Dragon’s Blood

The Fourth Novel in the Thaumatology Series

By Niall Teasdale

Copyright 2011 Niall Teasdale

Amazon Kindle Edition

Contents

Part One: Ancient Engineering

Part Two: Chinese Whispers

Part Three: Teachers of Men

Part Four: Queen’s Gambit

Part Five: Demon’s Wrath

Part Six: Trust

Part One: Ancient Engineering

Stonehenge Visitor Centre, Salisbury Plain, June 5th, 2011

It was the first Sunday in June, the sun was shining brightly overhead, and the car park of the Visitor Centre at Stonehenge was full of happy families enjoying the sunny day and trying to act as though they had not noticed the attractive, black-haired woman retching violently beside a big, black Range Rover. To be fair, a large number of the men were looking, though they were far more concerned with the stunningly beautiful girl in the mini-dress who was bent over at the hips, comforting her friend.

‘Oh God I hate cars!’ Ceri said for the … Well, Lily had lost count of the number of times she had heard that on the way over from London, but it was a lot.

‘I know you do, love,’ Lily replied patiently, ‘but there’s a hunky Army Lieutenant waiting to talk to you. Cheryl’s not here yet.’

Nodding, Ceri straightened up and got to her feet. At least her stomach had been emptied by this point. ‘Where’s this soldier?’

Lily led the way around the car and across the car park to an army Land Rover; not quite as plush as the Range Rover, but probably better off road and a lot easier to maintain. The man in the passenger seat apparently noticed them coming in the wing mirror and stepped out. He was tall and sufficiently heavily muscled that you could tell even through the camouflage fatigues he was wearing. The face that went with the big body was handsome enough; a solid looking jaw and a broad nose, dark brown skin stretched over the kind of skull that made bald look good. There was a fair amount of boredom in the dark brown eyes and they did not even brighten at the sight of two attractive girls. At least he did not salute.

‘Lieutenant Chapman,’ he said, ‘with the Twenty-Four Training Squadron, Royal Engineers. You’re Miss Brent?’

Ceri stepped forward, offering her hand. ‘Ceridwyn Brent, London Metropolitan University. I guess I’m in charge until Doctor Tennant arrives.’ She glanced at Lily. ‘And this is Lily Carpenter, my associate.’

‘Associate?’ he asked, shaking her hand.

‘She can’t drive,’ Lily supplied.

‘Ah, right,’ Chapman said. ‘Well, I have ten men ready to set this thing up for you. Can we get started?’

Ceri looked around. Pulled into the field across the road was a ten-ton flatbed truck with a large something under a tarpaulin, and a huge crane. ‘Why don’t you get set up and I’ll check with the liaison here?’

‘You want this thing in the middle, right?’

‘As close to the centre as you can manage, thanks.’

Chapman nodded and headed back to the cab of the Land Rover. Ceri and Lily started toward the nearby building. They had not made it to the door before an attractive woman in her mid-thirties emerged and headed toward them. Honey blonde hair tied up into a bun, pretty blue eyes in a narrow face with wide cheekbones. She was dressed in a knee length, beige skirt and a white cotton blouse, and she was in heels. This had to be the liaison; she just reeked of skill in dealing with people. Her smile was wide and she had perfect, white teeth. ‘Helen Brazenold,’ she said. ‘I’m the administrative officer with English Heritage for the site.’

‘Ceridwyn Brent and Lily Carpenter,’ Ceri replied. After the trip she had had, she was already getting tired of introductions. ‘I’m with the Met, Lily’s my personal slave and driver. Doctor Tennant should be arriving later this afternoon, but if it’s okay with you the Engineers would like to get started.’

‘Of course,’ Helen said. ‘Come on, we’ll go through to the site and you can go over what you’re planning, give them instructions, all that stuff.’ She started off across the car park toward the tunnel which ran under the A344.

When what people think of as Stonehenge was built, around forty-five centuries ago, the landscape around it had not included two major roads. Now it sat in the crook of the A303 and the A344, but the landscape was still rather bleak and a little inhospitable. Even with the sun blazing down it was not entirely a warm place to be with the northerly breeze sweeping down across the plain. Cold was not the reason Ceri shivered as they approached the huge outer ring of sarsen stones from the well-worn path the visitors were allowed on.

‘You okay?’ Lily asked, placing a hand on Ceri’s shoulder and squeezing gently.

‘I’ll be fine,’ Ceri said, but she came to a stop just outside the first of the massive, grey columns.

Helen turned and smiled. ‘Quite something, aren’t they?’ She said, misinterpreting Ceri’s reaction. ‘Have you been here before?’

‘Twice,’ Ceri replied. ‘Once as a child and then again last Winter Solstice.’

Helen’s face fell. ‘Last… You were, um, here for that?’

‘We both were,’ Lily replied. ‘Ceri was the one who stopped it.’

‘The briefing we got was a little sketchy,’ Helen said. ‘Something about a demonic incursion and werewolves. The whole area was sealed off for two days, but when we finally got back in here we found traces of blood on one of the stones.’

Ceri did her best to smile. ‘We’re not really allowed to talk about it. I think the Ministry classified the details at Secret level.’ She started off between the stones to where she could see Chapman and another soldier pacing about.

‘Of course,’ Helen said, and started after her.

Chapman spoke before any of the women said anything. ‘We can lift it in over the stones there,’ he pointed off toward the north east side of the monument. ‘We’ve got it on a wide-wheeled base so we can roll it in from there without damaging anything. Jones here says the centre of the circle is… right here.’ He stopped at a spot of bare ground and raised his arms. Ceri flinched and he frowned. ‘You okay, Miss Brent?’

‘Yes,’ Ceri lied. ‘I know that’s the centre. I’ve seen a ritual done here before. Yes, this spot will be perfect.’ Ceri looked out at the stones, trying not to remember what had happened here. Her Sight showed her the blooming magical field which filled the area. It seemed to well up from this point, the point Remus had stood at to reform the demon-wolf Fenrir. A few feet away the grass was still yellowed and the earth beneath looked blackened; that was where Remus had died.

‘We’ll get on with it then,’ Chapman said. ‘We should be out of your hair by nightfall and we’ll be back next Sunday to pull everything out.’

Ceri turned and nodded, giving the soldier a weak smile. ‘Thanks, Lieutenant. This is much appreciated.’

He nodded back. ‘Just doing my job, Miss Brent.’

Ceri flinched again. ‘Would you please call me Ceri, Lieutenant? The last man in uniform who called me that supervised…’ She stopped. Phelps had “just been doing his job” when he had organised her rape at the hands of his mercenaries. ‘Just call me Ceri, okay?’

He looked at her, his expression appraising. ‘Chaps,’ he said. ‘The guys call me Chaps.’ He set off toward the group of soldiers setting up the crane outside the circle without another word.

Ceri turned back toward Lily and Helen, forcing her face into a smile. ‘Once they have everything in position we have a couple of big, strong post-grads coming up tomorrow to help with the cabling and such,’ she said.

‘We’ve roped off an area to the east of the circle where you can pitch your tents,’ Helen said, and then her expression changed to wheedling. ‘There is one favour you could do me?’

‘What’s that?’ Ceri asked. She didn’t like the tone.

‘Well, we have a TV crew and a number of visitors who have been wondering what’s going on. I don’t suppose you could give them a little talk? Just… explain the experiment?’

Ceri looked down at her Metropolitan T-shirt and jeans, and then across toward the Visitor Centre in the hope of seeing Cheryl walking toward them. Lily was grinning. ‘I guess I can,’ Ceri said.

‘You’ll be great,’ Lily told her. ‘This was your idea.’

‘Cheryl designed the collector…’

‘I doubt they want to hear about the complex interplay of silver-iron components, love. Just a bit about why you’re doing it, and why it’s happening here.’

Helen nodded. ‘That’s the kind of thing, yes.’

Ceri sighed. ‘Okay, let’s do this before I chicken out.’

The camera crew was one reporter, a man with a digital video camera, and a sound man. Ceri was pretty sure they only had the sound man because it was windy. The reporter’s name was Karen Mitchem and Lily recognised her from the BBC evening news. Lily had become almost addicted to it when her father had been the main story and had not given up yet.

‘If we could get you explaining the experiment to the crowd,’ Karen said, ‘and then possibly a few words afterward?’

‘You’re sure you wouldn’t prefer to wait for Doctor Tennant?’ Ceri asked, perhaps a little too hopefully. ‘Carter Fleming is bringing her…’

‘No dear,’ Karen interrupted, ‘we’re the BBC not the tabloids. We’re actually doing a story on the science not Carter’s love life.’

Ceri frowned slightly and then resolved the confusion. ‘Of course, I’ve seen you in the Dragon. I think I’ve served you once. So you’ve met Carter?’

Karen patted her on the arm. ‘Hun, I’ve slept with him. Which doesn’t make me in the least bit special. Let’s get this piece done.’

A crowd of onlookers had gathered near the cameraman and, as Ceri walked over with Karen, the soundman lifted a boom microphone into position, looking to the cameraman for the right height. ‘Can we get a few words for level, Karen?’ the soundman called over.

‘Just step up there and say something for him, hun,’ Karen said.

Feeling like a complete idiot, Ceri stepped up to just under the furry object on the end of the pole. ‘Hi everyone,’ she said, and watched the man on the other end of the pole fiddling with controls. ‘We’re going to do a little explanation of what’s going on here in a minute if you’re interested.’ The soundman gave a thumbs up while the crowd rumbled enthusiastically.

Karen stepped forward. ‘Okay, Miss Brent is going to do her piece for all you nice people. Don’t worry about length, we’ll film it all and cut later. If anyone wants to ask questions and such, I’m sure Miss Brent can take a few?’ She looked to Ceri who nodded back though her heart seemed to be thumping in her throat. ‘Excellent. If we could keep those for the end and try to keep as quiet as possible until then. Thank you.’ She turned to Ceri. ‘Okay, let’s get started, just introduce yourself and go from there.’

Ceri took a deep breath, glanced at the cameraman to check he was recording and went for it before her nerve broke. ‘Hello everyone, my name is Ceridwyn Brent and I’m a research assistant at the London Metropolitan University. What I’m here for today, and the rest of this week, is that we’re experimenting with a new form of power generation. Some of you may know that certain alloys of silver and iron are able to block magic.’ Various people nodded, especially the kids; they were teaching that kind of thing in school now. ‘Good. That’s because they take the magic and convert it into electricity. A lot of our magical technologies are based on that. My boss, Doctor Cheryl Tennant, has come up with a novel, very efficient, converter for doing just that. It was originally designed for another project, but I suggested that we bring a modified version up here and try to generate power from Stonehenge.’

She turned a little and looked back at the stone rings. She was fairly sure the camera had been sited so that the circle was in the background. When she looked back, the trick had worked and the crowd had followed her gaze. ‘You see, over four thousand years ago, our ancestors did something which we can’t even replicate today. They built a structure out of stone which makes a really huge magical field. Don’t worry, it’s quite safe. Inside the circle it reads about eight thaums, which is a lot higher than, say, central London, but nowhere near the levels you’d get near the German Rift or the Trinity test site. That field extends out for miles around the henge as well, getting smaller as it goes. Isn’t it fascinating to think that, back in the Stone Age, people were building something so incredible? When all the stones were standing, this place must have hummed with power, the kind of power we need thaumic accelerators and a whole bunch of technology to make. And these people did it with some big lumps of rock.’

A girl of perhaps fifteen put her hand up near the front of the crowd. Ceri smiled at her and nodded. ‘Are you the same Ceridwyn Brent who discovered the Null Thaumiton last year?’

‘Well, Doctor Tennant and I both did, but yes, that’s right. This generator project actually came out of the same research that produced that discovery.’

‘So, you’re saying that Stonehenge is a thaumic decay catalyser?’ the girl asked.

Ceri was impressed, she hoped she looked it. ‘That’s exactly right. A Null Thaumiton is what we call a closed-loop particle. It can travel between dimensions, so quite often there are loads of them flying about all around us which we can’t see or feel. What Stonehenge does is to cause those particles to decay into two open-loop particles, a Positive and a Negative Thaumiton. Those are what make up the thaumic field around the stones. And I hope to see you taking thaumatology at the Met in the future.’ The girl absolutely beamed, though her parents looked a little less pleased.

‘What’s with the soldiers?’ a man asked from somewhere in the second row.

‘Ah well,’ Ceri said, ‘the government is hoping that this system could be a major source of safe, clean, electrical power so we have managed to get the help of the Royal Engineers in getting our rather bulky equipment in and out of the circle without damaging anything. Twenty-four Training Squadron have come down to assist us, and I’d like to thank Lieutenant Chapman and his men for doing such good work.’

‘Okay folks,’ Karen broke in, ‘that’s all we have time for right now. Thanks for those questions, by the way. Very good ones.’ She turned to Ceri and smiled. ‘Don’t know what you were worried about. You’re a natural. We’ll move spot a little and do a short piece to camera if that’s okay?’

‘Uh sure,’ Ceri replied. The reporter was putting her at her ease. Which probably would have worked better if Ceri had not known she was doing it.

Lily appeared as they were moving away from the main footpath, Helen not far behind. ‘You were great,’ the half-succubus said. ‘I knew you would be, you’ve given me enough lectures on thaumatology without being boring.’

‘I’ll have to get you to talk to some of the school trips during the week,’ Helen added, and Ceri suppressed a groan.

‘Got to admit,’ Karen said, ‘the bit about the ancient engineers building stuff we can’t was inspired. I don’t think the girl’s second question will make the cut, too technical. I’ll try and make sure we get the whole thing onto the Internet stream though.’ She stopped and looked around. ‘Here will do. Oh, and you can call me Karen when you’re answering me.’

With everything in place and another sound check done, the cameraman nodded and Karen turned to face Ceri with two of the huge sarsen stones as a backdrop. ‘Miss Brent, you said that this could represent a significant method of power generation in the future, but there aren’t too many places like Stonehenge around.’

‘That’s true, Karen. Our plans for using this system on a larger scale are currently only in the planning stages, and they all depend on this experiment working well. We do have plans though, and government interest in them if things work out.’

‘Do you think we’ll ever be able to build something like Stonehenge ourselves?’

Ceri smiled. ‘It’s a lost art. However, we know that there were spells and forms of magic used in the past which have been lost and some of those have been rediscovered. It’s not impossible.’

‘And on a personal note, I understand that you recently got your PhD on the process by which were-creatures and lycanthropes change. Congratulations. Wasn’t that a terribly dangerous thing to study?’

‘We had to take careful precautions with the lycanthrope,’ Ceri replied, biting back hard on a sudden surge of anger. ‘Lycanthropes are the victims of a terrible disease which turns them into little more than animals at the full moon. The true were-creatures, however, are intelligent and often very caring people. There was no danger from any of the ones I studied.’

Karen smiled her best TV presenter smile. ‘Thank you, Miss Brent.’ She turned to camera. ‘This is Karen Mitchem, at Stonehenge, for BBC News.’

‘And out,’ said the cameraman.

Karen visibly relaxed and reached up to undo the top buttons on her blouse. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘That was a great answer on the werewolves thing. My boyfriend’s a ronin. He moved down from Norwich after that business last winter. He still won’t talk about what happened.’

Ceri suddenly felt bad about the anger. Then she noticed a few scratches around Karen’s collar bone, which was why her blouse had been done up to the top. Leaning forward she said quietly, ‘The sex is great though.’

The presenter blushed and pulled at her collar. ‘Uh, yeah. You’ve been with…’

‘Several,’ Ceri admitted. ‘One regular one in the Battersea pack. I’ve had a few scratches myself.’

The blush got deeper. ‘I’ve got this gingham dress and red hooded cloak…’ Both women giggled though Ceri was not sure her own wolf would go for the Little Red Riding Hood look. ‘I better get going,’ Karen said. ‘We’re hoping to get this onto the six o’clock broadcast.’

‘Nice meeting you,’ Ceri said, starting off toward the middle of the circle again.

‘Same,’ Karen replied, heading off toward her crew.

Lily was on the phone as Ceri approached. ‘Who are you talking to?’ Ceri asked.

‘Twill,’ Lily said. ‘I’m just explaining how to record the evening news.’

Ceri groaned.

~~~

They were not allowed a fire in their small campsite, which was a little disappointing, but it was a warm night and the tent Cheryl had brought with her was large enough that five people could easily sit in the “communal” area around a folding table with a lamp on it. Tomorrow it would become the base of operations for the experiment. Tonight it was a comfortable location out of the wind where five friends could sit, chat, and drink the rather nice whiskey Carter had brought with him.

‘Good birthday, Carter?’ Lily asked, raising her glass to her boss.

‘Any three days where I don’t have to wear a suit are good days, my dear,’ he replied, ‘but in this case they have been exceptional, yes.’ Ceri found that a little difficult to believe. Carter was almost always immaculate. His ash blonde hair was always perfectly styled. His suits were always crisp and of the latest fashion. Now fifty-five, if he ever looked older than thirty he had had a rough night. The sight of him in faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt had been almost impossible to believe when he had pulled up with Cheryl in an Aston Martin DB9 earlier, but Ceri still had the feeling he should be just itching to get into a sharp suit.

Cheryl, however, was grinning. ‘He didn’t actually put a shirt on until we went out for a walk yesterday afternoon.’

‘Mmm, shirtless Carter,’ Lily said, giggling.

Alec gave a rumbling laugh. The big werewolf was there to lend a hand with the physical work, at least until Wednesday when he and Lily would have to go back to work at Carter’s premiere nightclub, the Jade Dragon. He worked behind the bar, she was the head waitress. Except for the week just gone when he had been temporary manager as well. Carter rarely took time off, but for his birthday on Friday, he had handed the reins over to Alec much as Cheryl had handed over the final preparation of the experiment to Ceri.

Alec was also there because Cheryl enjoyed his company as much as she did Carter’s. It seemed only fair to Ceri; she had a half-succubus and a werewolf for lovers, her boss had a werewolf and a wizard. Occasionally Ceri wondered how she had ended up in such a weird place, lifestyle-wise, but mostly she had just learned to go with it. She was at least moderately sure that things could not possibly get any weirder which had to be a good thing.

‘Fifty-five,’ Lily said. ‘I remember your forty-ninth.’

‘Indeed,’ Carter said. ‘Now that was a momentous birthday.’

‘Oh?’ Cheryl asked.

‘That was when we first met,’ Lily explained. ‘He hired me for the night and then offered me a job in the morning.’

‘And then we met in… October?’ Ceri added.

Lily nodded. ‘And I moved into High Towers in November.’ She looked meaningfully at Carter. ‘Waitressing doesn’t pay quite as well as high class prostitution.’

‘You get to stay dressed for work though,’ Carter replied blandly.

‘If you call what we wear “dressed,”’ Ceri said. The uniform dresses at the Dragon could barely be called dresses, but she was used to it by now.

‘Let’s not go into the special event costumes,’ Lily added, ‘and your recent fetish for body paint.’

Carter was entirely unabashed. ‘When one gets to a certain age, one finds every opportunity to ogle nubile, naked young women. It’s just one of those things.’

‘It’s true,’ Alec agreed. Ceri did not exactly know old the werewolf was, but she did know he was older than Carter by a couple of decades at least.

‘Bollocks,’ Cheryl stated. ‘The pair of you are perfectly happy to ogle me and I’m neither young nor nubile.’

‘You’re younger than we are,’ Alec pointed out.

‘And I recall a fair bit of nubility,’ Lily said. ‘Is that a word? Nubileness?’ Cheryl’s cheeks turned scarlet.

‘I feel left out,’ Ceri said, grinning to show she was kidding.

‘I’ll make sure you’re not later,’ Lily replied blandly. Ceri did not blush; when you lived with a half-succubus people thought you were sleeping with her even when you were not. Now that she was she felt no reason to be embarrassed about it. ‘I even brought a gag so you wouldn’t keep everyone awake,’ Lily added. That brought a little colour to Ceri’s cheeks.

‘I hear you’re a TV star now, Ceridwyn,’ Carter said, rescuing her.

‘Well, Cheryl wasn’t here and they wanted someone to do a piece for the news,’ Ceri said.

‘She was great!’ Lily enthused.

Carter smiled indulgently. ‘Not something I would have expected from you this time last year. You’ve come a long way in a short time.’

‘I guess I have.’

‘It’s good practice,’ Cheryl commented, sipping her whiskey. ‘Once you’ve got your doctorate in November we’ll be looking to have you doing some lectures.’

Ceri went a little pale. ‘Lectures?’

‘Uh-huh, the Dean was quite keen on the idea.’ There was a round of laughter as Ceri groaned. ‘Oh and there’s the invitation to attend the Thaumatology Conference at Cambridge,’ Cheryl added. ‘They want you to give a speech on your thesis.’

Ceri hid her face in her hands. ‘Just kill me now.’

June 6th

Ceri pushed the final six-pin military connector into place on the collector and began screwing the hood down to seal the connection. It was mid-afternoon and they had pretty much all the equipment in place. This was the final cable, the heavy duty power cable which would take power from the collector and channel it to the transformer outside the circle. Standing, she followed the cable out through the stones, trying her best to ignore the fact that the vast columns of rock were there.

At the end of the thick, rubber coated line was a bulky box; the transformer. The name was a bit of a misnomer, well, an understatement. The transformer did transform the power from the collector, low voltage and high current, to mains supply voltages. These were then used to run a set of big lamps around the camp, and the computers in Cheryl’s tent. It also had an array of monitoring equipment built in which recorded vast amounts of information about the electricity coming down the line and the temperature at various points on the collector. She carried on past it, following thinner cables toward the small camp.

Yesterday night there had been two tents; Cheryl’s large one, and a much smaller one for Ceri and Lily. Now there were four. Brian and Ant had arrived in a van that morning just after Carter had left in his Aston. In the van, aside from the post-grads, were a large stock of cables, the transformer, the computers, and two girls. Trudy was a third year thaumatology student, and actually got most of what they were doing. Shelly, however, was doing applied witchcraft and herbal medicine, and had come to keep Ant company and because, well… Stonehenge! Lily had mumbled something about “bloody Neos” as soon as she had laid eyes on Shelly.

Right now the Four Minions, as Alec had christened them, were standing near Cheryl’s tent with their backs to Ceri. She could not figure out what had their attention so fixed until she got closer and could see past them. Lily was stretched out on a towel, sunbathing. At least she was wearing a swimsuit; two-piece and very brief, but it was there.

It was amusing; even the girls appeared to be mesmerised by the sight of the mostly naked half-succubus laid out in the sun. Then again, Ceri could understand it; she felt much the same. Lily’s parentage had gifted with unnaturally stunning looks. Her skin was smooth and flawless, her hair a mass of vibrant chestnut waves which fell down to past perfect breasts. Her waist was slim, her hips wide, and she somehow managed to look both incredibly fit and superbly soft at the same time. Clad in swimwear which consisted of a few patches of cloth held on with string, she was… distracting.

Ceri walked up to stand beside Brian, her eyes on Lily. The others did not even notice she was there until she spoke. ‘She’s here until Wednesday and the weather is forecast to be good all week.’ Four people suddenly discovered that they really needed to be doing something else, somewhere else, right now. Ceri giggled and walked up to stand over Lily.

‘You’re in my light.’ Lily said without opening her eyes.

‘I know.’ Ceri could feel it. Now that she was not concentrating on work, she realised that she had been feeling Lily’s warm contentment for a while. There was a link between them, not really telepathic, more like an emotional bond. It was part of the binding which Ceri had performed on Lily earlier that year to make Lily into her bound demon. It was two way, Lily could feel what Ceri felt too.

‘Then move.’ Deep, black eyes opened and looked up into Ceri’s blue ones. ‘Unless you want to go in the tent and put the gag in?’

Smirking, Ceri moved out of Lily’s sunlight, getting a pout for her effort. ‘It’s time to power up and see whether this thing actually works,’ she said. ‘We can save the gag for celebrating later.’

‘I’m going to hold you to that.’

‘Oh? You brought cuffs too?’

Lily closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax entirely. ‘The arm binder,’ she replied.

Giggling, Ceri turned and headed off to Cheryl’s tent. Stepping in through the unzipped flap, she grinned at her boss and said, ‘It’s all ready if you want to power it up.’

Cheryl grinned back. Getting used to her boss in a pair of denim shorts and a slightly baggy T-shirt had been a bit of a wrench. Brian and Ant had been a bit dopy about that too. Field trips were a real eye-opener. ‘It was your idea,’ Cheryl said, nodding at the laptop.

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, ‘um, okay.’ She tapped a key to bring the machine out of its sleep mode and then punched up the control software for the transformer unit. There was a nerve racking pause while it negotiated communications and then… ‘Okay, instrumentation seems to be functioning. The temperature’s a little high, but that’s probably the sun.’ Her finger hovered over the mouse button. ‘Enabling power feed… now.’ She tapped the key.

There was an almost immediate response; digital readouts climbed rapidly, a graph showing power output from the collector began tracing upward, and the laptop’s screen brightened as it suddenly got a mains voltage power supply through. Ceri waited, watching the readouts for any signs of instability.

‘Well?’ Cheryl said when Ceri had said nothing for over a minute.

‘Temperature is stable at thirty degrees Celsius. Power output is holding at five hundred watts with current load, no signs of instability.’ Ceri looked up and grinned. ‘So far, so good.’

‘Let’s turn the lights on outside,’ Cheryl suggested, ‘put a bit more load on it, and then soak test it until tonight. We can review the data tomorrow and decide on the next round of tests.’

Nodding, Ceri headed out into the sunlight again. ‘Brian, Ant,’ she yelled, ‘go ‘round and turn the lights on, please.’ On hearing some affirmative sounding replies, she headed back in to watch the readouts.

The six big lights, mounted on six-foot poles, had been chosen because they required a fair amount of power to run and Ceri could see the output jumping upward as each of them was switched on. ‘Over a kilowatt and no sign of instability,’ she said. ‘Two kilowatts… three and a half. That’s all the load we’ve got currently. No temperature increase and steady current. Recorders are all active. Now we just wait.’

‘Excellent,’ Cheryl said. ‘Well I have a supply of trashy romance novels to read and a dozing werewolf in the sleeping compartment. What are you going to do?’

Ceri smiled. She could feel a warm, happy demon outside. ‘I’m going to get Lily to put sun screen on my back.’

