Thaumatology 03 - Legacy

by Teasdale, Niall

  The crystal sphere mounted in the head of Ceri’s staff shone as she focussed her power through it. The blue enamel inlay set into the wood along the upper third of the shaft shimmered. ‘I don’t have time for this, Lil. I’m sorry, but… not here. You’re coming with me.’

  Lily’s eyes widened and her body stiffened. ‘No! Not that…’ There was the moment of resistance, the instant where the half-succubus’ spirit and soul fought against the spell Ceri was forcing on her. Lily was strong, and only half demon, but Ceri was stronger. Still, the sorceress had to look away as her pet demon looked up at her with hurt eyes. That was when she saw Sean standing behind her.

  ‘What d’ya think you’re doing, hufty?’ the fae asked, his accent a lot harsher than she remembered it.

  Ceri kept her eyes on him. ‘Lily, go outside. Carter and Alec are waiting for you there. Do what they tell you.’

  ‘I said,’ the bartender growled, ‘what d’ya…’

  ‘I heard you the first time.’ Lily was edging past and starting toward the pub’s door. ‘Since I have absolutely no reason to pay the slightest attention to you, I decided not to answer.’ She saw the spell beginning to build; the power lifting from his core toward his head. ‘And if you cast that spell I’ll bring this pile of crap down around your ears and burn the rubble to ash. Are we clear, Fairy?’

  Sean opened his mouth to reply, fury starting to show on his face, and then someone else spoke. The voice was soft, melodious, resonant; Ceri had no doubt that everyone in the room heard it, even though it was almost a whisper. ‘Let her go, Sean.’ There was no visible source for the voice, but whoever had spoken, she had a visible effect on the Sidhe. His face paled and he backed away, leaving Ceri to move as quickly and calmly as she could manage toward the door.

  Lily was in the back seat of the car and Alec in the driver’s seat when Ceri reached the top of the steps. Carter was waiting for her, a deep frown on his face. ‘You controlled her,’ he stated. His disapproval was obvious.

  ‘She’s not herself already. We need to get her home and she wasn’t going to come quietly.’

  ‘We don’t use…’ he began.

  ‘She says she’s killed someone, Carter,’ Ceri broke in, her voice quiet, but intense. ‘We need to get her somewhere quiet and see what actually happened before the Greycoats come looking for her. If there was another way I’d have taken it, but if she had stayed in there… There’s something in that place.’

  Carter glanced at the steps leading down to the Dubh Linn. Then he yanked the passenger door open and climbed in without a word, leaving Ceri to slip in beside Lily. The half-demon flinched as the staff was laid over her thighs. The only sound in the car was the hum of the engine as they pulled away, heading toward the river and home.

  Kennington

  ‘She’s asleep,’ Ceri said as she placed her staff back over the fireplace.

  ‘Another spell?’ Carter’s voice was sharp and Ceri struggled to avoid flinching at the accusation.

  ‘No, she settled down once she was in the cage. She’s scared.’

  ‘Her best friend used a spell to take control of her via her demonic side,’ the wizard snapped. ‘I’m not surprised…’

  ‘She went into the cage and locked the door herself,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s her safety blanket. She’s scared of herself. Again. She was winning, damn it! She had her demon under control and now she’s worse than ever.’

  ‘Did she say anything else about what happened?’ Twill asked calmly. The fairy seemed to be taking Ceri’s use of magic far better than Carter was. Ceri shook her head. ‘I believe then, you should get some sleep yourself. In the morning we’ll both talk to her.’

  ‘You’ll have to talk to the Greycoats soon as well,’ Alec pointed out.

  ‘I just want a chance to find out what happened before we have to do that.’ Ceri started for the study door. ‘I’m going to set up a bedroll in the dungeon. I don’t want her to be alone tonight.’

  She was out of the door and starting down when she heard Carter’s voice. ‘That’s a slippery slope she’s started on.’

