‘My wife is assisting me in some undercover work,’ John replied.
Ceri frowned. ‘Oh?’
‘It’s the only way he could get past the reporters to see you and Lily,’ Lorna said. ‘Not that I mind being taken out on a Saturday night anyway.’
‘As it was, we got ambushed outside the door,’ the detective said, rolling his eyes, ‘but I just said I was off duty and escorting my wife on a night out.’
Ceri was impressed. ‘You know, I’d never have thought you were that sneaky.’
‘I have my moments. We got a lead on Lily’s father. The Chief asked that I keep you informed and, uh, check there were no problems with Lily.’
‘She’s been fine.’ Ceri felt the tingling sensation in her scalp which meant Lily was close by and turned. ‘Haven’t you, love?’
Lily grinned. ‘I’ll be happier when I don’t get dragged out of bed before nookie by an angry fairy, but yeah.’
‘Well,’ John said, ‘the scrying team picked up your father outside a gentleman’s club in Mayfair. It’s not too far from the Dubh Linn. Current theory is that he was feeding on one of the members, but no one’s reported a body yet. We know they have private rooms there, it could be a day or so before anyone’s found, even assuming there’s someone to find. He went to a rented house in Islington and stayed there. We’ve got the place staked out.’
Carter had been listening quietly beside them, his eyes wandering from the door to the room periodically. ‘Which one?’ he asked. ‘The gentleman’s club, what was its name?’
‘Uh…’ John reached into his jacket and pulled out his notepad. Ceri wondered whether he slept with it. ‘The Archmage Club. Do you know it?’
‘By reputation,’ Carter replied.
‘Are you going to go in after him?’ Lily asked. ‘My Dad.’
‘We’d like to see if anyone else is in there first,’ John replied. ‘If we’re lucky, we can get the summoner too. The place is blocked though, the scryers can’t see inside, so it’s down to old fashioned police work.’
‘That sucks,’ Lily said.
‘He loves it,’ Lorna said, giggling. ‘Just an old fashioned cop, my husband.’ She took a sip of her drink and licked her lips. ‘What’s this one again, Alec? It’s gorgeous.’
‘It’s called Death in the Morning,’ the bartender replied. ‘Absinthe, Syn, and champagne. Sophisticated drink for a sophisticated lady.’
The vampire smiled at her husband. ‘Couple of these and you can forget the “lady” part.’ Ceri saw John’s cheeks colour and, not for the first time, wondered about the couple’s relationship. Both of them needed a couple of drinks in them to come out of their shells, though Lorna seemed more aware of that than John and actively went for it. Lorna wanted to be a little wild, John went along with it because he loved his wife. One day Ceri was going to have to discover how Lorna had become a vampire.
‘You’re doing good business tonight,’ John commented to cover his slight embarrassment.
‘We always do something special for Beltane,’ Carter said. ‘That pulls in the celebrities, and they pull in everyone else.’
‘The table decorations are quite something,’ Lorna said.
Carter smiled. ‘I have to use my magic for something.’ In the middle of each table, a column of illusory flame reached upward to the ceiling. ‘And despite what you might hear, my ability to attract young women is pure charm.’
‘What are you going to do tonight, boss?’ Lily said, smirking slightly. ‘If you’re watching the door you’ll not have time to pick up a new one.’
‘Don’t you worry about my love life, young lady,’ the bar owner replied, ‘I have everything covered.’ He glanced at his watch and then at the door. ‘In fact, here she is now?’
Ceri looked around and grinned. Cheryl looked absolutely stunning dressed in a long gown which hugged her figure tightly and was studded all over with flecks of something which caught the light as she moved. Spotting Carter and the others she walked straight over, leaning forward on her four-inch sling-backs to give him a kiss on the cheek. Close up, Ceri could see that the dress was just a little translucent in the right light, and it looked like it had cost a fortune.
‘Thank you for the dress,’ Cheryl said to Carter, confirming what Ceri had suspected. ‘It’s gorgeous.’ She grinned a little sheepishly. ‘Of course, if you hadn’t told me what Ceri and Lily would be wearing tonight I doubt I’d have had the courage to wear it.’
‘You look… edible, Cheryl,’ Lily said.
The doctor’s cheeks flushed. ‘There were a lot of camera flashes as I walked in. I think they thought I was someone famous.’
