The old werewolf smiled, wolfishly. ‘There’s a tattoo forming under your skin,’ she said. ‘I can’t quite see what it is yet, but I can guess. I think you can too.’
‘A dragon,’ Ceri said. Alexandra nodded. ‘They marked me somehow.’
‘Or you did yourself,’ Alexandra suggested. ‘Some manifestation of your own nature.’
‘I’d have put it somewhere I could see it,’ Ceri replied. ‘I hope it at least looks nice.’
‘You’re taking it remarkably well,’ Alexandra commented.
‘I wore tattoos for a long time. It’s nothing new. I may wig out later.’
Her Alpha smiled. ‘Always wig out in private. Preserve your mystique. You do seem to be more… well, more.’
Ceri laughed. ‘That’s how Lily said she felt. More her.’
‘You’ve allowed her greater access to her demon side?’
‘Yeah, I guess.’ Ceri frowned slightly. ‘I think it’s more that she’s more aware of it. She’s certainly enjoying it and I’m seeing no signs that it’s adversely affecting her behaviour.’
Alexandra nodded as though expecting that. ‘So, you’ve uncovered the Sleeper and the Teacher. The King is buried under Stonehenge. What of the Queen?’
‘According to Athro, she doesn’t stray outside her stronghold.’ Ceri took her cue from Alexandra; there were likely agents listening to them and giving real names would be unwise.
Alexandra’s expression was one Ceri had not seen before, worried confusion. ‘I’m losing sight of the future, Ceri. I see fragments. You’ll be meeting the Queen sometime soon. I don’t know where, or when… or why.’
Ceri’s gaze was steady, appraising. ‘Your vision doesn’t extend past choices,’ she said. ‘Important ones.’
Alexandra nodded. ‘But normally I can see up to the point where the decision must be made, even if I can’t determine what that decision is based upon or who is making it.’
‘But now it’s all fragments? Like the pieces aren’t in place yet. There are too many choices and only some small fragments are inevitable.’
‘Interesting. Yes, that might explain it.’
‘Quantum mechanics,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, Chaos Theorem. Some systems have wildly divergent outcomes from what appears to be the same beginnings. Tiny variations in the input parameters have huge effects which we can’t see until they happen. The weather, for example. That’s why diviners are so much more effective than mathematics. They can get a good perception of the whole atmosphere and we could never get that kind of information from ground sensors. You’re missing information from too many sources. Too many people don’t even know they’re going to have to make a decision yet.’ She stopped, realising she was going off on a tangent to avoid the impact of what Alexandra was telling her. ‘Something big and probably nasty is going to happen.’
Alexandra smiled bleakly. ‘As you are wont to say, nothing ominous at all.’
July 21st
Ceri lay in the crook of Michael’s arm, her muzzle resting against his neck. The moon was waning and the werewolves of Battersea pack were relaxed, which often meant that the couple just lay together under the tree where Ceri hid her clothes before she left him for the night.
Mate in danger. Michael’s rumble of sound broke a silence which had been going on for several minutes.
Ceri yipped an up-beat reply; When me not?
Michael’s reply was a sound like a chuckle, if a wolf could chuckle. Mate stay safe. Mate protect self. Me protect Mate.
Me safe. Ceri raised her muzzle, rubbing it against his jaw. Mate not worry.
There was another long rumble, but all Michael really said was, Me always worry. He glanced upward at the sky. Time you go own territory.
Nodding, Ceri lifted to her feet, her hand reaching to her collar. A second later she was able to speak normally. ‘You shouldn’t worry, y’know? I can take care of myself.’
Michael reached behind him and pulled her bag out of the tree, handing it to her. Man scent on bag, he growled, managing to get resignation into the sounds.
‘I can take care of myself with a little help from my friends,’ Ceri corrected. She opened her bag and cast a spell to detect devices before pulling three bugs off the bag and her clothes. She sighed. ‘You’d think they’d be bright enough to figure I could spot these.’