  It was Alec who responded. ‘Go easy on her, Carter. It’s not easy when you love someone so much you’ll risk your own soul for them.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ the wizard replied, ‘but once you start…’

  Ceri heard nothing more. Biting back tears, she fled down the stairs into the hall and headed for the cellar.

  ~~~

  Chained to a stone altar, Ceri could do nothing as the faceless men took turns at her. Nothing aside from watching Lily. The half-succubus was locked in a cage where Ceri could see her, could not avoid seeing her. She cried and begged, her hands trying desperately to tear apart the thick, iron bars, to stop what was happening to her friend and lover. It was useless. There was nothing either of them could do.

  By now, the pain of what was being done to her body was nothing compared to the pain of watching Lily tearing herself apart in the cage. Ceri let out a moan as another man invaded her and Lily’s voice was there…

  ‘You’re dreaming, Ceri. Wake up.’

  Her eyes flying open, Ceri looked across the uneven stone floor of the dungeon to where Lily was sitting up in the cage. Her body was stiff, but she hauled herself upright. ‘I’m sorry, love, did I wake you?’

  Lily shook her head. ‘I was having my own nightmares.’ She looked down, away from Ceri. ‘You shouldn’t have come for me. You should have left me there.’

  ‘You know I couldn’t do that.’

  ‘You’re making yourself an accessory to murder, Ceri! And for what? A useless demon who can’t control…’

  ‘You’re not a demon! I don’t believe you killed someone.’

  ‘I woke up beside the body. I remember picking him up in the Dubh Linn and going to his flat. I remember fucking him until his heart gave out.’ Lil’s hand slammed into one of the bars. ‘The only thing stopping me doing the same to you is this cage!’

  ‘Bollocks,’ Ceri said flatly. She pulled herself out from under her blanket, lifting the cuff of her jeans on her right leg. The silver chain around her ankle glistened in the light from the overhead runes. She tugged at the chain, but it refused to move. ‘Remember what Twill said when she gave us these?’

  Lily looked down at her own leg. Her fingers were shaking as she took hold of the chain and tried to work the catch. It, too, refused to unlock. ‘They won’t come off as long as both of us are alive and the love remains.’

  Standing, Ceri walked over to the cage and unlocked the door. ‘I need to take a look in your head,’ she said. ‘I need to find out what happened and I can’t do that through those bars.’

  Lily swallowed. ‘All right, but you chain me.’

  ‘Lil, I…’

  ‘Please.’

  Ceri sighed and went to the shelves to get the shackles and the heavy, metal collar. ‘All right, just don’t think I’m doing this because I think I need to. Go and sit on the altar.’

  Lily did seem to relax once her wrists were connected to the collar, and her ankles were chained together. Ceri shook her head, but Lily said, ‘If you have to run, you’ll have a better chance with me like this.’

  Deciding not to argue, Ceri said, ‘All right. Now just hold still and don’t worry. I’m just going to prod around inside your head.’ She raised her hands, resting her fingertips on Lily’s forehead, and closed her eyes…

  Lily’s Memory, April 28th

  The night air was cool at four-fifteen in the morning, but Lily did not feel it. Her coat flapped in the light breeze, showing off her legs to anyone who might be happening past. And Ceri fought the urge to do up the extra buttons; it was not like she could change anything in the memory anyway. There was no one to see anyway, and no Ceri to go home to. For a brief second Lily entertained the thought of heading home via Battersea park. She grinned. Perhaps she could be discovered, walking alone through the dark trees. She had not had a good werewolf gangbang in months!

  No, Ceri w
as doing this for a good reason. They were not joined at the hip for widder’s sake! One or two nights without sex was not going to be fatal. She had gone weeks without before Ceri’s enchantments had been destroyed…

  She looked around. Stupid. Not paying attention. Someone could just…

  The Dubh Linn was as busy as it ever got. How did we get here? There were the usual reprobates; ronin werewolves, vampires, Unseelie fae, and the humans who were stupid enough to think hanging with them was cool. Well, no, a few of the humans here reeked of power and wanted more of it. As she looked around the room she could see… Oh my God! That’s what it’s like. …the vampire who had not fed in three days and wanted blood so badly he would kill for it. The necromancer in the corner who could care less for a beautiful woman, he wanted a rare book the fae he was talking to could get. The price was too high, but he would pay it.