~~~

Between them, it turned out, Alec and Shelley were remarkably good cooks. Ceri was glad to discover that the wiccan was going to be good for something during her stay, because she certainly knew nothing about the theory behind the magic she was studying.

The little scientific team ate as the sun was going down, around nine pm, gathered around in a circle outside Cheryl’s tent. The light from the big lamps meant that the twilight was having no effect on the camp, which was now very quiet with all the tourists gone for the day.

‘How are the results coming?’ Alec asked as he sat down with his large bowl of stew.

‘Within expected parameters,’ Cheryl replied in her best lecturer voice.

‘She means it’s working and there haven’t been any problems or surprises,’ Ceri elucidated.

‘Kind of boring,’ Alec replied. ‘I mean, not that I wish any problems on you, but doesn’t that kind of make the rest of the week superfluous?’

‘Oh no,’ Cheryl said. ‘We have extra load to add, and Brain and Ant will be conducting a detailed survey of the thaumic levels around the circle, and out beyond it.’

‘I thought they had those,’ Lily commented.

‘The last survey was done about eight years ago, love,’ Ceri said. ‘The instruments we have now are far more sensitive. Plus, I want to get a slit-scan array pointed at the catalysis core and see if we can determine how this thing generates its power. That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow.’

‘Well,’ Alec said, ‘I have to admit I’m enjoying the fresh air.’

‘It’s great, isn’t it?’ Shelley piped up.

‘I might just go for a run later,’ Alec mused.

‘You’re, um, a werewolf, sir?’ Ant asked. The slight nervousness in his voice suggested that he had not met many.

‘Yep,’ Alec replied, ‘and don’t call me “sir.” I feel old enough as it is with all you young humans around without being called “sir.”’

‘So not a young human,’ Lily said.

‘No, you’re a young pest.’

‘Pet,’ Lily replied without a second’s hesitation. ‘Young pet. There’s no “s”.’

You could tell the separation of the team then. Ceri, Alec and Cheryl laughed while the younger ones looked slightly uncomfortable, and Trudy looked at Lily with a perplexed expression.

‘Sorry,’ Trudy said, ‘I thought you were just, well, a model or something. What are you?’

‘Half-succubus,’ Lily explained. ‘My father was an incubus.’

‘And you call yourself a pet?’

Lily shrugged. ‘Well I am. The demon side of a half-demon is quite often dominant. When Ceri turned out to be a pretty powerful magician, I fixated on her. It’s either I be her pet, and we convince my demon to play nice or I’d be constantly trying to dominate her.’

‘Which is not half as much fun as it sounds,’ Ceri added, noting the slightly eager expressions on Brian and Ant. ‘I screwed that up for a couple of days and the both of us were miserable.’

Lily nodded. ‘It’s much better this way. I actually have more control over myself because my demon knows Ceri’s in charge.’ They were keeping up the illusion that it was basically play acting for everyone. Binding a half-demon was illegal; the penalty was not worth thinking about. But the other option had been Lily going very bad indeed under the influence of her father, so they had done it by mutual consent. Also by mutual consent they had told no one outside their house.

Trudy was blonde and attractive, and pretty smart. She had likely never had to do anything in her life which she did not want to do. She lifted her head slightly, straightening her back. ‘I don’t think I could ever be someone’s pet,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe anyone should be owned.’ Brian, Ceri thought, had better take note. Though looking at him she figured that Trudy had already made sure he knew.

Lily seemed entirely oblivious to the slight insult implied by Trudy’s comment, and the note of condescension. ‘That’s because you’re human,’ she said happily. ‘You were brought up by liberal parents in a modern environment and you think your viewpoint should apply to everyone. It doesn’t matter what they think because, while you say you believe in freedom, what you actually believe in is that you’re right and everyone should agree with you.’

Ceri nodded. ‘Humans make me sick half the time.’

‘You are a human, kid,’ Alec pointed out.

‘Not when I’m a werewolf.’ Ceri smirked at him. ‘I’ve stood and listened to people talking about me in wolf-form and Michael’s had to hold me back.’ Alec shrugged slight, conceding the point.

‘I’m a demon,’ Lily said. ‘Part demon anyway. That gives me an entirely different view on things. It’s taken me years to realise that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but aside from that demons have a mind-set which focuses on power. We either want it, or we want the most powerful person around to be our patron. And since my demon side is succubus in nature, I’d really prefer to be someone’s slave.’ Trudy blinked at her. ‘It’s in the name.’

‘Succubare,’ Ceri explained. ‘It’s Latin for “to lie under.” The definition goes through a late Latin word, “succuba,” which means, um, “strumpet” is probably the best word.’

‘I’m a demon hooker,’ Lily said, giggling.

‘Most humans wouldn’t find that funny,’ Alec commented.

‘No,’ Trudy agreed.

‘I didn’t mean that reflected well on the humans,’ Alec added.

‘Thing is,’ Lily said, ‘what’s important is being comfortable about yourself. If you’re constantly trying to change to meet other people’s expectations or, worse, you’re constantly expecting people to change to meet yours, you’re not actually being liberal or civilised, or whatever the latest fad word for forcing your views down other people’s throats is.’ Her smile turned a little mischievous. ‘Besides, you’ve no idea what you’re missing out on.’ Trudy’s cheeks went scarlet; Lily had put just the right amount of “and I’d love to show you” into the sentence.

‘Don’t tease, love,’ Ceri said softly. Aside from anything else, Brian was looking like his head might explode.

Lily, however, pouted and said, ‘Yes, Mistress.’ Trudy’s eyes bulged; clearly she was an easy wind-up.

‘That’s quite enough of that, young lady,’ Cheryl said to the half-succubus. ‘I need my staff rested and ready for work in the morning, not waking up every hour after dreaming about you.’

Alec, leaned slightly closer to Cheryl and gave a little, throaty growl. ‘I love it when you go all teacher on people.’

‘Not helping,’ Cheryl sing-songed, her cheeks colouring.

‘Did you bring the ruler and the gymslip?’ Alec added.

‘You’re all terrible!’ Cheryl exclaimed and Alec grinned broadly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Tanya was, by now, squirming. Ceri noticed that Shelly was staying quiet and trying to look innocent. It was always the quiet ones.

Ceri rose to her feet. ‘I’m going to go check on the readouts now the sun is down,’ she said, and turned to head off to Cheryl’s tent. By the time she was pushing in through the flap, Lily was with her. ‘I’d be back in a minute,’ she said, smiling.

‘I know, but we’re going to be apart for two whole nights at the end of the week.’ Standing beside the laptop, Lily curled her arms around Ceri’s waist and snuggled against her back; not getting in the way just making her presence known.

Ceri tapped the display into life and examined the readouts. The collector’s temperature had dropped by five degrees with the loss of solar heating, but there was no sign of any instability in the output. ‘So far so good,’ she said.

‘Good,’ Lily said, kissing the nape of Ceri’s neck. A shiver ran straight down Ceri’s spine to settle in her groin.

‘Friday and Saturday night are going to be damn hard,’ Ceri said softly.

‘For me too,’ Lily replied.

Ceri chuckled softly. ‘You aren’t addicted…’

‘Yes I am,’ Lily interrupted her. ‘Succubi are commonly addicted to sex. I’ve avoided it, more or less, even before I met you… And then I just let it happen because it was you.’

‘Oh.’ Unsure what to say, Ceri eventually said, ‘Well, you can always go find someone to have a fling…’

‘No I can’t’

‘Why not?’

‘Because you’re going to order me not to.’

‘I’m what?!’ Ceri turned in Lily’s arms, leaning back slightly so she could look at her friend without crossing her eyes. ‘Why in widder’s name would I do that?’

‘Because I want you to, of course. I don’t want my stupid instincts getting the better of me and having some stupid one night stand because I’m horny.’ The sincerity in Lily’s black eyes was almost a surprise.

‘Okay then,’ Ceri said, ‘I order you, as your Mistress, not to indulge yourself.’ Lily smiled almost childishly. ‘Unless,’ Ceri added, and Lily’s expression became surprised, ‘Michael comes over. You can indulge yourself with him.’ Michael was, technically, Ceri’s mate, but since he had to share her with Lily, she was of the opinion that she had to share him with Lily in turn. ‘Just if he visits mind, you’re not allowed to go looking for him.’

Lily grinned and leaned forward, her soft lips grazing Ceri’s. ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ she breathed. The kiss deepened, Lily’s tongue sliding out to tease at Ceri’s. Another shiver ran down Ceri’s spine and joined its friend where they became a tingle.

Breaking the kiss, Ceri mumbled, ‘We should go back to the others.’

‘Mmhmm,’ Lily replied, but her lips closed in again. She always tasted so good. The tingle grew into a gentle throb.

‘Maybe… a quickie,’ Ceri groaned.

June 7th

‘I love your ankle chain.’ Ceri looked around from setting up the third thaumometer column to find Shelly standing behind her. ‘Lily has one too, doesn’t she?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri replied. ‘They were a present from our other housemate.’

‘They’re fae silver?’

‘Well, she’s a fairy,’ Ceri said, grinning.

Shelly’s eyes widened. ‘You live with a fairy and a half-demon?’

This time Ceri laughed. ‘And two nights a week I turn myself into a wolf-girl and spend the night with my werewolf mate. Just a normal girl, I am.’

Shelly giggled and looked around the circle. ‘I’ve never been into this place before. They don’t allow tourists among the stones.’

‘No, I know. They haven’t for a while, even when I was a kid.’

‘But you’ve been in here before, right? Inside the circle.’

‘Yes, last Winter Solstice, but I’m not allowed to talk about it. You can feel it though, can’t you? The power?’

Shelley nodded. ‘Magic feels easier here, like it would flow better.’

‘It’s high enough here that even norms can cast if they know how. That’s why the Neo-pagans practice here at the Summer Solstice.’

‘I saw your piece on the evening news before we came out here,’ Shelly said. ‘We really can’t build things like this anymore?’

‘No.’ Ceri plugged in a final connector. ‘People have tried building replicas, but either the catalysis effect is positional, or there’s some sort of ritual or empowerment that’s required we simply don’t understand.’ She grimaced. ‘For all we know we have to sacrifice someone in the middle. I’m not sure we could go that far to generate power.’

‘What about the other sites?’ Ceri blinked at her. ‘Well, there’s nowhere with the kind of power output Stonehenge has, but there are a few other monuments with raised thaumic levels, right? Maybe you could… do this stuff to them.’

‘Uh, like?’ Ceri asked.

‘Well, locally there’s Woodhenge. It’s not exactly very hot, but it still has a slightly raised level. Um… Avebury! That’s north of here, you must have heard of that.’

‘Yeah, I’ve heard of Avebury. You’re right, that does have an elevated level.’ Ceri looked thoughtfully at Shelly. ‘Do you know how to use a digital thaumometer?’

‘Uh, well, no, not really.’

‘Want to learn?’

~~~

‘She seemed rather keen,’ Cheryl commented as she stared over Ceri’s shoulder at the real-time display from the thaumometer rig Ceri had set up around the collector.

‘Shelly? Yeah, she did.’

‘What was it you sent her off to do?’

Ceri tapped in a series of commands to filter the thaumic field display they were looking at. ‘She’s doing a survey of the field strength around one of the other local monuments, Woodhenge. It’s not too far away and she says it has an elevated field level. I think she was happy she could do something scientific to show off the awesome skills of ancient people.’

Cheryl waved a hand vaguely at the screen. ‘Well, awesome is about right. I admit I don’t understand it. There’s obviously some mechanism which is catalysing T-Null decay… It’s almost like the polar field effect you discovered in were-creatures. A huge up-thrust of positive thaumitons rising from the centre of the circle.’

‘Yeah, but Stonehenge isn’t a living thing,’ Ceri replied. ‘There are no moving parts, there’s no electrical activity, there’s no obvious way that plume could be generated.’

‘Have you detected anything about the stone formation which would account for it?’

Ceri shook her head. ‘I had time to take a look at the stones at the Solstice. The field flows around them, but there’s no real evidence that they are responsible for it.’ She frowned thoughtfully. ‘They may focus it, I’m not sure.’ Straightening from examining the display, she walked to the tent flap and, pulling it open, looked out at the huge stones. ‘The plume, is it the same diameter all the way up?’

Cheryl’s fingers flicked over the keyboard. ‘No. The field lines appear to be spreading from the ground upward.’

‘Which means, if we take the analogy of the Chakral Median, that the actual power generation pole is buried under the circle,’ Ceri mused. ‘The primary flow is definitely contained mostly within the circle. It bulges where the stones have fallen. I can’t wait to see the map the boys are creating. I bet you the external field strength is greater on the south west side.’

Cheryl laughed. ‘Do you actually believe I’d bet against you on something like that?’

‘Not if you wanted to win.’ Ceri looked back and grinned.

~~~

‘This is excellent work,’ Cheryl said, ‘all of you.’ The little nod she gave to Shelly produced a beaming smile. ‘So, Ceri was right and the stones seem to act as a containment system rather than producing the energy.’

‘How do you work that out?’ Trudy asked, looking down at the map Cheryl had spread on the table with all the carefully marked field levels dotted over it.

‘You see the way the field is stronger to the south west of the circle?’ Cheryl asked.

‘Which is where there’s a big gap in the stones,’ Trudy said, realisation dawning.

‘Exactly.’

Ceri was busy examining the markings Shelley had added to the map. Off to the east of Stonehenge where the enigmatic location known as Woodhenge lay, there was a noticeable spike in thaumic activity. ‘You’re absolutely sure about these figures, Shelly?’

The young witch looked a little uncertain. ‘I did everything just like you showed me,’ she said. ‘I took positional measurements and thaumic readings at each point, and I double checked each of them, and I walked a five pace grid, just like you said.’

Ceri nodded and pointed at a point on the measurements on the west-south-west side. ‘See here, the readings are consistently slightly higher?’

‘An error in the readings?’ Brian suggested.

‘A ley line?!’ Shelly squeaked excitedly.

‘A subterranean one, I suspect,’ Ceri said, nodding at Shelly. ‘However, since experimental error is possible, and I suspect there could be more evidence, I want the four of you to go over there tomorrow and take readings from that henge back toward this one.’ She looked at the readings and sucked on her teeth. ‘I’d say about a ten yard path should do it’

Ant patted his girlfriend on the shoulder. ‘We’ll turn you into a scientist yet,’ he said, grinning.

‘She’s quite happy being a witch,’ Ceri said. ‘Mind you, I think most practitioners can benefit from a little knowledge of the theory behind it all.’ She grinned at Shelly. ‘I know I do.’

‘That is because you theorise your way through all your spells,’ Cheryl said.

‘Carter taught me some,’ Ceri said, pouting a little, ‘and I learned a few on the PPC course, and Alexandra taught me some healing magic. It’s not like I make it up as I go along.’ Cheryl looked at her. ‘All the time,’ Ceri added sheepishly.

‘All right,’ Cheryl said, smirking, ‘there’s an hour or so before dinner so do what you wish for a while. We’re getting really good results from this. Well done.’

Ceri walked out of the tent and a few yards from the camp, looking out at the stones. Her Sight showed her the swell of the magic field, as it had done before the Solstice, and when she had been inside it, held by a demon-werewolf and waiting to discover whether she was to die or not.

She felt Lily behind her before her demon’s arms encircled her waist. ‘You’re sad,’ Lily whispered, her mouth close to Ceri’s ear.

‘Not sad… exactly. I was thinking about Remus.’

‘Huh,’ Lily grunted in reply.

‘I know it’s crazy, but I feel sorry for him.’

‘It’s not that crazy. He wasn’t the one had you tortured. He even had you healed afterward.’

‘He actually respected me,’ Ceri said, ‘and the Order still doesn’t.’

‘No, they’re just scared you’ll out them as a scheming bunch of pacted nutters bent on taking over the country.’

That got a giggle out of Ceri. ‘True. And it’s not like I respect them.’

‘Nor should you. Anyone dumb enough to form a pact with a demon doesn’t deserve respect.’

‘What about binding a half-succubus?’

‘That,’ Lily replied, ‘deserves respect. We’re harder to bind than a normal succubus, and succubi are among the stronger forms of basic demon.’ Ceri had to admit she was right. It had taken a huge amount of power to perform the binding ritual on Lily, half-demon or not. The wizards who had bound succubi in the seventies had to have been really determined.

‘Y’know,’ Lily went on, ‘there’s something a bit weird about the magic around here.’

‘There is?’

‘Yeah, it feels… different. C’mon, let’s go ask Alec something.’ She let go of Ceri’s waist and started back toward the tents with a slightly bewildered Ceri following behind her.

Alec and Shelly were busy around a portable stove making burgers. Shelly was shaping minced beef into thick discs for Alec to cook. Lily ignored the mouth-watering smells and got straight down to business. ‘Alec, what does this place smell of?’

The big man raised an eyebrow. ‘Right now? Cooking beef.’ He wiped at the corner of his mouth. ‘And I plan to be munching on some of it really soon, otherwise I may eat Shelly.’

Shelly studiously shaped burgers and tried not to look too embarrassed. Lily did not help. ‘I’m sure she’d love every minute, but I meant when you aren’t cooking.’

He paused, raising his head and sniffing. ‘Power,’ he said. ‘Demonic? No, not quite demonic. It’s… different. It’s a bit like…’ He lowered his head and looked at Ceri. ‘It’s a bit like the scent when you’re working magic.’

‘You can smell magic?’ Shelly asked.

‘They can smell the ionisation effects from discharged spells, magic fields, stuff like that,’ Ceri explained. ‘Thaumitons are charged particles and they can affect gas molecules in the atmosphere.’

‘Humans can smell it too,’ Alec said. ‘We’ve got more sensitive noses so we can sense it at lower levels.’

Shelly passed over another burger. ‘You know, now you mention it, if I work a lot of magic in my room the place smells of…’ She trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

‘Ozone, usually,’ Ceri said, ‘a bit like the seaside.’

‘Yeah, that’s it.’

‘Different types of magic smell a little different,’ Alec explained. There was a sizzle as he dropped the latest chunk of meat onto a pan.

‘For me,’ Lily said, ‘they feel different. Demons can actually detect magic around them, all I get is a feeling, but this place feels different.’

Ceri frowned thoughtfully. ‘Thanks, Alec.’ She started off toward Cheryl’s tent.

‘Take a burger with you,’ he said. ‘There’s buns on the table in the tent.’

Nodding distractedly, Ceri picked up a plate with food on and wandered off. Alec thought the circle smelled like her magic, and Lily obviously thought it felt similar. Had Stonehenge been erected by a sorcerer, or empowered by one? If it had, how could she prove it? This was going to be difficult. Especially without revealing what she was to everyone.

June 8th

The late night air was still warm, but now there was a crisp element to it; a hint of grass on the breeze coming from the north west. Ceri stood at the edge of the inner circle, her mind working through what she wanted to do.

The idea was simple enough; adjust her sight so that she could see through the packed earth beneath her feet. She was sure that the source of the magic field was down there, buried under soil which had remained undisturbed for millennia. In practice, her knowledge of Earth magic was not that great so she was having to work from first principles. The magic field was strong here, she could use that like light…

Concentrating, she focussed her Sight, willing it to new levels of resolution as she peered downward into the ground. At first there was nothing but earth, packed by centuries of footfalls. She kept looking, altering her depth of focus and sweeping the area. Then it appeared.

She gasped at the sight. Perhaps twenty yards down, beneath the centre of the circle and right under the collector, was a skull. About five feet in length, it had a long snout and jaw, wide eye sockets, and it housed a set of six-inch teeth which could have bitten a horse in half. At first she thought it was a dinosaur skull, but as she focussed harder she realised that it was no fossil. This was bone, the muzzle pointed upward toward the sky.

‘It’s a bloody dragon skull,’ she murmured.

‘Under the circle?’ Ceri jerked around at the sound of Alec’s voice. He was standing a few feet away, watching her, and he was naked.

Keeping her eyes firmly on his face, she said, ‘Yeah. Buried way down, but it’s there. You gave me a shock.’

‘Sorry. I was going out for a run and I saw you standing over here.’

Ceri’s hand drifted to her throat and the silver-studded leather collar fixed around it. ‘I was planning to do the same. Once I’d finished.’

‘You finished? I wouldn’t say no to the company.’

‘Okay.’ She reached for the hem of the loose shirt she was wearing and then stopped. ‘Uh… you’ve never seen me in fur before, have you?’

‘No, but… Oh! Alexandra mentioned the black fur. It’s okay. I guess if I’d just seen it I might have been a little… upset, but she’s right, if anyone deserves it, you do.’ Before she could say anything in response, he shifted. There was a fraction of a second, perhaps even a trick of vision, where Alec’s human form and wolf form occupied the same space, and then there was just the huge, black-furred wolf-man. Werewolves came in three basic colours. Greys were the most common, though brown was seen in increasing numbers due to interbreeding with humans. Those of the purest blood were black.

Ceri pulled her shirt off trying not to blush at being topless in front of Alec. It was just going to get worse; turning her back, she pushed denim shorts off her hips, dropped them to the ground, and reached up to touch her collar. Her skin tingled as the magic enveloped and reshaped her, and she turned back to look at Alec through eyes which could barely see colour, but could see much better in the dark.

Alec rumbled at her. Good wolf.

Thanks, she growled back. She twitched her head off toward the north, he nodded back, and then they were running.

One of the things she loved about turning wolf was being able to run. Michael would take her running through Battersea Park at least one night a week, chasing rabbits or just for the sake of it. Other wolves would join them, and then peel off on their own fun-runs; it was exciting and enjoyable. Running with Alec was different, but they had the huge expanse of the Salisbury Plain to lope over; Ceri was thoroughly enjoying herself as they ran past Larkhill, carried on north, and eventually ran into a thicket of trees and scrub bushes.

Panting, her tongue hanging out, Ceri came to a stop leaning against a tree and Alec pulled up beside her, rumbling the wolf equivalent of laughter. Good run. You fine wolf.

Ceri had learned not to giggle in wolf form; it came out really wrong. She gave her own rumble of laughter instead and tried to regain control of her breathing. Perhaps it was that lack of breath control that stopped her recognising the scent earlier. As it was, Alec had moved close enough that his breath was gently ruffling the fur on her cheek before she smelled his arousal. She knew he found her attractive. He had made that plain on several occasions, and in wolf form his instincts were more in control than his head. That was the big difference between Ceri and a real werewolf; she took the physical form, but her mind stayed fully human. Coming out with him had been stupid; seeing her like this was only going to make his attraction worse…

His big hand gripped her left hip and his muzzle touched hers. She realised he was trembling, struggling to stop himself from giving in to a desire he had had for almost a year. If she told him to stop, she suspected he would, but… The scent of her own arousal was apparent to her now, and it had to be filling his nose too. The silver ankle chain she wore had the effect of increasing her libido and, if she were honest, the thought of being taken by Alec had strayed through her mind more than once. She gave a soft whine. She could stop this any time; just say “no” and he would let her go…

Slowly, tentatively, she turned her back on him and leaned against the tree. His hands gripped her hips and she tilted them back. Werewolves were not big on foreplay.

~~~

‘I hope you kept some for me,’ Lily said softly as Ceri slipped into the tent, dumping her shirt and shorts in a corner. Of course, she would have felt it. ‘How was he?’

Ceri dropped down beside her with a sigh. ‘Big,’ she said, ‘and kind of urgent.’

‘It’s okay you know. I don’t mind. It might even have got that out of his system. Ever since you burned Remus the main desire I’ve felt from him has been getting between your legs. When Cheryl’s not around anyway.’

Ceri managed a half-hearted giggle. She was feeling guilty and Lily knew it. However, she had known Lily would be fine with it; Lily understood lust better than anyone Ceri knew. It was Cheryl she was feeling guilty about. Still, it was her last night with Lily before her and Alec had to head off until Sunday. ‘Get the gag and some restraints out,’ she said. ‘I deserve some mistreatment.’

Lily beamed at her and reached for a bag.

~~~

It was mid-afternoon and Ceri found herself alone in the small camp with Cheryl. The morning had been a rush of planning meetings with the survey crew before sending them off to map Woodhenge’s magic field. With them gone, by unspoken arrangement, the two thaumatologists had quietly retired to their tents to say a proper farewell to their partners. So it was around three o’clock before they got a chance to talk.

‘So there’s a dragon skull under the circle?’ Cheryl said.

‘Uh-huh. Big one. It must have been there since… well, before the circle was built.’

Cheryl walked, a little stiffly, to a pile of documents she had brought with her and leafed through them. ‘Well, the first phase of development here was a ditch and bank enclosure they dated to thirty-one hundred BC.’

‘That’s about the time of the Neolithic Flare, right?’ Archaeologists believed that there had been a flare of thaumic activity, the origin unknown, around 3000 BC which had continued through well into the Bronze Age. They had named it the Neolithic Flare because that date was around the middle of the Neolithic period in Britain.

‘Yes, though I admit my palaeo-thaumatology isn’t that great. A group could have discovered a slight increase in thaumic level here and built the circle to mark it, I guess.’

‘I don’t suppose you know any palaeo-thaumatologists?’ Ceri lent her behind on the table to rest her legs, winced, and stood up again.

‘Oxford has a fairly large group,’ Cheryl replied. ‘Peter Mallow is probably our best bet for dragons. Technically not his area, but I know he’s been collaborating with the Chinese and someone in Aberystwyth on a study of ancient dragons. Some of them might be able to explain how part of a dead dragon’s skeleton is generating magic. Maybe.’ She put down her papers and walked toward one of the chairs, settling down with a sigh.

‘You’re, um, a bit stiff,’ Ceri commented.

‘No, I’m a bit sore,’ Cheryl replied wryly, ‘and you’re looking a bit tender.’

‘I, uh, felt like I needed punishing last night and Lily obliged.’ Ceri’s lips quirked. ‘Quite enthusiastically, actually.’

‘Interesting. Alec came back from his run last night… unusually horny.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said flatly.

Cheryl smirked. ‘It’s all right, he told me what happened. I don’t mind, you know. It would be horribly hypocritical of me to be annoyed. I sleep with Alec and Carter, occasionally at the same time, Carter sleeps with other women and that doesn’t bother me. Why should Alec getting some tail bother me?’

‘Well…’ She was right, of course, it was just that guilt and logic were never great bedfellows.