Michael rolled his amber eyes; apparently he would not have thought that. He watched her dressing in jeans and a T-shirt, seeming to take almost as much pleasure in that as he did when she undressed. Ceri suspected he just like watching her; she knew Lily did. He stood as she finished putting her trainers on and his muzzle rubbed against her cheek.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she breathed, before turning and heading off through the trees. The two agents watching her were trying to look like they were not watching her, but she made that difficult by walking straight up to the nearest of them and holding out her hand. The man looked at her as though she had just flashed him or something, but he put out his own hand so that she could drop the bugs into his palm. ‘I realise that it’s your job, and I realise there’s nothing I can do to persuade your bosses to quit this, but if you try that again I’ll start putting security enchantments on the bag.’
There was a flicker of annoyance across the agent’s face, but the two of them just watched as she walked off toward Kennington.
Soho, July 22nd
There was something odd about table twenty. Whenever Desmond Wren came into the Dragon, Carter placed him away from Ceri and Lily, but it did not stop the man eyeing Ceri like a threat. She was used to that and it no longer bothered her. In fact it rather amused her since she was planning to do nothing and he could not do anything.
His girlfriend was different. Not just in the sense that she might do something foolish, but that she was… different. Every time Ceri had seen her before she had had empty, soulless eyes. Now there was a sparkle which had not been there before, but it was not a nice sparkle.
It was not until Tess took her break that Ceri got close to them, however. She smiled as she walked up to the table, but her Sight was working at full strength. ‘Can I get you something?’ she asked, her gaze taking in both of the people at the table.
‘Two glasses of whiskey,’ Wren said. The look he gave her was pure acid; she ignored him. His Chakral Median showed the same dark streaks it always had; he was not working more magic, not becoming more corrupted than he had been the first time she had seen him.
The girl, however, seemed to have developed a soul. Where the bridge between her two Anahata nodes had been entirely missing before, now there was a dark band where her soul should have been. ‘Of course,’ Ceri said, turning on her heel and strutting back toward the bar. She was pretty sure the girl had not drunk whiskey before either.
‘Two whiskies, Alec,’ she said before turning and leaning against the counter.
‘Wren his usual self?’ Carter asked.
‘Uh-huh. I think he knows I’m holding his career as assurance for my safety.’
‘He probably does, yes.’ There was a hint of amusement in the club owner’s voice which made Ceri grin.
‘His girlfriend though, she’s changed. She’s got a soul, though I don’t think it’s hers.’
‘I’ve never heard of an Oblivion user growing their soul back,’ Lily said. ‘Then again, we don’t know that’s how she lost it.’
‘That would explain it then,’ Carter said. Both girls looked at him. ‘She felt… odd,’ he said. ‘I suspect someone’s taken possession of the empty vessel.’
‘She’s possessed?’ Lily said.
‘Makes sense of what I see,’ Ceri replied. ‘The question is, by what?’
Alec put two tumblers of whiskey on Ceri’s tray. ‘I doubt it’s anything good,’ he said.
July 23rd
The night sky was clear aside from the flickers of blue and green from the Northern Lights. Soon the light would appear on the eastern horizon, banishing the night; Ceri figu
red they would be going to sleep in daylight, especially since they hardly ever went straight to sleep.
Except that Lily seemed a little jumpy as they walked down Dean Street toward the tube station. ‘What’s up?’ Ceri asked after a few minutes of watching her pet twitching at every shadow.
‘I sense magic,’ Lily said.
‘Me?’ Ceri said. ‘Or Bill and Ben back there?’ She meant the two MI5 agents tailing them down the street.
‘No,’ Lily said, ‘something else…’ Ceri’s Sight showed nothing, but the sense of urgency coming at her through her link with Lily was starting to make her jumpy as well.
It was as they turned onto Shaftsbury Avenue that Ceri felt something as well. She stopped, looking around for the source of the sensation she was growing far more used to than when she had first felt it. She was looking for Mei, the only dragon she knew was in London. It would have been foolish for the ambassador to be waiting for her, not to mention out of character, but there might have been a reason.
