writing a further complex equation up beside the first. ‘That’s the underlying transformation.’
Ceri frowned, looking between the two walls of floating symbology. ‘Translating through six dimensions?’ Ed smiled and nodded. ‘No wonder no one’s got this right. Even the trans-brane gating spells only use five.’
‘Not when we do it,’ Ed replied, ‘and we’ve been doing it longer than humans.’
Ceri frowned, pouring over the formulae, calculating the power required and the field formation she would need to enact the spell… And suddenly she was stumbling and falling against the wall beside the door a few yards from where she had been standing. ‘Uh… wow,’ she said, turning to face Ed again.
The Teacher was beaming proudly at her. ‘So the next time someone attacks you…’
‘I can dodge attacks by popping out of the way,’ Ceri finished. ‘I need to practice though, my head’s still spinning.’
‘One gets used to it,’ Ed said. ‘Or you bounce your head off a wall too many times and stop using the spell.’
‘I’ll hope for the former. I should get upstairs before Kate decides to come looking for me.’
Ed nodded. ‘The police are not making your life easier.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ Ceri replied, but both Ed and his silver writing were gone. She narrowed her eyes at the dragon statue, but its red eyes were dim. Looking upward, she calculated the necessary jump, created the field and suddenly she was catching herself against the ladder up to the roof hatch in the attic. She giggled; this might be fun. Her foot missed the first rung on the ladder. Okay, it might be fun once she had got over the dizziness after a jump.
Soho
Lorna was pulling off the pale, beautiful vampire look perfectly. As usual, her husband, a reasonably good-looking man, looked ordinary beside her, but John Radcliffe always managed to look like he was just a little surprised to have such a stunning wife. Ceri had considered pointing out that he would probably age gracefully while his wife would decay into a walking corpse who had to disguise her withered body behind a glamour, but that seemed far too much like sour grapes.
Officially, Lorna was simply there for a night on the town while her husband played bodyguard to Ceri. However, considering that John was a normal and probably less capable of keeping Ceri safe than Ceri was herself, the addition of a woman who could see in almost total darkness and had other enhanced senses was a good move. Even mildly inebriated, Lorna was amazingly effective at spotting trouble.
She also really enjoyed being able to spend a work night with John. Ceri, for all her acceptance of supernaturals, could not understand humans who stuck with vampires, or the other way around. When Lorna had been turned, she had died. Legally that had ended their marriage, though the law allowed them to sign a piece of paper so that they had the same basic rights as a married couple. Effectively their marriage became a civil partnership. Equally, they could have walked away from each other. Had they even thought of that? Did they ever think of it now?
‘John would never let me wear a dress like that,’ Lorna said, breaking Ceri out of her thoughts.
Ceri looked at the vampire with a quirky grin. ‘I’ve seen you lying on my hearth rug in your bra and knickers.’
‘Oh well, that’s different.’ Vampires could not blush, their bodies considered it a waste of blood or something, but Lorna wasn’t drunk enough to not be embarrassed. ‘There was an orgy happening in the front hall.’
‘Were you like this before… well, before you were turned?’
‘Like what?’ Lorna’s smile fell away from her eyes.
‘Kind of… wild and repressed at the same time.’
‘She hasn’t changed,’ John commented from the other side of his wife. ‘Neither have I,’ he added, ‘I’m still just repressed.’
‘You come out of your shell sometimes, love,’ Lorna said.
‘Yeah,’ Ceri commented, ‘especially while lying on a hearth rug behind your half-naked wife.’ She pushed away from the bar heading out across the floor toward the back of the room and table ten where three humans had been sat quietly drinking themselves into a stupor for the last two hours. She stopped in front of them and smiled brightly. ‘Can I get you anything else?’
‘Uh, sure,’ the most vocal of the three said. ‘Another three whiskies? Josh? You up for another.’
Ceri looked at Josh. He was looking pale and rather vacant. ‘Maybe not such a good idea,’ she said. ‘Are you okay, sir?’
