Disturbia

The Fifth Novel in the Thaumatology Series

By Niall Teasdale

Copyright 2012 Niall Teasdale

Kindle Edition

Contents

Part One: London City Blues

Part Two: Blue Murder

Part Three: The Green Hills of Home

Part Four: The Wages of Sin

Part Five: Underbelly

Part Six: A Portrait of Revenge

Part Seven: Taking Care of Business

Part One: London City Blues

Kennington, London, August 8th, 2011

‘What do you think the collective noun for succubi and incubi is?’ Ceri was stretched out on the altar in the dungeon and not entirely sure she wanted to be used as a test dummy for Lily’s spells; she was chattering to cover her nervousness. Still, when Carter had taught Ceri magic, Lily had been the target. She had ended up locking herself into a pair of cursed handcuffs to prove a suggestion spell worked. It did seem fair that Ceri should return the favour. Fair, but mildly worrying.

‘I believe it’s an orgy,’ Faran replied. He was Faran at the moment, a tall, attractive man around the same age as his daughter and with the same rich, chestnut hair, though his was a little shorter. He almost always turned up at High Towers in that shape, though he was not above taking others, especially when he was playing at trying to get Ceri in the sack. Being an incubus, he could assume any shape he desired; being a sorceress she tended to notice it was a demon coming on to her.

‘Stop distracting me,’ Lily said. Her exotic, slightly angular features were pulled into a tight grimace of concentration and sweat ran down her porcelain-smooth, creamy-white skin, marring the perfection. She had spent the last hour trying to cast a spell her father thought would be amusing, and not getting too far with it.

‘Just let yourself relax,’ Faran said. ‘You’re getting tense and that’s not the feeling you want. Relax and let yourself feel Ceri’s body.’

‘If I were feeling Ceri’s body this would be a lot easier,’ Lily replied, ‘but you won’t let me touch her.’

Ceri giggled and Faran rolled his eyes. ‘This is a relatively trivial spell with no major side-effects which we are using to get you used to the idea of manipulating a subject’s autonomic responses.’

‘Somehow,’ Ceri commented, ‘I don’t expect a sex demon to come out with a term like “autonomic responses.”’

‘I’ve had it said I’m well spoken,’ Faran replied, a rather pleased smile decorating his face.

‘Well shut up and let me concentrate,’ Lily said.

Ceri understood what Lily was trying to do; Faran had explained it in some detail, in fact, and Ceri now knew more about the mechanical and chemical processes of human erections than she cared to. The fact that Faran knew quite so much about it was something of a surprise, but he had explained that a good workman knows his tools, and human bodies were his preferred implements. The spell was really designed for use on a man; the name given to it by human wizards was a good indication of that. The Priapic Charm, or Priapism Spell, did exactly what it said on the wrapper; cast on a male human it gave him an erection for about an hour. Multiple sequential applications could cause various medical problems, which did not stop foolish pleasure seekers over-using it now and then, often with comical results. Well, the results were comical if you were reading them in a tabloid. Women had erectile tissue the spell could affect, it was just rather less obvious and the results of over-supplying it with blood were less certain; some women found it uncomfortable rather than a stimulant.

She understood what Lily was trying to do, but she had no way of helping Lily do it. Despite the fact that Ceri was pretty sure she could perform the magic herself, explaining the trick to Lily would do no good because they used very different kinds of magic. Demons had been teaching tricks and giving humans tips for millennia. However the magic they employed themselves was different in subtle ways from the paradigms employed by human magicians. And Ceri’s magic was something else again; sorcery, which was derived from the magic used by dragons. Ceri could learn magic from others by watching it and duplicating the effects, but she was useless for teaching things to others.

‘Okay,’ Lily said, ‘one more try before I decide to become a dog groomer instead.’ She raised her arms and focussed her will. Ceri watched the energy rising from the reservoir in the pit of Lily’s stomach, up along the line of her spine, her Chakral Median. This was looking good as a complex pattern of light danced through Lily’s brain, well, through her spirit and mind really. The half-succubus flicked her wrists and a shimmer of light formed around her hands and…

‘Oh!’ Ceri said.

‘It worked?!’ Lily almost squeaked.

‘That feels kind of weird,’ Ceri replied, ‘but yes, it worked. I have a sudden rush of blood to the groin. And, uh… it’s not going away. How long am I going to be stuck like this?’

‘It usually lasts about an hour,’ Faran said. Ceri could just tell he was enjoying this. It was probably the smirk he was wearing.

‘You’re an evil… hermaphromorph, Faran,’ Ceri commented.

‘I aim to please,’ he replied.

~~~

‘You’re looking a little uncomfortable, Ceri,’ Ed’s image said, ‘and also naked.’

‘I was helping Lily learn a spell.’ Ceri replied. She was trying to find a comfortable position to stand in and not having much luck. Trust Ed to turn up before the spell had dissipated.

‘I, uh, see.’

‘Ed, you’re over thirty thousand years old. You have to have seen plenty of naked women. I’m not even your species!’

‘If you spend enough time as a she-wolf, you’ll discover that some of the mind-set tends to rub off on you. You may have already noticed it.’

‘Um… maybe, a little. I sometimes feel more comfortable with the Battersea pack than I do with humans.’

Ed bowed his head, a sort of knowing acknowledgement. ‘The amount of time we spend in human form, we’re bound to start seeing humans as more than a slightly inferior alien race. How do you think you ended up with dragon chromosomes in your genome?’

‘Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Cheryl got my DNA analysed. Anonymously, before you ask. Lily and I share some features. Both of us have a trisomy of the second chromosome. Hers is partial, an addition from her father, we assume. Mine is a full strand. Do you know whether that’s normal for a dragon component?’

Ed rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, looking more like the university professor he was. It was always a little incongruous, knowing that the man in the thick cotton shirt with the dog-tooth check and the trousers which had seen better days was also a dragon who had seen mankind grow out of caves and into cities. ‘I need to teach you some magic,’ he said. ‘I can’t cast spells over this link, but I can teach you to analyse your heredity. My guess is that you’re the product of two dragons.’

‘Two… Two dragons… Ed, I just got used to the idea that I have any dragons in my ancestry.’

‘It’s not unimaginable,’ Ed said, a little defensively. ‘You’re inordinately powerful for a human, and the draconic genetic material must be dotted through various family lines by now. Both your parents were relatively exceptional practitioners which could indicate some additional genetic assistance…’

‘You’re coming up with a load of rationalisation.’

Ed made a noise like “hrumph” and raised his hand to trace silver symbols in the air. ‘Let’s begin,’ he said.

~~~

The sun, and Lily’s fingers, felt good on Ceri’s back, especially after a morning of being used as a guinea pig followed by some fairly strenuous thaumatology. Lily smoothed oil into Ceri’s skin, taking her time about it. Ceri did not mind at all; Lily’s massage technique was very relaxing. Well, it was relaxing with a hint of anticipation.

Initially there was only the knowledge of where they would almost certainly end up. That would be overwhelmed by the sensation of Lily’s fingers working out the kinks in Ceri’s muscles. They would slowly turn to soup under firm pressure, taking Ceri’s brain with them. She would start to drift, her mind filled with the calm flowing out of her bound demon through the link they shared; Lily found the process almost as relaxing as Ceri did. That would change as Lily shifted to Ceri’s feet. It was as if a countdown had begun; Lily’s hands working on the taught muscles in Ceri’s calves lit a fuse which burned upward. As those hands reached her knees, Ceri would spread her legs a little and the fire would ignite between her legs.

Lily’s hands reached the top of Ceri’s thighs and Ceri’s breathing was coming in pants. Another few seconds and…

‘Phone, Ceri.’ Twill’s voice barely impinged upon Ceri’s mind the first time. The nut-brown fairy flew out of the roof hatch toward the loungers, the telephone handset floating along behind her. ‘Ceri, phone,’ Twill sing-songed. Lily’s hands had stopped moving, though they continued to rest on Ceri’s thighs, just short of the point Ceri was, by now, longing for. ‘It’s Kate,’ Twill said, and Ceri lifted her head to find the handset right in front of her nose.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Ceri grabbed the innocent instrument of communication and stabbed the mute button off. ‘Hello, Kate.’

‘Hi,’ the detective sergeant said. ‘The Chief asked me to call to sort out the training course.’

‘Oh, right.’ Ceri considered pointing out that her timing could have been better, but explaining why… Who was she kidding? Kate probably thought she was a full-on nymphomaniac by now. As if reading her mind, which was not impossible, Lily applied firm pressure to her inner thighs, spreading them further. ‘Uh… what’s the plan?’ Ceri said, hoping against all probability that Lily was not going to keep going.

‘If you guys are available, we can start tomorrow,’ Kate said. ‘Can you two be at Greycoat Street at ten o’clock?’ Ceri let a groan as two of Lily’s fingers slid into her. ‘Uh, is that a problem?’

‘N-no,’ Ceri said. Lily’s fingers started to circle and Ceri reached back with her free hand, trying to stop what was happening, but the angle and the need to hold the phone made it impossible. ‘I m-mean, getting Lil out of bed that early…’ She clenched her fist and tried to concentrate.

‘Yeah, but it’ll only be for a few days,’ Kate said, thankfully taking away the need to explain further. ‘Three days this week, three days next week and then you’ll be done. There’s no exam or anything.’

‘That sounds… oh… great.’

Kate’s voice had a hint of humour in it; Ceri suspected she had a good idea what was going on. ‘I’ll let you get back to whatever you two are up to.’ Oh yeah, she knew. ‘Just talk to the desk sergeant when you get there.’ The phone cut off and Ceri collapsed against the lounger.

‘The course?’ Lily asked, not stopping what her fingers were doing.

‘We n-need to be there… t-ten tomorrow.’

‘I’ll be grumpy,’ Lily said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ceri was too busy panting to answer.

Westminster, August 9th

Lily was, indeed, grumpy. The desk sergeant did not seem to notice as he handed over a pair of visitor badges, his Adam’s apple bobbing like a cork in a heavy sea. Ceri could not really blame him; Lily had dressed in one of her tighter jersey-dresses, opaque, but very short and clinging to every curve. Lily had ample curves for it to cling to, from the substantial, self-supporting breasts to the wide hips. Add in the porcelain-smooth, creamy skin and the exotic, perfectly carved features, and the long waves of lush, chestnut coloured hair… Even a grumpy Lily could make corpses beg to lick her boots.

Ceri was a little grumpy too. ‘Do you think you could close your mouth and call DS Middleshaw?’ It came out a little harsher than she had really wanted, but it had the desired effect. The poor man behind the desk grabbed a phone and a few minutes later the red-headed detective was waving at them from a side door.

‘Barrett’s new to the department,’ she said as they went past her into the interior of the police station. ‘He’s a norm too. He’ll get used to supernaturals eventually.’ The Greycoats were the branch of the Metropolitan Police who dealt with supernaturals and supernatural crimes. They were a mixed bag of normals and others; Kate was a witch, her partner, John Radcliffe, was a normal. What the department lacked was true supernaturals, like werewolves and vampires. They definitely lacked anyone like Lily because half-demons were about as common as snowflakes in the Sahara, and Ceri suspected that the two of them had been invited to be consultants as much because of Lily’s abilities and insights as Ceri’s skills and power.

Kate took them up two floors and led them to a conference room. There were two men in the room already, both of them wearing suits. Ceri felt a little under-dressed in her London Metropolitan University T-shirt and jeans, but she was not a cop. She decided she would get over it.

‘Ceridwyn Brent, Lily Carpenter,’ Kate said, ‘this is DI Sean Broadstreet and Perry Wentworth. Perry’s with the legal department. I’ll leave you guys to it. Try not to get bored and turn anyone into a newt.’

Ceri smirked and offered her hand to Broadstreet, who was closest. ‘I’ll try not to be boring,’ he said. He had a pleasant, baritone voice and a face and body to go with it. Ceri could see no magic about him, not a hint. He had the muscle of someone who exercised regularly, an attractive, rugged face, sandy hair and blue eyes. ‘Of course,’ he added, ‘transformation magic like that is a myth.’ His smile broadened as he offered his hand to Lily.

Apparently not happy that the cop was smiling more at her than at Ceri, Lily said, ‘Actually, Ceri could turn you into a newt.’ She shook his hand anyway, but his smile faltered.

Wentworth made no effort to engage in hand-shaking. He was a mousy-looking man with short, black hair and a pale complexion, not unlike Ceri. While Ceri could not tan worth a damn, no matter how much she tried, Wentworth looked like his pallor stemmed from never going out in the sun. He had slightly watery, hazel eyes and absolutely no distinguishing features. ‘I’ll just go over a few introductory and legal points,’ he said in a weak, quiet voice, ‘and then DI Broadstreet will start on the practical stuff you need to know.’ He paused, and then demonstrated that he did have a sense of humour at least. ‘I’m afraid I will be boring, please don’t turn me into anything.’

Everyone settled down except Wentworth, who shuffled a few sheets of paper, his notes, and then ignored them. ‘You are being inducted as Special Advisors to the Metropolitan Police Force under the Special Police Operations Act twenty-oh-four,’ he said. It sounded terribly formal, and with it out of the way he relaxed a bit. ‘The act covers community policing operations, Special Constables, and also allows for the recruitment of specialists and “persons of utility” who can provide services we don’t normally have access to. To give you an idea of the… elite group you’re joining, there are a total of thirteen Special Advisors and of those, only three assist in field operations as Chief Inspector Barry is expecting you to. Those three are werewolves and they’re employed for tracking exercises.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lily. Barry was expecting them to do actual operational police work? Well, he had said that he was taking them on because he did not seem to be able to keep them out of his cases. That had mostly been because they had been right in the thick of them. After this, they would be poking their noses into other people’s problems.

‘My job here is to tell you two basic things,’ Wentworth said, ‘and make sure you understand them. First of all, when working for the Met, you will have the same basic powers as a police constable, and be subject to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act nineteen-eighty-four as amended in twenty-oh-six, and by the Supernatural Crime and Enforcement Act twenty-oh-one. DI Broadstreet will be explaining most of that lot, but it covers who you can arrest, why, what you have to tell them when you do, interrogations under caution, and the use of magic and other supernatural powers while conducting yourself.’

‘You’ll enjoy reading PACE,’ Broadstreet commented. ‘I know I find it fascinating reading, especially when I can’t sleep.’

‘It is fairly legalistic, and lengthy,’ Wentworth admitted, ‘but you should both read it.’ He glanced uncomfortably at Lily. ‘I can provide assistance if there are any points which are unclear.’

‘I left school because I was kicked out as a disruptive influence,’ Lily told him without rancour. ‘People tell me I’m quite bright when I want to be. Don’t let the blow-up doll look fool you.’

‘Uh… good.’ Ceri smirked slightly; the poor man was not sure where to put himself. ‘The, uh, second thing is confidentiality. Obviously, any case you may be asked to work on is subject to normal rules regarding security. From the briefing I’ve had regarding the previous cases you’ve become involved with I think you understand the situation and have no problem with it, but I have to state it explicitly. No talking to the press, no discussing cases with those not involved in them. There is no problem where someone can provide useful information, but you need to impress upon them the need to keep things confidential.’

‘Most of our contacts are more secretive than we are,’ Lily commented.

‘Supernaturals spent centuries hiding before the Shattering,’ Ceri said, nodding. ‘Keeping secrets is practically built into their nature.’ She shrugged a little. ‘Well, except the younger vampires, they can be a bit gabby.’

‘But the only vampire we really know is Lorna,’ Lily said.

‘Lorna Radcliffe?’ Broadstreet asked.

‘Uh-huh,’ the girls chorused.

‘Okay,’ Wentworth said, pulling out a chair, ‘I think you’ve got the idea then.’ He nodded to Broadstreet and sat down. ‘Sean, you’re up.’

Broadstreet climbed to his feet and produced a couple of moderately sized books from his pockets. He dropped one in front of each of his students. ‘Ladies,’ he said dramatically, ‘I’d like to introduce you to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, aka PACE.’

Ceri looked around at Lily. ‘Ladies?’

Lily giggled. ‘He doesn’t know us very well, does he?’

Kennington

‘And how was your first day?’ Twill asked as she busied herself in the kitchen. Around her, knives chopped vegetables and pots filled themselves with water before settling onto the hob.

‘Boring,’ Lily replied.

‘Informative,’ Ceri said, ‘but, yeah, my brain went to sleep after about twenty minutes of arrest procedures.’

‘Doesn’t that mean you’ve missed most of it?’ the fairy said, looking around with a frown on her tiny face.

Ceri waved the comment away dismissively. ‘Twill, I went to university. I’m used to sleeping through lectures.’

‘You’ve heard of sleep learning, right?’ Lily added.

‘Besides,’ Ceri said dropping her PACE book on the table, ‘we have revision material.’

Twill looked disapprovingly at them and then at the book. ‘That does not look like it will keep you occupied for two weeks.’

‘Next week we go into SCEA instead,’ Ceri explained.

‘Do you think it’s like “ski” or like “ski-ah”?’ Lily mused.

‘I’m going with “ski.”’

‘It’s something to ask. We should have questions. It’ll make us sound intelligent.’

‘I have a PhD, I don’t need to sound intelligent.’

‘If you’ve got it,’ Lily said emphatically, ‘that just means you have something good to flaunt.’

‘She does have a point,’ Twill commented.

‘It’s easy for her though,’ Ceri replied. ‘If she wants to flaunt what she’s got she just has to wear a lower cut dress.’

‘Hey!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘That’s mean.’ Ceri smirked at her.

‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ Twill asked, breaking into the flow of banter.

‘Role-playing,’ Ceri replied, still grinning. ‘We’re supposed to do some interviews and we get watched…’

‘And they’re supposed to tell us what we’re doing wrong,’ Lily finished.

‘That sounds like it should be… interesting,’ Twill said, not sounding like it would be.

‘Yeah,’ Lily agreed. ‘Should we cheat?’

‘Oh totally,’ Ceri replied, giggling.

Westminster, August 10th

‘All right, here’s the brief,’ Broadstreet said. They were standing outside an interview room, one of the screened ones with silver-iron mesh in the plaster and the observation window. ‘The man inside is David Crane. He’s a necromancer we think sent a zombie to kill someone. We need you to talk to him and see what you can get out of him. He’s previously been interviewed by two detectives. He knows what we suspect him of and denies everything.’ He handed Ceri a brown folder. ‘This is what we have. It’s not much.’

‘Pulling out all the stops for this trial then?’ Lily said, smiling knowingly.

‘Got to make it as real as possible.’

‘Well, let’s do this then,’ Ceri said, her gaze on the notes in the file. Lily opened the door and they filed in while Broadstreet headed for the observation room.

Ceri did not look up from the notes as she walked over to the table, placing the notes down on the table and pouring over them, ignoring the man sitting opposite her. There was a click as Lily turned on the tape recorder at the side of the table. The machine beeped loudly several times.

‘Special Advisors Lily Carpenter and Ceridwyn Brent interviewing David Crane,’ Lily said for the recording. ‘Interview begins at eleven-sixteen. You have been cautioned, Mister Crane?’

‘You aren’t cops.’

Ceri looked up for the first time. She wondered how he had guessed. Perhaps it was the thin, clinging mini-dress Lily was wearing. Maybe it was Ceri’s LMU T-shirt. Just as likely he had seen the visitor badges they were wearing. Of course, in practice, he knew since he was really a cop playing a murderer for their benefit. He was in his forties, the early half, but his face showed too many lines across the brow; he worried too much. There was a hint of arrogance about the set of his jaw as he glared across the table, and his dark brown eyes had a hint of malice in them. He was a good actor for a cop. He had probably been attractive in his youth, but age had not been particularly kind and his body was running to fat, slowly, but with gathering pace. There was even a hint of jowl and the start of a double chin.

‘As my colleague said,’ Ceri told him, ‘we’re Special Advisors. We’ve been asked to take a look at your case.’

‘There’s no case,’ Crane said. ‘I didn’t do anything.’ Ceri identified the accent; Birmingham educated away as far as he could manage it.

There was a slight feeling of warmth from Ceri’s side and her scalp tightened; Lily had kicked in her defensive aura at a barely perceptible level. ‘You’re accused of using a zombie to kill…’ She glanced down at the report for the name. ‘…Raymond Chong, the proprietor of a Chinese takeaway.’

‘See? That’s just ridiculous.’ Ceri had to agree; who had come up with this scenario? ‘I was one of Ray’s best customers. He made the best Chow Mein in Hackney.’ Well, that explained the expanding waistline.

‘You argued with Mister Chong a week ago,’ Ceri went on. ‘The night of the third. Witnesses say it was “heated,” and you left threatening to “kill that slanty-eyed bastard.”’

Crane looked across the table at her. The anger in his face was weakening as Lily’s aura lulled his mind into calmness. Lily was getting really good at controlling it; when she had tried a similar trick on Cheryl she had lulled her into becoming a happy drunk. Crane clearly had no clue what was happening to him. ‘I did some work for him,’ Crane said, ‘and I was supposed to be being paid in free meals, but he backed out on me.’ The story got crazier every minute.

‘What work, Mister Crane?’ There was no indication of this in the notes. Actually there was not much in the notes aside from that Chong had been killed by the corpse of his dead grandmother and that Crane, a necromancer, had been seen arguing with him.

‘His grandmother’s ghost was pestering him to marry some girl, I mean any girl. Said she couldn’t rest without knowing he had married well.’

‘So you laid her to rest?’

‘Yeah. Simple job. You know the deal, standard ritual over the grave.’ Ceri did indeed know the ritual having studied some defensive necromancy. It also meant he had known where to find the body.

‘And then the old lady climbed out of her grave and strangled him. Which would mean you didn’t do a very good job. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t want to pay you.’

Crane blinked slowly trying to work out whether he was being insulted through the desire to feel happy Lily was forcing on him. ‘Maybe I did it wrong,’ he admitted.

‘Or maybe, since you would be the only necromancer who could, you raised her and sent her after her grandson?’

‘No!’ Crane snapped. ‘She was a revenant, that’s what she was.’ Lily yanked away her aura and Crane leaned forward unconsciously, reaching to follow it.

‘The forensic necromancy team went over her,’ Ceri said, ‘they found traces of necromantic magic. Besides, why would she strangle him? She wanted him to marry, not die.’

‘Sh-she was angry at him for getting me to plant her.’ Ceri suppressed a grimace; “plant” was such an offensive term for laying a spirit to rest.

‘That seems a little unlikely. I’d imagine she would come after you as well.’ She sighed and gave Lily a hand signal to turn her aura on again. ‘Perhaps you’re right though. If you fluffed a simple laying to rest it’s pretty unlikely you could raise a three-month old corpse.’

‘You’re calling me incompetent?’ His voice held no rancour and his posture was relaxed again.

‘Seems to me that’s your defence,’ Ceri said. ‘You fluffed something a first year necromancy student can do in their sleep. You can’t have actually brought Mrs Chong back, can you?’ She looked at Lily. ‘I think this is closed, don’t you?’

‘Clearly,’ Lily replied, cutting her aura off sharply. ‘He’s not good enough to have committed the crime.’

Anger flooded back where the vague euphoria had been. Crane half-rose from his seat. ‘I damn well am good enough!’

‘Oh please,’ Lily said, ‘my mother could cast a laying to rest spell and she’s just a witch. There’s no way you could have raised…’

‘A witch!’ Crane’s voice got annoying and high pitched, and his accent was worse, when he got angry. ‘No way could some witch have raised the old bint! I…’ Realisation dawned, both girls could see it in his face. ‘I could have done it, no problem, but I didn’t.’ He slumped back into his chair.

‘Oh, but you did,’ Lily said. ‘I can see it in your eyes, the desire to not get caught.’ Her aura rolled out again, a little thicker this time. ‘But wouldn’t it be better to come clean? Get it off your chest?’

‘Judges tend to look favourably on confessions, I hear,’ Ceri said. She was getting an odd feeling over her link with Lily, something like surprise.

Lily slowly edged her aura away, draining the sensation out of Crane rather than pulling it. The slight melancholy it left behind had the desired effect. ‘I just wanted my Chow Mein,’ he said.

The interview room door opened. ‘DI Broadstreet has entered the room at eleven-twenty-eight,’ Lily said to the recorder.

‘We’ll send someone in to take a new statement,’ Broadstreet said. ‘If you two could come with me?’

Lily looked at Ceri and shrugged. ‘Interview terminated at eleven-twenty-nine.’ She shut off the tape machine and they followed the detective out into the corridor.

DCI Barry was waiting outside and he waved for them to follow, leading the way back to the conference room they had been having their lectures in. He turned, wearing a smirk on his military-moulded features, but Lily spoke before he could.

‘That wasn’t role-playing,’ she said. ‘That guy really did it!’ Ceri looked at her, horrified, and then turned to Barry.

‘He’d been sticking to his story all day yesterday,’ Barry said. ‘Wouldn’t even tell us what Chong had asked him to do. Kept claiming client confidentiality. We were going to have to let him walk so I figured why not put you two in front of him. If you got nothing we weren’t losing anything.’

‘How did you do it?’ Broadstreet asked. ‘He just folded.’

‘Psychology and subtle emotional manipulation,’ Ceri replied. She was not sure whether to be angry at them for putting her in that position, or at herself for not realising what was going on.

‘At very low levels,’ Lily said, ‘my defensive aura produces mild euphoric sensations. By applying and withdrawing it I can give my target something of an emotional rollercoaster ride.’

‘And once I knew about the job,’ Ceri added, ‘it was a simple matter of playing on his arrogance. Basically we did “good cop, bad cop,” without all the posturing.’

Barry pursed his lips. ‘Nothing I can think of which makes that illegal,’ he said after a second. ‘As you say, it’s no different from manipulating his emotions the long-winded way.’

‘Anyone with half a brain can work out something’s a little off and suppress the foreign emotion,’ Ceri said distractedly. ‘I can’t believe you did that! What if we’d screwed something up and then you found evidence linking him to the crime?’

Barry smiled. ‘You didn’t,’ he said, ‘you got him to confess. I had every confidence that you would, at the least, not harm any future outcomes.’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Lily said. ‘That man zombified some cook’s dead grandmother to murder him… over Chinese food?’

‘Yes,’ Barry replied flatly.

‘That is so fucked up,’ Lily said, her tone somewhere between disbelief and shock.

‘It had to be wicked Chow Mein,’ Ceri commented.

Battersea

Michael and Ceri were on boundary checking duty, a task which sounded distinctly boring, but Ceri loved it. Their journey took them out to Battersea Bridge and then south, cutting off the main road into the estates, and heading toward Falcon Park. It had surprised her, when she had first discovered it, that the locals actually seemed to like the wolves patrolling through their streets and back gardens. Then Kate had happened to mention that the crime level in the pack’s territory was lower than average. Burglaries in particular were lower; sneak thieves obviously thought suddenly discovering a werewolf breathing down your neck was an unacceptable risk.

So they ran, racing along and leaping fences with the grace and speed of a pair of werewolves. Ceri had heard it called “free running” and she liked the term; it certainly felt free.

Falcon Park was a wide-open grassy area encircled by trees. They could really open the throttle across the grass, though they had to be careful since the south edge beyond the trees led straight out onto the railway lines. Still, rather than detouring around via the road tunnel, they charged up the embankment, danced across the tracks, and ran down the other side. Then it was through the back gardens along Dorothy Road to the ASDA supermarket where there was an area they could use to cut through and curl back toward the theoretical territorial boundary. Here it ran more or less down Lavender Gardens until they hit Clapham Common.

There they could open up again, rushing past dog walkers, running for the fun of it. They played, jumping at each other and rolling across the grass as a tumbling mass of grey and black fur. Even the dubious looks they got from some of the humans could not shift Ceri’s mood tonight. She was enjoying herself, running with her mate.

Northbound from there, they followed Clapham Road and then South Lambeth Road, cutting along back streets where possible. Negotiating the tracks again to get through to Nine Elms Lane was a rush as they skipped across between a pair of oncoming trains. The landscape was far more industrial there, beside the river, but they avoided the riverside walks, instead going for running through yards and car parks, and vaulting nine-foot chain-link fences without breaking a sweat.

Michael waited until they were dashing along the side of the power station, long disused and almost at the end of their loop, before making his move. He caught Ceri’s arm and pulled her into the shadow of the building, pressing her back up against the wall and pinning her there, hands on either side of her waist. His breath was hot on her neck as he sniffed at her, nuzzled her throat and ears.

Ceri let out a mewl. Here? As if to punctuate her question a boat on the river sounded its horn. Ceri almost giggled; another horn was making itself evident against her stomach.

Not want? The growl was low and Michael managed to get a distinct hint of sarcasm into it.

She squirmed, her body pressed against his. Of course she wanted him. He knew she wanted him. He could smell her arousal just as she could smell his. She made to twist around; werewolves were practically hardwired to doggy-style. He pressed her harder against the wall, stopping her. His hand slapped her right thigh and, her breath coming in ragged bursts, she lifted her leg, hooking it over the crook of his elbow and lifting up on her toes. She was looking right into his amber eyes as he pushed into her, as his hips worked faster and faster, as the tension showed in his face and his muzzle started to rise. Her hands clutched at his shoulders and a second later they were both howling, the sound echoing through the skeleton of the power station loud enough that half the city had to have heard it.

Ceri’s head stopped buzzing. Her leg was still held up on Michael’s arm, but his muzzle was resting on her shoulder, his breath coming in pants. When he could make an intelligible sound, the half-groan said, Man sex nice change.

Ceri gave a little barking laugh. Hell yes it was, she was just amazed it had been his choice. It was almost full moon and that always made him more frisky. Of course, now they would have to go back to report to Anita and explain what the howling was about. Ceri was so glad blushes did not show through her black fur.

Westminster, August 11th

Broadstreet placed a pair of plastic handcuffs in Ceri’s hands. ‘Now then,’ he said, ‘I need you to get those onto my wrists without causing me too much damage. We’ve spoken with Ray Downs over at the Yard and he says you’re both competent at various forms of combat, but we also need you to demonstrate how you would arrest a difficult suspect.’ He backed up a few feet across the padded mat of the station’s practice dojo, dropped into a combat stance, and raised a plastic dagger.

At the side of the room, Lily was standing next to Kate, watching the exercise. Ceri glanced at her and gave a little shrug. Lily gave a little shrug back. ‘You’re really sure you want to do this?’ Ceri asked.

Broadstreet stood up again, his shoulders sagging a little. ‘I get the feeling you’re not taking this seriously,’ he said.

‘No, no,’ Ceri said, ‘it’s just... Let me get this right. You’re going to be a difficult suspect by waving a knife at me and I’m supposed to cuff you?’

The detective dropped back into his stance and said, ‘I’m not lettin’ ya take me in copper!’

Ceri bit down hard on the giggle and raised her hand, focussing her power. Then she walked over to Broadstreet, took the plastic knife from his unresisting fingers, pushed his wrists together, and snapped the cuffs on. Then she stepped back and waited, ignoring the muffled giggles coming from the two women at the side of the room.

After a minute or so, Broadstreet shook his head and looked down at his wrists. ‘You have the right to remain silent,’ Ceri said, ‘but I should point out that anything you fail to say now may jeopardise your defence if you rely on it in the future.’ She grinned. ‘I could have said that earlier, but you wouldn’t have remembered it.’

‘I was kind of expecting you to talk me out of it,’ Broadstreet said. ‘All that psychology stuff you used on Crane…’

‘Why?’ Ceri said. ‘Crane wasn’t waving a knife at me. The objective is to make the arrest without harm to you or me, and quickly so it doesn’t get out of hand, right?’

‘Well…’

‘She’s got a point, Sean,’ Kate said.

Broadstreet shrugged slightly and offered his wrists up so that Ceri could take the cuffs off. ‘What if there were several of them?’ he asked.

‘Broad area sleep spell,’ Ceri replied. ‘Or Lily.’

‘Lily, right… Come on then, Miss Carpenter. Let’s see what you do. You’re not going to make me fog out while you snap the cuffs on are you?’

‘Oh no,’ Lily said, smiling sweetly as she started across the mats.

‘Are you really sure you want to do this, Sean?’ Kate asked.

‘Yeah, I’m not so sure…’ Ceri began.

‘I have to write the evaluation report on what I’ve seen,’ Broadstreet said.

Ceri shrugged. ‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you.’ As she walked past Lily she slapped her raised palm. ‘Tag.’

Lily continued to smile at Broadstreet as he took up his stance once more. ‘Come on, copper,’ he said in his terrible fake-thug accent, ‘try an’ take me.’

‘Only six inches,’ Lily said, looking at the dagger, ‘I was hoping for something… bigger.’

Broadstreet grinned, trying to make it look mean. ‘Trust me, honey, I can show you a good time.’

‘Please,’ Lily replied, ‘let me go first.’ Broadstreet’s eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the floor with a groan. Smiling, Lily walked over, took the knife from his unresisting hand, and snapped the cuffs on.

When Broadstreet had stopped twitching and climbed to his feet looking rather flushed he said, ‘So, uh, that’s what a succubus aura feels like?’

‘Yeah,’ Kate said. ‘It’s a bit of a rush.’

‘She usually only catches me with it when I’m tired,’ Ceri said. ‘Which means I fall asleep before I do the whole lying on the floor… twitching… drooling.’ Broadstreet reached up and checked his chin for drool. It would likely have been less noticeable if he had not been handcuffed at the time. Ceri took pity on him and unclasped the cuffs.

‘And if there were more than one?’ Broadstreet asked, probably knowing the answer.

‘It affects anyone looking at me within range,’ Lily said. ‘I’m getting pretty good at controlling it now. You notice Kate didn’t end up on the floor.’

‘This time,’ Ceri added.

‘I volunteered last time,’ Kate protested. ‘John didn’t believe how strong that aura is.’

Broadstreet adjusted his trousers. ‘I can vouch for it being strong,’ he said. ‘What would you do if I was just some accountant feeling suicidal or whatever?’

Ceri looked at Lily again. Lily grinned. ‘Succubi can determine the desires of anyone they can see and get close enough to,’ she said.

‘Add that to some psychology,’ Ceri added. ‘Lil’s pretty good with that too. Between her various jobs she’s got pretty good at reading people.’

‘Which jobs?’ Broadstreet asked.

‘Barmaid,’ Lily replied, ‘prostitute, waitress.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, I can see where that would work. Okay, I can write that up. That’s pretty much it for today. Next Tuesday you’ll have Kate to deal with.’

‘SCEA,’ Kate said, ‘you’ll love it.’

‘Aha!’ Lily exclaimed happily. ‘So it is “ski.”’

Kate grinned, and then frowned as her phone trilled at her. Unfolding it, she connected the call and said, ‘Middleshaw,’ into the receiver. There was a pause and then she added, ‘Be right there.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow at her mildly confused expression. ‘Something odd?’

‘A werewolf threw himself in front of a train at Westferry,’ the sergeant said. ‘I’ve never heard of a suicidal werewolf before.’

Ceri shrugged; she had not heard of it either. ‘I know I’m not officially an advisor yet, but I’ll ask Alexandra tonight. If anyone knows about suicidal werewolves, she will. She’s been around a lot.’

Battersea

‘Hmm, yes,’ Alexandra said as she poured the tea. ‘Anita? You said one of the pack had heard something about this didn’t you?’

The Amazonian Captain of the Guard turned from where she was talking to one of her underlings and walked over to the oil can fire in the middle of the clearing. ‘Mal,’ she said. ‘Do you want him to come over? I think he’s in the park.’ It was probably the first time Ceri had ever seen her wearing clothes. Her lean, muscled body was usually either furry or naked, but today she was wearing a short skirt and a leather jacket, though the jacket was unzipped and there was nothing under it.

‘No,’ Alexandra replied. ‘What do you recall of the report?’

‘One of the Dog Boys,’ Anita said. ‘No name. Mal was out begging on the station platform when this wolf, man-form wolf, came running up the stairs, straight across the platform and jumped. Train smacked him right in the face.’

‘It sounds more like he was running from something,’ Ceri suggested. She was naked, aside from the furry form of Michael more or less draped around her shoulders.

‘No one was following him, according to Mal.’ Anita shrugged; it was the Dog Boys, she could have cared less, if she had tried really hard.

‘Suicide is not entirely unheard of among wolves,’ Alexandra said, her voice musing. She looked up thoughtfully, the light from the almost full moon catching in her long, silver hair. ‘However, on a waxing moon? When it happens it’s almost always a female who’s lost her mate, and it happens very near the new moon.’

Ceri nodded. Werewolves were not governed by the moon the way their distant cousins the lycanthropes were, but it did tend to affect their mood. The waxing moon made them upbeat, energetic; the waning moon saw them more lethargic. This close to full they were almost hyper, which was why Michael was hugging her so tightly. ‘Do you know if Mal talked to the police?’ she asked.

Anita shook her head. ‘He packed his stuff and scarpered as soon as it happened.’

‘Do you think you could get him to write down what he saw? I’ll pass it on to Kate.’

Alexandra smiled. ‘I’ll get someone to write it down for him. He can’t read or write.’

With a nod, Anita started to turn away and then looked back. ‘Briefing in ten minutes,’ she said. ‘Either put some clothes on or get into fur. There are some kids on the bank opposite with binoculars.’

Ceri rolled her eyes. Well that explained Anita’s outfit; she gave her briefing to the Guards in human form since she could articulate better. ‘Teenagers,’ she said, exasperated.

‘You were one once, dear,’ Alexandra pointed out. ‘Michael still is.’

Ceri did not need reminding of their age gap. ‘We’ll be there, Anita,’ she said.

Alexandra curled her legs under her and sat down with the kind of grace it looked like she had spent years acquiring. The old Alpha was over a hundred so she probably had. ‘Amphetamines have a nasty effect on wolves,’ she said. ‘I’d suggest they run a toxicology series on the body, assuming they haven’t already. Make sure they check for alchemical and herbal products. I know of a couple of Wolfsbane distillations which cause paranoia and hallucinations to our kind.’

‘I’ll call in the morning.’

Alexandra nodded and looked thoughtful. She was amazingly good at looking thoughtful. Ceri suspected it was another thing you acquired with age. ‘Of course,’ the Alpha said after a minute or so, ‘he could have been being chased by something no one else could see.’

Ceri frowned. Well, if they were still working the case next week, perhaps she would get asked to help on it. If there was one thing Ceri hated, it was a mystery.

Soho, August 13th

The Dragon was full of hyperactive werewolves. Very few undead came in on full moon nights and the celebrities who turned up were the ones who enjoyed boisterous, randy fun. No one escaped being groped, not the film star on one of Lily’s tables, not the sole vampire who had come in with a few human friends on a girl’s night out, not even Carter since there was a table full of girls from the Royals in the middle of the room.

At first, Ceri had been a little worried that Michael would get annoyed at her being groped by horny wolves, but he seemed to be rather enjoying it. There was a big smile on his face as she escaped the tables and walked the last few feet to the bar. He looked utterly edible in his leather jeans and a T-shirt tight enough to have been shrink-wrapped on with Black Moonlight scrawled across it in pseudo-gothic lettering. He was still seven years younger than she was, but the more time he spent in the Guard, and around Ceri and Lily, the more he seemed to be maturing. The shy, uncomfortable look he had worn so often in the past was replaced by a grinning confidence.

‘Five ‘Banes, Alec,’ Ceri called across the bar, then she turned her attention to Michael. ‘What are you grinning at?’

‘Watching you,’ he said. ‘You’re amazing the way you can actually carry drinks through that scrum. Don’t get me wrong, Lily’s a little better and the other girls are good, but they’ve been doing it longer.’

‘I’m being felt up by dozens of wolves and you’re grinning at it?’

Michael shrugged. ‘Yeah, but they don’t mean anything by it. They know you’re with me. It’s a compliment.’

Ceri’s eyebrows rose and she cocked her hip. ‘To whom?’

‘Oh, both of us,’ Michael said quickly. ‘They think you’re attractive and they want you, and they’re showing it, but they’re all deferring to me.’

Alec leaned over the bar, placing drinks on Ceri’s tray. ‘Nice catch, kid,’ he said; Michael blushed. ‘He’s right though,’ Alec added to Ceri. ‘I’ve seen the looks. They’re all making damn sure he knows they’re not horning in on his mate.’

Ceri looked between the two wolves. ‘Does the whole of London know I’m his mate?’

‘Oh no,’ Alec said. ‘Actually, the whole of London knows he’s your mate.’ Ceri looked quizzically at the older werewolf. ‘You’re Ceridwyn Brent,’ he explained, ‘the human girl who killed Remus, freed Luperca, and can turn into a black-fur by the blessing of the Goddess. Michael’s your mate.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, not sure what kind of response was appropriate. ‘Well… I better get them their drinks before they start howling again.’ She picked up the tray and started back through the room, her hips swaying as much to avoid hands as for style.

As she walked back Lily fell into step beside her, flashing a look of exasperation before looping an arm around Ceri’s waist. Her fingertips brushed Ceri’s hips sending a jolt of electricity up her body. At work Lily ran her aura on low almost the entire time; it helped get her big tips. Not that the aura was needed to make Ceri’s body tingle at Lily’s touch. Ceri returned the favour and was pleased to note the tiny shiver which ran through Lily’s body in response. The fact that a simple touch was enough to turn on a woman who could have literally anyone in the room was a huge boost to Ceri’s sometimes fragile ego.

Without warning, and with some surprise value, Carter appeared right behind them. ‘Ladies,’ he said quietly, ‘please rescue me from the horde of delinquents on table eighteen.’

Ceri half-turned to look at the table of werewolf girls. They were giggling happily, dosed up on cocktails, and more or less wearing clothes; Ceri’s Dragon micro-dress covered more than what some of them had on. They cooed and waved at Carter as he looked their way. Ceri figured it was worth a try; she looped an arm around Carter’s shoulders and mouthed, ‘mine.’ Six she-wolves pouted playfully and then turned to giggle at each other.

‘What did you do back there?’ Carter asked when they were back at the bar, Ceri and Lily on either side of Michael.

‘I claimed you,’ Ceri said. Michael had a sudden coughing fit as he tried to simultaneously laugh and drink whiskey.

‘I beg your pardon,’ the playboy said.

‘I, um, claimed you. If they want you now they’ll have to ask me.’ Ceri frowned slightly. ‘Or do they have to ask Michael?’

‘You,’ Michael said. ‘He’s yours not mine.’

Carter glared at Alec, who seemed to be finding the entire thing too funny for words. Actually, he was slowly sinking under the bar trying not to laugh out loud. ‘I’m not entirely sure I appreciate being claimed,’ Carter said.

‘Well, you did ask to be rescued,’ Ceri said. ‘They’ll be less grabby now.’

‘It does mean you’ll have to sleep with her now, of course,’ Lily said. Her tone was casual enough to make it sound like she was serious.

‘I, uh…’ Carter said. He was rarely lost for words. Ceri looked at him and saw the conflicted emotions flicker across his face. He was moderately sure Lily was joking, but not entirely sure. He actually wanted to do it, but he so did not want to do it. That weird combination of reactions had confused Ceri since she had met the man.

Michael, apparently, saw the same conflict and rescued him. ‘I’m afraid I’d have to object,’ he said. ‘It’s full moon night and I’ve got plans for my mate.’

Behind her back, Ceri squeezed Michael’s hand in thanks. ‘Sorry, Boss, my mate says we can’t.’

Carter managed to get sufficient sarcasm into his voice. ‘I’ll do my best to contain my disappointment.’ He looked across the counter, and then down. ‘Laughing Boy, a double would be appreciated.’

Alec hauled himself up off the floor of the bar and reached for a whiskey bottle, wiping tears from his eyes with his other hand. ‘Sure, Boss,’ he said. ‘Or should I call you Ceri’s Toy Boy from now on?’

Carter growled at him.

Kennington, August 14th

Ceri’s hands gripped the sheets convulsively. There was a line of energy between her clitoris and the centre of her forehead and it was pumping with wave after wave after wave of energy. She was hanging on the edge of the same orgasm she had been about to have for the last fifteen minutes. Her nerves were on fire, her breath was drawn in heaving gasps when she managed to draw breath. It was like dying. It was like being so alive it hurt. Then, without warning, the wave broke, slamming through her brain like a tsunami.

When she opened her eyes, Lily was straddling Michael’s hips, slowly rising and falling. Michael’s eyes were clamped shut. Ceri licked her lips, tasting salt. ‘Pet,’ she said softly, ‘you’re fucking my mate.’

‘Yes, Mistress, but I’m doing it very slowly.’ Her body shuddered. ‘And I’m not feeding.’

Ceri watched for several seconds; it was intensely erotic and her breathing started to quicken despite her recent climax. ‘Is, um…’

‘What?’

‘Well… is it better with me or Michael?’

Lily did not stop her motion, but her face grew thoughtful. ‘Men have the advantage of physical stimulation…’ She shuddered again and had to pause. ‘It’s not just… just the flow of energy. But… oh… but with you I… oh… uh… I feel what you feel… Oh fuck, yes!’