What she saw instead was the bright flare of a spell being launched. Wound up as she was, her reaction was immediate. ‘Atroi!’ she snapped, her will and power focussing on the dart of energy flying toward them from across the wide street. The missile looped backwards and that was when Ceri saw the dark figure at the point it had come from leap out of the way. The dart struck the ground and exploded, flame roaring out with the figure barely ahead of the wave front. There was no sign of magic about the figure itself, but Ceri could tell it was carrying magic items of some sort, and she could tell what it was.
As the vampire turned and raised a short stick toward the couple, Ceri raised her hand. A beam of brilliant white light lanced out and the figure reared backward, instantly blinded. Lily was already moving and Ceri snapped, ‘Careful, it’s a vamp.’
That was when the two agents ran past. They had guns drawn and the first one stopped dead, turning his weapon on Ceri and Lily. ‘Hold it right there!’ The second was still running toward the vampire.
‘Are you fucking nuts?!’ Lily yelled at the agent, but he kept his pistol levelled at a point between the two women where he could snap a shot off at either.
His colleague slowed. ‘Drop the wand,’ he called out. ‘Lie down on the floor with your hands behind…’ The vampire twitched the want toward the sound of the voice and another magical dart lanced out. The agent got off two rounds before exploding into flame. There was a shriek from the vampire as fire washed over its body, it stumbled, but it was running before the second agent could even turn.
Lily moved. Demons were naturally fast, the agent was distracted by the explosion, and Lily knew something about combat. She grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted, and the pistol fell from his grip. She kicked the gun away and then backed off just as quickly as Ceri ran past, heading for the fallen agent.
The man’s clothes were on fire, but that was easy. A wave of her hand and the flames died, but the man was down, struggling to breath. Ceri guessed his lungs were burned; he had breathed in the flame. His colleague was busy wasting time chasing Lily. ‘Damn stupid…’ Ceri muttered as she summoned her power. ‘Hold still, idiot,’ she said, placing her hand over the charred skin on the man’s chest. Light washed out from her spread fingers, tissue reknitted, the agent breathed in a shuddering breath… And something hit Ceri from behind knocking her across the man’s body and onto the road.
Everything seemed to go into slow motion as she sailed through the air. She saw someone standing in the shadows; a tall woman dressed in white. There was a faint suggestion of long, dark hair and a regal bearing. Then Ceri’s head smacked into the tarmac and she was seeing nothing at all.
Westminster
Ceri opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing and her vision took several seconds to clear, and when it did she was not very happy. ‘Why the fuck am I looking at you, Sachs?’ she growled, not trusting her voice at higher volume. ‘For that matter, where am I?’
‘Greycoat Street,’ Lily said from just out of Ceri’s eye line before the spook could respond. Ceri looked around at her pet. She was sporting a large bruise on her right cheek. ‘Apparently they have a secure infirmary here,’ Lily added. ‘Who knew?’
‘The reason you’re looking at me,’ Sachs added from the foot of the bed Ceri was lying on, ‘is… Well, first I’m here to thank you. The doctors say our man might not have lived if you hadn’t healed him.’
Ceri closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. ‘So, what? I got hit by a bus after that?’
‘No, you got hit by his arsehole partner who thought you were trying to kill him,’ Lily said. ‘He kicked me. In the face!’
‘Yes, well,’ Sachs said, ‘I want to apologise for his… misreading of the situation.’
Ceri sighed. ‘Apology accepted.’ Lily made a disgusted noise, but nodded. ‘It was a fast moving situation. I’d have hoped your people would be better trained, but they’re only human. I take it the vampire got away?’
The spy chief nodded. ‘This appears to be the second attempt on your life this month. We’re calling off our watch on you. We’re convinced that you aren’t working for the Chinese. However, Malcolm Charles has put through some fairly high level requests to have you watched for security reasons. Apparently he considers you a national asset. I’m not sure whether they’ll assign Greycoats, or Special Branch, or someone else from… the Home Office.’
Ceri put her head in her hands. ‘Great, thanks,’ she mumbled.