‘It’s you and you’re bothered about sleeping with a friend’s boyfriend?’ Cheryl suggested.

‘Yeah, that.’

‘Considering the rather odd relationships we both have, dear, I think I’d rather prefer he slept with a friend than a complete stranger.’ Cheryl looked a little surprised at her own comment, but equally fairly sure she was right. ‘Besides, I think you were more of an appetiser.’ Grinning, she looked up at Ceri. ‘How was he?’

Ceri blushed. ‘Well, you know werewolves…’

‘Actually, I’ve only had the one.’

‘Ah, well, they heard of foreplay and thought it was a great idea for humans. I don’t know what he’s like in skin, but I know Michael’s learned to be a bit more… thoughtful in man-form. He’s still all animal passion when we’re furry and Alec was the same.’

‘You didn’t enjoy it?’ Cheryl sounded a little disappointed.

‘Oh of course I did! It’s just different. It’s a good job I’ve got the enhanced senses and the anklet, gets me worked up before they even start. I don’t know if it’s different for she-wolves, real ones, but I get the feeling they just get on all fours and let the males get on with it a lot.’ She frowned thoughtfully. ‘Maybe that’s why the orgies are popular. I know they function as a group bonding exercise as well. The North Hills barely ever stay at High Towers without us all ending up shagging in the lounge. The Battersea pack doesn’t do it so much, not in huge numbers anyway, but there’s more casual sex than you’d get among a group of humans.’

Cheryl smiled. ‘I envy you.’

‘Why?’

‘Being able to transform like that, join in and research their behaviour from the inside. That night you changed me for Alec’s birthday? It was enormous fun. We didn’t just have sex all night. He took me running, like you suggested, and he taught me a little werewolf, and I got a little glimpse of what his life is like. It’s… Looking at the world through different eyes is always informative.’

Ceri looked at her for a second. ‘Come with me,’ she said and turned to walk out of the tent. A few seconds later, preceded by some groans, Cheryl joined her. ‘Okay,’ Ceri said, suppressing a smirk at Cheryl’s discomfort, ‘just hold still and keep your eyes on the stones.’ She reached out and put her hand on Cheryl’s brow, concentrating on the energy flows within Cheryl’s body. Ceri sensed things through the Ajna node on her Chakral Median. The tiny concentration of energy existed at the back of the head, roughly level with the forehead and was one of the three points which formed the spirit. Its effects manifested both as physical sensation and, when she wanted it to, visual information, but the sense was metaphysical and all Ceri had to do was sensitise Cheryl’s Chakral Ajna and…

Cheryl gasped as the world Ceri saw suddenly opened up before her. Energy flowed up from the centre of the circle, spread out as it rose, and then flowed back to the stones where it seemed to almost boil around them. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘This is what you see all the time?’

‘When I want to anyway,’ Ceri said softly. She lifted her hand away from Cheryl’s head, it’s work done, but Cheryl caught it, squeezing gently.

‘Thank you. Can I keep it for a while?’

Grinning, Ceri said, ‘I can keep it going for a while, yes.’

Beaming, Cheryl started off toward the stones, her stiffness apparently forgotten as she saw the huge construct before her in a way she never had before.

~~~

The mapping results were clear, and Shelly was apparently a good cook even without Alec to help.

‘So we’ve established that Stonehenge is feeding Woodhenge via a subterranean ley line,’ Cheryl said. ‘The mapping seems obvious given what Ceri found under the circle. The line from that to the centre of the henge is as perfect as we can get with this technology.’

‘A dragon skull.’ Shelly almost breathed the words. Well, it would be right up her alley.

‘Dragons disappeared a long time ago, right?’ Brian said.

‘Well there are rumours of them turning up in all the higher magical periods,’ Trudy said. It was something of a surprise coming from her. ‘There was one skeleton found at a dig site in Anglesey about ten years ago, but the skull was badly crushed. However, even that had a very slight effect on the thaumic field level around it. They dated that to about thirty-two thousand years ago, just about the end of the Toba Flare period.’ She realised everyone was looking at her and grinned sheepishly. ‘I did a first year course in archaeology.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘So, how did they date it?’

‘Oh, there’s a spell they use. It takes hours to delve back and find information about really old stuff, and usually they just get very basic information about it. Kind of psychometry.’

Ceri nodded. ‘I guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow. I think finding out when the thing was put there could be important.’

‘What are we doing?’ Brian asked.

‘We’re going to reconfigure the collector,’ Cheryl said. ‘Having mapped out the flow of energy, and seen it for myself, I’ve got some ideas about putting the nodes together in a different configuration to improve the power production.’

June 9th

Ceri’s eyes flew open and she managed to stifle a scream by main force. The nightmare was still bright in her mind and she struggled out of damp bedding to the tent’s entrance, yanking the zip up and crawling out into the dim light of the early morning. The sun was not up yet, but there was enough light in the sky to see the stones; there were no demons or soldiers. Her hand went to her throat and came back clean; it had been nothing more than a nightmare. She curled up in the breeze, her head on her knees, confident that no one else was likely to discover her out in the open at this time in the morning.

‘Can’t sleep?’ Ceri looked up to see Cheryl standing over her in a pair of lacy boy-shorts and a flimsy camisole top. So much for not being discovered.

‘I could ask the same.’

‘I haven’t been alone in bed for almost a week,’ Cheryl said with a wry grin. ‘I’m a little surprised, but I’m missing the company. I heard a noise…’

‘I get nightmares when I sleep alone.’

‘You do look a bit sweaty. Come on, you can do me a favour and sleep in my tent. Maybe we’ll both get better sleep.’

A little embarrassed to be nude in front of her boss, Ceri followed her back to the sleeping compartment in the big tent. They settled down under the blankets, facing away from each other. Ceri was certainly a little unsure about the arrangement, and she suspected Cheryl was, but she did feel more comfortable with a warm body beside her.

‘The nightmare?’ Cheryl asked, her voice quiet. ‘It was about what happened here last winter?’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri replied. ‘This one was pretty bad.’ She felt Cheryl turning around to face her.

‘I know it was something to do with demons, but I never really heard the details.’

Ceri turned onto her back with a sigh. Cheryl was looking at her. ‘Really, I’m not supposed to talk about it. The Ministry sent one of their people to see us and told us it was classified. The werewolves don’t want to talk about it anyway and every other human who was there is dead.’

‘All of them?’

‘The last one died in the spring. His friends killed him, tore his heart out of his chest.’

‘Some friends,’ Cheryl muttered. ‘If you can’t talk about it…’

‘Just don’t tell anyone,’ Ceri broke in. ‘Anyone. The only people who know some of this are Lily, Michael, and Twill.’ She looked at Cheryl, receiving a small, almost fearful, nod. ‘The events here last winter, and the trouble with the werewolves in London then, were caused by an ancient ghost. Remus, you know, the co-founder of Rome and all that? He’d been trying for centuries to get revenge for what he considered as his betrayal by his brother and humans in general. Somehow he became connected to a demon, Fenrir. The one from the Norse legends? The plan was to resurrect Fenrir, who would have control of all the werewolves and bring a year of intense winter.’

‘How did you get involved?’ Ceri was vaguely surprised that Cheryl was not more sceptical; the story sounded pretty crazy to her, and she had lived it.

‘Oh, various things. Alec had been trying to kill Remus since his pack was wiped out by Remus’ demon-wolves in the last war. Then when I got involved with the Battersea pack I met Alexandra and she told me I had to get involved. Otherwise Alec would get himself and the North Hills pack killed, and Remus would succeed. Why me? I have no idea. Maybe because I’m the first sorcerer to emerge this time around. I think I can do some things normal mages can’t. I had to use huge amounts of power to kill Remus, power I could only get by gathering it from the henge field and I don’t think a normal mage could do that.’

Cheryl was silent. So far Ceri had said nothing particularly bad and there was clearly more to come. Ceri swallowed and continued. ‘So, Alec went missing, I found out some stuff about Remus, and Lily and I went looking for Alec and the North Hills pack. I knew they’d been attacked and Alexandra told me they were tracking Remus. We found them. Sure enough, Remus was nearby, in some woods a little way from here with mercenaries and wizards guarding him during the day. Problem was, I had no idea how I was supposed to stop him. There was no way we could do it from the outside. They had us on numbers and strength. So… I gave myself up to Remus.’

‘You what?!’

‘Walked into his camp and gave myself up. My theory was that if I didn’t know how I was supposed to stop him, he wouldn’t and he’d keep me alive in case my death was what did it. It was a calculated risk.’

‘I suppose it paid off, you’re alive,’ Cheryl said, still sounding disbelieving.

‘Yeah, it worked. Crazy thing is that Remus was quite nice about it. He told me we were enemies and our fates were tied together. One of us was going to die on the Solstice so why should we be nasty about it. He said I was the only person he could be honest with. The wizards who were with him though, they were convinced I knew something which could stop him. The first day I was there, Magnus, the leader, had me tortured. Well… they cuffed me to a table and the mercenaries took turns at me.’

Cheryl’s hand came to rest on Ceri’s shoulder. It was a tentative gesture, but the look of pain in the thaumatologist’s eyes brought a tear to Ceri’s. ‘That’s what I have the nightmares about, usually,’ Ceri said. ‘Remus had me healed overnight, but… I guess I’m not as strong as some people think I am.’

‘No one’s that strong,’ Cheryl told her.

Ceri gave a little shrug and Cheryl’s hand squeezed her shoulder. ‘Anyway, come the night of the Solstice, Remus had all the mercenaries killed. I told them to get out before nightfall, but they wouldn’t listen. We went up to the circle and Remus started his ritual by slashing the throat of the mercenary leader. In tonight’s nightmare, I got raped, and then I took his place on the stone in the circle.’

‘Perhaps being here is making it worse?’

‘Maybe.’ Ceri replied. She hoped that was all it was.

‘How did you kill Remus?’

‘Oh, the only thing that could kill him was sunlight. I blasted him, making him shed his wolf form and try to escape as a ghost. Then I forced his ghost form to materialise and summoned up sunlight. He just burned away. Lily and the wolves turned up to take out the wizards. Everything worked out. There was much rejoicing.’

‘You… summoned sunlight?’

‘It’s not as hard as it sounds. Covering the whole circle and making him solid, that was harder. We’re talking hundreds of thaums, and I couldn’t have done it without the circle to provide the power.’

Cheryl smiled. ‘So the place he chose to power his ritual also proved his undoing. Have to love the poetic justice.’

‘I’m not sure justice had anything to do with it,’ Ceri replied. ‘What happened to Remus was wrong. What he was doing in reply was wrong. Me killing him was just a matter of survival and I’m paying for it.’

‘Turn over,’ Cheryl said, and when Ceri did she settled up against Ceri’s back, wrapping a slender arm around her. ‘Let’s get some sleep.’

Ceri chuckled softly. ‘Easy for you to say. Half the student body would like to be where I am now.’

Cheryl giggled, just as softly. ‘We both like guys… and Lily. Go to sleep.’

Ceri closed her eyes and tried to settle her mind. Telling Cheryl right now that she was not totally convinced of her sexuality was probably not the best idea.

~~~

‘It seems like it died at the end of the Toba Flare period,’ Ceri said. She was slumped in one of the camp chairs in Cheryl’s tent, looking tired. ‘The skull was brought here and buried at the time the first earthwork was created.’

‘To mark it?’ Shelly suggested.

‘That would be my guess.’ Ceri rubbed at the bridge of her nose and looked at Trudy. ‘You were right about it taking a long time. Eight hours! Eight hours I’ve been sat out there contemplating my navel.’

‘At least you got a date for it,’ Cheryl pointed out. ‘Now, the question is, did they mark it so they knew where to find it, or to warn people away from it?’

‘Huh.’ Ceri shrugged, not willing to worry about that now. ‘How did the reconfiguration go?’

‘Very well. We’re getting a seventy per cent efficiency improvement. Temperature is a little higher, but well within operational parameters. If we can work your ley line idea and beam power in direct like this, we should be able to build a really efficient transducer. Of course, it’ll need to be a lot bigger for what you have in mind.’

‘What do you have in mind, if you don’t mind me asking?’ Brian asked.

Ceri looked at Cheryl, who shrugged. ‘Tapping power off the German Rift,’ Ceri said. Brian’s mouth opened, and then closed again. Trudy blinked repeatedly. Ant just stood with his mouth open.

‘Right,’ Shelly said, ‘so form a ley line from the Rift just like the one the one feeding Woodhenge. Fire it into a big version of your collector and generate electricity. That’s genius!’

Ceri laughed. ‘It’s totally loony,’ she said, ‘but thanks for the vote of confidence. I don’t think anyone’s tried a metaphysical engineering project like this since they built Stonehenge. I’m not even sure it can be done. But if the collector system works then we might be able to get funding and resources to try building it. We would be looking at enormous quantities of free power.’

‘If you can build something like that,’ Brian said.

‘Yeah, if,’ Ceri agreed. She knew it was possible, she had seen it done, but she was not going to tell them how and besides, she did not know how Magnus and his team had actually formed the thing. She looked up at Cheryl. ‘So Boss, plans for tomorrow?’

Cheryl frowned. ‘Well, I think we’ve more or less covered everything that needs doing. Let’s sleep on it. If anyone can think of anything which needs doing by morning, we’ll do that. Otherwise we pack up, you young folks can head home, and Ceri and I will wait for the Sappers to turn up on Sunday.’

The only person who seemed unhappy about that was Shelly.

June 10th

Ceri opened her eyes. She could feel Cheryl’s body pressed against her back. For a thirty-something academic, the woman was pretty hot. Okay, so she was not really into girls, but… There was a fluttering in her stomach that worked its way down into her groin and sat there, gently throbbing. How much effort would it be to get Cheryl to come around. Ceri had learned a few things from Lily…

Lily. That was the reason for the sudden burst of lust. If she concentrated, she could sense the foreign thoughts. Well, not thoughts, feelings, sensations. The sensation of something thick and long sliding… Ceri gave a little whimper and her hips shifted involuntarily.

‘Cer’ you a’right?’ Cheryl mumbled, still half asleep. ‘Nightmare?’

‘No,’ Ceri said. ‘No, not a nightmare.’ She tried hard not to let out the groan which was threatening to burst out. Was this what Lily had felt like when Ceri had been with Alec? Damn! And Lily was on her own, she was sure of it.

‘Ah…’ Cheryl said, ‘different kind of dream.’ She giggled softly.

Ceri was not sure whether her cheeks were burning because she was embarrassed or because of what Lily was doing. There was a sensation like a wave of heating passing up her body from her groin, through her nipples, and into her head, and then she was relaxing again.

‘That was some dream.’ Cheryl sounded amused.

Ceri moaned and hid her face in the pillow. She was going to kill Lily when she got her hands on her.

~~~

No one had come up with anything overnight and by two in the afternoon everything had been disconnected, packed up, and Ceri and Cheryl were left on their own with only the two tents left in their camp. Together they had pushed the collector out of the centre of the circle so that the Royal Engineers would have a quicker job lifting it out on Sunday and then, with nothing much else to do, they had retired to Cheryl’s tent and opened a bottle of wine.

The voice from outside came as something of a surprise. ‘Hello! Is anyone here? I want to talk to someone about this experiment. Hello!’ The owner of the voice was male, and he sounded irritated.

Cheryl and Ceri looked at each other, shrugged, and then got up to go outside. A man was standing in the space between the two tents dressed in a grey sweatshirt, denim jeans, and black trainers. In his hand was a six-foot staff of twisted oak which was several inches taller than he was. He had a good sized, Roman nose, receding hairline, and a full beard which was shading from red to grey. His brown eyes took in the two women as they emerged from the tent and he immediately fixed on Ceri. ‘You! You’re in charge here, aren’t you? What are you doing? You can’t pollute this venerable site with your… your science!’

Ceri sagged; he was a Neo-pagan. It was Cheryl who spoke. ‘I’m in charge, actually. Doctor Cheryl Tennant. I’d appreciate it if you would calm down, there are people here for recreation and, if I’m not mistaken, you are not allowed in this part of the site except for designated dates. This is not one of those dates.’ It sounded like Cheryl was as keen on Neos as Ceri was.

‘Don’t give me that,’ the man snapped. ‘I have every right to be here. I want…’

‘Who are you?’ Ceri asked, interrupting him. She had found that that really irritated self-important people and she had a huge desire to irritate this man.

He glared at her; that had worked then. ‘Wilson Smythe, Third Rank Druid in…’

‘The Ancient Order of the Elder Druids,’ Ceri said with a sigh.

‘Third Rank, huh?’ Cheryl said. ‘That makes you important, doesn’t it? Perhaps you can help us.’ That surprised him. It got a raised eyebrow from Ceri too; the Druids were not noted for their scientific, or even rational, view on anything about Stonehenge. ‘We’re looking into the mechanism the circle uses to generate and contain thaumic energy. What do you know about the people who built it?’

Ceri managed to remain straight-faced; Cheryl was laying a trap. ‘Well,’ Smythe said, warming to his subject and obviously preening a little at being asked, ‘it was created by the ancient druids around five thousand years ago as a celebration of the beginning of Summer and to enhance their rituals.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Cheryl said, ‘and what rituals would they be performing?’

‘Harvest blessings, celebrations of the rising sun, the exact rituals vary each year of course and some are for members of the Order alone.’

Cheryl glanced at Ceri; her turn. ‘So, setting aside the fact that the druids focussed their activities in Wales around the Dark Age Flare a good three thousand years after the first structure here, how does the circle generate power?’

Smythe glared at her. ‘The ancient secrets of the order are known only to those…’

‘You don’t actually know?’ Ceri asked.

‘The positioning of the stones serves to amplify the natural magical field of…’

‘The stones form a containment circle,’ Ceri said. ‘They aren’t there to amplify anything. They’re supposed to stop it getting out.’

‘We’ll be publishing a note in the Journal of Thaumatology,’ Cheryl said. ‘It’s a fascinating discovery, really. Try to get a copy.’

Smythe’s mouth opened, but Ceri beat him to it. ‘You mean you’ve been coming here all these years and you haven’t seen the way the field behaves?’

‘Now,’ Cheryl said, before he could get another word in, ‘I think it’s best if you leave. Your rights to attend this site are restricted. It requires a licence to come here and I know you don’t have one. You wouldn’t want to cause an incident and have your Solstice licence revoked.’

The druid looked conflicted. He had come, or been sent, to “have words” with the thaumatologists who were “desecrating” their ancient ritual site and was being kicked off the land. Then again, Cheryl was right. Ceri watched as his anger turned into a surge in energy along his Chakral Median; he was preparing a spell.

‘Do you really want to add common assault to trespass?’

The confusion turned into another glare. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ The spell was still hanging, sitting in his mind like a toad under a rock.

‘That spell you’re hanging onto,’ Ceri said. ‘If you cast it I’ll be within my rights to defend myself. Since I don’t know what you’re attempting, my weapon of choice will be this.’ She raised her hand, showing him the ball of glowing, blue-white energy sitting in her palm. ‘I’ve blown the head off a Dakag demon with this, but I promise I’d aim for your limbs.’

The spell died in Smythe’s head and Ceri closed her hand, the energy evaporating. ‘I’ll speak to the Master about your conduct here,’ he said.

‘And I’ll be discussing yours with Malcolm Charles,’ Cheryl replied.

‘You know the Minister for Supernatural Affairs?’ The disbelief in Smythe’s voice was thick.

‘I’m having dinner with him on Monday evening to discuss our preliminary results,’ Cheryl replied blandly. She looked at Ceri. ‘Actually, considering the new information, I’ll wrangle you an invitation. Have you ever been to the Green Room?’

While the Jade Dragon was Carter Fleming’s best known and premiere club, the Green Room was his most prestigious. Part nightclub, part restaurant, it was known as a location where important, semi-social meetings took place. Ceri tried not to sound too shocked at the idea she might be invited to one of them. ‘No, I haven’t. That would be very nice.’

Fuming, Smythe turned on his heel and marched off across the grass.

Cheryl frowned. ‘They could be trouble,’ she said.

‘They’re harmless,’ Ceri replied.

‘They have more political clout than I like.’ The thaumatologist shrugged. ‘Never mind. Let’s get back to our wine.’

June 11th

The light hurt. Opening her eyes was a really bad idea, but the sun was beating down on the nylon tent and the temperature in the small sleeping cell was starting to become unbearable. Trying hard not to think about exactly why Cheryl was snuggled so tightly against her, and keeping her eyes as closed as she could while still being able to see, Ceri extracted herself from the bedding and crawled out into the main tent.

The air flow was better there and it was a bit cooler. She found a five gallon water container and managed to get enough out to splash some in her face. It was lukewarm, but it helped. Then she managed to locate a pack of painkillers and a bottle of water in a cool box. Two pills and the entire water bottle later, and after lying curled up on the groundsheet for twenty minutes, the pain in her head had subsided enough that she could face going back for her boss.

Cheryl groaned at her when she opened the flap. ‘You’ll need these,’ Ceri said, dropping the blister pack and a cool water bottle onto the air mattress beside her. Then she went to sit on one of the camp chairs with another bottle of water to sip.

It took about thirty minutes for Cheryl to emerge, naked and squinting. ‘That second bottle was a bad idea,’ she croaked.

‘There’s more water in the cool box,’ Ceri replied. She was actually starting to feel human again.

Cheryl retrieved another bottle and more or less fell into a chair facing Ceri. ‘Did we, um…?’

Ceri nodded. ‘It’ll come back to you.’

Cheryl frowned, winced, rubbed her forehead, and then tried to think without creasing her brow. ‘I remember pouring the last two glasses… and you saying something about most of the male students having fantasies about me…’

‘And you said that was silly,’ Ceri said, nodding and regretting it.

‘And you said it wasn’t and quite a lot of girls did too…’

‘Uh-huh, and then I took your shirt off.’ She looked down at the silver chain around her ankle. Stupid fae magic.

Cheryl giggled. ‘I haven’t had drunken sex since I was a student. At least it wasn’t with a student.’

Ceri joined her in the giggle. ‘Kind of silly of us though. You’re my boss, and you’re not really into girls, and…’

‘Something Carter told me,’ Cheryl interrupted, ‘and he really seemed to mean it. “Don’t have regrets.” As far as the university is concerned, you’re my assistant, but let’s face it, in practice you’re my friend and collaborator. It happened, I’m fairly sure I remember enjoying it, what’s the problem?’

Well, there was the question of what Carter had regrets about, but if Cheryl was okay with it… ‘Well,’ Ceri said, ‘my head hurts.’

‘So does mine,’ Cheryl replied, managing to giggle and wince at the same time.

‘And I’ll probably want to do it again sober,’ Ceri added. ‘We don’t have to, I’ll just want to. It’s this anklet. Well, that and the fact that you’re hot.’

Despite the fact that Cheryl did consider herself straight and fairly down to earth, she was still vain enough to preen a little at that. ‘I’m, uh, not saying I definitely wouldn’t…’

~~~

Ceri sat beside one of the big stones near the middle of the circle. It was out of sight of the tourists trooping along the viewing path, and fairly close to the skull buried beneath her. She was not exactly skilled at drawing, but she wanted to get the basic shape and as much detail as she could of the skull down on paper.

She looked down and then back up, comparing what she had on the page to the buried bone. The snout horn looked about right. She rubbed out the spikes coming from the back of the upper ridges and redrew them a little longer. The teeth looked sufficiently dagger-like and she thought she had captured the mean look the eye sockets were suggesting. She was no expert on anatomy, but the muscle mounts at the back of the jaw and the thick bone of the nose suggested that it had had a fearfully strong bite.

Dragons, western ones anyway, were thought to be extinct. In China it was a different matter. During the Shattering the Great Imperial Dragon, known as Huanglong, had awoken and proceeded to re-establish the Imperial state. While the Chinese empire, which now governed most of Asia as far west as the Caspian Sea, was technically run by the Imperial Bureaucracy, everyone knew that it was the dragons who were in charge. Hell, it was called the Dragon Empire. There had been some unsubstantiated sightings of a dragon, perhaps two, in Wales, and a report of one appearing in Ireland. The Sidhe, however, were not particularly keen on sharing news about happenings in Ireland, and the sightings in Wales had been distant ones, or from unreliable witnesses. If western dragons did still exist, they were keeping themselves to themselves.

She looked down one more time, peering into the deep sockets where huge, reptilian eyes had once sat. Tens of thousands of years dead, the creature still evoked a sense of awe, and fear. She felt oddly connected to the buried monster. Dragons had a bad reputation. They were supposed to be avaricious, cruel, scheming… But that felt wrong somehow. The thing down there in the ground, it felt like an old friend, a kindly uncle. ‘Or are you an aunt?’ she said aloud. Thankfully, she got no answer, but the skull looked back at her as though it really was watching. ‘What are you?’ Ceri asked.

The only answer was the light breeze stirring the grass.

June 12th

Far below, on the rock-strewn beach, flames licked over the fallen car. Oddly, Ceri did not feel the sense of dread that scene had once evoked in her. She looked back over her shoulder, finding what she had expected, and then turned so that she could see them properly; she did not fear the dream now, but the cliff still gave her a hint of vertigo.

‘Do you really have to sleep in the nude?’ her father asked.

‘I haven’t worn clothes in bed since I was sixteen, Dad. You wouldn’t be comfortable with the flimsy stuff I can sleep in either.’

Her mother laughed. ‘It’s not like he hasn’t seen it all before.’

‘When she was ten!’ David retorted.

Ceri’s face straightened. ‘I haven’t dreamed of you two since I stopped Barnes. I assume you didn’t turn up to discuss my sleeping habits.’

‘Did you ever wonder why we went to Wales, dear?’ Marion asked.

‘You were going to see Aunt Branwen.’

‘Yes,’ her father said, ‘of course.’ His eyes moved from her to something behind her and she turned to see whatever it was he was looking at. The island of Anglesey was just about visible across the straits and something was visible wheeling in the sky above the cliffs. Swinging high into the air, it looped and then fell, swooping down toward the water before pulling up sharply, a plume of flame roaring from its jaws into the sky…

Ceri opened her eyes. A dragon? Her parents had gone in search of… a dragon? Or had it just been a dream? She was still not sure that the dreams she had of her parents were anything supernatural. She had been thinking of dragons in Wales, and her parents had died there. Her brain was likely just making connections between disparate facts.