Ceri felt the wash of pleasure swelling up through her own body as Lily came. She gasped, her mind ringing. Yes, there was that, when Ceri climaxed Lily would feel it. ‘P-plusses and minuses then,’ she said.

‘Y-yes,’ Lily stammered. ‘Maybe we should work on your sixty-nine technique though.’ She looked down at Michael, her hips rotating slowly. ‘He’s still hard, you want to take over?’

Ceri grinned and got to her knees to take Lily’s place. Michael gave out a little whimper.

~~~

‘You look like two young ladies kept you awake all night doing indescribable things,’ Twill said as she hovered a full mug of coffee over to Michael.

Ceri and Lily giggled. ‘They weren’t ladies,’ Lily said, ‘they were me and Ceri.’

‘Well I won’t disagree,’ Twill replied, smiling sweetly. ‘Would you like a bacon sandwich, you poor, abused young wolf?’

‘That would be great, ma-Twill,’ Michael said. ‘Sorry, tired makes me revert to a pup.’

Twill smiled. ‘That’s quite all right.’ Behind her, without her looking, a frying pan lifted to the cooker, the fridge opened to disgorge bacon rashers, and the gas lit under the pan.

Michael blinked and looked up at Ceri. ‘That tattoo of yours looks good, by the way.’ Ceri looked confused for a second and then remembered the tattoo on her back which had started appearing from under her skin recently. ‘I noticed it last night,’ he added, ‘but I was… uh, kind of occupied at the time.’

Ceri considered the possible times he could have got a really good look at her back and flushed. Yeah, he had been occupied. She was surprised he had had enough brain power to take note of the tattoo.

‘Turn around then,’ Lily demanded. ‘Let’s have a proper look.’

Sighing, Ceri turned in her seat and bent over so that Lily could look at her back. The tattoo, or birthmark, or whatever it was, was over her pelvic bone on her right hip. Lily’s fingers traced over the skin there and Ceri felt it tingle; she’d have thought her body would have had enough after last night. ‘It is pretty good,’ Lily said, ‘and probably complete. It’s got the same look to it that your old tattoos had. Kind of like ink under skin, but not. And it does match the necklace she gave you.’

‘Right,’ Ceri said. Brenhines, one of the dragons who were currently keeping an eye on her and probably one of the ones in Ceri’s bloodline, had given her a silver necklace with the same design as her new tattoo on it; a dragon bent around into a circle with a tribal sort of style to the art. Ceri had not asked Ed about it yet, but he was due over soon… ‘Time to ask my teacher about that then,’ she said.

~~~

‘Well,’ Ed said, ‘I haven’t seen one of those in… a few centuries.’

‘You recognise it then?’ Ceri asked, turning the rectangle of silvery metal so that she could see the engraving. ‘My tattoo is the same design.’

‘Interesting. The necklaces were given out once a year, on the morning of the Summer Solstice, to the most promising student in… well since you like to call it Atlantis, let us stick with that. That was the emblem of Brenin and Brenhines, not that they used those names then.’

‘I thought Brenin died with Atlantis?’

Ed’s image nodded. ‘He did. When his Queen started using the Welsh name she gave him the new title. They both went by other names then, as did I. But that was their emblem, their “royal seal” if you will.’

Ceri screwed up her face. ‘So I’m wearing their cattle brand on my back?’

Ed looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I wouldn’t exactly call it that.’

‘I would.’

‘Did you try that spell?’ Ed asked, probably to derail that particular line of conversation. ‘The genetic analysis one?’

‘Uh, no, not yet,’ Ceri admitted. ‘It needs you to know what you’re looking for and I don’t. And I’ve been busy.’

‘The Greycoats course?’ Ceri nodded in reply. ‘Could I suggest you attempt to determine whether Brenin is in your bloodline?’

‘I’ve never met him, I don’t have…’

‘Do you still have the picture you drew of his skull? We’re talking about magic, not some big machine.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll be right back.’ Leaving the summoning room, she dashed upstairs to grab her tablet. The actual picture she had drawn of Brenin’s skull was filed at the university, but she was fairly sure the scan she had of it would invoke her memory sufficiently. With the tablet in hand, she went back down and settled herself onto the floor with Ed looking at her bemusedly.

‘The spell is more or less instantaneous,’ he said, ‘and requires little actual concentration…’

‘I don’t have the actual drawing, I’ll have to rely on the image and my memories. So I need to concentrate.’ She flicked on the tablet, selected the picture folder and found the image of the skull she had drawn.

Ed smiled. ‘Excellent use of improvised sympathy.’

Ceri grinned back at him and then focussed on the picture. The dragon known as Brenin had been big; she remembered the skull as being huge with horns at the back edge and on its nose. She let her mind drift back to her time at Stonehenge when she had spent hours looking down through the earth to the bone buried under it. She remembered the feeling as she had looked into the empty eye sockets and it had seemed as though they were looking back. She had felt something then; a familiarity? She held that feeling in her mind, closed her eyes, and allowed her power to flow, filtering it through the pattern Ed had taught her…

Ceri opened her eyes and looked up. ‘Yeah, Brenin’s the other dragon. I belong to both their bloodlines.’

Ed sucked his teeth; it was a little odd considering that she was looking at an image sucking virtual teeth. ‘It explains her interest in you, and your strength. They were fearfully powerful magicians, and she loved her mate… almost beyond reason.’

‘And I’m, like, the kid she never had?’

He shrugged slightly. ‘They never had a dragon child, as far as I’m aware. You are, perhaps, the closest thing she’s likely to get.’

‘So she put this mark on me.’

‘I’m not sure that you can make that assertion.’ He straightened himself up a little. ‘Shall we start today’s lesson?’

Ceri nodded, wondering whether Brenhines would turn up again. She wanted to ask about the tattoo. She wanted very much to ask why she had been marked as belonging to the King and Queen.

August 15th

‘Are you going out?’ Lily asked. She was in her favourite location in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee, legs crossed at the ankle. Ceri had become convinced that she did it to show off her exquisite body; it worked.

‘I’m meeting Cheryl at the lab,’ Ceri replied. She was dressed in T-shirt and jeans, which was a fair giveaway that she was going out. ‘I’ve worked out the theory behind ley line creation and I want to go over it with her.’

‘I thought you were on holiday. All the students are.’

Ceri grinned. ‘It’s not quite the same for researchers.’

Lily pouted; she would be sunbathing alone. ‘You’ll be back by two though?’

‘Probably. Well, I can be. Why?’

‘Dad’s coming over.’

‘Oh, okay. You need me for target practice again?’

‘Oh no,’ Lily said, smiling, ‘he’s not coming to give me lessons.’ Ceri frowned at her, bemused. ‘He’s coming to give you lessons. He knows more about sex than anyone else I know. He’s going to teach you to lick pussy.’ The half-succubus beamed as though she had had the best idea in the world ever!

Ceri blinked several times and then shrugged. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘I’ll be back.’ Well, how many people got to have sex lessons from an incubus?

Holloway

Ceri handed a memory stick to Cheryl as they waited for the coffee to finish brewing. ‘I talked to Ed,’ she said, ‘and worked out how to build ley lines. In theory.’

‘You want me to go over the equations?’ Cheryl asked.

Ceri nodded. ‘Ed made me work for it. He gave me some pointers and left me too it. Besides which, I’d like to make sure I’m not just going off on a dead-end theoretical idea.’

‘Why not ask Ed?’ Cheryl poured coffee into two mugs, handing one over to Ceri, but making no move to leave the little kitchen; she was determined that any meetings this month should be informal.

‘He said I had the theory right,’ Ceri conceded, ‘but I’d like a second opinion.’ Cheryl frowned slightly, asking a question. ‘I don’t entirely trust the dragons,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m not saying they’re up to something, I’m not saying Ed is up to something, but I want to double-check anything I get from them.’

Cheryl nodded. She was still frowning and Ceri could understand her disquiet. Ed had been her friend for a couple of decades and she trusted him. Then again, she had just found out that the man she knew was not even human. The deception was hardly unreasonable, but it obviously put a dent in her confidence in the man. ‘I’ll go over it,’ Cheryl said. ‘It sounds pretty complex so it might take a few days.’

‘I’d say esoteric rather than complex, but yeah. Take all the time you want. I don’t suppose we’ll be ready to try it any time soon.’

‘The Ministry are talking about attempting a trial deployment in the spring,’ Cheryl said, ‘if we’re ready for it. They’re negotiating with the Dutch government to site the transducer there.’

‘In the Netherlands?’

Cheryl nodded. ‘The Dutch are about the friendliest country to us in Europe and they’re also adjacent to the closest point on the German Rift.’

‘Hamburg,’ Ceri said, nodding. At the end of the war, Hitler had detonated four devices in German cities. Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, and Munich were still radioactive, massively thaumically charged, pits. Stonehenge was a constant, reliable source of moderate levels of thaumic energy; Ceri had used it to destroy Remus, which had required a lot of power. Hamburg was a hundred gigawatt power station compared to Stonehenge’s campfire. ‘What about crossing northern Germany?’ she asked.

‘The current plan involves an Army escort,’ Cheryl said. ‘The Minister is talking to the Ministry of Defence about it. He’s pretty sure he can get the go ahead. They take us in as far as we need to go.’

Ceri shook her head and took a gulp of coffee. ‘We’ll need to get close. I’ll take the last couple of miles on foot, with Lily.’ She held up her hand to stop the rising protest. ‘Both of us can take the magic and we’re quite capable of handling physical threats. I’m not risking some poor soldier in that Hell Hole.’

‘I’ll talk to Malcolm,’ Cheryl said. ‘I suspect he won’t be keen on the idea. There may be some requirements before they’ll let you go in like that.’

‘Probably,’ Ceri sighed. ‘I’m getting used to people deciding I need to be trained to do what I can already do.’

‘Welcome to the world of bureaucracy, dear,’ Cheryl said, grinning.

Westminster, August 16th

‘You look tired,’ Kate said as she handed out two more books.

Ceri grinned weakly. ‘I got a bit carried away trying out some, uh, new techniques I learned yesterday.’ She glared at Lily on hearing the supressed giggle.

‘I undoubtedly don’t want to know,’ Kate said, ‘so let’s get down to business. The Supernatural Crime and Enforcement Act of two-thousand and one. Ceri already knows some of this from her PPC course and some of it should be an obvious extension of PACE. For example, you can’t use scrying to locate someone, or something, without a warrant because if you found them on private premises it would constitute an illegal search.’ Lily, who had considered that whole idea silly, nodded; it did make sense in that light.

‘We’ll also be covering the use of magic, in Ceri’s case, and supernatural powers, in Lily’s case, when making arrests and performing other enforcement powers,’ Kate went on. Lily held her hand up, which produced a raised eyebrow from the detective.

‘I can do some magic too,’ Lily said. ‘Most demons can do it and I’ve been learning. I’m not that good, but I can do some things.’

‘Just don’t ask her to demonstrate,’ Ceri added, ‘or one of us is going to have an uncomfortable morning.’

‘I can do more than that one!’ Lily protested, though her eyes were sparkling with humour as she said it.

‘Priapism charm?’ Kate asked. Ceri nodded. ‘Yeah, I made the mistake of casting that on myself once. Never again. Okay, well, we’ll be getting to that kind of thing tomorrow. Today we’re doing what it is actually illegal to do using magic and the like. Unlike your obvious crimes, unfortunately, a lot of the supernatural stuff depends on intent which makes it way harder to enforce.’

‘Which is one of the reasons the Greycoats exist, right?’ Ceri asked.

‘Yeah, we’re specially briefed on the legal niceties. We’re also here, of course, because the traditional cops get nervous working with supernaturals, and having to deal with them as criminals. Technically, if a werewolf commits a mugging, that’s not our problem, but we usually end up getting called in to deal with that kind of thing. However, that’s the silly end of the business and I doubt you’ll be involved in it.’

Kate grinned slightly. ‘A lot of the time, crimes involving magic are a little like prostitution.’ That got a raised eyebrow from Lily. ‘Prostitution per se isn’t illegal, but you can be locked up for “living off immoral earnings” or soliciting. Equally, raising a zombie or summoning a demon isn’t illegal, but using them to commit another crime is. The business with Lily’s father earlier this year being a very good example. Using magic in the commission of a crime isn’t a different crime, but it usually carries a heavier sentence, like using a gun.’

‘It sounds like there aren’t really any crimes which are just to do with magic,’ Lily said. ‘I mean, if you kill someone with a spell it’s still murder. If you enthral someone…’

‘Enthrallment,’ Kate interrupted, ‘proper, permanent enthrallment, is a special case. That’s specifically legislated against under the Act. You’ll see a section on mental control. There are exceptions for lesser forms of control spells, but enthrallment is a big no-no.’

‘Like Barnes and the two vampires,’ Ceri said, her voice flat.

Kate nodded. ‘If we’d have got him alive, he would have been sealed in rock for eternity. The rule applies to sentient undead and living things, and if someone were to demonically bind you, Lily.’ Both of them had been expecting that and neither of them registered any emotion on their faces. Ceri felt the unease from Lily through their binding though; the thought of that punishment had been Lily’s main objection to working the binding in the first place.

‘What about actual demons?’ Ceri asked. ‘I mean, they’re sentient beings and binding them is, well, slavery.’

Kate shrugged. ‘Demons aren’t protected under the law. At all. Technically, you can kill a demon with impunity, bind them, control them, whatever. If you then use them to commit a crime, you get tried for the crime.’ She paused and looked at Lily. ‘Mind you, binding demons has become more morally reprehensible. You don’t see wizards binding succubi so much these days. Technically it’s not illegal, but it’s frowned upon.’

‘Wrong thinking,’ Lily said. ‘Succubi want to be bound. As sex slaves! It’s what they do, sex. They want a powerful master or mistress to bind them here. It’s built in. Believe me, I know about this.’

‘Well, if they can persuade someone to do it, there’s nothing stopping them,’ Kate replied. ‘I understand it’s more common in Holland and some parts of the US. I’m sure they still do it in other parts of Europe where the legal system isn’t as strong.’ She shrugged again. ‘Anyway, let’s move on to some of the unethical uses of magic and detection of them.’

Ceri settled down to listen. Aside from anything else, she was about to get pointers on what not to do.

~~~

‘Did you figure anything out about the Dog Boy who jumped in front of the train?’ Ceri asked as they were packing up.

‘Oh… well they decided that it was probably some sort of drug flashback,’ Kate said. ‘Paranoid hallucination brought on by withdrawal or something. Toxicology came back negative, security cameras at the station confirmed the information Alexandra sent over. Thanks for that, by the way.’

‘No problem. So, drug-induced suicide?’

‘Seems the most likely cause. No one was chasing him, but he did look scared.’

‘Kind of weird though,’ Lily commented. ‘I know there are drugs which cause paranoid flashbacks like that, but he had to have been running a fair way on it. Westferry is outside their territory.’

‘Yes,’ Kate said, ‘it is.’ She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I’ll get the uniforms to check security cameras in the area. Maybe we can figure out where he came from.’ Lily beamed having made a useful suggestion. ‘Any plans for tonight?’ Kate asked.

‘Oh, Ceri will be practicing some more,’ Lily replied. ‘She didn’t quite get that technique down perfect.’ Ceri let out a little whimper.

‘I’ll make sure the coffee is strong in the morning,’ Kate said. The smirk she was wearing spoke volumes.

August 17th

Kate was busy going through the use of magic in arrests, detainment, and questioning when John opened the door and walked in. He was wearing his serious face and looked urgent. Ceri was pretty sure that was not a good thing. ‘Slight change of plan,’ he said. ‘You two are going to get a practical lesson on crime scene behaviour.’ At Kate’s quizzical look he added, ‘The Chief’s cleared it and I need you with me. Might as well see what our new recruits can come up with.’

‘What’s happened?’ Ceri asked.

‘We’ve had another werewolf death,’ John replied. ‘Another of the Dog Boys, we think.’

‘Not another train?’ Kate said, disbelief showing.

‘No, this one’s at home. Forensics are already there. Hopefully we’ll be able to go in more or less immediately.’

Ceri and Lily climbed to their feet. Ceri could feel Lily’s anticipation; her own mirrored it. They were actually going to the scene of a crime to do real police work.

Canning Town

Carl, the now dead werewolf, had lived in one of the old terraced houses in probably the most deprived and run-down areas of London. The local council were trying to do the place up, demolishing what amounted to slums and replacing them with newer houses, but Carl’s place looked like it had been built in the nineteenth century and had had no work done on it since.

The street outside the little two-up, two-down was more or less blocked by two police vans and the crowd of neighbours being kept back by several uniformed policemen. John manoeuvred his black Vauxhall in through the crowd at walking pace, pulling up opposite the house. Then he turned in his seat, looking back at Ceri and Lily with a slight look of concern on his face. ‘You’re sure you’re ready for this? I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.’

‘I saw a man’s throat being cut last winter,’ Ceri said quietly. ‘His blood froze on the rock they’d laid him out on. I think I can cope.’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Lily said without further explanation. John nodded and opened the door.

One of the vans outside the house belonged to the forensics group from Greycoat Street and John and Kate stopped there as one of the Scene of Crime officers called out from inside. ‘You’ll want suits,’ he said. ‘At the very least, it’ll keep your clothes clean.’

‘That bad?’ Kate asked.

‘Pretty messy,’ the tech replied. ‘Who’re the civvies?’ The man pulled a pile of blue, disposable overalls from a drawer, placing them down for use.

‘Ceri Brent and Lily Carpenter,’ John said. ‘They’re going to be Special Advisors, Kate’s doing the SCEA part of the training, but we need her, and them, down here today.’

The SOCO nodded, unconcerned, and handed over a load of little, elasticated foot bags. ‘You’ll want these too.’

Lily was hardly dressed for putting an overall over her clothes, but decorum had never been a major factor in her persona and she simply dragged the suit up her long legs, pulled the skirt of her jersey-dress up to her hips, and zipped up over the top. The little foot bags looked weird over the top of high heels.

With everyone decked out in the hooded suits, they headed for the front door of the house. It was open and there seemed to be no sign of damage to it. ‘How did the first responders get in?’ Ceri asked.

‘The neighbour had a spare key,’ John replied. ‘She was pretty distraught and they took her to hospital. I think there may have been some form of relationship.’

The front door led straight into the house’s lounge. There were signs there that something had happened; a table smashed against a wall, a destroyed and badly bent TV. Everything looked old, possibly second hand, aside from the TV, a DVD player, and a newish looking cabinet they had been resting on. It’s drawers had been yanked out and thrown across the room spilling hundreds of unlabelled, and probably copied, DVDs. The expensive TV seemed incongruous in the room of old goods, and seemed to have received more violence than the rest of the furniture.

‘You know, considering the Dog Boys’ territory contains a highly developed financial district,’ Ceri said, ‘you’d think they’d have more money.’

‘They took the area long before Canary Wharf became an enterprise zone,’ Kate commented. 'It looks like there was some sort of fight here… probably started here and, what? It moved back into the kitchen?’

They got as far as the door through to where the kitchen was and stopped. A flight of steep, very narrow stairs led up between the two inner walls and a long scuff mark, the wallpaper ripped in places, showed where someone had slammed into the wall as they went up. ‘Looks like he went up,’ John said. ‘Report says the body is in the bedroom.’

Lily nodded to the closed kitchen door. ‘He tried to get through there, but it wouldn’t open. You see the claw marks around the handle?’

‘He shifted,’ Ceri said.

‘He shifted and ran for it,’ Kate added. She started up the stairs.

‘Uh, you may want to brace yourself before you get to the top,’ John said. ‘The reports said the death was… exceptionally violent.’ Ceri, starting up the stairs after Kate, looked back at him. ‘Exceptionally violent,’ he reiterated.

Someone had laid little aluminium platforms out from the small landing and in through the bedroom. They were like stepping stones through the blood and Kate used them for that purpose. Ceri heard her voice before she saw anything of the room. ‘Holy widderwise shit!’ Ceri took a breath, thinking she was going to need the reinforcement, and got a lung full of fetid blood. She stopped, looking at the landing carpet.

‘You okay?’ Lily asked from behind her.

‘Yeah, just don’t breath too heavily.’

‘I know. Blood, stomach acid, and, uh, faeces. This is going to be awful.’

Gritting her teeth, Ceri stepped onto the first tile. ‘I wish you hadn’t said that.’

Apparently, seeing a man’s throat being slit by demon-wolf claws had not been quite enough experience; Ceri felt bile rise in her throat a she took in the scene in the bedroom. There was blood everywhere; soaking into the carpet, splattered on the walls and ceiling, sprayed over the coverlet on the bed. An arm rested on the pillow, grey furred and clawed, and very much not attached to the rest of Carl’s body. Then again, Carl’s body was not attached to Carl’s body. His intestines were in an untidy pile at the foot of the bed. She could see a leg sticking out from under the bed beside the guts. His upper torso was on top of a dresser. Near a wall and upside down was his head; Ceri was glad she could not see his eyes.

‘He was torn apart,’ Lily said clinically. ‘I mean, like, pulled. The wound edges are ragged, ripped.’

Details, yes, focus on the details. Ceri looked at the ragged edge of the throat. If she concentrated on the details she could kick in her science-brain and forget this was some man’s dead body lying around her in pieces. She stepped onto a closer tile and squatted down, balancing on her toes. ‘Torn tendons,’ she said, ‘muscles ripped off their anchor points. That would require a fair bit of force, especially when we’re talking about a werewolf.’

‘Another werewolf?’ John asked.

‘Unlikely,’ Lily said. Her eyes were on the torso with its torn skin, pulled back to show the lower ribs. ‘No claw marks, no bite marks. Werewolves don’t fight like this.’

‘And even a black-fur would be pushed to pull a body apart like this,’ Ceri added. ‘Hell, a Dakag might be pushed to do this. A troll wouldn’t fit up that staircase… A major demon, perhaps.’

‘I don’t buy it,’ Kate said. ‘This is… angry. The person doing it was emotional about it, very emotional. This wasn’t a summoned demon doing a job.’

‘No one saw anyone entering or leaving the building,’ John said. ‘There’s no sign of forced entry.’

‘The neighbour?’ Lily suggested.

‘We’ll interview her,’ John said. ‘She was pretty hysterical when she found out what had happened. It could be an act.’

‘She may know if he had enemies anyway,’ Kate added.

‘He’s a Dog Boy,’ Ceri said. ‘Was a Dog Boy. Of course he has enemies. But enemies that could do this?’ She stood, her gaze taking in the blood spattered room. She could make out ballistic trajectories in the spray on the walls; Carl had been somewhere near the middle of the room. She looked down at the carpet there. ‘There are no marks, no footprints,’ she said. ‘Have the SOCO guys found any indication of the attacker?’

‘We won’t know until they’ve finished going over what they’ve got,’ John replied. ‘Is there anything, uh, supernatural about?’

Ceri flicked her Sight on with a blink and began looking around. Lily just stood there and said, ‘There’s nothing magical here aside from Ceri and Kate.’ Ceri’s enhanced vision was showing nothing much either. The field of energy Lily emitted constantly, allowing her to detect the desires of others, was there, but as feint as always. There was the core of energy the half-succubus held in her abdomen, between the two Manipura nodes. The corpse showed nothing she could detect, neither did the room.

‘You can sense I’m a witch?’ Kate asked curiously.

‘I can sense you work magic,’ Lily said, ‘and the charm you’re wearing.’

Ceri glanced over at Kate. There were the signs of magic use in her Chakral Median; practitioners tended to show it in the form of a more developed pathway between the nodes. She could also see the dull glow of a simple enchantment under Kate’s blouse though she could not make out what it was.

Kate’s hand went to that spot, pressing against the bone between her breasts. ‘It’s a warming charm,’ she said. ‘It belonged to my grandmother.’

‘There’s nothing here,’ Ceri said. ‘The most magical thing in the room is Lily’s stomach.’ Somehow, Lily could not quite raise a giggle at the remark. ‘Can we get out of here? And remind me to bring nose plugs next time.’

‘I think we’ve seen everything we can before they tidy up the mess,’ John said. He turned to back out of the room and Ceri hurried Lily to go after him. She wanted out of the stink of death. And she would not be able to take a shower for a few hours. Grimacing, she headed down the stairs to get out of the stupid bunny suit hoping her clothes would not hold the scent too much.

Battersea

‘Another one?’ Alexandra asked, frowning.

Ceri nodded, sipping her tea and settling her back comfortably against Michael’s chest. ‘Ripped apart. Guts torn out, limbs and head pulled off. No sign of another werewolf attacking him, or a blade being used. I’m just thinking people should be careful in case this isn’t coincidence and someone’s gunning for wolves.’

Alexandra looked around at Anita. The Captain nodded. ‘I’ll have word passed around. I’ll have them keep their ears open as well. It’s amazing what beggars and whores hear that cops wouldn’t.’

Ceri smiled thankfully. ‘Thanks, it’s appreciated. I don’t suppose you’ve actually heard of this Carl?’

‘I have.’ The voice came from one of the girls sitting nearby. Ceri recognised her; Tina, one of the prostitutes Anita had mentioned. She stood and walked over, naked rather than dressed up in the mini-skirt and bandeau she was often seen in. ‘He occasionally used to pick up a girl around King’s Cross. Never another wolf though, he had a taste for human girls. I heard he got a bit rough at times. Liked to fuck while furry and wasn’t too careful about his claws.’

Ceri chewed on that for a second. ‘You know if he had any particular friends or enemies?’

The blonde shook her head; her large breasts jiggled as she did it. ‘I stayed away from him to be honest. A couple of the Dog Boys come looking for girls but I’m not desperate enough for the cash. I could ask around the others if you’d like.’

‘I don’t want to cause any problems for you,’ Ceri said.

Tina grinned. ‘It’s not a problem. We’re pretty tight up there. We all look out for each other. The humans like us because we can handle bad customers for them and they don’t need pimps. They keep us informed about stuff we miss being out here.’

‘Okay then, if it’s okay with our Alpha, thanks, Tina.’ Tina glanced at Alexandra, receiving a barely perceptible nod, and then grinned brightly before wandering back to the group she had been in.

Ceri drained the rest of her tea and then slapped Michael’s shin. ‘Come on, you, you’re supposed to be teaching me tracking tonight.’

Alexandra smiled. ‘Hide and seek,’ she said. ‘A nice way to spend an evening. Don’t make it too easy for her to find you, Michael.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Why would he… oh yeah.’ Considering what would likely happen when she did, she would not have put a little cheating past him.

Westminster, August 18th

Ceri was somewhat surprised when Kate opened a door and led them into what looked like a firing range. It was late in the afternoon and they had spent most of the day studying rules regarding the use of magic in restraint situations, the safety regulations involved in that, and a few other random bits of magic use in police work. The rules on restraining prisoners, in particular, were distinctly convoluted. The firing range, however, was a surprise; for one thing, Ceri had not expected there to be one.

‘We’re going to learn to shoot?’ Lily asked.

Kate grinned. ‘No, this is for Ceri.’ She looked around as a tall, bulky man in a Met T-shirt approached them. ‘Ceridwyn Brent, Lily Carpenter, this is Sergeant Daniel Briggs. He’s one of our firearms instructors and he’s going to take Ceri through an evaluation to allow her to use lethal force, if required.’

Ceri suppressed a grin as Briggs bulked himself up a bit and tried to look as manly as possible as he shook Lily’s hand and then her own. He was a good looking guy; strong features under short cropped, sandy-blonde hair, and a body which showed a lot of muscle. ‘Basically,’ he said, ‘I need to assess your accuracy and control under a variety of conditions. We’re making sure you can hit someone without being a danger to yourself or any nearby non-combatants.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘Do you have a preference for choice of weapon?’

‘Whatever you’re most comfortable with,’ Briggs replied. He looked a little disappointed that it was not Lily doing the evaluation; Ceri tried not to be disappointed he felt that way. Huh, Michael had a better body anyway.

He led the way down the short row of booths to the second from the end. Around ten yards away was one of those paper, human-form targets with concentric lines drawn to mark off scoring bands. ‘Okay,’ Briggs said, ‘shoot the target. Three rounds, as rapid as you can.’

Ceri lifted her hand, blue-white energy forming in her palm. She took aim down the range and fired off three bolts of energy. Lily was impressed; she had never seen Ceri throw anything that small before. And Ceri could feel the pride her bound demon felt too. The target was gone; each bolt had hit a different point because the raw magic rapidly disintegrated the paper around the impact point and she had to hit a different part with the next ball of light.

‘Uh… right,’ Briggs said. Kate was trying hard not to laugh. ‘I’ve never seen that kind of magic before.’

‘Raw thaumic energy,’ Ceri explained. ‘When I get nervous I tend to fire off bolts of it. I can use something else if you prefer?’

‘Uh, no, if it’s what you’re most used to.’ He backed up two booths and pointed down the range. There were three targets, all turned sideways on. ‘The targets will turn at random,’ Briggs said. ‘You need to evaluate whether the target is dangerous or not and respond accordingly.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, setting her feet, fingers flexing like a gunfighter in a cowboy movie, ‘ready when you are.’

Briggs signalled to someone, presumably in the control booth, and nothing happened. Ceri was beginning to wonder whether the system was working when the first target turned. The figure was a rough looking, shadowy character holding a pistol. Energy burned through Ceri’s core, flaring up her spine and blossoming into destructive power in her mind. A bolt of light burst from her hand, hitting the target in the centre of its chest. A second later there was no target.

The second target turned almost immediately, a printed image of a man running at her with a machete. The first had been on the right, this was on the left, and she had to realign her aim quickly as her power built. She blinked and the target was dissolving into dust.

Her arm moved, lining up on the last target. Light flickered around her fingers. The target turned and the light flared brighter… and then died as Ceri closed her hand and pulled her arm back. The target showed a woman with a shocked look on her face holding a baby.

Ceri heard Lily let out a breath and once again the sense of pride flowed over her. ‘Well done,’ Briggs said. ‘That’s all I need.’

‘That’s it?’ Ceri asked. ‘I figured there would be more to it.’

‘We’re not training you to be an armed response officer,’ Briggs said. ‘Kate will have explained why you should avoid doing things like that most of the time, but if you do have to we need to be sure you’re not dangerous. We know practitioners are lethal weapons and we can’t expect them to avoid using lethal spells at all times, especially when saving lives.’

‘Come on,’ Kate said, ‘The Chief wants to talk to you.’ Briggs pulled a sheet of paper off his clipboard and handed it to Kate, and then she headed out of the range.

The detective handed the paper over to her boss in his office and then left. Detective Chief Inspector Barry waved at the chairs beside Ceri and Lily as he looked over the form, nodded, and then added it to a brown file folder on his desk. Then he opened his desk drawer and pulled a pair of cards from it, placing them in front of the women before settling into his seat.

Ceri picked hers up; it was a variant on a warrant card, specifying that she was a Special Advisor to the Metropolitan Police. There was a picture, which she grimaced at, and a holographic authenticity mark, surrounded by the tiny runes of an anti-tampering enchantment. ‘You had them made up before we passed the course?’ she said.

‘I have never asked someone to be an SA who I didn’t already know would pass the evaluation,’ Barry replied calmly.

Lily had picked up her own card and was grinning at it. The childish glee coming through their bond was infectious and Ceri had to stop herself giggling. ‘So we’re official then,’ Lily said.

Barry allowed himself to smile; Lily’s enthusiasm was infectious. ‘Yes, you are officially able to stick your noses into police business when required.’

‘The werewolf case?’ Lily asked.

‘Radcliffe will call you on that if he thinks he needs further assistance. For now you can get back to your normal activities.’ His lips quirked. ‘Sunbathing, I understand.’

Ceri felt her cheeks flush. He knew they sunbathed nude on the roof! She knew it. If she found out who had told him… ‘It’s a demon thing,’ Lily said without even the slightest hint of embarrassment. ‘I really love the heat of the sun on my skin.’

‘Well enjoy it,’ Barry said, ‘the forecast for the weekend is good.’

Kennington, August 19th

The sun did feel fantastically good on Lily’s skin. It felt pretty good on Ceri’s skin too, but the feeling of contentment over their link was something else. It was sensual, yes, but mostly it was just plain nice. Ceri could lie there feeling warm and happy all day, if she were actually allowed. A soft groan escaped her lips as Twill emerged from the roof hatch.

‘Ceri, phone call. It’s Kate.’ Twill floated the phone over, looking apologetic.

Ceri plucked the offending instrument out of the air. ‘Yes.’

Kate sounded apologetic too, but there was also a hint of urgency in her voice which caught Ceri’s attention. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, but there’s been another death.’

‘Another werewolf?’

‘Another of the Dog Boys. The Chief’s asking if you can use your contacts. We need to talk to their Alpha and he doesn’t really like cops.’

Ceri glanced across at Lily, who was looking at her with interest. ‘That could take some doing,’ she said into the phone. ‘Dolf isn’t terribly fond of me either. I’ll talk to Alexandra and Alec. Might take a day or so.’

‘That’ll be faster than the macho freak is likely to talk to us,’ Kate replied. ‘Even if we bring him in, which would just make things worse politically, and explain what’s going on, he still won’t talk to us.’

‘Okay, Kate, I’ll contact you as soon as we have anything.’

‘Thanks. Bet you didn’t think you’d be girls in blue so fast.’

Ceri looked up at the clear blue sky with the sun blazing down. ‘Actually, it’s a beautiful day and nothing really bad has happened to me in a couple of weeks. I figured we were doomed as soon as I lay down on the lounger.’

Part Two: Blue Murder

Soho, London, August 19th, 2011

‘You want to have a meeting with Dolf? Do you have some kind of masochistic streak I wasn’t aware of?’

‘Actually, a little spanking…’

Ceri drove her elbow into Lily’s side with perhaps a little more force than she had intended and looked across the bar at Alec trying hard not to blush. ‘He’s lost three of his wolves in a week under… odd circumstances,’ she said. ‘I’d have thought he’d want any help he could…’ She sagged. ‘He’s going to be one of those Alphas who wants to handle everything in-house, isn’t he?’

Alec nodded, a wry look on his face. ‘He reminds me of me when I was younger.’

‘You mean last year?’ Lily asked.

She got a glare from the werewolf. ‘I meant much younger.’ He stroked his chin thoughtfully. ‘I think you should go in off your own bat,’ he said. ‘Play the Luperca card. The pillock may not like the fact she’s changed, but he has to listen to her, even if it’s subconsciously. And he knows what’ll happen to his bunch of useless curs if he harms you.’ He sniffed. ‘Don’t take cops or wolves with you. Lily would be fine, but cops will make him clam up and wolves will give him an excuse.’

Ceri drew in a deep breath. ‘You think I should walk into Dog Boys’ territory with Lily and just demand to see their Alpha?’

‘Oh hell no,’ Alec said. ‘He hangs out in Mudchute Farm. Take the DLR there, go straight into the park and march straight up to him. Don’t demand a damn thing. Werewolves respect force, not talking.’ He waved a hand. ‘And take that staff thing. Lily should have her daggers. Don’t be afraid to knock some wolves out of your way.’

‘Right,’ Ceri said. ‘Okay.’

‘Table sixteen, love,’ Lily said.

‘Thanks,’ Ceri said. She picked up her tray and headed off toward the table. Well, that seemed like a great plan. She had seen Dolf once at a rock concert in Hammersmith. He had looked like a thug, which fitted his image perfectly. She stopped at her table and smiled. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

The table was a mixed foursome; two vampires and two humans. From what Ceri had managed to make out, the couples were not mixed, but the humans were all over the vamps. A little swinging was going on, she guessed. The male vamp was the superior in the group; old enough to be showing signs of decay which were covered up by his glamour. Ceri could see both images; the handsome, dark haired face seemed to shift slightly over the similar one beneath with the greying flesh around the eyes and the thinned lips. ‘Same again, I think,’ he said.

‘Then move on?’ his wife suggested.

‘Oh, the Dubh Linn,’ the other woman enthused.

‘I’ll get your drinks,’ Ceri said, scooping up their empties. Yeah, two chew toys out with their regular vamps. Vampires secreted a chemical analogous to endorphins into their saliva. It was an amazing high, quite legal, and addictive. All it cost was a little blood and, if you let it, your free will. Of course, sex with Lily was addictive, and Ceri was addicted, but at least it was psychological. People trying to come down off regular vampire bites went through Hell.

Ceri put her tray down on the counter and nodded across to Alec. ‘Two Dragon’s Bloods, one red wine, one white,’ she said.

‘He’s fairly old,’ Lily said.

‘Hmm? Oh, the vamp. Yeah, sixty or seventy. He’s just starting to turn ugly.’

Lily nodded, satisfied at her estimate. ‘They start getting more and more clear in their desires. He wants blood. His wife wants the sex too.’

‘Yeah,’ Alec said, ‘well when he gets a bit older he’ll be incapable.’ It was true; after the first century or so there was usually nothing on a vamp to have sex with. The thought made Ceri shudder. ‘Get their drinks over there,’ the bartender said, ‘and you can go back to ignoring them.’

As she walked back to her table she noticed Carter in one of the booths. It contained a lone woman, not particularly tall, but possessed of a lot of blonde hair and a very substantial chest. The latter was showed off to perfection by the low-cut, black mini-dress she was wearing. Add that to the platform pumps and the way she was giggling at some comment Carter had made, and Ceri pegged her for a porn actress. London had had a thriving porn industry for centuries, moving from erotic or bawdy books to film to video. Lily had been part of it until Carter had persuaded her to get out.

Stopping at table sixteen, Ceri unloaded her tray, gave the occupants a smile, and headed back to the bar. ‘Carter’s found his conquest for the evening.’

‘I wouldn’t call her a conquest,’ Lily commented. ‘You don’t exactly need an army to breach her bastions.’

‘Maybe scaling ladders to get up them,’ Alec put in.

Ceri giggled, propping herself against the bar. ‘You know her?’

‘Suzie Stacks,’ Lily replied.

‘Seriously?’

Lily nodded with an expression of mild disgust. ‘Originally Susan Jenkins, but that’s her stage name. I never worked with her that closely, but I know her by reputation. Her legs would blow open in a light breeze. If Carter takes her home he’s really going down market.’

‘She’s probably good in bed.’

‘Maybe. Don’t count on it. I hope she’s got some other talents because she’s probably got another year or so before she’ll be having trouble finding work.’

‘Young woman’s game?’ Ceri asked.

‘Tends to be. Certainly these days. And she’s older than me.’

‘I bet you’d still have no trouble finding work,’ Ceri said.

‘No,’ Lily agreed, ‘but I’m kind of a special case. But I’m not going back anyway.’ Ceri felt the surge of emotion as she said it; hatred, self-loathing, conviction.

‘No, love,’ Ceri said softly, ‘no going back.’

Millwall, August 20th

Despite her dislike of fighting in leather, Lily had decked herself out in a lot of it. She looked incredible in tight leather jeans and a halter top, the collection decorated with chains, and her paired daggers attached to her belt. At her direction, Ceri had put on her own, not quite so form-fitting, leather jeans, a black, leather corset, and her collar. There had been some argument.

‘I want to interrogate them, not bed them,’ Ceri had said.

‘Yes, and your corset makes you feel more dominant, and the outfit will make you look tough,’ Lily had countered.

As they walked into the park, Ceri did have to admit that she looked tough. She set her shoulders, put some swing in her hips, and let the boned garment do its other job. Lily was right, the corset was one of the crutches Ceri used when she had to be Mistress for her bound demon. Even when she had to be dominant for a bunch of petty, thuggish werewolves it was still a useful psychological platform to build her attitude on.

‘You look great,’ Lily said softly. ‘They’ll keep their distance.’

Ceri had noticed the wolves trailing them as well. She steeled herself and kept marching, her staff swinging forward and slamming into the path in front of her with each stride. ‘Until we get closer to their Alpha,’ Ceri replied just as quietly.

Turning up toward the farm area, they were tracked by more and more werewolves. Ahead of them, Ceri could see one of the old anti-aircraft battery sites, a large concrete platform. On top of it were people, wolf and human forms as best Ceri could tell. They made it to about two hundred yards from the platform before a squad of five werewolves barred their way.

One of them, the biggest and most scarred, growled at them, Man go. Now!

Ceri’s eyes narrowed; not shifting back to human to greet a human visitor was distinctly rude. It indicated complete lack of trust. ‘I’m here to see your Alpha,’ she said. ‘I mean no harm, but I will see him.’

Man go, now, or else!

They were getting nowhere. ‘Or else what? You’ll cower in fear?’ Ceri raised her hand, her will lashing out at the group of Guards. Suddenly the wolves were, indeed, cowering in fear before her. She heard rumbles and barks from the wolves around them. No one got closer as she led Lily past the shrinking guard squad.

Dolf watched her close the distance between them from his position on a saggy old armchair which was probably supposed to look like a throne. He was a big man in human form, probably bigger when shifted. His body had a lot of muscle, shown off by his white T-shirt and torn jeans which hugged his thighs. His hair was close cropped and vaguely blonde, perhaps starting to grey, and his face looked like a battle map; his nose had been broken and reset, badly, several times, and there was a deep scar across the bridge which cut under his left eye to the top of his cheek. He looked annoyed. Then again, he had looked annoyed at a social event so maybe he always looked like that.

He spoke before Ceri could start the formal greetings. ‘Oh look, it’s the Goddess bitch and her sex doll.’ The wolves around him made laughing noises; Ceri ignored them and watched the Alpha.

‘I’ll forego the pleasantries then,’ Ceri said. ‘You’ve lost three of your people this last week or so. I’m trying to find out who did it.’

‘It’s none of your business, human.’ He more or less spat the last word.

‘If this isn’t just something to do with your pack then it affects all wolves, and that makes it my business as one of Alexandra’s Guards,’ Ceri replied sharply.

‘Trust that old bitch to make a human one of her Guards.’

‘This human killed Remus. That probably didn’t go down so well with you since he had you under his thumb on the first night.’ Dolf growled and Ceri sighed. ‘I’m not here to listen to you posturing about your wonderful superiority, Dolf.’ She was proud of herself for saying his name without giggling; his real name was Earnest. ‘Tell me about the men who died. It’s to your benefit to have me as a resource in this. I’m asking for nothing in return.’

The Alpha looked down at her and she looked back, their eyes locked for a moment of appraisal. She could see he was smarter than he looked. He was a violent thug and his idea of solving a problem was to kill it, but he could see the benefit in making himself look like he was cooperating with the most respected pack Alpha in London and her Guards. She could also see something else; fear. He knew damn well she would take him apart if he tried anything.

His eyes still on Ceri, he leaned back slightly and raised his voice. ‘Freya! Come and deal with this human for me.’

A tall, slim woman with long, blonde hair emerged from the back of the platform. She looked a little like Anita; her body was powerful with lots of long muscles and she had an impressive chest, badly hidden under a short, white T-shirt which showed off her abs. A short leather skirt and a pair of flat, knee-length boots finished off the outfit. There was something about the face, perhaps a slightly angular, faintly masculine, beauty which reminded Ceri of Anita as well. The woman who was presumably Freya, walked toward them with a confident, graceful strut.

Her eyes flicked over Ceri and Lily appraisingly. ‘Come with me,’ she said in a cold tone. ‘We’ll go somewhere private.’ With that, she marched off in the direction they had come. Lily gave a little shrug in reply to Ceri’s glance and they set off after her.

~~~

“Somewhere private” was a small coffee shop on Canary Wharf in the shadow of the huge tower. ‘The coffee here is excellent,’ Freya said as she led them in, ‘and they serve the best pastries.’ Her tone had changed markedly and there was a sparkle in her pale blue eyes which had been missing around the other wolves. The counter did, indeed, have a large supply of very pleasant looking sweets behind it and, with Freya carrying a tray of coffee and food, they selected a table in the back of the shop and sat down.

‘So, you know my sisters,’ Freya said as soon as they were seated.

Ceri blinked. ‘I kind of got the feeling Anita…’

Freya nodded. ‘She’s the eldest, Aleena was second, I was third, Catherine was the youngest.’

‘Catherine and Anita are sisters? They don’t act like it.’

‘Huh,’ the blonde grunted, ‘you know what Anita’s like. Catherine’s an Alpha so Anita’s all uptight and formal about it in public. She’s the same with me… well, worse really, she thought I was an idiot hooking up with Earnie.’ Her hand reached across the table and covered one of Ceri’s and her voice grew very serious. ‘I owe you way more than I can ever give for getting Aleena back. There’s only so much I can do while Earnie’s alive, but whatever I can do…’

It made a degree of sense. Anita had trusted Ceri with a lot of power on what seemed like very little evidence. Gratitude for the return of a sister? ‘Who were your parents?’ she asked.

‘The previous Alphas of the Royals, Harry and Elspeth. Most of us bugged out of the pack when Mother died. Dad was ill, depressed, and we could see where things were going. We weren’t sure who would end up on top, but the candidates were all weak. Joshua managed to secure the Alpha position by getting his paws on Catherine. I’ve got to admit, she’s really grown up. I’m really proud of her, not that we talk.’ There was a sadness in her voice which yanked at Ceri’s heart. When was the last time Freya had actually talked to any of her sisters? ‘Anyway,’ the blonde Alpha said, ‘you didn’t come here for my family history.’

