nancy werlocks diary s02e15

by dawson, julie ann

“Well, if I don’t talk to you before then, have a Happy Thanksgiving.”

  “You do the same. And…and do give Lucian my regards when you speak again.”

  I hang up with an all-too-familiar uneasy feeling that someone is not telling me something.

  Psych Evals

  November 11th,

  It is well after 10 PM when Palatine Christopher Ross knocks on the front door. Houston unlocks the door and lets him in.

  “Sorry I’m late, Doctor Werlock. As usual, some of the Bans don’t know when to shut up. Your apprentice, I presume?”

  “Yes, this is Houston. Houston, Palatine Ross of the Philadelphia Blood Court.”

  Houston squares his shoulders before shaking Chris’ hand. “I’ll be working on the inventory if you need me,” he says to me.

  “Don’t be silly. Go home,” I tell him. “There is nothing in the inventory room that can’t wait until morning.”

  “I am not leaving you alone with a vampire!” he thinks to me.

  “Go…home.”

  “But—”

  I point at the door.

  “Seriously? What if he attacks you?”

  “If he tries to attack me, I’ll set him on fire.”

  “But what if he has some weird mind control?”

  “I’m sure he does. If your mother couldn’t break me, a vampire isn’t going to.”

  “I’m not leaving. He thinks you’re hot. What would Lee think?”

  “Are you reading his surface thoughts?”

  “Of course!”

  “GO HOME!”

  The Palatine cocks an eyebrow at the two of us. I hold up my hands in apology. “I’m sorry, Chris. He’s—”

  “—Concerned that I’m going to eat you. I get it.” He places the file box on the counter and turns to Houston. “If it makes you feel any better, if I was going to kill her, I would have killed you first because I never leave witnesses.”

  “That…doesn’t make me feel better.”

  Chris looks at me and shrugs. “I tried.”

  “Go home, Houston. He’s worked with Steve and other Justicars in the past. I’ll be fine.”

  “Eric is at the house, so if something goes wrong we can be here in thirty seconds.”

  “I didn’t know he could teleport with others yet.”

  “He hasn’t actually done it yet, but Gregor’s been teaching him the theory.”

  “Yeah, just stay home.” The last thing I need is Eric practicing his mass teleportation with Houston and the two of them accidentally ending up in Guam or something.

  A few weeks ago, the Palatine of the regional vampire Blood Court asked me to review some files for him and provide psych evaluations. At the time, I was up to my armpits dealing with the entire drama with Vivika. But considering the generous compensation he was offering, I told him once I cleared some things out of the way I would help him.

  A Palatine is the vampire equivalent of a Justicar. They police vampire society and deal with potential breaches to the Veil. A few years ago, there was a massive near-breach when some vampire cult got the bright idea to reveal the truth about vampires to the world because they thought that was what God wanted. Apparently, they were wrong because God didn’t help them when the Blood Court put them down.

  I lead Chris into my office and he pulls the files out of the file box.

  “So, are you going to actually tell me what I should be looking for?” I ask as I sit down.

  “The Prince believes we need more eyes during the day. The situation a few years ago escalated quickly because we didn’t have people in place to actually see it. But he doesn’t want more ghouls. Maintaining too many ghouls becomes…problematic.”

  “I’m not a Necromancer, so I don’t really know what is involved in creating a ghoul beyond feeding a human vampire blood.”

  “That is the primary part of it. Obviously, we don’t replenish our own blood. So to feed our blood to humans requires first feeding ourselves. The more ghouls you need to maintain, the more blood you need to consume. Too many ghouls and you spend most of the night trying to feed yourself in order to maintain your ghouls, which defeats part of the purpose of having ghouls in the first place.”

  “That makes sense. But there is more to it.”

  “That’s the main part you need to be concerned with.”

  “You know, the more information I have, the more accurate the information I can give you.”

  “The Prince is already…displeased…that I’m bringing you in on this. He understands the necessity, but doesn’t want me revealing more than I need to”

  “Okay, now that the official disclaimer is out of the way, what else do I need to know?”

  Chris smiles sheepishly. “Steve warned me not to try to hide much from you.” He rubs his hands through his hair. “I suppose you could probably get the information out of the Necromancers, anyway. Ghouls are useful, but over time, the longer the average person is a ghoul, the less…independent they become. The bond creates a, how do I explain? Um…”

  “Co-dependent relationship?”

  “That is a good term. It can sometimes become crippling for a ghoul. They become so obsessed with keeping the master happy that they will go to great lengths to avoid anything that might be a disappointment. Even if that means telling the master what they think the master wants to hear instead of what the master needs to hear. And the truth is, too often the master just wants a compliance Yes-man, anyway. But for the current situation, we need people capable of thinking independently, who can make hard choices and won’t be handicapped by fear of upsetting their master.

  “At the same time, ghouls are easy to control, usually. They are aware of the supernatural world and aren’t going to themselves become potential risks. Not just because they don’t want to displease their masters, but also because they want to preserve their own power. I’m sure even a demonologist understands ghouls have a few perks over mundanes.”