Josh looked at her and opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Ceri prepared herself for the inevitable vomiting. Something however, looked wrong, and Ceri switched her Sight on. There was a growing field of thaumic energy building in Josh’s chest; uncontrolled thaumic energy, building at a growing rate. Ceri’s tray clattered to the floor as she reached out, her hand pressing against the man’s chest.
‘What the Hell?!’
Ceri looked around at the speaker. ‘There’s a tall man at the bar sitting beside an attractive, pale woman. Both of you, tell him I need to talk to him now and don’t come back.’ Neither of them moved. ‘Now!’ she yelled, but it was not the volume of her voice which moved them, it was the fact that her other hand now held a glowing ball of energy, growing more intense by the second.
‘Ceri?’ It was Carter’s voice not John’s.
‘We need to get everyone out of here,’ she said, not looking around. ‘If I can’t contain this…’
She heard his feet turn on the floor. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he called out, ‘we have an emergency situation which we are dealing with, but for your own safety can we please move in an orderly fashion to the door. Alec, Lily, Tess, Sasha, escort everyone out please.’
‘What’s wrong with him?’ John asked, just visible to her in the corner of her eye.
‘I have no idea, but there’s a huge build-up of thaumic energy in his chest. We need a containment team here as fast as you can get one. I can hold this, probably, but assuming it stops I’ll need somewhere to sink the charge.’ She looked down at the sickly-looking young man. ‘You stay with me, Josh. You’re going to be okay.’
‘William Bravo Ten to Control,’ she heard as John spoke into a radio. ‘I need a magical containment unit to the Jade Dragon.’ There was a pause. ‘Yesterday! Potential thaumic explosion.’
‘She said…’ Josh’s voice was strained, almost a whisper.
‘Don’t try to talk,’ Ceri said. The energy was almost certainly damaging his internal organs.
‘She said it wouldn’t… hurt. Just… just a… prank.’
‘Who said?’ John asked, his voice urgent, stressed.
‘Girl… model… Hannah…’
‘Hannah Shields?’ Ceri asked. ‘The model, Hannah Shields?’
Josh nodded. ‘We… got high together. Been empty… since. Said… said she could… fix me.’ His face creased up in pain. ‘It hurts!’ He started to slump forward and Ceri pushed him back against the seat. His eyes were glazed over. She felt something like a flutter under her palm and the energy flow broke down and stopped.
Ceri took her hand away slowly. ‘He’s dead,’ she said flatly.
Westminster, July 24th
Ceri looked through the silver-iron meshed, half-silvered window between the observation room and the interview room beyond with a blank expression. Hannah Shields sat beside a lawyer who was probably making more per minute than Ceri made in a week. The lawyer was courtesy of Desmond Wren, but Ceri had taken one look at him and known that the Order of Merlin was keeping things in-house. So far, the interview had consisted of John and Kate asking questions and the lawyer telling Hannah to say nothing.
Ceri leaned over to where Lily was sitting, bored but watching the proceedings. ‘Keep an eye on things. I’ll be just outside.’ Then, being careful to ope
n the door as little and as quietly as possible, she slipped out into the corridor. The first thing she saw was Desmond Wren.
The politician glared at her, stepping closer and speaking through gritted teeth. ‘What the Hell are you doing? Trying to get at me through Hannah?’
‘I’d have preferred to deal with this privately,’ Ceri replied, her voice kept as low as Wren’s. ‘The kid who died implicated your girlfriend right there in front of John Radcliffe. Is she actually in the Order?’
‘Of course not!’ Wren snapped. Then he looked quickly around and lowered his voice again. ‘She’s got no magical talent at all. She’s been to the Archmage Club with me, but that’s it.’
‘She takes Oblivion,’ Ceri said.
Wren jumped in before she could say anything else. ‘She cleaned herself up before I even met her.’
‘Too late,’ Ceri told him. ‘Her soul is gone and Josh… the kid who died, he said he used to get high with her. John checked and they went to the same school, then college. Did they show you a picture of him?’
‘Never seen him before.’
‘Have you noticed anything weird about her behaviour?’ Ceri asked. ‘Sudden changes of mood, maybe?’