‘What do you know about the three dead wolves?’ Ceri asked, accepting the change of subject.

Freya grinned. ‘I make it my business to know as much as I can about all my wolves. Goddess knows Earnie doesn’t. The first one was Ben. He was a weakling and got by mostly by hanging on the coat-tails of stronger wolves. He had a talent for collecting information though. The people he mostly hung around with were Carl, Jarrel, and a female, Lisa. Lisa was putatively Jarrel’s mate, but the guy was a horn dog, thought he was Goddess’ gift to bitches. Carl and Jarrel are the other two dead ones, and no one has seen Lisa since Jarrel was killed.’

‘Has anyone told the Greycoats about her?’ Lily asked.

‘Are you kidding?’ Freya laughed as she said it. ‘There’s precious few of the pack trust the cops.’

‘What about you?’ Ceri said, tentatively.

‘They don’t like us much, but I can’t blame them.’

Ceri pulled her warrant card out of her jeans and placed it on the table. ‘We’re kind of working with them.’

Freya eyed the card, frowning. ‘Special Advisor, huh? So, basically, you can be cops when you want, wolves when you want, and neither when it’s needed. Nice arrangement.’

‘I’m glad you haven’t just clammed up,’ Ceri said.

The she-wolf shrugged. ‘Don’t tell Earnie unless you have to. Anyway, no one’s told the cops, but she has form for prostitution so they have her picture on file and they could have found out about her from anywhere, couldn’t they?’

Lily smirked. ‘There are hookers in the Battersea pack. Ceri could have heard about her from them.’

‘Better still,’ Freya said. She frowned again. ‘There was one thing. Ben heard about some porn producer who wanted some werewolves for a film. As best I can tell, he got Carl and Jarrel into it, tagging along himself for some free pussy.’ Ceri could feel Lily stiffening beside her and Freya’s next statement revealed why. ‘I don’t think it was legal stuff.’

‘There are a couple of werewolves in porn,’ Lily said, her voice tight. ‘They’re no different from any other big guy with a big dick though. The illegal porn trade uses far more.’

Freya accepted the clarification with a nod. ‘They used to brag about it among the males, but I’d hear things. “We DPed this white bitch and she was so hot,” or “You ever spit-roast a schoolgirl?” I tried to get Earnie to pull them up on it. I thought it was a danger to the pack aside from the fact that it sounded disgusting. Anyway, about two months ago it just stopped. No more bragging, and they seemed to run out of money. Carl was unemployed. I think he was starting to have trouble with his rent, but I know he bought some sort of high-end home theatre system last year.’

Lily nodded. ‘Snuff pays well, in cash, off the book.’ Ceri shivered; Lily was unnaturally calm, but at her core she was burning.

‘Someone tidying up a mess?’ Ceri suggested. ‘That would be better than someone going after wolves in general.’

‘It’s not impossible,’ Lily replied. ‘The distribution paths are largely through criminal organisations. A lot of the actual producers are freelance, but they often use outside contractors to get their hands on victims. They might have picked the wrong girl and someone is taking out the people who knew about it.’

‘It’s worth exploring,’ Ceri said. She smiled at Freya. ‘You’ve been a lot of help, Freya, thanks.’

The Alpha waved a hand dismissively. ‘Even if they were slime, they were pack and they didn’t deserve to die like that. And it’s Beatrice, Bea if you prefer. Earnie thinks Freya sounds better.’

‘I think you’re a better Freya than Earnest is a Dolf,’ Lily said. ‘You’ve got the build, the blonde hair.’ The half-succubus licked her lips. Ceri could tell it was forced; Lily was still trying not to think about her past and failing.

Freya blushed, the flush travelling down her throat. ‘Well you can call me anything you want.’

‘I think,’ Ceri said, ‘we should let you get back to your pack before I have a political incident to deal with.

Both Freya and Lily pouted.

Westminster

The computer screen displayed a pair of images, in the traditional “mug shot” mode, of a short-haired woman, pretty in a run-down sort of way. She looked depressed, but then she was having her photograph taken following an arrest.

‘Lisa,’ Kate said. ‘Dog Boys pack, arrested three times for soliciting. Known associate of Jarrel, our third victim.’

‘How did he die?’ Lily asked.

‘He fell off a six storey building,’ John said. ‘Witnesses reported that he ran in off the street, charged through the lobby and into a fire escape. We have security camera footage showing that and him running up the stairs. From the trajectory of the fall he was trying to hit the building across the street.’

‘He did too,’ Kate said, ‘just very hard.’ Ceri winced.

‘There’s no evidence of anyone chasing him,’ John said, ‘but he really looks like he was being chased.’

‘A hallucination?’ Ceri suggested. ‘Chemically or magically induced.’

John shrugged. ‘Get this Lisa’s picture out, Kate. See if we can find her. We’ll follow up the porn angle.’ He frowned. ‘I guess you two can sit this out until we come up with something else.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘but keep us informed, if you would. If this turns out to be someone going after werewolves…’

‘We will,’ John said, ‘but let’s hope it’s just some revenge deal against a couple of bad Dog Boys. We may have seen the end of it.’

Soho

Ceri was surprised to see Michael standing at the lectern, waiting patiently. It was a really nice surprise, he was decked out in a tight, black T-shirt and the leather jeans she had bought him, but it was still a surprise. Glancing at Carter for permission, she walked over, smiling broadly.

‘Good evening and welcome to the Jade Dragon,’ she said; the standard introduction. ‘I’m Ceri and I’ll be your drooling waitress for the evening.’ That was not quite standard, but it was more or less true. His return smile was a little bleak and she frowned, worried. ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing really,’ Michael replied. ‘Probably just the moon. I was feeling a bit… Well, Alexandra told me to come here and get cheered up. I’m just a customer tonight. I’ve got cash and everything.’

‘Well, my tables are full,’ Ceri said. ‘I can get you onto one of Sasha’s tables. She’s the blonde with the tight arse, quite fancies you, who doesn’t?’ She watched his cheeks start to redden. ‘Or you can sit at the bar since you’re a friend of the family, so to speak.’

‘Uh, the bar will be fine.’

Ceri grinned. ‘C’mon then.’ She turned on her heel and started into the club, putting some extra sway into her hips. ‘Michael needs cheering up,’ she said as she approached the small group of staff waiting there.

‘I think you did that already,’ Lily commented. ‘His eyes didn’t leave your butt the whole way over.’

‘If not, I’m sure we can get him cheerful somehow,’ Sasha added, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Michael climbed onto a stool, his face about the colour of a traffic light on stop. Alec patted him on the shoulder from across the counter. ‘You eventually get used to it, kid. It takes about fifty years, but… Wolfsbane?’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Michael responded. ‘That’d be great.’

Carter looked down the bar, a slight smile on his face. ‘We’ll line them up,’ he said. ‘Cheryl’s coming over later.’

‘Another new dress?’ Lily asked, a smirk playing around her lips.

‘I may have found something I thought she would look stunning in,’ Carter admitted.

‘Personally I prefer her in nothing,’ Alec muttered under his breath. Ceri and Michael were quite close enough to hear him and she looked across at him and grinned as he finished off Michael’s drink.

~~~

Alec was not too far off having his wish. The gold dress was floor length, but halter necked with a very deep back and low neckline, and it was fairly sheer shading to almost transparent over the legs. A thirty-something college researcher was drawing as much attention as the two film stars in the club as she swished in and planted a kiss on Carter’s cheek.

‘Good evening, Doctor Tennant,’ Carter said, lifting her hand to his lips; always the charmer, even when his “victim” was already charmed.

‘Good evening, Mister Fleming,’ she replied. Turning on the spot she added, ‘What do you think?’

‘I think,’ Carter said, offering his hand to help her onto a stool, ‘that every man in the room is lucky to be here to see you.’

Perched on her stool with her legs delicately crossed, Cheryl slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Flattery is not going to get you any further than you were going to get anyway.’

‘It’s not flattery when it’s true,’ the playboy said.

Alec placed a glass of white wine down beside Cheryl. ‘He’s right, you look good enough to eat. Suck it up.’

Michael, a few stools down and on his third ‘Bane, nodded. ‘I have to agree with my fellow males, ma’am, you look fantastic.’

Lily giggled as Cheryl flushed down as far as her chest. The half-succubus leaned over, placing her mouth close to Ceri’s ear to whisper, ‘Maybe we could get Cheryl to cheer Michael up. Quickie in the back…’

‘We can cheer him up ourselves later,’ Ceri replied quietly. ‘He’s drinking more than usual.’

‘He’s all right. He’s just a bit more moon-down than usual.’

‘What does he want?’

Lily turned to look at their toy wolf-boy, then looked back, smirking. ‘Right now? Cheryl.’

Ceri smirked back. ‘I don’t think she would.’ She glanced around her lovers to where her bosses were chatting. ‘Not tonight anyway.’ She caught something out of the corner of her eye, a movement; table ten needed her. Slipping away from the counter she headed over to see what they needed.

They were all humans, though one had the slight development of his Chakral Median which suggested some, but not professional, magic use. At first, Ceri wondered whether the feeling of unease she felt was to do with him, but when the feeling turned to shock and narrowed so that she knew it was coming from Lily, Ceri turned to glance back at the bar. John and Kate were there, talking to Carter. Cheryl had a disbelieving look on her face.

She finished taking the order as quickly as she could, but by the time she turned again to head back to the bar, Carter, John, and Kate were gone. Cheryl still looked confused with Lily standing beside her, looking consoling. Alec was hovering behind the bar, Sasha and Tess were looking bewildered, not sure what to do. Ceri marched over to the group.

‘Alec, two red wines, one white, one glass of Glenmorangie.’ She scanned the figures around her and fixed on Sasha and Tess. ‘You two calm down. Don’t freak the customers.’ Looking back to Lily she asked, ‘What’s going on?’

‘Susie Stacks,’ Lily said, ‘remember her?’ Ceri nodded; how could you forget someone that top-heavy? ‘She was murdered last night. They’re asking Carter about it.’

Carter accused of killing some porn actress? That was plain dumb. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘that’s standard procedure. You know that?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said picking up on Ceri’s intent. ‘Of course. He’ll have been one of the last people to see her so they’ll have to talk to him. That’s all it is.’

‘Alec,’ Ceri went on, ‘a whiskey for Cheryl too, calm her nerves. Everyone back to work. Sasha, Tess, if anyone asks it’s normal police procedure, nothing to worry about.’ She pulled Lily down the bar a little way and spoke quietly. ‘How did John look?’

‘Really serious,’ Lily said. She sounded worried, almost frightened.

‘Crap,’ Ceri muttered. ‘Just keep acting happy. Turn your aura up a little. Make it subtle.’ Lily nodded, the glow in her pupils ticking up a barely perceptible notch. Ceri shivered slightly. ‘I’ll take care of your tables, you handle Cheryl.’

‘Just like old times,’ Lily replied, turning back to where Cheryl was sipping whiskey and trying not to look worried. Lily had attempted to comfort Cheryl with her aura before; she was way better at controlling it now and there probably would not be a repeat of the horny thaumatologist.

Ceri grabbed her tray of drinks and headed out to deliver them, noting the empties on another table so she could return there on the way back. There was a lot of muttering among the customers. The detectives had been in plain clothes, as usual, but John just emitted “cop” like a beacon.

It was about fifteen minutes before Carter and the two cops emerged from his office. Everyone looked their way. John did, indeed, look very serious. Carter looked annoyed and a little confused. They stopped near the end of the bar so that Carter could speak; what he said was not good. ‘I need to go over to Greycoat Street with the detectives. Alec, would you please take care of the club and Cheryl.’ With that they started toward the door.

Ceri caught Kate’s arm. ‘Kate?’

The detective’s expression was a mix of anger and sadness. ‘You can’t help on this one, Ceri.’

‘But…’

‘He knows what he’s doing. He’s got his lawyer meeting him at the station so he doesn’t screw up. You’re too close to this, stay out of it.’

Nodding, Ceri allowed the sergeant to continue after her partner. Turning, she looked at Cheryl. The older woman’s eyes were brimming and Lily was standing beside her, trying to provide some comfort. It was not going to be easy; Ceri was not feeling too comfortable herself.

Kennington, August 21st

With Michael depressed and Cheryl verging on hysterical, Ceri persuaded Alec to drive everyone back to High Towers once the club was closed up. She was not drunk enough and spent the entire trip with her eyes closed concentrating on not feeling anything about the way Alec drove. Why did cars have to be so damn convenient? Why couldn’t tube trains get you door to door? Why couldn’t Ed have taught her a mass teleport spell? Oh no, they had to go by car and it seemed to take hours, though at almost four-thirty in the morning the traffic was fairly light and it probably took fifteen minutes.

Ceri marched into the house. ‘Everyone in the lounge,’ she said. As she had expected, the sudden arrival of more than the usual number of people produced a ball of blue white light which zipped down from the stairs at speed and resolved into Twill. ‘Is there coffee, Twill?’ Ceri asked.

The tiny woman’s eyes flicked over Cheryl, Alec, and Michael. ‘I’ll put some on,’ she said. Rolling in the air, she reformed her flight orb again and zipped off into the kitchen. Ceri pulled in a deep breath and headed for the stairs.

Cheryl in her gorgeous gold dress was perched on Alec’s lap in the guest chair. Her head was tucked against his shoulder though she did not appear to be crying. Michael was standing in front of the unlit fire, staring at his feet. Lily was perched on the footstool beside Ceri’s chair, leaning on the padded, leather arm. Ceri could tell she was out of sorts as well; she was still dressed. Lily’s head jerked up, her eyes wide as she looked at Ceri. Ceri knew why. Ceri was trying to hold back on the anger.

Dumping her coat on the couch which sat in front of the big TV and kicking her pumps at the nearest wall with considerably more force than was necessary, Ceri marched across to her chair and crashed into it with enough force to make Cheryl look up.

‘Ceri?’ Lily said quietly.

‘They shut me out,’ Ceri snapped, her voice dangerously low. ‘There’s no way Carter killed that woman. There’s no way they can believe that. They’re barking up the wrong tree in the wrong forest and they shut me out!’ Her voice had been rising through the diatribe and she jerked as Lily’s hand settled gently on her forearm. Forcing herself to calm down, she eased back into the chair.

‘Like you said, Ceri,’ Alec said, ‘procedure. You can’t be involved while he’s a suspect. You know him too well.’ He had not called her “kid” or some similar, vaguely patronising but affectionate term. He could tell she was past angry and was being careful. That more than anything else made Ceri realise she needed to put a lid on it.

‘Sorry,’ she said.

‘I’m supposed to be the passionate one,’ Lily said quietly. ‘You’re the calm, intelligent, considerate one.’

‘Sorry,’ Ceri said again. ‘What’s the point in this stupid Special Advisor thing if I can’t help when someone I know is accused of something? If we hadn’t taken the stupid badges we could be doing something.’

‘Like what?’ Lily replied calmly.

‘Like… Like…’ Ceri’s fists clenched and she glared at her pet. She saw Lily’s eyes widen slightly. She saw the slight stiffening. Ceri closed her eyes and sagged. Her voice was a whisper. ‘I’m sorry, love. It’s not your fault.’

Twill flying in with the tray of coffee mugs was a good distraction. Even Michael turned around to get his mug. The fairy settled onto the arm of Ceri’s chair in full lotus and looked up. ‘Assuming you can tell me without blowing up again,’ the tiny woman said, ‘what happened?’

Ceri sighed. The adrenalin was starting to run out of her and she was left hoping the coffee would replace it. She took a sip; damn it felt good. ‘The woman Carter took home last night was murdered at some point. John and Kate came to the Dragon to talk to him and then took him into Greycoat Street.’

Twill was silent for a few seconds, her tiny face screwed up in thought. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I’m quite convinced that Carter Fleming could kill someone, but not some random girl he’s taken to bed. I highly doubt they have evidence to suggest he is responsible aside from recent proximity.’

‘He didn’t do it,’ Cheryl insisted. ‘He couldn’t.’

‘So,’ Twill went on, ‘are you going to sit here all night in the hope that they let him out?’

Michael’s voice broke the silence after Twill’s comment. ‘Mister Fleming’s been good to me,’ he said. ‘I’m waiting for him to be released.’

~~~

The sun was well up, light pouring in through the big, leaded window in the lounge, when Alec’s phone rang. It was Carter asking whether he would be good enough to collect him from Greycoat Street. Alec went off to do just that with orders to bring him back to High Towers whether he wanted to or not. Twill flew off to the kitchen to check they had something strong for him to drink. Cheryl rushed off to the bathroom to wash her face and reapply her makeup, determined not to let Carter see she had been crying.

Carter looked tired when he walked into the hall, his jacket draped over his arm. His expression was impressively hard to read; the man had to play a mean game of poker. His gaze moved over the three women waiting for him, and then to Michael standing on the stairs looking uncertain. His attention was drawn to Twill as she floated up to him and his jacket started to lift. He smiled. ‘Thank you, Twill, most gracious.’ He looked back toward Cheryl just in time to catch her as she rushed into his arms.

‘I was so worried about you!’ Cheryl said. Her voice had held-back tears in it.

‘You’re still in the dress then,’ he said, a hint of humour in his voice.

‘I wanted to look nice for you when you got out.’

‘I’m afraid it’s not over yet,’ Carter said. ‘I’m not allowed to leave the city. They don’t have another suspect, so I’m not off the hook. They also don’t have enough evidence to keep me locked up.’

Ceri’s curiosity was verging on spilling over, but she forced it back. The man had just been through a police interrogation, he did not need one from her too. ‘You’re welcome to stay here,’ she said. ‘The spare bed is made up.’

It was always a shock when the playboy wizard showed vulnerability. The gratitude and relief showed on his face for a fraction of a second, but it was there. ‘I would appreciate it, Ceridwyn, thank you.’ He looked around at Alec. ‘You’re not going anywhere either, old friend. This young lady, who seems most reluctant to let go of my neck, needs comforting and pampering.’ He lifted Cheryl easily into his arms and started toward the staircase. He stopped briefly beside Ceri. ‘In the morning… When we get up I’ll tell you what I know.’ Ceri nodded and he carried on up the stairs followed by Alec.

‘So what do we do?’ Lily asked.

There were a lot of things Ceri wanted to do, but she could do none of them without information. She walked the few steps to Lily and looped her arm around the half-succubus’ waist. ‘We’re going to take the example of our elders,’ Ceri said and nodded up the stairs toward Michael. ‘That young man needs some pampering.’

Lily smiled. ‘You’re right, he does.’

Together they advanced upon Michael.

~~~

The shock Cheryl had got from the events of the night before became evident as they congregated in the lounge in the early afternoon. She lay in Carter’s lap on the big, wing-backed leather chair. Her legs were hooked over the so that she could rest her feet in Alec’s lap; he was sitting on one of the uprights beside the wing-back. Cheryl’s head rested against Carter’s shoulder, and she showed no desire to move any time soon, but the most telling thing was that, at two in the afternoon and quite sober, Cheryl was still naked.

Lily, perched on the foot stool beside Ceri, had noted Cheryl’s state of undress when she had come down wearing a jersey-dress and decided that if the older woman in the room was showing off, she could. The dress was in a crumpled heap on the couch.

Michael was sat on the floor at Ceri’s feet. At least Carter was still dressed in his suit, the shirt collar undone in a more relaxed mode than the club owner generally employed. Michael did not feel entirely wrong sitting there in club wear.

No one spoke until they had all had at least a couple of gulps of coffee and Twill had settled onto Michael’s shoulder. Ceri felt his body relax slightly as the fairy assumed her position; fairies gave off positive thaumitons as a side-effect of their thaumic energy production and that usually made people feel good.

‘I suppose it would be best,’ Carter said, ‘if we got this out of the way.’ Cheryl shifted slightly against his shoulder and he smiled. It was rather sweet, Ceri thought; despite what had happened, the three of them looked rather contented, driven closer together by adversity.

‘As you’re aware,’ Carter went on, ‘I took Suzie home the night before last. Actually, she proposed that we go to her flat and I now rather regret agreeing. Perhaps if we had gone to mine she would still be alive.’

‘Why did you agree?’ Ceri asked.

‘She was most insistent that I see a new… item she had obtained. I won’t go into the details, let’s just say that Ms Stacks was into bondage and leave it at that. We had a pleasant couple of hours and I left around six-thirty. I know her and I’d have got no sleep if I’d stayed. The police have me on tape leaving the lobby at that time and their time of death estimate is about an hour later.’

‘Then surely you’re out of the frame,’ Lily said.

‘Unfortunately,’ Carter said, ‘the manner of her death means that it is not entirely impossible that I did it. She died of slow blood loss. Very slow.’ His skin was paling visibly as he spoke. ‘They showed me some pictures taken at the scene. It was… distinctly unpleasant. The person who killed her was clearly very angry about something. I’d suggest it was something to do with her work. The method of death…’ He swallowed. ‘There was a sexual element to it.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Would you say it was violent?’

Carter nodded. ‘Sickeningly so.’

‘Lily, did Suzie ever do any illegal stuff?’ Ceri asked.

‘She was legit as far as I know,’ Lily replied. Then her voice turned thoughtful. ‘I did say she was pushing things a little, age-wise. It’s possible she took a few… borderline parts if she was having more trouble getting legitimate work.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘There are some people I could ask.’ She raised her chin so she could look up at Ceri. ‘You think it’s tied into the werewolves.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, ‘I do. Just one of those feelings I get sometimes, but I don’t like the coincidences. Three werewolves known to be employed in illegal porn get dead, and then a porn actress. And all in high-tension circumstances… We’re going to look into this whatever the Greycoats think.’

~~~

‘Anything?’ Lily asked quietly. She had come into the study to check on Ceri who was going over news sources on the Internet. Normally the half-succubus would have been glued to the evening news, but the lounge was full of people who could do without knowing what the media thought of Suzie’s death.

‘Something,’ Ceri replied, ‘but not much. I’ve found no mention of Carter, which is a plus.’

‘Between the Greycoats and his own media control, I’m not too surprised.’

‘It probably helps that Suzie got pushed off the top story spot fairly quickly.’ Lily raised an eyebrow and Ceri gave a little shrug in reply. ‘A witch died in a fire in the New Forest, suspicious circumstances and public, so there’s more for the press to go on. Suzie’s death got some heavy initial coverage, but the cops clamped down on the details so there’s not much to keep the interest going.’

Lily nodded. ‘Good. Tomorrow we’ll go talk to one of my old contacts. Information gathering. You up for it?’

‘Of course. I do it all the time, y’know?’

The half-succubus patter her on the shoulder. ‘Not like this, love.’

Muswell Hill, August 22nd

‘Why are we in Muswell Hill?’ Ceri asked. Getting there had not been fun. Highgate tube was on the Northern line at least so they had not had to change going north from the Oval. But then Lily had got on a bus! Ceri hated busses more than cars.

‘Jessie Leonard lives up here,’ Lily replied, watching the Edwardian terraces whip past. ‘She worked in all kinds of film, even did a few straight pieces. Played a vampire’s victim in one of Hammer’s Dracula series. She knows more about what’s going on on both sides of the legal divide than anyone I know.’

‘And we’re dressed like hookers because?’ That had just made the entire process so much more fun. Ceri’s skirt barely covered her arse and the high-hipped, thong-backed teddy she was wearing was mesh with enough lace to cover vital areas. Lily had put on a mini-dress which hugged her amazing figure and was translucent enough that her lack of underwear was very apparent. Ceri was in four inch sling-backs while Lily had opted for thigh boots with equally high heels. The looks they had got on the tube had been hungry. Out here in suburbia they were getting evil glares and surreptitious, lust-filled glances.

‘Jessie’s bi and she talks more when there’s something attractive to look at. Besides, I want her to think I’m interested because I might be going back into the business. It’ll make her more comfortable than if we go in as cops.’ Reaching up to a button mounted on the pole beside their seat, she pressed it and there was a ding noise. ‘Up you get, I’m sure you want off this thing more than I do.’

Ceri so wanted off the bus. She managed to stand and make her way to the door despite the braking and having to balance on her heels. As soon as they were off, Lily crossed the road and led the way into Church Crescent. Ceri chuckled. ‘Porn actress living on Church Crescent. How appropriate.’

‘She hasn’t acted in years. She runs a casting business these days.’

They walked up the crescent, which seemed to be straight, for about fifty yards before Lily turned off and walked up to a well maintained, attractive house with a bay window and a porch over the front door. She pressed the doorbell and waited. Out of the corner of her eye, Ceri saw the curtains on the bay twitch. A few seconds later the door was flung open.

Jessie Leonard had a gorgeous smile. Probably in her fifties, she was keeping her looks well; there were a few laughter lines around her eyes and mouth, but her feminine, high-cheekboned face was still very attractive and she had kept a trim figure with wide hips, a narrow waist, and firm, but not overly large breasts. Her legs were holding up nicely as well, quite visibly since she was dressed in a short, silk wrap, and there was no grey in her black, bobbed hair.

‘Lilith! You look as gorgeous as ever, dear.’ Her voice was soft and almost musical with no hint of an accent. ‘And you’ve brought a friend. It must be my lucky day.’

Lily smiled back. ‘We talked about this, Jessie. Lilith on a set, Lily off.’

Jessie blushed prettily. ‘Of course, I always thought you made such a wonderful Lilith though.’ Considering that Lily’s birth name was Lilith, her mother had thought it was a good name too.

‘This is Ceri,’ Lily said. ‘I brought her along to have a chat, catch up on what’s going on in the business, y’know?’

Jessie stepped back into the hallway beyond. ‘Come on in then,’ she said. ‘Go through into the lounge and I’ll get some drinks sorted out.’

Lily followed her in, leaving Ceri to shut the door behind them. They turned into the room with the bay window; a large, open room with a big fireplace at one side and a ring of chairs and couches in the bay, set around a low table. The furniture was all modern reproductions of Victorian designs, as best Ceri could tell. Everything looked expensive, clean, and tidy. Jessie seemed like a meticulous woman, not quite the image Ceri had had before meeting her.

‘Sit over there,’ Lily said quietly, pointing at the loveseat under the window. ‘Try to act a little submissive. She’ll like that.’

Giving her pet a glance and a little frown, Ceri crossed to the seat and perched on the edge of it, sitting with her knees together. Lily sprawled on the matching couch opposite, arranging herself so that it would be far easier for Jessie to sit in one of the two armchairs, or beside Ceri. Ceri felt unaccountably nervous. Perhaps it was the lack of control; Lily was running this one where she normally sat back and allowed Ceri to take charge. Perhaps it was the idea of playing the honey in the trap for a woman twice her age.

‘You’ll be fine,’ Lily said, her voice still quiet. ‘The hint of nervousness is good.’

‘Well, how are you keeping, Lily dear?’ Jessie strutted into the room with a bottle of white wine and three glasses. She placed the glasses down on the table and began to pour, her gaze taking in the seating arrangement with a knowing smile. Ceri knew she would sit down beside her.

‘Pretty good. Quiet life, y’know? But all the sex I could want,’ Lily replied. ‘You?’

Jessie laughed and slipped onto the seat beside Ceri. Her robe fell away from her thighs and she did not bother to rearrange it. ‘Quiet,’ she said, ‘the business is doing reasonably well. I doubt I could ever get as much sex as I want, but I still seem to be able to attract a few fish with this old body.’

‘Ha!’ Lily barked out a laugh. ‘You might be porn-old, but you’ll be getting laid when you’re seventy. Isn’t that right, Ceri?’

Surprised to be included in the conversation, Ceri blinked uncertainly. ‘Uh, yes, you’re really… sexy, ma’am.’

Another melodic laugh filled the room and Jessie’s hand landed on Ceri’s thigh as she leaned slightly closer, acting conspiratorial. ‘It’s sweet of you to say so, dear. Call me Jessie, I’m not your mother.’ She leaned away again, but the hand did not leave. ‘So, what did you want to chat about?’ She sipped her wine and smiled across at Lily.

‘General gossip,’ Lily replied. ‘I need to know what’s going on in the business.’

‘Thinking of coming back?’

‘It depends. The extra money wouldn’t hurt, though if we can get Ceri in it would be more convenient for me.’ Ceri suppressed the gasp which threatened to come out. Lily was painting her as the submissive, willing to go into porn to support her mistress. Well, it was not like Ceri had not played the role of Lily’s pet before.

‘New blood is always a draw,’ Jessie mused. Her hand squeezed Ceri’s thigh. ‘Well, there are… five productions I’m casting for at the moment. All of them have their main stars in place, but there’s still room for a few more girls to be slotted in. She’d have to start at the bottom, of course. Small scenes, maybe a few parts as an extra. I can get her in front of Paul Hoffer for sure, he loves smaller breasts. Marty Dean wants girls for an orgy scene…’

‘You think she’s got some promise?’ Lily asked.

Jessie turned her attention to Ceri, her gaze appraising. ‘Stand up, dear. Slip that skirt off.’ The hand slid from Ceri’s thigh as she obediently climbed to her feet. She would have favoured Lily with a murderous glare if she could have got away with it. A quick downward motion of a zip and the mini-skirt was pooling around her ankles. She turned slightly away from Jessie before bending over to unhook the skirt from her feet, which put her barely covered butt right in the actress’ face. Straightening up, she turned slowly to face Jessie.

The casting agent’s eyes scanned up and down Ceri’s body, taking in the narrow hips, slim waist, average to small breasts. ‘The muscle is good,’ Jessie commented as though discussing a horse. ‘Shaved, that’s popular currently.’ She looked upward, eyes wandering over Ceri’s face. Ceri had always thought she looked too masculine to be pretty. It was the jaw, quite wide, though her cheeks hollowed nicely and she had quite high cheekbones. ‘Can she do Dom?’ Jessie asked.

‘Yes,’ Lily replied, ‘when she’s told to.’

‘Directors like their subs girly. Put her in a corset and six-inch heels and she could make a good Dom. Do you think she could carry a scene?’ Ceri managed not to blush by applying every ounce of willpower she had.

‘With a decent director,’ Lily replied as though discussing the weather. ‘Someone like June Weatherall. She always did fantastic S and M scenes.’

Jessie nodded absently, her eyes still tracing over Ceri’s body. ‘June’s in the planning stages for a new project. She asked me to look out for new talent. It won’t shoot until January though. At the earliest. Turn around, dear.’ Ceri turned slowly; widder damn it if the attention was not starting to get to her. ‘Tight arse… The tattoo is interesting. Some sort of tribal dragon?’

‘Just a design I had put on her,’ Lily said.

‘Sit down, Ceri,’ Jessie said. ‘I think I can place her. You’ll act as her agent?’ Lily nodded as Ceri settled back onto the seat and took a drink of wine to settle her nerves. Jessie’s hand went back to her thigh, higher now since there was no skirt in the way. ‘She’s not going to be another Lilith, but I think she could do well. We’ll need a stage name for her… Kelly, Kelly Blue, those eyes are quite startling.’

‘It’s nice of you to say so,’ Lily said. Her voice took an edgy quality. ‘What about the greyer side of the business?’

Jessie looked at her, narrowing her eyes a little. ‘I thought you were well out of that. You know I don’t cast for that kind of thing.’ Her hand started a gentle stroking along Ceri’s thigh.

‘You keep your ears open though.’

Fingers began to stroke along Ceri’s inner thigh and she relaxed back against the seat. Her lips parted. ‘Would you really want to put this sweet young thing through that?’ Jessie asked. Ceri parted her thighs more, her knee pressing against Jessie’s, and wondered whether Lily would say anything about what the hand was doing.

‘Sometimes she gets out of hand,’ Lily said. ‘She’s tougher than she looks, and she’s a practitioner.’

‘Control spells?’ The hand drifted further between Ceri’s legs.

Lily nodded. ‘She’s very proficient. Quite often people never realise they’ve been tampered with.’

Ceri’s breath caught as the press studs at the crotch of her teddy were unsnapped. Her eyes sought out Lily, but the half-succubus was focussed on Jessie. ‘There’s a market for that, of course, but I don’t cast for it.’ Jessie’s fingers found their target and began a slow, circling motion. Ceri moaned, trying to keep a handle on the conversation.

‘Who does?’

‘Nat Dent is probably your best bet. He handles a lot of new talent and I know he pushes a fair bit of it down that route.’

There was a hint of disgust in Lily’s reply; Ceri barely noticed over the sound of her own panting. ‘That bloodsucker? Okay. How are the old crowd? Tawni, Brian, Mel, oh and Tam?’

‘Well,’ Jessie mused as her hand continued to circle and Ceri’s panting turned into moaning, ‘Brian retired. There were some rumours of drugs, but I think he just got tired and had enough money to manage. Tawni is still working, though I heard she’s trying to get out into production. She put some of her own money into her current project and if it pays back I think she’s off her back. They’re filming in… Wales, out near Cardiff, I think.’ The fingers parted Ceri’s lips, massaging over her clit and Ceri’s back arched. ‘Mel and Tam are still working, going strong. She just wrapped on a new high budget script, filming in Barbados. Tam… well, that big dick of his isn’t going out of fashion until he croaks.’

‘How about…’ Lily began, but she was interrupted by Ceri exploding on the seat beside Jessie. They watched as she gasped and moaned, and finally sagged back onto the loveseat, breathing hard.

Jessie smiled. ‘She’s good. Her skin shows off the flush well and she’s vocal.’

‘Oh, I have to gag her at times,’ Lily said. Ceri spotted the mischievous grin; her pet was enjoying this far too much.

‘I think she’s a natural,’ Jessie said. ‘A little training and she could get her name in big print on the jacket. How does that sound, Kelly? Your name on the jacket of a DVD? I think you could make the front cover if we do a BDSM shoot.’ Ceri didn’t answer; she was still trying to control her breathing. ‘You just lie there and look gorgeous, sweets.’

‘What about Suzie?’ Lily asked. ‘Have you heard from her?’

‘Oh, hun, didn’t you hear?’ Jessie’s voice was shocked.

‘Heard what, Jessie?’

‘Well, it was all over the news. Suzie was killed on Saturday. Well, that’s when they say the body was found.’

‘Killed?’ Lily asked, her voice alarmed. She really was a better actress than she let on.

‘Murdered somehow. The police aren’t saying much and the press haven’t managed to get anything from them. Of course, she was getting a little desperate for money. That lavish lifestyle of hers. And she was getting tired, losing it on set. Several directors put it ‘round that she was too hard to work with. She came to me asking about illegal stuff. I told her the same as I told you, I don’t cast for those.’

‘Do you think she did any?’

Jessie nodded. ‘Masked, I think, but there were a couple of shoots I heard she was involved with. Nothing recently though.’ Her voice lowered slightly. ‘I heard she was on a full-on snuff shoot a couple of months ago and after that she stopped doing them. Couldn’t stomach it.’

‘I know the feeling.’

Jessie finished her wine. ‘Yes, well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to kick you two out.’ She stood, walking to a sideboard near the door and returning with a card which she handed to Lily. ‘You can contact me there if you want to proceed with Kelly’s career. I have a lunch meeting.’

Grinning, Lily got to her feet, tucking the card into the top of her boot. ‘Business or pleasure?’ She glanced at Ceri. ‘Come on, girl, don’t just sit there half-dressed.’ Letting herself blush, Ceri began to reassemble her outfit.

‘A little of both,’ Jessie said, her eyes on Ceri. ‘There’s a young man I’m hoping to place in a couple of movies and I want to try him out before I put him in front of a director. He’s got muscles to spare and a huge cock, but you know how they can have trouble getting it up.’

Lily smirked. ‘Not around me, and I’m pretty sure you can get a rise out of him.’ Jessie preened. ‘We’ll let you get dressed then, and have a good… meeting.’

Outside on the crescent, Ceri walked along beside Lily feeling mildly shocked. ‘Was that what you’d call a casting couch?’

Lily laughed. ‘She’d have had us both in bed “to check your suitability” given the chance. She really must have had a date.’

‘You’re, uh, not going to use that card are you?’

Lily glanced at her, a slight grin on her lips. ‘Don’t you want your face on a DVD cover, Kelly Blue?’

‘I… No… I mean…’

‘Kind of a turn on? A woman who knows how to cast porn thinks you could do it?’

‘Well… yes, but I couldn’t… not really.’

‘You’ve done orgies, love. You’ve just sat there in someone’s front room and had a woman you’ve never met bring you off, and you didn’t bat an eyelid, you just let her do it.’

‘Yes, but… I was acting…’

‘Yes, and? What do you think porn is?’ Ceri did not really have an answer to that. Lily laughed. ‘Of course I’m not going to call her. Porn is amazingly boring for one thing. Your brain would dribble out your ear by the third day of shooting. It’s not all big dicked hunks pumping into you for ages, and you can have that at home without the cameras and some prick telling you to raise your leg higher, and moan more, and “let’s do that again the lighting was wrong.”’

‘I don’t think I could do it in front of a camera?’ Ceri said.

Lily shrugged. ‘I bet you could. That’s the easy part. It’s no different from doing it in front of people and you’ve done that. No, really, it’s the production process that’d get you.’

‘Where to now?’

‘We need to find Nat Dent,’ Lily replied, her voice resigned.

‘You said he was a “bloodsucker.” Not a nice guy I take it.’

‘Huh? Oh, well, no, he’s a total leech, but he’s also a vampire. You’re going to hate him, he’s pre-Shattering.’

Ceri winced. ‘Just so long as you don’t let him do the same thing as Jessie did.’

Mayfair

‘We really have to go in there?’ Ceri asked as they walked past the tailor’s shops on Savile Row.

‘We’ve tried his other daytime haunts,’ Lily replied, ‘the Dubh Linn’s the only place left before dark. Time for you to play mufty again.’

‘I don’t think the mufty act will work after I walked in there and dragged you out with a control spell.’

‘Damn!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘I’d forgotten about that. Damn it, I enjoyed you playing mufty in there. Ah well, fuck it, Dent’ll go for you wanting to get into the business. We’ll just go down that route.’ Getting to the junction with Vigo Street they crossed the road and started down the steps to the black door which led into the dimly lit room which was the Dubh Linn pub.

It was as Ceri remembered; bare brick walls, thick wooden beams holding up unpainted wood for a ceiling. At mid-afternoon there were a moderate number of patrons, mostly in booths at the sides of the room, thick wooden barriers separating them from their neighbours. There was one group of werewolves on one of the tables, but they ignored the two women as they walked past to the bar. That was different; when Ceri had come to this place with Lily the entire bar had been sizing her up as a snack. Something had changed.

‘Well if it isn’t the hufty and her pet.’ The accent was Irish and the voice sarcastic. Sean, the Sidhe bartender and owner of the Dubh Linn. Dark haired, attractive, the man could likely get any woman he wanted with a single look. That was fae for you. Ceri thought he was probably Unseelie and she would not go near him with a barge pole.

‘Can it, Sean,’ Lily said. ‘We’re looking for Nat Dent. He in? It’s business.’

‘I’ve not seen him in a couple o’ days,’ Sean said. ‘I heard he was up in Manchester on business.’

‘He will be in the Pussy Parlour tonight.’ The speaker was a woman at the end of the bar. Tall and dark, she spoke without turning her head. ‘He will be there after eight-thirty meeting a woman. Don’t be late.’

Ceri looked at her, blinking. ‘Thank you,’ she said. Something about her was odd, but Ceri could not make out what.

‘You are welcome, Ceridwyn Brent.’

Sean was looking… disturbed. ‘Best you’re leaving now,’ he said. ‘There’s nothin’ else for you here.’

Ceri and Lily turned to leave, but the woman’s voice made them pause. ‘Freely given, Ceridwyn Brent.’

Ceri looked back. The woman was fae? ‘Thank you again,’ Ceri said, and they headed back onto the street.

‘Ceri?’ Lily said once they were outside.

‘Yes, Lil.’

‘That woman who told us where Dent would be? Can you remember what she looked like?’

Ceri frowned, trying to remember something, anything about the woman at the end of the bar. ‘All I remember is… shadow.’

‘Shit!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘I think the Black Lady just helped us.’

Soho

The sky was lit by dim sunlight still as Ceri and Lily walked down Lexington Street to the very pink frontage of the Pussy Parlour. According to Carter, the place was a low rent strip joint and dance club. According to Lily it was just the sort of place a sleaze like Nat Dent would go to.

Lily had decided on a change of outfits. Her mini-dress was now a black, crocheted wool one, the holes wide enough to show a fair bit of flesh beneath it. Ceri’s teddy had been switched for a corset, but Lily had allowed her to wear a thong under the skirt; thank heavens for small mercies.

There was a cover charge, which Lily paid, and then they were in. The small front entrance led onto a dance floor area, the music throbbing in Ceri’s chest like a hammer. The floor was not exactly full, but there were plenty of groups and couples dancing to the beat, within tolerances. Ceri was not going to pass judgement on the dancing. She had become pretty good if there was a pole involved and she was not terrible at ballroom, but she was not sure about freeform wiggling. It seemed to have rules which followed no form of dance she understood.

They skirted the floor, Lily scanning the tables as they went. Trying to speak was useless, but Ceri could feel Lily’s frustration over their bond. She was not seeing Dent. Ignoring various requests to dance from men in various states of inebriation they continued through the room. Ceri thought the club goers were nuts; it was not even full dark yet and half of them were smashed. Mind you, from the looks of the girls in the club, the boys were a little behind.

At the back of the room, a pair of double doors led onto a corridor, which led to another pair of doors. The spacing managed to deaden the noise from the dance floor down to a dull thrum, but it was replaced by quieter, but still mildly annoying popular music, played over slightly substandard speakers for the girls on the central stage to dance to.

Ceri watched the girl on stage with a professional eye. She was not bad, and looked fairly attractive, but Lily was better, and Naira and Jasmine had her beaten into the floor. She looked as though she was tired and trying not to appear so. The patrons gathered around the stage did not seem to care that much; the girl had an impressive pair of breasts and was doing a good job of swinging around the pole.

‘There,’ Lily said, starting across the room toward a booth at the side. Ceri looked in the direction she was moving before following, and grimaced. There was a girl in the booth, small, attractive, big-busted, and young, but sat opposite her was a vampire. Ceri could see the image he projected and she wondered why he bothered; slightly balding, the man was scrawny to the point of malnutrition with a nose you could use to poke someone’s eye out, a weak chin, and watery blue eyes. It was still better than his real form, which showed through no matter how much Ceri might have wished it did not.

Close up, Nat Dent looked like he had rolled out of a grave that evening. His skin was grey and stretched tightly over his bones. The flesh beneath was shrunken, almost wasted away. His eyes were hollow, empty, black pits, his nose more or less a hole in the front of his face, and his thin lips were pulled back to show his teeth, including the two, long, sharp canines. He was, Ceri thought, the worst looking vampire she had ever seen.

Lily stopped at the table, Ceri pulling up beside her. Dent looked up and smiled. Well, his fake face smiled, his vampire face turned it into a rictus grin. ‘Look Mary, a couple of table dancers to entertain us.’ The table was about low enough to make it work, but Dent’s chances of getting either of them to do it were slim.

‘Mary dear,’ Lily said, her mouth smiling but her eyes deadly serious, ‘take a hike. We need to have a few words with Nat here and, frankly, you don’t want whatever he’s offering.’ They had decided to drop the pretence and just strong-arm the man; letting Dent get his claws into a new girl seemed like a really bad idea.

‘Hey now,’ Dent protested, ‘there’s no need…’

‘Scram, kid,’ Lily snapped and Mary struggled out of her seat and hurried off in the direction of the door. Lily slid into her place, followed by Ceri.

‘What the Hell are you doing, Lilith?’ Dent growled out. ‘That’s my business you’re scaring away.’

‘Suzie Stacks,’ Lily said. The vampire leaned back, distancing himself. His four eyes shifted around the room and back. ‘She came to you looking for porn work on the other side of the fence.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Dent said.

‘She did a couple of films and stopped,’ Ceri said. ‘Something happened and she packed it in. What happened?’

‘I said…’

‘Three werewolves were involved,’ Lily added, interrupting him.

‘You can talk to us, or you can talk to the Greycoats who are investigating the deaths of the wolves,’ Ceri stated.

Dent sagged; Ceri thought she might throw up at the sight of the withered corpse almost folding in on itself. ‘Suzie wanted to make some quick money. She did one fairly soft movie, but it didn’t pay enough, so she did something blacker. I think a girl died.’

‘Gang rape by werewolves?’ Lily suggested. Ceri’s fists clenched.

Dent waved dismissively. ‘That was the first scene. Kidnap and rape scenario. I honestly don’t know what happens after that. I was only involved in getting the wolves and Suzie into the production.’

Ceri swallowed hard. ‘What was it called?’ she said, her voice barely audible over the music though she was fairly sure the vampire would hear her.

‘I think they went with “The Degradation of Julia.”’

‘Who was the director?’ Lily asked.

