Thaumatology 03 - Legacy

by Teasdale, Niall

  ‘I recall mention of five bodies at the henge when the troops rolled in.’

  ‘Tanner was left at the camp, or sent home after his attempts to torture me failed.’ The DCI’s face darkened at the mention of torture; Ceri liked him for that. ‘Either way, he wasn’t there for the final ritual. I was told that his patron demon was some sort of Incubus Lord. He specialised in sensual magic, I guess. The spell he used on me induced the same sort of ecstatic effect Lily’s aura can do. It induced a surge in the Tantric Median which…’

  ‘I’m a Detective, Miss Brent,’ Barry interrupted. ‘My thaumatology theory is about as good as my tap dancing.’

  ‘Sorry. It’s an intense feeling of pleasure, like an orgasm, without some of the physical effects. It’s addictive if applied repeatedly. Magnus also intimated that Tanner was a big hit with the ladies, which is like saying the Elephant Man dated starlets. The other thing is that if his master is some high-ranking incubus, he could have learned Lily’s father’s true name. The name lets you summon the specific demon.’

  ‘And they would do that because?’

  ‘Well, it could be as simple as long term use,’ Ceri said.

  ‘He sired me because a half-human child gives him an anchor to this world,’ Lily explained. ‘So if they summon my Dad, he’s not subject to the usual limitations on staying here.’

  ‘There aren’t many half-succubi around,’ Ceri added. ‘There used to be more, but they tend to go off the rails. Lily’s the only one I’ve ever heard of.’

  ‘I don’t buy it, Chief,’ John said. ‘If it were just the murders… okay, but this last thing, trying to frame Miss Carpenter, trying to make her believe she was responsible. That’s personal.’

  ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, John,’ Barry said, ‘but you tend to be a little paranoid about supernaturals.’

  ‘I agree with him, sir,’ Kate said. ‘Ceri mentioned some people watching the Battersea pack. Alexandra was involved with the Remus incident as well, and Ceri’s an honorary member of that pack. The people she described sound like the people who assaulted Lily. It sounds to me like they’ve been planning to get to both of them since this started.’

  Barry ran his big hand over his face. ‘Sometimes I wonder why I got into supernatural cases. All right, the plan was to use Miss Carpenter to try to locate her father, right? Is that still the plan?’

  John nodded. ‘We’ve got the court order, we’ve got the team of diviners. We can go right now.’

  ‘I’m ready,’ Lily stated flatly. ‘The sooner we get this thing over with, the better.’

  Soho

  ‘They got nothing?’ Carter said.

  ‘There was a scrying block in place, according to the team,’ Ceri replied though it was a little muffled by her hands; her face was resting in them. ‘They got enough of a feel for Lily that they’re going to keep trying. The idea is that they might be able to located him when he goes out for his next victim.’ Partially, her posture was to avoid looking at Carter. He was still regarding her with the same disapproving expression. She was sat in his office, on one of the sofas. He had insisted on talking to them when they had arrived for work.

  ‘Are you all right, Lily?’ Now his tone was concerned, perhaps overly so. Ceri could not see what his expression was now, but she could guess; worry, concern, mostly for what Ceri had done. ‘I was surprised you came to work…’

  ‘Stop it,’ Lily said flatly. Ceri looked up to see the bemusement on Carter’s face; her own likely mirrored it. ‘We’re here because the police said I should be in places with as many witnesses as possible and Ceri would not let me come to work on my own.’ He opened his mouth to speak, but she kept going. ‘Twill told me all about your little discussion after you took me home last night. Well, thank you for your concern, but if Ceri hadn’t done what she did I’d be in prison and we would be none the wiser. You think she really wants to be here with you glaring at her all the time? She’s here to look after me, despite the fact that she’ll be miserable the whole time.’

  Ceri was expecting anger, but what she got was almost more frightening. Carter was silent for several seconds, and when he spoke his voice was quiet, almost too calm. ‘When I was younger, just out of university, I fell in with some… people with rather less morals than I hold myself to these days. I won’t say much about them because doing so would put all our lives in danger, but their practices involved a lot of demonology. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours that my first million came from a demonic pact. It’s not… entirely true.’

  ‘But you were pacted?’ Lily asked.

