I hoped he’d be okay. I had no doubts that Alex could charm the Batibat into revealing at least something useful. His cheeky surfer boy grin was probably exactly what her species was looking for. I just needed him to believe that he could do it. Unfortunately I was worried that he’d spend the next couple of hours not building up the confidence that he needed, but instead working himself up into a nervous lather that would lead him to babble inanely when he went inside.
“Boosting up your little hippy mage, dragonlette?” inquired Solus with a hint of humour. “I can help you instead, you know.”
“I think this needs a more gentle touch than you can offer,” I answered. “Besides, I have a feeling I’m going to need you around here. Did you find Beltran?”
“That I did.”
Exasperated, I rolled my eyes at him. “And?”
He shrugged. “The tree huggers were proving rather difficult for him to manage. You would think that a Fae could merely glamour them into decamping here, but there was some kind of block. They all seemed completely incapable of believing that there was a problem here that they might able to solve. They were determined to hang around Wales and lie in the middle of a few roads to apparently stop the inevitable.” Amusement lit his violet eyes. “Humans really can be intractable creatures sometimes.”
My heart sank. Atlanteia had seemed convinced that getting the environmentalists on side would help to stop the demolition. I certainly didn’t have the faintest idea how to go about it. “So they’re not coming?”
He waggled a finger in front of me. “That’s not what I said. Somehow, round about the time that you busted the ward, whatever was preventing them from listening to Beltran completely evaporated.”
“I was right. The ward wasn’t just a physical barrier,” I breathed in relief.
“Indeed. Whoever created it was a clever bastard because it was a psychological ward too. They’re not easy to manage, you know.”
“You sound like you admire him,” I said, faintly disgusted.
“Just his work, my little dragonlette. Not him.” He dusted off an imaginary speck from his shoulder. “Anyway, to cut a long story short, hey presto and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, they are on their way. Should be no more than a couple of hours.”
Thank fuck. I beamed gratefully at him.
He bobbed his head in arrogant acknowledgement and opened up his palms, gesturing expansively. “Bring on the accolades.”
Aubrey took that moment to spit noisily on the ground. Solus’ lip curled in revulsion. I couldn’t help snorting out a giggle.
“Can I have my phone back now?” There was a high pitched plaintive note to his voice.
“He’s different,” commented Solus, eyeing the ex-vamp with detached curiosity.
“He’s not fucking undead anymore.”
“You know what I mean.” Solus frowned. “The Aubrey I knew might have been unlikeable, even as far as vampires go, but he possessed considerable inner strength. This one,” he pointed at him with his toe, “is a pathetic excuse for a human. Why is he even with us?”
“I don’t really know,” I answered, honestly.
Aubrey scrambled to his feet, throwing away his half chewed stick behind him with an angry flourish. “I am here, you know!” he shouted. “It’s rude to talk about people as if they’re not there when they are! I didn’t ask to be turned into a human. She did it to me.” His voice continued to rise, and his right foot began stamping the ground several times in quick succession. “Now give me back my phone! It’s mine!”
As if on cue, the phone in my hands beeped. I looked over at Solus and raised my eyebrows slightly. “He’s having some adjustment issues.”
“I’ll say,” murmured the Fae, with a slightly impressed expression.
“Just let me use it for a few more minutes, Aubrey. Then I’ll give back to you, I promise.”
He folded his arms and wrinkled his nose, then sat back down and huffed loudly. I opened Alex’s text. There were three images. I opened up the first one, with Solus peering over my shoulder.
“Who’s that?”
“I’m hoping it’s the prick that’s behind all of this,” I said, staring down at the hulking figure that Alex had managed to capture.
“Looks pretty strong. No match for our dragon though.”
I gave the Fae a warning glance. Aubrey was by now no doubt starting to put the pieces together as to what I really was but that didn’t mean that Solus had to hand the information to him on a plate. Fortunately for me he was still sitting glumly on the ground and muttering away to himself, paying us very little attention. Solus was right however: whoever this was that Alex had managed to snap, he looked as if he was built for one thing and one thing only. And that was fighting. This one was definitely a contender. I opened up the next one. It was a young looking guy wearing a hoodie. Alex had only just managed to catch him in profile, but he still looked remarkably babyish to be carrying out a reign of terror. Still, appearances could be deceiving.
