‘That was not just the wolves,’ Michael pointed out.
‘And we said you’d do well,’ Sasha pointed out. ‘You were all “I can’t do this” the first night and look at you now. I’m still not getting the reaction from the fae you do.’
Ophelia looked at the blonde thoughtfully for a second. ‘I think we need to get you a little glamour. Nothing too excessive; a little goes a long way. Just a little fae magic and they’ll be eating out of your hand. I’ll arrange something.’ She held up a hand, palm toward Sasha. ‘Freely given, no strings attached.’
Lily’s eyebrows went up. ‘Are you sure you’re Unseelie, Ophelia?’
The raven-haired Sidhe gave a shrug. ‘I’m a very modern Unseelie. Sasha takes my tables on my breaks. If my customers are happier with her, I get bigger tips. Besides, she’s cute.’
Sasha, used to compliments given her looks, actually blushed.
Kennington, March 31st.
Michael sniffed at the large joint of meat, still on the bone, which had been placed in front of him. Sundays had changed a little since they had rather more people in the house. There was a dining table in the study so that everyone could sit around it, though Twill still preferred not to subject others to her eating habits, so she and Ishifa just had drinks. There were differences, and there were differences, however, and Michael was not entirely sure that roast demon meat was not a change too far.
‘What did you say it was called again?’ he asked.
‘tukta,’ Ceri replied.
‘Just try it,’ Lily suggested.
‘You know,’ he told them, ‘Twill does really amazing beef, and pork, and venison…’
‘Thank you, Michael,’ Twill said, ‘but try this. You never know, you might like it.’
Looking as though he was clearly about to be poisoned, the werewolf sank his teeth into the haunch, biting off a small chunk and then chewing for a second. His mouth stopped moving and his eyes widened.
‘Told you,’ Lily stated, grinning.
Michael swallowed; speaking with your mouth full in front of Twill was just asking for sarcasm. ‘I mean, it’s not Twill’s fae venison…’
‘That would be asking a lot,’ Ophelia commented as she started on her own plate of food.
‘Okay,’ Michael said, followed by another, far larger, bite.
‘Okay?’ Ceri asked.
Michael nodded, still chewing. ‘Okay,’ he said a second or two later, ‘if you really want me to go over there with Cheryl and Carter, I’ll go. Just…’
‘I’ll make sure they have some tukta in the larder,’ Ceri said, beaming.
~~~
Philip Rogers watched as his congregation filed out of St Marks, nodding to those he knew, smiling at those he did not. It was Easter Sunday, an important service, and there were far more there than usual. There had been something of an upturn in numbers recently, though he was not sure whether that was entirely a good thing.
First there had been the battles between opposing armies of angels during the Witch Hunter business. He had been a little more involved in that than he might have liked after Doctor Brent asked for his help. A few of his parishioners knew about that and they seemed to approve. Then there had been several very violent Samhains culminating in the fall of the dragons. Everyone knew that the supernatural was real; they could turn on the TV or read the newspapers to see it reported, but the last year or so had really thrust it into people’s faces. Many had become more… spiritual as a result.
Of course, there were many who had become more interested in magic. Rogers had heard rumours that demon and devil worship had increased in some areas. Some had turned to spiritualism and there was a roaring trade in mediums, both real and fake. Some, however, had seen angels on the news and taken it as a sign that God was real. For a man who believed in faith, they were not quite what he wanted to see. They had what they thought was knowledge, not faith. It was not quite the same.
With the last person gone, Rogers turned and walked back into the church, closing and locking the door behind him. He was walking down the aisle toward the vestry when he spotted someone still sitting among the pews.
It was no one Rogers recognised. He looked young, well-built, attractive in a slightly unkempt way, and healthy, but his expression suggested pain or sickness. He sat, almost sprawled, on the narrow seat with his arms wrapped tightly around himself and his head rolled forward.
‘I’m afraid I have to lock up for the night,’ Rogers said.
The young man looked up. His eyes were a startling blue and filled with such incredible pain that the vicar took an involuntary step back.