  And there, sitting at the bar, was the man Lily was looking for. Well, any man would do, but that one was ripe for it. Broken hearted. A lost love. Desperate to connect. Desperate to know it was not him, that his ex had not left him because he was a useless, unemployed, unemployable, waste of space. Almost too easy.

  ‘Hi,’ he said as she walked up to him, ‘I’m…’

  ‘Hush.’ Her finger on his lips stopped him. ‘No need for names. I want you. Now. Do you live close by?’

  His apartment qualified as a bachelor flat; she doubted he had cleaned in a week and… How did we get here? This isn’t right, Lil. This is more like a dream than… He was not a particularly skilled lover either. No wonder the ex, whose picture he quickly turned face down as they walked into the bedroom, had left him. She had done most of the work. Feeding required her source of nourishment to reach a certain level of excitement. You couldn’t just jump in the sack and bump hips. Still, he was soon into it, letting her play. His groans and moans filled her ears as she worked methodically toward the point where his excitement peaked and she could start feeding…

  He was there, lying on his back, his face locked into a rictus grin of intense pain and exquisite pleasure in the same instant. His back, which had been arched off the bed a few hours ago when she had climbed off him, had relaxed back before rigor mortis had started to set in. She looked at him, nausea starting to set in. What had she done? What was Ceri going to think of her? How could she have fallen so far so quickly? Frantically she threw the sheets aside and rushed to where her dress was lying…

  Kennington, April 29th

  Ceri stepped back, shaking her head to clear her mind of the panic in Lily’s memories. ‘No,’ she said, ‘that was all just… wrong!’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Lily sounded utterly mortified, ashamed to the roots of her soul. ‘I don’t know why I did it. I just went out looking…’

  ‘No, Lil. You don’t understand. It was wrong. It didn’t fit together right.’

  ‘What? I remember picking him up, taking him home…’

  ‘No, you don’t. How did you get back to his place?’

  ‘We…’ Lily’s brow knitted. ‘We, uh… must have…’

  ‘No!’ Ceri snapped. ‘Really try to remember. No assumptions. No “must have’s.” Exactly how did you get there? What roads did you take?’

  ‘Well, on the way back…’

  ‘Precisely,’ Ceri said, cutting her off. ‘You remember it clearly from the moment you woke up, and from when you left the Dragon until suddenly you’re walking into the Dubh Linn. There’s no memory of getting there. I think someone wiped your memory and covered it up with false ones.’

  ‘Can you get the real ones back?’

  ‘Given time, yes.’

  ‘We don’t have time.’

  ‘Lil, if I do this wrong, it could damage your brain. You could lose parts of your mind, permanently.’

  Lily’s black eyes locked with Ceri’s blue ones. ‘Whatever you say, I remember killing a man. I won’t stay here knowing that. I have to give myself up before I get you in trouble.’

  Ceri swallowed. ‘Maybe… maybe if we try to uncover what happened right after you left the club that’ll be enough.’

  ‘Okay, but if it isn’t, you keep going, okay?’

  Rather than answering, Ceri stepped closer, reaching out again for Lily’s temples…

  Lily’s Memory, April 28th

  The night air was cool at four-fifteen in the morning, but Lily did not feel it. Her coat flapped in the light breeze, showing off her legs to anyone who might be happening past. There was no one to see anyway, and no Ceri to go home to. For a brief second Lily entertained the thought of heading home via Battersea park. She grinned. Perhaps she could be discovered, walking alone through the dark trees. She had not had a good werewolf gangbang in months!

  No, Ceri was doing this for a good reason. They were not joined at the hip, for widder’s sake! One or two nights without sex was not going to be fatal. She had gone weeks without before Ceri’s enchantments had been destroyed…

  She looked around. Stupid. Not paying attention. Someone could just walk up behind her and that would be all she wrote. Sure enough, there were two men in dark suits on the pavement opposite. They seemed not to be paying her any attention, however, and she turned back in time to see another figure appearing out of the shadows on Romilly Street. She saw his lips moving, his hand reaching out. Instinctively her defensive aura started to cut in, but it was too late. She felt drowsy, very drowsy, the green flares of light in the night sky dimmed…