He looked at her. ‘You read the article in that rag then?’ He meant an article in The Wednesday Witch which had indicated that Shields had been fired from a job for violent and disruptive behaviour; Ceri had read it. ‘She has seemed a little… weird recently,’ Wren admitted. Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘She’s always been a bit flaky. Mood swings, crazy in bed and then suddenly depressed. Lately she’s got… I dunno… She was coming on to me like crazy a couple of nights ago. Then we went to the Club, walked in the door, and suddenly she wasn’t interested. Like someone flicked a switch.’
‘Or like something took over her mind,’ Ceri said. ‘When you were last in the Dragon, she was possessed. It would be easy to do without her soul. I think whatever was done to Josh was somehow related to his own soul being gone, or depleted.’ She turned her head to look at Wren properly. ‘Look, that expensive dick in there is doing her no good. If she’ll actually talk to the cops about what’s been going on, I’ll testify that I believe she’s been possessed. If I can get in to look at her now and check she’s free of it.’
Wren narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Why help her? Why help me?’
‘I’m not helping you, Wren, I’m helping me, and possibly the girl in there. If you get some benefit out of it, I’m not worried. What you people don’t get is that I don’t give a crap about you. You’re the ones who decided to attack me, not the other way around. I’d be quite happy if you just stopped treating me like the Anti-Christ and let me get on with my life.’
‘That’s not up to me,’ Wren said. ‘Sorry.’ He actually sounded genuine about it. ‘I’ll talk to Hannah.’ Pushing off from the wall, he walked over to the interview room door and knocked. There was a short pause, and then a minute of whispering to whoever had opened the door. Then he looked back at Ceri and waved for her to follow him in.
‘Desmond,’ the lawyer began as soon as he saw Ceri entering, ‘what exactly are you doing?’
‘Just… shut up, Martin,’ Wren replied.
Ceri looked down at the woman sat behind the interview room table. She looked nervous and that convinced Ceri that she was herself even before she found the hole where her soul should have been. ‘She’s clean,’ Ceri said. ‘I am willing to testify that I have noted a potential possession in Ms Shields. I don’t believe she was the one who killed Josh, or hired the vampire, but I think she might know more about this than she’s letting on… Or rather than her lawyer will allow her to say.’
‘On that basis,’ Martin said, jumping on Ceri’s statement, ‘we’ll be leaving…’
‘On that basis,’ John said, ‘if your client refuses to assist us in fully confirming Miss Brent’s assertions, we would have to assume that she was complicit with the possessing entity rather than a victim.’
The lawyer showed signs that his temper was flaring; having a pact with a demon had to be a real disadvantage in his line of work. Ceri watched as he unclenched his fists and the energy flickering around his Chakral Median died away. ‘Tell them what they want to know,’ he said.
Ceri backed away toward the mirrored glass, smiling at where she knew Lily was. If she was lucky and kept quiet no one would kick her out of the room.
‘I knew Josh at school,’ Shields said, ‘and later we went to a few parties together when we were in college. I never dated him or anything.’
‘Have you seen him recently?’ John asked.
‘Within the last twenty-four hours,’ Kate added.
‘I think so.’ It was a vague answer and she obviously saw from the detectives’ expressions that they needed an explanation. ‘I’ve been having these weird episodes recently. Blackouts. Waking dreams. I think I saw Josh yesterday morning, but… it’s like I was dreaming. I mean I must have been dreaming because I worked some sort of magic on him. I said something in a language I don’t know. A spell, I guess.’
‘Hannah?’ Wren said. ‘Did you get any impression of someone else being with you?’
Hannah nodded slowly. ‘Something male. I felt… male, powerful, alien, but it was like…’ She frowned, looking at Ceri. ‘I dreamed I was in the Jade Dragon with Des, and you served us. I hated you, but I didn’t want you to know who I was because you would know me.’
Ceri frowned back. Her heart was thumping in her chest. John looked around at her. ‘Any idea who this… person is?’
‘I have… a theory.’
‘Do you want to share?’ John asked.