‘I don’t know. Honestly! I worked through a production company contact. No names. They paid my fee in cash, like usual.’

‘I think we’ve got everything we can,’ Ceri said and slipped out of the booth, Lily following closely. ‘For a centuries-old vampire he’s a total wimp,’ Ceri commented as they crossed the floor to the doors.

‘He tried to lay an aura on me once and I punched his lights out,’ Lily replied.

Ceri giggled; after what they had found out about Suzie’s last snuff movie it was a relief to hear something funny. ‘Tomorrow we’ll go to Greycoat Street and lay down what we’ve found for John and Kate.’

‘They won’t be pleased,’ Lily said.

‘No one said we couldn’t work the werewolf case,’ Ceri pointed out. ‘Sucks for them the two cases are related.’ She pushed the first set of doors open and the music from the dance floor started to leak through. ‘If they don’t like it, they can kiss my tight behind.’

Westminster, August 23rd

‘We told you to leave this case alone,’ John growled.

‘You told us to leave the Stacks case alone,’ Ceri said, her voice calm. ‘We looked into the rumour that the werewolves may have been involved in illegal porn and it so happens it was the same illegal porn as Stacks. Do you want to know what we have or not?’ She was actually calm; knowing John would react exactly as he was doing helped a lot.

‘We might as well hear them out, John,’ Kate said. ‘If the cases are linked then we’ve got a way bigger problem.’

‘All right,’ John said. ‘Nothing official until we’ve determined you haven’t made it up to help Fleming.’

Ceri bit back on the anger which made a sudden surge for freedom. How dare the arsehole suggest that! She felt Lily touch her arm and unclenched her jaw. The expression on John’s face as she looked up at him flattened the rest of her temper; the man looked shocked, perhaps a little scared. ‘I’m a scientist, Detective,’ Ceri said. ‘I form a theory and collect evidence, but if the evidence doesn’t match the theory, I correct the theory. Unlike people who decide what should be happening and find evidence to support that.’ It was John’s turn for flashing eyes and a clenched jaw. ‘Now that we’ve both insulted each other,’ Ceri went on, ‘let’s get to the actual evidence.’

John’s face relaxed enough for him to lick his lips and nod. ‘Suzie Stacks was having a few money problems,’ Ceri said. ‘She had a lavish lifestyle and she was starting to have trouble getting parts.’

‘She was… thirty-one!’ Kate said. ‘And that body… I mean, I’m not a fan of that look myself, but it seems difficult to believe she would be having trouble.’

‘Fashion thing,’ Lily said. ‘The directors and producers like youth at the moment. There are markets for the MILF look, but there aren’t so many parts and they tend to pay a little less.’

‘She did two illegal porn movies,’ Ceri said. ‘The first one was apparently “soft.” I have no idea what that means.’

‘No one died,’ Lily said. ‘Not much violence. Likely underage actors, heavy bondage, drugs.’

‘Oh, right.’ Ceri really wished that Lily did not have to be the one who knew this stuff. ‘The casting agent we spoke to said he lined her up with a second script when the first didn’t make her enough cash. He also got the werewolves cast on the same movie. And now all four are dead, and you have to admit that all the deaths were either violent or fear induced. Carter wouldn’t give us any details, but he said Suzie’s murder was “angry.”’

‘Casting agent?’ John asked.

‘Nat Dent,’ Lily said. ‘He’s a vampire, but he’s mostly just a sleaze.’

John glanced at Kate. He looked faintly sick. ‘All right,’ he said, ‘it does sound like all the cases are connected. Do you know where Fleming was last night around nine?’

‘High Towers,’ Ceri said. ‘He was there when we got home, which was about then. Twill could confirm he was there all evening. Why?’

Kate patted a folder on her desk. ‘Nathaniel Dent was killed last night. His body was found in an alley near Gold Square.’

‘Shit!’ Ceri exclaimed. ‘We talked to him thirty minutes before he died.’ She frowned. ‘But he was a pre-Shattering vampire. He was a wimp, but still… What killed him?’

‘What is a good question,’ John said, ‘but he died because something ripped his head off. And I do mean ripped.’

‘Like Carl,’ Lily said.

‘That’s why we got the case,’ Kate said. ‘With four murders to deal with, the Chief was giving it to someone else when the pathology tagged it as likely being our killer.’

‘Someone’s systematically slaughtering the people who made that movie,’ Ceri said.

‘Even the casting agents,’ Lily said, her eyes wide. ‘Damn!’

‘I take it this second movie was more, um, hardcore?’ John asked.

‘Dent said a girl died in it,’ Ceri replied.

‘I thought that was the idea of the illegal stuff,’ Kate said.

Lily shook her head. ‘Real, full on snuff movies are a restricted market. The freaks who watch illegal porn are mostly not quite psychotic enough to enjoy seeing someone die during sex. They want underage girls, innocents degraded against their will, extreme bondage, pain, real rape… When someone dies it’s usually someone getting too enthusiastic or a straight accident. Death doesn’t sell as well.’ Her tone was matter of fact, if a little flat; her emotions were something else. Ceri put a hand on her arm this time and the half-succubus gave her a small, weak smile. ‘Mostly the idea that illegal porn is all snuff is down to the tabloids blowing it up out of proportion.’

‘Did you get a name for this movie?’ John asked.

‘The Degradation of Julia,’ Ceri said.

‘It’s possible that was her real name,’ Lily said. ‘The girl who died. You might want to try checking missing persons reports.’

Kate was tapping keys on her computer. ‘It’s on the list,’ she said.

‘List?’ Ceri asked.

‘Carl the werewolf had an extensive collection of, mostly bootleg, DVDs,’ John said. ‘Evidence went through and listed all of them.’

‘There’s a note,’ Kate said. ‘The case is intact but the disk was snapped in half.’

John growled. ‘We could do with seeing what’s on that.’

‘Maybe Vice have a confiscated copy,’ Kate suggested, picking up the phone.

‘Suzie Stacks,’ Ceri said, looking up at John where he was perched on the corner of his desk, ‘how did she actually die?’

John grimaced and swallowed back bile. ‘From what we found in her flat she was pretty heavily into BDSM. Someone tied her to her bed, spread-eagled, put a ball gag in her mouth, and… You ever seen a dildo modelled after a human forearm with the hand formed into a fist?’ Ceri shook her head, Lily nodded. ‘Well, someone had forced one of those…’ He swallowed again. ‘The coroner had to cut it out. They left her to bleed out. It took a fair amount of time and it must have hurt like Hell. The thing was eighteen inches long…’

‘Crap,’ Lily said flatly. Ceri said nothing; she was trying very hard not to be sick.

Kennington

‘And I hope there’s no hard feelings, Mister Fleming,’ John said. He had not exactly apologised for accusing Carter of murder, but he had insisted that he and Kate take Ceri and Lily home so that they could officially let Carter know he was off the hook. The detectives had done the whole not-apology standing in the lounge, looking terribly formal.

Without the threat of a prison cell hanging over him, Carter could be magnanimous. ‘None at all, Detective. You were doing your job.’ He did sound genuine about it though. ‘Some of my younger friends may have thought you entirely wrong, but with age comes a degree of perspective.’ Some of his equanimity might have come from the fact that Cheryl was sitting curled in his lap. He was having trouble moving her, but at least she had put something on that morning.

‘Huh,’ Alec said from the rug in front of the fire, ‘I was pissed and I’m older than you.’

‘Age and not being a werewolf,’ Carter corrected. ‘Do sit down you two, I think we’re past the acrimonious phase and you look like you’re about to be shot.’ Kate, in particular, looked relieved as she pulled a straight-backed chair over from the wall. ‘Now,’ Carter went on, ‘Suzie was not exactly a steady girlfriend, but I did feel some affection for the woman and she most certainly did not deserve such an ignominious death. If there is anything I can do to help…’

‘I assume that Ceri and Lily told you what they found out?’ John asked.

‘The basics,’ Carter replied. ‘They were relatively circumspect about details. I know that Suzie and the werewolves who died were connected via a movie. Thinking back on her behaviour that night, she was… troubled. Little things which only really make sense if you know she had some problem. She was very keen on my coming home with her, very eager to please.’

‘I’m not sure I want to hear this,’ Cheryl grumbled into his shoulder.

‘Hush you,’ Carter replied softly. ‘You’ve had my undivided attention for days now.’ Cheryl snuggled; Ceri suspected that half of her clinging posture at the moment was relieved worry, and half was the fact that she had had both Carter and Alec fawning over her for a couple of days. ‘Suzie said she was considering getting out of the business entirely, perhaps going to America.’

‘Sounds like she was considering running away,’ John said.

‘In light of what happened,’ Carter replied, ‘she was right to, but she left it too late. Is there any new evidence to indicate who did it?’

‘Well,’ Kate said, ‘thanks to Ceri and Lily, we have the name of the film. We’re trying to get our hands on a copy so we can go through it. We may be able to identify the girl, Julia until we confirm her name, and that could give us a suspect. Probably a family member or boyfriend.’

‘Could I ask?’ Carter said. ‘Has anything been arranged regarding a funeral?’

‘We haven’t released the body yet,’ John said. ‘We also couldn’t find any next of kin.’

‘Her parents were dead,’ Lily said. ‘I don’t think she had any brothers or sisters.’ To Ceri it sounded as though Suzie Stacks, nee Jenkins, had had a lonely life, much as Lily had had before moving into High Towers. Lots of men, none of them caring that much about her.

‘If no one comes forward,’ Carter said, ‘I’ll take care of the funeral costs.’

‘That’s a lovely thing to do, Carter,’ Cheryl said, sounding genuinely surprised.

‘I feel… not exactly responsible,’ the playboy said, ‘but… As you pointed out, Detectives, she was attacked not long after I left. I can’t help but think if I had stayed longer, if I had persuaded her to come home with me… Would she still be alive?’

‘It’s more likely we’d be attending your funeral too,’ Ceri said. ‘Whatever did this pulled apart a werewolf and a century-old vampire. Pulled, like they were ripping apart a doll. What they did to Suzie…’ She swallowed. ‘…would have taken a lot of strength too. There’s no way you could have stopped it, Carter.’

‘I’m afraid that does not make me feel better about not having been able to try, my dear Ceridwyn.’

~~~

It was almost dark when Twill came into the lounge to tell them that there was a werewolf on the grounds. Despite being free to do as he wished, Carter was still in High Towers, Cheryl and Alec sticking with him. Ceri suspected that Carter was feeling a little vulnerable and having as many friends around him as possible made him feel better. Ceri’s house was a sort of neutral ground where Cheryl could be with both her men and Carter could be near his oldest friend. Perhaps being near his college friends’ daughter helped; Ceri knew he had been more than friends with her mother and a great friend of her father’s.

‘Want me to go check?’ Alec said. The werewolf was apparently near the old tree in the front garden and not moving.

‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘if whoever it is meant harm the wards would have triggered. My house, I’ll go.’

She recognised him immediately, sitting with his back against the bent trunk, his muzzle lowered to his chest. ‘Michael?’ His nose lifted, but he said nothing. ‘What’s wrong?’

He shifted form without moving. Despite his mood, Ceri found herself thrilling at the sight of his naked body. Pushing the thoughts aside she moved closer, but did not fully close the distance yet. ‘I heard last week that my Da was ill,’ he said. The Welsh accent he normally managed to avoid showing was stronger than usual. Michael did not get on well with his father, but it was still his father and he had feelings for the man.

Ceri closed the final few feet, dropping to her haunches and laying a hand on his thigh. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I got word from Kai today,’ Michael went on as though he had not heard her. ‘They don’t think he’ll make it past the new moon.’ He sucked in a lungful of air as her hand squeezed his muscled thigh. ‘Anita and Alexandra put me on leave while I get things sorted out and said I should come see you.’

‘You should go to him, Michael.’ She drew in a sharp breath as her mind kicked another thought out for consideration. ‘You didn’t say anything because of Carter!’

‘Mister Fleming’s been good to me,’ the werewolf said. ‘It was important you got him off the hook.’

‘You arse! Come inside before the neighbours complain about me having naked men in the front garden.’

Leading him inside and taking him up to the lounge, she pointed at her chair. ‘Sit down.’ She waited until he was in place, everyone looking quizzically at her, before going on. ‘I have to take Michael to Wales. His father’s dying.’

‘Bevan!’ Alec sat upright suddenly. So Alec had known who Michael’s father was before she had? Bevan was the Alpha of the Brecon pack, Michael his son by a human woman he had fallen in love with after his mate had died.

Ceri nodded. ‘We can get a train in the morning, and…’

‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Carter said. Ceri blinked at him. ‘You’ll get yourselves packed and ready, and Alec will drive you to the City airport. I’ll have my plane waiting and a car ready to take you to a hotel in Cardiff when you get there.’

‘Fly?’ Ceri squeaked. ‘I’ve never flown…’

‘It’s perfectly safe,’ Carter replied, ‘so long as you stay low. Lily can go with you.’

‘But,’ Lily said plaintively, ‘work, the case.’

‘The Dragon can do without the two of you for a few days,’ Carter said, ‘and so can the police. Family is more important.’ Ceri opened her mouth to protest, but Carter raised his hand. ‘No more arguments. Why aren’t you packing?’

Part Three: The Green Hills of Home

Cardiff, Wales, August 24th, 2011

They arrived at the hotel in the shadow of Cardiff Castle not long after midnight and were shown up to their room at the top of the building by a very obsequious man who mentioned “Mister Fleming” in every other sentence.

‘He said he’d booked us a “room,”’ Ceri said once the man was gone. ‘This looks a lot like the penthouse suite.’

‘You know Carter,’ Lily said, heading for the nearest door with her case.

‘He shouldn’t have done this,’ Michael said, looking around the huge room.

Ceri walked over to the window which took up one entire wall and looked out at the castle. ‘He likes you, Michael. Get over it.’ Out beyond the castle hill was Saint David’s Hospital, where Bevan was lying in a bed, likely attached to beeping machines. ‘You should call Kai,’ she said. She heard him moving, and the click as he picked up the phone handset.

‘We could fit six in the bed,’ Lily said. ‘One of the beds. If you feel like being alone with Michael there’s a second bedroom.’

‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Michael said, the handset at his ear as he waited for his call to connect. ‘You may not be my mate, but you’re as close as… Kai, it’s Michael. I’m in Cardiff.’ Lily stared across the room at the werewolf. Ceri could feel the rush of emotion from the half-succubus. ‘At the Castle Hotel, the penthouse suite,’ Michael said into the phone, apparently oblivious. ‘Uh, yeah, I know, but Mister Fleming set it up… Yes, Ceri and Lily are here… I figured normal visiting hours, we’ll go in the morning… Of course, I’d love to see you if, hang on.’ Michael covered the mouthpiece with his hand. ‘Is it okay if Kai comes around tonight? You’re not tired?’

‘I’m practically nocturnal,’ Lily pointed out.

‘And I could do with some chatter to get my nerves back together after that flight, and the car journey,’ Ceri said.

Michael nodded and spoke into the telephone. ‘Yeah, come over... Okay, see you shortly.’ He hung up and suddenly found his arms full of Lily. ‘What’s this for?’ he got out when she stopped squeezing enough for him to manage. Lily just laid her head on his shoulder, her feet wiggling happily in the air.

‘You basically said you loved her,’ Ceri explained.

Michael looked bewildered. ‘Well… yeah, I thought that was fairly obvious.’

Ceri rolled her eyes. ‘Men,’ she said, ‘they’ll never get it.’

~~~

The last time Ceri had seen Kai he had just been on stage with his band, Black Moonlight and met “the famous Ceridwyn Brent,” and he had been a happy werewolf. Tonight he was straight faced, though the expression on his good looking, masculine features was more resigned than anything. Ceri recognised the small, pretty blond he brought with him too; Tegan, a folk singer from the Snowdonian pack who had co-written a song with Kai.

When the hugging and greetings had finished and they were all sat around in the plush sofas, the less pleasant bit started. ‘So, what’s wrong with him?’ Michael asked.

‘They’re saying it’s liver failure,’ Kai replied. ‘You know he got caught by that grenade in the war?’ Michael nodded. ‘They took the shrapnel out, but they’re saying the damage it took then… And he’s getting old.’

‘Nah,’ Michael protested, ‘he’s…’

‘He’s well over the century, Michael.’ Kai looked down at his lap. ‘And he’s not been the same since your mother died. I mean, I thought when he picked up with her it might get him over my mother, but…’

Michael nodded sadly. ‘Does he really want to see me?’

‘Oh yes,’ Kai said, his expression brightening. ‘You and Ceri.’

‘He knows about us then?’

‘I told him,’ Kai said. He looked across at the couch were Michael was sat with Ceri curled up on one side and Lily on the other. ‘I didn’t say you’d got yourself another mate though.’

‘I’m not his mate,’ Lily said, snuggling up against Michael a little tighter, ‘but I’m as close as.’

Ceri giggled. ‘We had a little revelation earlier.’ She looked across at Kai and Tegan, sat together on the other couch. ‘But I didn’t know you’d got a mate either.’

‘Oh,’ Tegan said, ‘we’re not…’

‘We’re not…’ Kai said. ‘Well, not exactly…’

‘Nothing, um…’ Tegan stammered.

‘Well you smell of each other,’ Michael commented. ‘You did in Hammersmith too.’

Tegan had a pretty blush. Kai tried hard not to meet anyone’s eyes. ‘We’re different packs and we both spend a lot of time on the road,’ Kai said.

‘We both agreed we shouldn’t tie the other down,’ Tegan added.

‘Uh-huh,’ Lily said, ‘and have either of you slept with anyone else when you’re apart.’ Two pairs of werewolf eyes looked at her blankly. ‘Exactly, so stop messing around and make it official.’

‘Well we…’ Kai began.

‘God!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘I thought werewolves were better than humans, but you’re just the same. If you love somebody, show it! Hell, if you want somebody show that too!’

Ceri giggled. ‘There’s a spare room here if you want to show it in private.’

Kai glanced around and then back at Michael. ‘You go to bed with the both of them at the same time?’

‘Well… yes,’ Michael said. ‘It’s not fair otherwise, is it?’

‘Goddess but you’ve certainly grown up! Do you ever get any sleep?’

~~~

They were only allowed to enter the actual room two at a time, so Kai and Tegan went in first to give the old wolf the news that they were going to ask Hywel’s permission for her to mate outside the pack, and to ask similar permission from Bevan. It was traditional to ask you Alpha under those circumstances, but Michael had said it was very rarely denied these days.

Another man appeared while they were waiting; tall, dark-haired, not exactly a looker, but rugged and well-built. He stopped a few yards away, looking somewhere between annoyed and surprised. ‘So you’ve come back?’ he said.

Michael looked up, his expression hardening. ‘Rhys. This is Ceri and Lily. Rhys is my other half-brother.’

‘You’ve a nerve comin’ back now.’ His accent was thickly Welsh, his posture taught with aggression. ‘And bringin’ these humans…’

Ceri stood sharply, pushing her hand out toward Rhys. ‘Morning,’ she said, ‘I’m Ceridwyn Brent, Michael’s mate.’

Rhys jerked back as though shot. Ceri felt Michael stand behind her. His hand landed softly on her shoulder, supportive rather than restraining. ‘You’re the woman who…’ Rhys began.

‘Turned Remus into a pile of ash, yes.’

‘And I’d thank you to not call me a human,’ Lily’s voice said from just behind them; she was standing too, taking up flanking position. ‘I’m a half-succubus, thank you very much.’

Rhys’ eyes flicked to the door behind them. ‘I’ll come back later,’ he said. Turning on his heel, he hurried back the way he had come.

‘Nice man,’ Lily commented.

‘We never really got on,’ Michael said. ‘He hated the fact that Da had fallen for a human woman. Then he hated me for… well, being born really. He really hated me when I left. Mind you, he doesn’t get on that well with Kai either.’

‘Jealousy,’ Lily said.

Ceri and Michael turned to look at her. ‘Sorry?’ Michael asked. ‘What’s he got to be jealous of?’

‘It’s not obvious?’ the half-succubus asked in return.

‘We’re missing your sense for desires, love,’ Ceri reminded her.

‘I’d have thought a bit of basic psychology… Well, never mind. He’s been destined to take over from his father since birth, right?’ Michael nodded in response. ‘So you and Kai never had that weight on your shoulders. You left, Kai is on the road with his band a lot, Rhys is stuck here. He wants your freedom.’

‘Oh,’ Michael said, sitting back down and looking bewildered.

‘It does make sense,’ Ceri agreed.

The door to the room opened and Kai and Tegan emerged, both of them grinning. At least someone was happy. ‘Michael,’ Kai said, ‘he’d like to see you, and Ceri. We’ll keep Lily company.’

Ceri took in a deep breath and, at Michael’s direction, she preceded him into the room.

The man in the bed was probably Alec’s age, certainly no older than Alexandra, but he looked older than both as his body slowly poisoned him. Werewolves could not handle transplants, probably the only hope he had, but even if they could, it was likely he would have refused it. Bevan looked like a determined, strong-willed man, and right now he was determined that he had had enough. Michael had got a lot of his looks from his father, the same black hair, the same basic features. The old wolf’s body was wasting now, but he had once been powerful, strong, a man to be reckoned with. Propped up on pillows and barely able to lift his head, Ceri tried very hard not to pity him; he would not have wanted her pity.

‘Michael, come in and introduce me to this beautiful young woman.’ The voice was thready, weak. The accent was still strong, and there was still a hint of authority even through the illness.

They stepped up to the bed, Michael nodding his head. ‘Da, this is Ceridwyn Brent, my mate. Ceri, this is my da, Bevan, Alpha of the Brecon pack.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,’ Ceri said, bowing her own head slightly.

‘None of that from you,’ Bevan said, his lips curling into a smile. ‘I know who you are and what you did. I’m Bevan to you.’

‘Thank you, Bevan. But only if you’ll call me Ceri.’ She smiled. ‘Alec sends his regards.’

‘That old goat’s still going? Well, he always was tough.’ The old man’s eyes were still bright; Ceri was a little surprised at the life in them. He turned them on his son. ‘I never thought you’d be one t’ take a human mate though, son.’

Ceri heard the slight catch in Michael’s breath before he replied. How long had it been since Bevan had called him that? ‘When I first laid eyes on her she was a she-wolf,’ he said.

‘And how long was it before you found out she was not?’

‘About fifteen minutes,’ Ceri said, ‘tops.’

‘And it didn’t put you off, did it? Took her that night, I bet.’ Michael blushed at his father’s words; he had, indeed, claimed Ceri in as physical a way as possible before she had left the park. ‘You’re more like me than my full-blooded sons, boy. I knew I wanted their mother the moment I laid eyes on her. It was the same with yours.’ His hand moved, a jerky motion which caught Michael’s hand. His fingers shook as he tried to hold on and Michael caught them in his other hand, steadying him. ‘It would have given me the greatest pleasure to be able to make your mother my mate, son.’

‘Tradition…’ Michael began.

‘Widder take tradition and damn it,’ Bevan snapped. ‘Alexandra had it right all those years ago. She said it was lunacy the way we stick to old ways. We lean on tradition like a crutch. No, your mother should have had the honour she deserved. And don’t think I’m not sorry for driving you away either. I was a stupid old man, but you reminded me so much of Ariana.’ He sighed and relaxed, Michael laying his hand back onto the blankets. Bevan was breathing hard after his outburst.

‘It’s okay, Da,’ Michael said, his eyes downward. ‘I understand. I do. If I lost Ceri…’

The old wolf smiled. ‘You forgive your stupid old man?’

‘If you’ll forgive you foolish son,’ Michael said.

‘Prodigal son,’ Bevan replied. ‘You’ve come back a warrior, mated to the woman who saved all of us. Could you have done better?’

‘He might,’ Ceri said, ‘given a bit more time.’

The old man chuckled softly; anything else was beyond his lungs.

~~~

‘They’re saying he’s hanging on by his teeth and they’re not sure why?’ Kai said.

‘Waiting for something,’ Michael said, nodding.

They were sat in the hotel suite again, the sun a hint on the horizon. Everyone was cradling a drink, though the level of liquid in each glass was going down very slowly.

‘I’m sorry about Rhys,’ Kai said. ‘He’s still a disagreeable bastard.’

‘Just jealous,’ Lily said. Kai looked at her, blinking, but it was Tegan who answered.

‘He’s jealous of the freedom you two have,’ the folk singer said.

‘See?’ Lily said. ‘It’s not just me who sees it.’

‘No succubus in your bloodline is there, Tegan?’ Ceri asked, grinning.

‘Well, I don’t think so, but you never can tell what humans have been fucking and my grandmother was human.’

Lily giggled. ‘Does Kai look really tired and happy after you have sex?’

‘He does actually.’

‘Well, there you go then.’

‘I think that happens normally,’ Kai countered. He glanced down at his soon-to-be mate. ‘Though I wouldn’t put it past her.’

‘Are both of you greys?’ Ceri asked.

‘Kai’s a black,’ Michael said. ‘Rhys too.’ He glanced across at Kai. ‘You know Ceri’s a black-fur when she shifts?’

Kai’s eyes widened, though what he said was not the expected comment on a non-wolf becoming a pure-blooded werewolf. ‘You scored a black-fur? You jammy bastard! Not that I’d change my choice if there were a black around, but… You jammy bastard!’

‘You’re not the least bit bothered that a human would become a black-fur by magic?’ Ceri asked, intrigued.

‘Oh, if any human did I would,’ Kai replied.

‘But the Goddess favours you,’ Tegan finished. ‘I’m not surprised at all.’

‘So,’ Kai said, ‘what do we do for Da?’

‘You know,’ Ceri said, ‘both your accents get stronger when you’re in Wales.’

‘That’s not answering the question, love,’ Michael said.

A tiny thrill went through Ceri as he said the last word. Was that the first time he had used it? She was not sure. ‘That’s because the answer is obvious,’ she replied.

‘Oh,’ Michael said. He turned to look at Lily.

August 25th

It did not actually take Lily to discover what Bevan wanted. ‘It’s a shame,’ he said as Ceri stood by his bed, Michael beside her, ‘I’m too weak to shift. I’d love to see the hills once more with the eyes of a wolf.’ Michael glanced at Ceri; she knew what he was thinking, she was thinking the same. The old man reached out shakily and patted Ceri’s hand. ‘Would you leave us for a few moments, Ceri? I need to talk to my son alone.’

‘Of course,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll be outside.’

Rhys was there when she got outside. He looked mildly annoyed that Ceri was coming out without Michael, but at least he stayed. ‘Bevan wanted to talk to Michael alone,’ she explained at a look from Lily.

‘He’s already had Rhys and me in there alone,’ Kai said. ‘Maybe he’s been waiting for the chance to talk to Michael.’

‘No,’ Rhys said. ‘It’s not that, he could have asked for that yesterday.’

‘He wants to die as a wolf,’ Ceri said softly. Everyone looked at her. ‘He said… he wished he could change and see the hills again before he died.’ She was looking at Lily when she said it, stopping her saying anything.

‘Well… he’s too weak,’ Rhys said. ‘He’d kill himself making the shift.’

‘He knows that,’ Ceri said.

The big man’s eyes were wet. ‘Why wish for something he can’t have? I need… he should hear the report for the night.’

‘You’re taking care of the pack while he’s here?’ Ceri asked. He nodded in reply. ‘Then it’s being taken care of. Could we talk?’

Rhys’ face tightened, but he clearly had too much respect for what she had done to Remus to decline. He nodded back up the hospital corridor, turning and heading that way. Ceri followed him to a large window at the end. It overlooked Bute Park, technically, though the hospital was not tall enough to see the grassland properly. They both stared out the window, not looking at each other.

‘You don’t have to take over from him, you know?’ Ceri said.

‘No one will challenge me,’ he replied. ‘The only one who could is Kai, and he’s perfectly happy frittering his time away on that band.’

‘Have you ever heard them?’

He stiffened. ‘Yes. I go to all the concerts in Cardiff.’ So he hated Kai’s freedom, but he still found time to be proud of his brother’s “frittered” time. ‘All right, so it’s not wasted time. Aside from anything, it’s good publicity for werewolves. There’s a generation growing up who now think we make good music at least.’ And he had a good political head on his shoulders.

‘So you’re destined to be king,’ Ceri said, smiling slightly. ‘Do you have a good Captain?’

‘Powell,’ Rhys said, nodding. ‘Da trained him.’

‘You should come to London when you’ve got things settled.’ He glanced at her, surprised. ‘A diplomatic exercise. Visit Alexandra and Catherine, discuss some inter-pack relations. I could possibly get Dane to bring the North Hills wolves down for a meeting. I don’t know if we could persuade Hywel to come down from Snowdonia… Perhaps you could look into contacting him.’

‘Why are you doing this?’

Ceri looked around at him, looking up to meet his eyes. ‘Because you don’t have to do this alone, and you don’t have to be locked away in your territory while your brothers wander elsewhere. An unhappy Alpha makes for a weak, unhappy pack. I’ve seen it. The Royals were useless with Joshua as their Alpha. And because I think the werewolves need a stronger voice in society. It’s started in London. The Minister for Supernatural Affairs listens to Catherine and Alexandra, but we can do better.’

‘We?’

Ceri shrugged slightly. ‘No, I wasn’t born a wolf, but Alexandra has given me her trust. I’m in her Guard. So, yes, “we.”’

He looked back out toward the trees of the park visible through the buildings. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Da said I should be my own Alpha. That he wished he had listened to Alexandra more when he was young. If I’m going to do that then I should at least meet her and make my own mind up.’

‘Yes,’ Ceri said, ‘you should.’ She almost jumped as he turned suddenly. Looking around, she saw Michael. He was waving at them to come over and she started off down the corridor. ‘We’re used to housing werewolves at my place,’ she added as they walked. ‘I’d be happy to put you and your people up when you come.’

‘Ceri,’ Michael said before Rhys could find an answer, ‘he wants to see you and Lily.’

Lily was looking nervous as they walked in. She was unsure why the old wolf had asked for her in particular. Catching Ceri’s hand as they went through the door, she held onto it fiercely as the couple approached the bed.

‘Bevan,’ Ceri said, smiling, ‘this is Lily Carpenter.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,’ Lily said. The tension in her hand came nowhere near her voice.

‘Bevan,’ the old man in the bed corrected. ‘By the Goddess, girl, I wish I’d met you a couple of years ago.’

Lily giggled, relaxing. ‘Thank you, Bevan. I think I’d have enjoyed that too.’

‘Michael tells me that you’re more of a trio than a couple,’ Bevan said. ‘It’s unconventional for wolves…’

‘We’re hardly even a conventional couple,’ Ceri countered.

‘No, no you’re not.’

‘And I met Lily long before I met Michael,’ Ceri added. ‘I consider myself lucky that my mate isn’t jealous of my girlfriend, but we worked at it. No one gets left out.’

‘And what do you think of all this, Lily?’

Lily smiled. ‘I’m a half-succubus, we’re fairly simple…’

‘So not,’ Ceri interrupted, getting an elbow in the ribs for her trouble.

‘We’re fairly simple,’ Lily continued. ‘Emotional, passionate. Michael said he loves me, that’s good enough for me.’ She giggled. ‘The sex is good too.’

Bevan’s laugh turned into a cough and Ceri stretched out her hand, stilling his diaphragm with a thought before he could hurt himself. ‘It seems to me that you’re both exceptional women,’ he said once his surprise had faded, ‘and my son’s a lucky man to have you. You’ve been good for him.’

‘He was doing well before he met us,’ Lily said. ‘Anita wouldn’t take just anyone into Alexandra’s Guard.

‘No, true,’ Bevan admitted. ‘Perhaps leaving the shadow of me and his brothers was good for him.’

‘Alexandra…’ Ceri began a little hesitantly, ‘…she considers him a possible successor when she dies.’ Bevan’s eyes widened. Lily actually gasped. ‘Don’t tell him,’ Ceri added quickly, ‘he’d freak.’

‘From what I’d heard, Anita was most likely to succeed her,’ Bevan said.

‘She the other most likely,’ Ceri agreed, ‘but she’s unmated and, um, Michael’s mated to a black-fur. I don’t think it’s the same, I mean, I’m only a wolf because of Luperca’s collar…’

‘Is that it?’ Bevan asked, lifting his hand slightly and not really pointing at the leather, silver-studded collar around Ceri’s throat.

‘Yes,’ Ceri said. ‘I don’t wear it all the time, but it seemed appropriate here.’

He nodded. ‘It’s an honour to see it. You two will look after my boy, won’t you? I wasn’t always the best of fathers, but…’

‘You did better than you think,’ Ceri said. ‘You gave him a strong base.’

‘It’s kind of you to say so.’

‘We’ll look after him,’ Lily said. ‘You don’t have to worry about that.’

Even though the tension had not been visible, Bevan visibly relaxed. ‘I wish Rhys had found himself a mate by now. He shouldn’t be alone, but I can’t have everything, can I?’

‘Rhys will be okay,’ Ceri said. ‘I think I’ve persuaded him to come out to London to meet some of the other pack leaders. He’ll get some of that freedom he wants and still feel like he’s being responsible.’

‘You’re a smart woman,’ the old wolf said, grinning weakly. ‘I think I need a little rest now.’

‘We’ll see you later,’ Lily said and the two of them backed out, leaving the old man to close his eyes.

Rhys was still there. He was not standing particularly close to Michael, but the tension in his body at being around his half-brother was a lot less. Michael looked at Lily as soon as the door was closed, expectant and a little impatient. ‘Well? What did he want?’

Lily gave a soft giggle. ‘Me, initially.’ Michael’s eyes widened. ‘What? He’s sick, not dead. Once we’d got past that… Ceri’s right, he wants to die in the hills, running. A proper death, not sitting in a sterile hospital room.’

Rhys’ eyes were on Ceri. ‘And you could do that for him?’

Ceri glanced at him and then lowered her eyes. ‘Yes.’

‘We discussed it,’ Kai said.

‘Then discuss it some more,’ Ceri snapped. ‘If I do this he won’t be coming back.’

‘If I’ve got to say goodbye to my father,’ Rhys said, ‘I’d rather do it the way he wants. We’re werewolves, Ceridwyn, we belong out there, in the hills.’

‘We should get the whole pack together,’ Kai said.

Michael nodded. ‘Agreed. We’ll need an ambulance to get him out of here, and the doctors will object.’

‘I can arrange that,’ Rhys said. ‘Carys works as an ambulance driver here and I can get it passed with the hospital authorities. Kai, could you help me ring around the pack?’ Kai nodded in reply.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘if you’re sure, we’ll do it tonight. The longer we wait the less time he’ll last when he’s changed. Let him rest… Then you can tell him what we’re going to do.’

Brecon Beacons

Ceri could not believe her eyes as she stepped out of the back of the ambulance. The stress of the journey, her own discomfort riding on top of the need to make sure Bevan was okay making for a bad mix, all that drained away at the sight of more werewolves in one place than she had ever seen. They were almost all greys though she spotted a few browns and, even more amazing, around ten blacks. As Rhys and Kai appeared from a nearby car, she realised that the pack had perhaps a dozen black-furs.

Lily stepped down behind her. ‘We need to get his going,’ she said.

Nodding, Ceri waved to the brothers. ‘Let’s get him out.’

Michael and Carys rounded the ambulance from the front and together the four werewolves manoeuvred Bevan out on his stretcher. Dropping the wheels, they half-rolled and half-manhandled their Alpha through a gate and into a field on the other side.

‘Ready?’ Ceri asked the old wolf as they came to a stop, surrounded by the huge horde of wolves.

‘I’ve never been so ready for anything in my life,’ Bevan replied.

Ceri nodded to Carys, who began disconnecting tubes and drips, and then turned away, taking a few steps from the stretcher before pulling her T-shirt off over her head. She paused, looking at Lily. The half-succubus was standing among the wolves with a sad expression, looking out of place; Lily never looked out of place. ‘What are you waiting for?’ Ceri asked her pet.

‘Well, I’ll see you off and…’

‘Bugger that,’ Ceri said. ‘Get your clothes off, you’re coming too.’

‘Too right,’ Kai said from the floor as he pulled his trousers off.

‘You were with Ceridwyn when she destroyed Remus,’ Rhys said. ‘It’d be an honour to have you with us.’

‘Oh,’ Lily said, not that she took any more convincing. Reaching down, she grabbed the hem of her dress and peeled it upward. As usual, there was nothing under it. Kicking off her shoes, she walked over to Ceri, supporting her as she stepped out of her jeans.

Bevan, laid on the stretcher and breathing a little raggedly now, slapped Michael on the arm with more strength than anyone expected. ‘You lucky son of a bitch,’ he said, his voice rasping.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘Lily first.’ She looked her demon in the eyes. ‘I’ll need to borrow from you, if that’s okay.’

Lily grinned. ‘You know it is.’

Stepping back slightly, but holding Lily’s hand, Ceri focussed her power. Drawing the energy through Lily left the residual thaumic charge in her instead of Ceri. It was that residual charge which limited Ceri’s power, so using Lily as a sink for the charge let her do more. Plus Lily got a buzz out of the magic being pulled through her. Using Lily’s Chakral Median as a guide, Ceri formed the energy pattern, allowed it to fill her friend, and released it. There was a shimmer, an instant of dual-form, and then Ceri was holding the hand of a beautiful, brown-furred she-wolf. Lily was unique in wolf form; her fur was brown, but a gorgeous chestnut brown unlike the dull colours browns normally wore.

‘You make… a beautiful wolf,’ Bevan said. His breathing was becoming less steady. Ceri ignored it as she walked over to his stretcher.

‘She’s learned to understand some wolf from Michael and me,’ Ceri said, ‘but this is only the second time we’ve transformed her so she’s not used to speaking it. Don’t expect too many replies. All right, let’s get this started…’

She could have done it the simple, straightforward way. All she had to do was provide the power; Bevan’s natural abilities would do most of the work. Pump energy into his Chakral Muladhara node, allow it to propagate, and they would have instant werewolf. Somehow, though, Ceri felt this one needed words.

Raising her arms in supplication, she spoke. ‘Luperca, Goddess of Wolves, Mother, hear my plea.’ She heard a little gasp from behind her; it sounded like Tegan. ‘Bless us, your children, with your presence here this night. Grant your faithful warrior this one last night to run among his hills. Grant his people this last memory of their Alpha. Blessed Goddess, grant my wish.’

It was a little odd, but Ceri somehow felt the power she needed to work the spell came easier. Light flickered around her, flowing out from her body as the wolves around her gasped and hid their eyes. Reaching out toward Bevan, Ceri let the energy flow. Her Sight showed her the expanding field of thaumic energy surrounding him. It looked perfect; nothing was wrong with his ability to change, just his fitness to power it. The field collapsed, there was an instant when wolf-man and bed-ridden old man occupied the same space, and then Bevan was swinging his legs off the stretcher. Rising to his feet, he raised his muzzle and howled. A second later the other wolves, even Lily, were joining in.

Ceri reached up to touch her collar, invoking the spell which transformed her. The night was suddenly bright, the colours of the aurora in the sky standing out more, though dulled by the lack of the right sort of receptors in her eyes. The scent of country air filled her nostrils and the rush had her howling as well.

Bevan barked an order, Come! Suddenly the whole pack was running, dashing through the dark field toward the nearby hills. Ceri found Lily and Michael running beside her; Bevan, Rhys, and Kai were just ahead of them, a grey which Ceri suspected was Tegan was beside Kai. Around them, werewolves ran, jumped, howled at the night. They leapt over hedges, ran amongst trees. There were barks of glee from all sides as they ran ever upward.

Cresting the hill, they dropped immediately into the next valley, howling and yelping as they skittered down the slope. Ceri was running with her mate and her lover on either side of her, charging through the open country of South Wales amid a pack bigger than she had ever seen. She was ecstatic, exhilarated.

It lasted until they crested the next hill, perhaps five miles from where they had started. Bevan stopped and the pack faltered, gathering around him. Ceri found herself in the inner ring, Lily on one side and Michael on the other with his two half-brothers beyond. The old Alpha looked around at his pack, and then turned to his sons, pride showing in his sparkling amber eyes. He raised his muzzle and howled exultantly. Around him, the wolves of the Brecon pack joined in and the howl rang out across the hills. When they looked back down, Bevan was lying on the rock-strewn grass.

Ceri could tell he was dead without going closer. The light was gone from his eyes and from the line of his Chakral Median. Rhys moved forward slowly, kneeling beside his father and closing his eyes. Then he raised his head again and his howl rang out, one soon becoming a hundred as the other wolves responded. This time, the howl was one of mourning.

August 26th

It took the pack almost until dawn to haul the wood and build the pyre on the hill where Bevan had fallen. They had been prepared for his death, but not for it to take place in the hills. Cars and trucks had carried the materials to the nearest road, and then they had worked all night to carry huge logs and bundles of straw and kindling up the hill.

Ceri and Lily had scavenged twigs and branches from the treed areas nearby and built a small fire near the construction site. The two of them, along with Tegan and Carys, had then supplied mugs of coffee and tea to the pack when they needed a break. No one said much; there was really nothing to say. The mood, however, was not miserable. Bevan had died as he wanted, and his pack could remember him like that instead of as a frail old man in a hospital bed.

Finally, Bevan’s three sons lifted his body into place atop the pyre, working together, reverently laying their father to rest. Climbing down, Rhys shifted to human as he walked toward the fire and the four women tending it.

Ceri lifted a branch she had been working on and offered it out to him. ‘I made a torch,’ she said. ‘You can light it in the fire and then light the pyre.’

Rhys smiled. ‘How are you two managing to stay warm this close to dawn?’ he said. It seemed a totally incongruous question, but Tegan and Carys were regularly shifting into fur to keep warm.

‘Lily’s half demon, she’s got internal heating,’ Ceri replied. ‘I’ve got the fire and magic.’

He nodded, looking strangely as relaxed as she had ever seen him. ‘Thank you for the torch, but we talked and we’d like you to send him on his way.’

Ceri opened her mouth to protest, but there was that look about his eyes. There was going to be no argument. She was being given a request by the new Alpha and it might not be her Alpha, but she knew Alexandra would have told her to accept the honour. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’d be honoured to.’

They walked out together to the pyre, Michael moving to Ceri’s side as they walked, and Lily coming up behind them. It was the simplest of elemental fire spells; Ceri could almost do it in her sleep, but again, it seemed like there should be more.

Ceri looked around for Tegan. The little folk singer had shifted back to human again and was standing beside Kai, her hand on his shoulder. The wolf-girl looked back at her, questioning, and Ceri said, ‘Sing.’

As Tegan’s soft, resonant voice lifted up into the pre-dawn sky, singing Goddess’ Gift, the song she had written with Kai and dedicated to Ceri, the sorceress focussed her will on the straw packed into the wooden frame in front of her. She reached out her hand. ‘Ennyn,’ she said softly. Flames flickered immediately in the dry straw, but she kept her focus, making sure the fire was well lit throughout.

The song drew to an end and the fire suddenly burst upward, engulfing the pyre in flames. The sun burst over the horizon a second later, the flames seeming to rise to meet the spark of light. For an instant, watching the rising column of flame, Ceri thought she saw something; standing in the fire there seemed to be the figure of a she-wolf, tall and powerful, and dressed in a white robe. Then it was gone.

Ceri blinked a tear out of her eye and turned to look at Tegan. ‘I think Luperca liked your song,’ she said softly.

And then they stood and watched the fire burn in silence.

Cardiff

‘Can we get one of these at home?’ Lily asked. The bathroom in the hotel suite came with a huge, sunken, hot tub-style bath and they were sitting in it washing away the sweat of the night before.

‘Where would we put it?’ Ceri replied. ‘There’s no way the bathroom is big enough. I doubt we could fit it in the dungeon, and there aren’t any utilities plumbed through to that room.’

Lily pouted. ‘We need a bigger house.’

‘I like my house!’ Ceri protested.

‘This is kind of nice,’ Michael said, interrupting the discourse. He was sitting between the two girls, an arm wrapped around each of their waists, and the last thing he wanted was to be argued across. ‘I’m enjoying the relaxation.’

‘Sorry,’ Ceri said. ‘It is relaxing.’ She looked around at her mate, her face serious. ‘Are you okay?’

The werewolf sat there for a second, apparently considering. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Y’know? Sad. But we made our peace finally. He said he was proud of me. And he meant it. I stood there at the fire and thought about him, and said goodbye. He’ll rest well after the send-off we gave him.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, ‘I think…’ The phone rang. Ceri blinked and looked at the wall where the sound was coming from. There was a telephone in the bathroom?! ‘What the Hell?’ Grumbling, she climbed out of the tub and stepped across the tiled floor, dripping water as she went. ‘Yes,’ she snapped into the handset.

The voice on the other end sounded mildly irritated. ‘Ceri, it’s Kate. Carter gave us the number. You weren’t answering your mobile. What the Hell are you doing in Cardiff?’

‘Personal matter,’ Ceri said. The Greycoats did not need to know she had been attending a funeral.

‘You’re not following the case?’