Carter leaned over and returned the kiss, his lips lingering slightly on her cheek. ‘You are famous, dear. Perhaps in a different circle to the one they were thinking of, but I’d imagine there isn’t a thaumatologist who doesn’t know your name.’
‘Ah, but my student surpasses me. There likely isn’t a thaumatologist or cryptozoologist who doesn’t know Ceri’s name.’
‘Ah yes,’ Carter replied, ‘but young Ceridwyn is such an innocent, unassuming thing. You’d never see her in a dress like that.’
Everyone looked at Ceri. Her cheeks matched her paintwork.
May 1st
‘What’s it looking like outside?’ Carter asked as Alec returned from locking the main doors of the club and lowering the heavy, silver-iron shielded shutter.
‘Most of them have gone, but there’s a fair contingent who look like they’re positioning themselves to cover the staff exit as well as the main one.’ The big man walked around the bar and began work on the till reconciliation.
Carter looked around to where Ceri and Lily were clearing the last glasses. ‘You two would likely be advised to use the other door.’
Ceri looked up and blinked at him. ‘The “other” door?’
‘Lily knows the way,’ Carter replied. ‘Can I have a word?’ Raising an eyebrow, Ceri walked over to where he was standing at the end of the bar. He lowered his voice, looking a little uncomfortable. ‘The club Detective Radcliffe mentioned…’
‘The Archmage Club, wasn’t it?’ Ceri asked. ‘Sounds like a one of those smoky, Victorian-style places when men in suits discussing share prices and reading The Times.’
‘Superficially, yes,’ he replied. ‘You’ll recall I mentioned falling in with the wrong sort of people after Cambridge? They established the Archmage Club as their London presence in the late eighties. It’s unlikely that Lily’s father was there for food.’
‘Shouldn’t you mention something to the cops?’ Ceri asked, frowning.
‘I can’t. One of the terms of my escape from the group was an Oath. I can’t talk to anyone about them who doesn’t already know. I’m side-stepping that because you’ve already met them. And you’ll notice I’ve never told you what they’re called?’
‘Yeah, I had. So these were the wizards who were helping Remus,’ Ceri said.
Carter nodded in reply. ‘They’re dangerous, Ceridwyn. They have their fingers in a lot of pies. Keep away from the Archmage Club.’
Ceri nodded slowly. ‘Okay, but you realise that means Tanner is one of them? This whole business with Lily is likely their doing.’
Cheryl emerged from the back where she had been checking her make-up. Carter nodded to Ceri. ‘I’ll see if I can make some enquiries.’ His voice rose and returned to its normal, mellow self. ‘Cheryl, my dear, Alec has gracefully elected to finish up here for me. Would you care to join me in running interference for Ceri and Lily?’
‘That sounds exciting,’ Cheryl said.
‘It does mean that you’re finally going to get your name in the gossip columns.’
Lily walked over with a last tray of glasses, putting it down for Alec to clear later. ‘They really will think you’re slowing down,’ she commented. ‘No offence, Cheryl, but you’re a decade older than his usual conquests.’ She smiled and patted the doctor’s behind. ‘Not that you look your
age, especially in that dress.’ He tongue slid playfully over her lips.
Carter gave Lily a mock-scowl. ‘Ceridwyn, would you mind taking your pet home with you before she steals my girlfriend?’
Grinning, Lily headed for the back rooms, waving for Ceri to follow. They stopped off in the staff locker room to pick up their coats and then Lily led the way to the cellar. ‘We use this when one of the customers really needs to avoid the Press Pack,’ she said as they descended the steps. ‘It’s one way. The doors only open from inside the club.’
They walked past crates of beer bottles, palettes of soft drink tins, and then racks of wine bottles, following the cellar through all the way to the back where a large, iron door was mounted into the brick wall on a heavy frame. Lily pushed a big, red button beside the door and Ceri heard the locks disengage. Beyond it was a brick-walled tunnel which, Ceri guessed, ran roughly along the line of Dean Street. Stepping through, Lily waited for Ceri, made sure the door had locked closed, and then turned left.
‘You know,’ Lily commented idly, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard Carter refer to anyone as his girlfriend before.’