  He nodded. ‘I sought power and wealth, and I was willing to do more or less anything to get both. It took me over a decade, and a lot of very careful manoeuvring, to break free. Your parents, Ceri, regaining their friendship, even some of their trust, after that period helped me a lot. Then I ran into Lily and getting her back on her feet… Call it an act of redemption.’ He lifted his gaze toward Ceri, a weak smile forming on his lips. ‘It’s a little like giving up smoking and being a rampant anti-smoker, but the last thing I want to see you doing is ending up the way I did. Especially not when Lily is the victim.’

  ‘I don’t feel like a victim,’ Lily said. ‘Well, not Ceri’s victim. Someone did far worse to me than she did. When I get like that I’m my own worst enemy. The alternative would be knocking me out and carrying me home unconscious.’ She smirked. ‘I much prefer a little control to a load of bruises.’

  Carter managed a soft chuckle. ‘Yes, I’d imagine you would.’ He looked at Ceri for a few seconds. ‘My apologies, Ceridwyn. I overreacted and…’

  ‘You don’t need to apologise, Carter,’ Ceri said. ‘What I did was wrong.’ She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘If I had to do it again, I would, but it doesn’t make it right.’

  ‘Time for work,’ Lily stated. She prodded Carter’s arm with a finger. ‘You need to be the host and Ceri needs to turn on the charm. So the two of you need to pull yourselves together. I’m awesome, but I’m not going to carry the both of you!’

  Ceri looked up at Carter. ‘Just keep watching me,’ she said. ‘I might need reminding sometimes.’

