Frostburn (Ultrahumans Book 4)

by Niall Teasdale

  Viviane coughed. ‘Modelled after me. The sculptor went a little overboard with the bust. I’m only a B-cup and I think these are…’

  ‘At least a D, but still, it’s a recognisable likeness.’ June had come to England to learn about the ‘real’ Viviane and here was her first clue. Not a lot of women would have had the self-belief to put twenty-foot-tall models of themselves, nudes at that, in their front hall, but equally, did that indicate something of an ego?

  ‘Come, we’ll get you settled in, and then I’ll give you a quick tour. Most of this house is very much me. I’ve been here for some time and, especially with a magician, a home tends to reflect the mind of its owner.’

  ‘Most of it?’ June set off up the stairs after Viviane, and her luggage followed on its own. June was a little thankful it did not grow little legs to do so.

  ‘I’ve let Cassandra have her way in her rooms. She has changed little, actually. She’s really still trying to work out who she is.’

  June raised an eyebrow. ‘Difficult childhood?’

  ‘That would be… accurate.’

  The house definitely seemed to run to pale colours. Upstairs the corridor walls were papered: an off-white shade decorated with a climbing rose motif, the flowers a vibrant pink. Even here the ceilings were higher than in a normal house and the corridors wide.

  ‘You really don’t like enclosed spaces, do you?’ June asked.

  ‘My confinement after my capture had a far more profound effect than anyone expected.’ Viviane’s tone was matter-of-fact, as though discussing the weather. ‘I am uncomfortable without plenty of space around me. On the other hand, my few guests rarely complain about the size of their rooms.’ She opened a door on their right and walked through into a bedroom.

  ‘Uh… No,’ June said. ‘I’d imagine they don’t.’ The room had to be four times the size of a typical bedroom. Two large windows almost filled the outside wall with a sitting area in front of one of them. There were no drapes, but the bed was a huge, four-poster thing which had curtains around it. There was a desk, a second sitting area closer to the door, an entertainment centre near that, and an interior door which June figured led to a bathroom.

  ‘Enough space for you then?’ Viviane was grinning.

  ‘Enough space for me, Cygnus, and the population of Churchton. No window drapes?’

  ‘Dust collectors. I’ve never seen the need for them.’

  June nodded. It was not, she thought, ego. Viviane had an ego which she had clearly demonstrated during her criminal period, but this was not ego: it was something else. Viviane did not care what people really thought of her. She did not care what they saw. Viviane was Viviane, take it or leave it.

  ‘I think,’ June said, ‘that I should be able to come up with something for you by the end of this week. I’m already starting to get an idea or two.’

  Viviane smiled. ‘That’s encouraging.’

  ‘Not really. Most of them are indecent and you wanted something more subtle.’

  ‘I did, yes, but we can discuss the indecent designs as well.’ With a wave of a hand, Viviane directed June’s suitcase to the foot of the bed where it opened and its contents began to disperse itself into drawers and wardrobes. ‘I think you might be a little surprised at what I’d consider indecent.’

  San Francisco, CA.

  ‘You really think this is only going to take a week?’ Cygnus asked, keeping her voice low. She was sitting at the back of the court room with Andrea since they were trying their best to keep a relatively low profile. So far, they were not exactly succeeding, but they were trying.

  ‘I think the prosecution will have wrapped their evidence this week,’ Andrea replied, ‘even if the trial grinds on into next. Both of us can be back here for the verdict in no time at all.’

  ‘True.’ Cygnus looked around and sighed. ‘This is going to be monumentally boring, isn’t it?’

  ‘Mostly. I have something of an interest in the jury selection, however.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘I’ve got someone here from the Court taking notes. They’ll run profiles on everyone involved tonight. Just in case.’

  ‘I think I should’ve brought a book. Just in case.’

  ‘Mink did get lucky. No point in her being around for much of this.’

  ‘Yeah… I’m going to beat her up about that later. Hopefully June’s having a better time in England.’

  Morrigan Manor, England.

  ‘I realise your body thinks it’s lunchtime,’ Viviane said as they sat down to dinner. ‘I thought something light now and a snack later. Uh, I can give you something to help you sleep and, hopefully, you’ll be better adjusted to our daytime by morning.’