Sachs climbed to his feet. ‘Someone will be in to escort you out of here, or interview you possibly,’ he said before heading for the door.
Ceri waited for him to leave before looking up at Lily. ‘Come here, pet,’ she said. Lily moved from her chair to the edge of her bed. Ceri reached out and touched her cheek, smoothing away the bruise.
‘You didn’t need to do that,’ Lily said. ‘You should rest.’
‘I’ll rest when we get home. I saw something before I was knocked out. I think…’ She stopped as the door opened and the two people she had expected to see walked in.
John Radcliffe looked at her with a “why do you put me through this stuff?” expression on his face. It was his partner, Kate Middleshaw who spoke. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like I had my head bounced off a rock,’ Ceri replied.
‘I don’t suppose you saw who attacked you?’ John asked.
‘It was a vampire,’ Ceri replied. ‘Probably wasn’t too old. Probably wearing a ski mask and dark clothing. I never saw a face. They took a hit from a fireball so they’ll have burn wounds. On the right arm and shoulder, I think. Not that that’ll help much. Vampires don’t drop in at Casualty for treatment.’
John nodded. ‘Figures. We’ve been in touch with the Cambridgeshire force about the werewolf. They’ve got nothing.’
‘Rumour has it he was paid to come after me,’ Ceri told them. ‘Alec did some digging.’
‘A werewolf, then a vampire with magic weapons,’ Kate said. ‘Who’ve you annoyed this time?’
‘No one I know of.’ The image of the dark haired woman kept coming back to her mind, but she was not going to tell either of them about the dragons. Certainly not in the Greycoats headquarters.
‘Well, we’re coming home with you,’ John said. ‘You’re officially under guard until this gets sorted out. There will be someone watching you at all times.’
Brilliant! Just what she needed. ‘All right,’ she said, because she knew she had no choice. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Kennington
‘You said she would stay in her stronghold,’ Ceri said, ‘and there she was in the middle of London, watching me being attacked by a vampire… again.’
Ed’s image wore a worried expression. ‘She kept to herself through the Dark Ages and she has never left the island since she returned after the Shattering. To my knowledge anyway.’
‘Could she be the one sending assassins after me?’ Ceri shook her head; she was talking about people
sending supernaturals to kill her again. What really disturbed her was that she had no sense that this was unusual.
‘It isn’t impossible,’ Ed said.
Ceri looked at him for a second. ‘But you don’t think so.’
‘She was never above getting her hands dirty. If she wanted you dead she would do it herself rather than hiring some ineffectual mercenaries.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but you were on your guard because you felt her presence? She knows as well as I do that you can sense us. Her being there warned you that something was wrong. Without her, you might have been caught far more by surprise.’
‘Then why should she help me?’
‘Brenhines’ motivations were always… complex,’ Ed replied.
‘I hate enigmatic statements,’ Ceri growled.
‘To be less enigmatic,’ Ed replied, ‘I would need to know more. Perhaps, instead, I should teach you something to help you defend yourself. What do you know of translocation?’
‘Theoretically possible, but the only people who have attempted it have ended up in pieces,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s generally thought to be impossible to actually perform.’
‘You mean like transformation spells?’
Despite her mood, Ceri gave a short laugh. ‘Yeah, just like that.’
Smiling, Ed lifted his hand and began drawing in the air with his index finger. He left a trail of silvery lines hanging there and Ceri moved around so that she could see what he was writing. He had done this trick before and she was used to it, but the formula he was constructing this time was far more complex than anything he had drawn for her previously. He finished and stepped back so that she could move closer and examine his work. Thaumatological equations were what a physicist would describe as a weird amalgam of standard mathematical notation and runes which represented constants and processes from thaumatology theory. Thaumatologists had developed shorthand notations for common processes found in spells, selecting runes from various cultures to represent them, but Ed added a few glyphs in which came from draconic notations. It made it all appear simpler, but impossible for Ceri to decipher.
Thaumatology 04 - Dragon's Blood Page 18