‘I… fell,’ the man said. ‘The pain…’
‘There’s a hospital close by…’
‘They can’t help me, Philip. I came here to be forgiven. I know not what for, but… Even here His voice is silent.’
Rogers swallowed. He fell… ‘What is your name?’
‘Jehoel. Or that was my name. Now… I can’t hear Him. Why, Philip? Why can’t I hear him?’
Rogers looked at the man. He was either what he claimed to be, or he was insane, and there was probably only one person who could resolve it one way or the other quickly.
‘Let me get changed,’ the vicar said, ‘and I’ll take you to someone who might be able to help.’
~~~
Ceri had not been one of the people who turned to religion after the fall of the dragons, so when she opened the front door of High Towers and found the local vicar standing there supporting a handsome young man in faded jeans and a T-shirt, she was a little surprised.
‘Philip,’ Ceri said, recovering quickly and putting a pleased-but-surprised tone in her voice. ‘Is there something I can help you with?’
‘Uh… sorry to bother you on a Sunday, but… This is Jehoel and he thinks he’s a fallen angel.’ Rogers was looking apologetic.
Ceri frowned, blinking her Sight on. The man calling himself Jehoel was solid enough, and that was unusual for an angelos, but he had an energy core around his soul bridge and his medians were all wrong. Whatever he was, he was not human.
‘You’d better bring him in. If he can get past the wards then he means no harm, but… Fallen are dangerous, Philip.’ She stepped back and the two men followed her into the hall.
‘I mean no harm,’ Jehoel said, his voice barely above a whisper.
‘Maybe so,’ Ceri told him. ‘Uh… hang on.’ She walked over to the stairs and called up, ‘Lily, Michael, we have guests.’ There was the sound of feet on the landing and she nodded before turning back to the angel. ‘If you’ve fallen you’ll begin to need to feed. The Fallen feed on people’s souls.’
‘He’s one of them?’ Rogers asked, swallowing hard.
‘He’s not human,’ Ceri replied, ‘but I’m not sure what he is. You’d better come up to the study. Maybe Gwyn or Mei have seen something like him before.’
~~~
‘We’ve got three more,’ Kate said down the telephone line. ‘Two are in holding cells at Greycoat Street, one’s in hospital at Kings. That last one was found unconscious on the top of Saint Paul’s. We were going to call you in to see what you thought, but…’
‘No one here has a clue,’ Ceri replied. ‘Well… Jehoel here isn’t, technically, alive, but he’s not undead either. He’s more like a construct, but he seems to need food. He’s looking a lot better than he did now we’ve fed him. He didn’t seem to think he needed it until there was food in his mouth, but… Anyway, there’s an internal thaumic source, but a lot of supernaturals have that. Philip says his theology is up to snuff. For want of another answer, these things were angels and now they’re…’ Her gaze shifted to look at the man sitting hunched in front of the fire and she lowered her voice. ‘Now they’re dying.’
‘What?!’
‘Gwyn’s better at this stuff than I am. She says he’s deteriorating at a cellular level. His physical structure is degrading. She gives him about a month before he falls apart.’
‘Every magician has their speciality, Kate.’
‘Yeah, true. Gwyn seems like she knows a lot though. Strange we’ve never heard of her.’
‘She kept herself to herself until… until the dragonfall. I was lucky she was there though.’
‘I should just stop asking about this, shouldn’t I? I probably don’t want to know the answer, do I?’
‘If we come up with anything, we’ll be in touch,’ Ceri said, not really answering the questions. ‘Anything on the rape-murder case?’
‘Nothing yet. If we get anything we’ll be in touch.’
‘Huh. Later then, Kate.’
Ceri hung up the phone and turned back to the others. ‘He’s not the only one. There are three others they’ve found, and I’m guessing there could be more. Jehoel, how many of your kind are there in London?’
The man looked up, seemed to consider for a second, and then said, ‘You refer to this expanse of buildings?’
‘Yes,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘It’s called London.’
He nodded acceptance of the term. ‘Perhaps two score, others who come and go.’