‘What? No. Have you been smoking nightshade or something? Why would we be out here on that case?’

‘Okay,’ Kate said, her voice calming. ‘I’m sorry. The Chief heard you were there and put two and two together and it came out as nine.’

‘Kate, you’re not making sense. I’m standing in a hotel bathroom, stark naked and wet. I’m not that warm and there’s a hot tub waiting for me. Tell me what’s going on or I’m hanging up.’

‘Someone died yesterday night. A porn actor out there shooting a film, and it looks like he was forced off the road by something. Hit a wall at sixty. Thing is, no sign of any other vehicle, straight road, no reason for him to make the turn, and the brake lines were cut. And the road was way too narrow for him to be going that speed.’

Ceri frowned. ‘He was running from something.’

‘That’s what we figure.’ She paused. ‘Look, the local cops aren’t entirely happy for us to stick our noses in without more evidence, but they said they’d accept advisors… If you’ve finished what you were doing.’

Ceri glanced across at Lily and Michael. ‘Send the details to my mobile,’ she said. ‘We’ll see what we can do.’

Part Four: The Wages of Sin

Cardiff, Wales, August 26th, 2011

The headquarters building of the South Wales Police was located in the Cardiff Bay district, a modern building which Ceri thought looked a little like a castle, two wings extending from a tower section. Finding it was easy enough, getting in to see the detective Kate had said they should contact was harder. Ceri was not best pleased when she had to deal with red tape at the best of times, but now she was having to deal with it after cremating her mate’s father. Detective Inspector Dilan Hughes was lucky he did not get his head bitten off by the time they were finally showed through to his office.

He was a small, slightly plump man in his thirties and already going bald. The slight reddening of his bulbous nose suggested he drank more than he should. His eyes were a watery grey, and he had the irritated attitude and nicotine-stained fingers of a heavy smoker cooped up in a no-smoking office. On top of that, he did not seem pleased to meet them.

‘Look,’ he said, ‘I’ve been handed this case that looks like something anyone could deal with. I’ve got a ring selling illegal potions to locate and deal with. I’m the only detective dealing with supernatural crimes in the force. On top of that, I heard that the local werewolf Alpha died last night when some arsehole dragged him out of hospital, so they’ll be up in arms and there’s the succession to deal with. That’ll be rough. I don’t expect you to know much about werewolf pack behaviour, but it can take months and there’ll be violence. And now I have two “Special Advisors” down from London sticking their noses…’

He had not offered them a seat, but Ceri sat down anyway, the action bringing him up short, his eyes angry. ‘It’s your lucky day, Detective,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m the arsehole that dragged Bevan out of his hospital bed, at the request of him and his sons. We took him up to the Beacons and I gave him enough power to shift one last time, and then the whole pack ran with him, up into the hills until he dropped. And then we put him on a pyre and I lit it because Rhys asked me to. The succession will go through smoothly. No one’s going to contend it. Rhys is the new Alpha.’ She leaned forward in her seat and locked eyes with him across his desk. ‘I see you know nothing about your local werewolf pack, but I assure you they’re not the uncivilised dogs you seem to think they are.’

A noise a bit like a sneeze came from a corner of the room where a young man sat. Hughes glared at him. Ceri looked across to see a slim man with a narrow, reasonably attractive face. He looked no older than she was, probably a year or so younger. He had the grooming of someone who paid attention to his appearance; his hair was carefully and expensively cut, and his suit was probably not off the peg. He was trying hard not to grin.

Ceri ignored him for now and looked back at Hughes. ‘So, we were in town on personal business and Detective Chief Inspector Barry asked if we could come down to determine whether this death is related to the string of them in London.’

Expecting bluster, Ceri was a little surprised when Hughes just sagged. Ceri saw something shift under his shirt; a necklace chain? ‘Sergeant Croft, show these young ladies the case file on the car crash case,’ he said. ‘Use that spare office down the hall.’

Croft slipped out of his seat, circled around his desk grabbing a file folder off a pile, and waved for them to follow as he walked out through the door. ‘Sorry about Inspector Hughes,’ he said as they walked toward whichever of the offices they were going to use, ‘he really is that stressed. This alchemy ring has him running in circles, and they’re killing people. The last thing he needs is a supernatural murder to deal with.’ He looked back and grinned, his hand falling on a door handle. ‘He won’t thank you, but you probably put his mind to rest about the werewolves.’

Shrugging, Ceri followed him into a clearly disused office. For starters, the chairs were piled up in a corner so the cleaners had better access. Croft was gentleman enough to take down the chairs, putting them down around one of the desks before smiling and offering his hand. ‘Detective Sergeant Mark Croft,’ he said. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ There was no hint of a Welsh accent on this one.

His enthusiasm was a little infectious; Ceri cracked a grin and took his hand. ‘Ceridwyn Brent, this is Lily Carpenter.’ Lily took his offered hand, shaking it with a warm smile. Croft smiled back, but without the lascivious edge Ceri usually saw in younger men. Well, in any men faced with Lily, really.

Dropping the file down on the desk, he sat down and waited for them to do the same. ‘Take a look, if you wish. Basically, it’s all in there, but it comes down to the guy’s brakes were cut, he was speeding, he swerved and smacked into a wall. Dead on impact. Oh, the airbag failed to deploy as well. They’re checking, but they think it was tampered with.’

Ceri was flicking through the file and stopped, pulling out a photograph and passing it to Lily. As Lily looked at it and grimaced, Ceri checked the notes. ‘You’ve, uh, spotted something?’ Croft asked.

‘This cable wasn’t cut,’ Lily said.

‘Says so in the notes,’ Ceri said. ‘Right here… “No edged implement was used to sever the brake cables. Rather they appear to have been pulled apart through sheer stress.”’ She flicked further through and her finger landed on the page. ‘And this, “The nearside door shows signs of impact damage not consistent with the terminal collision. There were no signs of abrasion, or paint transfer.”’

‘He swerved because something slammed into the side of his car,’ Lily said, ‘without leaving a trace.’

‘And that links into these murders?’ Croft asked.

‘Two of the deaths in London involved considerable physical strength,’ Ceri said.

‘Pulling a werewolf’s head off isn’t easy,’ Lily added, ‘and the other one… well, it would’ve needed a lot of force.’

‘Who’s the victim?’ Ceri asked.

‘Harry Walls,’ Croft said, ‘aka Monty Balls.’ He managed to say it with such a straight face Ceri actually believed he did not find it funny. ‘He’s moderately well known in porn, been doing it for years.’

‘Straight and gay movies,’ Lily said. ‘He was best known for having a ten inch cock, thick too. Fairly okay guy, not too big an ego.’

‘You’re an aficionado?’

‘I used to work in the industry.’

‘So… have you met Walls?’

Lily grinned. ‘Oh yeah, you could say that.’

‘How was he?’ Ceri asked.

‘Big,’ Lily said, matter of factly.

‘You actually worked with him?’ Croft sounded a little awed.

‘And Suzie, though not as… closely.’

‘Suzie?’

‘Suzie Stacks,’ Ceri said. ‘One of the other victims.’

‘Oh,’ Croft said. He clearly did not know the name, which seemed odd if he knew the man. He glanced at his watch. ‘Look, it’s my lunch break in… two minutes and I only get forty minutes. Do you want anything? If you’re staying here a while, I should show you the locals.’

Ceri scratched at an eyebrow. ‘We were up all night, my body clock is way off. I could stand a drink though.’

‘Great, I’ll get my jacket.’ He was up and off before they could even move, though they were not really trying.

‘He really wants to take us out to lunch,’ Ceri said. ‘I thought he wasn’t interested.’

‘Yes,’ Lily said, ‘he really wants his lunch.’

‘Huh?’

‘I thought you’d noticed. He’s not interested in either of us,’ Lily said, ‘but he might be interested in Michael.’

~~~

‘So,’ Ceri said, ‘gay and English, and a South Wales cop?’

Croft grinned. ‘South Wales is the best place to be English and gay in Wales. Though you get the odd church goer who doesn’t like it.’

‘Being gay, or being English?’ Lily asked.

‘Hard to tell.’

‘Is that Hughes’ problem?’ Ceri asked. ‘I noticed a chain around his neck under his shirt.’

Croft blinked. ‘I see why they made you a Special Advisor. Yeah, it’s a cross. He goes to church twice a week. His mother was a witch, died when he was a kid. He’s got no talent for it, but I don’t think he’d work magic even if he did. He’s not very fond of the supernatural really.’

Ceri had to wonder why people with no liking for magic and supernatural creatures seemed to end up in the police working supernatural crime. ‘Where’s this film being made?’ she asked. ‘The one Walls was working on.’

‘Oh it’s…’ He paused as an attractive young man brought over their drinks, and then watched his retreating behind. Suddenly the choice of venue, a moderately pleasant wine bar on Mermaid Quay, made total sense. ‘Sorry,’ Croft went on. ‘They’re staying out at Wick. When I checked into it we’d had a couple of complaints from locals about, well, indecorous behaviour. Young women dressed in less clothing than some old woman with twelve cats thought was right, that kind of thing. There was some investigation, but all their licenses are up to date and while they’re filming outdoors they’re doing it on private land and the only people who could see anything would have to go out of their way to do so.’

He smiled, sitting back as the waiter brought over a plate of lasagne. It did smell good. ‘Best pasta in town if you’re looking for a meal out,’ Croft said, though Ceri was not sure if it was for their benefit or the waiter’s. The fact that the detective did seem to savour his first bite suggested he was not lying at least.

‘When there was a suggestion from Greycoat Street that this was linked to supernatural crimes, it got passed straight to us,’ Croft went on. ‘Boss was not best pleased, as you can imagine. We haven’t been able to get out to interview the film crew yet.’ His face soured. ‘We got a small break in the alchemy case yesterday afternoon and we’re trying our damndest to make something of it.’ He took another bit of lasagne, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. ‘To be honest, I think if you can take this murder off our hands the boss’ll be thankful.’

‘Are we actually allowed to do that?’ Lily asked Ceri.

‘I think, technically, we’d have to be invited in by someone. Barry could arrange it, I guess.’

‘Will you need anyone to show you around?’ Croft asked.

‘No,’ Ceri replied. ‘We have that covered. My mate’s a local boy. Well, he left a few years ago, but he’s ex-Brecon pack.’

‘You have a werewolf mate?’

‘It’s… a long story,’ Ceri said, not wanting to go through it all again.

Croft frowned slightly. ‘I figured you two were… well, together.’

‘We are,’ Lily said, ‘and we’re also with Michael. Ceri tends to think it’s complicated, but that’s because she’s human.’ Her grin showed her fangs.

Croft blinked. ‘And you are?’

Lily sipped her wine. ‘Half-succubus.’

‘Don’t tell Hughes,’ Ceri suggested. ‘He looks stressed enough.’

‘I’ll, uh… I don’t think he needs to know, no.’ Croft ate a few more forkfuls of lasagne. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I guess that explains why an ex-porn actress is working for the Met.’

~~~

It was as they were walking back to the station that Ceri spotted the four men who seemed to be paying them more attention than she liked. They looked like thugs. They looked like thugs who were spending too much time watching the three figures as they walked through the bay.

‘Lily?’ she said softly.

‘I see them,’ the half-succubus replied.

‘See who?’ Croft asked, but at that point it became obvious.

‘What’s a pansy like you doin’ with a couple o’ birds like this?’ The speaker was well over six feet in height, and probably the same around the chest. He was not local; Ceri could tell from the accent.

Croft was apparently not unused to this kind of behaviour. ‘Settle down and just leave us be, okay,’ he said, his tone resigned but conciliatory.

‘Oh, I don’t think so. You’ve been puttin’ your nose where it doesn’t belong. So we’re gonna fix it so you can’t, and then we’re gonna have some fun with your girlfriends.’ The bruiser’s friends had formed a circle around them. Five against three, hardly fair odds. They just did not realise they were outnumbered.

‘I’ll give you fair warning,’ Ceri said. ‘Leave now and you won’t be humiliated and arrested.’

‘Right,’ the lead thug said, ‘what are you gonna do to us?’

‘Me? Nothing. Lily…’ Ceri’s hand moved, but not to cast a spell. She covered Croft’s eyes without warning and he let out a startled cry. Lily’s eyes shone red and five men crumpled to the floor, writhing in ecstasy. ‘I’m going to uncover your eyes,’ Ceri said. ‘Don’t look at Lily.’

‘Uh, okay.’ Ceri uncovered the man’s eyes, which he kept on Ceri. ‘What happened to them?’

‘I did say they’d be humiliated and arrested,’ Ceri said. ‘Could you arrange the second part?’

‘This one,’ Lily said, kicking the one nearest her with her toe, ‘he wants a drug, something alchemical.’ Croft almost turned to look, stopped by Ceri grabbing his face in both hands.

‘Radio,’ Ceri said. ‘Backup. You may have another break in your alchemy case.’

Wick

By the time they had given statements, arranged with London and Cardiff that they could investigate Walls’ death, got a hire car from a place Carter recommended, and driven down the coast to the village of Wick, it was starting to get dark.

‘Do we get overtime?’ Lily asked as she turned the car’s lights on.

Michael, sat beside her in the front of the car since he was navigating, said, ‘I’m not even getting paid.’

‘We’ll be sure to provide you with proper recompense tonight,’ Lily replied.

‘Huh?’

‘You haven’t noticed? If Ceri doesn’t get laid tonight she’s going to go funny.’ On the back seat, feeling tired, irritable, horny, and sick, all Ceri could do was groan in response. ‘You’d be the same if you hadn’t just buried your father,’ Lily added.

‘Oh,’ Michael said. ‘Actually, when we were in the hot tub this morning I was feeling a bit, uh…’

He was interrupted by another groan, a frustrated one, from the back seat. Lily nodded. ‘The stress level dropped, your Dad had a good, kind of upbeat send-off, and you were in a relaxed situation. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re just a bit addicted to my feeding.’ She peered out at the gathering gloom. ‘Do we know where we’re going?’

‘It’s been years since I was out this way,’ Michael said, ‘and the farmhouse they’re supposed to be using isn’t on this navigation thing. There’s probably still a pub in the town centre, we can ask there.’

There was, and Ceri was too relieved to be out of the car to be bothered by the sudden drop in conversation noise as the three strangers walked in. Still, the plump woman with the red cheeks behind the bar smiled as Michael stepped up to the bar, which was a good sign.

‘Well, new faces,’ she said. ‘What can I get you?’

‘Uh, we’re looking for Llan Farm,’ Michael said and suddenly it was as if someone had stuck something putrid under the publican’s nose.

‘Oh, you’re with that lot.’ All the humour had drained from her voice. ‘Did you come in along Wick Road?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said, smiling brightly despite the hostility.

The woman looked at the half-succubus, with her large chest hidden under a tight jersey-dress, and her nose wrinkled even more. ‘You missed it. Go back the way you came.’

‘I don’t suppose you could be a little more specific?’ Michael asked. He was looking uncomfortable, distinctly uncomfortable.

She looked him up and down. Ceri would have to admit that Michael would not have made a bad porn star from the looks department. He was tall, muscled, attractive, and young. ‘No,’ the publican said, ‘I couldn’t.’

Ceri growled and moved forward, slapping her hand onto the counter. When she lifted it, the publican was left looking at Ceri’s warrant card. ‘We’re not with the production company,’ Ceri growled. ‘We need to talk to them. Now tell us where the widder damned farm is.’

The rosy cheeks flared brighter, but the woman’s eyes lit up as she took in the card. ‘You’re police? Well why didn’t you say so? Go back the way you came about a mile. You’ll see a track off the road on your left. Take that and go to the end. The farm’s been out of use for years. They rent it out to rich English folk. You can’t see it from the road because of the trees, but it’s there.’

‘Thank you,’ Ceri snapped, grabbing up her card and turning for the door.

‘They think we’re going out there to arrest them or something,’ Lily commented as they climbed into the car.

‘I could care less,’ Ceri said. ‘This car smells like my Aunt Branwen’s socks. Get me to the farm so I can throw up and get it over with.’

‘Mad Aunt Branwen?’ Lily asked. ‘The one who thinks you’re a sheep?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I’ll put my foot down then.’

Putting her foot down helped, right up until she turned off the main road and onto what could only be described as a goat track. ‘Holy crap!’ Ceri yelped from the back seat. ‘Next time we demand a bloody four-wheel drive!’

‘I prefer walking,’ Michael said as he gripped the door handle and his seat.

‘There,’ Lily said, waving a hand toward something in front of them and making Ceri wince as the car jerked to the left on a pothole. ‘There’s some lights showing through the trees.’

‘God I hope that’s the farm,’ Ceri groaned.

It was. There was a barn, some sort of stable or cattle pen, and a house. The house itself was moderately large; two floors of stone-built cottage built in an ‘L’ shape with enough windows to suggest it had a fair number of rooms. There were lights on in several windows and none of them masked behind curtains. There were also lights in the stable block, but Lily pulled up in front of the house among a group of other cars and a couple of vans.

Ceri got out and stood in the courtyard with her hands on her knees. Breathing was her main concern and she concentrating on it very hard for a while. ‘What’s our approach?’ Lily asked, giving her time to recover.

‘Go in, ask questions,’ Ceri replied. ‘I don’t want to make this complicated. I’ll question, you watch their reactions and desires, break in with questions if you need to. We’ll do it informally until we find anything interesting. None of them are actually suspects.’ She straightened up. ‘All right, let’s do this.’

Knocking on the farmhouse door produced no results and there was no bell. Ceri got bored after a couple of attempts and just tried the door. She glanced at Lily and rolled her eyes when it opened. ‘Security conscious, aren’t they?’ Lily gave a shrug and Ceri tentatively pushed the door open further and moved in. ‘Anyone about?’ she called out.

There was no answer. The room was a kitchen and, while the lights were on, there was no one there. There were dishes waiting to be washed in the sink and four mugs on the large, oak table in the middle. ‘Twill would have a fit,’ Lily commented, which got a giggle out of Ceri. ‘There’s two doors.’ There were, indeed, two doors heading in opposite directions.

‘You and Michael take the right, I’ll take the left?’ Ceri suggested.

‘C’mon, you gorgeous hunk o’ werewolf bodyguard,’ Lily said, slapping Michael on the shoulder, ‘let’s go find some people.’ Michael blinked and gave Ceri a worried look before following Lily. Grinning, Ceri headed for the other door.

The place was nice enough, she had to admit. Lots of panelled, oak doors, tasteful “Welsh country” decoration. She winced at the display of love spoons mounted in the hallway beyond the door; far too kitsch, but they were nicely carved. Moving down the hall she could hear nothing from the rooms beyond the inner doors and the only lights were coming from under the door at the end and one near it to the left. She was approaching that one when it opened and a man stepped out.

At least six foot tall, his black skin glistened with drops of water from, Ceri guessed, a shower. He had no hair, a solid jaw under a handsome face with deep brown eyes, broad shoulders and a barrel chest which dropped smoothly into a narrow waist. His thighs were thick and heavily muscled, and quite visible between them, since he was naked, was a penis which looked huge even when limp. He looked her up and down without embarrassment or surprise. ‘Don’t suppose you know where the towels are?’ He had a deep, resonant voice to go with the chest.

‘I just got here,’ Ceri replied.

‘Huh, you too? I didn’t know Tawni had called anyone else in.’ His brow creased slightly. ‘Though they did say the fluffer had gone missing. You his replacement?’ He nodded without waiting for an answer. ‘Good, I prefer a girl doing it. Doesn’t seem right with a guy.’

Before Ceri could say anything he had turned and pushed the other door open. Beyond it, and around his large form, she could see glimpses of a lounge with a big fireplace, with a fire burning in it despite the season, complete with fur rug in front of it. The big man walked in, still dripping; his behind was tight with solid muscle as well. ‘Lia, the new fluffer’s here. Where are the towels?’

‘Cupboard opposite the bathroom,’ said someone inside the room. The accent sounded something like German which surprised Ceri.

The man turned, looked down at Ceri, and stepped back to allow her into the room so he could pass her. Ceri spotted the source of the female voice, a tall, blonde woman sitting on a fabric-covered, wing-back chair. She had a towel wrapped around her chest and was carefully painting her toenails in a brilliant scarlet. Glancing up, Lia smiled at Ceri, showing a lot of very white teeth. ‘You’re the new fluffer? Hi, I’m Lia.’

‘Ceri Brent,’ Ceri said. ‘I have a couple of questions.’

‘Shoot,’ Lia replied.

‘What’s a “fluffer,” and who’s in charge around here?’

Lia’s face straightened. ‘You’re not the new fluffer?’

‘I’m here to look into Harry Walls’ death.’

‘You’re a cop?! Godverdomme! I’m sorry, Leo said… Kut! Could we maybe start over? I’m Lia van Daal.’

Ceri grinned. ‘He didn’t really give me time to correct him. That’s a Dutch name isn’t it?’

Lia nodded. ‘Ja, born in Amsterdam. Used to work the red light district, but this pays better.’ Ceri recalled that they had legalised prostitution in the Dutch territories. ‘You want to talk to Tawni, I think. Terry’s the director, but Tawni’s co-producing as well as performing.’

‘Tawni,’ Ceri said, ‘right. Where do I find her?’ Lily had asked about someone called Tawni when they had visited Jessie. Jessie had said she was filming in Wales…

‘Oh, they’re in the stables,’ Lia told her. ‘Me and Leo are just setting up for a scene in here. We’re way behind and with Monty dying…’ She shook her head. ‘It’s going to be a tough shoot.’

From behind her, Ceri heard a deep voice rumbling. ‘Tawni never said anything about more male talent.’

Closing her eyes, Ceri heaved a breath in. ‘Excuse me, I need to rescue my boyfriend. I’ll want to talk to you later. Uh, after your scene, probably.’ She turned without waiting for a reply and walked up behind the still naked back of Leo. ‘I’m not the fluffer and he’s not talent,’ she snapped. ‘Now get out the way so I can get past.’

Looking around and blinking at her, Leo stood to one side. Ceri still had to turn sideways herself to get past his chest. On the other side of the huge porn actor, Michael was looking bewildered and Lily was looking amused. Ceri waved them down the hall and they preceded her into the kitchen.

‘It’s Tawni’s shoot,’ Lily said.

‘Yeah, so I discovered. They’re in the stables.’ She started for the door, waiting until they were outside and walking across the courtyard before she said, ‘What the Hell’s a “fluffer” anyway?’

‘Oh, they’re usually witches these days, but you get the occasional star who prefers the original idea. They make sure the actors are lubricated and they make sure the male stars are ready for takes.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Make sure they’re ready?’

‘Yeah. Y’know? Hard.’

‘Oh.’

‘That’s why they’re usually witches these days. You remember that priapism spell Dad taught me? Absolute godsend to the porn business.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said again. ‘Do I look like a fluffer?’

‘No of course not,’ Lily said. ‘You look like a porn star, we’ve established that.’

‘I do not…’

‘Shaven, tight arse, skin that holds a nice flush, and so vocal,’ Lily said, mimicking Jessie.

‘Have I missed something?’ Michael asked.

‘Just some undercover work,’ Lily said, giggling.

‘I think it’d have been undercover if she hadn’t had to go out,’ Ceri commented.

‘Huh,’ Lily grunted. ‘Quiet now, I think they’re filming.’ They had reached the stables and Lily cracked the nearest door an inch, peeking through and nodding before putting a finger to her lips. She slipped in and Ceri and Michael followed her as quietly as possible.

The stable had around ten stalls lining one wall with a wide corridor facing them. There were a couple of feed bins, which looked unused. The whole place looked unused, in fact, aside from the second from last stall which was in use, but not for its original function. A cameraman was standing just outside it with a handheld video camera on a steady-rig. Ceri could see a boom microphone suspended over the stall and a man with headphones concentrating on a box hung around his neck on a leather strap. Two other people were there, one sat on a folding chair and the other standing nearby, frowning. The one on the chair, Ceri guessed, was the director, Terry; he looked arrogant enough. The other was a brown-skinned woman, and Ceri’s eyes widened when she saw her. Quietly, she slipped behind Michael as the trio approached.

Closer, Ceri could hear moans and grunts coming from the stall. A female voice cried out, ‘Yes! Harder!’ and the moaning became louder. ‘Oh yes!’ the voice cried. Closer still and they could hear the sound of regular, rhythmic rustles of hay.

‘Cut!’ the director called out. The rustling sounds stopped almost instantly. ‘All right, set up for the come shot. What the Hell are these people doing on my set?’

‘Hey Tawni,’ Lily’s voice.

‘Lilith! Is that really you? By God, girl, I haven’t seen you in…’

‘Just over five years. You’re looking good.’

‘So are you. I thought you got out of the business?’

‘I did. This is… Michael and somewhere there’s…’

Ceri stepped out from behind Michael and looked across at the woman called Tawni. Tawni’s eyes widened. ‘Hi Tanya,’ Ceri said, ‘long time, no see.’

~~~

‘I got into porn after I left my folks,’ Tawni said. ‘They’d found a new squat in Birmingham and I hated it. Moved out at eighteen and found my way to Manchester. Ended up with a guy who made a few amateur movies. Some producer saw one of them and I got my break.’ They had moved to one of the rooms in the farmhouse leaving Terry to finish the shooting.

‘You were always the confident one,’ Ceri said. She glanced at Lily. ‘Tanya used to live down the road from me, in the squats. We were friends until her family moved out in… two-thousand-three?’

Tawni nodded. ‘I mostly go by Tawni now.’

‘And I go by Lily,’ Lily said. ‘Lilith holds a few bad memories.’

‘Oh, but you were the best!’ Tawni exclaimed. ‘You were even good at the actual acting. I mean, “Vampire Lust” was a masterpiece, “Lay with the Dragon” was practically art.’

Lily smiled, accepting the praise. ‘And then things went wrong,’ she said. ‘I got out before I killed someone.’

‘Which brings us to why we’re here,’ Ceri said. ‘Harry Walls, has he done any illegal films?’

‘No!’ Tawni said, sounding genuinely horrified. ‘I don’t think so anyway. If I knew he had I wouldn’t have worked with him.’

‘To be honest,’ Lily said, ‘it doesn’t fit well. He’d have had to have been pretty hard up to do it, but then I’m surprised Suzie did it.’

‘Suzie Stacks?’ Tawni asked, sounding just as surprised.

‘She was killed last week,’ Ceri said. ‘We think it’s because she was in a hardcore snuff flick called “The Degradation of Julia.”’ Tawni showed no sign of recognition; okay, she was an actress, but Ceri was watching carefully, there wasn’t even a twitch. ‘It’s looking like the person who killed Walls killed her, and three werewolves who were in the film. On that basis we figured Walls was in it, but if he wasn’t…’

‘Change of MO,’ Lily said. ‘That would be bad.’

‘We’ll need to talk to your people,’ Ceri said. ‘I guess it can wait until morning now.’

Tawni nodded. ‘Of course. There aren’t many of us. I tried to keep the production costs down. We’ve got make-up, a couple of guys handling the set dressing, four actors plus me, Terry the director. We had a fluffer, but he left today. Said he wouldn’t work on a movie with “the mark of death.” I haven’t managed to replace him. We’ve been doing it the hard way all day.’

‘I’ll need his name and address,’ Ceri said. ‘We can send someone local around to take a statement.’

‘How did you end up working with the police?!’ Tawni asked, her eyebrows rising. ‘No, actually, forget that. Who’s the hunk? I remember you being this timid little thing who wouldn’t say hello to a boy. Now you’re wandering around with this stud.’

Michael blushed to the roots of his hair. ‘I’m Michael,’ he said. ‘Battersea pack.’

‘A werewolf?’ Tawni blinked and looked between Ceri and Michael uncertainly.

‘It’s a long story,’ Ceri said. ‘He’s my mate, Lily’s my pet.’ She lifted her right arm and showed Tawni the inside of it.

‘Your tattoos are gone!’

‘And now I can work magic. There was an accident in my thaumatology lab.’

‘She’s really powerful,’ Lily said. ‘I didn’t touch her for almost five years, but when she started throwing magic around… Well, I couldn’t resist her. So it’s either I’m her pet, or I’m constantly trying to dominate her.’

Tawni’s brown eyes fixed on Ceri. ‘Oh girl, we got some catching up to do. Where are you staying?’

‘We were in a hotel in Cardiff,’ Ceri said, ‘but we need somewhere local.’

‘You can stay here,’ Tawni said emphatically. ‘Like I said, it’s a small production. There’s a couple of rooms free.’

‘We just need one,’ Lily said.

Tawni’s grin was positively evil. ‘Oh Ceri girl, you have so changed since I last saw you.’

~~~

The room was not large, but it had a double bed and a cupboard they could hang clothes in. ‘Not quite the hotel,’ Ceri said, ‘but it’ll save the Met some expenses and we couldn’t keep living off Carter.’

‘Quite right,’ Lily said. Reaching down she grasped the hem of her dress and pulled it off over her head, shaking out her hair as she tossed the woollen garment onto a chair. ‘So much better.’

Ceri grinned at her and sat on the edge of the bed, Michael sprawling behind her. ‘What’ve you got on the ones you’ve seen?’ Ceri asked.

‘Tawni’s desperate that this film should succeed,’ Lily replied. Turning, she bent over at the hips and reached down to undo the ankle straps on her sandals. Ceri swallowed at the sight of her naked behind. ‘You really went to school with her?’

‘Uh, yeah.’

‘Small world. The director… He’s weird. Wants his actors to do what he tells them. Seems overly keen about the film succeeding too. His desires are… bitty. Like he isn’t focussed on anything. I think he’s a practitioner too.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll have a look when we interview him.’

‘The cameraman wants the actor they were filming to… well, wants the actor,’ Lily went on. ‘I don’t know any of the other actors, by the way. Seem to be after my time. The sound guy wanted me right after he saw me, before that he wanted Tawni. Seemed like a one-track mind. Michael and I met the two props guys. One of them is on something, he was wanting to get into Cardiff for a fix.’

‘The blonde?’ Michael asked.

‘That’s the one.’

‘He smelled funny. Chemical, but not normal chemical.’

‘Alchemy?’ Ceri asked.

Michael shrugged. ‘I’m not sure I’d know it if I smelled it.’

‘The others…’ Lily said and shrugged before moving closer to Ceri. ‘They just want to get paid.’ Reaching out toward Ceri she lifted her T-shirt up and over her head.

‘So, um, so far we may have a link to Hughes’ drug ring?’ Ceri asked. Lily placed a hand between her breasts and pushed so that she found herself lying on Michael’s legs.

‘So far,’ Lily said, starting work on undoing Ceri’s jeans. ‘But we’ll find more tomorrow.’ Her hands pulled Ceri’s jeans and thong down her legs. ‘Now we need to get your head back in the game.’

‘My head is in the game,’ Ceri protested.

‘No it’s not,’ Lily said. ‘Michael, you start at the top.’

Michael shifted and Ceri closed her eyes as his hands stroked over her breasts. Lily lowered her head between Ceri’s legs, fingers stroking over her thighs. ‘Well,’ Ceri sighed, ‘perhaps I am a little distract-ah!’

August 27th

The sound of her mobile ringing jarred Ceri awake. Lily reached out, apparently without looking, and plucked the instrument off the night table to hand it over. Sandwiched between a half-demon and a werewolf, getting the phone to her ear was not easy, but Ceri managed it, more or less.

‘Hello?’ Ceri said, sleep still showing in her voice.

‘Ceri? It’s Kate. Did I wake you?’

‘Yeah, what time is it?’

‘Uh… just after ten.’

Ceri grunted. ‘I suppose we should get up anyway. We’re interviewing the film crew this morning.’

‘Okay. We got our hands on a couple of copies of the film. We’re couriering one of them out to Cardiff for you guys to take a look at.’ Her voice faltered. ‘I’ll warn you now, it’s not pleasant.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘Could you get them to call us when it’s there? We’ll drive back.’

‘Sure, where are you now?’

‘The farmhouse the film crew are using. Something feels a bit wrong here. I’m not sure what it is. No one seems to believe Walls would have done that movie, but I’m sure the same thing killed him.’

Kate’s voice lowered. ‘You’re staying on a porn set? Never mind. I probably don’t want to know. Keep us informed.’ She cut off the call before Ceri could answer.

Taking the phone back to put on the table, Lily said, ‘I’m not getting up without a proper breakfast.’ Ceri grinned softly, a small sigh escaping her lips before Lily’s mouth covered them.

~~~

‘Well, he was one of the actors, y’know? He was pretty much okay. Treated the rest of us well enough.’ The speaker was thin, but all wiry muscle. Ceri could see him being able to lug heavy equipment around with fair ease. He seemed a little vague and at the same time twitchy, and his name was Dennis which Ceri thought was a really poor name for someone working in porn. ‘Pretty sure he banged Scoop a couple of times. Y’know, freebie for a fan, like.’

Ceri glanced at Lily. ‘Adrian the cameraman,’ Lily supplied. They had taken over the room Tawni had been using as an office, but since that was a bedroom with the bed pushed back against the wall there was limited room for four people. Michael was perched on the edge of the bed, trying to look unobtrusive.

‘Ah yeah.’ They had already interviewed Adrian. He had broken down and sobbed half way through, saying that “Monty was a god amongst men and the world would not be the same without him.” Ceri thought it was the most fake-sounding speech she had ever heard, but the guy had almost certainly had nothing to do with Walls’ death. ‘Could you confirm your whereabouts on the twenty-fifth around nine-thirty?’

‘Uh, yeah, I was setting up for a night scene out on the beach. Tawni and Cruise.’

Ceri nodded. The alibi covered most of the people on the crew. It had been an off-site scene and they had taken both props men, the cameraman and sound guy, the missing fluffer, make-up girl, and, of course, Tawni, Terry, and Cruise had been there. Cruise was the other male actor, the one they had seen filming the night before. That left Lia, the Dutch actress, and Chrissy, Cruise’s partner in the stable, alone at the house when Walls had left.

‘Is that all?’ Dennis asked. ‘I gotta go into Cardiff for, uh, batteries.’

Batteries, right. ‘Thank you, yes. Could you send Cruise in?’ She waited for him to walk out and close the door before turning to Michael. ‘You make sure you meet him when he gets back,’ she said quietly. ‘Find his “batteries” and we’ll arrest his arse for possession.’

Michael nodded just as the door opened and a tall, muscular man with a shock of blonde hair walked in. He was moderately attractive in a hard, angular way; Ceri did not particularly go for the type. The broad grin suggested he was moderately sure no woman alive could resist him. He did not even look at Michael, but favoured both Lily and Ceri with a lingering look which took in every detail and, Ceri was fairly sure, detected nothing other than boobs, hips, legs.

‘Sit down, Cruise,’ Ceri said, giving him a professional, so-not-interested smile.

‘You want to know about Monty then?’ He had a slightly high voice which did not go with the physique. ‘Well, he was okay. Bit soft, y’know? Liked being liked too much. Shagged Scoop, for example. I’m a girls only guy, y’know? But he went both ways if anyone was interested.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri said. ‘Was he acting strangely at all on the twenty-fifth?’

‘The day he croaked? No. Just normal.’ Ceri got the feeling that Cruise would not have noticed if Walls had been suicidal never mind anything more subtle.

‘And that night you were shooting a scene with Tawni?’

‘Yeah. Beach scene. She’s a good lay. Likes it hard.’

Ceri bit her lip. ‘Thanks, we’ll be around if you think of anything.’

‘Sure,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘I’m free this afternoon if you want to… talk some more.’

Ceri had to stop herself laughing as Lily made gagging motions behind Cruise’s back as he left. ‘I don’t have to tell you what he wants, do I?’ Lily asked when the door closed.

‘I think I could take a guess,’ Ceri replied and Michael growled softly. Ceri grinned at him. ‘Possessive, love?’

‘He doesn’t deserve either of you,’ Michael grumbled. He was not being possessive, he simply had too high an opinion of them to let Cruise near them. Werewolves had a rather different view of fidelity to most humans.

There was a soft knock on the door and Lia poked her head in. ‘Could you do me next?’ she asked. ‘I’ve got to set up for a retake with Leo.’ Ceri nodded and she slipped in dressed in a short blue wrap.

‘So,’ Ceri said when she had sat herself down and crossed her long legs, ‘tell me about Mister Walls.’

‘Monty? He was sweet. Always had a good word for everyone. I mean, I just met him recently, but he seemed like a nice guy. He’s been doing this a while and he seemed friendly with Tawni. Joked with the crew. Big cock, but he didn’t just rely on the size? Actually knew what to do with it.’

‘You slept with him off-camera?’

‘Uh-huh. I was with him the night before he died and then we filmed a scene on the morning.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘Did he seem… out of sorts or anything?’

‘Well, kind of,’ Lia said, frowning. ‘He woke me up in the middle of the night. Some sort of nightmare. He said there was a woman in the room, just standing in the shadows watching us sleep. There wasn’t anyone there, of course. I went back to my room after that, but he was kind of tired in the morning. I think the only thing keeping him up was the spell.’ She grimaced. ‘Which is why I’m having to reshoot with Leo.’

‘No fluffer?’ Ceri said.

Lia grinned at her. ‘Yeah, no fluffer. Sorry again about that.’

Ceri shrugged. ‘I’ve been called a lot worse. The night of the twenty-fifth you were here?’

‘Chrissy and I were in the lounge chatting when Monty left. Neither of us knew anything was wrong. Then we heard a car start outside. It took off fast. Must have made a mess of the opschorting… uh, suspension, sorry.’

Ceri smiled. ‘Your English is excellent.’

‘Thank you. Trade with England is really important in Amsterdam so we learn early, especially if we’re in the tourist trade.’

‘I thought you said you worked the red light district.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Lia replied, grinning, ‘and about fifty per cent of the trade is English.’

‘Oh… So Monty left in a hurry?’

Lia nodded. ‘It wasn’t until we looked around and couldn’t find him that we realised it was him, but yeah. Went off like Hellhounds were chasing him.’

‘Okay, thanks Lia. You’ve been very helpful. If Chrissy’s out there, could you send her in?’

‘Sure.’ The tall woman rose smoothly to her feet and headed out, Ceri waiting for the door to close before looking to Lily.

‘She’d really like a foursome,’ the half-succubus said, ‘but she’d take any of us she could get, especially Michael. I like her. She’s up-front, there’s nothing much about her that isn’t obvious, I think.’

Ceri grinned and glanced at Michael. ‘I won’t mind if you do,’ she said.

‘I’ve got my hands full with you two,’ he replied, though there was just a hint of thoughtful desire in his eyes.

The door opened and Chrissy walked in without preamble. Her jaw was moving as she chewed gum with all the slack-jawed elegance of a masticating cow. It was difficult to think of her as attractive, but she was pretty with a symmetrical, high-cheekboned face, blue eyes, bobbed blonde hair, and a good body. The camisole top and short skirt did little to hide her attributes.

‘Chrissy,’ Ceri began.

‘Yeah, Monty. Well, he was nice. I did a scene with him early in the week. It was okay.’

‘Right,’ Ceri said. The woman spoke in a light monotone, as if she had no brain operating behind the pretty exterior. ‘You were chatting with Lia the night he died?’

‘Yeah, I painted her toe nails. She’s cute. Really open, y’know? Tall, great body.’ The blank face arranged itself into a smile which seemed genuine.

‘And you heard Walls leaving?’

‘Yeah, like a bat out of Hell. It was real weird.’ All the expression had drained from her face again.

‘And you didn’t notice anything odd about him before then?’

‘No, I didn’t notice anything about him.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘Thank you for your time.’ She watched Chrissy walk out and close the door. ‘She prefers girls?’

Lily nodded. Michael frowned and said, ‘Wasn’t she the one groaning and moaning with Cruise when we arrived?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said. ‘She prefers girls, and she’s also an actress. You don’t think all the moaning on porn films is actually real, do you?’

‘I, uh, wouldn’t know, I’ve never seen one.’ He actually looked embarrassed about it.

‘This place is going to be a bit of a shock,’ Lily commented. ‘Then again, you’re a werewolf. You’re used to casual nudity and people having sex in front of you.’

‘They’re not usually humans,’ he pointed out. ‘Even Ceri turned out not to be. Entirely.’

‘Does it make a difference?’ Ceri asked.

‘Yes.’ He frowned slightly. ‘I guess it shouldn’t. I’d imagine I’ll cope.’

Ceri smiled; he would cope, she had every confidence he would. ‘Let’s take a break,’ she said. ‘We’ve got Tan… We’ve got Tawni and Terry to go, but they’re going to be a pain to get away from the filming.’

‘We can probably grab them when they break for dinner,’ Lily suggested.

Ceri checked her watch. It was just after two, probably four hours until tea time. ‘Okay. We’ll watch for Dennis coming back with his “batteries” until then.’

~~~

Shooting appeared to be encountering issues. Ceri could not quite understand what was up, but with lunch out of the way Terry apparently started up a “discussion” he had been having with Tawni before they had walked in.

‘I admit he’s impressive,’ the man said, ‘but without a fluffer he’s just too unreliable. We’ll be filming for the rest of the day at this rate and we’re behind schedule as it is.’ Something about the man made Ceri’s skin crawl. Possibly the arrogance; he exuded it like musk.

‘Perhaps if you could make your mind up about camera angles,’ Tawni said, ‘we could get a scene out faster and he would be more reliable.’

‘We want this to be as good as we can make it…’ Terry began.

‘Within budget!’ Tawni snapped. ‘We actually have a budget, remember?’

‘I can always arrange more money if you need it.’

‘You still haven’t managed to replace the guy who left then?’ Lily asked, interrupting the argument.

Tawni whipped around and then forced herself to relax. ‘Oh, no. Getting someone out here from London is difficult and I’ve not found anyone local who could do it.’ She sighed. ‘Leo’s good. Not as big a draw as Monty, but he can fill the role well enough, but… Well, he has the same problem as Monty did and now we’re short someone who can cast the charm.’

Lily looked around at Ceri. Ceri’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no,’ she said, ‘I can’t.’

‘I could do it,’ Lily said, ‘but I’m not nearly as good as you.’

‘I’ve never…’

‘You’ve seen it cast,’ Lily said. ‘I know you can do it.’

‘Sorry,’ Tawni’s confused voice intruded. ‘You… could cast the priapism charm?’

‘I’ve never…’ Ceri began and then sagged with a sigh. ‘Okay, yes, I can cast it. It’s just a neurochemical feedback induction. Quite interesting really. What it says about the biochemistry of errr… And you’re not really bothered about that are you?’

Tawni was beaming. She looked over at Lily. ‘She hasn’t changed since when she was a kid.’ Lily grinned back. ‘Okay, let’s go give Leo a jump start.’

Slightly slumped, Ceri followed Tawni through into the lounge where blackout curtains had been put up over the windows and the fire relit. Between the lights and the fire it felt like an oven; no wonder the actors were having trouble. ‘Have you considered some ventilation?’ Ceri asked.

‘It interferes with the sound,’ Terry replied snidely.

‘Leo,’ Tawni was saying, ‘we got you a fluffer.’

Ceri winced. Leo looked up from the floor where he was sat, stark naked, apparently trying to be his own fluffer. A slow grin spread over his face. ‘So, you aren’t the fluffer then?’

Ceri folded; okay, it was funny. She grinned. ‘Apparently I am. You ready for this?’

‘Oh Hell yeah.’

Ceri concentrated, forming the required energy pattern she had seen Faran and Lily generate, and then pushing it onto Leo. Almost immediately, he started to harden; Ceri’s eyes bulged slightly.

Behind her, Lia giggled. ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about.’

Terry had not been watching. ‘Well is she going to cast the spell or not?’