  ‘I can do that,’ he replied. He gave her another weak, self-deprecating smile. ‘I’ll probably have trouble stopping myself.’

  ~~~

  ‘Anything special happening tomorrow night?’ Ceri asked. ‘Day before Beltane and all.’

  ‘Ah, yes,’ Carter said. ‘Sorry, I was intending to brief everyone before we opened tonight, but, well…’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, grinning slightly. ‘Best laid plans and all that.’

  ‘Quite. Well, All Hallows was a big success so I have Audrey coming in again. I’ll need everyone in two hours earlier to get painted up.’

  ‘Fair enough. What’s the theme?’

  ‘Well, it is a fire festival…’

  ‘Should be fun. And a change, though…’ Ceri gave a small grimace.

  ‘A problem, my dear?’ That felt good; she was back to being “my dear.”

  ‘Well, I was just starting to get used to the dress and now I’m going to be prancing around in a string and some paint.’

  ‘That sounds yummy,’ Lily commented. She placed her tray on the counter for Alec to clear and turned to lean against the bar beside Ceri.

  ‘You’ll be dressed the same,’ Carter pointed out.

  ‘Better and better.’

  Ceri giggled. ‘You’ll be in seventh heaven, the weather’s supposed to start picking up tomorrow. They’re forecasting a hot May.’

  ‘Well,’ Lily said, ‘I’ve had a couple of days of Hell, I think I deserve an evening of exhibitionism and at least a day of sunbathing.’

  ‘We’ll go up to the roof for sunrise,’ Ceri said. ‘My mother always did a little ritual up there when she was alive. Maybe it’s time to bring that back. She always said it brought luck.’

  ‘I think we could use some, yes. Oh, table sixteen, love.’


  Picking up her tray, Ceri gave Lily a little grin and headed for the table. It was occupied by a quartet of normals; two couples out for a Friday night on the town. Only one of them seemed to have had much contact with supernaturals before and they were utterly fascinated by the people around them.

  ‘You always seem to know when we need drinks,’ one of the women marvelled as Ceri picked their empty glasses up. Ceri just smiled at her.

  ‘A trade secret, I’m sure,’ her husband remarked. ‘Another four red wines?’ There were various nods.

  The other woman was looking fidgety and, when Ceri looked her way, she spoke. ‘I’m sorry to ask, but are you a fae or something?’

  ‘No, ma’am. No fae on the staff. I’m a practitioner, but just your normal human kind.’ Well, she thought, as far as I know I am. ‘Fae aren’t too common, to be honest. We have vampires and werewolves in. Alec the bartender is a werewolf, and you’ll have seen Lily. She’s the totally stunning waitress over there by the bar. She’s a half-succubus.’

  ‘Really?’ The woman’s eyes widened. ‘There have been all those news reports the last couple of days. The Sun had a front page article about a succubus killing people around the city.’

  Ceri’s stomach lurched. The press had got a hold of the story? ‘Ah well, The Sun is just sore that they’ve never got Lily on Page Three. I’ll get you those drinks.’ There was laughter from the table as she turned and headed for the bar.

  ‘They seem to be enjoying themselves,’ Carter commented as she walked up.

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri replied. ‘Another four red wines, Alec,’ she added and then turned back to Carter and Lily. ‘Did you know these murders had made it into the press?’

  ‘I was aware, yes,’ Carter replied. ‘No names were mentioned. Not even a “helping the police with their enquiries.” The Met was forced to issue a statement that they were looking for a succubus after someone leaked the story to The Sun. Just their kind of sensationalist crime. Sex and death in one bundle.’

  ‘Great,’ Ceri said.

  ‘If I’m not connected, what’s the problem?’ Lily said, shrugging.

  Ceri sighed and picked up her loaded tray. ‘Nothing, I hope.’

  Kennington, April 30th

  Almost as though the world were expecting the Beltane festival, the morning dawned warm and bright, but the best thing about it was that Ceri woke up with Lily’s arms around her waist. The half-succubus’ luscious body was snuggled firmly against her back and there had been no nightmares to disturb their rest. Then there was the moment where she felt Lily’s arms tighten slightly, her breasts swelling as they were squeezed between their two bodies, and there was the anticipation of what they would do next.

  Twill zipped into the room, a ball of angry red light, and suddenly the anticipated sex vanished. ‘There are three different groups of men outside,’ she said almost before she had resolved herself.

  Ceri blinked at her and Lily lifted her head to look over Ceri’s shoulder. ‘Men?’ the half-succubus said.

  ‘Well, actually, a couple are women and the others are men. They’re sitting in cars across the road. One of them snuck in the side gate and tried to look in the windows. They have cameras!’

  ‘Press,’ Ceri growled. ‘Just great.’ She climbed out of bed, and Lily’s arms, with a murderous look on her face.

  Sure enough, three pairs of people rushed out of cars parked on the other side of Saint Agnes Place as soon as Ceri walked out of the front door. One of the men raised a camera, the other two photographers appeared to be better briefed. They closed on the front gate as she walked up to it, yelling questions which she ignored until they stopped talking over each other.

  ‘So you guys are?’ she asked.

  ‘Daily Mail,’ one of the men said.

  ‘Sun.’

  ‘Wednesday Witch, Miss Brent,’ said one of the women. ‘We spoke briefly once after the T-Null discovery.’

  Ceri vaguely remembered her, but not her name. ‘And why have I got representatives of the Press on my doorstep?’ There was another clamour of voices. ‘You!’ Ceri snapped, pointing at the woman from The Wednesday Witch. ‘You answer, please.’

  ‘We’d like to talk to Miss Carpenter. Uh, regarding the recent deaths. We understand that you went to Greycoat Street yesterday.’

  Ceri sucked on her teeth. ‘Right. Well, Miss Carpenter isn’t going to be talking to you and I have no comment.’ She waited until they stopped talking again before going on. ‘Live with it,’ she said and turned on her heel to walk back. After two paces she stopped and looked back at them. ‘Oh, and if one of you should decide to come onto the grounds again, I will know and I will exercise my right to defend my property by freezing that person on the spot and prosecuting them for trespass.’

  The reporter from The Sun waved something at her. He looked a little embarrassed so she walked back and he handed her an envelope. ‘My editor said I should give you that,’ he said. ‘Uh, it’s nothing to do with me, I do crime reporting.’

  Ceri took the envelope. ‘As long as there are tits involved?’ she asked. Turning without waiting for a reply, she walked back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

  ‘What do they want?’ Lily asked.

  ‘You,’ Ceri replied. She walked over to where Lily was sitting on the stairs and handed her the envelope. ‘One of them gave me this for you. There’s no magic.’

  Frowning, Lily slit the envelope open with one of her perfect nails and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She read it and then started to giggle. Ceri and Twill looked at her as though she had gone funny. ‘They want to know whether I’d be willing to sit for a Page Three shoot.’