I flicked my thumb over to the final image. This one was rather blurry, but it was still possible to make out the features of a somewhat nondescript looking man, wearing glasses and a suit. I frowned down at the phone. There was something about him that was vaguely familiar.
“He looks like that actor,” commented Solus, “the one in that Hollywood film about a man murdering his wife and it all going terribly wrong.”
I stared up at the Fae in surprise. “You watch movies?”
He actually blushed. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, I guess,” I said, still somewhat nonplussed. “Just, I guess I thought that you faeries would be above all that.”
“Well, maybe you could come with me sometime.” There was a sudden mischievous gleam in his eyes. “We could sit in the back row, share some popcorn, let our hands accidentally touch and then…”
I punched him in the arm. “Sod off.”
Solus just laughed musically. I tutted at him and closed down the text. The Batibat’s man could realistically be any of them or none of them. Looking at pictures was pretty much a waste of time.
I sighed. I knew I should probably call Mrs. Alcoon and tell her that I might not make it back to London for the bookshop’s grand opening, but I didn’t want to let her down. Despite the fact that it was clearly foolish optimism to think that I would be there, I decided to wait. I still had the image of Corrigan’s frozen eyes in my head when I’d told him I wouldn’t keep our date. I wasn’t looking forward to doing the same to Mrs. Alcoon. I ignored the little voice whispering coward at me and decided I’d call her tomorrow, then threw the phone into Aubrey’s lap. He stopped his incessant muttering and his expression brightened immediately. I watched him carefully for a moment, trying to work out if he was up to something. He had been avoiding all of his vamp pals up till now, but I couldn’t help wondering if his sudden attachment to his phone was because he’d finally been in contact with them. Hadn’t he said something about knowing a few who could turn him back to a creature of the undead?
“Have you done something stupid, Aubrey?”
“Like what?” he asked, his face a picture of wide-eyed innocence.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, slowly, “like contact some vampires to come here and wreak havoc on the now approaching humans?”
He evinced melodramatic hurt. “No! If I called them it would be to help me out so I can go back to being what I’m supposed to be!”
“An evil night stalker?”
“Someone who gets the respect they deserve! Someone who isn’t ignored!” His voice faltered slightly. “Someone who doesn’t feel all this inner turmoil all the time.”
Oh, the existential problems of a cured vampire. I realised that I still didn’t really have an answer to why he was suddenly concerned about where his phone might be though. I stared at him, hard, and put my hands on my hips.
“Okay, so you’ve not been calling the bloodsuckers. But you’ve definitely been
phoning someone. What’s going on?”
Aubrey looked guiltily away. A wash of concern filtered through me. I’d bloody kill him if he had done something to mess up my plans just as things were starting to look up. Why in the hell had I let him tag along? I should have left his sorry arse back in London on the streets where he belonged.
“I could compel you to tell me, you know.”
He sniffed. “Go on, then.”
At that very moment the phone in his hands beeped. Aubrey glanced down at it and his face lit up. My muscles tensed. Whatever he’d done and whatever he’d summoned, I’d dispatch it pretty damn fucking quickly. Bloodfire lit up inside my belly and there was a shout from behind me.
“Mack! Someone’s coming up the hill!”
Giving Aubrey the dirtiest look I could muster, I motioned to Solus to stay and watch him, then turned round to face who – or what – was coming. I squinted downwards. The trees were masking the majority of their approach, but there were flashes of bright red and blue emerging from between the gaps in the leaves. I frowned. They clearly weren’t trying to camouflage themselves in any way. I took several steps forward to get a better look. Were they carrying something?
The mages were both on their feet, flicking anxious glances between me and the moving figure. Lucy jogged over in my direction, then took up position next to me, shoulder to shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked quietly, equal measures of concern and menace in her voice.