Her musing was interrupted by a soft, female voice. ‘Don’t they look sweet?’ It was Lily. It was just about light, she had to have driven up straight from work with…

‘Huh, yeah,’ Alec said, just as quietly. ‘I might have picked a different adjective.’

‘The question is,’ Lily said, ‘do we split them up, or just join them.’

Kennington, London

The wards along the iron fence flickered with a faint orange light as Ceri opened the gate and walked through. She smiled; High Towers was welcoming its mistress home. She looked back at the people getting out of the big, black Range Rover and said, ‘She missed me.’

Lily giggled. ‘Wait until you get inside.’

As Ceri walked in through the inner set of doors on the porch a silver-white ball of light trailing gold sparks flew down the stairs from the upper floor. She stopped dead in her tracks as the small sphere buzzed around her legs, up her body, and then materialised into a four-inch tall, nut-brown fairy with bobbed, purple hair and feathery, blue-white butterfly wings. Twill, enigmatic fairy housekeeper, was speaking, but Ceri could not understand a word. When excited, Twill sounded like someone had recorded her and was running the tape too fast. The chatter suddenly ended and Twill leaned forward like a brown version of Tinkerbell and gave Ceri a kiss on the cheek.

Ceri giggled. ‘I missed you too, Twill. Was any of that important because you know I can’t understand a word you say when you get excited.’

Twill must really have missed her because she did not threaten to starch Ceri’s underwear. ‘Nothing really important, no. I was just pointing out that I disliked being alone so much and the house doesn’t feel the same without its Mistress. Oh, and Michael dropped by to say that he would visit after dark.’ The smile on her tiny face became more of a smirk. ‘I’ve had some contractors in to reinforce the bed.’

‘Twill!’ Ceri said, mock-shocked. ‘Anyway, it’s stood up well enough so far.’

‘I’m sure I don’t want to know,’ Alec commented, coming through the door with a pair of large bags.

‘Hush you,’ Ceri told him. ‘I’m amazed the airbed didn’t explode.’

‘Airbed?’ Twill asked. It was amazing how Twill’s presence could make even a big man embarrassed when the subject of sex came up. It was especially funny considering what Twill occasionally got up to.

‘Ask Lily,’ Ceri said, partially to save Alec’s blushes and partially to save her own. ‘She tells these stories so much better.’

‘As you wish,’ Twill said, flitting across to Alec and hovering right beside his face. ‘Your cheeks are red, young man. You’ll stay for dinner?’

‘Well, I’ve got to get Cheryl home…’

‘I’ve got steaks,’ Twill interrupted.

‘I should really get…’

‘They’re T-bones,’ Twill added, ‘and I have four…’

‘I’ll go get Cheryl.’

~~~

‘A dragon skull?’ Twill said, sounding distinctly incredulous. ‘A real dragon skull? Well, that is a turn up for the books.’

‘The Journal of Thaumatology actually,’ Cheryl said. ‘So it’s a turn up for the periodicals.’

Sat on the kitchen table with a thimble filled with alcohol-thinned honey, Twill glared up at Cheryl. ‘Don’t think you’re too old to be spanked.’

Lily pouted. ‘You’ve never offered to spank me, Twill.’

‘No, because you’d enjoy it.’

Ceri interrupted the laughter. ‘Do you know anything about dragons, Twill?’

‘Probably not much more than you, dear. You might find a few fae around who remember them, but I’m far too young.’ Twill had always claimed to be eighteen, but both Ceri and Lily suspected that that was, if not exactly a lie, then an embroidering of the truth. ‘To my knowledge,’ she went on, ‘not even the oldest fae know where they come from. My mother used to say they were huge, magical beasts. Really magical! The air around them would hum with magic. But they could change shape and hide themselves. They would even take the shape of men and there were rumours that they fathered children, but that was a long time ago.’

‘During the Dark Ages?’ Ceri asked.

‘Oh no, this would be in ancient times, back in the First and Second Magic Ages. I think I heard a rumour that some of the Chinese dragons had spawned a few offspring during the Dark Age period, but… well, China is a long way off.’

‘If they were inherently magical in some way,’ Cheryl said, ‘that might explain how the skull is powering the henge.’

‘Essentially an irradiated source,’ Ceri said.

Cheryl nodded. ‘Magical toxic waste.’

‘I’m not sure I buy it though. I’m pretty sure the circle wasn’t active before the Shattering. Someone would have noticed.’

‘It’s always been considered a mystical site,’ Cheryl replied, thoughtfully, ‘but you’re right. If it was active back then it was operating at a really low level.’

‘So, the increased general magic field reactivated it?’ Alec suggested.

‘Possibly,’ Cheryl said. ‘Of course we don’t exactly know what the Shattering did. It’s one of the big mysteries of quantum thaumatology left to be solved. Why were null thaumitons blocked from our world before the Shattering? What actually happened to allow them in? The super-magic field is the most popular theory, but there’s absolutely no proof.’

‘Huh,’ the werewolf said, ‘well, you’re not going to solve that sitting around here, and unless you’re going to sleep in the spare room upstairs I’d better be getting you home.’

Cheryl smiled and nodded. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow about that meeting with the Minister, Ceri.’ She pushed her chair back and stood up with a groan. ‘Too much food after cooking for ourselves for a couple of days.’

‘We should have kept Shelly,’ Ceri commented.

‘I don’t think we could have fitted five on the airbed,’ Lily said.

‘Oh yes,’ Twill said brightly, ‘what’s this about an airbed?’

Alec made a run for it.

Soho, June 13th

‘How many more shops are you going to drag me into, Lil?’ Ceri whined. Thankfully her feet did not hurt; she had not actually spent that much time on them. On the other hand, Lily seemed to have dragged her into every shop on Oxford Street which looked like it might sell evening dresses.

‘We’re going to the Green Room,’ Lily said, ‘to have dinner with the Minister for Supernatural Affairs, in the Green Room.’

‘You mentioned it being in the Green Room twice.’

‘Yes, the place is far more important than some stuffed shirt minister.’ The half-succubus grabbed the sleeve of Ceri’s jacket and yanked her through a doorway. ‘We will go to every single shop as far as Piccadilly if we have to.’

Ceri sighed. She had been a little surprised when Cheryl called mid-morning to say that Malcolm Charles, Minister for Supernatural Affairs, did want to meet her, and a little more surprised when she said that he had asked if Lily would attend as well. Of course she had said yes; there was no way Lily was going to pass up a chance to be an actual guest at one of Carter’s clubs, especially not the Green Room. Sure enough, Lily had been gleeful, until she had decided that they had nothing which would be suitable to wear.

‘I don’t see why we can’t wear…’ Ceri began, but her plea was washed away in Lily’s enthusiasm for the latest thing she had found to dress Ceri in.

The distinct possibility that they would find nothing up to Lily’s standards before they ran out of shops had occurred to Ceri, but she was pushing that horrific thought aside and praying to various gods she did not believe in that something would come up. Attempts at “oh this looks fantastic” and “you look really sexy in that” had failed. Lily knew exactly what she was looking for, and it was not whatever she was finding. When, two hours and six shops later, they dodged down Poland Street and into a small boutique on the west side of the street, Ceri had one simple thought. ‘You’ll let me sit down for five minutes, won’t you Catherine?’

The slim, blonde-haired Alpha werewolf behind the counter smiled at her. ‘Lily running you ragged?’ she asked, pointing at a plastic chair beside the small, curtained door to the changing rooms. It was there for men reluctantly shopping with their wives or girlfriends, but at this time on a weekday in June there were none of those about.

Ceri sagged into the chair with relief and appreciation while Lily started going through racks of clothes. ‘We’ve both been invited to a semi-working dinner tonight,’ Ceri said. ‘Malcolm Charles is meeting us in the Green Room and Lily’s gone wiggy trying to find just the right dresses.’

‘I think I may be able to help you,’ she said. ‘Just keep an eye on the till for me a second, would you? My assistant’s on her break.’

‘Sure,’ Ceri replied, frowning slightly as Catherine dodged back into the changing room area, but then slipped through a side door and into the back of the shop. The confusion did not abate as Catherine emerged a few minutes later holding a pair of flat boxes about two feet on each side.

‘These came in today,’ the werewolf said. She handed one box to Ceri. ‘Go on, try it on,’ she added eagerly before turning. ‘Lily? Try this. You’ll love this.’

The cubicles in the back were empty and Ceri put the box down on the stool in the nearest one before closing the curtain and starting to take her clothes off. She heard Lily giggling as she walked past to one of the other cubicles. Stripped down to her knickers, Ceri opened the box and took out the dress, holding it against her chest. It was a gorgeous pale blue and very simple. The lower half was a tube which she stepped into before pulling it up. It fitted very snuggly around her legs and hips. The back was very low, barely covering her behind. The front fixed around her neck via a collar with a Velcro fastening and had a deep slash from her throat down to her navel. The loose fabric at the top contrasted nicely with the clinging fit from her hips down. She was going to need heels to go with it, but that was expected. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realised that the knickers were going to have to go too.

‘Come on,’ Lily’s voice came through the curtain. ‘Show us the result.’

Realising that she was rather keen that Lily liked the dress, partially because she did, and partially because it would mean they could go home and she could crash, Ceri called out, ‘Hang on,’ and spent a minute or two struggling out of her thong before straightening the dress up and walking out of the cubicle.

Lily’s gown was the same basic form as Ceri’s, but it started out at her throat as a subtle orange, gradually shading to a deeper, vibrant colour around her ankles. Her rather more substantial chest resulted in more flesh showing through the slash at the front. Lily beamed at her and motioned with a finger for her to turn. Smirking slightly, and holding her arms out from her sides, Ceri did a little twirl. ‘Gorgeous,’ Lily said breathily.

‘You look better in yours,’ Ceri replied.

‘Nonsense, you look…’

‘Lil,’ Ceri said seriously, ‘I know you think I’m the most beautiful being in the world, but seriously, you would make a potato sack look sexy. You’re a half-succubus, you’ve got all the advantages. Just live with it.’ She looked at herself in the mirror again, turning her hips back and forth. ‘I’m quite happy with being second best when it’s your body I’m second best to.’

Lily slipped up beside her, her arm sliding around Ceri’s wait. They looked at themselves in the mirror. ‘You still look gorgeous,’ Lily said.

‘We look gorgeous.’

‘Better than mortal man deserves.’ Lily grinned brightly. ‘Okay, you’re saved, we can go home now.’

Ceri giggled and turned toward the cubicle to get changed.

Mayfair

The Green Room was a tall, four-storey building on Green Street, near the junction with Park Street. It was brightly lit, and there was a man in a smart, dark green uniform, complete with cap, to open the door and allow Ceri and Lily inside. Beyond the Georgian façade, the interior was just as grand. Dark green wallpaper with gold fleur de lys pattern ran from richly carpeted floor to moulded ceiling. A grand staircase led up from the left, sweeping around to the upper floor landing, while ahead of them was the entrance to the restaurant and a tall man in a suit waiting in front of a lectern. They were heading for that when a woman in a slightly stylised maid’s uniform approached them.

‘Miss Brent and Miss Carpenter?’ she asked.

‘That’s right,’ Ceri replied.

The woman smiled. ‘Mister Fleming is expecting you, please follow me.’ Turning, she started for the stairs with the two friends following behind her.

The sound of jazz, almost certainly played live drifted down from a corridor at the top of the stairs. This floor had the public club room, Ceri surmised. Their guide, however, kept on going, up a second flight of stairs before leading them to a panelled door on the next floor. She opened it without knocking and then stood aside so that Ceri and Lily could walk in. The door closed behind them as Carter rose from his chair to greet them.

‘Ladies,’ he said warmly, ‘right on time. Cheryl and Petra you know. Let me introduce Petra’s father, Malcolm Charles, Minister for Supernatural Affairs.’

Petra was an attractive girl with bobbed blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her slim figure was enhanced by a short, black corset dress which fitted her personality; she was noted for being something of a wild child, a constant embarrassment to her father. Ceri was a little surprised to see her here since, whenever she wanted to annoy her father, her favourite method of attracting publicity was to go to bed with Carter.

Despite this, the elder Charles looked rather pleased. Petra’s looks had obviously come from her mother’s side; Malcolm had a slightly bulbous nose with a high bridge, ruddy cheeks and hair which had once been black, but was now mostly a dull grey. His suit was smart, but did not fit as well as it might have. Ceri suspected he had once had quite a good body, but it was now sagging around the middle. He did, however, rise to his feet so that he could greet them, and he clearly knew who they both were.

‘Miss Brent,’ he said, raising her hand to his lips, but not quite touching it, ‘I’m pleased to actually meet you. You would not believe the number of reports I’ve pulled out of red boxes about you. Or perhaps you would.’

‘Nothing bad, I hope, sir,’ Ceri replied.

‘Not bad, no,’ Malcolm replied. Something in the way he said it made Ceri wonder exactly what he had been reading, but he was moving on to Lily. ‘Miss Carpenter, I’m glad you agreed to come. You’re a unique individual and a man in my position is not allowed to go to places like the Jade Dragon to meet you.’ He raised Lily’s hand to his lips as well and she smiled at him. Ceri could tell how he had done well in politics; if not exactly an attractive man, he was charming.

‘A girl in my position doesn’t get to meet ministers often,’ Lily replied, ‘nor can I afford to eat here so I had to come.’

‘Well, let’s get sat down,’ Carter said. ‘We’ll have something to eat and then we can get down to business.’

‘Not too much food though,’ Ceri said as she took her seat. ‘This is not a dress for huge meals.’

There was laughter, and then the waitresses brought in food and there was small talk over dinner. Carter had, apparently, considered the waistlines of all those present; he had laid on a banquet-style meal with numerous dishes which could be sampled in large or small portions. The only person keeping up with Malcolm was Lily, who had the annoying ability to eat more or less as much as she liked without ever seeming to gain an ounce. Ceri had a suspicion that any extraneous fat she managed to attract went straight to her boobs.

‘I understand that you’re to be congratulated on your PhD, Ceri?’ Malcolm said as the dishes were finally cleared away. They had dispensed with the formality after a few minutes and Ceri was having a little difficulty reconciling the man sitting at the table with the minister she saw on TV, and the man his daughter loved to embarrass.

‘Thank you,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s not totally official until the graduation ceremony, but thank you.’

‘From what Cheryl and Carter tell me, you’re the rising star of thaumatology. My ministry is keeping an eye on your work.’

‘Don’t scare the girl, Malcolm,’ Carter said.

‘Oh, far from it,’ the Minister said, raising his hands to ward off any apparent ill intent. ‘Let’s see, since your, um, accident you have stopped the military from developing a weapon which would have delivered the world to the demons, saved us from a world-scale war with deranged werewolves, cemented far more social relations between the government and the London packs, assisted the police in a number of difficult cases, developed a power system which various agencies are looking at with what I can only describe as avaricious glee, and proposed a system of power which could provide us with enough power to run the country. Have I missed anything?’

Cheryl smirked. ‘We’re getting to that.’

Malcolm raised an eyebrow, but kept going. ‘With a list like that, and yes, I know Cheryl is involved with the scientific work and she gets full credit for it, but you can understand that we would want to keep you on our radar.’

Ceri nodded. ‘Yeah, I can see that.’ It was not good news. The last thing she needed was scrutiny, especially from the government.

‘So what’s Cheryl hinting at?’ Petra asked. ‘I know she called up and suggested you should be here, which is cool for me since Dad said we should make it a little more social and I could come, but now you’ve peeked our interest.’

Cheryl grinned. ‘Well, you’ve had a very rough report on the success of the Stonehenge experiment.’

Malcolm nodded. ‘Indeed.’

‘As a proof of concept it worked exceptionally well,’ Cheryl went on. ‘We were getting good, stable results from the basic configuration, but we thought we could do better. We did some analysis of the thaumic field emissions from the circle.’

‘Using the same scanning system that Ceri used for her were-creature work,’ Lily put in.

‘And some magic,’ Cheryl added. ‘We were able to reconfigure the collector to a seventy-three per cent efficiency increase. We’re confident that, if we can set up the ley line system Ceri has suggested, we can generate a lot of electricity.’

‘Excellent,’ Malcolm said, ‘but I’m not hearing the surprise revelation.’

Cheryl looked at Ceri encouragingly. ‘We discovered what actually powers Stonehenge,’ Ceri said.

‘I thought it was something to do with the stones?’ Petra said.

‘So did we,’ Ceri replied, grinning, ‘but it turns out that the stones are there to contain the power, not to generate it. The actual power source is a dragon skull buried under the circle.’

Something flickered across Malcolm’s face so fast that Ceri was not sure she had seen it. Concern, annoyance, she was not sure what exactly. ‘A dragon skull?’ he said. ‘You’re quite sure?’

‘I sketched it. It certainly looked like one. The implications are fascinating. It seems like, even dead, these creatures are phenomenal generators of magical power.’ She paused, taking a sip of wine to wet her throat. ‘I can’t imagine what a live one would be like, or what we might learn from one.’

Malcolm appeared deep in thought. ‘I require an assurance that what I’m about to say does not leave this room,’ he said after a second of slightly uncomfortable silence. There was a confused rumble of affirmation from around him. He looked around each person, receiving nods as he went. ‘There are two dragons in Wales,’ he said. ‘One around mid-Wales, most often seen near a mountain named Cader Idris.’

‘I know it,’ Ceri said. ‘My parents took me there when I was a kid.’

Malcolm nodded. ‘The other has been seen in Anglesey. We haven’t managed to contact either of them, but we have sufficient evidence to suggest that they are real. I would be grateful if this information regarding the skull at Stonehenge could be kept quiet for a time. We’re unsure of their motives and I’m not sure how they would react to the burial site of one of their dead being a tourist site.’

‘It’s about thirty-thousand years old,’ Cheryl said. ‘Long gone.’

‘Information we have from the Chinese suggests that dragons are essentially immortal,’ Malcolm explained. ‘Our two could be relatives of this dead one. I’d like a chance to try reaching them again.’

‘We’ll need to talk to the people who were with us at the circle,’ Ceri said.

‘I’ll see to that,’ Malcolm said. ‘What are you going to need for the ley line idea?’

‘At the moment,’ Cheryl said, ‘it’s down to research. We know it can be done, but we need to work out how. Ceri and I will be starting on that next.’

‘If there’s anything the Ministry can do to help, contact my office.’ The Minister grinned, his attitude shifting to humour after the moment of worry. ‘We’ve already got a team planning the logistics of getting you to the Rift if it all goes as well as we hope. That region is not a safe place to be without armed support and we can’t lose our best thaumatology researchers.’

Ceri grimaced. Long distance travel was not her most comfortable activity. Once again she wondered what she had let herself in for.

Battersea, June 15th

The last traces of light were fading from the sky and the full moon had been up for forty-five minutes when Ceri slipped into the shadows of the little group of trees were she traditionally changed for her pack nights. She had to be a little more careful in the summer months; it was dark later and warmer in the evenings, so there were more humans around into the late evening. However, it was full moon and the park was known as werewolf territory. While people were getting the hang of the wolves being less scary than they had been prior to the Winter Solstice, centuries of prejudice took time to fix. That meant that there were less people about so stripping in a public park was a lot easier.

There was no sign of Michael as she pushed her clothes into a satchel, checked around for anyone watching, and then stuffed the satchel into a hole in the roots of one of the trees. Reaching to her throat, she touched her collar and concentrated. Magic swelled around her and, a second of mild discomfort later, she was breathing in the night air through a nose vastly more sensitive than her usual one. She could smell wolves on the breeze from the river, but none of them seemed to be Michael, which did not make her worried, just suspicious. She raised her muzzle, stretched up on long legs and pointed toes, and sniffed deeply. There was the hint of diesel oil from a ship on the Thames, the multiple scents of humans walking along the banks, and wolves further south, but none had the distinctive combination of markers she was looking for.

She looked around, scanning the bushes carefully. If he was not north of her, where the breeze was coming from, then he was almost certainly west of her. She was in the south east corner of the park and would likely have spotted him on the way in if he had been along her path. Her eyes still scanning ahead as she moved, she slipped forward, between two trees and toward the boating lake. She had managed all of two yards before she heard something overhead and started to look up…

Michael dropped into the space behind her, strong arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her bodily off her feet. She was about to struggle when he turned and tossed her back the way she had come to land in an indecorous heap in the little clearing. She could feel him pouncing at her. In the winter she would never have moved fast enough to dodge him, but they played this game at least once a week and she was getting better at it. At the last instant she pushed herself sideways, rolling on the grass, and he hit hard ground instead of soft she-wolf. Springing upward using all four limbs, Ceri aimed to get onto his back, but he was the more experienced at close combat. His body turned and his arm swept out before she could arrest her momentum and get a good grip on him. She twisted in the air, driven by his arm, and found herself landing on her back, the air rushing out of her lungs, and then he was on top of her, her wrists were pinned to the ground beside her shoulders, and she could feel that he was happy to see his mate.

Michael’s muzzle stroked at Ceri’s and his voice was a low growl; literally since werewolves were not equipped for making sounds a human would describe as intelligible. Ceri understood him. World has up too.

She growled back. Will remember.

You better, he rumbled and then looked back to the flattened grass where she had dodged him. Getting better fight. Soon good as me.

Ceri gave a scoffing bark. She would never be as good as him, because in truth she did not really need to be. A werewolf could take her out in a fight, but not by wrestling. Right now she could have killed him in three different ways he could not have stopped, but she really did not want to do that. Her hips shifted under his and she gave a soft, questioning whine. She could not turn over pinned like this, and werewolves were really not big on Missionary.

His hips ground his arousal against hers and she let out a whimper. He was teasing her! He was actually teasing her! Now that was new. And it just got worse. He lifted off her and bounced to his feet, holding out a clawed hand. Train now, mate later, his growl said.

Anita was teaching the younger wolves hand-to-hand combat on the island in the boating lake. Michael, having wound her up, delivered Ceri to the Guard Captain where she was made to wrestle big, strapping werewolves for an hour. Werewolves were tactile creatures, very tactile, and while a group of them together in relaxed surroundings might turn into an orgy, they equally thought nothing of close physical contact which humans would be embarrassed about. Ceri was learning to treat it all as something simply casual, but she was not quite there yet. An hour of being folded in half and pinned so she could learn how to get out of it and she was feeling very hot.

Werewolf jaw structure was incapable of smirking. It was a biological fact, no getting around it. There was no way Michael could be smirking. None. Which did not change the fact that Ceri could see Michael smirking from across the clearing. Her main concern as she walked toward him was trying to work out how to say, “You are in so much trouble,” in werewolf.

She did not get to. Meet Alpha, he barked and turned to run through the trees. Giving an exasperated growl, Ceri followed him through to the second clearing on the island. This one was screened by trees all the way around and had an oil drum in the middle which always seemed to have a wood fire burning in it.

Alexandra sat beside the fire, surrounded by the Elders of her pack and various younger ones, some in fur and others in human form. The Alpha of Battersea pack was making tea. The moonlight shone in her silver hair, but it did make the lines in her face seem more pronounced. Or perhaps it was something else. Ceri paused at the edge of the clearing and watched for a second. The power poured off the old werewolf in waves and, for an instant Ceri thought her goddess had possessed her. It seemed unlikely; there was no way Luperca made tea. Ceri picked up the pace and settled down in front of the fire and Alexandra.

‘Turn human, dear,’ Alexandra requested. ‘Michael told me a little about your exploits up at that old pile of rocks, but I’d like to know more. Do you need a blanket?’

Ceri’s fingers touched her collar and suddenly she was seeing in colour. Michael, still in fur, settled in behind her and wrapped his arms around her naked waist. Ceri grinned. ‘No, I seem to have one thanks,’ she said.

Alexandra grinned indulgently and handed over a mug of tea. ‘So, tell me all about it.’

Ceri looked at her appraisingly. ‘I had dinner with the Minister for Supernatural Affairs on Monday night, and he told me I wasn’t allowed to talk about part of it. But you already know, don’t you?’

‘Black-furs sometimes remember things from back before they were born,’ Alexandra replied. ‘Some of my ancestors were involved in the building of that henge. And I suspect Luperca has been dropping hints. Back then there were almost no grey wolves and we were among the most powerful tribes. Of course, when the power in that place was discovered, we were brought into the council which erected the containment circle.’

‘So you know how it was done?’

Alexandra shook her head. ‘That is something I don’t know, my dear. It’s lost magic. Powerful enchantment like that… perhaps only the sorcerers of the First Age understood it. They had thousands of years to learn and great teachers to help them. Gods, demons… dragons.’

‘Dragons? Dragons taught some of the early magicians?’

‘No, they taught sorcerers. Only sorcerers.’ She settled onto the grass and took a drink of her own tea, closing her eyes for a second. ‘Isn’t tonight beautiful?’ the old werewolf said, looking up at the sky. There were barely any stars visible between the glare from reflected street lamps and the waves of bluish light in the upper atmosphere from the Northern Lights, but it was beautiful with the bright disk of the moon shining down. ‘It’s a shame you can’t see the stars so well though. I think I’ve spent too long in the city.’ Ceri looked at her, frowning, and she gave a quick smile back. ‘What did you think of Stonehenge? Now that you had a chance to look with your Sight, and your experience, and without a horde of demon-wolves to disturb you.’

‘It’s an incredible piece of engineering,’ Ceri said. ‘I mean, aside from the creation of a stable containment circle like that, there was the sheer physical side of it. Getting the stones there from the quarry, getting them upright, cutting the stones to fit. They used mortise and tenon joints in stone!’

Alexandra grinned impishly. ‘It was rather clever, from what I recall, though they did cheat a little.’

‘Cheat?’

‘Well, there were still a couple of giants alive in those days…’

‘Still,’ Ceri said, grinning back, ‘that’s like saying they had cranes. It’s no more cheating than if I were to use modern construction equipment. And also… you have memories of giants!? What were they like?’

Alexandra looked at her and Ceri realised what was coming a split second before it happened. ‘Big,’ Alexandra said with a straight face.

Part Two: Chinese Whispers

Kennington, London, June 16th, 2011

Ceri slipped out of bed with as much elegance as she could manage when she had to untangle herself from a werewolf and a half-succubus. Michael had asked if he could come home with her, which came out as “Me you territory,” and there was no way she was going to say no to that. It had meant going to sleep late; Lily never allowed a potential threesome to pass unfulfilled, and Ceri could not say no to that either. Feeling a little sticky in various places, Ceri went across the landing to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

The water felt good as it sleeted down onto her skin. She had not realised how sore her muscles were after a night of combat training and sex until the aches began to ease under the assault of hot water. Sighing, she leaned against the wall with her right hand holding the base of the showerhead and allowed the water to stream down her back.

A pair of hands landed on her hips, circling over her skin for a second before sliding upward across her ribs. Ceri smiled and let out a little giggle. Rough finger pads teased at the sides of her breasts and she shivered, her legs parting almost involuntarily. She felt something very male pressing against her behind and the big hands slipped around to cup her breasts. She felt just the tips of his claws scratching over her skin and the sensation made her gasp. He moved and she felt his member slide between her legs teasingly; his fur tickled her arse. She moaned and tilted her hips back. He pulled back, preparing to enter her, and he hesitated. She could feel his muscles tensing to thrust…

‘You know if you do it,’ Ceri said, ‘your daughter will open you from groin to throat and have me roast the pieces?’

The hands released her and the body backed off. When she turned around the werewolf had shifted into the form of an attractive young man with a mane of dark chestnut hair and a firm, trimly muscled body. He was still sporting an erection, but his expression was a wry grin. ‘How did you know it wasn’t Michael?’ Lily’s father asked.

‘Michael never showers in fur,’ Ceri replied. ‘He sheds, blocks the drain, and gets shouted at by Twill.’

‘Ah, yes, Mistress Twill can get exceptionally… sarcastic under circumstances like that.’

‘Yes,’ Ceri said. ‘Uh, Faran?’

‘Yes, Ceridwyn?’

‘I know you’re an incubus and all that, but I am naked in a shower and you’re my best friend’s father.’

‘Ah,’ Faran said. ‘Is this better?’ His changes were not like her own, or any of the were-creatures she had met. One moment he was one shape, the next he was…

‘No, you look like Lily, but I know you’re Faran.’ Faran pouted; he had Lily’s pout down pat. ‘Could Lily learn how to do that?’ Ceri asked. ‘Shape shift?’

‘Not the way I do,’ Faran replied in Lily’s voice. ‘A true succubus is… amorphous. We have no natural shape so we take any shape which those around us find attractive. Unfortunately, you are a particular challenge.’

Ceri grinned; it was almost a compliment. ‘Surely when you’re born you must have a natural form?’

‘We take on the form our parents find most attractive,’ Faran replied. ‘Well, generally one of our parents takes primary charge of us and we take that one’s favourite form… I’m not entirely sure that standing naked in a bathroom is necessarily the best place to discuss our child rearing activities.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. Turning, she picked up some shower gel and started to wash. ‘So Lily’s solid so she can’t change shape?’

The answer came as a groan followed by, ‘That’s basically it. I’m… going to see if she’s awake before I can’t control myself.’

Ceri looked around with a bright grin on her face, but the Lily clone was already gone. It was amusing, and certainly more a game than a serious attempt to get into her knickers. Faran had been coming around to High Towers on a slightly irregular basis since he had been freed of the control of his summoner and convinced Lily that he just wanted a chance to be the father he had failed to be during her teenage years. He was teaching her to be a better succubus, not because he wanted her to be one, but because the more she knew about her demon side, the better she would be able to control it. And in the meantime, he was teaching Ceri more about demons and they were playing their game.

As she got out of the shower and started to dry herself off, Ceri contemplated the thought that Faran was a horrible temptation. The main reason it was a game was that neither of them were willing to let Lily down. Faran could be the absolute epitome of Ceri’s desire and he was a sex addict; it came with the species. He was also hot and the chain around Ceri’s ankle made her lecherous. Without Lily to keep them straight, he would have cracked her by now, either because she would have given in or he would have tried harder.

Michael was still in the bedroom when Ceri got back, which was an improvement. When he had first met Faran he had made excuses and left the house. Now he was willing to stay, though he preferred not to be in the same room. And now he grinned a little sheepishly when Ceri walked in and found him there alone. ‘It’s the smell,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to get used to it, but it’s like…’

‘Werewolves have thousands of years of considering demon-scent as dangerous,’ Ceri said. ‘Even Faran doesn’t expect you to get used to the idea that he might be genuinely trying to help Lily overnight. Hell, you should’ve seen how suspicious she was.’

He nodded. ‘The first time I met him, I could smell the fear on her. She’s lost almost all of it.’

‘Almost?’

‘Almost. I think though, that it’s not the same fear. Back then, she was scared when he would arrive, and then it would fade while he stayed and go when he left. That’s fear of him. No, of what he might do. Then I think she was afraid of him embarrassing her. Now she’s nervous when he arrives, and a bit eager. She’s more afraid when he leaves. I’m no psychologist, but that’s being afraid of herself.’

Ceri frowned. ‘She seems to get over it.’

‘If you want my opinion, he brings her demon side out and she’s afraid it might stay out.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri replied, settling onto the bed beside her mate, ‘that sounds likely. Lily’s never really been afraid of much. Most things with a pulse she can stop in their tracks. There’s barely a human she can’t wrap around her little finger. But herself? She’s always been afraid of herself.’

‘You make a good couple,’ the werewolf replied.

‘I’m not…’ She pulled herself up. ‘Okay, sometimes, but it’s different. Lily’s afraid of what she is, I’m afraid of what I might become.’

‘You’re both good people, Ceri,’ Michael said to her, ‘and I’m not just saying that because we have fantastic sex on a regular basis.’

Laughing, Ceri slapped him on the arm. ‘I’m a sorceress, a really powerful magician, and power corrupts. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of. I’ve always had good reasons, but that’s how it always starts.’

Michael looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. ‘Well, I know I’d trust you with my soul,’ he said, ‘and I’m sure Lily would too.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, but then Lily already had.