‘I… don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.’
Radcliffe looked at her thoughtfully for a second. ‘You’ve said something very similar before,’ he said. ‘The first time we met, in fact.’
‘I did, yes,’ Ceri replied. ‘I need to get home.’
‘I’m going to arrange for some protection for Hannah,’ Wren said. ‘I know of amulets which can stop someone being possessed. She won’t be a threat to you after I get one of those on her.’
‘He has at least one other body to walk around in,’ Ceri said. ‘I need to get home, behind my wards. I need to check one of my father’s books.’
John reached across the table toward the recording device on the side of the table. ‘Interview terminated at… fourteen thirty-two,’ he said, and punched the stop button. ‘We’ll take you home straight away. Miss Shields, you’re free to go, but I suggest you stay in the city.’
Ceri was already heading for the door. She needed to feel safe. She needed to be somewhere Matthew Barnes could not get to her.
Kennington
She felt it as soon as she walked through the front door, the sensation that there was a dragon nearby. Ed would be waiting for her down in the summoning room. Ceri looked around at Lily and Kate. ‘Uh, you guys go get comfortable,’ she said. ‘I want to check the wards and a couple of things in the summoning room.’ She started for the stairs before getting a response.
The dragon statue’s eyes were glowing red when she opened the door, but there was no sign of Ed. She pushed the iron door closed and turned the lock. When she turned back she was looking at a tall woman with long, dark hair. Her trim body carried a substantial bosom and a fair amount of muscle, and it was all barely concealed under a white gown made of thin, flowing, silky material. Her face was severe, but beautiful, with eyes as black as Lily’s. Lily’s eyes, however, were somehow warm and sensual; the woman’s eyes were just black. She said nothing, she just stood there, a faint smile on her lips which did not reach her eyes.
Ceri sagged. ‘I so don’t need this right now.’
The woman actually looked a little confused. It was gratifying. ‘Not quite the reaction I was expecting,’ she said.
‘Well, last night I watched a kid die because someone hotwired his Medians together, then I spent most of the day watching some arsehole lawyer from the Order of M
erlin trying to cover their behinds because they thought one of theirs might be doing something stupid, and then I discovered someone who tried to kill me has returned to Earth as a demon.’ Ceri took in a lung-full of air. ‘And now you turn up. I didn’t know you could use that thing.’ She waved her hand at the statue.
‘Any of us can use them, if we know they’re there,’ she replied. She had a soothing sort of voice. Ceri imagined she could do seductive really well. ‘I’m…’
‘Brenhines,’ Ceri said. ‘The Queen. I saw you in a dream. What do you want? I’m kind of having a bad day.’
‘I simply wanted to introduce myself.’
‘You could have done that the other night.’
‘With those nice men in suits watching?’
Ceri nodded. ‘Yeah… good point. I was told you didn’t leave Anglesey.’
‘For the right reasons, I do.’
‘And I’m the right reason?’
‘Yes, you are.’
Ceri looked at her. ‘Okay, I’ll bite. Why?’
‘I’d have thought,’ the Queen said, amusement showing in her voice, ‘that that was obvious.’
‘If you’re going to make a habit of turning up here,’ Ceri said, ‘you’re going to have to learn that I really, really hate enigmatic remarks.’
‘You’re a sorceress,’ Brenhines said. ‘The blood of a dragon runs through your veins, figuratively at least. I’m the dragon, child. You’re of my bloodline.’
July 25th
‘That’s all you got from her? “You’re my descendent, live with it”?’ Lily’s voice was quiet. Kate was in the spare bedroom and was unlikely to hear anything, but better safe than sorry.
The half-succubus was lying against Ceri, in the crook of her arm. To Ceri, this was safe. Even with a police witch watching over her behind powerful magical wards, she still felt safest with her demon in her arms.
‘She left after dropping that bombshell,’ Ceri said.
‘Do you believe her?’
Ceri was silent for a second or two. ‘Yes, I think I do.’
‘Okay, so what’s her angle?’
Thaumatology 04 - Dragon's Blood Page 19