  June grinned. ‘It’s a kick in the head. I mean, I lost most of the day. It was getting dark before we’d finished going around the house.’

  ‘I’d make a joke about it being a big house, but it seems a little redundant.’

  ‘It is a big house. And it was just you in it until Cassandra came?’

  ‘Ah, well… Originally it was me and whatever collection of enslaved puppets I had handy. They filled in space, but it’s… frowned upon to have mindless sex toys around the house.’

  ‘Uh… Yeah. Probably.’

  Viviane frowned at the door. ‘Where is the girl?’

  ‘Cassandra?’

  ‘Quite. She should be–’

  Viviane stopped as a young woman rushed in. ‘Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry. I lost track of time and… Sorry.’

  ‘Hopefully you were studying,’ Viviane said. ‘Cassandra Hennessey, meet June Summerfield. I think you’ve both been told our relative relationships, so I won’t go over it all again.’

  June stood and held out a hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Cassandra.’

  Cassandra stepped forward and took the offered hand, shaking it vigorously. ‘Really pleased to meet you. Really. I was saying it would be nice to have other people around and here I am late for dinner, and–’

  ‘Perhaps, then, we should get to the food,’ Viviane suggested. ‘You can chatter endlessly while we eat.’

  ‘I do not chatter endlessly! Well… maybe a little.’ Cassandra certainly seemed to be enthusiastic enough. She was tall, as tall as June, slim and attractive with pale skin, brown eyes and shoulder-length, wavy hair. She had a slightly horsey nose, which tried to dominate her face but did not quite manage it. Dressed in a cropped T-shirt and pedal-pusher jeans, she looked young; June was not really sure how old she actually was, maybe late teens or early twenties. There was a slightly older hint of sharp intelligence behind her eyes, but it was difficult to spot behind the mask of fan-girl.

  ‘So, Viviane says you live with Twilight and Cygnus?’ Cassandra asked as she picked up her fork.

  ‘That’s right,’ June replied.

  ‘But you’re normal.’

  ‘Perfectly ordinary.’

  ‘How did that happen?’

  June grinned. ‘I was born that way and no one’s exposed me to a radioactive aardvark yet.’

  Cassandra giggled. There was even a chuckle from Viviane. ‘No, I mean, how does a normal woman, uh, even one who looks like you, end up sharing a house with an Ultra couple like them.’

  It was an odd turn of phrase and June edged her way toward it with the direct answer. ‘I knew Cygnus before she was Cygnus. We shared an apartment. Uh, a flat. You call them flats, right? We shared one and when she moved into the house she inherited, I went with her. Twilight came later because her landlady was being an intolerant bitch.’

  ‘Oh… right.’

  ‘Of course, Cygnus and I didn’t start sharing a bedroom until this year.’ Out of the corner of her eye, June could see Viviane smirking.

  Cassandra’s eyes were wide. ‘Wha’bu’n’ that can’t be right. Everyone’s sure Cygnus and Twilight are together.’

  ‘Just friends,’ June said, smiling. ‘Cygnus is mine. Twilight has a boyfriend, Jacob.’ June glanced at Viviane. ‘Did you hear about Jacob?
He’s in Antarctica now…’

  ‘I heard,’ Viviane replied. ‘Recovering, but not dealing with the situation as well as one might hope. You’ll have to forgive Cassandra. Since she moved in, I’ve discovered that the internet is the source of all knowledge in the world. Unfortunately, she believes all the gossip she reads there.’

  ‘It’s not gossip!’ Cassandra said. ‘It’s… Well, maybe if that’s not true it is gossip. Damn! All those awesome slashfic stories and no basis in fact.’

  June gave her a frown. ‘If it’s any consolation, Twilight has been known to express a desire for a threesome, but it’s never got past the theory stage. What on Earth is a slashfic?’

  ‘Porn,’ Viviane responded immediately.