~~~

‘We have a visitor,’ Twill said from the study doorway. ‘A human, no magic. She’s standing on the path outside the front door.’

Ceri looked up and frowned. ‘I’m not expecting anyone. What time is it?’ She glanced at the clock on her desk. ‘Three o’clock. Wow! Faran’s making it a long one.’ Faran and Lily used the dungeon for training, out of sight and secure, and they had been down there for five hours.

‘You are going to see who it is?’ Twill asked.

Climbing to her feet, Ceri started for the door. ‘Of course I am.’

Stood on the thin gravel path from the front gate to the portico was a girl with oriental features and straight, black hair falling down past her shoulders. She was dressed in a skirt suit which did not look all that comfortable, and she was looking up at the house with a fond smile on her face. Ceri recognised her, but was surprised to see her standing there. ‘Jenny? Jenny Li?’

The girl’s gaze fell to where Ceri was standing in the doorway. ‘Hi Ceri. Sorry, I haven’t been here since…’

‘My tenth birthday party,’ Ceri supplied. ‘You moved a bit further away, didn’t you? Went to a different school for a year or two?’

‘Uh-huh. I used to love the parties here.’

‘You want to come in?’

Jenny grinned and walked quickly down the rest of the path. ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘I got sent over to talk to you.’

‘Sent?’ Ceri stepped aside to let her through the door. There was no reaction from any of the wards as the half-Chinese girl walked in; even a normal with ill intent would have set off alarms.

‘I work at the Chinese Embassy,’ Jenny explained.

Ceri raised an eyebrow and waved her toward the stairs. ‘Do you remember where the study is?’

‘Uh, yeah. We weren’t allowed in it. Anyway, I do translation work, Chinese, English, French, and werewolf.’

‘You speak wolf?’

‘I understand them. Human vocal apparatus isn’t up to speaking like that.’

‘I know.’

‘You do?’

‘Uh-huh. If you’d come by this morning you’d have met my… boyfriend.’

Jenny stopped in the doorway of the study, turning with an expression of surprised interest. ‘You’re dating a werewolf?’

Ceri giggled. ‘Uh, it’s complicated. Technically he’s my mate. There’s this whole thing with joining the Battersea pack. I take my research projects very seriously.’

‘Not only does she bring her work home with her,’ Twill said from just over their heads, ‘but she likes to take it to bed so she can sleep on it.’

‘Twill!’ Ceri squeaked.

The fairy sparkled and a sound like wind chimes floated through the air. ‘Lily isn’t here to make the risqué jokes. I’m just filling in. Would you like a drink?’

‘Sure, coffee please,’ Ceri said. ‘Uh, oh yes, Twill, this is Jenny. We went to a couple of the same schools.’

‘Coffee would be great,’ Jenny said. ‘Pleased to meet you, Twill.’ Twill bobbed in the air and flitted off toward the kitchen. ‘You live with a fairy?’ Jenny asked.

‘And a half-succubus,’ Ceri replied, nodding. ‘Lily’s downstairs in… she’s downstairs, busy.’ There were perfectly innocent reasons why there was a dungeon in the cellar, and Ceri was not even going to explain those to Jenny.

Jenny gave a little quizzical frown and headed into the study to perch on the chaise longe. ‘You live with a half-succubus and a fairy, and your boyfriend is a werewolf?’

Ceri pulled her desk chair over and sat down. ‘That about covers it. What did you want to talk about, aside from old times and my odd lifestyle?’

‘Yes, right, down to business.’ She paused as Twill flitted in followed by a tray with two mugs of coffee. Jenny obviously had not met a fairy before; she looked on, fascinated, as the tray floated to her and then Ceri. Then she watched as Twill floated out of the room again before shaking her head. ‘Business. Mei Long, Ambassador for the Chinese Empire cordially invites you to a meeting at the Embassy tomorrow at two pm. Cordially, not formally. If it was formal she’d have to inform the government and there would be all sorts of paperwork. That’s why I’m here instead of a Chinese official or some guy from the Home Office.’

Ceri blinked. ‘The Chinese Ambassador wants to see me? Why?’

‘She didn’t exactly say. Just that it was to do with various aspects of your research.’ Jenny smiled. ‘She’s really pretty nice. I’m only half-Chinese and native Chinese can be a bit, well bigoted about that, but she’s always been really good with me.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll go. You can tell her I cordially accept her invitation.’

Jenny giggled. ‘Good. Thank you. I’m not exactly sure how she knew that we knew each other, but I got the feeling it was major kudos to me that I did. She was really keen to meet you.’

‘Really? This could be… interesting.’

‘Not as interesting as the stuff you seem to have been getting up to,’ Jenny said. She leant forward; business was done and she had gone into “catching up” mode. ‘You joined a werewolf pack? How?’

‘Magic,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘I studied the transformation of were-creatures for my PhD and I learned how to turn into a werewolf. I’m now one of the pack guards, would you believe, though I’m only a part time wolf. Wednesday and Thursday nights, other times on occasion.’

‘Oh wow,’ Jenny said, sounding a little awed. ‘So you know the Battersea Alpha? My teacher was a ronin the embassy employed. They wanted someone who could understand the wolves, just in case, so I got the training with a couple of the other translators. I’ve never really used it in anger. I’d love to meet some real pack werewolves.’ There was an eager little edge to her voice.

‘The Battersea wolves are pretty private,’ Ceri said, ‘but… Are you still living in Clapham?’ Jenny nodded. ‘Okay, can you come out to Battersea Park tonight, about eleven?’

‘Uh, sure.’

‘Okay. Go to the boating lake and meet me beside the boat house. I might have to say it’s a no go, but I’ll ask if they’ll meet you.’

Jenny practically bounced with glee. ‘Oh God, Ceri, that’d be so great if I could.’

Battersea

Jenny looked a lot less excited as she stood beside the boathouse in Battersea Park with five werewolves crouched around her. One of them was black and wearing a collar, but Jenny either did not understand how odd that was, or was too nervous to figure it out.

‘Uh, hi,’ she said. ‘Ceri Brent said I could come. Uh, I hope I’m not… uh… I haven’t got her in trouble or anything have I?’

By agreement, no one made a sound. Ceri had a lot of trouble doing that. The urge to roll on the grass and giggle, no matter how undignified that actually became when done by a werewolf, was strong. Instead she waited and watched.

‘I speak some wolf,’ Jenny tried.

‘That won’t be necessary, Miss Li.’ The voice made the girl jump and she almost fell over turning around. Standing on the jetty beside a rowing boat was the tall, amazon-like form of Anita. She was in human form, but you could tell she was a wolf because she was quite calmly standing there in the nude. ‘If you’d like to come with me, Alexandra is waiting for you.’

Looking even more nervous next to the confident, powerful form of Anita, Jenny sat in the row boat and allowed herself to be rowed across the lake. Ceri and the other wolves slipped into the water and swam alongside the little craft. Arriving at the shore, Anita jumped out without a thought and pulled the boat up allowing Jenny to climb out without getting wet. She was still looking nervous as she was lead through the trees to Alexandra’s clearing, and she looked even more unhappy as she found herself surrounded by wolves and faced by their Alpha.

Alexandra was in human form, but she had pulled herself up to her full height and her hair shone in the moonlight. If you knew that it was relatively rare for a female to run a pack on her own, Alexandra looked amazing. Even if you did not she looked every inch the regal, powerful Alpha. Her expression was slightly disapproving; Jenny started wishing she had worn her suit instead of a T-shirt and jeans.

‘Miss Li,’ Alexandra said. ‘Sit down.’ She pointed to a spot near the fire and Jenny hurried over to sit there. ‘Ceridwyn told us you wished to find out more about us.’

Ceri and Michael moved to kneel just behind Jenny, and she glanced at the two wolves and swallowed. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ she said.

‘Very well,’ Alexandra said. ‘I’m going to ask you a question, Miss Li. A very important question, one which will decide how your night goes from here.’ A clawed hand landed on each of Jenny’s shoulders and she let out a little squeak. Her eyes were as wide as they could get as she looked up at Alexandra. ‘Would you like some tea?’ the Alpha said sweetly.

Jenny blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’

‘Tea? It’s fresh. I just made a pot.’

‘Uh… sure?’ Jenny looked at the wolves on either side of her, one of which was making strangled noises. ‘Am I missing something, ma’am?’

Alexandra smiled and settled down to pour the tea. ‘I’m sorry dear. It’s still a rather full moon and werewolves tend to be more… boisterous around that time. When Ceri said you wanted to meet us, we couldn’t resist a little joke.’

Jenny sagged from her nervous posture, relief showing on her face. ‘I’m sure this is because I pulled her hair once in P.E. Where is she?’

Alexandra chuckled softly. ‘She’s holding your right shoulder.’

Twisting around to look closely at her black furred guard. ‘Ceri?’ She got an affirmative yip in reply. ‘That was mean.’ She grinned and slapped Ceri’s furry leg.

‘The young man on the other side is Michael,’ Alexandra added. ‘Ceri is his mate. Originally it was a temporary arrangement, but I think it’s now just complicated.’ Ceri could tell that the old wolf was amused. ‘I understand you learned to understand us from a ronin?’

‘Yes, ma’am. It was arranged by the embassy.’

Alexandra nodded and handed over a mug of tea. The mug had “Werewolves Do It in the Woods” printed on it. ‘You understand that werewolves, like real wolves, are naturally pack animals. Ronin are more common than lone real wolves, and may even be solo by choice, but pack wolves are the more natural form. We’re fairly intimate creatures. Ceri has said that we don’t have a human’s idea of personal space. That does affect our speech, though perhaps if you’re translating in more formal environments that may not be a factor.’

‘I’m not sure myself, ma’am,’ Jenny replied. ‘I’ve not needed to use it for work yet, but I was always fascinated by languages. Anything I can do to improve my understanding would be great.’

Alexandra regarded Jenny shrewdly for a second. ‘Two questions then. First, since Ceri is considered one of my pack, and a very good friend of my pack, I need to ask you whether you believe this ambassador’s intentions are honourable.’

‘I think so,’ Jenny replied without hesitating.

Alexandra nodded. ‘Good enough. Do you think your ambassador is interested in some form of more formal relations with this country’s werewolves?’

‘Honestly? I’m not sure, but I figure they’d have trained some of the, uh, other staff in the language if all they were doing was spying.’ Jenny smiled wryly. ‘I’m not an idiot, I know some of the staff at the embassy are intelligence people. I’m pretty sure I know who some of them are, but I figure we must have people in China too so it’s only fair.’

‘Quite, and not my concern.’ Alexandra nodded, appearing to come to a decision. ‘Very well. I suggest you talk to your ambassador. If she’s willing we will arrange for you to spend a few hours with us so that you can have a better understanding of our culture and language. If Ceri’s willing, you could even spend a little time as a wolf.’ She suppressed a smirk badly. ‘Though you’d best discuss that with her. There are a few… small rituals which not all humans would find… comfortable.’

Ceri was making choking sounds again; laughing just did not work with a werewolf’s vocal equipment.

Marylebone, June 17th

It seemed that Ceri was expected. As she walked through the door of the embassy building on Portland Place a thin Chinese man in a suit picked up a telephone and spoke into it in rapid Mandarin. Well, Ceri guessed it was Mandarin since that was supposed to be the most common of the Chinese languages. She had done a little research online before making the trip out via Regent’s Park tube station. Before she could actually walk up to the man behind the ornate desk, Jenny emerged through a security door behind him, grinning brightly.

‘You’re lucky,’ Jenny said when she had closed the distance between them. ‘If this were an official visit you’d have a half-dozen functionaries and security people around you by now.’ She turned to the man at the desk. ‘Do you have Miss Brent’s badge ready?’

The man nodded and produced a clip on badge from a desk draw, handing it over along with a burst of staccato Chinese. Jenny took the badge with a slight bow and handed it to Ceri. ‘Clip that on and don’t take it off,’ she said. Ceri noticed that she was wearing something similar, but more permanent, and with a bad photograph printed onto it. ‘The embassy wards are keyed to the badges and you don’t want to set them off,’ Jenny added. She nodded to the receptionist and he buzzed them through the security door into the main building.

The decoration was ornate, oriental, and heavy on the dragon motifs. There were golden dragon statuettes, dragons woven into the design of the red and gold wallpaper, dragons in the mouldings along the ceiling. ‘That’s a lot of dragons,’ Ceri commented. They seemed to be walking a fair way into the structure, up two floors and into areas which appeared more private than the hallways below.

Jenny giggled. ‘Well, yes, they don’t call it the Dragon Empire for nothing.’

‘How did you land the job here?’ Ceri asked. ‘I’d have thought they would use a native.’

‘They have an affirmative employment programme. Ambassador Long in particular has made sure the embassy employs staff from the local area.’ She grinned slightly. ‘Mostly that’s cleaners and technicians, but there are a few people in more important jobs like me. My family was really proud of me getting this job.’ She stopped in front of a fairly plain, red painted door. ‘Here we are. I’ll leave you here, the Ambassador speaks excellent English so you don’t need me.’

‘What if I need the moral support? You don’t think this dress is, um, too short?’ Ceri had decided to wear her one and only formal outfit, the dress she had bought for interviews. It was a little short, and a little deep in the cleavage department, but Lily had convinced her that most of her employers would be men so that was a good thing.

‘You look great,’ Jenny said, ‘and I said she was nice. You’ve nothing to worry about.’

Ceri gave her a nervous grin as Jenny opened the door and let her through. Beyond it was what appeared to be a reception room with a pair of ornate, but comfortable looking couches facing each other across a low table. There was no one in the room, so Ceri closed the door and moved forward, looking around. The furniture looked old, Georgian or Victorian; Ceri was no expert on that kind of thing. One thing on a side table caught her eye, though actually it was more that it made the skin on the back of her head tighten. It was a statuette of a Chinese dragon sitting up on short back legs and balanced on a long, curled tail. From the look of it, it had rubies for eyes, and the gems seemed to glow as she approached the table.

‘He likes you.’ The voice was soft and friendly, and had a moderately strong Chinese accent. Ceri turned to see a stunningly attractive woman perhaps in her early thirties, but without a single line on her small, heart-shaped face. Her slim body was clad in an ankle length, Chinese-style dress; deep blue with stylised golden dragons printed on the silk. As she moved toward Ceri her hair flicked slightly. Jet black, it fell in one straight column to her bottom. She nodded to the dragon statue. ‘He has been in my family for centuries. It’s said that he brings luck and protects us from harm.’

‘He’s certainly magical,’ Ceri replied.

‘Indeed he is.’ The woman held out her hand. ‘Mei Long, I’m the Chinese Ambassador to Great Britain.’

Ceri smiled and took the offered hand. ‘Ceridwyn Brent, I’m… a research assistant.’

‘Rather more than that. Please, sit down.’ She moved to sit in the furthest of the two seats, giving Ceri the shortest walk. Mei sat very upright, her knees together and her palms on her knees. She waited for Ceri to sit opposite her before going on. ‘I asked you to come so that we could talk about some of your research.’

‘Yes, Jenny said that,’ Ceri replied. ‘I was wondering why me rather than Doctor Tennant? She’s the head researcher.’

‘Indeed. A good and fair question. I am confident that you understand the matters I am interested in as well or better than Doctor Tennant, and I wished to meet you.’

That was not in the least bit ominous. ‘Okay, what did you want to know?’

‘My government would like confirmation of the amendments which you and Doctor Tennant made to your Null Thaumiton paper,’ the ambassador said. ‘There has been some concern that the British government requested the warning additions to ensure that a potentially devastating weapon was kept to themselves.’

Ceri’s skin went paler than usual. ‘No, the warning is absolutely real, ma’am. We had to convince the Ministry and the Army that they couldn’t pursue it. They were offering a lot of money to continue Matthew Barnes’ research and build the bomb he said he could create. I can’t stress this enough, Ambassador, if anyone ever builds one of those dark circle devices they will be handing the world to the demons. What’s left of it anyway.’

The ambassador smiled. ‘Your passion speaks volumes, Miss Brent. Please call me Mei, we aren’t at one of those irritating formal dinners the Foreign Office are so fond of.’

‘Then I’m Ceri. And thank you for believing me. Barnes put me in a normal containment circle and turned it on. I’ve got first-hand experience of what it’s like aside from the experimental evidence. We’ve continued some experimentation on that kind of system, but purely for commercial development, and only ever firing up the accelerators for a minute at a time.’

Mei nodded. ‘I have been given permission to tell you that our own researchers have replicated your system and confirmed your results. I understand that they used a thirty second excitation burst and still had trouble keeping the circle active for long enough to avoid an explosion. They will be publishing their corroboration paper in the next issue of the Journal of Thaumatology, I believe.’

Ceri gave her a relieved smile. ‘That’s good news. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m not a politician so… The military here wanted to develop the dark circle idea because they thought other people, like China, might do it. I told them there was no way your dragons would allow it. I’m glad to find out I was right.’

Mei smiled indulgently; despite appearing to be almost a century younger, the ambassador reminded Ceri of Alexandra. ‘Quite. Not that the dragons interfere with our government, of course.’ There was a hint of amusement in her voice. Everyone knew the dragons did interfere, but official policy said otherwise.

‘Of course,’ Ceri agreed.

‘Now then, you recently did some research at Stonehenge.’

‘That’s right. Successfully too. We’re continuing on with a plan to build a power generation system using the technology Cheryl, uh Doctor Tennant, developed.’

‘I’m sure that will be successful as well,’ Mei said. ‘You make an extremely effective team. However, it’s the dragon skull you discovered under the monument which I’m concerned with here.’ Ceri opened her mouth and then closed it again. ‘I’m aware that Malcolm has requested that you don’t discuss this with anyone and I’d like to assure you that I’m discussing this for personal reasons. My government is not aware of me asking you about it. Nor are they aware that I know about it.’

‘You’re putting me in a difficult position,’ Ceri said.

‘I’m aware of that and I apologise. I assure you that anything you say will remain between us.’

‘What do you want to know?’ That was safe enough. Mei clearly knew about the skull anyway. Finding out what else she wanted to know could do no harm.

The ambassador looked at her and suddenly grinned sheepishly. The demeanour of imperial elegance was gone. ‘Actually, I’ve no idea. No idea what you could really tell me. Perhaps… Did you discover when he died?’

‘The end of the Toba Flare,’ Ceri said. ‘Um, that’s about…’

‘Thirty or so thousand years ago.’ She seemed wistful. ‘The world was very different then.’

‘You’ve… met dragons, I assume?’ Ceri asked tentatively.

‘Yes.’

‘What are they like?’

Mei laughed warmly. ‘That, Ceri, is like asking what people are like. They’re all different. Huanglong, the Imperial Dragon, is rather aloof. Very protective of the Emperor and the country, but distant. Dilong who rules rivers and seas is capricious. My understanding is that the western dragons also select names to match their roles.’

‘I wouldn’t know,’ Ceri said, ‘the dragons here are proving really reticent about revealing themselves.’

‘Hardly a surprise. Eastern dragons have a reputation for being mostly beneficent, even lucky, like Teng over there.’ Ceri glanced around at the golden dragon on the table; it’s eyes were still shining. ‘Western dragons, however, are supposed to be bloodthirsty beasts with a taste for princesses. If I were a dragon and I lived in this part of the world, I believe I would stay hidden.’

Ceri shrugged slightly. ‘I guess some “hero” would go out to try and slay any that showed their head.’

‘The reputations are undeserved,’ Mei went on. ‘There are malign Eastern dragons and beneficent Western ones. Each has as much personality as any person though they are more… elemental. If you should meet one, take great care.’

‘Oh, I can’t see that happening,’ Ceri said, grinning.

‘One can never tell where Fate will take us, Ceri.’ Damn enigmatic statements; enigmatic people were the bane of Ceri’s life. ‘I would ask that, should you discover more about this dragon, you let me know what you can. Call it a personal favour. Oh, I am grateful to you for your introduction of young Jenny to the Battersea pack. I have agreed to her request to learn from them. If there is anything I can do in return for your assistance, please contact me.’

That was a subtle dismissal. ‘Thank you,’ Ceri said, rising to her feet. Mei did the same, reaching for the hand Ceri offered. She moved with the kind of grace Lily did and Ceri wondered what Mei Long was, but it would have been impolite to use her Sight. Perhaps it was just training. ‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you, uh, and Teng.’

‘A great pleasure for both of us,’ Mei returned, smiling. Ceri could have sworn the dragon statue winked at her.