I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t know, and just watched, ready to defend our position of need be. It could be only one of two things: the Batibat’s master or a buddy of Aubrey’s. Both would be dangerous. Then a face appeared. Human. I cocked my head, still trying to work out what he was carrying.
Lucy sniffed. “Hold on,” she said. “I can smell that. Tomato, meat, some kind of herb…”
Her voice drifted off as a shout reached our ears. “Hey! Which one of you guys ordered pizza?”
I looked at Lucy and she looked at me. Then I turned back round to Aubrey.
He avoided my gaze. “I told you I was hungry,” he huffed.
I rolled my eyes and stomped irritably off to get things ready before the campaigners started arriving.
Chapter Seventeen
I called my merry band of ragtag Otherworlders together, leaving Aubrey in peace to eat his stupid pizza.
“So, the humans will be here soon and we need to be prepared,” I said, trying to sound as serious as I possibly could. It wasn’t easy with both the mages and Lucy casting occasional hungry glances towards Aubrey and his cheesy meal, with the constant sound of his smacking lips and delighted murmurs interrupting.
“Why do we need to bother with them?” drawled Solus.
I pursed my lips. “I’m here because the dryads asked me to come, and the dryads believe that the environmentalists will be able to stop the demolition that’s due to take place on Monday. Therefore, they want them here. They’ve got the most experience at this kind of thing. Besides, I doubt any of us want to hang around for weeks until the planning permission manages to get blocked.”
They all nodded fervently.
Corrigan joined us. I gave him a quick glance, wondering where in the hell he’d been, and tried to ignore the sudden weak sensation that seemed to be attacking my knees. I pushed my shoulders back and stood up a bit straighter instead. He still looked ridiculously out of place in his well tailored suit. It was important not to focus too closely on the way the first few buttons on his white shirt were undone, revealing his smooth, tanned, and oh so very inviting, skin. Get a grip, Mack, I told myself firmly.
“And what happens when the architect of the ward shows up to find out what’s happened?” he asked, green eyes fixed on me unblinkingly.
“Then we kill him,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“In front of the humans? Don’t you think they might have something to say about that?”
Shit. “Well, we make sure none of them are around,” I snapped.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “Because that will be easy to manage in a small wooded area.”
Larkin looked concerned. “The Lord Alpha is right. We don’t want them involved. What if one of them ends up getting hurt? Or killed? What the hell do we do then?”
“That’s why we need to be prepared and ready to effectively manage the situation,” I stated, calmly, not feeling very managerial or effective in the slightest. I thought quickly. “Look, we know that whoever created the ward is going to head here to find out why it’s no longer working. We just need to make sure that the humans stay away from here. This whole area is effectively one big circuit. There are criss-crossing paths, but it’s really just a circle. If we can direct them to camp on the other side, then we’ll be fine.” I glanced over at Max. “Can you maybe set up a couple of light wards to keep them away from here?”
He bobbed his head in agreement.
“Lucy, if you find a suitable campsite area, somewhere with running water nearby, then we can direct them to that place and keep them there.”
She turned towards Corrigan, annoyingly seeking his approval. He gave her a curt nod. Great.
“It stands to reason that when they are actually protesting, they’re going to be away down at the entrance where the car-park is because that’s where the equipment and the builders will be,” I continued. “Solus and Larkin can stay down there and keep an eye on things. That way, if anything happens, Solus can transport himself to tell us what’s going on, while Larkin can use his magic to contain things.”
“Beltran will be here too,” Solus added.
“Even better. He already knows the humans so he can stay with Max and Lucy to keep an eye on them. Corrigan, uh, the Lord Alpha, and I are the ones most geared up for a fight. We’ll stay here and make sure this bastard doesn’t hurt anyone else ever again.” There was rage-tinged steel in my voice, but I still looked over at Corrigan to make sure that was okay with him. He nodded in lazy acknowledgement and I sighed inwardly in relief.
Max cleared his throat. “Uh, one thing?”
I looked at him. “Yes?”
“We aren’t here to stop some trees from being cut down. We are here to make sure that you are safe.”