‘Maybe he’s growing up,’ Ceri suggested. There was not much light in the tunnel; a rune in the ceiling gave dim light ever twenty yards or so. Walking down it in heels was not that easy and after a minute Ceri summoned up a ball of light which floated along beside them.
Lily grinned. ‘Useful.’
‘I can be. Did Carter build this?’
‘Oh no. He had some people go through it and make sure it was sound, put in the doors and sealed off a couple of other ways in. You can get down here from the Collar Club too. Alec thinks it was put in for smuggling, or some other illegal purpose. It comes out in an alley off Lisle Street.’
Ceri grinned. ‘Useful.’
Lily giggled. ‘If I didn’t want to keep our costumes pretty for your ritual, this place is kind of awesome for making out in.’
Ceri giggled in return. ‘One track mind.’
‘Oh, totally.’
Kennington
The sky was a pale blue in the east, shading to midnight-blue in the west, as they climbed out onto the roof of High Towers. Ceri shivered in the cold air and cast a warming spell on herself as soon as she was able. Frankly, it was a bit loony standing on a rooftop just before sunrise wearing nothing but a thong and some high-heels, but at least she had the means to keep the cold out.
‘I estimate we have about five minutes,’ Lily said looking at the sky. About the most notable things off in the direction of the dawn were the tower blocks of the Brandon Estate, but even if someone over there were up at this hour they would have needed a telescope to see the two near-naked women on the roof of the building.
‘Let’s get set up then,’ Ceri said. ‘Four candles around us, at the compass points.’ Lily took the two she was holding and placed one to the north, a second to the west. Ceri placed hers at south and east, and then checked the alignments. ‘Good. Now the runes…’ She laid them out in salt, four simple runes representing the four elements, each one beside a candle. She straightened up after finishing the last.
‘What now?’ Lily asked.
‘Come stand beside me.’
‘I won’t interfere?’
Ceri smiled. ‘I want you here with me. Mum always did it with Dad standing with her. She said it was a fertility rite and having the one you loved with you was only appropriate.’ Her Sight opened up, taking in the streams and flows of energy. In the east a boiling mass marked the point where the sun would edge over the horizon. It was time. ‘Just keep still,’ she said, ‘and enjoy it.’
Ceri raised her arms. ‘Earth,’ she said, and the northern rune glowed a bright white, ‘air, fire, water.’ As she named the runes, they glowed in turn, going clockwise around the circle. ‘The elements surround us. The elements protect us. The elements are us. We who stand before the coming fire do so in love.’ Her Sight showed her the sudden flare of energy breaking over the horizon; another few seconds and the light would follow. ‘Let this flame be the guide.’ A flick of her wrists and the candles burst into flame. ‘Let the Eternal Fire come once more!’
A spark of light appeared over the horizon; a tiny star at first, becoming quickly brighter as more of the disk rose above the skyline. Around them, the candle flames rose higher as though trying to reach for the bigger fire in the sky, and energy blazed through Ceri standing at the core of the ritual. She heard Lily’s gasp and struggled to continue the words. ‘B-blessed be the L-light Eternal. Bathe us in thine glorious heat.’ It felt as though the flames painted onto her body had become real and she realised why her mother had never bothered with warming spells before performing the rite. ‘B-bless us with the p-power to bring your light to the world.’ The heat seemed to be concentrating, narrowing to a thread within her. ‘Allow us t-to celebrate the glory of this day in thine name.’
Ceri lowered her arms and turned toward Lily. The half-succubus was panting, her fists clenching convulsively. Their lips met and Lily’s body stiffened as the power flowed through Ceri and into her lover. Ceri’s head felt full of cotton wool. It was like a drug; a succubus addiction on steroids. She wanted Lily more than she had ever wanted anything before, and from the way Lily was kissing her, the feeling was mutual.
‘Sh-shower,’ Ceri managed to get out. The candles had died around them and the sunlight was growing brighter by the second. They ignored all of it, stumbling down into the attic, almost falling on the stairs down to the top landing. One of them turned the water on, Ceri was not sure who, and they stood under it, the hot water slowly washing away the paint. Neither girl noticed, they were far too interested in each other. Gasps and moans accompanied roaming hands. Their tongues curled together, lips meeting hungrily.