Soho

A slight twist of her hips avoided the hand reaching for her behind. She made no comment, just grinning slightly and keeping on walking toward the bar. Putting down her tray, Ceri put her elbows on the counter and said, ‘Two red wines and a Death in the Morning, please Alec.’

It was Friday night at the Jade dragon, just after full moon, and the werewolves were still a little boisterous. The grin Alec gave her was a good indication of that. Leaning against the bar beside her was the club’s proprietor, Carter, who was looking rather pleased with the fact that his establishment was heaving.

‘The Chinese Ambassador?’ Carter said, continuing the conversation from before she had gone off to one of her tables. ‘Seriously? Mei Long invited you over for a chat?’

‘Have you met her?’ Ceri asked.

‘Once, at some function or other. She’s a beautiful woman. Way out of my class.’ Ceri stared at him. ‘What? I do have some sense of propriety.’

‘The Chinese government wished assurances that the data in our Null Thaumiton paper wasn’t faked to let the British get ahead in a thaumic arms race,’ Ceri said, ignoring the explanation. ‘Though actually she said they had replicated the experiment, confirmed the results, and they would be publishing the corroboration next month.’

‘So, she had an ulterior motive.’

‘Oh yeah.’

‘No idea what?’

Ceri considered. Mei had wanted to know about the skull, but had already known about it and had not really asked any questions. ‘No, not really. She did say she wanted to meet me, which was why she invited me rather than Cheryl, but… I think there was more to it.’ She picked up her tray which now had drinks on it and turned around. ‘She seemed nice enough though, I don’t think it’s a problem.’

The table the drinks were for featured two human girls and a vampire. The girls were giggly and the vampire was old, at least fifty. He was already using illusion to cover up patches of decay around his eyes and mouth. The girls obviously could not see the blackened patches in the drawn, grey skin, but Ceri could. From the looks of them, however, they would not have cared. The popular name for them was “chew toys,” people who enjoyed getting high from vampire bites. Ceri turned after dropping off the drinks and smiled as she spotted Lily beside the bar. Succubi were addictive too, but there was less biting and the withdrawal was way easier.

Well, sort of easier. As Ceri approached Lily wrapped slender arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. ‘What was… that for?’ Ceri gasped when her demon let her go.

‘Special request from table three,’ Lily replied. ‘Even if they didn’t vocalise it.’ Lily’s ability to sense the desires of others was improving under her father’s tutelage.

‘That’s our Lil,’ Alec commented wryly. ‘Always putting the needs of the customer first, despite the hardship.’

‘A true humanitarian,’ Carter agreed.

Lily ignored the sarcasm and picked up her tray. ‘I’m also an exceptionally good waitress and pet,’ she said before strutting off.

‘I need a cold shower,’ Ceri said.

‘I don’t have one handy, sorry,’ Carter replied, smirking. ‘Alec, make a note to have a cold water shower installed beside the bar in case of succubus.’

Alec managed to keep his face entirely straight. ‘Noted, Boss. I think that’ll go down a storm with the customers.’

‘Indeed,’ Carter agreed. ‘Perhaps we could make a dousing in ice water a regular event.’

‘You two are in fine form tonight,’ Ceri said. ‘Have you been practicing this double act?’

‘No, kid,’ Alec replied, ‘it’s pure talent.’

‘And years of experience,’ Carter added.

‘How long have you two known each other?’ Ceri asked.

‘Nineteen-eighty-one, wasn’t it?’ Alec said.

‘That would be about right. This place was still the Midnight Dancer, I was looking for a barman, and one happened to save me from some muggers.’

‘You needed saving from muggers?’ Ceri sounded incredulous.

‘There were five of them, and they were werewolves,’ Carter said a little defensively.

‘Dog Boys,’ Alec said, ‘but there were six.’

‘There were?’ Carter frowned. ‘Well, I’m getting old. Anyway, he needed a job, I needed a bartender, the rest is history.’

‘Eighty-one?’ Ceri mused. ‘Thirty years. That’s a long time.’

Carter and Alec looked at each other. ‘Now I really feel old,’ Carter said.

Lily sauntered back, raising a perfect eyebrow at Carter’s remark. ‘Well table five has two twenty-somethings on it who would be happy to cheer you up, and they need a red wine each.’ Alec smirked and turned to get the drinks.

‘Table five?’ Carter asked.

‘Blonde and brunette,’ Lily said, nodding, ‘both bi, the blonde’s a D-cup.’

Carter looked contemplative for a second and then turned in time to take the two glasses from Alec. ‘I believe I should be sociable,’ he said.

‘Oh, definitely,’ Ceri said.

‘Your duty as host,’ Lily added.

Carter favoured them with a knowing grin before turning toward the table were his unsuspecting victims were waiting.

‘If he ever starts acting his age, I’ll become celibate,’ Lily commented.

‘He better bloody not then!’ Ceri stated emphatically.

Kennington, June 18th

‘Ready?’ Ceri asked.

‘Bring it on,’ Lily replied.

Ceri stepped forward, swinging her staff in an overhead strike. Lily sidestepped it easily, lunging forward with one of the wooden batons she was holding backhanded only to have it slapped aside. They backed away from each other, circling. Lily’s wide skirt swept about her legs and Ceri had to concentrate to avoid watching that instead of Lily’s weapons. And the half-succubus was using that too; she moved in as Ceri’s eyes twitched down. A low feint drew Ceri’s attention and she was hard-pressed to block the strike at her throat.

‘Break!’ Ray called out and the two girls separated, grinning. The martial arts instructor pointed at Ceri. ‘You need to stop looking at your girlfriend’s legs.’

‘I wasn’t!’ Ceri protested. ‘It’s the skirt, it’s distracting.’ Lily giggled and swished her skirt.

‘You have to widen your focus,’ Ray said. ‘Don’t concentrate on the details, just be aware of them.’

Ceri looked at him a little sourly. ‘Is there some cryptic phrase playbook I can read this stuff in? Everyone seems to have a copy but me.’

Ray laughed. He had a deep, rather attractive laugh which probably followed from his deep chest. Ceri suspected you could also bounce bullets off his diaphragm. ‘For that one, try reading The Book of Five Rings. “One must affect the Rat’s Head, Ox’s Neck.”’

‘Right,’ Ceri drawled. ‘Okay, uh… widen my perceptions.’ She looked at Lily. ‘Okay, hit me.’

The half-succubus moved with all her demon-enhanced speed delivering a flurry of blows which Ceri blocked as quickly as they came. Another feint dropped low, but this time Ceri tapped it aside, stepped in before the throat strike could start, and pushed her staff into Lily’s chest. It would just have been a push, if Ceri had not also planted her foot to hook Lily’s ankle. Instead there was a shriek as Lily found herself tumbling backward onto the floor of the hall and the next thing she knew the heel of Ceri’s staff was resting against her throat.

‘Well done,’ Ray said. ‘I didn’t teach you that.’

‘Wrestling lessons with werewolves,’ Ceri said as she offered a hand to Lily.

Upright again, Lily poked her in the ribs with a wooden dagger. ‘You get to heal my bruised bum.’

‘My pleasure, love.’

Ray smirked at them. ‘I thought you were a lover, not a fighter, Ceri.’

‘Anita is pretty strict,’ she replied. ‘She’s the pack Captain. All the wolves in the pack have to go through at least basic training, but they made me a Guard and she says that even if I can blow a demon’s head off, I need to be able to defend myself in close combat.’

Ray ran a hand through his close-cropped hair thoughtfully. ‘You don’t think she’d be willing to give me a demo of the techniques they use, do you? It’d be really useful in my line of work.’ He taught martial arts for the police; Ceri imagined he was right.

‘I can ask her,’ she said. ‘I can’t promise anything though.’

‘Thanks,’ the big man said, ‘and time’s up so I guess I should be going. You’ll keep practicing?’

‘Of course,’ Ceri said. ‘If I didn’t Lily would kick my arse, and then shop me to Michael so Anita can put me on double guard duty or something.’

Chuckling, Ray started off toward the utility room where he had left his street clothes. ‘I just bet she would,’ he said in passing.

~~~

There was plenty of time before sundown and not much to be done, so they ended up on the roof, in the sun. The roof of High Towers had a rail around the edge, complete with bat design, and was nice and wide. The three deckchairs in the middle of it could never be seen from the ground. Someone with a telescope looking out from the tower blocks of the Brandon Estate could probably spot someone laid out on the loungers, but otherwise they were invisible.

Lily had never been bothered by the possibility of being seen and never wore anything to sunbathe up there. Less than a year earlier, Ceri had been distinctly more conservative. Now she wore a suit on the roof only when she wanted Lily to have something to take off. She did, however, need to have sun oil lathered on, because the alternative was burning like a lobster on high heat, and since Lily had offered to make sure she got a good coating before she lay down, Ceri was recovering in the afterglow of an orgasm which had lasted for five minutes when she did, finally, get to relax.

‘I sometimes wonder why I don’t just lie down and spread my legs for you when we come up here,’ Ceri commented languidly. Her brain was in that happy place composed of equal parts sex and warm sunlight.

‘That would be no fun,’ Lily replied. ‘Even if we know the outcome before we start, the chase is part of the thrill.’

‘You don’t exactly chase me.’

‘Just because you want it, doesn’t mean there isn’t seduction and heightening of arousal involved. Are you saying you’d rather I just got down to it? All clinical?’

‘Well… no.’

‘Don’t complain then.’

‘I wasn’t… I suppose I was, sort of. Oh, speaking of my inability to go twenty-four hours without your tongue, I have to go to Cambridge in a couple of weeks.’

‘How long for?’ Lily sounded a little unhappy.

‘A week. It’s the Thaumatology Conference. Cheryl wants me to present a paper on my thesis. I’d be leaving Sunday and back on Friday, early enough to get to work in the evening.’

Lily sighed. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll suffer without you, of course, but if you can manage, I’m sure I can.’

‘Huh, I’ll be taking a tasty young post-grad to bed every night.’

‘Of course,’ Lily replied without batting an eyelid. ‘You’re my Mistress, you can do what you like. But when you’re with them, you’ll be thinking of me.’

Ceri sagged in the lounger. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘You or Michael anyway. Preferably both. I have got one favour to ask.’

‘What’s that?’

‘When I find out the time for my presentation, you have to promise you won’t masturbate during it.’

Lily giggled. ‘Sure, but it’ll cost you.’

Ceri groaned and turned over. ‘Do my back, would you?’ Lily rose smoothly from her own lounger and moved over to Ceri’s. ‘So what’s it going to cost me?’ Ceri asked.

Lily poured oil into her palm and began to smooth it into Ceri’s shoulder and neck. ‘I’m not sure yet.’ Ceri began to relax as Lily’s expert fingers worked the oil into her skin and eased the muscles beneath. ‘You could be my slave for the day again.’ She began to work her way down Ceri’s back, smoothing out from the spine. ‘Maybe you could chain me up and work me over with the toys again. I really enjoyed that. Or…’ She stopped.

When Lily had remained silent for a few seconds Ceri frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘There’s like… a shadow under your skin,’ Lily said. She traced her finger over a circular area at the back of Ceri’s right hip perhaps three or four inches in diameter just over the pelvic bone. ‘Looks almost like a bruise, but not quite.’

‘I don’t remember being hit there,’ Ceri replied.

Lily shrugged and continued smoothing in the oil. ‘If it doesn’t go away you’d better see someone about it.’

After a minute or so Ceri said, ‘I don’t really need that part massaging quite so much.’

‘True,’ Lily replied.

After a few more second Ceri said, ‘So why are you still d-doing it?’

‘You didn’t actually tell me to stop.’

‘No, n-no I d-didn’t.’

Soho

‘You seem different tonight, kid,’ Alec said as Ceri waited for a tray of drinks to be filled. ‘Your scent is a little different, maybe.’

‘Really? I don’t think there’s anything… No, Lily hasn’t bought new shower gel or anything.’

Alec placed the last of the drinks down. ‘I’ll think about it,’ he said.

Ceri gave him a grin and turned, moving off through the tables with a playful swing to her hips. Her grin grew brighter as she head Alec behind her. ‘Damn! She’s getting the hang of that.’ It did seem to be getting easier the more she worked at the Dragon. At first she had been unsure of herself, not sure she could manage the sexy strut the other girls seemed to perform with native ease. Lily, of course, had inborn talent; a grace and sensuality which came from her father. The other two waitresses were not half-demons, in fact they were normal humans, but they still moved like they had been born to it, and Ceri had just never had that kind of body awareness. Until now anyway.

She delivered her drinks and started back, only to find Carter, Lily, and Alec watching her. Lily’s expression had a hint of pride to it, but all three were quite intent and by the time Ceri arrived back at the bar she was wearing a quizzical, slightly embarrassed grin. ‘What?’ she asked.

‘You’re moving differently,’ Lily said.

‘More like Lily,’ Alec added.

‘It’s really quite fascinating,’ Carter said.

‘Well, I’ve been doing this a while,’ Ceri said, ‘and the combat lessons with Ray and the pack…’

‘And I figured out what the scent is,’ Alec said.

‘Okay, what?’

‘You smell more… you,’ the werewolf replied, a little lamely. ‘Like you’re more distinct. You didn’t last night.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Maybe I need a stronger soap.’

Carter laughed. ‘I’m sure it’s just practice and… hormones or something.’

Ceri looked at her boss, but decided that whatever he was lying about could wait, particularly because his eyes were widening and the number of times she had seen Carter Fleming genuinely surprised could be counted on the stump of a hand. Turning, she realised why.

Mei Long and Jenny Li were walking into the club flanked by a pair of Chinese gentlemen who appeared to have been carved out of stone and then animated. The sight of Jenny in a cocktail dress would have been enough to make Ceri’s eyes pop out; the girl Ceri had gone to school with, who had gone almost as unnoticed as Ceri herself had, looked pretty stunning. The ambassador, however, looked like she had just stepped off a catwalk. Her dress was a deep blue colour and sculpted to her slim body to stop just above her knees. Obviously Imperial Ambassadors could not be seen in micro-dresses. As for the two men, Ceri wondered whether they had been poured into the suits, or whether the suits were painted on.

‘Ordinarily I’d put them on one of Lily’s tables,’ Carter’s voice said in her ear, ‘but I suspect they’re here for you.’

Nodding, Ceri walked forward, switching on her for-the-customers smile as she made her way to the lectern. ‘Good evening and welcome to the Jade Dragon,’ she said brightly. ‘I’m Ceri, which you both know, and I’ll be your waitress for tonight.’

Jenny giggled. ‘We’re incognito. Well, Mei is, I don’t really need to be.’

Mei smiled. ‘I wanted a night out without the usual pomp and officialdom, and bodyguards.’ She glanced back at Yin and Yang behind her who remained entirely impassive. ‘However, we can’t have everything. At least they agreed to sit at the bar.’ The bodyguards looked at Ceri, she got the distinct impression that they were golems, or something. They certainly had all the animation of a pair of gargoyles.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘Table twelve is free. That’s a booth so you won’t be too visible, and right at the back of the room so anyone heading that way will be fully visible to your… guards.’ She smiled. ‘And besides, the wards on the Dragon are among the best there are.’

Mei chuckled. ‘That sounds fine, and it is such an appropriate name.’ Ceri grinned and turned to lead them through to the booth. The two Sumo wrestlers peeled off to stand like statues near the bar. ‘Do you happen to know how Mister Fleming chose the name?’ Mei asked.

‘Actually, I don’t,’ Ceri said. ‘I know it was called the Midnight Dancer before he refurbished it. You can probably ask him yourself. I’m sure he’ll stop by to talk.’

‘I don’t want a fuss made,’ Mei said.

Ceri glanced back and grinned. ‘Two attractive women on their own at a table? People would think it odd if he didn’t pay you some attention.’ She stopped and indicated their booth, smiling as they slipped into the seats. ‘What can I get you?’

‘I’ve developed a taste for Scottish whiskies,’ Mei said. ‘If that rather nice werewolf barman could recommend one? Something with a lot of flavour.’

‘White wine, please,’ Jenny said.

Ceri nodded. ‘I’ll be right back.’ Turning on her heel she started off toward the bar and, on a whim, turned on her Sight. The two bodyguards were transformed from… something. She could tell that much. It would require a spell to know what and she felt that would have been rude. Stopping at the counter she looked across it at Alec. ‘A white wine and the most flavoursome whiskey you can recommend.’

‘Do the two doorstops want anything?’ Alec asked.

Ceri looked at the doorstops in question. ‘I kind of doubt it,’ she said. ‘Not on duty.’ One of them bowed his head to her; it was the first reaction she had seen out of either of them.

‘Fair enough. This should satisfy the lady’s thirst.’

Grinning, Ceri picked up her tray and slid across the floor toward Jenny and Mei. She noticed the ambassador’s eyes were following her as she got closer. ‘You have considerable grace, Ceri,’ Mei said as she put the drinks down.

‘And a very small dress,’ Jenny added. ‘You used to wear long skirts all the time at school. You didn’t even turn the waistbands up to make them shorter.’

‘You can talk, sat there in a dress that’d fit a twelve year-old. And the grace is practice.’ Ceri nodded at the whiskey glass, ‘Alec thinks you’ll like that.’

‘I’m sure I will,’ Mei replied, ‘but I believe you may be wrong about the practice. That looks inborn to me.’ Something was tugging at the back of Ceri’s mind, like an itch at the back of her scalp. ‘Would you come sit with us for a short while if you get the time?’

‘I’ll have a break soon,’ Ceri replied. ‘I don’t think Carter will mind. Enjoy your drinks.’

‘That woman is taking quite an interest in you,’ Lily said when Ceri returned to the bar.

‘Looks like it,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s mutual. There’s something about her. I can feel… I don’t know what. I’m not sure what she is, and she seems to know more about me than she’s letting on.’

‘Have you tried your Sight on her?’

‘That’d be kind of rude. She is an ambassador.’

‘I bet that hasn’t stopped her.’

‘I’m not an ambassador,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘There’s decorum to think of.’

‘Decorum,’ Lily said. ‘Right. Succubi aren’t really big on decorum. Decorative. That I can do.’

Ceri giggled and was about to say something when Carter said, ‘Ceri, do you want to take your break?’

‘Sure,’ she replied. ‘Mei asked if I could chat for a minute, if that’s okay?’

‘I think we can indulge the Ambassador.’

Ceri gave her boss a grin and headed off toward table twelve. Mei and Jenny looked up as she slipped into the seat beside Jenny. ‘Well, you’ve got me for five minutes,’ Ceri said, smiling.

‘Jenny was just telling me that she went to a couple of your birthday parties,’ Mei said.

‘She used to live down the street,’ Ceri said. ‘Back then I used to go out for sweets on Halloween, then we’d go home for my birthday party. Then she moved away and we kind of lost touch. We went to the same high school, but we didn’t do many classes together, and then we met again when I was doing my Public Practitioner’s Certificate last year.’

‘So, you came into your powers very late?’

Ceri nodded. ‘I was normal until last summer. There was an accident with the containment circle at the lab and suddenly I could work magic.’

‘It was in the news and everything,’ Jenny supplied.

‘You’re a practitioner, Mei?’ Ceri asked.

‘I can work magic,’ the ambassador replied. ‘I don’t do much of it. When one makes their living through diplomacy it’s wise not to have a reputation for extensive magic use.’

‘People would think you’re using it on them in meetings?’ Ceri guessed.

Mei nodded. ‘Despite the fact that most diplomats and their staff wear charms against mind-affecting magic.’

‘A lot of people still don’t trust magic,’ Ceri said. ‘Jenny can attest to that.’

Jenny nodded vigorously. ‘The looks Ceri was getting from some people at the centre just because she was doing the PPC course… Of course, then she turned up with half-a-dozen werewolves as bodyguards too.’

‘You needed bodyguards?’ Mei looked surprised. Of course, Ceri had been surprised at the time.

‘Academic infighting can get a little cutthroat,’ Ceri replied. ‘The man responsible quite literally vanished off the face of the Earth, so I guess it all worked out in the end.’

‘We’re a little more organised in China,’ Mei said. ‘Some would say bureaucratic, or even dictatorial.’

Ceri smiled slightly. ‘Bureaucratic perhaps. Even if what we hear about the dragons is true, I’d call it “assertive advice” rather than dictating action or policy.’

‘I like that,’ Mei said, grinning. ‘I must try to remember it. Have you ever considered a career in diplomacy?’

‘I prefer academia,’ Ceri said, ‘even with the vampire assassins and demon-werewolves.’

‘Well, that would certainly be good experience for surviving consulate balls. Jenny got through the last one by chewing her own hand off.’

Jenny grimaced. ‘I wasn’t even needed!’ she moaned. ‘Hours of tedium and having old men look down my cleavage.’

‘That sounds like my cue,’ Carter said. ‘Though I promise to not make too much of a show of doing so.’

Ceri giggled. ‘Boss, Jenny was voted “girl least likely to ever need a bra” in sixth form.’

‘My dear girl,’ Carter replied with considerable sincerity, ‘it’s not the volume, but the aesthetic quality that counts.’

‘I’ll leave you to Carter’s tender mercies,’ Ceri said, smirking. ‘I need to get back to work.’ She slipped out of the seat, allowing Carter to slide in in her place. Jenny, out partying with the Chinese Ambassador, looked awestruck at having Carter Fleming sit down beside her. The playboy club owner might consider Mei to be out of his league, but Jenny was probably a different story. ‘Another drink?’ Ceri suggested.

Jenny looked at her empty glass and then at Mei. ‘The same again then,’ the ambassador said.

‘Another of those whiskies if you would, Ceri,’ Carter said.

Ceri smiled and headed off to the bar. Lily was smiling when she got there and gave Alec the order. ‘Ten quid says Carter takes Jenny home tonight,’ the half-succubus said.

‘Huh, I’m not taking that bet.’

Alec chuckled as he poured whiskey. ‘Such wisdom in one so young.’

Kennington, June 19th

The Sleeper watches, the Teacher waits, the Queen broods upon her lost king.

~~~

Lily swung around the chromed pole in the dungeon with the kind of lithe grace which came of having a parent who considered sex as hunting. Ceri was not really paying attention. Their pole-dance sessions often ended in sex, and this one was largely for Michael’s benefit so that was very likely, but the main aim was exercise. For once, even the sight of Lily in a schoolgirl outfit twisting around a pole was not holding Ceri’s interest.

She had had a dream. She could remember almost nothing from it aside from something which sounded like a line from a bad fantasy novel, or maybe something by H.P. Lovecraft. Something about a Sleeper waking, or brooding, or teaching…

‘You know,’ Lily said, ‘if you’re going to sit there making frownie faces I might as well just give Michael a lap dance and you can brood in silence.’ Ceri blinked. Michael had gone slightly crimson. Lily was hanging upside down, gripping the pole with her shins. Any normal girl’s breasts would have fallen out of the top she was wearing, but this was Lily.

‘I’m not broo…’ Ceri began. ‘Brooding! That was it, “The Queen broods upon her lost king!”’

Lily looked at Michael. ‘She’s finally lost it. I always knew this was going to happen. You want that lap dance now?’

‘Hey, I have not lost it!’ Ceri wined. ‘I had a dream last night and I was trying to remember it, but all I’ve got is this one sentence.’

Michael pried his eyes off Lily. ‘Well, your dreams usually mean something…’

‘I wouldn’t say “usually,”’ Ceri said.

‘Sometimes,’ Lily said. ‘For instance, the one where the staff and all the patrons at the Dragon turned into giant iguanas? Not so meaningful. And the one where she was being forced at gunpoint to buy two thousand pairs of shoes?’

‘That was just a nightmare?’ Ceri said, grimacing.

‘And then there was the one where she was forced to wrestle me naked in a huge vat of baked beans for your entertainment.’

‘I think we’ve established that my dreams are not always meaningful,’ Ceri said in a rush.

‘Baked beans?’ Michael said. He had a rather interested grin on his face.

‘That’s really not the point,’ Ceri said. ‘This dream seemed like it meant something and besides, where would we get a vat and enough beans to fill it?’

‘There’s a club on Frith Street that stages wrestling matches in mud,’ Lily suggested. ‘We could…’

‘I am not setting up a baked bean wrestling match!’ Ceri yelled.

Michael patted her thigh. ‘Okay, okay, if you don’t feel like it, I’m sure I can manage to hide my disappointment. What do you remember from the dream?’

‘The sleeper watches, the teacher waits, the Queen broods upon her lost king,’ Ceri recited. ‘Which doesn’t make a huge bundle of sense.’

‘Someone who’s sleeping can’t be watching,’ Michael said.

‘And the Queen’s husband is still alive,’ Lily added.

‘Like I said, it doesn’t make much sense,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, a teacher waiting is not exactly unreasonable, but waiting for what?’

‘Mind you,’ Michael mused, ‘it’s not a teacher, it’s the Teacher. It’s like it’s a name or a title.’

‘Like Doctor Who,’ Lily said brightly.

‘Sorry?’ Michael said, blinking. The fact that she was still hanging upside down with her skirt around her waist was not helping.

‘Doctor Who, it’s a TV series, science fiction. There’s this race of people called Time Lords and they have names like… Well, actually they kind of stopped doing it after a while, but originally they had names like The Doctor, The Master, The Meddling Monk. They were supposed to reflect their personalities.’

Ceri snapped her fingers. ‘Mei said that dragons use names like that. They’re dragons.’

‘Three dragons called Sleeper, Teacher, and Queen?’ Lily sounded unconvinced. ‘I thought dragons would have more… prosaic names.’

‘Well, the Chinese dragons have Chinese names,’ Ceri said, ‘and I assume the western dragons have names in whatever the local language is. It might sound more interesting that way.’

‘Y’know,’ Michael said, still sounding thoughtful, ‘you are missing a question.’

‘I am?’

‘Uh-huh. Alexandra has dreams that mean something, along with visions and stuff.’

‘Yes,’ Ceri said. ‘Luperca sends them.’

‘Exactly,’ Michael said, ‘so who’s sending yours?’

Westminster, June 20th

The summons had come about ten minutes before the black sedan, and Ceri was grumpy. It did not help that the building the Ministry for Supernatural Affairs was housed in looked like it had been designed by someone who normally worked on gas pipelines. It should have been more traditional, she felt, though it was presumably supposed to match the Home Office building to which it was adjacent.