Ceri looked toward him, her Sight still on from casting the charm. ‘I did it already. If you want all that fancy mystical words crap, get another practitioner.’ Her breath caught slightly as she saw the dark tendrils wrapped around Terry’s Chakral Median. Terry the director was pacted.

~~~

Dennis’ battered Mini pulled into the courtyard and stopped with a shudder. Ceri and Lily watched from the stables as he climbed out of the vehicle and Michael moved out from the bushes to the side of the track as though coming back from a walk.

‘You’re sure Terry’s pacted?’ Lily asked quietly.

‘Yeah, but it was weird,’ Ceri replied. ‘Not like any other pact corruption I’ve seen.’

Michael was smiling and offering to help Dennis with his bags. ‘He’s good at this,’ Lily said, nodding toward Michael.

Ceri grinned. ‘Yeah, he is.’

Dennis did not seem to be too keen on being helped, but Michael obliviously picked up several carrier bags and started toward the farmhouse. After about three paces with Dennis struggling after him, apparently protesting the help, the werewolf stopped. Dropping all but one of the bags, Michael reached into the last one and started rummaging through it as Dennis yelled for him to stop. Ceri and Lily took off across the courtyard.

‘What the Hell are you doing?!’ Dennis yelled. ‘Stop that! You’ve got no right!’

‘We have probable cause,’ Ceri said, holding up her warrant card for emphasis.

Dennis’ eyes widened. Ceri could see him thinking about running. She watched as his eyes flicked to Michael pulling something out of the bag. Then she watched him make the choice and break for the nearby hedge.

‘Shouldn’t we stop him?’ Lily asked.

‘What’ve you got, Michael?’ Ceri said. He showed her; six vials of a purplish fluid wrapped in a towel. He handed them to Ceri.

‘It’s Oblivion,’ Lily said, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

Ceri turned the vials over in her hand. The liquid moved slowly and there was a faint shimmer in it. Manufactured alchemically from fae wine, Oblivion gave a fantastic high, but the side effects started at dangerous and moved on to horrific. Eventually, Oblivion users lost their souls leaving a shell with limited humanity, easily targeted for possession.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘I’ll call Hughes. Michael, bring him back undamaged if you can.’

Grinning, Michael took his time stripping his clothes off, handing them over to Lily. ‘I won’t hurt him,’ he said, and then took off toward the hedge, shifting as he ran.

‘What’s going on?’ It was Tawni’s voice. She walked out from the farmhouse door, a frown on her face and only a bra and thong on her body.

‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest Dennis,’ Ceri said.

‘What?! Why? He was with us on the beach all that night.’ Ceri held up the vials and Tawni paled. ‘That’s…’

‘Oblivion,’ Ceri said, ‘or so I’m told. Lily’s seen it before.’

Tawni nodded, her face shifting from shock to anger. ‘The stupid… I should’ve known! Damn it! I caught him once wandering through the courtyard looking vague and there were the trips into Cardiff. Fuck!’

There was a rustle as first Dennis emerged through the hedge, and then Michael, his clawed hand gripping the back of Dennis’ T-shirt. ‘They never gave us handcuffs,’ Lily said absently.

‘No,’ Ceri said, pulling her phone from her jeans and flipping it open ‘but this isn’t our case so I don’t need to question him.’ Reaching out, she tapped the props man on the forehead. ‘Ewch i gysgu, Dennis.’ Michael caught him as he slumped, laying him down on the ground. Dennis started snoring almost immediately. ‘Thanks, love,’ Ceri added to her mate.

Tawni gave a sigh, but her eyes were roaming absently across the naked werewolf who had suddenly turned up. Ceri dialled a number on her phone, waiting for it to connect. ‘I did a werewolf once,’ Tawni said, licking her lips.

‘Little Red Riding Whore?’ Lily asked, presumably meaning the name of a film.

The call connected, answered by a switchboard operator. ‘Detective Inspector Hughes, please. It’s Ceridwyn Brent.’

‘That’s the one,’ Tawni said. ‘Were you on that one?’

‘No. I heard it was good. You weren’t playing Red where you?’

There was a click on the line and Hughes’ voice sounded over the phone. ‘Brent? What do you want?’

‘I’ve got an Oblivion user here,’ Ceri told him. ‘He just made a buy in Cardiff and I’m sure he’d be most willing to give up his source, considering he’s got enough to make the possession charge carry a fair sentence.’

‘No,’ Tawni scoffed, ‘they wanted a white girl for that. I was just a side meal.’ Ceri glanced at Michael; even in fur he was looking a little uncomfortable.

‘I’ll send Croft out with some uniforms to pick him up,’ Hughes said. He sounded a little eager and the angry tone of his initial greeting had vanished. ‘Nice work, Brent.’

‘We got lucky,’ Ceri said, but he had already hung up. Folding her phone, she looked around at the assembly. ‘Stop embarrassing my mate. And, Michael, there’s no need to stay furry. I’m quite sure Tawni’s seen a naked man before, and she’s hardly dressed.’

Michael shifted back, a little pink around the cheeks, and reached for his jeans. Lily moved them away, grinning. ‘But I like you naked,’ she purred.

‘Lily,’ Ceri said. The half-succubus pouted and handed over the jeans.

‘God, Ceri,’ Tawni said, awed, ‘how can you possibly resist that pout?’

‘Years of practice,’ Ceri replied.

~~~

‘Monty Balls,’ Terry said, ‘was getting to the end of his career. He was just not in fashion. Neither is that hulk Leo, to be honest. The trend is for leaner physiques, like Cruise. Bad boys are where it’s at, but Tawni wouldn’t listen to me.’

‘Interesting,’ Lily said, ‘but not really that relevant. Did you notice anything odd about him while he was shooting with Lia that morning?’

Lily was asking the questions because Ceri was concentrating on trying to figure out what was odd about Terry’s pact corruption. His soul seemed intact, though there were some nasty black stains in it; Terry had done some very nasty things at some point in his life.

‘He was more useless than usual?’ Terry commented.

Lily smiled; it got nowhere near her eyes. ‘Have you ever heard of a movie called “The Degradation of Julia”?’

Ceri saw the tiny flinch and Lily obviously did too. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’ve heard of it. A snuff movie. Rumour had it that the “Julia” of the title died during the making of it. Disgusting filth.’

‘Have you heard anything suggesting Monty might have been involved in that movie?’

The corruption marks were finer than Ceri was used to, a true spider web of black tendrils spreading out from the Anahata node in the chest and out along the Chakral Median.

‘He didn’t…’ Terry began and then seemed to change his mind. ‘I suppose it’s not impossible. A lot of older stars end up doing a couple of illegal shoots. Suzie Stacks did a couple, I heard on the grapevine.’

‘We’d heard that too,’ Lily replied. ‘You’ve never directed any, I take it?’

The spider web of taint looked delicate, striated somehow, as though it was made of tainted material itself. Once white, it was now almost entirely black, and… The thought struck Ceri as though she had slapped her forehead. The taint she normally saw grew from the base of the Median, the Muladhara node, upward. This spread outward from the point where his soul was.

Terry’s tone was angry as he responded to Lily. ‘Of course I’ve never directed any! I’d never stoop to that. I’m an artist, not a… a… filth merchant!’

‘It’s just a question,’ Lily said. ‘It appears that the victims were all involved in the film you mentioned, “The Degradation of Julia.” If you had been involved, that could make you a target.’

‘I see. But I wasn’t, so I’m not.’

Lily smiled. ‘Yes.’ She glanced at Ceri, receiving a nod. ‘Thank you, Mister Newton. We’ll let you get some dinner now.’ Grumpily, Terry headed for the door.

Ceri watched the door close behind him and glanced over at Michael; his hearing was better. ‘He’s moving away. He got a lot more nervous after Lily told him about the deaths being linked to that movie. I could smell it.’

‘The protests about being an artist were fake too,’ Lily said, ‘but that doesn’t prove he actually directed it.’

‘He’s done some bad things at some time in his past,’ Ceri said. ‘His soul’s stained. And he’s pacted to something, but I don’t think it’s a demon.’

‘I thought it was only demons that did pacts,’ Michael said.

‘They’re the most common sources,’ Ceri replied, ‘but some powerful spirits can do it, angels, even some fae.’

‘Angels? Big wings, fly around in white dresses?’

Ceri laughed. ‘Well, they could. They don’t have a fixed shape. “Angel” is derived from Greek. It originally meant “messenger.” They are the intermediaries of god-entities who are unable to interact directly with us. And there are fallen ones who have lost their connection with their deity.’

There was a knock on the door and Tawni pushed it open, balancing a tray of mugs. ‘I thought you’d want me next,’ she said, ‘so I figured I’d bribe you with coffee.’

‘Your coffee’s not that good,’ Ceri replied, smiling.

‘I could offer sex?’ Tawni said brightly.

‘We’ll take the coffee,’ Ceri said, taking a mug.

Lily pouted. ‘I’d take the sex.’

‘It’d feel a bit weird,’ Ceri admitted. ‘I knew Tanya when she was this little kid who used to run around the neighbourhood being a total nuisance.’

Tawni sat down on the “interrogation” chair with her coffee mug and crossed her legs. ‘You remember your sixteenth birthday?’

‘The sleepover one? It got so bad there were demons walking around and everyone had to stay at our house instead of going home.’

Tawni nodded. ‘You were so in love with Paul Heaton.’

‘And he didn’t know I existed,’ Ceri said sourly. ‘I remember, yeah.’

‘And I slept in your bed with you,’ Tawni went on. Ceri nodded, smiling. ‘And I so wanted you, but you weren’t into girls and I never said anything. I just lay there and cuddled you when your tattoos were stinging and wished I had the courage to…’ She stopped. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked so regretful. ‘And now you’re shacked up with Lily?’

Ceri really did not know what to say. Lily saved her. ‘She really is still into guys. I have turned her a bit, but she does prefer men. I’m a special case, being a half-succubus, and her having to be my mistress.’

‘I didn’t know,’ Ceri said, her voice plaintive.

Tawni smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes. ‘Never mind. It’d have screwed up our friendship, and we left not that long after. Six or eight months and I’d have been in Birmingham.’

‘Yeah.’ Ceri took a breath. ‘Did you notice anything odd about Walls the morning before he died?’

‘He was tired,’ Tawni responded. ‘He said he’d had a nightmare of some sort and hadn’t slept well. Lia seemed to be getting a fair performance out of him though. Not that Terry liked it.’

‘Why are you working with him? He seems like a total dick.’

The grimace said it all really. ‘He was able to get some money together to help back the movie. I have a thirty per cent stake, but I couldn’t raise enough money from finance to fit the minimum budget. Terry's backers put in the last ten per cent as long as he was the director. Thing is, with the schedule being thrown out so much, he’s constantly going on at me to let him get more money in. That’ll dilute my stake and I’ll make less.’

‘You think he’s deliberately delaying to push his stake up?’ Lily asked.

‘No,’ Tawni said, but her face said “yes.”

‘What are you doing this evening?’ Ceri asked.

‘Girl-girl scene with Chrissy. ‘They’re setting up in the kitchen now.’

‘The kitchen?’

Tawni nodded happily. ‘It’s a preamble to a three-way with Leo we’re shooting the day after. He comes in and finds us at it and then bends us over the table.’

‘At least you won’t need me for that,’ Ceri said, trying to keep the relief out of her voice.

‘No, I think we can manage. Though if you’re around tomorrow…’

Ceri gave Lily a glare of the “What have you got me into?” variety.

~~~

‘I never knew Tanya was interested in me,’ Ceri said, her voice quiet. She was lying in the crook of Michael’s arm, with Lily on the other side. ‘I mean, she was right, I really was into boys then. It’s just they weren’t into me.’

‘Water under the bridge,’ Lily said. ‘You can’t live with regrets like that. Anyway, if you want to find out what it would’ve been like, I think she’d oblige.’

‘I wouldn’t object,’ Michael commented. His eyes were shut; they had done a fairly good job of exhausting him. ‘Do you think they’ve finished shooting yet?’

‘Probably,’ Lily replied. ‘You want something from the kitchen?’

‘No, I probably won’t want to move for another hour at least. I thought I might go for a run later though.’

‘Nice,’ Lily said softly. Ceri could feel the slight disappointment coming through their connection.

‘Want company?’ Ceri asked, and the disappointment grew stronger. ‘I could transform Lily easily enough.’

‘Love some company,’ Michael replied, oblivious to the feelings going past him. Ceri could feel Lily’s sudden rise in mood.

‘Thank you,’ Lily said so softly and meekly that Ceri barely heard it.

~~~

It was almost midnight when the three wolves, one black, one grey, one chestnut brown, arrived on the beach. They were just north of Nash Point and the sand felt good beneath Ceri’s feet after coming down from the rocks. It had taken them less than ten minutes to get there, but werewolves moved fast. It was almost full moon and slightly overcast, and with no large cities close by the sky was dark. The only thing keeping them from tripping over rocks was their excellent night vision.

There had been jostling and playing all the way down there, and there was going to be sex on the beach; Ceri knew it, and she knew the others did too. It was not like anyone was going to see them.

Finding a spot hidden behind some rocks, the three of them fell into a pile. Lily discovered that giggling as a wolf just did not work and stopped making the weird strangling noise after a second.

Sand flat, Michael growled as he considered his strategy for the coming event. They came here.

He was right; the area of disturbed sand was too large to be the result of some couple doing exactly what they were doing. Ceri’s eyes took in the disturbance and she paused, allowing Michael to manoeuver himself behind Lily. There was a quickly muffled cry from the brown she-wolf as he pushed into her. Ceri turned, consider her own deployment. The thought of Lily’s long, wolfen tongue sliding between her legs was a good one…

Something shifted in the corner of her vision and she turned to look. There was a woman standing on the beach looking their way. No taller than Ceri and perhaps the same age, she had long, dark hair and a pale complexion. Her face was pretty, feminine with high cheeks and a small chin and nose. She was wearing a loose sweatshirt and jeans, but Ceri could not make out the details with her colour-compromised sight. What she did see was the mournful look on the woman’s face

Just when Ceri was about to say something to the panting couple beside her, she blinked. The woman had gone. Shaking her head, Ceri settled onto the sand. Lily took the hint and, a second or two later, Ceri had forgotten about the strange woman.

Cardiff, August 28th

‘We’re under orders to destroy this as soon as you’re finished with it,’ Croft said as he led Ceri, Lily, and Michael into a small room off the evidence lock-up. There was a fairly large TV screen and an array of devices for replaying video, including an old-style tape player. Croft busied himself turning on the DVD player and the TV, and then setting switches to direct the right feed to the right place.

‘Did you have any luck with Dennis?’ Ceri asked.

‘Oh yeah,’ Croft replied. ‘He folded, just like you suggested. We’ve got a team watching his supplier now. We’re hoping he’ll lead us up the chain.’ There was a flicker from the screen and it started displaying the player’s manufacturer logo. ‘There we go.’ He loaded the DVD and handed a remote over to Ceri. ‘Not really my kind of film,’ he added. ‘If it’s okay with you, I’ll be in the office.’

‘Sure,’ Ceri said; she did not really want to watch it either. She waited until he closed the door behind him and then pressed the play button.

There was no menu, just a production company logo over footage of a woman walking through a park. Ceri frowned. The woman looked happy, walking in the sun. She had black hair and a pretty, feminine face with delicate features, and was dressed for the sun in a camisole top and a short skirt. Suddenly the film cut; though she was barely recognisable, the same woman was stretched naked across a table with two werewolves on her, one at her face, the other between her legs. The frame froze and some slightly amateurish titles appeared over the top of it; The Degradation of Julia.

Michael was fidgeting and Ceri hit the pause button. ‘You don’t have to watch this if you don’t want to, Michael.’

‘It’s not exactly the introduction to porn I would suggest,’ Lily said.

‘Uh, if you don’t mind,’ Michael said, rising to his feet.

‘I’ll take him up to Mark,’ Lily said. ‘I think I remember the way and I’m sure they can keep each other company.’

‘Mark’ll like that,’ Ceri said; her grin did not quite reach her eyes and when they had gone she rewound the DVD to before the titles, freezing the frame on a shot of the woman’s face. She looked familiar somehow. Her hair was pulled back quite severely in a ponytail and looked quite long. The style accentuated her high cheekbones, making her look almost like a model. It was hard to judge, but she looked about the same height as Ceri and perhaps the same age. Again, the hair style made her look older and it was hard to tell. The high cheeks and narrow chin gave a heart shape to the face. Her nose was, Ceri figured, “cute.” Innocent; even with the hair pulled back like that she managed to look innocent.

The door opened and Lily came back in. ‘Yeah, Mark was quite pleased. I did warn Michael.’ The two of them were alone up there since Hughes was out of the office, gone to church.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this girl before,’ Ceri said.

Settling onto the seat beside Ceri, the half-succubus looked at the screen and contemplated the image. ‘I don’t know her. She’s pretty. Julia, I assume.’

‘I guess,’ Ceri replied and restarted the disk.

After the title frame there was more footage of Julia walking through the park before the film began cutting to other scenes with her in. They all seemed to be shot with a long lens until the interior shots began. Someone had put hidden cameras in the girl’s flat, and bugs.

‘This is pretty normal for the genre,’ Lily said. ‘The idea is to paint a picture of a sweet, innocent girl before they start on the sick stuff.’

Ceri nodded. Julia seemed like she was sweet and pretty innocent. There was even a scene where she chatted with a girlfriend about boys and it looked a lot like Julia was a virgin. She mentioned “saving herself for the right man” and the look of mild shock on her face while her friend told her about having sex in the back of a car looked genuine. Julia was almost too good to be true. She did seem to have a boyfriend, but the most he got was a kiss at the door after a date.

The film cut to a shot from a camera they had somehow managed to get over her dressing table mirror. She was naked, rubbing moisturiser into her shoulders, and her hair was down. Black hair fell past her shoulders as Ceri had suspected, and she looked a little sad. Ceri hit the pause button. ‘I saw her last night,’ Ceri said, dumbfounded. ‘On the beach when you and Michael had just started. She was there and I blinked and she wasn’t, but it was her. I thought she died in this.’

‘So did I,’ Lily replied. ‘Maybe it’s someone else, or she has a sister. Or you saw her ghost. Could a ghost be responsible for the murders?’

‘A really old one,’ Ceri said, thinking back to her research on Remus. ‘Maybe a really old one, but she’d be a relative baby.’ Ceri looked at the woman on the screen. ‘She looked sad, like that. Mournful.’ She hit play.

There was a little more of the voyeuristic viewing of Julia moisturising her skin and then a jump cut to a night scene in the park. Julia was walking back to her flat, Ceri guessed. The park was not one Ceri or Lily knew, but there were an insane number of small and large parks in London. She looked nervous, as though she had heard noises, or seen something, and it was not long before her fears turned out to be real. One moment she was walking along a dark path, the next she was being dragged into the bushes by three werewolves.

The scene cut again, this time to a room with concrete walls and a simple, but solid, table. Ceri knew what was coming before it started and more or less prepared herself. Watching three werewolves repeatedly rape a woman was still not something she wanted to repeat. By the end of it Ceri was gripping the arms of the seat with white knuckles. Her mind kept flashing back to a tent on Salisbury Plain, her own body spread across a table with men in uniform taking turns at her for what had felt like days.

‘Are you sure you want to watch this?’ Lily said quietly.

‘No,’ Ceri replied, ‘but I’m going to.’

The narrative suggested that Julia was sold on to a Mistress. Masked and clad in a white, cupless corset, it was still moderately obvious that this was Suzie. At least the action got easier to watch; this was more of a seduction. “Mistress White” had a female slave who tended Julia’s injuries and eventually introduced her to lesbian sex before Julia got to please her new mistress. A big, male slave was brought in as well, Suzie watching as Julia and the man performed for her. Lily did not recognise the man and it was not Walls.

By now, Julia was far from being the innocent young girl she had been at the start, but her face, when not stretched taught in pleasure, carried that same sadness Ceri had seen on the beach. She had resigned herself to her fate. She was a collared slave, subject to her mistress’ slightest whim.

Then the tale took a twisted turn. “Mistress White,” it seemed, had been preparing Julia for “Master Black.” Masked and dressed in black robes which made him almost impossible to identify, the only thing Ceri or Lily could determine about this figure was that he was not Walls either. The scene cut to Black’s chamber, a stone built room with a high ceiling and a summoning circle marked out on the floor. With Julia sitting in the circle and Black beginning to mark it out in salt, Ceri was expecting some special effects and Walls turning up in some sort of demon outfit. But the light flare, dull and red, which came from the salt looked real, and the summoning ritual did not sound like a fake. Of course, if the man was not a practitioner…

‘Oh Hell no!’ Ceri said as the demon made its appearance, rippling into existence within the circle as though the air was being shredded. Julia screamed, and kept on screaming. Ceri found herself unable to look away from the screen though, by the time the credits rolled she could barely read them and did not know why until she realised she was crying. She pressed the pause button, intending to go over the credits again for anything useful; not that she was expecting much. ‘That was…’ she began.

‘That’s why I got out,’ Lily said softly. ‘I’d usually be the Mistress figure. They would bring me girls and I would seduce them. I’d take a girl who barely knew what sex was and I’d twist her into a slut.’ She swallowed. ‘Mine didn’t look sad like that. They would be gagging for it by the time I was finished. I’d addict them. They’d be… be my slaves, toys. Then they brought me a girl… they said she was sixteen, but I think she was younger. They said they’d pay me twenty grand if I’d turn her and then suck her dry… suck her dry on camera.’

Ceri was not sure what to say. Lily had told her once that someone had offered her a lot of money to kill someone once. She had thought it was some man, an assassination of some kind. ‘Oh, Lil,’ she said softly, her hand touching Lily’s arm lightly.

Lily’s dark eyes turned to Ceri’s blue ones. ‘That was when I knew I had to get out, Ceri. Not because it was wrong, and murder, and horrible. Not because I was going to seduce a kid and turn her into a sex toy. It was because I actually thought about it. I thought about taking the money and killing her.’

‘But you didn’t, Lil,’ Ceri said. ‘You refused and you got out of it.’

‘I’ve done horrible things, Ceri.’

‘You saved the world, that’s got to balance things a little.’

Lily managed a bleak smile. ‘You did that.’

The light touch of Ceri’s arm became a firm grip. ‘Lily, if it wasn’t for you I’d still be a recluse living in High Towers and barely ever going out. I’d still have my tattoos. Remus would’ve walked into the country unopposed and we’d be in the middle of a yearlong winter with werewolves tearing the place apart. You set me free, Lil, and you’ve done so much good for others too. Don’t tear yourself up over this.’

The bleak smile became a little warmer. ‘I love you so much,’ Lily said, her voice barely above a whisper.

‘I know, Lil. I love you too.’ Ceri took in a deep breath and turned back to the screen. ‘Let’s go through these credits and get this finished. If they’ll let me, I want to burn this thing myself.’

B4265, East of Wick

They had got next to nothing from the credits. The werewolves were uncredited, as were the slaves. “Mistress White” was played by “herself.” The one interesting fact was that Master Black was both the man who had summoned the demon and the director.

Croft had watched as Ceri placed the DVD in its case, taken it to the car park at the back of the station, and blasted the thing with thaumic energy until the dust had been reduced to its component atoms. Then they had all signed the document saying it had been destroyed.

‘It was really that bad?’ Croft had asked.

‘No,’ Ceri had replied, ‘it was worse, but I can’t do anything bigger to it without demolishing buildings.’

With distance between them and the film viewing, they were getting their rationality back, and their sense of humour, though the later was just surfacing in Ceri being happier at feeling like she wanted to jump out of the car to get out of the thing.

‘So, we established that Walls was not in the film?’ Michael asked.

‘No, he wasn’t,’ Ceri said. Concentrating on the case might stop her thinking about the car. ‘Which means the killer’s MO has changed. So why? Why kill someone with no relation to Julia’s… death?’ Ceri swallowed, unbidden images of how Julia had died rising to the surface.

‘Old school werewolf blood feuds,’ Michael said, ‘you wouldn’t just kill the person you were going after. You’d first destroy their life. Kill their relatives, their children, their mate. Probably start out with some humiliation… gang rape the mate and let her live to see her kids die.’ He glanced back at Ceri, seeing her eyes wide. ‘It hasn’t been done like that in years, long before my time or even my Dad’s time.’ Amidst the shock at the description, the thought intruded that Michael’s accent was drifting back toward English.

‘So they might be attacking the next victim indirectly?’ Lily said. ‘You know who the most likely target is, right?’

‘Terry,’ Ceri said. ‘He’s pacted so he could have summoned the demon. He could have been the director. We never saw his face and that robe hid his body pretty well, but the height would be about right.’

‘So we question him again?’ Lily suggested.

‘Oh we’re gonna question his arse off,’ Ceri replied.

But as they turned into the courtyard of the farm they knew something was wrong. There were too few cars there for starters. Two were missing, though Ceri was unsure which ones. There was also no sign of anything covering the kitchen window and Ceri had half expected them to still be shooting. Instead they found Tawni and Lia in the kitchen. Lia was busy making coffee and comforting noises.

‘What happened?’ Ceri asked, a combination of concern and alarm rising.

‘I’m finished,’ Tawni said, breaking into a fit of sobbing.

‘Chrissy was gone when we got up this morning,’ Lia told them. ‘Cruise said he heard her car spinning out of here about six am, but didn’t think anything about it at the time, klootzak. When Terry found out about her going he said something about going to his room and the next thing we heard was him racing off too.’

‘I can’t finish shooting,’ Tawni said, ‘a second one of my stars and my director are probably dead in a ditch. My savings are tied up in this film, I’m screwed. And I feel crap that that’s all I can think about when three people are dead.’

Lily was behind her, her eyes showing a faint glow. ‘It’s okay,’ the half-demon said, her voice soothing, ‘we often focus on the relatively little things when we don’t want to face the big ones.’ Ceri watched Tawni’s face relax as Lily’s aura did its work.

‘Did Terry look scared?’ Ceri asked Lia.

‘Hij keek bezorgd… Sorry, he looked worried.’

‘You are too?’

Lia nodded. ‘I think Chrissy saw what Monty did, the woman, and that’s why she ran.’

Ceri narrowed her eyes. ‘But that’s not why Terry went.’

‘No.’ She shook her head for emphasis. ‘He did it… oh, berekend… calculated! He sneaked out hoping we would not notice.’ She frowned a little. ‘He was distracted after you talked to him yesterday, like he was thinking about something.’

‘Because he knew it was after him,’ Michael rumbled.

‘If it wanted him, then why kill Monty and Chrissy?’ Tawni said, sounding much calmer. She was relaxing into Lily as the half-succubus gently massaged her shoulders.

‘We think it was trying to pull his life apart first,’ Ceri said. ‘And Chrissy may not be dead.’ She pulled her phone out and dialled quickly.

‘Well, it’s pulled mine apart too,’ Tawni said, not sounding terribly upset about it now.

‘I need to speak to Detective Hughes,’ Ceri said into her phone. ‘Croft then!’ There was a pause while she was reconnected. ‘Mark? It’s Ceri. We’ve had two people go missing from the shoot. I need you to put out their pictures and have them watched for. They could be dead.’

‘Shit!’ She heard from the other end. ‘What are the names?’

‘Christine la Roy, Chrissy, and Terence John Newton. I think he used Terry N as a directorial non de plume. You should be able to pull pictures off the web.’

‘I’ll get right on it.’

‘Where’s Hughes? Not still at church?’

‘No. They’re picking up that Oblivion dealer.’