‘Forty,’ Rogers said. ‘There could be forty or more of these men around the city?’
‘Assuming this is only affecting the city,’ Gwyn pointed out. ‘They may not all be men. Angelos tend to be androgynous, and while Jehoel is clearly male now, some may have incarnated as females.’
‘What, if I might ask,’ Mei began in her quiet, contemplative voice, ‘do you remember of the time immediately before your materialisation?’ The pretty Chinese woman had been largely silent throughout the proceedings, as was her way.
‘I…’ Jehoel frowned. ‘It’s like trying to remember something that happened years ago. I can’t even remember what it was like. I remember being in His sight, and then it was as though a cloud was passing in front of the sun. I woke up outside the church and went inside. I thought that… that in His house I might…’ He shook his head. ‘But there was nothing. Merely stone and the chatter of humans.’
Ceri looked at Gwyn. ‘A spell capable of blocking interaction with a deity, over a large area?’
‘I’m unaware of any such working. We could probably formulate something…’
‘All right…’ Ceri slumped. ‘I’ve got so much to do! And you’ve got the conference work now… This is all we need.’ Frowning she turned to Rogers. ‘I’d offer him a room, but I don’t think he’d approve of our lifestyle and, frankly, I’ve no rooms left.’
The vicar nodded. ‘You’ve been more than accommodating and, given his nature, I think it’s my job to find him a roof to put over his head. Jehoel, we should go. These ladies have much to do if they are to get you back where you belong.’
The angel got to his feet and started toward the door without a word. Rogers frowned at his retreating back. ‘I’ll thank you for him,’ the vicar said.
Ceri shrugged. ‘Angels aren’t noted for their politeness. I’m kind of used to it.’
~~~
‘Some form of entrapment spell?’ Ceri suggested. ‘I’ve used it on an angel before now.’ She was sitting in the lounge beside the fire with Gwyn and Mei. The latter was not the sorceress the other two were, but she still constituted a valuable resource given that they had no idea where they were going with this one.
‘That might explain their fall from grace,’ Gwyn said, ‘but it would need to be combined with something else to solidify them. Fallen are just as immaterial as angels under normal conditions.’
‘They have been materialised,’ Mei said, ‘and then forced to maintain that state. Does this not suggest a Spirit Lock?’
‘They need to be maintained,’ Gwyn said. ‘It would require a team of magicians working around the clock. A very large team.’
‘I’ll talk to the Greycoats,’ Ceri said. ‘Something that massive should have their scryers in a fit.’
‘Ceri!’ Ophelia’s voice from the TV couch. She was sitting watching the evening news with Lily and they had both been quiet until now. ‘You’d better see this…’
Ceri stood, focussing on the large screen at the end of the room and the sound coming from it. The video was what looked like stock footage of a shopping mall out on the eastern side of London, but the voiceover was a lot more interesting.
‘…remains were unidentifiable and police have been unable to determine where it fell from. Three people were injured by falling glass as the body crashed through the roof of the shopping centre. The scene of carnage on the floor beneath was described as “horrific.” Later in the day it was announced that detectives from Greycoat Street would be taking over the investigation suggesting that the victim and the crime were supernatural. No one from the Greycoats was available for comment.’
‘Whoever it was,’ Lily said, ‘they apparently fell a long way out of a clear sky.’
‘So,’ Ceri mused, ‘whatever happened, it’s still happening. Any angel that gets too close gets transformed.’
‘Which begs the question,’ Gwyn said, ‘what happens if they leave the area?’
Holloway, April 1st.
‘We got him as far as Brent Reservoir,’ Kate said, ‘going out on the A-Five. Then he just… evaporated. I sort of felt him going so we’re pretty sure he didn’t die.’
‘I didn’t notice a damn thing,’ John stated. ‘We were sitting in the back of the ambulance watching this guy. One minute he’s there and the next… poof! You’d think he’d at least let us know he’s okay.’