Then, having been dragged out of bed at the ludicrous hour of ten am, and without the solace of sex with Lily, she was forced to wait for forty minutes in an uncomfortable chair watched over by a woman with horn-rimmed glasses and an expression like her breakfast consisted only of lemons. Generally Ceri considered herself fairly even tempered, but Malcolm Charles was wasting her time. When she watched two men in suits walk past her and into the minister’s office, her temper started to boil over.

‘If he couldn’t see me until after eleven, why was I dragged out of bed an hour ago?’ she asked.

Something on the woman’s desk buzzed. ‘You may go in now?’

Biting back on a response, because the woman was only doing her job, Ceri stood and walked to the generic office door and opened it without knocking. Malcolm was sat behind his desk, which was large, ornate, and oak, while one of the men who had walked in ahead of her was sat in a comfortable looking armchair in front of the desk. The other, who was more Ceri’s age, sat in an upright chair beside the desk. Ceri guessed he was the under-secretary. Malcolm gained points back by standing up as Ceri came in, and she gave the civil servant the benefit of the doubt because he was balancing a laptop on his legs; she was rapidly starting to hate the other guy.

‘Miss Brent,’ Malcolm said. ‘I’m sorry you were kept waiting. Please have a seat.’ He indicated the second of the three chairs.

Ceri moved around to sit down and got a proper look at the man seated beside her. He was in his thirties, she guessed, moderately good looking and fairly well built. His shirt was stretched across a muscled chest and his jacket showed signs of a bulky frame stretching the shoulders. He looked rugged. Rugged was a really good term for him, actually since there was some indication of beard growth at eleven in the morning and his nose appeared to have been broken more than once. His dark brown hair was short and probably maintained by a fairly expensive barber. His eyes were blue, but the colour made less of an impression than the look he gave her; appraising and a little suspicious.

‘Ceridwyn Brent, this is Avery Sachs, with the Home office,’ Malcolm said, nodding at Mister Rugged. Home Office… right. ‘And this is Dennis, my under-secretary. He’ll be taking minutes and telling me when I’m supposed to be somewhere else. As you can tell, Avery doesn’t have a Dennis.’ That was another point Malcolm had got back. Ceri gave Sachs a nod and got nothing but the appraising look in reply.

Ceri took her cue from Malcolm; they had been on a first name basis in the Green Room, but not in front of Sachs. ‘I have a conference presentation to prepare for, sir,’ she said, ‘so I’d be grateful if we could get to the point.’

Malcolm nodded. ‘The Cambridge thing? I’m not attending this year. Very well…’ He took a breath, as if considering how to proceed. Apparently he concluded that the direct approach was the best. ‘We understand that you paid a visit to the Chinese Embassy last week. The Home Office has some concerns.’ Ceri turned her gaze on Sachs; he said nothing. ‘What was the meeting about?’ Malcolm asked.

‘The Chinese government was concerned that the data we put in the Journal of Thaumatology had been… adjusted to suggest experimentation in that area was more dangerous than it actually is.’ Exactly how much information she was going to hand out she had not decided yet, but that much was safe. ‘They wanted to be quite sure it was not a ploy to allow Britain to build bombs based on the technology.’

‘And you assured her it was not and that we weren’t doing anything of the kind?’ Malcolm said.

‘Yes, I did.’

‘And she believed you?’ Sachs said. He had a calm voice, as deep as his chest suggested it might be.

‘I’m quite convincing on the subject,’ Ceri replied.

‘And you’re aware of government policy on this because?’ Sachs said. Ceri was not particularly happy about whatever he was implying.

‘I was told by a Mister… Whistler from this ministry that all research on that device was being cancelled,’ Ceri said. ‘Frankly, I’d make some threat about going to the press if I were to discover that any such research was continuing, but it would be entirely redundant.’ Sachs looked at her questioningly; his briefing had obviously not been that good. ‘If someone ever builds a Dark Circle device and turns it on, even for a second, the resulting explosion will make the German Rift bombs look like fire crackers. If anyone in this country built one, we’d all know it.’

‘Did you tell her about the skull at Stonehenge?’ Malcolm asked.

Ceri sighed. ‘No, she told me about the skull at Stonehenge.’

Malcolm’s face paled. Sachs said, ‘And did she say how she knew about it?’

‘No, but it doesn’t take a genius to work it out,’ Ceri replied. ‘Dragons are reputedly immortal, Huanglong probably went to school with the original owner of the skull.’

Sachs reached down and picked up a briefcase. Popping it open, he took out a manila envelope and passed it to Ceri. He spoke as she started to open it. ‘The Home Office is concerned that China has a significant spying operation in Britain.’ The envelope contained photographs of Mei, Jenny, and the two bodyguards entering the Jade Dragon. ‘We are concerned that Mei Long seems to be courting you for some reason and that her translator may be involved.’ There were some other pictures; Mei and the guards leaving the club, Jenny leaving with Carter, and the couple arriving at Carter’s flat.

‘I’m concerned that MI5 is taking happy snaps of my friends, Mister Sachs,’ Ceri replied. She looked up at him. Her Sight showed her the tell-tale signs of magic use which suggested he was a practitioner, but there were none of the dark marks around his Chakral Median which would have indicated a demonic pact. Sachs was probably not a member of the Order of Merlin, but one of his superiors might have been, or the analyst who had suggested Jenny might be a spy. ‘I’ve known Jenny Li since we were children, she’s a terrible liar. As for the Ambassador… She has an ulterior motive for meeting with me, I agree, but she has been quite open with me about her government’s involvement. I believe whatever she wants with me is personal.’

‘Why would a Chinese state official have personal interests in, if you’ll pardon the description, a nobody thaumatology researcher from London?’ Sachs asked flatly.

In truth, Ceri could think of only one answer to that question; because Mei Long knew that Ceri was a sorceress and Mei Long was something not entirely human. However, she was not going to tell Sachs that. ‘When I find out, Mister Sachs… Well, frankly, if it’s personal then it’s none of your widder-damned business.’ She turned to Malcolm. ‘Is that all you needed?’

The minister was trying his best not to look amused. ‘That’s all I needed,’ he said. ‘Good luck with the presentation.’

Ceri stood up, handed the photographs back to Sachs, and started for the door. She paused with her hand on the door handle. ‘Mister Sachs, my friend Lily and I tend to sunbathe nude on the roof of my house. I’d appreciate it if you used female operatives for your surveillance.’ She opened the door and added, ‘It was nice meeting you again, Minister,’ before walking out.

Just as she was about to close the door behind her she heard Malcolm say, ‘You can leave that last bit out of the minutes, Dennis.’

~~~

‘Seriously?’ Lily said rather too enthusiastically. ‘MI5 are really watching us?’

‘Someone certainly is,’ Ceri replied from the other lounger, a copy of the Wednesday Witch in front of her. ‘Sachs never did confirm he was MI5, but then I guess he wouldn’t.’

‘Did he look like James Bond?’

‘Which one?’

‘Oh… Connery.’

Ceri giggled. ‘A bit, maybe. James Bond was MI6 anyway. He’s a practitioner. Magic has to be really useful for being a spy, though if they try to use scrying on us they’ll be a bit bored.’

‘So we’re probably talking long lenses and a telescope from the tower blocks?’

‘I’m guessing they have a parabolic microphone as well.’

‘Do you think they’ve got a video camera? I haven’t done porn in years.’

Ceri gave a little sigh and looked out toward the tower blocks which were, perhaps a hundred and fifty yards away. Unaided she could see no sign of anyone watching them, just the basic shapes of windows. She concentrated, narrowing and focussing the light coming into her eyes, and the buildings suddenly jumped toward her. ‘Woah… need to learn to do that slowly.’ She scanned over the buildings as quickly as she could until she located what she was looking for. ‘It looks like two still cameras, a telescope, a microphone, and yes, there is a video camera. And Sachs didn’t do as I asked.’ She could see a man sitting behind the telescope. She waved. ‘Hey there fella, hope you’re enjoying the view.’ She was rewarded by the man looking up from his eyepiece with a disgusted expression on his face.

‘Well, now they know they’re not going to hear us giving away any secrets,’ Lily commented.

Ceri closed her eyes to let the spell fade naturally; she was going to feel dizzy if she kept her eyes open. ‘Yeah, well they weren’t going to get what they wanted anyway. If Mei’s trying to recruit me as a spy or something, I think she’d be bright enough to do it where they can’t see.’

‘Maybe they’re hoping she’s stupid.’

‘I don’t think they are that stupid. No, I think they’re following procedure. We’ll just have to put up with being observed until they get a clue.’

‘That long?’ Lily groaned. She rolled off her lounger and padded over to Ceri. ‘In that case you’d better get used to having sex on camera, because I am not waiting that long.’

‘We can go downstairs,’ Ceri pointed out.

‘Nu-huh, sex in the sun is the absolute best.’ Her finger drew a line down Ceri’s stomach. Well what the Hell, why should they change their behaviour just because someone was spying on them?

Ceri relaxed against her lounger. ‘They’ll get a better view if you sit on the other side,’ she said.

Lily giggled. ‘Are you sure you’ve never done porn?’

Part Three: Teachers of Men

Cambridge, July 3rd, 2011

Merlin College had been founded in 1963 as a place where arcane students could be housed among others of their inclination. Ceri was not entirely fond of the name; she had a suspicion that the Order of Merlin had been involved. She was also not particularly fond of the rather utilitarian architecture. However the rooms were nice enough and the bed was comfortable, which was an absolute godsend after the nerve-racking train trip from London. Trains were, in Ceri’s opinion, much better than cars, but she still had not managed to get comfortable the entire time she was travelling.

‘I’m here,’ she said into her mobile phone.

‘I know you are,’ Lily replied. ‘I felt the relief when you got off the train.’

‘That obvious, huh? Well, the rooms are nice, in an undergraduate basic accommodation sort of way. The bed’s not bad, but it’s a single and you’re not in it.’

‘Missing me already?’

‘Damn right.’

‘Thank you, that’s really sweet. Do you have a bathroom?’

Ceri chuckled. ‘In a Sixties build hall? Not a chance. There are showers and toilets on each floor, and a sink in the room. I think the postgrad rooms have en suite bathrooms, but a lot of those are occupied by people still doing research.’

‘Where’s Cheryl?’

‘The room next to mine, though she’s not in there at the moment. I’m going to have a shower and then go find her. She’s out somewhere with Ed Perry.’

‘Do you think those two ever…?’

‘Cheryl and Ed?’ Ceri considered it for a second. ‘Well… he doesn’t seem the type to take advantage of a young postgrad.’

‘Yeah, but Cheryl’s hot. She had to have been total jailbait back then.’

‘Lily! I do not feel comfortable talking about my boss as jailbait!’

‘What?’ Lily wined. ‘You’ve had sex with her too.’

‘Sometimes I think my entire life revolves around sex,’ Ceri said a little sadly.

‘Nonsense,’ Lily replied, ‘you’ve got research, magic, and defeating ancient menaces. The sex is just the best bit.’

~~~

Cheryl and Ed had found their way to a pub near the town centre which went by the name of The Wizard’s Head. It seemed to be frequented by a disproportionate number of magicians. In fact, as Ceri walked over to the table the two academics were sat at, she had trouble spotting anyone other than Cheryl who was not magically endowed in some way. On the other hand, they all seemed to be human; no werewolves, no vampires, no fae she could see, though they tended to be harder to spot.

‘Ceri,’ Ed said, rising from his seat as she approached, ‘such a pleasure to meet you again.’ He offered her his hand and she took it, shaking it briefly.

‘Thank you, Ed. It’s nice to see you’re here too. At least I’ll have two people in the audience who don’t want to murder me painfully.’

‘I think there’ll be more than just us, dear,’ Cheryl said. ‘We have quite a contingent in from other universities. There are even a few people in from the US, Australia, and China this year.’

‘China?’ Ceri said, deflating slightly. ‘Oh… good.’

‘Hmm, yes,’ Ed said, ‘who are your two shadows?’

Ceri glanced back at the “couple” who had followed her in and sat at the bar. They were trying to look like tourists. ‘You noticed them, huh? They’re MI5.’

‘Cheryl filled me in,’ Ed said. ‘You do lead an interesting life, Ceridwyn.’

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ Ceri replied, grinning a little sourly. Or perhaps he did. She had the weirdest feeling he knew more than he was saying. She recalled that he had mentioned a student at Aberystwyth, where he taught, who had written a paper on Ceri’s ancient namesake. Ed knew about her accident as well. Maybe he had put two and two together and made five.

‘How is Lily?’ Ed asked, manoeuvring the conversation away from Ceri’s problems.

Ceri smiled, genuinely this time. ‘She’s good. No, that’s wrong. She’s naughty, but she’s fabulous.’ There was a round of laughter. ‘Her and Michael keep me sane. Cheryl helps mind.’

‘It’s only fair,’ Cheryl replied. ‘I’m here riding your coat tails, so if I can provide a little stability here and there… Or just get drunk with you at ancient monuments.’

Ceri felt her cheeks colour, but she noticed Cheryl’s were too. Ed looked between them. ‘It sounds like you had a good trip to Stonehenge. I want to hear all… I want to hear most of the details.’

‘If you want all the details,’ Cheryl said, ‘I’ll need another five pints.’

‘The experiment went well,’ Ceri said, ‘and we got a detailed map of the thaumic field around Stonehenge and Woodhenge. We proved a link between the two. However, the big thing we found is currently on the secret list. The Ministry doesn’t want us talking about it.’

‘But that’s not why MI5 are trailing you?’ Ed asked.

‘Oh no, they think the Chinese Ambassador is trying to recruit me.’ Ceri rubbed at the back of her neck and looked around. She had the same sort of odd sensation she had had around Mei, but she could not explain where it was coming from. The pub was crowded, if it was coming from a person it could have been anyone.

‘Ah yes,’ Cheryl said, ‘I had an email from the Chinese Embassy yesterday.’

Ceri blinked. ‘You did?’

‘I did. It seems that the Chinese have replicated our experiment, as you said, and their paper has been accepted for publication, so they’re allowing me to announce the corroborative evidence at the conference.’

Ed laughed. ‘That should annoy the team here, though with Barnes gone they’re not quite as competitive as they were. Part of the reason we have more foreign groups here this week is that the thaumatology teams here haven’t produced anything worth presenting.’

‘Barnes wasn’t that good,’ Cheryl scoffed.

‘No, but he was good at applying a cattle-prod to their behinds to get results out. They’re lacking focus and a strong leader.’ Ed leaned forward conspiratorially. ‘There have been more than a few comments that the conference might go to a different venue next year. Somewhere with a more productive thaumatology department.’

‘I’d heard a few mutterings,’ Cheryl said. ‘Oxford was suggested.’

‘Hmm yes, it was, but there’s a rather strong suggestion for a London venue.’ Cheryl looked mildly shocked. ‘There’s a suggestion to broaden the coverage to include some other magical sciences, include people like the metaphysical biology team at UCL and the cryptozoologists like Peter Mallow. The suggestion was that a more multi-disciplinary conference might help forward all the fields. Cambridge has always specialised heavily in the more academic areas of thaumatology.’

Cheryl was looking distinctly intrigued. ‘Does anyone know what Alfred thinks about this? Barnes that is.’

Ed looked amused. ‘On first name basis with the head of MagiTech are we? No, or if anyone has mentioned it to him I haven’t heard about it. They are the main sponsor for the conference so they would obviously have to agree.’

‘We’ll have to see,’ Cheryl said diplomatically.

Ed stretched and leaned back on his chair. ‘That we will. Interesting name though?’

Both women blinked at him. ‘Sorry?’ Ceri asked.

‘Oh, ah, the Chinese Ambassador. Interesting name.’

‘Mei Long,’ Ceri said.

‘That’s right. A variety of feathered dinosaur bears the same name. They were about the size of a duck and lived in the Cretaceous Period.’

Cheryl grinned. ‘I did say he was a fount of knowledge, didn’t I?’

‘You did.’ Ceri grinned at the professor.

‘The Mei long has the shortest binomial name of any dinosaur,’ Ed went on happily. ‘The name comes from the posture of the type fossil, which is curled up with its chin on its tail as though sleeping.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Sleeping?’

Ed nodded. ‘Mei means “sleep soundly.” Long, of course, is used extensively for dinosaurs found in China, it’s basically their word for “dragon.” The binomial name is generally translated as “sleeping dragon.”’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said. ‘You’re right, that’s an… interesting name.’

‘You have to wonder about the parents who named their daughter after a dinosaur though,’ Cheryl said.

‘Perhaps she was a very quiet baby,’ Ed suggested.

Ceri managed a grin, but her mind was racing. The Sleeper watches. Mei Long, Sleeping Dragon; Ceri suspected that Mei’s parents had had nothing to do with selecting her name.

~~~

‘Yeah, Ed’s doing well, it seems,’ Ceri said. ‘Same as he was, full of interesting, random information.’ Lily’s laugh down the phone sounded hollow and distant. ‘Oh, I’m presenting at ten am on Tuesday, so no sex between ten and eleven then.’

‘I’ll make a note in my diary.’

‘You don’t have a diary, Lil.’

‘Yes I do, she’s called Twill. I’ll get her to come in with a bucket of water on Tuesday morning.’ Lily apparently took her mouth away from the handset as she said, ‘What? Oh, right,’ the words muffled by distance. ‘Twill says her little friend says you were right and she would be happy to tip a bucket of water over me, even if I’m sleeping.’

Ceri giggled, though the news Twill was passing on was not good. How the fairy knew a Gremlin Ceri did not know; Tech-fae were an aberrant offshoot of the normal fae who had something of a racial hatred of technology. Gremlins, on the other hand, loved the stuff but had an annoying habit of breaking it for fun. Twill’s friend was confirming that the telephone line into High Towers was bugged. ‘Okay, love,’ Ceri said, ‘I’m going to say goodnight. Love to Twill. I’ll be in your dreams.’ That was the phrase they had decided on to let Lily know what Ceri planned to do next.

‘Looking forward to it,’ Lily said, and Ceri hit the disconnect button.

Okay, she needed to talk to Lily without the spooks hearing her. She had never tried the spell before, but there was a first time for everything. Actually, she thought as she undressed, “there’s a first time for everything” ought to be her motto. The undressing was not actually necessary, but she wanted to be comfortable before she started; Lily was going to abuse this one, she just knew it. She turned out the light and got into bed, pulling the sheet up around her waist and settling herself comfortably. Concentrating, she thought of Lily, fixing the image in her mind and willing the link between them to expand and…

‘Oh wow!’ Lily’s thoughts flashed through Ceri’s mind. Lily was lying on the bed naked. Lily was horny. When was Lily not horny? Lily was fascinated. The Ambassador’s name meant what? ‘Mei is the Sleeper?’ The words cut through the flurry of random thoughts, sharp and bright in Ceri’s head.

‘Do you think you could think less, Lil,’ Ceri thought at her. ‘It’s like talking in a disco.’

‘Hey, you’re not much better. Stop going over your presentation and yes I am going to abuse this, thank you very much.’ Ceri felt her cheeks flush. ‘Oh, that’s what blushing feels like. That kind of sucks.’

‘Anyway,’ Ceri said, trying to move on, ‘are they watching you, or have they given up on the house and stuck with me?’

There was a flickering burst of images and thoughts of conversations with Twill. ‘Twill says they’ve left the gear in the flat they were using, but no one’s manning it.’

‘Okay, good. I need you to get in touch with Carter. See what he can find out about Mei.’

‘Of course. This is so cool, it’s like I’m in your room. It’s like I’m you and me at the same time!’ Ceri’s giggled response produced a flurry of happy feelings in Lily, which made Ceri giggle more. Then Ceri felt a hand stroke over her stomach, except that it was not her stomach it was Lily’s. ‘Oh my God you felt that? This is so awesome!’ Ceri felt her breast being cupped, her nipple being pinched, and Lily said, ‘Yes… totally open to abuse.’

July 4th

The closest thing Ceri could come to the experience was Fresher’s Week at university. The registration hall was packed to the gills with chattering academics and she could not even see the desk where she was supposed to pick up her badge and conference details. About the only good thing about it was that she had totally lost her tail. She had had a lousy night, waking up twice with half-remembered dreams of pain. With a sigh, she joined the queue to get to the table where a bunch of harried people were working like maniacs to get everyone registered.

‘Name and institution?’ The man behind the desk was about her age, wearing thick glasses and a lot of sweat, and obviously wished he was somewhere else.

‘Ceridwyn Brent, London Metropolitan University,’ Ceri replied as calmly as she could manage. She was a little wound up by now as well, not to mention bored beyond belief.

He turned to a set of boxes behind the reception table and started leafing through one of them, returning after a minute with an envelope. ‘This is your badge and,’ he glanced at the envelope, ‘information on your presentation schedule.’ He handed her the envelope, barely waiting for her to grip it before letting go. ‘You must wear your badge at all times,’ he added, reaching down and picking up a bag. It looked quite good, actually, fairly roomy, in a black and red design with the MagiTech logo moderately discretely printed in one corner of the flap. ‘Conference pack,’ the man said. ‘All the details are in there. The opening ceremony is at ten-thirty in the main hall.’ His gaze looked down the line before she could respond. ‘Next!’

‘Uh, thanks,’ Ceri said, and started off into the halls of the convention centre. Finding a quiet spot, she dropped down onto her haunches and opened the conference bag. There was a bundle of leaflets advertising various products of the sponsors; MagiTech, Kilburn Technologies the instrument maker, Grey’s Market the magical supplies chain, and various other companies Ceri had never even heard of. There was a small, but fairly thick book containing the seminar schedule. Ceri grimaced; it was going to take ages to go through it. Instead, she pulled out the freebies, because that was bound to be more fun than reading the booklet. MagiTech pen, kind of tacky and plastic, a slightly more high class propelling pencil from Kilburn, a notepad with the sponsors’ logos watermarked onto the paper, and then MagiTech made up for the tacky pen with a memory stick. On the off-chance, Ceri pulled her tablet out of her satchel and plugged the drive in, flicking on the screen with a click. She grinned as she found a program on there containing a fully searchable seminar database.

‘There you are,’ Cheryl said from above her. ‘I told you it would be easier to register last night.’

‘And you were right, but I needed to talk to Lily about something.’

‘Well, come on, we have to sit through the opening speeches before we can have lunch and get down to the good stuff.’

Ceri stood, slipping her tablet into her satchel. The conference bag looked to have been designed for a laptop, but was currently full of marketing rubbish; she would empty it out later and use that, she decided. ‘This is going to be horribly boring, isn’t it?’ she asked.

‘Probably. It depends on the speakers, really.’ Cheryl led the way down the corridor and through a double doorway into the huge main auditorium. The place was packed full of people, all seated, or getting seated, in ranks of fixed chairs which rose up from the stage at the bottom.

‘I didn’t think there were that many thaumatologists,’ Ceri said.

‘It’s not just academics, of course,’ Cheryl said as she edged along a row of seats to where there were two together. ‘There are people here from various magical technology companies, commercial magic companies, and private people attending for business reasons. Didn’t your parents ever attend one of these?’

Ceri thought about it. ‘I think Dad did go to one. I was about twelve. I think they decided it wasn’t worth the expense.’

Cheryl grinned and took her seat, Ceri sitting down beside her and pulling out her tablet to go through the conference schedule. ‘No Ed?’ she asked.

‘We’ll meet him at lunch,’ Cheryl replied.

Ceri nodded and began flicking through the information on the database. The lights went down for the beginning of the ceremony and Ceri dimmed her display with a few taps to avoid annoying anyone. The lecture schedule was considerably more interesting than some big wig from the Cambridge thaumatology faculty going on about great advances in science over the last year. She did notice that he did not mention who had made the greatest of the advances, that was actually left to Alfred Barnes.

Ceri looked up when the old man walked on. Even at this distance she could see a little of his son in his face. He was considerably more portly, and actually wearing a smile. Ceri could not remember Matthew genuinely smiling on any of the occasions she had seen him. No, that was not quite right, he had looked genuinely happy when he was going to kill her. Ceri went back to her tablet as the elder Barnes began speaking.

She starting paying attention again when Cheryl elbowed her. Alfred was mid-flow. ‘…looking forward to hearing Doctor Tennant’s presentation on the discovery. MagiTech has an interest I should declare, of course. Doctor Tennant and her assistant, Ceridwyn Brent, have come up with a most interesting power generation system which we are currently working on commercialising. There are military applications for powering some novel weapons, but aren’t there always military applications’ There was a rumble of laughter from the audience. ‘However, I think I’m most excited about the application of this technology for emergency power generation. Imagine a generator at a hospital which can provide megawatts of power at a moment’s notice in case of a blackout. Or a truck which can be wheeled into a disaster site to power all the equipment there. This is how I like to see MagiTech’s resources used. Better living through magic and technology, you might say.’

He paused to allow another rumble of laughter to die down. ‘While I’m mentioning Doctor Tennant’s work, I’m also looking forward to sitting in on her assistant’s presentation this year. Ceridwyn Brent’s PhD thesis sent a number of shockwaves through various parts of the arcane science community with her study of the metaphysical change process in were-creatures and lycanthropes. This is a young thaumatologist we should all be keeping our eyes on, if only because she might make us all obsolete.’

Ceri developed a strong desire to sink into the floor, but Cheryl was there laughing like a drain. ‘He knows you so well and he’s never even met you,’ she giggled.

Ceri flicked away the schedule database and pulled up her presentation files to go over again. Oh no, there was absolutely no pressure to have everything perfect. None at all.

~~~

The food was surprisingly good. Not Twill good, but Twill did not cook for several hundred hungry conference delegates. Ceri sat stuffing curry into her mouth with a fork while going over her slides… again, and barely noticed Cheryl eyeing her food jealously.

‘How is it,’ her boss said, ‘that you seem to be able to eat whatever you like and I have to watch calories?’

‘Fast metabolism,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ve always had it. I was a rake when I was a kid. Mind you, I’ll be happy to sit down after and I hardly ate yesterday.’

‘You’re hardly fat, Cheryl,’ Ed commented.

‘Because I watch what I eat.’

Ceri looked up at her boss. ‘Look at it this way, you get to have boobs.’ She was going to say more, but the same odd sensation washed over her, like there was something in the room.

‘You’re not entirely lacking,’ Cheryl said. ‘Your problem is that you have Lily to compare yourself… Is something wrong, dear?’