Lily broke the kiss and turned Ceri around to let the water run over her breasts and stomach. Hands incidentally washed away the last of the paint as they roamed, finding their way under the little red G-string, and Ceri let out an almost animal groan as fingers curled inside her. She reached behind her, returning the favour to Lily, and the moan she heard was entirely animal.
‘Need you,’ Lily growled. ‘Now!’
Somehow they made it to the bedroom and fell, still wet, onto the covers. Ceri let out a laugh of pure glee. Lily’s head was between her legs before she could even consider anything else, her hot, probing tongue lapping hungrily. Ceri felt the beginnings of her orgasm and her fingers gripped Lily’s hair as her back began to arch.
‘Can’t…’ Ceri groaned. ‘Coming…’ Time seemed to stand still. Her body was burning in the heat of intense pleasure. Breath came in quick pants as wave after wave of sensation washed up from her groin to her brain. Her body began to shudder in time to the waves of pleasure, and it had never gone on so long before, and she was dying in the flames, and her entire body was nothing but a lightning rod for the electricity burning through her, and it was never going to stop, and Lily kept on and on, and Ceri began to feel that she really would die of sheer pleasure…
There was a final, shuddering flash of cataclysmic sensation and Ceri cried out, ‘Lily!’ Then the world faded into darkness.
~~~
Every muscle in her body ached like she had been beaten with sticks. Groaning, Ceri struggled into a sitting position on the side of the bed. ‘What the Hell did you do to me, Lil?’ But Lily was not there to answer. Ceri frowned, but her aching body needed some relief so she headed to the shower to let the hot water ease her muscles. Lily was likely in the kitchen with a coffee.
Lily was not in the kitchen, with or without a coffee. Twill was. ‘Morning, Twill,’ Ceri said as she poured herself a coffee. ‘Where’s Lily?’
The fairy paused in mid-air as though considering and then said, ‘She’s in the dungeon.’ Ceri’s frown returned and she put the mug down, starting for the door. ‘Wait,’ Twill said, ‘there’s a letter for you on the floor in the hall.’
Ceri paused in the doorway. ‘Take it to the stud
y for me, would you? I need to see what’s up with Lil.’
‘I’m not touching it, Ceri,’ Twill replied. ‘It stinks of demon.’
Her frown deepening, Ceri went out to the hall, opening the inner door. Sure enough there was a white envelope on the floor under the letterbox. Her Sight suggested there was nothing magical about it; it might smell of demons to Twill, but it showed no signs of demonic magic. Dropping to one knee, she picked up the envelope, turning it over. There seemed nothing strange about it, though the handwriting was a little oddly formed, as though the author was not used to using a pen. Sure enough, it was addressed to her. Taking a breath, she tore the envelope open.
There was a single sheet of folded paper inside with the same, slightly stiff handwriting on it. A demon bound may not harm its binder, she read. No demon may have more than one master, or Mistress. The ties that bind a half-demon to its parent can only be broken by another binding. There was a glyph of some sort marked under the text. Ceri did not recognise it, but she got the feeling it was a personal rune.
Well, Twill would go wiggy if she left the letter somewhere. Standing up, Ceri took it with her as she went down to the cellar.
She found Lily locked in the cage. She was sitting in the middle of it, her knees pulled up to her chin, but there was a look of relief on her face when she saw Ceri. ‘Lil,’ Ceri said, ‘why are you in there?’
‘I… I couldn’t stop,’ Lily said. ‘I was worried I’d killed you.’ She began to speak in a rush, the words tumbling over each other in a hurry to get out. ‘I was so wound up but it was so good and I was feeding like always and you were really enjoying it and it felt so good and I could feel him encouraging me and the more I fed the more he felt good and I felt good and wanted more and…’
‘Lily!’ Ceri snapped and the half-succubus broke off, looking at her like a frightened deer. ‘Slow down, I got about half of that. You didn’t kill me. I admit I woke up feeling like I’d done the SAS assault course in record time, but I’m okay.’
‘This time,’ Lily replied more calmly, but still with a heavy hint of anxiety. ‘The longer he’s here, the worse it gets. I thought I’d got it under control, but it’s just that we haven’t had sex in a couple of days. As soon as I start feeding, it starts again.’ She put her chin back on her knees. ‘I should leave, or keep myself locked up. Don’t you dare let me out.’
Thaumatology 03 - Legacy Page 14