  ‘It’s not porn, it’s erotica,’ Cassandra argued with a tone which suggested this was an old argument. ‘There’s a difference.’ She looked at June’s raised eyebrow and said, ‘It’s named after the slash you put between two people’s names to indicate the subjects. So, Cygnus-slash-Twilight fiction. There are some really good ones. Isn’t always real people, but it can be.’ Cassandra’s expression shifted to musing. ‘Thinking about it, a few Americans did point out that Cygnus had a boyfriend who was killed, but that just means she’s bi, and there were a few comments about her having a new girlfriend.’

  ‘And rumours about Twilight being mad about it?’ June asked.

  ‘Uh, yeah. I guess those aren’t true either.’

  ‘Twilight was relieved when we finally got together.’

  ‘Oh… Well, from the pictures, you’ve got a really hot girlfriend. Kudos.’

  ‘Thank you, and I’m sorry to shatter your illusions.’

  ‘Never meet your heroes,’ Viviane said. ‘It’s always something of a disappointment.’

  San Francisco, CA.

  ‘Bored to the point of suicide yet?’ Bianca asked.

  ‘In a word, yes,’ Cygnus replied. ‘Breaking for lunch was the best thing that could have happened. Even if we had lunch before leaving New Millennium and this is more like afternoon coffee…’

  ‘Lunch for me.’ Bianca looked up at the waiter. ‘The carbonara. No wine.’

  ‘Coffee,’ Andrea said. ‘We need a lot of coffee.’

  ‘Of course,’ the waiter said, smiling, and he turned to leave. He had been looking a little shocked to be serving a table with two Ultras and Bianca Fullerton on it. Elaine had gone largely unnoticed, but she was not exactly the kind to put herself forward.

  ‘So what have they managed to get through?’ Elaine asked.

  ‘Jury selection was quick enough,’ Andrea replied. ‘There were some arguments about whether evidence about Kopf’s wartime history was relevant to the trial. The defence won that one, but the prosecution argued successfully that his activities in New Millennium were applicable due to the continuation of his experiments. I actually think that’s fair, and won’t make any difference anyway. We’re doing the opening statements after lunch.’

  ‘Do you know when you’ll be testifying?’

  ‘Probably tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. I think they’re calling Hugh on Wednesday to do his expert witness thing. They’re starting off with the evidence the police collected and what they found when they got there. That alone should convict him on the narcotics charges.’

  ‘Damian’s ready to do his thing,’ Bianca put in. ‘You think they’ll get him on the other charges?’

  ‘That mostly depends on Hugh being convincing,’ Cygnus said. ‘As long as he keeps his thoughts straight, that should be pretty easy. Hugh can make just about anything sound like it’s obvious when he puts just the one mind to it.’

  Morrigan Manor, England.

  ‘Kind of obvious if you just take what most people see, I guess,’ June muttered. She scrolled text up her screen a little and continued reading. ‘And this one is kind of hot…’ Cassandra had sent her a link to what she viewed as the best of the slashfic sites and it had been something of an education.

  For example, Svetilo seemed like a perfect target for these stories, but the Russian was actually not that well known outside the US. As a result, there were a few femdom stories about her, but not that many. Brightstar, not exactly noted for her romantic liaisons, featured in hundreds of stories. She would, almost certainly, not have liked the fact that many seemed to feature her being overpowered by some hunky villain who she then fell in love with and discovered that he was not as evil as everyone thought. Maybe she would have been happier about the newer Brightstar/Adamantium stories which had popped up like weeds since the rumours about them had begun.

  Weirdly, it seemed that if a fan-proposed pairing was ever proven to be real, everyone lost interest and the fiction dried up. Actually denying that a relationship existed was like a red flag before an entire herd of bulls.

  ‘So denying it is out,’ June said to her computer. ‘It’s not like it’s doing any harm.’ She continued reading for a second and then added, ‘Andrea is pretty hot. Maybe we should just do it.’ Pause. ‘Jacob would never go for it.’ Pause. ‘Unless we filmed it for him… No, he’s not that kind of man.’ Pause. ‘I don’t think so anyway. Maybe I should ask…’ Pushing off the bed, June headed for the adjoining bathroom. ‘Shower before bed. Not a cold one…’

  San Francisco, CA.

  Cygnus gave a little shudder, frowned, and settled herself to listen to Damian explaining the details of his arrival at the Zhu Holdings building.