I bit down my annoyance. “I’ll be safe if you can keep the humans away from the big bad guy so that I don’t have to worry about them getting in the way or getting hurt. Besides, you might think this is none of your concern, but you saw what happened to that dryad. This isn’t some two-bit Otherworlder making a nuisance of himself. We need to work together to stop him.”
Fortunately, Max seemed to accept that.
“And who is the big bad guy? Do we know what he looks like?” interjected Lucy.
“Erm, no,” I reluctantly confirmed. “I’m sure he’ll make himself known pretty fucking quickly though.”
“If he looks human then how will we be able to tell the difference between him and the tree-huggers?”
“He’ll be the one trying to kill you,” Corrigan said, his arms folded and his eyes still trained on me.
Larkin swallowed. “So shouldn’t we, um, get some reinforcements in? It’d take no time at all to get more mages here. The Arch-Mage will be happy to help.”
“That’ll just complicate matters and put more people in harm’s way,” I stated emphatically. “And give the humans more reason to become suspicious.” I could deal with this fucker on my own; there was no way I was going to create a situation where I’d end up with even more blood on my hands than there already was.
“The Welsh pack is sending some help,” Corrigan said unhelpfully.
“Well, fucking tell them to go back home again then. The environmentalists are a tight group and will be wary of even more strangers hanging around. You and I can deal with this guy ourselves.” I couldn’t resist flicking a look at him and adding, “unless you really want someone else to do your dirty work for you that is, my Lord.”
His eyes flashed in anger towards me
. I felt an answering surge of fear at the menace in his gaze, but did my best to quash it and look him directly in the eyes. He might be the all mighty leader of the Brethren and be more powerful than I ever would be but he didn’t scare me. Honest. My knees shook ever so slightly. Damn it.
Solus stepped in. “Our dragonlette here,” he drew out every syllable in a long and deliberately affectionate purr, “is a woman of strength as well as unquestionable beauty.”
Corrigan’s muscles tightened visibly. I cast an annoyed look at the Fae, who grinned unconcernedly back at me.
‘Aren’t we forgetting something?” asked Lucy, clearly wanting to change the subject very, very quickly.
Everyone turned to face her.
“There’s that Batibat thing as well. She’s still got to be hanging around here somewhere. How do we deal with her too?”
There was a small cough from behind. Aubrey was standing up, empty pizza box next to him and a smear of tomato sauce on his face that was unfortunately reminiscent of blood.
“I’ll keep an eye for her and sort her out if she gets involved,” he said.
I started. “Er, what?”
“I said, I’ll worry about her.” When he caught sight of the look on my face, his bottom lip pushed out stubbornly. “I used to be a master vampire, you know.”
“Yeah, but…”
“She likes men. I can get her to focus on me so you can focus on her boss.” He snapped his fingers. “Easy as pie.”
Wonders would never cease. Perhaps pizza had some miraculous curative properties of its own and Aubrey was beginning to get over his emotional issues and man up, as Mrs Alcoon might have tried to say. I gave him a small look of approval and his cheeks reddened slightly. Corrigan was staring at him as if he might squash him like he would a flea.
I turned the group’s attention back to me. “Excellent. So everyone knows what to do and where to go. Let’s get cracking.”
*
An hour later, I was getting impatient. There was still no sign of Beltran or any of the environmentalists, no word from Alex about the Batibat in London, and, in fact, no anything anywhere. The group had split up, each venturing off to their respective areas. Aubrey had settled back down, pulling out one of the vampire encyclopaedias that I’d brought along with me to pour over. His finger tracked through the words and he occasionally clucked in irritation to himself as he read something that displeased him. Corrigan, clearly still pissed off at the idiotic comment I’d made questioning his courage, had stalked off somewhere on his own, leaving me to sweep the area around where the ward had once stood. There were already signs that things were starting to return to normal. Birds were chirping above in the sky, and there was the occasional rustle in the undergrowth indicating some natural creature or other poking its way round to investigate. That, at least, was pleasing to hear, even if there was nothing to suggest there were any potentially endangered bats sleeping off the last few hours of daylight. So much for that idea for encouraging a bit of heated green campaigning then.
Blood Politics (Blood Destiny 4) Page 17