  The Dubh Linn was as busy as it ever got.

  Stop! There. Do you see that?

  What?

  Your ankle…

  Kennington, April 29th

  ‘I wasn’t wearing the chain,’ Lily said.

  ‘No, Lil,’ Ceri said, ‘the person whose memories they transplanted into you wasn’t wearing the ankle chain.’

  ‘Okay…’

  ‘You’re not convinced, are you?’

  Lily shook her head, waves of chestnut hair shivering over her shoulders. It occurred to Ceri that Lily was still wearing her Jade Dragon dress. For the first time Ceri could remember since a week or two after moving in, Lily was dressed even though there were no strangers about to see her.

  Ceri focussed, her power swelling once more.

  Lily’s Memory

  The room had stone walls and a thick, iron door. As she sat up, Lily felt a metal collar shift around her neck. She was chained to the wall. But your ankle chain is there. This is what really happened.

  ‘Hi,’ he said as she walked up to him, ‘I’m…’ And it overlaps with the transplant…

  ‘Hush.’ Her finger on his lips stopped him. ‘No need for names. I want you. Now. Do you live close by?’

  The iron door opened and a man walked in. He was stooped, balding, with a long nose that made him look like a rat. Tanner! He stood in the doorway, watching her for a few seconds, his expression leering.

  ‘Who the hell are you? Where am I?’ Lily snapped.

  ‘I’d like to introduce myself properly,’ Tanner said, his voice a dull whine, ‘but I’m well aware of your power and I’m not stupid.’ His leer turned into a smirk. ‘The collar suppresses your auras. You can’t do anything to me from over there.’

  ‘Come closer, you ratty freak, and I’ll show you what I can do to you.’

  ‘I’m sure you would. Perhaps I should send your father in. That would be interesting to watch, he…’

  A voice cut him off in mid-stream, yelling from outside the room. ‘Tanner, you ingrate, get away from her!’

  Tanner turned, starting to pull back. ‘What? It’s not like she’s going to remember a thing that happens…’ And the rest was cut off as the door slammed shut behind him.

  Westminster, April 29th

  ‘Now do you believe me?’ Ceri asked. They had been at the Greycoats’ headquarters for over four hours trying to explain what had happened to the police and she was beginning to lose her temper. Lily seemed rather more resigned about it.

  The man they were having to convi
nce was Detective Chief Inspector Barry, Kate and John’s boss. He was ex-military from the cut of his blond hair, which might have been going grey - it was hard to tell. He had a bulky body which looked to be built of solid muscle, or possibly cinder blocks, and his nose suggested he had boxed in his younger years. His eyes, though, were the kind of icy blue which could cut through a criminal’s resolve with the tenacity of a diamond drill bit. He was a normal, and not an easy man to convince. Four different practitioners had been called in to go through Lily’s memories. All of them said there were definite signs of tampering, but he was still looking unconvinced.

  Barry glowered at Ceri, and then turned to look at John Radcliffe. ‘John, what’s your take?’

  The junior detective and his more junior partner had been out at the crime scene for most of the interview. They had returned to hear what the last of the forensics people had to say. ‘Honestly, Chief? I don’t see Miss Carpenter as a murderer. Not this kind of premeditated, cold-blooded act. She’s too passionate.’ He was being formal in front of his boss; Ceri almost found it amusing.

  ‘So she passionately killed the guy.’

  ‘Doesn’t fit, sir. I’m convinced it’s the same person who did this…’ He paused, flicking his notebook open and checking. ‘Adrian Nelson… same person killed him that we’ve been trying to nail the last week. Miss Carpenter has an alibi for all the other deaths. Pile on the evidence that her memory has been messed with, add in that her father is believed to be in town… Someone set her up to believe she’s responsible.’

  Barry growled something inaudible and probably obscene. ‘Why?’ he added.

  ‘That, sir,’ Kate said, ‘is a really good question.’

  ‘All right,’ Barry changed tack, ‘who’s this Tanner character?’

  Everyone looked at Ceri. ‘What do you know about the business with Remus last year?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ve read the reports,’ Barry replied. ‘There was a fair amount of material about what happened at Stonehenge that was classified by the Ministry. I know you two were involved in a lot of it.’

  Ceri nodded. ‘There were six wizards working with Remus.’