  ~~~

  ‘Police continue their search for the unknown woman responsible for the deaths of seven men.’ The newsreader on the TV delivered the line in a distinctly matter of fact tone, as befitted the British Broadcasting Company’s lunchtime news broadcast. ‘Confirmation that a succubus may be involved was issued yesterday following leaked reports to The Sun newspaper. Police have requested that men avoid picking up single women, particularly in pubs or bars frequented by supernatural entities.’

  ‘Like that’s going to work,’ Lily commented.

  ‘At this time,’ the announcer continued, ‘a spokesperson from Greycoat Street has indicated that there are no suspects. The last victim, Allan Tebbit, an unemployed shop worker from Hackney, was found by police following a tip-off.’

  Ceri lifted the remote and stabbed the off button. ‘You know, I’m seriously considering cancelling the Wednesday Witch subscription.’

  ‘You’d never survive without the gossip column,’ Lily said. ‘Besides, they’re just doing their job. I think, if I end up actually doing an interview, I’ll give it to them.’

  Ceri smirked. ‘What about the offer from The Sun?’

  ‘Nope. I’m holding out for Supernatural Stunners or Taboo Nights. If I’m taking my clothes off for a camera again, I’m doing it for proper money and in a magazine with some class.’

  ‘Class? Supernatural Stunners?’

  ‘It’s… kind of classy.’ Lily clearly decided that a deft change of subject was required. ‘How are we going to get out past the hounds?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh, that’s easy. I’ve seen Twill turn invisible enough times. We’ll just walk out the door. We’d better warn Carter though. They’ll know we work at the Dragon and they’re bound to try something.’

  Lily giggled. ‘Not inside. Carter makes sure any celebrities who come to the club have their privacy while there. Cameras aren’t allowed in. If a reporter tries to ask anyone questions in there, they get asked to leave.’

  ‘Asked?’

  ‘Alec does the asking.’

  ‘Ah, right.’ Alec could look pretty imposing when he wanted to. Not that it worked on people who really knew him, but Ceri had no doubt it would work on a reporter. ‘Okay, you give Carter a call, I’m going to check the candles and stuff for the ritual tomorrow morning.’


  ‘You’re still going to do that?’

  ‘Uh-huh. We’ll be on the roof so no one will be able to see us and anyway, if they’re willing to stay up until dawn, I say they deserve to hear me.’

  Soho

  There were, in fact, more than the usual supply of photographers and other press hopefuls hanging around outside the Jade Dragon, but then there were more than the usual supply of celebrities on the inside. Everyone knew that the two big festivals, Beltane and Samhain, were noteworthy events at the club and that Carter pushed the boat out a little for them, and that always attracted a crowd of big names.

  The press were, however, to be disappointed. Generally one of the waitresses would come out to the entrance lectern to seat customers. With a long lens, the photographers might have got a snap of Lily or Ceri that way. Tonight, however, Carter did all the greeting, though if anyone had asked he would have said it was because of the costumes the girls were wearing.

  Ceri was certainly happy not to be out in public view. Audrey, the make-up girl Carter employed for such occasions, had done each girl the same. A base coat of red covered their legs and bodies as far as their breasts, and then yellow had been added and blended in to give a flame effect rising from their feet. Once she had got over the fact that she was walking around in a tiny red G-string and red high-heels, Ceri had decided she rather liked her “outfit,” but there was no way she wanted to be seen outside the club that way.

  As it was, she was a tiny bit mortified to discover John Radcliffe and his wife Lorna sitting at the bar when she returned from delivering drinks to one of her tables. He was in a suit, with a bow tie, while she was dressed in a stunning black gown with a side split which ran up to her hip. The black set off her pale, vampire complexion beautifully, and her seat on a stool allowed the side split to show off shapely legs.

  ‘John,’ Ceri said as she put her tray down, ‘Lorna. Beautiful dress there. Really works for you.’

  ‘Thanks,’ the vampire replied. Her smile was wide enough to show her fangs. ‘That’s a beautiful… paint job.’

  ‘Yeah, well, all part of the job. What brings you here?’