‘Okay, good luck with that.’ She hung up the phone without saying goodbye; well, people did it to her all the time.

~~~

The fire was burning in the lounge despite the warmth of the evening. Having a living fire in the room seemed like a good idea. The only occupants of the farm left were sitting around it. Everyone else had essentially been evacuated during the afternoon, taking the equipment with them. Tawni and Lia remained; Lia because she had nowhere to go for a couple of days and Tawni because she did not want to go home yet. Ceri, Lily, and Michael were there too because there was no point in them searching for Terry and Ceri was still a little worried that the killer would return.

The news had come in of the discovery of Chrissy’s body mid-afternoon. She had been found in a field about ten miles from the farm and a hundred yards from her car which had broken through a fence and broken its axle. Her neck had been snapped. Ceri had not mentioned that to Tawni; she was stressed enough.

In the heat from the fire, Lily had stripped entirely, Michael had lost his shirt, Tawni and Lia were in bra and knickers, and Ceri had given up and stripped down to the teddy she had put on that morning. Still, Ceri preferred having the fire; some sort of primal need for that flame to keep the darkness away. It seemed silly, but there was no way she was giving it up.

‘So what was Ceri like when she was a kid?’ Lily said into the silence which had descended with the darkness outside. No one wanted to get up to turn on the lights.

Tawni smiled. ‘She was cute. A bit shy. Really bright. I mean, even when she was small she was incredible intelligent. I always thought that was what kept the boys away.’

‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘it was my tattoos.’

‘Huh?’ Tawni gave her a questioning frown. ‘I thought they were protective.’

‘They were, but Dad went a little… overboard with the protectiveness.’

‘It made her hard to notice,’ Lily said. ‘When the enchantment was destroyed people suddenly started seeing her for what she was, absolutely gorgeous.’

‘I thought you were beautiful back then,’ Tawni countered.

Ceri shrugged, trying to make it look casual despite the fact that she still felt a little uncomfortable at that thought. ‘Maybe Dad never thought about a girl wanting me. When a father thinks of someone despoiling their little girl, they generally think of boys.’

Tawni giggled. ‘And there he was, happily sending you off to bed with someone who wanted to despoil you good.’ She narrowed one eye, looking at Ceri with a twisted grin. ‘What would you have done if I had?’

‘God, I don’t know… I’d have… I’d have probably let you.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Were you any good?’

‘Then? No idea. You were the first girl I ever fancied.’ She slapped her palm against the carpet. ‘Well damn. I knew I should have gone for it.’

Ceri was about to say something when she heard Lia gasp. Turning quickly, she looked toward the corner of the room Lia was staring at. Julia stood there, watching them with the same forlorn look on her face that Ceri had seen on the beach. She said nothing and did not move; she just stood there, watching them. Ceri’s sight showed the energy burning to keep her visible. The ghost’s structure seemed odd. Remus had been an ancient ghost and, deprived of his demon-wolf body, he had been a relatively consistent metaphysical structure. Julia seemed to be marbled, as though something else was mixed in with her normal pattern.

‘Hello, Julia,’ Ceri said.

The voice which replied echoed slightly as if coming from a distance. ‘You know me?’

‘I know what happened to you. I’d have liked to have known you.’

‘If you know what happened to me, then you know what I must do.’

‘He’s gone, Julia,’ Ceri said. ‘The one you want is gone. Hurting these people won’t get you your revenge and I can’t let you do it.’

‘Hurting them hurts him,’ Julia said flatly.

‘Not anymore. You’ve done all the damage you can here…’ Ceri saw the power build as Julia’s arms raised toward them, but Ceri was faster; a sphere of shimmering, magical energy sprang up around the little group of people and the fire. There was a flare as the shield blocked Julia’s attack. Then another, and another. The ghost vanished from normal sight, but the attacks continued, battering at the shield.

Ceri sat down. ‘Don’t worry, you couldn’t get through that with a nuclear bomb.’

‘How long can you keep it up?’ Tawni asked, flinching as another flare of light burst across the wall.

‘She’s going to get tired before I do, but still…’ Ceri raised her voice. ‘Julia? I know you can hear me. This is futile. Terry isn’t here and you can’t gain anything from hurting us. I’ve got the police looking for him. He’ll be taken into custody, locked in a cell you can’t get into. Then you’ll never get him.’ Slowly, Ceri began to gather energy into her palm. ‘You’ll never be able to rest. Leave these people be, or I’ll be forced to take action.’

Julia’s body reappeared, but this time it was a little different. Shadowy wings spread out behind her shoulders and her eyes shone with a fierce, crimson light. ‘You cannot stop me. I have been given the power to seek revenge for what was done to me.’

‘These people didn’t do it,’ Ceri yelled. ‘Go and seek your revenge on the one who deserves it.’

‘No,’ Julia said, ‘they worked with him, they’ll die.’

Ceri sighed. ‘I’m sorry you said that.’ The bubble of energy around them fell with a shudder and Ceri brought her hand forward, throwing the ball of energy she had collected. The crimson eyes widened, and Julia tried to turn aside, but the bolt hit her in the chest, burst, and flared across her stomach and face. A scream rang out, shattering the air like glass and leaving everyone covering their ears.

But the ghost was gone.

‘Is she dead?’ Lia asked quietly.

‘I doubt it,’ Ceri replied, ‘even with that kind of energy output.’ She headed for the door and was out before anyone could ask what she was doing. She found a cardboard tube of salt in one of the cupboards and returned with it. Centring herself on magical north, she began marking a circle out around the group of people.

Lily frowned at her. ‘You’ll be awake all night if you do that.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, ‘but I’d rather be safe than sorry and maybe this way I’ll sleep the whole way back to London.’

‘I don’t want to go back…’ Tawni began.

‘You’re staying at High Towers. So are you, Lia. There’s nowhere safer.’

‘Oh I can’t impose…’ Lia said.

‘Why the Hell not?’ Ceri snapped as she raised a circle around them. ‘Everyone else does.’

Part Five: Underbelly

Kennington, London, August 29th, 2011

‘Honey? I’m ho-ome,’ Ceri sing-songed as she pulled her case in through the doors.

‘Of course you are,’ Twill said from just to her right and Ceri jumped in response.

‘I so wish you wouldn’t do that, Twill.’ She grinned brightly. ‘I missed you.’

‘And you brought guests,’ Twill added as Tawni and Lia came in, each dragging a much larger suitcase. ‘Where are we going to put them?’

‘The spare… oh.’ Ceri stopped as she spotted Carter, Cheryl, and Alec walking down the stairs from the lounge.

‘They’ve been keeping me company,’ Twill said.

‘House sitting,’ Cheryl said, smiling. ‘Who are your friends?’

‘Right,’ Ceri said, feeling suddenly overwhelmed, ‘introductions. This is Tanya Cooper, she used to live down the road and now she’s a porn actress called Tawni. Lia van Daal, Dutch porn actress. And this is Cheryl Tennant, my boss at the university, Carter Fleming who is both mine and Lily’s boss, and Alec, he’s a werewolf. Oh, and Twill who stops the dust from building up to waist height.’

Tawni was looking, wide eyed, at Carter. He took her offered hand and kissed the back of it, which resulted in Tawni melting slightly and Cheryl moving closer to Carter.

Lia, on the other hand, was looking at Twill as though she was not sure whether to run or not. Twill smiled at her. ‘You’re Dutch, dear?’ the fairy asked. Lia nodded dumbly. ‘The Fae in Britain are generally not quite so dangerous as the ones you’ll be used to.’ She paused, looking thoughtful. ‘Not that you should assume any Fae is safe, but you can trust us more here.’

‘Okay,’ Lia said. She did not look entirely convinced.

‘Twill’s been looking after us for years,’ Lily said. ‘She’s gorgeous, and cute, and a wonderful cook…’ She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. ‘…and she fucks like a super-powered bunny.’

A swirl of pink light flickered around the tiny woman. ‘I’ll make more coffee,’ she said and vanished off toward the kitchen in a ball of pink-stained white light.

‘How can you be afraid of that?’ Lily said, giggling.

‘I’m not entirely sure I should ask,’ Alec said, ‘but how do you know what she’s like in bed?’

‘Ceri shrank me,’ Lily said, grinning happily. ‘Seriously, she had me flaked out on the bed.’

‘You?’ Tawni asked, sounding disbelieving.

‘It’s possible,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ve had her practically collapsed.’ Tawni looked at her with what could only be described as new found respect. ‘All right,’ Ceri went on, ‘let’s get things settled and then we can catch up with John and Kate.’

‘That should be fun,’ Lily said, grabbing her suitcase and starting for the utility room at the back.

‘Oh yeah,’ Ceri said, ‘fun is the word.’

Westminster

‘Well,’ Kate said, ‘we identified our victim-slash-killer.’

John nodded. ‘From a missing person’s report filed September last year. Julia Holloway. She was a student at LMU actually, dance and dramatic arts. Her father reported her missing when he couldn’t contact her, but by then there was not even a trace. No body’s ever been found.’

‘Her father lives in some big house out by Camberley,’ Kate added. ‘No record of magical ability. He works in the City, stocks and shares, the usual, but he had a nervous breakdown after his daughter vanished. His wife died about ten years ago and Julia was all he had left. Again, the usual.’

Ceri winced. ‘Has anyone told him she’s definitely dead?’

‘Technically,’ John replied, ‘we can’t do that without a body to identify or the certified testimony of her ghost.’

‘Sweet,’ Ceri said, the sarcasm thick in her voice. ‘What about Newton?’

‘Terrance John Newton,’ Kate said, picking up her notepad. ‘Yeah, no record of criminal activity, no record of magical ability.’

‘He’s got some,’ Lily said. ‘You saw it on film.’

‘I’m actually trying my best to forget I saw it,’ Kate stated with a grimace.

‘We went to his house,’ John said. ‘He’s bright enough not to have been back there, but we have it staked out. We’re checking known associates, but so far we’ve got nothing. And his body hasn’t turned up, whole or in pieces.’

Kate looked at Lily. ‘Is there anyone you know who might give us a hint?’ she asked tentatively. ‘If he’s made illegal films, he may have underworld contacts he can use in the business…’

Lily was staring at the wall, her eyes unfocussed. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ she said and Ceri could feel the cold trepidation seeping through their link. Blinking, Lily turned to Ceri. ‘It looks like we’re getting dressed up again.’

‘Oh joy, another night dressed as a slut.’

Kennington

Lily looked Ceri over with a professional eye, even if there was a hint of lust in her professionalism. The teddy Lily had picked out for Ceri had been bought for the bedroom. Admittedly “the bedroom” had become “the house,” occasionally including the roof, but Ceri had never thought she would be wearing it outside. Basically two strips of lacy mesh which fell from a halter neck to join over her crotch, the rest of it was thin satin ribbon to brace it together and a thong at the back. Her nipples were hidden by two embroidered roses, but she still felt naked and the skirt did not really help since it barely covered her behind and was low enough on the hip to show the top half of her tattoo.

Nodding, the half-succubus pulled a pair of heels out of the cupboard. They had been bought as a joke; six-inch spike heels with two inches of transparent plastic platform, and an ankle strap. Wincing, Ceri took them and sat down on the bed to put them on.

It was not like Lily had dressed Ceri up as a girl planning to get laid and gone for something more subtle herself; her dress was strapless, a little shorter than Ceri’s skirt, and made entirely of  lace and mesh. Her shoes had five-inch heels, a little bow over the toes, and chord straps which laced up her legs to mid-calf.

Ceri stood up, checking her balance on the insane shoes before walking over and wrapping an arm around Lily. They looked at each other in the mirror. Lily was having a lot of trouble keeping the smirk off her face; Ceri was not sure why she was trying.

‘We don’t look like hookers,’ Ceri commented.

‘No,’ Lily agreed, ‘we look like we’re gagging for it.’ Her smirk faltered. ‘We… we’ll need to do more than look like a couple of sluts.’

Ceri looked at Lily in the mirror, her nipples visible through the lace, and even more private areas barely concealed. ‘I think I can do that.’

‘Not just with me.’

‘Oh…’ She would have to play the party girl with random people she had never met before while her pet and others watched… Something fluttered between her legs and rose into her stomach. It was at least partially the silver chain around her ankle; the fae-silver chain which upped her libido and could not be removed while she loved Lily. Without it, she was moderately sure that her inhibitions would have overcome the excitement factor. Moderately sure. She was a fairly common sense sort of girl… Fairly sure anyway. ‘Now I’m horny,’ Ceri whined.

Millwall

‘This is Dog Boys territory,’ Ceri said quietly. They were on East India Dock Road, walking from Westferry station. Ceri’s gaze swept the area looking for anyone paying them too much attention, but with the way they were dressed that was a little hard to determine.

‘Not quite,’ Lily replied. ‘They don’t really come north of Aspen Way. Well, as a pack.’ She shrugged slightly, the action bouncing her breasts in the wired cups of her dress. ‘It’s not far. There, in fact.’ She pointed ahead of them and Ceri looked ahead at the building she had to be indicating.

‘That’s a factory.’

‘A disused factory,’ Lily said, as though that made all the difference. ‘It’s a little different inside.’

She took them in through a gate which looked like it was accidentally left ajar and down the side of the building toward what looked like a fire door, except that there was a group of people hanging around outside, kept back by two bouncers. Ceri suspected werewolves, but was not sure until they got closer and saw one of them flash fangs at a man who was trying a little too hard to get in. Lily headed straight for the door and fixed the nearest bouncer with a look, cocking her hip and raising an eyebrow questioningly. Taking Lily’s lead, Ceri looped an arm around Lily’s waist and smiled at the bouncer. He opened the door for them and they walked in, Lily blowing him a kiss.

‘How come they get in and I don’t?!’ It was the man the other bouncer had turned away.

Ceri heard the answer just before the door closed. ‘Because they’re sex on legs and you’re asking to not have balls…’

As the door closed the corridor they had walked into became pitch black. Ceri could hear Lily’s heals clicking on the concrete floor and with no other way to go she followed the sound. ‘Left turn ahead,’ Lily whispered. Ceri glanced to her side, seeing light in the distance to the left and turning that way. She narrowed her eyes, trying to work out what she was feeling until, after another couple of yards, she realised it was the throbbing bass frequencies of some music she could barely hear. It was getting louder though. The closer they got to the light, the more her chest pulsed to the beat. Lily pushed open a pair of doors with a split, round window in them and the wave of sound slammed into Ceri like a bag of hammers.

The dance floor was full of men and women in clothes no less revealing than Ceri and Lily were wearing, and made of everything from lace and Lycra to leather and rubber. At the sides of the room were couches, and tables surrounded by chairs. The tables were sparsely occupied, mostly by single men with drinks watching the couches. The reason for that became obvious when Ceri realised what the couples and threesomes were doing on the sofas.

Lily touched her arm and waved at her to follow; talking was not an option. Somehow Lily managed to communicate what she wanted to the barman when they got there. The bar was a light oak affair in the corner of the room. It was dim there so you could not see how they were short changing you on the measures, but at least the spotlights of various colours sweeping across the dancers left you alone; Ceri had felt like she was on candid camera on the walk over. Lily handed her a tumbler of some sort of liquid and then started off across the floor again, Ceri tottering along behind and feeling like a lost lamb following a half-naked Mary.

Then Ceri began to notice the looks they were getting, particularly from the singles at the tables. As they passed one table a woman walked up to one of the men, smiling. He smiled back and, taking her hand, went over to one of the couches with her. The system started to make sense; men, and a few women, would sit at a table and wait to be picked up. Ceri wondered what they would be doing since Lily did not seem to be making for a table. Of course, they were not there to pick up guys…

Pushing through another set of doors which deadened the sound as they closed behind them, Lily led the way down another dark corridor. By half-way, the music volume was just about low enough that speaking worked. ‘They call this place the Fun Factory,’ Lily said loudly, though Ceri doubted anyone more than a couple of yards away would understand a word. ‘If you can get in, it’s a great place for casual sex and exhibitionism.’ She glanced at Ceri. ‘And picking up snacks.’

The next set of doors diminished the music further, but it was replaced by a different, slower beat; a low, intense, cool jazz-style tune which still seemed to vibrate through the body. Ceri’s Sight kicked in as she felt a tension in the back of her skull. The place was thrumming with low level enchantment. Ceri was not entirely sure what it was for until she felt the throb of the music settling into her groin.

‘The music’s specifically designed to make women horny,’ Lily said, confirming Ceri’s suspicion.

‘It’s working,’ Ceri replied. ‘Like I needed more encouragement.’ She looked around. There were tables, but the occupants were more mixed, and there were huge piles of cushions placed around the room, most of them occupied by people doing things to each other which Ceri was fairly sure were not legally allowed in public. ‘What are we doing here?’ she asked.

‘We’re looking for Belvedere,’ Lily replied, ‘and there he is.’ She started toward a table where an incredibly handsome man was sitting, surrounded by half a dozen women. He was dark, black hair, eyes as dark as Lily’s, and a shadowy look to his delicate yet masculine features. The black silk shirt he was wearing was open almost to his navel showing the dusky skin and muscle beneath. And he was, without a doubt, Unseelie Fae; Ceri could see the magic flowing around him. He was a powerful one too.

Lily walked straight up to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Following her lead, Ceri did the same to the last of the free chairs at the table. The Sidhe named Belvedere smiled, light flaring in his pupils, and when he spoke his voice was like dark silk. ‘Lily, lovely Lily, it’s been too long. Who is your equally lovely companion?’ As his attention and words turned to Ceri she felt her nipples harden as a wave of sensation seemed to wash up from her groin.

‘Ceri Brent, meet Belvedere,’ Lily said, ‘probably the most dangerous fuck you’d ever have.’

He did not seem in the least offended; his smile broadened showing teeth which were too white, and the glow in his eyes flickered brighter. ‘Ah, Ceridwyn Brent,’ and her name on his lips was like someone stroking her softly down the spine, ‘I’ve heard so much about you. The Lady of the Black Pool grants you favours without price. Your name is heard in the halls of the Court and on the tongues of dragons. Goddesses owe you their freedom and the rumour is that Gloriandel Wintergreen has vowed to slay any Fae who harms you.’

‘We’re looking for a human, Belvedere,’ Lily said, saving Ceri from having to reply. ‘Terry Newton, goes by “Master Black.”’

The smile fell away from his eyes and he stood, picking up his drink. ‘You’ll have to excuse me for a few moments, ladies. I have business to discuss.’ Lily was already standing and Ceri tried her best to look just as smooth as she climbed to her feet. His trousers were as black as his shirt and apparently shrink-wrapped on showing a conspicuous bulge at the front. Black leather riding boots came up to his knees.

Turning on his heel, the Sidhe started off toward a darker region of the black-painted wall. Lily moved closer to Ceri as they followed. ‘When he sits down, sit in his lap. Don’t object to anything he does. Just let him do what he wants.’

‘I thought you said he was dangerous,’ Ceri said, the worry apparent in her voice.

‘He is,’ Lily replied. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe if the threat of Gloriandel Wintergreen doesn’t.’

‘Who the hell is that?’ Ceri’s nerves were not helped by them walking into another dark corridor. This one had rooms off it, each with a futon and a few chairs; several had couples openly having sex in them.

‘Never heard of her, but if he mentioned her then the threat must be real.’

Belvedere turned into one of the rooms on seeing it empty. ‘Not entirely private,’ he commented, ‘but no one will disturb us.’ He walked up to one of the armchairs, sprawling into it. Looking a little surprised, he brought his knees together as Ceri followed him and sat down balanced on his muscled thighs. Leaning back, she draped an arm around his neck and glanced at Lily. The half-succubus gave a subtle nod of approval as she settled onto a chair facing them, crossing her legs.

‘What do you want him for?’ the Sidhe asked flatly. He seemed all business even as his hand settled on Ceri’s thigh.

‘We want to lock him in a dark, dark hole,’ Lily replied. ‘Murder by demon.’

His hand slid to Ceri’s inner thigh and applied gentle pressure to part her legs; trusting her pet, Ceri did not resist, even as his other hand slipped around her waist, gently stroking over her lower stomach. ‘You’re working for the police, little Lily?’

‘Does it matter?’ Lily replied. ‘You know I’ll say nothing about your dealings.’

Ceri’s breast was cupped, fingers sliding across the sensitive skin. Her breathing quickened and the familiar butterflies began to flutter between her legs. ‘And what of Ceridwyn?’

‘She won’t say anything either,’ Lily told him. His hand slid up Ceri’s thigh, and she found herself horrified by her anticipation and desire for what would come. ‘Do you know where he is or not?’ Lily said.

His fingers slid under fabric, one set teasing at Ceri’s nipple, the other sliding over her labia. She let out a soft, whimpering moan; she could be seen by anyone walking past the room and Lily could see exactly what was happening. She could feel Lily’s arousal at the display, tempered only by her concentration on the task at hand. Ceri felt ashamed, mostly because she could not contain her desire to have this happen.

‘What do you have to offer?’ Belvedere asked, his smile returning.

‘Don’t fuck me about,’ Lily snapped. ‘You’re getting what you want right now.’ As if in response, Ceri gasped as two of his fingers entered her. ‘You don’t want Newton out there any more than we do either. He’s bad for business. We’re doing you a favour taking him out of the game.’

Ceri gasped as the Sidhe squeezed her nipple, moaned as his fingers slid out and then in again. She looked imploringly at Lily; how far was she going to let this go? His thumb flicked over her clitoris sending a shock through her body as though he had struck her.

‘I don’t know where he is,’ Belvedere said, ‘but I know who you need to talk to to find out.’ His hands drew away from Ceri, leaving her gasping, teetering on the edge. Reaching into a breast pocket he produced a business card which he slid into Ceri’s teddy over her breast. ‘Walton Pith,’ the Sidhe said. ‘I got him an invite to Bethany’s for tonight. You can catch him there.’

Lily stood, offering a hand to pull Ceri to her feet. ‘Thank you, Belvedere.’

The Sidhe’s hand slapped Ceri’s arse sending a shock through her lower body which almost tipped her over the edge. ‘Bought and paid for, my dear,’ he said. ‘Come back any time, Ceridwyn. I’ll be happy to finish what I started.’

Ceri said nothing as Lily led her from the room; she could barely breath, never mind speak.

Hammersmith

‘That wasn’t me,’ Ceri said as they climbed out of the taxi Lily had said was necessary to get them to where they were going.

‘Hmm?’ Lily asked as she paid the driver and followed Ceri out.

‘Back there, that just wasn’t me.’

‘No?’ Lily checked the traffic and then headed across the road, Ceri following after her. On the opposite side a flight of stone steps led down to a small wharf with a jetty extending into the river.

‘I wouldn’t… let someone do that to me. The music…’

‘It’s just a bit of encouragement,’ Lily said. ‘There’s no psychotropic effect, just a physical one tuned to resonate the clitoral tissue.’ She gave Ceri a little grin. ‘Tends to make you horny, like I said. That’s all.’

‘So you’re saying I’m turning into a whore?’

‘What makes you say that?’ Lily sounded concerned, slipping an arm around Ceri’s waist as they walked carefully down the steps and onto the decking.

‘I just let some stranger finger me for profit.’ Her voice dropped to a mumble. ‘I enjoyed it too.’

‘I know,’ Lily said, ‘I felt it. It was hot. God it was hot.’

‘Lily,’ Ceri whined, uncomfortably aware of the arousal still twisting inside her, ‘it’s not me. That’s not… what I am.’

‘Why?’ Lily asked. She stopped at the end of the jetty, apparently waiting for something though there was nothing visible on the river nearby. ‘What’s wrong with enjoying sex? Even kinky sex? I like sex. Does that mean there’s something wrong with me?’

‘No! But I’m not…’ She stopped. There was no way she could explain to Lily why it was different. She was a scientist; if there was no way she could explain it then she needed to re-analyse the data or come up with a different theory to explain the evidence.

‘It’s not like you’re standing on a street corner collecting cash from random men,’ Lily said. ‘You don’t have urges to do that, do you?’

‘No!’

‘So a little harmless exhibitionism turns you on. So what? You’re not hurting anyone, even yourself.’

‘Well… no…’

‘You’re sexy, confident enough to let yourself go, even let yourself be used. Do you feel less for what happened?’ Lily’s question was demanding, defiant.

‘Well, no, I…’

‘There are women who would quite literally give up their soul to have that man do that to them,’ Lily said. ‘They’d crawl over hot coals and beg on their knees to be fucked by him, and he wanted you.’ A slight tension in the half-demon’s spine Ceri had not noticed was there relaxed as a pattern of lights on the river began moving in their direction. ‘Do you understand the power that represents? You don’t do you? One of the most powerful Fae in the city, maybe the country, wants you. He was hoping to tease you into coming to him willingly.’

‘I’d never go to him,’ Ceri mumbled, not entirely believing herself.

‘That’s not the point,’ Lily snapped, almost angrily. ‘The point is that he thinks you might.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said. ‘But you’re the half-succubus. You’re the sexy seductress…’

‘Yeah, so I have to work at it,’ Lily replied. The boat was taking shape now, a dark shape with scattered lights marking it out, but it was at least visible as some form of river boat. ‘Power is sexy, Ceri. For those who can sense it, and that means a lot of supernaturals, you’re so hot they’ll burn themselves.’ She took a small step forward, readying herself as the boat grew closer. ‘I wish you’d understand how… how bright you shine, my Mistress.’ She looked around, her face serious, loving, adoring… ‘We’re going to need that card he gave you, love.’

The dark boat pulled up at the edge of the jetty. It was big, a large forward cabin which seemed to have no windows, a square bow which suggested a catamaran hull design, and a bridge mounted high up where people moved, lit only by instrument lights. Ceri saw men shifting across the rear deck, moving to put down a gangplank. ‘So what is Bethany’s?’ she whispered.

‘Oh,’ Lily said, stepping onto the plank, ‘it’s a brothel.’

Bethany’s, on the Thames, near Putney Bridge

If Bethany’s was a brothel, it was the highest class brothel Ceri had ever heard of. The place stank of money and sex, especially the former. Men in suits which probably cost more than Ceri’s monthly salary lounged around the cabin. The women entertaining them were a little more mixed; some in revealing dresses which likely cost more than the suits, some in lingerie. Ceri recognised some of the designs on that lingerie though, she could barely afford to buy a pair of knickers from the shop.

‘Not everyone here is a hooker,’ Ceri said, her voice low, as they stood at the small bar.

‘Women come for the thrill,’ Lily said. ‘Go out, get laid by three of four guys who pay for the privilege, go home to boring hubby. Bethany takes a bigger cut from the amateurs, everyone gets something out of it.’

‘So, the guys around here think we…’

‘Came here to get laid, yes.’

Oh fuck it. ‘After Belvedere I think I could use some.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ Lily said, a smile playing over her lips, ‘I want all that pent up frustration for me.’

‘There’s plenty of pent up frustration to go around. I could do three or four guys and have some to spare.’

‘Oh really?’ Lily’s smile was absolutely predatory.

‘Really,’ Ceri breathed. Stepping forward she pressed her body into Lily’s, feeling the mesh of the half-succubus’ dress pressed into her chest by those perfect breasts. Ceri’s mouth covered Lily’s, her tongue probing between hot lips. Pushing her thigh between Lily’s legs, she pressed it upward, grinding against Lily’s sex while she pressing her own against her lover’s hip. When she finally broke the kiss Lily was panting.

‘Okay,’ Lily said, ‘you… you’re really frustrated.’

‘Quite a show, ladies.’ Ceri turned her head slightly to see a man standing behind Lily. Average height, average looks, but his suit was Saville Row custom made and he had more gold jewellery than a pawn shop. ‘Walton Pith, can I persuade one of you to join me downstairs?’

‘We come as a pair,’ Ceri said. The guy they were looking for had just walked up and introduced himself. Out of all the men in the room, he had been the one to pick them.

‘No extra cost,’ Lily added, turning to favour their victim with a smile.

‘My lucky night,’ Pith said; Ceri was thinking it was theirs, except she did not really believe in luck. He held up a plastic card, the kind of coded key you got in hotels. ‘Already got a room.’

‘Lead on,’ Lily said, linking her arm into Ceri’s.

Pith smiled, showing slightly yellowing teeth, and turned, heading toward a flight of stairs in the bow. They followed him, down, around, and back toward the aft along a corridor. He stopped at the end, turning to grin meaningfully at the girls before swiping the card over a sensor beside the door. There was a click as the lock disengaged.

Lily gave a mock gasp. ‘The Platinum Suite?’

‘Only the best when you’re with me, sweets,’ Pith replied. He pushed open the door and led them in. It was certainly sumptuous; the bed was huge and strewn with plump pillows, there was a loveseat against one wall which looked to be antique. Ceri spotted steel rings at various locations in the ceiling, which probably went with the array of bondage gear and sex toys in a glass fronted cabinet.

The door clicked shut behind them, the lock engaging with a solid thunk. ‘It’s perfect,’ Ceri said, ‘I love bondage games.’

Pith turned, licking his lips. ‘Better and better. Who wants to be tied up first?’

Lily smiled and ramped her aura up to full power. ‘I pick you,’ she purred as he slumped to his knees, eyes rolling back in ecstasy.

When he regained his senses, Pith was hanging naked from suspension cuffs chained to the ceiling, his legs held apart by a spreader bar and cuffs. His toes barely touched the floor and there had to be a fair amount of strain on his arms. ‘What the fuck did you do to me?! Get me down from here, I don’t do this!’

‘You can shout all you like, Walton,’ Lily said. ‘I’ve been here before. Bethany’s rooms have the best soundproofing.’

‘What do you want?’ Straight to the point; that was admirable at least.

Ceri stood up from examining the contents of the toy cupboard. She was holding a thick, black handle with a purple probe sticking out of it. ‘Terry Newton,’ she said.

‘Who?’

‘We know you know where he is,’ Lily told him. ‘We want him. I’ve heard of you, Wally.’ He grimaced at the diminutive. ‘You have a reputation. Illegal porn, prostitution with a side-line in catering to addicting your whores and catering to violent clients.’ She glanced around at Ceri. ‘He likes young girls too. The cops almost nailed him for raping a thirteen year-old. Then the charges were dropped when the girl and her parents mysteriously vanished.’

‘Really,’ Ceri said, her expression turning dark. ‘Where’s Terry Newton?’

‘You can’t threaten me, bitch. I’m gonna enjoy what my boys and me’ll do to you before slittin’ your throats and dumping you in the river.’

Ceri placed the purple rod near Lily’s thigh and thumbed a control. There was a crackle and Lily’s leg jerked. ‘Oh wow,’ the half-succubus gasped.

‘That was setting one,’ Ceri said. She walked over to Pith and placed the wand against his bicep. There was another crackle, far more intense, and Pith jerked in his chains, screaming. ‘That was three,’ Ceri said, ‘and you scream like a girl.’

‘Bitch!’ Pith shrieked. ‘I’m gonna cut your heart out and eat it with…’ He cut off as the wand jabbed into his balls.

‘Would you like to try five?’ Ceri asked.

‘No!’

‘I really don’t like rapists,’ Ceri told him. ‘I really don’t like them. I’m liable to get over-enthusiastic if I start. Where’s Newton?’

‘I don’t know who…’ His voice cut off into a scream so loud that Lily covered her ears. It kept going even after Ceri had removed the wand, finally dying away as Pith hung in the cuffs, sweating and panting.

Ceri touched the tip of the purple rod against the tip of his penis. ‘Terry Newton, Master Black, where is he?’

‘L-leather Palace,’ Pith panted. ‘He… he uses it… for filming… Basement dungeon.’

Ceri fought the urge to fire the device one more time. Her grip tightened on it and Pith’s eyes widened in horror. Instead she tossed the wand onto the bed and reached out to grip Pith’s head in both hands. Power flared, filling the room with light, and Pith’s face went slack. He sagged completely in the cuffs, hanging from the chains like a puppet.

‘What did you do to him?’ Lily asked as the light died, her voice soft with awe.

‘The same as the Order did to you, wiped his memory. He won’t remember a thing.’

‘Nice,’ Lily said, grinning. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Nodding, Ceri made for the door. ‘We go to this Leather Palace place next?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said following Ceri. ‘Can we get one of those wands?’ she added as the door closed behind them.

Chiswick

It was not until they were off the boat and walking toward the river bank along Chiswick Pier that Ceri’s knees buckled and Lily had to catch her to stop her from falling.

‘God, Lily, what did I just do?’ Ceri’s voice was shaking as she struggled to control her nerves.

‘You got us the information we needed from a hardened criminal,’ Lily replied flatly.

‘I tortured that man. I tortured him. And then I wiped his memory to stop him coming after us.’

‘Yes. You did what you had to.’

Pulling herself more or less to her feet, Ceri looked into Lily’s eyes. ‘I’m not sure we should go after Newton,’ she said. ‘We know where he is, maybe we should call in the real cops.’

‘We don’t know he’s definitely there,’ Lily said, ‘and we certainly don’t know he’ll still be there by the time John and Kate can get a warrant.’

Ceri swallowed and looked uncertainly down at her hands. ‘You have to promise me. If I’m going too far, you have to stop me.’

‘I don’t think you…’

‘That’s an order,’ Ceri said, her voice carrying a hint of authority. ‘I don’t give you many, but this is one. Don’t let me go too far. You can do anything you need to to stop me.’

Lily’s eyes were wide. She said, ‘Yes, Mistress,’ in a hushed tone which stung. Then the look of worry on Ceri’s face made her add, ‘I promise, Ceri. As your friend, I’ll hold you back if needed, but I still don’t believe you’ll need it.’

Ceri gave a weak smile. ‘Thank you, love.’ Leaning forward, she gave Lily a soft kiss on the lips which lingered a little longer than intended because Ceri simply did not want it to end. ‘You’re the best pet any Mistress could ever have.’ Hesitantly, she straightened up. ‘So where’s this Leather Palace place?’

Lily grinned brightly, the tension of a few seconds earlier gone in an instant of lip contact and words. ‘We’ll need to grab another taxi,’ she said.

Shepherd’s Bush

The taxi pulled up in front of an old, apparently disused, church just north of Uxbridge Road. Lily handed cash over to the driver who seemed almost reluctant to let the two half-naked girls out of his cab.

‘Do you think John and Lorna know this place is less than a mile north of their house?’ Ceri asked as she looked up at the dark building.

‘Lorna strikes me as someone who would have dragged John over here if she knew.’

‘Maybe we shouldn’t mention it then.’

‘I’m going to agree there,’ Lily said, starting down the side of the stone building toward where, Ceri guessed, the entrance to the vestry had once been. Pausing beside the door, Lily knocked a couple of times and waited. Ceri’s eye caught a camera mounted high up on the wall, looking down at them. There were a couple of others arranged along the edge of the roof, looking out at the surrounding area; the place had fairly high security.

The door opened and a woman in an expensive, embroidered silk corset beckoned them inside. As soon as the door was closed the internal lights brightened and the woman gave them an appraising look. ‘Fifty per head door fee,’ she said, ‘and thirty per cent of any tips you make.’

Lily nodded, handing over a wad of notes. ‘I’ve been here before, a while back.’

‘Enjoy your stay,’ the woman said, indicating a door to their left. Lily opened it and they walked through into what had been the main floor of the church.

Ceri guessed it had been taller at one time, but the ceiling was still high. Heavy, dark wood beams supported a cream painted ceiling and the room still had original stone pillars at various points. Three of the six pillars had someone chained to them, two women and one man. Two of them were being flogged; an electrical device like the one Ceri had used on Pith was being employed to considerable effect on the last woman. Other people were tied across spanking benches, or chained to crosses. It was the dungeon in High Towers taken to the n-th degree.

‘This is the public floor,’ Lily said, her voice low. ‘Doms and subs meet up here and either act something out in public or head to one of the private rooms. There are four rooms upstairs decked out with bondage gear, and a white room.’

‘White room?’

Lily nodded. ‘For medical fetishes, forced enemas, that kind of thing.’ Ceri swallowed; she was not sure she really wanted to know. ‘We want the crypts though,’ Lily added, heading across the hall to a door on the other side.

At the bottom of the narrow, spiral staircase beyond the door, Ceri realised that the church was part iceberg. The crypts stretched out beyond the foundations of the visible building, and from the looks of it went deeper still as well. The place was a maze of similar, stone walled, dimly lit corridors.

‘Where do we look?’ Ceri asked. There was a hint of tightness in the back of her skull; somewhere nearby, someone was using magic.

‘Down,’ Lily said, looking around and then setting off down a corridor. She could feel the magic too. ‘We go down and we be careful, he’s doing something.’

They found another set of stairs, and more corridors. The tension in Ceri’s scalp was growing as they went, not because they were getting closer, she suspected, but because the magical field was growing in strength. Her Sight showed her arcs of thaumitons dancing across the walls. Her fists clenched as she began to suspect what Newton was up to.

They passed a couple heading back the way they had come. She was in a leather corset and thigh boots, he was naked aside from the dog collar and chain she was leading him by. With him behind her, she was letting her expression go; where Ceri expected haughty disdain, the woman looked scared. Ceri wondered whether she was a sensitive, or just more sensitive than her slave.

‘You see the way she was looking?’ Lily asked when they were past.

‘Uh-huh. I think he’s summoning his demon.’

‘Crap,’ Lily growled. ‘That thing was big. Maybe we do need the Special Tactics people.’

‘No time. If he’s summoning the demon then he probably…’

‘Has another victim.’ Lily’s pace increased and she turned right. Ahead of them was a heavy, iron door. She tried the handle. ‘Locked,’ she hissed. ‘Fuck!’

Ceri placed her hand over the keyhole. ‘Agor!’ There was a clunk from within the metal. ‘Now it’s not.’

Behind the door, another spiral staircase went down and they hurried into it, going down, and down. After several turns they walked out into a large, crypt-like room which looked very familiar. ‘The room in the movie,’ Lily whispered. They could hear sobbing and a sound like chanting almost drowned out by it.

Ceri’s eyes scanned the room, coming to a stop at the figure on a raised, stone platform which had likely been a tomb base at some point. ‘The man in the movie,’ she said. Her eyes narrowed. ‘This time he’s inside the circle.’

They moved slightly further in and the source of the crying appeared. She was pretty and blonde with big breasts. Unlike Julia, she had not been conditioned so she was chained to the floor via a metal collar. The chain was fairly long and she had backed away from Newton as far as it would allow her. It was not going to make any difference. ‘The loony’s going to summon it into the room,’ Ceri hissed.

Lily flinched, her face screwing up into a grimace. ‘He already has.’

In the centre of the room, perhaps six feet in the air, something began to ripple and writhe. Light sprang from nowhere, twisting and flickering, refracted by something which was not really there, but it was growing. ‘See if you can get the girl out of that collar,’ Ceri snapped. ‘I’ll try to take out the demon.’

Lily dashed across the floor toward the girl as Ceri began gathering her power and the air finally split open. Out of the gash in reality a demon stepped. Goat hooved, horned, and bat winged, it stood well over ten feet tall. It’s gaze swept the room, taking in the three women. It opened its jaws to reveal sharp, vicious teeth, and roared in pleasure.

‘Take what you will!’ Newton yelled from his podium. The demon ignored him; it planned to do that anyway. The choice was two or one, Lily and the blonde or Ceri. The enormous member between its legs began to stiffen as it selected its first choice and took a step toward Lily.

‘Demon, I bind thee,’ Ceri called out. The words were unnecessary, but she wanted its attention on her. ‘Let thine unclean flesh be gone from this realm.’ She heard a gurgle of rage from Newton and the monster turned, its blazing eyes turning toward Ceri. ‘Return to the realm you came from,’ Ceri continued and the ground shook as the demon started toward her. ‘Pass beyond the veil and…’

A fist the size of her head flew toward Ceri’s face and she ducked sideways, trying to maintain the pattern of the banishment. A hoof swung out, catching her in the ribs and tossing her across the room to slam into a wall. She heard Lily scream her name through the ringing in her ears, and just managed to duck as another hoof smacked into the stone where her head had been. She rolled, managing to get to her knees. As her head rose she saw Newton, his hand full of fire; was he that stupid?

He was. The ball of flame arced toward her and she barked out, ‘Aros!’ The fireball sparked as it struck her barrier and dropped to the floor exploding into a sphere of flame. Newton shrieked as his robe caught, but Ceri was more concerned with the demon. She dropped, rolling sideways, and gasped as a clawed hand swept over her. Her hand stretched upward toward the creature, letting loose a ball of raw energy. She heard a roar of pain and a shuddering footfall; the demon had stepped back.

Swinging around toward Newton, she saw another fireball forming in his hand, but she was faster. Her hand stretched out and he fell backward, the flames dying, as the bolt of energy smashed through his chest. There was a shriek from behind her and she turned. Another ripple of energy had formed behind the demon, growing to envelope it. It looked as though it were being dragged backward into the rift, even though it was not quite wide enough yet to let the creature through. There was a sound like ripping flesh, and then the demon and the rift were gone.

Ceri stood, blinking. The adrenaline was starting to drain from her body. ‘Lily?’ she said.

‘I’m here,’ Lily said from right beside her.

‘You’d better call the police.’

‘Sure… What are you going to do?’

Pain seared through Ceri’s side as the broken ribs made themselves known. ‘I’m… I’m going to feint,’ Ceri said just before everything went black.

Part Six: A Portrait of Revenge

Kennington, London, August 30th, 2011

‘I’m under orders to rest,’ Ceri said, ‘not skulk in the lounge eating soup or something.’

Twill hovered over her like an angry wasp as she lay on the lounger, in the sun. ‘If you stay out here,’ the fairy said, ‘Lily will have to rub oil onto your back and then there will be very little resting.’

‘Nuh-huh, Twill,’ Lily said from the other lounger. ‘I saw what that thing did to her last night. She may have fixed the bones, but I’m not touching her, that way, until at least tonight.’

‘You see that you don’t,’ Twill admonished, though she looked as though some of her anger was dissipating; Lily was being sensible, that had shock value. There were also fewer people around for her to worry over. Carter, Cheryl, and Alec had decided that the party was over with the demise of Newton and had gone back to their own homes. That left Tawni and Lia, and her normal charges.

‘Twill,’ Ceri said, remembering something, ‘have you ever heard of a fae named Gloriandel Wintergreen?’

Twill’s face lost its anger entirely, turning instead to a serious, almost sad expression. She drifted down, settling herself cross-legged on the peak of Ceri’s breast. ‘Not in a long time,’ she said.

‘Who is she, or was she?’

‘The Wintergreens are a powerful family in the Seelie Court,’ Twill replied. ‘Highly political, their reach stretches very wide and they’ve been known to use some… quite extreme tactics to maintain their power. It’s said that angering them is the last thing you’ll ever do. You haven’t, have you?’

‘Belvedere said that Gloriandel Wintergreen had given Ceri her protection,’ Lily said.

‘Belvedere?’ Twill almost spat the name. ‘You went talking to that son-of-a-goblin?’

‘He’s got his fingers in just about every underworld porn and prostitution racket going, Twill,’ Lily replied. ‘I knew he’d have a lead on Newton.’

‘What did you give him for the information?’ Twill asked tightly.

‘Five minutes with his hands on me,’ Ceri replied. ‘He seemed very interested in me.’

‘That isn’t a good thing, Ceri,’ Twill stated.

‘Yeah, I figured that out for myself. But I don’t think he’d harm me. I got the feeling he took this threat of Gloriandel’s seriously.’

The tiny woman shrugged slightly. ‘Gloriandel Wintergreen ran from Court over a century ago and no one has seen or heard from her since, though the rumours persist that she’s still alive.’

‘Someone’s heard from her,’ Lily said, ‘if she’s giving out warnings.’

‘Perhaps,’ Twill said. Her head turned in the direction of the front gate. ‘Two human men and a woman, a witch.’

‘Damn,’ Ceri said, ‘I was hoping they’d wait longer. Time to get dressed, Lil. The Greycoats are here.’

Lily was distinctly grumpy about having to come down from the roof and the dress she put on was very tight and somewhat translucent. Chief Inspector Barry looked just as grumpy when he saw her, but he was visiting their house. Ceri’s excuse for wearing just an over-sized shirt was that she was recuperating. Kate’s smirk at the discomfort of both her superiors made it even harder to take the whole thing seriously.

‘Did you really have to kill him?’ Barry asked, his voice an annoyed grumble.

‘He didn’t give me a lot of choice,’ Ceri replied.

‘Calling for tactical backup would have been a better idea,’ John suggested.

‘And then you’d have a dead blonde on your hands,’ Lily said, ‘assuming you found the body.’ Barry grunted, nodding slightly. ‘How is she?’ Lily asked.

‘Who is she?’ Ceri added.

‘Millicent Hargreaves,’ John said. ‘She’s in hospital, but it’s largely psychological damage. He picked her up near King’s Cross with a promise of five grand if she’d do whatever he wanted.’

‘She barely looked old enough to be out on her own,’ Ceri said.

‘Sixteen,’ John said, sounding disgusted.

‘It’s an old story,’ Barry commented. ‘Ran away from home in Leeds looking for a career in the Big City. Ended up whoring herself out on a street corner when she couldn’t get a job.’

‘That’s been happening since London was a couple of scruffy buildings on the Thames,’ Lily said. ‘Come to the bright lights of London to make your fortune, end up on your back just to stay in food. At least she hadn’t started on the drugs.’ Ceri glanced at her pet; Lily was speaking from far too much experience.

‘What’s your opinion on this ghost?’ Barry asked. ‘Will she stop now the man who killed her is dead?’

‘Hopefully,’ Ceri replied, ‘but honestly I’m not sure. Theoretically she should. Her focus has gone. That would be enough to lay a normal ghost to rest, but she was something… well, something else. There was something odd about her.’

‘So we’re hoping, but not sure?’ John said, an eyebrow raised.

Ceri nodded. ‘That about covers it.’

‘Oh,’ Kate spoke up suddenly, breaking the silence that followed, ‘one of the guys from Cardiff asked if you’d call. Detective… Croft?’

Ceri nodded and then looked to Barry. ‘That okay?’ she asked.

‘The Metropolitan Police Force is always happy to assist its sister forces,’ Barry replied. ‘Don’t forget to get your expenses in by tomorrow.’

Lily giggled. ‘What do we put brothel cover charges down as?’

Without even skipping a beat, Barry replied with, ‘Miscellaneous costs. I’ll sign it off.’ He shrugged slightly at the surprised looks he got from the two civilians. ‘That would be comparatively normal compared to some of the things I have to sign off on.’

Ceri, for one, really did not want to know.

~~~

Tawni closed her mobile phone and sighed. ‘I’m screwed,’ she said. ‘I’m short a major scene, I can’t use the stuff with Monty or Chrissy, and I’m supposed to be going to editing next week.’

‘You can’t get someone in to do some more shooting?’ Ceri asked from her lounger. ‘Cruise didn’t strike me as the kind of guy to miss the opportunity for sex. Lia’s still here.’ She looked down at Lia’s back; she was stretched out on a towel since there were only three loungers. Ceri’s eyebrows twitched slightly; the girl had a nice arse.

‘Cruise won’t do a damn thing unless he gets paid extra,’ Tawni said and sighed again. ‘And I can’t ask Lia to put in the extra time without pay. I wouldn’t do that to her.’ Lia turned her head, as though just shifting her weight to the other cheek. ‘We have some insurance at least,’ Tawni went on, ‘the other investors will get their money back.’

‘But you’ll be out of pocket?’ Ceri asked.

‘I’ll be back to square one.’

‘I can’t believe I’m going to say this,’ Lily said. ‘Have you still got access to the cameras and sound gear?’ Ceri’s eyes lifted from Lia’s behind as they widened and turned toward Lily.

‘Uh, yeah, until Friday,’ Tawni said.

Lily gave a sigh which came close to matching the ones Tawni had been heaving. ‘We film in the dungeon,’ the half-succubus said. ‘Fix the cameras, no script, we’ll just wing it. A bit of submissive, lesbian sex in a dungeon. Lia, you in?’

The Dutch girl’s head lifted. ‘I get to have sex with a succubus? Hell yes!’

‘Half-succubus,’ Lily reminded her, ‘but I’m told the effect is the same.’

‘You’d do that?!’ Tawni asked. She sounded surprised and incredibly relieved. ‘You wanted out. You got out. I can’t ask you to…’

‘No, you can’t,’ Lily said, ‘but I can offer. And I won’t be doing what I wanted to get out of. I’ll be having sex with some friends in front of a camera.’

Tawni was frowning. ‘I’m not buying it. It’s good, but it’s missing something. We need a dominatrix.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Lily said, ‘I know one we could probably get to do it.’

‘You do?’

‘Yeah. She might take a bit of persuasion, but if we give her a mask she should be okay with it.’

Ceri was frowning; Lily had never mentioned knowing another Dom, but then, until recently, Ceri had not known much about Lily’s earlier life. ‘Why would a Dom need a mask for that?’ Ceri asked.

‘She’s a little timid,’ Lily replied. ‘Has to get into character to pull it off, but once she gets going she’s great. I think to do it on camera she’d need the anonymity, but I’m sure she’d be willing. To help out an old friend, y’know?’

‘Who is she? Do I know her?’ Ceri asked. Lily looked at her, a faint smile on her lips. ‘Lil?’ The half-succubus’ lips quirked a little, but she said nothing. Ceri’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no…’

‘You’ll wear a mask,’ Lily said calmly. ‘No one will know it’s you.’

‘I can’t…’

‘You won’t have to actually do anything,’ Lily continued, ignoring Ceri’s protests, ‘just stand around looking menacing while your slaves entertain you.’ She glanced at Tawni. ‘We’ll need collars.’

‘Lil,’ Ceri tried again, ‘I really don’t think I can do that knowing it’s going to be seen by… other people.’

Lily looked at her, her beautiful face quite serious now. ‘You can, love. You’ve faced demons and ancient Sidhe, and you’ve risked your life to save just about everyone. This is nothing. This is easy.’

Ceri looked back at her pet, felt the confidence Lily had in her through the link. She turned to Tawni. ‘How fast can you get that equipment here? If I have time to think about this I’ll freak.’

Tawni squeaked with joy and grabbed her phone. ‘This is going to be so much fun!’ she said as she dialled.

Lily grinned and rose from her lounger. ‘Come on, love,’ she said to Ceri, ‘we need to get you dressed up and psyched up.’

Psyched up… Ceri climbed to her feet feeling mildly bewildered. Yes, she was certainly going to need some psyching up.

August 31st

Ceri fell onto the bed, still tightly laced into her corset and wearing her high-heeled thigh boots. She felt exhausted, but Lily cuddling up beside her still felt good. Her hand curled around Lily, reaching up to stroke the back of her neck, and finding the thick, leather collar with its four D-rings still in place.

‘I can’t believe I did that,’ Ceri said.

‘What? Enjoyed yourself?’

Ceri giggled. ‘You’re right, I did.’

Lily giggled in turn. ‘So did I. If I have to remember being in a porn movie, I’d rather that was the memory.’

Ceri was silent for a few seconds. ‘Those places we went to, that was your life before… well, before?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said, her voice quiet. ‘It wasn’t all bad. Some of it was, but not all of it.’

Ceri was silent again and when she spoke she sounded a little embarrassed. ‘I… well… I enjoyed some of it.’ Lily chuckled softly. ‘I guess if it’s something you don’t have to do…’

She felt Lily nod against her shoulder. ‘I spent so much time hating what I was becoming that I forgot I enjoyed it sometimes… and I was really good at it.’ Her head moved again and this time her lips touched Ceri’s throat softly. ‘You’re good at it too.’ Another soft kiss. ‘Maybe we should get me a proper pet collar. With a padlock. I’d like that.’

‘I, um, did enjoy making you go down on me,’ Ceri admitted. ‘I know I wasn’t supposed to actually do anything, but…’

‘Of course you were,’ Lily said, her voice suggesting it was obvious.

‘But you said…’

‘If I’d told you you were expected to really take part you’d have said no, but I knew you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself.’

‘You sneaky succubus!’

Giggling, Lily leaned forward and kissed Ceri’s throat again. ‘What can pet do to make it up to her gorgeous Mistress?’