  ‘You okay?’ Andrea asked. The testimony was pretty boring as far as she was concerned. Informative enough, certainly, but boring, and not worthy of a shudder.

  ‘Yeah… I just got the distinct impression that June was rubbing one off.’

  Andrea bit her lips to stop herself bursting into giggles. ‘You can tell that from halfway around the planet? Must be love.’

  Morrigan Manor, England, 2nd December.

  ‘Focus, Cassandra. Breathe… breathe and focus.’

  June watched as Viviane walked slowly around her apprentice, chanting softly, almost mesmerically. Cassandra was sitting in a magic circle. A real-life, honest to God, magic circle with weird sigils marked around it. They were all in the basement of the manor, or one part of it, where Viviane had her ritual room, or one of them. This one was buried in the earth, held safe in Gaia’s arms, as Viviane put it. There was another one adjoining Viviane’s rooms at the top of the house which was under a glass dome, open to the sky. It was all very symbolic.

  That seemed to be another thing about Viviane: symbolism. She was quite an iconic character herself, a figure from Arthurian legend made flesh. Beyond that, she was a wiccan, of sorts, and symbology was a key factor in her magic. She drew upon the world around her and ancient magical stylings to work her spells.

  It seemed as though Cassandra was another kind of magician, something more modern. Viviane was not really teaching her; she was guiding her. In the air in front of Cassandra, a shape formed: a perfect sphere about a foot in diameter. As June watched, the sphere changed, shifting to become a tetrahedron: four triangular faces, all equal in size. This shifted to a cube, then an octahedron, and then things started to go a little wrong. The dodecahedron looked a little misshapen, and the image collapsed entirely as it tried to reform into something with twenty sides.

  ‘Damn,’ Cassandra said, her tone resigned.

  ‘You are improving,’ Viviane said. ‘Control is not something which comes instantly.’

  ‘I know. You tell me that every time I mess it up.’

  ‘Then stop messing it up so that I may stop repeating myself.’

  ‘It’s an illusion?’ June asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Cassandra said. ‘Just illusion.’

  ‘Forming the platonic solids requires precision of thought,’ Viviane explained. ‘This is an exercise in precision, which Cassandra is better at than she cares to admit.’

  ‘I’m fine when I’m doing it like this,’ Cassandra muttered. ‘I get really bad under pressure.’

  ‘That’s what pract
ice is for,’ June said. ‘Cygnus was working with Bobby, Zephyr, for months before she could fly the way she did when she started fighting crime. She’s even better at it now. Practice.’

  ‘Cassandra is impatient,’ Viviane said. ‘I was the same when I was her age. Now, again, with greater focus.’

  With a sigh, Cassandra closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get this right.’

  ‘Of course you will. The best lenses require a considerable amount of polishing and we have barely started.’

  ~~~

  ‘You’ve never had children, have you?’

  Viviane looked around at June, one eyebrow raised. ‘I’ve eaten a few babies, obviously.’ Then she added, ‘That was a joke.’

  ‘Yeah. Well, I hoped it was. You seem to know just how to handle Cassandra.’

  Returning to the cutting of bread, Viviane gave a slight shrug. ‘Honestly, I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m doing. Alice has been a big help, but she’s not here. When something comes up, I just have to… muddle through, make snap decisions and hope for the best. Alice told me to treat Cassandra like an adult but be aware of her relative youth, which was confusing. Still, it seems to work.’

  ‘Well… With me it was all about support. My parents supported me when I wanted to be a model. They pointed out that I needed to live until I could get my break, kept my feet on the ground, but they never said “that’s a stupid idea, June.” You seem to be supportive, so that’s good.’

  ‘I’m not really trying to replace her parents, either of them. They are Catholic, quite strong in their beliefs.’

  ‘Oh…’

  ‘Yes, I see you can imagine what they thought of their daughter’s abilities. She still has flashbacks to the exorcism ritual they put her through.’

  ‘Oh God.’

  Viviane looked around and smiled. ‘I did terrible things before the Union caught me and straightened me out, June. Terrible things. I ruined lives, killed without conscience. Sometimes, however, I am reminded that humans do not need enormous power to be monsters.’