Ceri gave a shrug. ‘I’ve never met an angel I didn’t want to strangle. We’re beneath them. No, that’s wrong, they just don’t have a clue about human feelings. They’re too focussed on whatever deity they’re in favour with.’ She frowned. ‘So that’s about five miles out of the centre of the city.’
‘Roughly,’ John agreed.
‘One data point does not tell you much,’ Cheryl chimed in. She was headed for the kitchen with Gwyn and Faran.
‘She’s right,’ Ceri agreed. ‘It could be a hundred miles from somewhere south of here.’
John gave a shrug. ‘We’ve got two more angels we can deport. If they think they’re going back home I doubt they’ll object. What are Gwyn and Faran doing here?’
‘Cheryl was going frazzled with the conference organisation and I’m no help.’
‘Yes you are,’ Cheryl called out. ‘You mean I don’t have to deal with the generator project details.’
‘I’m no help,’ Ceri repeated. ‘Gwyn’s got very good organisation skills and Faran is pretty good too. Plus, he’s great at handling people, even over the phone.’
The incubus poked his head around the door. ‘Admittedly my linguistic skills are more usually employed in talking people out of their clothes…’ His eyes fell on Kate and her cheeks flushed almost instantly.
‘But he can get someone to do just about anything if he needs to,’ Ceri stated a little too quickly. ‘So they’re helping Cheryl, which has the added advantage of keeping me out of most of it. I’m much better with numbers than people.’
‘You do yourself a disservice, Shivika,’ Faran commented before turning back into the kitchen.
‘Shivika?’ Kate asked.
‘It’s Devotik,’ Ceri replied. ‘He’s being funny.’
‘Looks like it worked, you’re blushing.’
‘Faran and I have been playing a game since he sorted things out with Lily. He tries to get me into bed and I reject him.’
‘You reject that?’ Kate asked, wide-eyed. ‘He’s like a male Lily!’
Ceri gave a weak grin. ‘It’s not always easy, but neither of us really wants it to happen. He was around when I got drunk recently and he absented himself rather than win with me off my game. You’ll try taking the other angels out of town? I could get in touch with Jehoel if you want another one. He’s likely to be anxious to get out.’
‘We’ll start with our t
wo,’ John replied. ‘East and south. See where that gets us.’
Kennington.
‘Have they stopped with the pranks?’ Ceri asked as she walked into the lounge.
‘Uh-huh,’ Lily replied. ‘At least I think so. Ophelia’s gone over to the castle and I haven’t had anything weird happen since I got back from shopping.’
‘That’s why you’re dressed in a bra and knickers then? I thought they looked new. And anyway, you never normally wear either.’
Lily gave a giggle. ‘Like them?’
Ceri sat down beside her girlfriend, running a hand over the nearest thigh. ‘Uh-huh.’
After a sigh, Lily said, ‘Well I nodded off after you got up and when I woke up I’d been tied to the bed. I didn’t really mind that. The pepper in the coffee wasn’t so good. I decided I should leave before it got worse.’
‘Having three fae in the house on April Fool’s Day was probably not the best idea.’
‘Nuh-huh, but I got some sexy undies out of it. I was a little surprised at Twill though.’
‘I think Ishifa is reminding her of her youth. Ophelia just never grew up. You know, they don’t even play tricks on each other in Otherworld.’
‘Playing pranks on Unseelie seems like a bad idea,’ Lily commented. ‘News is on.’ Her attention focussed on the TV set.
Ceri pouted and leaned over to kiss her throat. ‘But I wanted to unwrap my present…’
‘After the news,’ Lily said firmly and Ceri sat back on her seat. Lily had become almost addicted to the evening news after her father had been the main item on it and, even if it was putting their sex life on hold for thirty minutes, Ceri had to admit that it was a useful habit.
‘Tonight on the Six O’Clock News…’ the presenter announced with an over-dramatic pause after it. ‘The Church of England has refused to comment on the plague of falling angels, or on the claims made by one fundamentalist Christian group that London is now so depraved that no angel can enter without being damned.’ Or maybe it was not so over-dramatic.
Thaumatology 12: Vengeance Page 5