Ceri slipped a finger through the ring at the back of Lily’s collar and used it to guide her downward. ‘I swear you’ll be the death of me one day, pet. But at least I’ll go out smiling.’

~~~

‘Detective Croft please,’ Ceri said into the phone. ‘It’s Ceridwyn Brent.’

There was a short pause while the line was reconnected and then the familiar English voice. ‘Ceri? Thanks for calling.’

‘Well, I’m always happy to help,’ Ceri replied. ‘We got Newton, you shouldn’t have any more mysterious car accidents.’

‘Great,’ Croft replied, ‘but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you. We’ve hit another wall on this Oblivion business. All we could get from the dealer was that he thought they were making the stuff at a farm somewhere. All the supplying was done by dead drop. We’re stuck.’

Ceri frowned. ‘And you think I can help somehow? Oh! Maybe I can… You said a farm?’

‘Uh-huh. Do you know how many farms and disused farmhouses there are out here?’

‘I can guess. Look, I’ll make some calls.’

Croft sounded relieved. ‘Thanks. I’ll owe you one.’

Hanging up, Ceri dialled another number and waited for an answer. ‘Rhys? I hope I didn’t get you out of bed, it’s Ceri…’

Battersea

Alexandra raised her head, frowning. ‘There’s something coming.’ She turned slightly. ‘From the river.’

Ceri lifted her muzzle and sniffed. She could make out wolf-scent, humans, the river itself, but nothing out of the ordinary. The other wolves around the clearing were also sniffing and seemed to be getting nothing either. Ceri looked at the old woman, her brows creasing.

‘A woman,’ Alexandra said. ‘Angry… a spirit of some sort.’

Reaching for her throat, Ceri growled as she invoked her collar to turn her back to human. ‘This is mine to deal with. You need to protect the pack.’

‘You are part of the pack, Ceridwyn,’ Alexandra reminded her.

‘She’s dangerous,’ Ceri replied. ‘She’s already killed three werewolves. Put a barrier up around the clearing and leave her to me. Please.’

Alexandra nodded. ‘Very well.’

Ceri glanced at Michael as she started toward the other clearing. ‘You’re staying here too, love. There’s nothing you can do to her.’ He looked distinctly displeased, but he stayed put as she headed for the trees. Behind her she felt the barrier begin to form; Alexandra would draw on the power of the pack to help her, Julia would not get to them.

Her Sight showed her the spirit moving across the water of the lake before Julia made herself visible. Ceri came to a stop in the middle of the clearing, her nerves on a knife edge and her power already built and ready to react. She could feel Lily becoming concerned, but pushed that aside; she needed all her wits about her.

‘You destroyed the one who killed me,’ Julia’s said, her voice harsh.

‘Yes,’ Ceri said. ‘He was going to feed someone else to the same demon. And me for that matter.’

‘You took away my chance for retribution.’ The ghost reached out a hand and suddenly it was as though something had gripped Ceri’s skull in a vice. Ceri let out a cry of pain and reacted; energy flared in her hand and shot toward Julia. It passed clean through; the bitch was not solid enough to hit! ‘Your life is forfeit. My vengeance will not be denied.’ Something which felt like an iron band clamped around Ceri’s chest. She gasped as the tension on her neck started to increase. She figured she had seconds before her neck dislocated and her spinal cord snapped.

Reaching out, she summoned all the power she could mass and poured it into Julia’s body. For a second, as she felt the muscles in her neck fighting to remain attached to her bones, she thought she was done for. Then Julia’s body solidified and she fell into the lake. Her grip on Ceri went with the sudden emersion. Struggling to remain on her feet, Ceri was still ready when Julia’s head broke above the water; the second thaumic bolt hit the solidified ghost squarely in the face.

Ceri dropped to her knees, wincing at the jarring her neck took. She was fairly sure Alexandra would be out soon and then her Alpha could heal her torn muscles. The problem was that Ceri was fairly sure that she had once again stopped Julia for now. Out on the lake she could see energy flowing, winding upward into the night sky and flowing back to the ghost’s focus location. She would be back.

‘I’m going to have to put you to rest, Julia,’ Ceri said to the last wisps of thaumitons fleeing from the lake. ‘Somehow.’

Shepherd’s Bush, September 1st

Kate looked a little uncomfortable standing outside the old church which had, until recently, been home to the Leather Palace. ‘I’m not best pleased to be back here,’ she said as Ceri and Lily walked up from the road. ‘The place makes me uneasy. I get the feeling Julia was hardly the first girl he’s supplied to that demon.’

Ceri nodded. ‘I think you’re right, but I’m still hoping I can get a feel for her here.’

‘John’s already down there,’ Kate said. ‘He doesn’t think the place is creepy. First time I’ve ever felt like being normal would be a good idea.’

‘Do you think they’ll let this place re-open?’ Lily asked as they walked through the main hall to the crypts.

‘Depends on whether they can get enough evidence together to prosecute,’ Kate said. ‘There are no license violations, the business pays its taxes as far as we can tell, everyone coming here does it voluntarily… well aside from the ones Newton was taking downstairs. If we can’t prove they knew what Newton was doing, they’ll likely get off with a warning about screening their clients better.’ She paused half way down the stairs. ‘Though Health and Safety might come down on them like a ton of bricks.’

They stepped under police tape to get into the chamber where Newton had done his summoning and found John standing looking at the carved summoning circle in the floor. He looked up as he heard their footsteps on the stone. ‘So she’s not gone, and she seems to think you deserve to die for killing her killer?’ he said.

‘Yeah,’ Ceri replied, ‘that’s about the size of it.’

‘Suddenly I’m happier that you didn’t call in backup,’ John said.

Ceri gave him a wry grin. ‘I never thought you were a glass-half-full kind of guy.’

John raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? I stayed married to a woman who got turned into a vampire.’ He had a point. ‘What are you hoping to do?’

‘Well, it’s sort of psychometry,’ Ceri said. ‘Julia’s death was… violent…’

‘That’s something of an understatement,’ John commented.

‘It should have left an impression here,’ Ceri went on, ignoring him, ‘and I’m hoping that I can use that to track down where her body is. Then we can lay her to rest.’

Kate was frowning. ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’

‘I tried to argue her out of it,’ Lily said.

‘Why?’ John said, looking confused.

Ceri settled herself into the middle of the circle, lying down. ‘I’m going to tap into some rather raw, emotional events. I’m hoping I won’t be experiencing them too directly.’

‘She died,’ John said.

‘I know, John.’

‘I saw the film,’ he added, the alarm becoming more apparent. ‘You saw the film. You want to go through that?’

‘No,’ Ceri said. ‘Could you and Kate wait outside? I’m attuned to Lily, but you two will interfere.’

John looked irritated, but he followed Kate out of the room while Lily sat down beside Ceri, cross-legged, and took her mistress’ hand. ‘This is going to hurt, isn’t it?’ Lily said.

‘I hope not,’ Ceri replied softly. ‘You ready?’

‘Hold on,’ Lily said. Rummaging in her bag she pulled out two of Twill’s wooden spoons, placing one between Ceri’s teeth. ‘Just in case,’ she said, and gripped the second one in her own mouth. She nodded and Ceri closed her eyes.

It would be much faster than her attempt to get information on Brenin’s skull at Stonehenge. She was delving back no more than a year, probably only a few months, rather than the millennia she had gone back then. As she allowed her mind to sink into the stone beneath her back she reflected on the other part of the spell; closer to the events, there would be more detail. Ceri opened her mind, tentatively, hesitantly, and at first there was nothing aside from the cold stone. Then…

The pain was indescribable, but her mind refused to leave it at that and tried to come up with a way of classifying it. Lily’s hand tightened violently around her own as the sensation of being almost split in two flooded over their link. This was the reason Ceri had wanted the detectives out of the room; the connection between the couple would have been far too obvious. Lily was making tiny mewling noises, but Ceri could barely hear them over the roaring in her ears.

Ceri managed to narrow her focus, pulling inward toward Julia’s assault. The pain fell away in sudden jumps as the demon’s victims were isolated, but even closing in on only one and sharing the agony across both of them, Ceri could barely think. It was not simply the pain; narrowing in on Julia let them get a sense of the whole experience. They had seen it on a screen, but this was far more direct. Now they could feel it, as though they were there. There was the initial feeling of numb subservience and then the absolute, overwhelming terror took over. Trapped, weak, paralysed by fear, Julia had done nothing to defend herself as the demon violated her in every way possible. The pain had not stopped as it threw her aside, a broken doll which lay on the stone still alive but slowly dying of internal injuries. Bleeding…

Ceri sat up, clutching convulsively at Lily, and they clung to each other for what seemed like hours, not exactly crying because it hurt too much for tears. ‘Julia was right about one thing,’ Ceri whispered. ‘He died far too easy.’

‘Did it work?’ Lily asked. ‘Do you think you can find her?’

Ceri nodded against Lily’s shoulder. ‘I think the pain is the focus. I can follow her pain.’ Taking a shuddering breath, she sat up, leaning away from her pet and favouring her with a weak smile. ‘Thanks, love. If I’d tried that alone I think my mind would’ve caved in.’ Lily just smiled; like there was any way she would let Ceri go through that alone. Yeah, right.

River Thames, Chiswick

They had ended up calling in the River Police to get them over to the island in the Thames known as the Chiswick Eyot. ‘It’s possible to walk over at low tide,’ the pilot had said as he guided the boat across from the bank. ‘The channel on the north side is only passable by small craft at high tide.’

Dropped off at the northern point of the island, Ceri walked down through the scrub to the southern end before stopping, looking down at the shallow water. ‘She washed up here.’ Kate and John looked around, seeing nothing. ‘He threw her in upriver,’ Ceri added, ‘and she was washed down and landed on the beach there at high tide.’ Walking down to the water’s edge, Ceri squatted down, placing her hand on the pebbles. Closing her eyes and searching for the traces of Julia’s passing.

‘There’s nothing here now,’ John said, sounding impatient.

‘She lay here for… several hours. The second low tide after she washed up. Then someone came to collect her.’

‘Who?’ Kate asked.

Ceri shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’m tracking her.’

‘All right,’ John said, ‘where to now?’

Straightening up, Ceri turned and then pointed, roughly south-west. ‘That way. A long way that way. Outside London.’

‘We’d better get back to the car,’ John said and Ceri winced; she was not going to enjoy this.

London Road, near Camberley, Surrey

Going down the M3 at motorway speeds, they had gone past junction three before Ceri realised that the place they were going to was rapidly becoming well off to their right. Getting off at junction four, they had backtracked past Camberley and the gates of the Sandhurst Academy and continued on at a slower pace up London Road toward Bagshot. This was rich people country, certainly the land of people with money. Trees lined the road and there was the occasional sighting of a large house, mostly hidden by the woods.

‘There!’ Ceri said suddenly. ‘Take that lane.’

John snapped the indicator on and dodged left into a small road leading through the trees. ‘Are you sure about this?’ Kate asked.

‘Yes,’ Ceri replied. ‘Up ahead. Maybe three or four hundred yards. Why?’

‘This road leads to Alexander Holloway’s house.’

‘Julia’s father?’ Lily asked. ‘I thought he’d cracked up.’

‘He did,’ Kate replied. ‘When I visited I spent most of my time talking to his nurse. He just sat in a big chair and stared at the fire.’

‘I don’t think we can go in and accuse an incapacitated man who’s just lost his daughter of bringing her back as an avenging spirit,’ John said, ‘especially when he’s a normal.’

‘I’m not accusing anyone of anything,’ Ceri said. ‘All I’m saying is that the trail leads here.’

John grunted his displeasure, but pulled the car up in front of the large house at the end of what Ceri guessed was actually a drive. The house looked… haunted. Not the way High Towers looked haunted because an illusion gave it old broken windows with cobwebs in. This house just felt like it had seen too much tragedy. There were ghosts behind the windows, as well as thick curtains which were drawn closed in the middle of the afternoon.

The front door opened as they approached and a small, matronly woman who looked like she could lift a car appeared. She watched them walking up the steps to the large portico and her eyes fell on Kate. ‘Detective Middleshaw? You’re back. Is there news?’

Kate nodded at the woman. ‘Mrs Broome, this is my partner, Detective Inspector Radcliffe. And Ceridwyn Brent and Lily Carpenter. They’re Special Advisors with the Met.’

‘I… see,’ Mrs Broome said, her voice carrying a hint of uncertainty. ‘Well, I suppose you’d better come in.’

‘We just dropped by in the hope of seeing Mister Holloway,’ Ceri said. Her Sight was showing her that the nurse was about as magical as a lump of lead. The house had no wards at all, suggesting that no one inside it had ever had any supernatural abilities. ‘There’s a chance that I may be able to at least find his daughter’s body.’

The reaction was immediate and hopeful. ‘Oh could you? I think that might really help put his mind at rest.’ If she knew about the body Ceri was fairly sure was in the cellar, she was a good actress. ‘How would you do that?’

‘Law of Sympathy,’ Ceri said. ‘I can take an impression of him and use the similarity to find her. Does the house have a cellar?’

Mrs Broome blinked at the sudden change of subject. ‘No. Why?’

Ceri smiled. ‘It’s a thaumatology thing. Getting an idea of the size of the building.’

They were led into a dark room at the front of the house. It had a large fireplace, lit even though the weather outside was warm. Ceri shivered; there was a chill in the air, or perhaps something else. Her sight showed her the odd, faint field of magic around the huge painting mounted over the mantelpiece; a classical painting showing a Grecian woman with wide, black wings mounted on her back. The field seemed to have no real focus or purpose, it just was. Possibly it was just the result of age and people looking at it; there were examples of artefacts absorbing energy from those around them and the painting looked old.

Alexander Holloway sat in a wing-backed, leather chair in front of the fire. His legs were wrapped in a blanket and he looked like he was wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown. He was probably less than fifty, but he had the look of someone much, much older. Stepping up to him, Ceri knew she was going to get nothing of use from him; Alexander Holloway was not there. Between the three median nodes in his head there should have been a filmy, white field of energy, his spirit. There was nothing there, no matter how close she looked, she could see nothing. His soul seemed to be intact, but his spirit and mind were gone.

She frowned. She had almost missed it, but there it was. There were thin, almost imperceptible strands of grey around Holloway’s Chakral Median. Like Newton these did not originate at Muladhara, but these ones spread from Ajna, where the missing spirit should have attached to the back of his head.

Ceri straightened up and smiled at Mrs Broome. ‘Thank you, ma’am, I’ve got all I need for now.’ She saw John’s raised eyebrow, but he said nothing and she ignored him as she headed for the front door.

John waited until they were driving back down the drive before speaking. ‘You didn’t ask him anything?’

‘There was no point,’ Ceri replied. ‘He wasn’t home.’

Kennington

‘Did you see that painting over the fire?’ Lily asked. She had been quiet most of the way back to High Towers and had been sitting in silence on the chaise longe. Ceri could tell she was not upset or anything; the first thing she had done on getting home was stripping off her clothes with a sigh.

Ceri lifted the book she was reading and showed Lily the woodcut which took up the entire verso page. ‘I saw it,’ she said. The woodcut was of a figure which looked kind of like an angel, winged and female as you often saw in art, but the shading suggested black wings and the face carried a horrifying grimace.

‘A really mean angel?’ Lily suggested.

‘It’s an Erinyes,’ Ceri explained. ‘They were the Greek goddesses of vengeance. Some say they were born from the blood of Uranus after his son Cronus castrated him and cast his genitals into the ocean.’ Lily grimaced slightly and Ceri added, ‘The Greeks always seemed to love their gruesome myths. The other legend says they were the children of Nyx, the goddess of the Night.’

‘So, Holloway has a painting of one of these Erinyes hanging over his fireplace, and his daughter comes back from the dead seeking vengeance?’ Lily summed up Ceri’s thinking quite well. ‘The coincidence seems excessively large. Especially since that painting was magical.’

‘Really low level though,’ Ceri said. ‘Stronger than your sensory field but still pretty weak.’

Lily shrugged. ‘The effect my father had on me was imperceptible and look what that did. Is there anything else in there about these things?’

Ceri looked back down at the book. ‘Cthonic deities of vengeance… known to the Romans as the Furies… Um, their numbers are unknown, but Virgil said there were three, Alecto, Magaera, and Tisiphone. Supposedly Tisiphone punished those responsible for murder.’

‘Tisiphone?’ Lily asked. ‘Like Tis-I-phone?’ Ceri nodded. ‘That was the name of the painting,’ Lily told her. ‘It was on a little plaque at the bottom, “Tisiphone by Hadrian de la Vasco.”’

Ceri frowned. ‘I feel like I should know that name.’

‘He was a painter, obviously,’ Twill said from just behind Ceri’s ear. Both full-sized women jumped.

‘Twill!’ Ceri shrieked. ‘I nearly had a heart attack!’

The fairy made a “humph!” noise and said, ‘Well if you don’t want my help…’

‘I do,’ Ceri said, ‘just not so suddenly and right behind my ear.’

Wind chimes drifted through the air as Twill laughed. ‘Perhaps I was a little abrupt. De la Vasco was a little known member of the Pre-Raphaelites, or one of those associated with them. Born in Italy, worked in London from about eighteen-fifty, but his best work was in the year before he died in eighteen fifty-eight. He came upon a new love, a muse. He claimed her influence drove him to levels none other could, and he may have been right considering that the five paintings he did in that year are very highly sought.’

Lily frowned. ‘How do you know this, Twill?’

The fairy smiled. ‘His muse was a Leannan Sidhe, well, a half-blood. Some of them could survive in the magical field before the Shattering. He bought his talent with his life. Classic tale told at Court.’ She waved a hand at the woodcut in Ceri’s book. ‘He tended to be big on Classical period Greek subjects, if I remember correctly and it’s likely that some of the Sidhe’s magic rubbed off in his work, even though it would have been largely inactive back then.’

‘I don’t suppose you know where we could find any of those five pictures?’ Ceri asked.

‘No,’ Twill replied, grinning, ‘but isn’t that what that “interminable net” thing is for?’

Ceri winced; not at Twill’s abuse of the word “Internet,” but at the fact the fairy had to remind her about it.

South Kensington, September 2nd

‘That’s it?’ Lily asked. The painting they had found was hardly the eight-foot canvas Holloway owned. This one was barely two feet in height and a little over a foot wide, a simple portrait of a woman with blonde hair wound into an elaborate bun.

‘She’s beautiful though,’ Ceri said. She was, almost in the same way that Lily was. High cheekbones and a small chin, large, dark eyes and highly arched eyebrows. ‘Of course, there’s no way to know if he caught her image, or his perception of her image.’

‘It’s magical, like the other one.’

‘Yes, but the field is stronger, and more complex,’

Lily frowned. ‘That seems, uh, counterintuitive.’

Ceri giggled. ‘You’ve spent far too much time around people with big vocabularies.’

‘It pays to improve your word power. So what do you think this field actually does? I figure they all have one.’

‘Well…’ Ceri was watching the portrait’s eyes. Eyes so black, so deep, they were bottomless. She felt drawn to them. ‘I think…’ She pushed forward, adding her own energy to the energy of the field.

‘Ceri?’ Lily said softly. ‘What are you… oh!’

Elsewhere

Ceri opened her eyes and then closed them again. The light was wrong. She swallowed and tried again. It was like looking at bright light through a haze of dust. The sunlight was brighter than it should have been, whiter, yet somehow golden. She sat up.

Lily was at her side, her eyes still closed. That was both good and bad; at least they were both wherever the Hell they were. It seemed like a Victorian conservatory. There was glass on three sides, and in a dome overhead, and one whitewashed brick wall with a door in it. The furniture was rattan with flowery cushions on top. It looked… It looked like a painting of a room.

Reaching out her hand, she touched Lily’s arm. ‘I’m awake,’ the half-demon said, ‘I just don’t like the light. Where are we?’

‘I think… I think we’re inside the painting…’

‘It’s a little like that.’ The voice came from the doorway and the speaker was a tall, attractive blonde. Ceri recognised her immediately. ‘You are in a fragment of Otherworld. A bubble, if you will, only accessible through the painting. I must say I’m impressed. You’re the first visitors I’ve had in twenty years.’

‘You’re Sylvia then?’ Lily said. She too was sitting up now. ‘The portrait was titled “Sylvia.”’

The woman nodded. ‘It was the first painting Hadrian made after I met him.’ She smiled, her black eyes going distant in remembered pleasure. ‘I lay in that chaise, naked in the sunlight. I felt like a goddess.’ Now she was dressed in a long, pale skirt and a delicate white blouse. From the line of her waist she had to be corseted. ‘We were so in love and his work blossomed when we met…’ Her face fell. ‘I did not know what I was then. He died a year later, just after finishing “Tisiphone.” I wept over his coffin, and then I retreated into my painting.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Ceri said.

Sylvia looked at her and smiled. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘you are. Thank you. But neither of you are strangers to living in two worlds, are you? A half-demon and a sorceress. Fascinating.’

Ceri frowned. ‘How do you know?’

‘This is my world, Ceridwyn Brent,’ Sylvia said. ‘I know everything in it.’ She gasped. ‘Where are my manners, get yourselves up off the floor and I’ll make some tea.’ She turned back into the house.

‘Do you need a hand?’ Lily asked as she climbed to her feet.

‘Oh no, Lily. If you leave this room you’ll never find your way back. You just sit down and I’ll be back shortly.’

Lily turned and glanced at Ceri. Ceri shrugged and they sat together on the chaise longe Sylvia had lain on to be painted. ‘It’s like a sort of…’ Lily began.

‘Dream?’ Sylvia asked, walking back through the door with a tray of tea and biscuits. ‘In a way it is. You’ve never been to Otherworld, I take it?’ They both shook their heads. ‘It’s something of a dynamic place,’ Sylvia told them as she began pouring the tea. ‘Its nature in any particular domain depends upon the ruler of that domain. This is my domain, it appears as I wish it.’ She put down the tea pot and smiled. ‘Now, I’m sure you did not really come here to visit a poor old half-fae imprisoned in her memories.’

Ceri picked up her cup. The tea smelled like tea; exactly like what you would imagine tea should smell like. ‘You mentioned one of Hadrian’s paintings, the one of Tisiphone.’

The light in the room seemed to dim, as though clouds were passing over the sun. ‘His last work. So much of him went into it, you see. He knew he was dying though he tried to keep it from me. By then I knew it was my love for him which was killing him. I think he did too, but he never stopped loving me. That’s the curse, you see.’

‘Curse?’ Lily asked.

‘Leannan Sidhe love absolutely,’ Ceri said. ‘If their love is unrequited they become the slave of their lover. If their love is returned, they inspire him to new heights, but the intensity of it eventually kills him.’

Sylvia nodded and more cloud covered the sun. ‘I think some of the spirit of Tisiphone went into that painting. Some part of him sought revenge on the world for his fate and that drew the Fury to him. It is sad that his final work should be so tainted. You should see his other pieces. “Calliope” makes your heart sing! Beautiful, radiant.’ The happy thought brought the sun out again, but it soon faded as her face fell. ‘Someone has used the painting? That is why you are here?’

Ceri nodded. ‘That would fit. The man who owns it now, his daughter was murdered. Her ghost, her enhanced ghost, has been killing the people responsible.’

‘A perfect task for an agent of Tisiphone,’ Sylvia commented.

‘The thing is,’ Ceri went on, ‘I killed the man actually responsible and now she’s after me. Like I stopped her getting her revenge so she’s going to take it out on me.’

Sylvia smiled bleakly. ‘Revenge, even just revenge, is never the palliative we think it will be. Vengeance has become her very reason for being. She cannot give it up. If she kills you she will find some other focus for her rage.’

‘So… how do we stop her?’ Lily asked.

‘The painting, dear,’ Sylvia replied. ‘You must enter the painting as you did mine and fight her there.’ Ceri narrowed her eyes as the sunlight seemed to grow brighter suddenly. ‘It’s time you were going,’ Sylvia said, though Ceri could no longer see her for the glare of the sun. ‘Think of me…’

South Kensington

The sound of the crowds in the Victoria and Albert Museum was loud in their ears. Ceri blinked and found herself looking at a museum guard.

‘Are you okay, Miss?’ the man asked, sounding concerned and a little confused.

Ceri checked that Lily was there too before answering. ‘Yes,’ she said and waved a hand vaguely at the picture of the beautiful blonde on the wall in front of her. ‘I was just lost in the painting.’

Surrey, near Bagshot, August 3rd

Lily pulled the car up at the bottom of the garden, in the trees which screened the house from the road and would hopefully screen the car from the house. They had borrowed the vehicle from Carter after work at the Dragon and, as usual, it came with every comfort. Also as usual, Ceri was a nervous wreck by the time they reached their destination; the difference this time being that that was mostly because of what they planned to do.

Slipping out of the Jaguar, Ceri pulled her staff out of the back and Lily slotted her knives into sheathes on her hips. The chances were that neither would be useful, but you never could tell. Keeping to the grass rather than the gravel of the drive, they headed up to the house.

‘So, how are we getting in?’ Lily whispered as they came to a stop a yard or two from the corner where the living room was. The windows were still covered in thick curtains; still, Ceri was pretty sure that some light would have shown through if anyone were up.

‘Trust me?’ Ceri asked, reaching out and placing her hand on Lily’s shoulder.

‘Implicitly.’

‘Take a deep breath,’ Ceri suggested. Lily vanished, and Ceri hurried to refocus her will and follow her before her pet got worried.

Lily’s eyes were wide, but she was grinning like a maniac. ‘Teleportation!’ she whispered, trying to keep her enthusiasm quiet at least. ‘You can teleport?! That’s wider-fucking impossible!’

‘Ed taught me…’ Ceri responded, but she was cut off as Lily narrowed the gap between them, her body pressing in firmly.

‘God, but I want you now,’ Lily growled.

‘We’re sneaking into someone’s house, Lil,’ Ceri reminded her, trying not to squirm as Lily’s hands sought out and found her behind.

‘Yes, now, on the floor…’ The half-succubus bit her lip and clenched her fists. ‘Maybe not an appropriate time.’

‘Not… really,’ Ceri replied, trying to settle her breathing. ‘We really have to do something about your tendency to… um…’

‘Want to fuck you stupid whenever you do anything cool?’

‘That, yeah.’

‘Half-succubus, what can I say?’ Lily looked a little sheepish, which was unusual; normally she was never embarrassed about her nature, but Ceri guessed there was a time and a place, even for a demon.

Together they turned to look at the painting hanging over the fireplace. De la Vasco’s image of Tisiphone was a classically beautiful one; which meant she had a little more padding than might be expected on a modern girl. Of course, she had been painted around a century and a half ago, but even then this ideal of beauty was probably a little out of fashion. Still, the figure looked strong, muscular. Her jawline was firm, not exactly feminine, and her nose suggested a hint of Roman heritage rather than Greek. She was wrapped in a long length of black cloth, fixed in place by a gold braid which fell from one shoulder, down between her breasts, and then looped twice around her waist. By an amazing artistic coincidence, the cloth managed to hide most of the strategic areas, but left one breast exposed. Back in that age one could titillate as much as one wished, so long as the theme was Classical.

The eyes, though, the eyes were dark, just like the ones in the painting of Sylvia. Ceri looked at them, stepping forward slightly to get a better view in the dark room. The only light came from a softly glowing rune mounted in the ceiling; a magical night light. ‘You ready for this?’ Ceri asked softly, reaching out for Lily’s hand.

Lily’s fingers curled around Ceri’s. ‘I’m ready,’ she said.

Ceri looked up at the eyes of the painting, the eyes of a Greek goddess looking down at her, and pushed her will toward them…

Elsewhere

They were standing on a vast, dark plain. The ground under their feet was cracked, black, dusty, and it crushed and compacted under their feet. Above them the sky was black. Thick clouds scudded overhead at hurricane rate, but not a whiff of breeze stirred the air on the ground. The air here was thick, musty, and hot. Somewhere off in infinity the ground and the sky met; there was no end to the dark, arid landscape.

Once again the light was strange. It was not the quality of it this time, but the fact there was any at all. There was no source for the light around them, but there was light around them. It was dull, both in colour and intensity, but it was there.

‘What are you doing here?’ Ceri turned to see a man standing behind them; Holloway, upright and standing, but looking like someone had drained the life out of him. His skin was as dull as the soil under his feet and his eyes had no life in them.

‘He wasn’t there a second ago,’ Lily said under her breath.

‘I don’t know whether this is Otherworld,’ Ceri replied, ‘but I’m sure it’s the same sort of construct as Sylvia’s world.’

‘What are you doing here?’ Holloway repeated. ‘You can’t be here.’

‘Why, Mister Holloway?’ Ceri asked.

He staggered toward them, hands reaching upward, fingers almost clawed. ‘This is my daughter’s place, hers and mine. We can be together here forever. She can take revenge on those who took her from me, and we can be together…’

‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘you were right the first time. This is her place and she’s draining you more with every day you spend here.’

‘No, she…’

‘All the people she wanted revenge on are gone,’ Lily said. ‘She’s not going to come back here to you and live a happy life. She wants revenge for her lost years and she doesn’t care who she takes it from.’

‘No!’ Holloway snapped. ‘Julia…’

‘Julia will bring an end to all injustice, Father.’ The voice came from behind them once more. Julia was solid here, dressed in the same black wisp of cloth that Tisiphone was wearing in the painting. ‘I’ll seek out those who kill, and see to it that they never do it again. None will suffer as I did.’

‘You gave up that ideal when you started trying to make Newton suffer before he died,’ Ceri said. ‘You chose to harm others to make his punishment worse. You killed innocent people, in terror, just to make Newton more fearful.’

‘And all that did,’ Lily added, ‘was to make him take another victim.’

‘Your actions would have brought another girl to your fate if I hadn’t stopped him,’ Ceri said. ‘Then you have the nerve to come after me?’

‘Julia?’ Holloway’s voice was soft, worried. ‘Is this true?’

The now solid ghost’s brow furrowed and she waved a hand dismissively. ‘Be gone, Father.’ Ceri glanced around to see Holloway’s eyes widen as his body seemed to unwind like smoke on a strong wind.

‘That’s how it goes then?’ Ceri asked. ‘He doesn’t agree with you so you get rid of him? You’re killing him, you know?’

‘He’s already dead,’ Julia replied. ‘When Mother died he was left with me. When I was killed he gave himself up to Tisiphone to get me back. And Tisiphone gave me the power to seek my revenge.’ Lightning flashed in the sky overhead as if to punctuate her statement. She reached out a hand, clenching her fist and Ceri felt the hot air tighten around her. From the gasp Lily gave out, the same was happening to her.

‘Tisiphone!’ Ceri yelled. ‘Tisiphone, hear me. She abuses your power. There must be justice, but justice has been served and now all she seeks is empty vengeance.’

There was another gasp, this time from Julia. Ceri felt the tightening bands of energy vanish from around her. She glanced at Lily. ‘I can’t move,’ Lily said, ‘but it’s not getting tighter.’

A female voice came from the air. ‘Fight.’ Expressionless, it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. ‘Fight so that I may determine the right of this.’ A sword appeared in Julia’s hands; over six feet in length with a long grip, it had a wide blade and cross-piece, and it gleamed.

And Julia lifted it with no apparent effort, swinging it at Ceri’s head. Trial by combat; glorious, very just. Ceri’s training cut in and she side-stepped, her staff swinging out to knock the blade aside. Julia swept around, spinning on the ball of one foot to bring her sword around in a sweeping arc. Dancer, yeah, she had trained in dance. The steel slammed into wood and Ceri kicked out at Julia’s ankle only to have her dance away.

Shifting her staff in her hands, Ceri glanced at the spot the sword had hit. There was not a mark on the wood; or was it the thought of wood. Was anything really real in this place? The line of thought stalled as the huge sword came swinging down out of the darkness. This time Ceri let it slam into the dirt as she stepped aside and then rammed the heel of her staff into Julia’s gut. The dead girl staggered backward, her eyes flashing.

‘You’ll pay for that,’ Julia hissed.

‘Empty threats are, well, empty,’ Ceri replied. She braced herself for the next attack… and found herself facing nothing.

‘Behind you!’ Lily yelled.

Ceri threw her staff up and caught the descending blade before it bisected her skull, but Julia was gone again when she turned. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye on her right and twisted just in time to block another blow. Her staff swept through the space Julia had occupied and pain seared through her left thigh. Letting out a sharp scream, Ceri dropped to her left knee and swung her staff; Julia was not there. Ceri dropped and rolled; the sword swept over her head and then slammed into the dirt where she had been lying. Ceri rolled to her knees, heard Lily cry out, and pain exploded across the back of her skull.

Blinking, Ceri opened her eyes. She was face down in the dusty earth and she could sense Julia beside her. That sword was being raised to strike and Ceri’s limbs were not responding. This was it; she was going to be pinned to the unreal dirt by a sword made of thought and magic. Lifting her head, Ceri sought out Lily. If they were going to die then she wanted to see her lover one more time, to silently offer an apology… Lily’s eyes held no fear, no worry, only trust. No, more than trust, belief. Lily knew that Ceri could get her out of this. How could Ceri think anything different?

The sword slammed downward toward Ceri’s back. Julia laughed exultantly, knowing she had won. The blade buried itself three feet into the black soil… but Ceri was not there.

‘This place,’ Ceri said from a few yards away, ‘is magic.’

Wrenching her sword from the ground with a scream of outrage, Julia charged at Ceri. Ceri vanished, appearing behind her and pushing her staff down, tripping her opponent into an indecorous fall.

‘All of it,’ Ceri added. ‘Every little thing you see here is magic.’

Once again Julia charged. This time her sword, and then her body, ran right through Ceri’s body. Ceri swept around, slapping the sword-wielder on the hip as she ran past.

‘I’m such an idiot,’ Ceri said. ‘This place is magic and I’m a sorceress. I am magic and if I can’t beat you here I deserve to die.’ Julia turned, raising her sword for an overhead strike, and Ceri returned the action, raising her staff in her right hand. The crystal globe at the head of the staff flared a brilliant white, lighting the field of battle with stark light, and Julia froze. Her muscles strained to bring the blade down, but Ceri’s magic held her there, unmoving.

Lily gasped as the force holding her released. Crossing the space to where Ceri stood, she raised a hand to rest on her mistress’ shoulder. ‘I knew you could do it, my Mistress,’ she whispered. ‘What are you going to do with her?’

The urge to finish the fight the way Tisiphone wanted was strong. A simple thought and Julia would be disconnected thaumic energy, a cloud of nothing floating in a world which did not really exist. ‘Not what she would do to me,’ Ceri said through gritted teeth. Beside her, almost imperceptibly, Lily relaxed.

Reaching out her left hand, Ceri stepped forward, her fingers and then her palm sinking into Julia’s chest. She closed her fist and stepped backward, and Julia screamed as something like a spider web of white, glistening material was drawn out of her. The strain showed on Ceri’s face as she pulled harder and the webbing stretched, tightened, and then pulled free with a snap. Free of Julia’s spirit form, the white net began to dissolve, slowly evaporating into nothing. Ceri lowered her staff, the light dying in the sphere, and Julia crumpled to the ground.

‘She’s free of Tisiphone’s influence,’ Ceri said. ‘Just Julia now.’

‘But couldn’t she get it back?’ Lily asked. She looked down at the curled up, now naked, form of Julia lying on the dirt, whimpering softly.

‘Possibly,’ Ceri said, ‘but I think “justice” has been served and… well, I think I’ve learned something about these paintings…’ She held out her hand to Lily. Lily took it and gasped as the world seemed to collapse around them.

Surrey, near Bagshot

‘The magic in it,’ Lily said, her eyes on the painting. ‘It’s like it’s just… shrunk to almost nothing.’

Ceri nodded and Lily frowned at her; she seemed subdued. ‘It’s basically a portal,’ Ceri said. 'Your spirit can pass through it into some sub-realm. Maybe it’s the Fae Otherworld, I don’t know. I pulled the door shut behind us when we left. No one’s getting in through there, or coming out.’

‘Her father…’

‘If he’s got enough energy left to survive, he’s got what he wanted. They’ll live forever in there.’

Lily looked up at the painting. ‘I think I’d prefer to die. Let’s get out of here.’

Ceri nodded as she summoned her power for the teleport; she agreed.

M3 Motorway, near Shepperton

They had been silent all the way to the motorway, and back toward London. The sun was coming up and the traffic was starting to get a little heavier.

Ceri looked at Lily, because it took her mind off speeding along at seventy and the feeling that, any moment, the car would decide to skid sideways off the road and kill them. The half-succubus had a frown on her face, and was not helping Ceri’s security by nibbling at the edge of a nail as she drove with only one hand on the wheel.

‘Penny for your thoughts?’ Ceri asked.

Lily glanced at her and then back at the road. ‘Well, I should be thinking that we won and Julia’s got some sort of rest, or maybe that we did a horrible thing to save ourselves…’ She glanced back again. ‘I don’t think we did, by the way. Anyway, that’s not what I’m thinking and I’m sort of irritated with myself.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, not sure how to take that. ‘Well, what are you thinking about?’

‘I’m thinking that I’ve never had sex in the back of a Jaguar.’

‘Oh… Well… I can see why you’d be irritated.’

‘Yeah.’

Ceri’s lips twitched and she clamped down on it. ‘I mean… I’ve never had sex in a car, never mind a Jaguar.’

Lily cut off a giggle. ‘You’re not helping.’

‘Displacement activity,’ Ceri said. ‘Your mind is trying to come up with something else to think about. And your mind only has one thing it likes to think about.’

‘Hey! I do not have a one-track mind.’

There was silence as the car exited the motorway and started into the city proper, though with Kempton Racecourse on the right it was quite a green city at first. The slower speed was enough to let Ceri relax a little since there were still few enough cars about that a crash was unlikely.

‘Well?’ Lily asked.

‘Well what?’

‘Well, do you want to find somewhere we can pull over?’

Ceri was too busy giggling to give a coherent answer.

Part Seven: Taking Care of Business

Kennington, London, September 4th, 2011

Lia was a kisser. Certainly Ceri had never been kissed three times just to say goodbye. It seemed to be a Dutch thing and Ceri was a little surprised that Lily seemed quite used to it. Right, left, right, seemed to be the order of the day. The thought passed Ceri’s mind that they were trying to out-do the French.

‘Back to the Netherlands tonight?’ Ceri asked.

Lia nodded. ‘The night ferry from Felixstowe. I always have trouble sleeping.’

‘Sea sickness?’

Lia giggled. ‘No, sailors.’

‘And you’re editing tomorrow, Tawni?’ Ceri asked through the laughter.

‘Uh-huh,’ the actress replied, ‘the even more boring part of the business, but it has to happen.’ She stepped up to Ceri with a smile. ‘It was really great seeing you again, and… well, both of you saved my movie.’ She leaned forward and placed a delicate little kiss on Ceri’s cheek, just touching her lips.

Ceri turned her head slightly so that her own kiss was just as delicate, but on Tawni’s lips. ‘You don’t be a stranger, okay? I expect you at my birthday party this year. Jenny Li will be there too.’

Tawni grinned. ‘Just like old times?’

‘Probably a lot more sex than old times,’ Lily said.

‘I’ll be there,’ Tawni said quickly.

In the distance there was the sound of a phone ringing and the two actresses waved goodbye quickly so that Ceri could go answer it. The Welsh accent on the other end was thick. ‘Ceri? It’s Rhys. We’ve found something…’

Wales, near Senghenydd, September 5th

The little farm was out in the middle of nowhere and it seemed to be unoccupied. The windows on all the buildings were boarded over and no lights showed. Ceri was fairly sure that there were people in it, however.

For one thing, Hughes had told her and Lily that they had spotted several large four wheel drive vehicles entering and leaving the barn. It was well organised; no lights showed when they went in or out. The police surveillance had also spotted a few people moving between the buildings.

There was that, and there was Rhys and several other members of his pack who said they could smell the stench of the chemicals from the biggest of the barns. The pack had gone searching and they had found this place. Locally it was known as “that old farm of Jones’” and it had been disused since Old Man Jones had died two years ago. Croft had discovered that Jones’ death had been a little odd, and the alchemy ring had been running for a little over a year.

A black-fur dropped into the little foxhole they were lying in three hundred yards from the farm. Kai shifted as he dropped to one shoulder, a grin forming on his human face. Ceri heard Croft supressing a whimper. ‘They have alarm wires on all the close-in fences,’ Kai said, ‘and lookouts with night-vision glasses up on the top floor of the house. They’ll have even us spotted before we can get close. Your humans don’t stand a chance.’

‘Plan B then?’ Lily suggested.

Ceri nodded and looked around at Croft and Hughes, the latter looking a little uncomfortable lying in a ditch in a bulletproof vest. ‘Wait for the signal and then storm the place,’ Ceri said.

‘What’s the signal?’ Hughes grumbled.

‘I don’t know yet,’ Ceri said, ‘but I guarantee you’ll know it when you see it.’ Grinning she backed away from the hole, Lily following after her.

~~~

The two girls with backpacks gabbled constantly as they walked up the track to the farm. They were hardly dressed for walking at night, though one of them did have a large staff to walk with; which was useful since she seemed to be limping. The guards spotted them, of course, but two girls in mini-skirts were hardly a threat and it was better to stay quiet and hope they just passed by.

As they got closer, the taller one with the limp could be heard. ‘Aww look, it’s all dark. There’s no one here. You said we’d get help.’ The whine was almost painful.

‘Maybe the curtains are closed,’ the shorter one said. At this distance the watchers could see that this one was field walking in high-heels. How dumb were these two? ‘We’ll go bang on the door.’

‘It’s gotta be almost midnight,’ the tall one wailed. ‘My ankle hurts. You said we’d get help here.’

‘Oh shush.’ The shorter girl gave an airhead giggle. ‘Maybe there’ll be some big, healthy farmer’s sons.’

‘All you think about is sex. Sex, sex, sex.’

Smirking, one of the watchers picked up a walkie-talkie and called down to the people on the ground floor. Normally they had to go into Cardiff or Caerphilly to get laid.

The door of the little farmhouse opened as soon as Lily rapped on it. The man inside smiled warmly at them. ‘Can I help you?’ He was tall, tanned, attractive in a rugged way, and heavy on the muscular upper body.

Lily smiled her very, very best “my brains are in my boobs” smile. ‘My friend’s hurt her ankle. We’ve been walking for hours. Could we come in and sit down? Maybe call a taxi?’

‘Sure,’ the man said stepping back so that they could walk in. ‘Well, taxis don’t come out here, but I’m sure we can take care of you.’

‘We?’ Ceri asked as they walked into a kitchen and found themselves surrounded by half a dozen men, all dressed in black, all holding automatic pistols. Ceri’s eyes widened and Lily put her hands up.

The door closed behind them. ‘Yeah, we. We’ll take really good care of you, won’t we boys?’ There was a rumble of laughed agreement. ‘You girls want to strip, or are we gonna rip your clothes off.’

Lily turned around and smiled at the man at the door. ‘You know, there’s no need for guns,’ she said, slipping her rucksack off her back. ‘If you guys want to have some fun, you just had to ask.’ Ceri closed her eyes as Lily’s pupils lit up like fires; she could push Lily’s aura aside, even on full power, but it was easier to just not look.

When she opened them again, Lily was pulling her daggers from her fallen rucksack and then heading for the inner door. ‘Careful,’ Ceri whispered, but with her pet in the clear Ceri could just drop an area-effect sleep spell over the group of gurgling would-be rapists and then follow.

The ground floor had been emptied of thugs to party with the two poor, unsuspecting “victims,” which left the guards upstairs. There were three of them and they were not expecting anyone to come up the stairs and disturb them… yet. In an hour or so when the others had finished with the girls, maybe, but not yet.

Ceri dropped the first with a sleep spell while Lily went into the next room and cracked the second over the head with the hilt of a dagger. It was a far more painful way of laying him out, but just as effective. The third heard one of them fall and stepped out of his room to investigate. He stopped dead at the sight of Lily, smiling sweetly at him, and therefore never even noticed Ceri pointing her staff at him. He was smiling vaguely as he slumped onto the floor and began to snooze.

Lily giggled. ‘The Power of the Boobs overcame them.’

Ceri winced. ‘That’s terrible.’

‘I know. Hey! Come see this.’ The half-demon turned and went back to the man she had knocked out, lifting a bulky-looking rifle with a huge barrel and a drum magazine.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ Ceri asked.

‘I think it’s a grenade launcher.’

‘That’s what I thought it was too. Think you can use it?’

Lily flicked off the safety. ‘I think we have our signal.’

Ceri giggled. Really they should have been being terribly serious, but this was fun! They opened the back door of the farmhouse. There was a clear view of the main doors of the barn. Giving Ceri a grin, Lily pushed the butt of the launcher into her shoulder, aimed it and pulled the trigger three times. There were three thuds as the projectiles hit the wood, a short pause, and then the front of the barn vanished into splintered wood. Lily put another round in through the smoking gap and a second later there was a huge explosion as a large car’s fuel tank took the full force of the grenade.

The front of the building was burning and one of the side doors burst open. Ceri’s staff glowed and the men swarming through the door keeled over, asleep. Some kept coming, one of them turning toward the farmhouse, fire burning in his palm. ‘Move!’ Ceri snapped as the fire bolt lanced out toward them. They ducked out of the way and the bolt exploded inside the room.

Ceri could hear the screech of tyres as the Special Tactics team arrived, but the practitioner with the fire spells was hers. A second bolt was winding up and she blocked it as soon as he launched it. Levelling her staff, she launched a bolt of light at him, hitting his leg, and he fell with a sharp cry of pain. A second or two later he was surrounded by men with guns and Hughes, Croft, and Kai were standing beside Ceri and Lily.

‘Some of them are running,’ Croft commented.

‘They won’t get far,’ Kai said. ‘We’ve got pack all around the farm. That was a hell of a signal.’

Lily lifted her grenade launcher with a grin. ‘We aim to please. Normally it’s Ceri that gets to set off the fireworks.’

Around them, police officers and werewolves were rounding up drug dealers and manufacturers. Another huge black-fur emerged from behind the farmhouse, shifting to become Rhys as he stepped forward. ‘Looks like you have them all,’ he said.

‘With some help from our friends,’ Hughes said. ‘Thanks.’ Ceri looked at him; that must have hurt.

‘We can’t have people like that on our territory, Detective,’ Rhys replied, nodding politely. ‘If you have problems like this again, you send word.’

Hughes nodded, hesitated, and then held out a hand to the Alpha. ‘I’ll do that,’ he said. Rhys looked a little surprised himself as he took the cop’s hand and shook it. Then the detective looked around at Ceri and Lily. ‘Mark can run you back to your hotel if you want. We can mop up here.’

‘Thanks,’ Ceri said, ‘that’d be great.’

As they walked back to where the unmarked police car was waiting at the end of the track, Croft sighed. ‘I’m glad he sent me back.’

‘Oh?’ Lily asked. ‘I thought you were enjoying the werewolves.’

‘I was,’ Croft replied, grinning self-consciously, ‘but have you ever heard of a gay werewolf? I need a cold shower.’

Kennington, September 6th

Even getting an early train out of Cardiff it was afternoon before they were back in London and Lily could get to the roof. It was already September, the summer months were effectively gone, and these were the last days they could expect to get weather good enough to sunbathe in. Ceri did not begrudge her the warmth, but was determined to get some good quality coffee before joining her, which meant she was in the kitchen when Twill announced they had visitors.

John and Kate stood on the doorstep; John had his serious face on, but Ceri was learning to distinguish them and this was just his “I’m working” face. ‘We just got back from Cardiff,’ Ceri said. ‘If you think I’m getting Lily off the roof to talk to you two, you’ve been drinking.’

‘I’m sure we can manage,’ Kate said, before John could respond.

In fact John seemed fairly calm about the half-succubus laid out on her lounger, eyes closed and skin bare. He settled onto the third of the wooden seats with Kate settling beside him with his work face still happily fixed. Then his eyes started bulging and his cheeks flushed as Ceri started to undress. ‘So, for what do we owe the pleasure?’ Ceri asked, ignoring the detective inspector.

‘We read your report,’ John said, ‘and wanted to check a couple of things.’

‘And the Chief wanted to check up on that alchemical drugs ring in Cardiff,’ Kate added. ‘We got some evidence that they’ve been supplying into the Home Counties.’

‘They won’t be anymore,’ Lily commented from her lounger; she sounded very relaxed and her eyes did not open as she spoke.

Ceri finished undressing, sat on the edge of her lounger and starting smoothing oil into her skin. ‘Hughes is dealing with the details,’ she said, ‘but the Brecon pack managed to locate the manufacturing location, and we went in last night and arrested them with extreme prejudice.’

‘I got to fire a grenade launcher,’ Lily said. ‘It was awesome.’

‘We’ll get in touch with Hughes then,’ John said, nodding and making a note in his book. The action gave him the opportunity to not look at Ceri. He flipped back a page, examined the notes there, and went on. ‘The Tisiphone painting is being transferred to secure storage, but we need to know whether there are any special handling requirements.’

‘That one should be locked,’ Ceri replied settling back in the sun and closing her own eyes. ‘I guess someone could unlock it if they tried hard, but if you have it secured it should be safe.’

‘What about de la Vasco’s other paintings?’ the DI asked. ‘There’s one hanging in public view in the V and A!’

‘That one’s safe,’ Ceri said. ‘Sylvia can take care of anyone going in there and I’m not sure why anyone would try to disturb her anyway.’

‘And the other paintings?’

‘That would depend on the painting,’ Ceri replied. ‘They’re fae magic, in effect. Capricious. It’ll be difficult to predict what they do, if anything, without seeing them. My guess is you’d need more evidence than “they could be dangerous” to confiscate them from private collectors.’

‘Yes,’ John confirmed, ‘we would. Though we may issue a warning concerning them. Some may want the artwork checked out, if you’d be willing to look at them?’

‘I have no objections if the owners want it done,’ Ceri replied.

‘What about the Holloways?’ Kate asked. ‘Alexander Holloway’s nurse found him dead this morning. They’re saying heart failure.’

‘It was just a matter of time,’ Ceri replied. ‘He gave up his spirit to persuade Tisiphone to empower his daughter. I think it was him who wanted revenge originally. When her ghost was infused with the power of an Erinyes she was corrupted by it. She wanted revenge for dying young and took it out on anyone she could. I hope they’re both in the painting and not too unhappy.’

‘I’m not sure it’s the kind of death I’d like,’ John said. Ceri wondered what sort of death he was going to get. His wife was a vampire; would she turn him eventually?

‘I can think of worse fates,’ Kate commented. There was a hint of bitterness in her voice which seemed out of place. ‘We also found a hidden entrance to a cellar in his house. The remains of his daughter were down there, just like you said.’

‘Thought so.’ Ceri turned over. ‘Lil, would you do my back?’

‘Of course, love,’ Lily replied and there was the creak of weight being shifted off the lounger.

‘Time to go,’ Kate said. ‘We’re finished aren’t we?’

‘Uh, yes,’ John replied, sounding a little confused. ‘There’s no major hurry…’

Kate patted her partner on the shoulder as she stood up. ‘Take my word for it,’ she said, ‘you don’t want to be here when Lily puts oil on Ceri’s back.’

Lily’s dirty giggle did more to persuade him that he did, indeed, want to leave than anything Kate had said.

Battersea, September 7th

There was a naked young man sitting under the tree when Ceri arrived in the park. Every time she saw Michael in human form the thought passed through her mind that he was so young. She was a terrible, dirty, cradle robber and he deserved a younger woman. The thought was generally fleeting, and it was growing more fleeting every week, but on this night the only thing she could think of was that he looked amazingly hot.

His eyes opened as she walked closer, but he did not move. He just watched, his head resting against his forearms, crossed between skull and tree trunk. Ceri smiled at him and he smiled back, and she began to undress, tucking each item of clothing into her satchel after removing it. By the time she was down to her collar and the silver chain around her ankle she was pleased to see that his appreciation was quite visible.

She reached for the collar at her throat and stopped as she saw him shake his head. Ceri grinned mischievously and dropped to her knees beside his legs. She was leaning forward to make good use of his “appreciation” when he stopped her again, holding out an arm. A little confused, she snuggled up against him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She draped an arm across his chest, and could not resist stroking the smooth skin.

‘How are Rhys and Kai?’ he asked, his voice soft, very relaxed.

‘Good. Kai seemed really happy. Tegan’s obviously good for him. Rhys has fallen into your father’s shoes well. The pack’s rallied around him and he seemed confident, and way more relaxed than when I first saw him.’

‘The raid went okay?’

‘Oh yeah, no trouble. The only people hurt were the bad guys. Lily got to shoot a grenade launcher.’

Michael chuckled. ‘I bet she loved that. I wish I’d been there.’

‘It was kind of fun, yeah.’

‘No,’ he said, ‘I worried about you. I wanted to be there to protect you. I know it’s a bit silly…’

‘No it’s not!’ Ceri protested. ‘I just don’t know how to say how much I appreciate it without it sounding condescending.’

‘You could so massively kick my arse without breaking a sweat,’ he pointed out. ‘You don’t need me guarding you.’

Stretching up, she kissed his neck just below his ear. ‘Need, perhaps not,’ she said. Her hand slid downward, across his stomach, and he stiffened slightly as her fingers wrapped around his still semi-hard shaft. ‘Want, though, I so want you guarding me.’

Michael let out a groan. ‘That… feels like a different want.’

Ceri gave a little giggle and lifted up the better to go down.

Kennington, September 12th

Ceri stepped through the front door and took off her coat with a grimace, hanging it on the stand nearby. It was dripping, so was she. It had been the first really bad day of the autumn; windy, heavily overcast, and constantly drizzling down that misty rain which seemed to get everywhere no matter what you were wearing. Ceri had been in to the university and now she was feeling cold and soggy.

Twill floated in from the kitchen and frowned at her. ‘You’re wet,’ the fairy said.

‘It’s raining, Twill.’

‘Did you have to bring it in here?’

‘Pretty much. Where’s Lily?’

Twill gave a little grin to indicate she was joking about the rain. ‘In the dungeon with her father.’

Ceri nodded. ‘I’m going to have a shower then.’ She trooped off toward the stairs, her jeans clinging to her legs uncomfortably as she walked.

The hot water felt glorious as it cascaded down her body, washing away the chill. She was just about up to a reasonable temperature when she felt hands sliding around her waist and a nubile body pressing into her back. ‘Better and better,’ she murmured and Lily gave a soft giggle. ‘How was your lesson?’

‘Good.’ Lily picked up some peach scented shower gel and squeezed some of it into her palm, beginning to wash Ceri rather more slowly and carefully than required for just cleanliness. ‘I think I’m getting better at the magic. I think I’m getting better at being, well, me.’ There was a slight hesitation in the movement of her hands. ‘How do you know I’m not my Dad?’

‘Faran can look like you and sound like you, but he can’t feel like you,’ Ceri tapped her head, ‘in here.’ She giggled. ‘Don’t tell him though. He likes trying to catch me out.’

Lily laughed softly, hands drifting and playing. ‘I won’t, but I’m glad. You’re my mistress, I don’t want him to have you.’

Ceri turned in Lily’s arms and kissed her gently on the lips. ‘Not going to happen, love.’ She grinned. ‘I’ve got quite enough on my plate with you and Michael.’

The mischievous look which suddenly swept across Lily’s features was a little worrying. ‘Sure?’

Ceri laughed. ‘Quite sure. Why?’

‘Jessie called while you were out. She’s got a role she’s casting for. A hot Dom to get double-teamed by two hunky man-slaves and she thought of you. Interested?’

‘Two at once? On camera?’ Ceri asked. She cuddled up against Lily, letting the water warm her back.

‘Uh-huh.’ Lily began soaping Ceri’s back, enjoying the cuddle for a while before the silence got to her. ‘Ceri? You okay?’

‘Oh yes,’ Ceri replied, ‘I was just thinking about the offer. What’s the pay like?’

Lily’s eyes widened and she pushed Ceri back to look at her. ‘You wouldn’t!’

Ceri started giggling. ‘The look on your face…’

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.

I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.

For More Information

The Thaumatology Blog: http://thaumatology.wordpress.com

Further Reading

Thaumatology 101 – ASIN: B006IYIESW

Demon’s Moon – ASIN: B006JPN7A0

Legacy – ASIN: B006OKR8PK

Dragon’s Blood – ASIN: B006JPN7A0

Tales from High Towers’ Study (Anthology) – ASIN: B006ZAJ7TY

Table of Contents

Part One: London City Blues

Part Two: Blue Murder

Part Three: The Green Hills of Home

Part Four: The Wages of Sin

Part Five: Underbelly

Part Six: A Portrait of Revenge

Part Seven: Taking Care of Business