  “So you need people to do the work of policing vampires who aren’t actually beholden to vampires.”

  “You understand this is a problematic situation.”

  “You’ve worked with Justicars in the past. Why not see about arranging a more permanent working relationship?”

  “Sharing information on a common enemy is one thing. But what do you think would happen the first time a Justicar kills a vampire on my authority, no matter how justified?”

  “A fair point. But a more formal, cooperative relationship would probably alleviate some issues.”

  “I don’t disagree. But getting the Blood Court to agree to anything is…let’s just that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

  “So the people involved in this are going to be given information on vampires, which makes them a risk by default. And what kind of authority are they going to have?”

  “At first, not much. Mostly basic investigation. Coordinating with contacts and accessing places that can only be handled during the day. Eventually, having a strike team that can move on rogue vampires when they are most vulnerable would be extremely useful.”

  “And something I suspect would make certain vampires very uncomfortable.”

  “Which brings up another problem. Without becoming a ghoul, these people aren’t going to have any particular protection from vampire abilities. They are just humans. Weak minds are susceptible to mind control. Even strong minds have a hard time resisting depending on the particular talents of the vampire. The last thing I need is to give a bunch of mortals weapons and knowledge about vampires, only to have them turned on me.”

  “Chris, I don’t know if I can really give you the type of eval you need just from reading files. Even if I could examine the subjects directly, that wouldn’t give you a guarantee that they would be strong-minded enough for what you are asking.”

  “I know, but I was hoping you could point me in the direction of someone who could. Help me narrow down the field, so to speak, and then refer me up the chain.”

  “Wait
a minute, what do you mean by ‘up the chain’?”

  “I know you aren’t a psion. But your apprentice is. And while I don’t make it a regular habit to get into the business of witches, it is hard for someone in my position not to come across certain information. I mean, his mother was a big deal at one time, right? Her name must be worth something leverage-wise.”

  I shouldn’t be surprised that Chris would know who Vivika was. I am relieved he doesn’t know what she was. “But I don’t understand what you expect the College of Psionics to do for you?”

  “I just figure a group of witches dedicated to psionic talents probably knows a thing or two about counting said talents.”

  “So you want me to do a preliminary evaluation to narrow the field of prospects, and get you a referral to a member of the College of Psionics with the hope that they can…provide some sort of immunity to mind control?”

  “Something like that.”

  “You know that would probably bite you in the ass at some point, right? Is the Prince even on board with having vampire-hunting humans running around with weapons of vampire destruction and immunity to mind control?”

  “I may have neglected to share that part of the plan with him.”

  “Great Arachne’s web!”

  “I’m aware of the risks. But I have a duty. You’re aware of what happened in Philly. If we had been ten minutes slower in responding, there would have been half a dozen breaches posted on YouTube. There were a hundred ways that could have gone sideways, and it is only dumb luck that prevented any of it. The Veil will never be torn on my watch.”

  “I think I know someone who could help you. In fact, if he can’t, I’m pretty certain nobody could. Give me a few days to go through the files and work up profiles. And talk to the person I have in mind. I want to make sure he is comfortable with me giving out his information before I share it.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  November 13th,

  I return from the grocery store to find the Lord Advocate of the Eighth of the Nine in my living room.

  He’s standing with his arms crossed near the sofa. Houston is seated on the sofa with his head looking up at the ceiling, a dishcloth held to his nose.

  “Nosebleed,” says Joshua Brynwolf as his nods his head toward Houston.

  “I…figured that? What happened?”

  “I’m good,” says Houston. He leans forward and shakes the cobwebs out of his head. “That hurt like Hell.”

  “I told you it would. But you’re stubborn, so…”

  Houston tries to stand up but sways for a second before sitting back down. “Can you help Nancy—”

  “Just sit, Houston. I’ll help Nancy with the groceries.”

  “What did you do to my apprentice?” I ask Joshua as he brings some of my groceries into the kitchen.

  “He was trying to poke around in my head to find out why I was here,” he says. “I told him to knock it off or he would get a crash course in Id Whip.”

  “Well, I’m curious why you are here. I thought you said you were gonna call me back to schedule an appointment at your office?”

  “I got your shop number mixed up with your home number. Houston answered. Said you’d be back soon. I figured I’d just swing over as I had time.”

  “And then the prodigal son in there tried to show off, and you showed him the error of his ways.”

  “Pretty much. I’ll go get the rest of your groceries. It’s the least I can do for temporarily disabling your apprentice.”

  “I’m not disabled!” shouts Houston from the living room. I then hear him mutter something about a freight train and Tylenol. By the time I get the groceries put away, he’s able to stand on his own without swaying like a drunkard.

  “You need to teach me that,” says Houston as he rubs his temples.

  “Lenora Gallant teaches Psionic Combat every third Tuesday at the academy. You can sign up.”

  Houston looks at me like a little kid about to ask permission for a sleepover.

  “I’m sure whatever time it is, Eric can cover for you,” I say.

  Houston goes upstairs to find some headache medicine and lie down.

  “You did a number on him,” I say while leading Joshua into the dining room so we can talk privately.

  “I wouldn’t tell him this, but Id Whip should have knocked him unconscious.”

  “Were you seriously trying to knock him stupid just for failing to pry around your thoughts?”

  “I needed to see something for myself. Him being, well, him was just an excuse.” Joshua sighs and sits at the kitchen table. “You remember Houston having a migraine at the Evocation Academy?”

  I had all but forgotten about the incident. Back in July, right after Houston had passed his Rank Five exam; he had suffered some sort of a headache that almost knocked him out. Dr. Parker had suggested that it had been a psionic attack, but with everything else that was going on it was a thread that got lost.

  “You didn’t need to come here to talk about the Palatine’s request. You came here to see Houston.”

  “Houston gave me permission to review his medical history. Dr. Parker is a brilliant necromancer, but there are things he wouldn’t see in a psion’s brain. We’ve suspected that Houston might actually be a hereditary witch. That scarring from his brain scans? He was psionically locked as a child. Vivika didn’t awaken him. She unlocked him.”

  “You had mentioned that suspicion before. Psions don’t have a big history of hereditary magic, so I take it proving this is a big deal.”

  “In normal circumstances, it would be more of a curiosity. I think it might have been Vivika that attacked Houston at the Academy. Either because she was testing him or maybe trying to re-lock him. But he was too strong even for his mother by that point.”

  “You sound concerned.”

  “Actually, just the opposite. I’m relieved he never trained under his mother. I hate to imagine how he might have turned out if he had been her apprentice instead of raised by his aunt. And I can only imagine what might have happened if he had been a psionic child of his capabilities with no training. He’s in good hands with you. Evocation training gives him the discipline he might not normally get if he exclusively studied psionics.”

  “There is a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

  “The only reason Vivika would have locked away his power would be to hide him from his father. Particularly if she suspected someone was on to her.”

  “You know he doesn’t really want to find his father.”

  “He says that. But in your professional opinion, do you really believe it?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I believe. What matters is that he needs to make that decision for himself. If we make it for him, he won’t respond well to it.”

  “I know. I just…wanted to let you know that he’ll have whatever support he needs from me. I feel responsible for him. I am the one who…you know.”

  “Fair enough. Can we talk about the Palatine’s request now?”

  “Give me the details.”

  I explain everything that Palatine Ross told me. I have only done a cursory read-through of the files he gave me to get a feel for what was needed. It will probably take me a week to really finish my review. If any of the potential candidates would qualify for this task force, the Palatine is looking for some sort of protection against mind control and other vampiric powers.

  “He’d have two choices: a talisman or psionic surgery,” says Joshua. “We have artificers that we work with to create talismans that protect against certain psionic powers. We mostly give them to mundane parents of psionic children. I’m sure you can imagine the difficulties those folks face! A lot of us also use them ourselves to supplement our own abilities. You know our powers pull from our own internal energies and it can be draining to constantly have to power wards. So we use the talismans as a general security system. They have the added bonus of also protect against a lot of abilities from the schools of enchantment, which ho
nestly more closely mimic vampire powers than ours. Crafting talismans are pricey, but I get the feeling money isn’t really the issue here. They would provide solid protection against both psionic and enchantment effects.”

  “Not sure how I feel about giving out a few dozen talismans that make humans immune to magic. These guys won’t be a threat to the Veil, but they could eventually become a threat to witches.”

  “You think like a Justicar. But I understand your point. Though in this case, I don’t think it is much of an issue. The artificers can build in a failsafe to deactivate the talismans if things went sideways. So that isn’t the big concern. The big concern is that such items would not be bound to the wearer. If it is lost, stolen, or given away, anyone could use them. And while it would protect the wearer from mental control, it could still be ripped off the wearer’s neck.”

  “And the psionic surgery? Is that what Vivika would have used to lock away Houston’s power?”

  “No, no. Psionic locks are rituals. There are a few psionic combat powers that can cause temporary locks, but they aren’t the same thing at all. Psionic surgery is a new field of study. It’s really only something that has been in development the last four or five years. Very dangerous. Very invasive. And highly controversial. The Eighth of the Nine hasn’t even authorized theory classes on it yet until we’ve established more protocols. There are only maybe a dozen people who even know the basic mechanics behind it. Fortunately for you, I happen to be one of them.”

  “So, is this actual real surgery? Cutting open the skull sort of thing?”

  He nods. “It requires both a skilled surgeon and a powerful psion, and at this time we don’t have anyone who is both. This means it also requires incredible coordination between the individuals involved in the procedure. The Eighth of the Nine has many concerns about this line of research. On the one hand, it has incredible potential. The possibility of actually curing diseases of the mind. Alzheimer’s. Dementia. Bipolar disorders. Particularly if we can get cross-discipline cooperation with necromancers or transmuters or even the technomancers involved in biological sciences. It can do an extraordinary amount of good. On the other, well, you know how this goes.”