‘I’m so glad that line of conversation stalled,’ Ed commented. ‘You were looking the same way yesterday in the Head. What’s the matter?’

Ceri shrugged. ‘I wish I knew. I keep getting this feeling. It’s like when there’s magic around me, but far less distinct, and random.’

‘Well,’ Ed said, his face going all serious, and studious, ‘let’s be systematic. When have you noticed it?’

‘Now, yesterday, and… the Jade Dragon. It was when Mei was visiting.’ A thought occurred to her suddenly and she tried hard to keep the shock out of her face.

‘And was anything happening then which could possibly be happening now?’ Ed asked.

Ceri made a play of looking thoughtful; it was not hard, she was thinking. If Mei was a transformed dragon, perhaps Ceri was sensing that. But if that were the case it would mean there was a dragon at the conference, and that dragon had also been at the Wizard’s Head. That did not make sense really. Did it? ‘I guess it’s some sort of magic,’ she said. ‘There’s all sorts of things flying around at the Dragon, the pub was full of practitioners, and I’d imagine there are quite a few here.’

Ed looked at her appraisingly. ‘I’m sure you’re right. It’s something to work on though. Your arcane senses are developing. You already have an unusually precise form of the Sight, perhaps you are growing into further forms of mystical sense. It might be useful in your work.’

‘Her Sight certainly is,’ Cheryl commented. ‘She’s not as quantitative as a thaumometer, but she’s a lot more portable and you don’t have to plug her into the mains. Unless…’

Ceri frowned. ‘Unless what?’

‘I was wondering whether there’s a battery compartment you haven’t told me about.’ Cheryl smirked mischievously and Ed chuckled.

Ceri looked back down at her tablet. ‘No, there isn’t,’ she said, ‘but don’t ask where the recharger plugs in.’

Half the hall looked around trying to work out what Ed was laughing at.

~~~

‘Anything interesting in the lectures after you got mortified at the opening ceremony?’ Lily asked.

‘Nothing brain shattering,’ Ceri replied. ‘There was a theoretician with some interesting views on trans-dimensional thaumiton flows. There are a couple of interesting ones coming up tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Cool. You in bed?’

Ceri grinned. ‘Yes, I am. How’s Carter?’

‘He’s fine, busy working on stuff, y’know?’

‘Good.’

‘Michael’s here, he wants to talk to you?’

Ceri blinked. ‘Oh, sure, put him on.’

There was the scuffling of a phone being passed over and then Michael’s voice. ‘Hey Ceri, how’s the conference going?’

‘Well, it’s just the first day. A bit boring, to be honest,’ Ceri replied. ‘Tomorrow I have my presentation, and then the afternoon looks more interesting.’

‘Cool. I’m sure you’ll be absolutely great, y’know?’

Ceri smiled. ‘Thanks. I’m nervous as Hell, to be honest, but Lily will tell you I usually am.’

Michael chuckled. ‘Yeah, she’s nodding. A lot. Look, um… This is kind of… Maybe it’s knowing I wouldn’t see you this week… um…’

Ceri giggled. ‘Spit it out, Michael.’

‘Well, is it okay if me and Lily… y’know? I wouldn’t normally… I just feel really… But it’s you that’s my mate and we won’t if you say no.’

The new moon was over and the werewolves’ blood would be starting to rise. They were not, like the werewolves of legend, forced to change under the full moon, but the phases did tend to affect their mood. Ceri smirked slightly. ‘Of course it’s okay,’ she said. ‘Lily made a promise she’d stay celibate while I was away, and I told her you were the one exception.’ She frowned slightly. ‘You might be a little addicted to her though so try not to give in too much.’

‘Ah, right, well I’ll keep that in mind.’

‘Good. Hand me back to Lil, would you?’

‘Sure. Night, Ceri.’

‘Night… Lil?’

‘Yeah, I’m here,’ Lily’s voice replied. ‘Best hurry though, I’ve got this hot stud stripping in front of me and I’m not sure how long I can keep holding the phone.’

Ceri giggled. ‘Okay. Call me if anything comes up…’

‘It’s coming up as we speak.’

‘Not that! You know what I mean. Don’t make it too late, I have an early start tomorrow, and if he stays the night just remember when my presentation is.’

‘Don’t worry, Twill’s already filled the bucket. Night, Ceri.’

‘Night, love,’ Ceri said, and thumbed the disconnect. She glanced at the clock, grimaced, and turned out the light, settling down under the sheets and closing her eyes.

After about two minutes she opened them again because she could feel what Michael was doing to Lily. Groaning, she turned the light back on and picked up her tablet. She might not be able to concentrate much, but one more check of her slides could not hurt. She certainly was not going to get any sleep.

July 5th

The presentation seemed to have gone well and there was just one thing left to do. ‘We have a few minutes left,’ Ceri said, ‘are there any questions?’

There was silence for several seconds, and then a woman in the front row rose to her feet. She was beautiful. Tall, with black hair which fell down her back in waves. Her figure was trim, but carried an impressive bosom and what appeared to be a fair amount of muscle under the flowing gown she was wearing. It seemed a little anachronistic wearing a dress like that to a thaumatology conference, but you got all sorts. The woman looked up at Ceri with very dark, almost black eyes. ‘You recently discovered Brenin’s skull at Stonehenge,’ she said. ‘I felt it and know you. We will meet soon, Ceridwyn Brent. Athro will not tell you everything. Be watchful’

Ceri looked at her and blinked. ‘Sorry? What was the question?’ Except that the woman was no longer standing there. Okay. Weird. ‘Any questions which do not seem to be a cryptic warning?’

A man near the back raised his hand and she pointed up at him. ‘Uh, given your research seems to indicate that lycanthropes and werewolves appear to have some form of common heritage,’ the man said, ‘and obviously taking into account the variant transformation mechanisms observed in both species… why did you feel you should do your lecture in the nude?’

Looking down, Ceri gasped to discover she was standing on the stage with no clothes on. She quickly tried to cover herself, turned around and…

…fell out of bed with a loud thump.

Groaning, she picked herself up and checked the clock. Seven am. ‘Crap.’ Well, she might as well get up now, since she was out of bed anyway. Walking to the sink, she began brushing her teeth. The worst thing about the whole dream was that she was going to have to give the whole lecture again in three hours.

~~~

This time the presentation seemed to have gone well and there was not a tall, attractive woman in the front row wearing an evening gown; Ceri had checked before she started speaking. The auditorium was nowhere near as large as the main one, but it was packed, which had only made her more nervous, but once she had got into her subject she had lost herself in it as usual. She checked the time. ‘We have a few minutes for questions,’ she said. Various hands went up and she pointed at one of them belonging to an older man.

‘Ashbury Donovan, Birmingham University. Your research appears to indicate a linkage between lycanthropes and werewolves. Have you uncovered anything specific in this regard?’

Hearing the question, Ceri absently checked her dress was still on before answering. ‘Well, that’s not really my field. When I did the scan of the lycanthrope I had a werewolf with me, for safety reasons, and he asked more or less the same question. It seems to me, from the similarities in the transformation process that werewolves are likely a mutation of humans adapting to the Reoviridae Lycanthropia virus. You would need to talk to a geneticist about that though.’

Donovan smiled. ‘I am a geneticist,’ he said. ‘I’m working on the mitochondrial DNA of werewolves.’

Ceri grinned at him. ‘Let me know how that works out. I know quite a few werewolves who would be interested in the outcome.’ She looked around for more raised hands and pointed at a woman in the second row.

‘Christie Munroe, Kilburn Technologies. You said the research stemmed from a device you created for Carter Fleming for his clubs. Has that worked out?’

‘Well, Carter had the gadgets built, I came up with the idea and helped confirm it would work,’ Ceri replied. ‘He trialled it in the Collar Club in London. If you don’t know it, it’s a strip club which specialises in mostly werefox dancers, so it gets quite a few were-creatures as customers and sometimes they get a little… over-excited.’ There was a rumble of laughter at that. ‘The devices have been rolled out to all his other clubs and reports have indicated they’ve been quite effective. And sorry, if you’re interested in commercialising the idea, you’d have to speak to Carter. I believe he had it patented in my name, but he’s the one with contract lawyers, not me.’ She pointed toward a young man on the front row, mostly because he had a cute smile. ‘Time for one more.’

‘Iwan, Aberystwyth,’ he said. ‘You say that the magnitude of the catalysis burst is related to the relative strength of a werewolf. Does that tend to follow colour?’

Ceri looked closer at the cute smile. ‘Which pack?’ she asked.

He blushed a little. ‘Snowdonian.’

‘Hmm, your Alpha’s a black-fur isn’t he? He likely has a pretty strong pulse. The highest recorded level came from Alec, who is a black-fur, and the lowest from a brown. However, it’s too small a sample to know for sure. My experience is that browns are different from greys more in attitude than biology. It’s likely that there’s an overlap. I suspect that some greys may produce as large a pulse as some blacks. Something for someone else to study.’

‘You really met a were-panther?’ Iwan asked quickly before she could wrap up.

Ceri laughed. ‘Yes, a very nice young lady named Naira who ran away from Brazil. Anyone can meet her if they wish, she works at the Collar Club. Bring plenty of cash.’ Another burst of laughter filled the room and that seemed like a very good moment to end on. ‘Thank you all for attending,’ she said. ‘I’ll just plug my boss’ presentation of her work on the null thaumiton which is at eleven tomorrow.’

‘Our work!’ Cheryl called out from the back of the room.

‘Her work which I assisted with,’ Ceri corrected. ‘Anyway, go see it.’ She turned back to the lectern, shut off her tablet, and started to unhook it from the display system as the attendees started trooping out.

‘You were great,’ Cheryl said, appearing beside her in a rush.

‘Indeed, an excellent presentation,’ Ed added.

‘Thanks,’ Ceri said. The next presenter was turning up with a large laptop. Ceri gave him a quick smile and stepped down off the stage, slipping her tablet into the MagiTech conference bag.

‘And all done on one of our NX model tablets,’ Alfred Barnes said. ‘I did say I’d be attending. Cheryl mentioned you a lot when she visited me with Carter.’

The old man was all smiles and Ceri was not sure how to react; his son had tried to kill her and she had blasted him out of reality. Did Alfred know what his son had done? What she had done in return? ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,’ she managed to say. Well, it was certainly more of a pleasure than meeting Matthew had been.

His smile faded slightly. ‘I would like the opportunity to talk to you, privately, at some point this week. I understand you don’t like to travel and I don’t get to London often, so this may be my only chance.’

‘Certainly, sir,’ she said while her heart sank. ‘If my minders will let me be alone with you.’

‘Minders?’

‘MI5 thinks I’m a Chinese spy,’ she said, nodding toward the two men standing near the door. Except there were three men near the door. The third did not seem to be associated with the spooks, but he did seem to be watching what was going on. As she looked his way he turned and left the auditorium.

‘Really? They appear to be misinformed. If needs be I’ll have a word with someone.’

Ceri was about to say something like “You can do that?” but stopped herself; he was Alfred Barnes, he could really do that. ‘Okay,’ she said instead. ‘We should leave, the next presentation is going to start.’

‘I’m staying, but by all means. I’ll be in touch.’

Ceri nodded and left the room with Cheryl and Ed. ‘Does he know what happened with his son?’ she asked when they were outside.

‘Yes,’ Cheryl said, ‘he knows. You’re doing the enhanced processor lecture next, aren’t you? Better hurry, it’s the other side of the building.’

Frowning, Ceri hurried off through the corridors.

~~~

‘Brenin?’ Ed said thoughfully. ‘Well, it’s the Welsh word for…’

‘King,’ Ceri said. ‘Born in Bala, remember?’

The professor grinned. ‘Indeed. Not that we’ve had a king in a while. Although we have the Brenin Llwyd.’

Ceri frowned. ‘I know this one, I think. Isn’t he supposed to be a giant or a monster or something? He lives up on Cader Idris? The Grey King.’

‘That’s right. A few mystics claim there is something up there, though they say it’s a spirit of some sort, malign and prone to bringing down mists and taking walkers lost in them.’ Ed grinned. ‘I’m not sure I believe in ancient spirits with malign purposes doing ill to travellers. It sounds too… mythic.’

Ceri chuckled. ‘You’d be amazed what ancient spirits get up to.’

‘Hmm… Well the other word, Athro, means teacher, which I’m sure you know. And you’re quite convinced that these dreams are referring to dragons?’

‘I’m convinced,’ Ceri said, ‘but I’m guessing. I could be totally wrong.’

‘You have an unnerving ability to guess right, dear,’ Cheryl put in.

‘Maybe, but it’s still a guess.’ Alexandra had commented upon Ceri’s ability to put things together without sufficient information and be right. Maybe that was some manifestation of the dreams she got; as Michael had said, it made you wonder who was sending her the dreams, and the information.

‘Well then,’ Ed said, his tone musing, ‘it stands to reason that your tall, raven-haired woman is Brenhines.’

‘Queen,’ Ceri translated. ‘She seemed pretty regal. And not particularly nice though… I’m not sure whether she was threatening me or warning me, or…’

‘If she said this Athro wouldn’t tell you everything,’ Cheryl said, ‘surely that’s a warning?’

‘I guess, but her attitude was…’ Ceri shrugged. ‘I don’t know, it was a dream, they don’t always make sense.’

‘Perhaps,’ Ed said, ‘you should just go with them however. If this is some form of intuitive sense, you need to listen to it, accept it. If you have an idea, an intuition, regarding your work, do you go around second guessing it?

‘Well… no, not really.’

‘Then why do it with this?’

Ceri opened her mouth and then closed it again. He was right, why should she?

~~~

Ceri’s mind filled with Lily’s thoughts. Lily was excited. Lily was almost too excited to be horny. Lily was so glad to be with Ceri again. Lily was lying on the chaise longe in the study, absently stroking at her side. ‘God I love this,’ Lily’s voice cut through the clamour. ‘It’s like I’m in the room with you. Oh, cool, you’re thinking the same thing. No, I hadn’t noticed I was stroking my side. Wow! So cool!’

‘Okay, calm down and tell me what Carter found out,’ Ceri thought.

‘Right well…’ It came less as words and more as a flurry of thoughts. Lily had been surprised to discover that Carter had a part share in a club in Shanghai. They were both surprised by that. The man really gets around. ‘Mei is kind of a mystery.’ Mei had just appeared in the records about ten years earlier. Like Athena, fully formed from her father’s forehead. Except for the father bit. Her parents were dead, according to what Carter had dug up. They had been farmers and there was practically no information about them. Or Mei before she turned up in Beijing and was almost immediately made Ambassador to Australia. Then she had been moved to Britain a couple of years ago. It had been an undistinguished career, but without any problems. She was good at smoothing things over, but largely worked quietly. ‘Seems like suddenly she was just there.’

‘Sounds like a fake identity,’ Ceri suggested.

‘Carter was hedgy about it, but yeah, it’s possible.’

Ceri felt a hand straying over her left breast. Lily giggled. ‘You’re a naughty succubus,’ Ceri thought. Lily pinched her nipple, Ceri gasped. ‘Stop that! I need you to do something tomorrow.’

Lily sulked. ‘Okay, what?’

‘I need you to go and see Mei. I need you to ask her if she’s a dragon.’

‘Seriously?!’

‘I need to know, Lil. I know it could be, well, dangerous, but I really need to know. Tell her everything I know. The dreams, the weird feelings, everything.’

‘Okay. I’ll do it for you.’ Ceri gasped at the sudden wash of love that hit her across the telepathic link and the more subtle one which resulted from the binding between them.

‘I love you too, Lil,’ Ceri thought.

July 6th

Ceri handed an envelope to Cheryl with a bright grin. ‘Happy birthday,’ she said. ‘We hadn’t a clue what to get you, so you get a card.’

Ed laughed and Cheryl took the envelope with a smile, pulling the flap free and taking out a happy looking birthday card with balloons on the front. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I mean, I wasn’t making a big deal out of it. Thirty-four is hardly an interesting age. I’m just getting old and…’ She looked at the inscription inside the card and her cheeks flushed.

‘Is something wrong?’ Ed asked.

‘Ah, no,’ Cheryl replied. She closed the card and tucked it inside her bag. ‘Just a rather sweet comment in the card.’ Ed nodded and turned toward the auditorium where Cheryl would be giving her lecture in a few moments. Cheryl leaned toward Ceri and whispered, ‘Anything?!’

‘Absolutely,’ Ceri replied.

‘I’ll get back to you on that.’

‘Try not to think about it while you’re giving your presentation,’ Ceri said, smirking.

‘Did you have to say that?’ Cheryl whined.

‘Oh yes.’

~~~

Cheryl wrapped up her lecture to a round of applause from the audience. A couple of the people sitting around Ceri even congratulated her on her part in the discovery of the null thaumiton. Proving the particle’s existence had been one of the great milestones in thaumatology, and Ceri had been proud to be part of it. Maybe a bit of congratulation was in order.

As she filed down toward the stage, Alfred Barnes fell into step beside her. ‘I assume you have plans for lunch, Miss Brent,’ he said, ‘but I would be very grateful if you could break them to have lunch with me?’

Well, there was no real point in putting it off, no matter how much she might want to, and Cheryl and Ed could manage without her… ‘I’ll tell Cheryl,’ she said.

The spooks did not look best pleased as Alfred took Ceri into an office on the top floor of the building. ‘It’s one of our corporate entertainment rooms,’ he said. ‘We hold various industry conferences here regularly so we have the room permanently booked. Coffee?’

‘I’d love some,’ Ceri replied, nervously sitting down at a low table filled with sandwiches.

There was silence as he poured coffee from a real coffee machine and placed a cup of it down in front of Ceri. She expected him to sit down, but he stood there, looking nervous instead. He was nervous! Ceri was about to say something when he spoke. ‘I want to apologise, Miss Brent.’

‘I’m sorry?’ Ceri said, bemused.

‘My son did absolutely terrible things to you and Doctor Tennant, to many people. I’ve been paying for the treatment of the two vampires he enthralled. I’m afraid they still haven’t recovered from their experience. His attempts to sabotage your work, and then to kill you were…’ He trailed off, shaking his head.

‘Yes,’ Ceri said, ‘but that was him, sir. You’ve nothing to apologise for.’

He looked directly at her, his face pale and a little angry. ‘Oh, but I have,’ he said. The anger was self-directed. ‘I indulged him, you see. He was my only son. His mother died when he was young and I was too busy with my work. I made all the classic mistakes. Hindsight is so wonderfully clear, isn’t it? I gave him everything he wanted in place of a father and he came to expect everything to be that easy.’ He swallowed; Ceri did not feel like interrupting the outpouring of guilt. ‘I knew he was getting into trouble, but I did not realise how bad that trouble was. We hardly saw each other, even when he was older. But I protected him. I made problems go away with money, or lawyers. That is what I need to apologise for, Miss Brent. Perhaps if I had been a better father, perhaps if I had let him face more of the consequences of his actions, he would not have gone so far.’

What do you say to something like that? Ceri looked up at the man, one of the most powerful men in the country, and saw that he needed her to say something. ‘Well… I don’t feel any animosity toward you, sir. Really. What happened wasn’t your fault. Second guessing and might-have-beens are great, but we’ll never know what might have happened if things were different.’

He nodded, his posture relaxing a little. ‘I have to ask this,’ he said. ‘Do you know what happened to Matthew?’

The image of the circle erupting outward in front of her filled her mind. The field had been opaque and when it had cleared there had been no sign of Matthew Barnes. The cameras in the room had blown out at the point of the containment breach. No one really knew what had happened to him and Ceri was not going to repeat her theory to his father. ‘No, sir,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t see through the containment field. When it collapsed, he was gone.’

He nodded and moved to sit down. ‘Thank you. Now that that’s done with, would you please call me Alfred? I hate all that “sir” business. Makes me feel like an old man.’

Ceri grinned at the sudden humour. ‘Only if you call me Ceri,’ she said.

~~~

The MI5 watchers glowered at her as she emerged from the entertainment room, but Ceri ignored them, walking toward and past them without even acknowledging their existence. The man at the end of the corridor, however, drew her attention. He turned and walked away as soon as she saw him, but it was the same man she had seen at her lecture, and the look on his face was murderous.

Frowning, she hurried forward, hoping to catch him. As the corridor broke out in a T-junction she looked right, the way he had gone. There was no obvious place he could have gone, but there was no sign of him. The only door on the short length of hallway was locked. She was considering unlocking it when her phone buzzed.

The message was from Lily. There was only one word. Yes.

~~~

The Wizard’s Head did something like food. Ceri had gone with the pie and chips, because it was the best of several fairly dubious options, but there was no way she was drinking the beer. It seemed as though, taken to a pub, Cheryl felt she had to fit in with the image. The Head did have several vaguely interesting sounding local brews, so Ceri could give her boss the benefit of the doubt, especially since this was her birthday bash.

‘I do wish Carter and Alec and Lily could be here,’ Cheryl said. ‘Carter and Alec both called me this morning before the lecture, but it would be nice to have them here.’

‘All three are working tonight,’ Ceri pointed out. ‘We’d have ended up at the Dragon watching them do that.’

‘True.’

‘And then you’d have to pick one to go home with,’ Ed added. Ceri hid her smirk in her wine glass.

‘Yes,’ Cheryl rallied quickly from her embarrassment, ‘and they’re so hard to pick between. Perhaps it’s best I don’t have to.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, ‘you don’t want to have to make tough decisions on your birthday.’ She tried really hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

‘Well, you’ll have to make do with Ceri and me,’ Ed said. Then he appeared to consider what he had just said and went bright red. ‘Err… here… at the pub… not choosing between us…’

Ceri and Cheryl giggled enthusiastically. ‘Maybe if I get drunk enough,’ Cheryl said. Ed got redder.

And Ceri felt the same thing she had felt before, the sensation she was now associating with dragons. She glanced around, but no one had come in recently. She looked back at Cheryl and Ed, and for just a fraction of a second he seemed to be looking at her as though he knew. Then the expression was gone in a bright grin.

‘Would anyone like more drinks?’ Ed asked.

~~~

Cheryl giggled as Ceri half-carried her along the corridor to their rooms. ‘I guesh I pick you then,’ the tipsy doctor said. Actually, tipsy was being nice, she was drunk. Ceri had eased off after the first two glasses of wine, but she did have something of a buzz on.

‘I’m not sure I’m drunk enough to claim it was all the alcohol this time,’ Ceri said. She balanced Cheryl against the wall. ‘Do you have your key?’

‘Of course I have my key,’ Cheryl giggled. ‘It’s in my bag, wish is on my shoulder.’

‘Yeah, boss, I know where your bag is.’ Ceri opened the flap on Cheryl’s bag and began searching through it for the key. Why a woman at a conference needed make-up, and all the other random rubbish that was in there was beyond her.

‘Oh don’ call me bosh… boss. It’s Cherie… Cheryl… that’sh it. Cherie’s French for “love.” I’m not your love, that’d be Lilily.’

‘Lily, uh-huh,’ Ceri said. She found the keys. ‘She’s my love all right.’ Turning, she opened the door to Cheryl’s room and turned on the light before picking Cheryl up again and manoeuvring her in through the door. ‘I think we’ll go straight for the bed.’

‘Oo yesh… straight for the bed.’ Cheryl pouted. ‘Are you readin’ my mind?’

‘Yes, b-Cheryl, what you’re thinking is printed on your forehead.’ Turning her boss around, she deposited her onto the bed. Despite her inebriation, Cheryl managed to hang on and Ceri fell on top of her.

‘Shee,’ Cheryl giggled, ‘that’sh what I’m talking about!’

Ceri struggled free and stood over Cheryl looking down. ‘You are making it really hard to be responsible.’

‘It’sh a conf’rence, everyone hash shexsh… um… What was I shaying?’

‘You are so going to regret this in the morning,’ Ceri said. She got a snore in response. ‘But not right now.’ Leaving the key on the bedside table, she headed out, turning out the light and letting the automatic closer shut the door behind her, and fished her own room key out of her bag.

The overhead light did not work when she flicked the switch. ‘Widder-damnit,’ she muttered and started across the floor to the bedside table. The room plunged into darkness as the door shut and then she heard the growl. Her head turned toward the sound. ‘Well I’m sorry if I kept you waiting, but what are you doing in my room.’

There was enough light coming in through the window for her to see the werewolf leaping at her. She managed to block the arm sweeping at her from the left, but a sharp pain burst across her chest as claws ripped through her light top and bit into the skin beneath. She stumbled back, falling; fighting on four-inch high heels was not in any of her lessons. She managed to get her knee up and was rewarded by the howl as the wolf’s stomach slammed into it. The pain in her chest and back, and the alcohol, was making it hard to think straight. Claws bit into her left bicep and she screamed. Her hand slammed into the wolf’s chest on nothing but instinct and a bolt of thaumic energy ripped through, slamming into the ceiling.

The dead weight of the werewolf landed on top of her. Her wounds stung. Her back ached where it had hit the floor. And the damn werewolf was bleeding all over her shirt! Someone had apparently heard the noise; she could hear feet running along the corridor outside. Then there was the sound of a key rattling in the lock; apparently security had a fast response time.

The door opened suddenly and a voice said, ‘What’s going on in here?’

Oh, that was just taking the piss. ‘Get this fucking corpse off me!’ Ceri screamed. The man in the pseudo-police uniform hurried forward to pull the werewolf off her, grimacing at all the blood covering her upper body. ‘Not all of it is mine,’ she said.

‘Shit,’ the rentacop said, ‘we need to get you to a hospital, get some of them drugs in you…’

Ceri pulled herself to her feet using her right arm. She suspected her left bicep was badly lacerated. ‘That’s lycanthropes,’ she said, ‘he’s a werewolf.’

‘Th-there’s a difference?’ Rentacop was looking at the blood on his hands like it was toxic waste.

‘Yeah, big difference, trust me.’ Her phone was ringing and she knew exactly who it was. Lily’s anxiety was flooding over their bond. ‘I need to answer my phone,’ she said. ‘There are a couple of idiots in suits hanging around somewhere. Find them and get them up here.’ He nodded and started for the door. Ceri picked her bag up with a wince to find her phone. ‘And tell the management here I’ll need a new room!’ she yelled after him.

‘Oh my God what happened?’ Lily’s voice was a weird combination of alarm and relieved happiness.

‘A werewolf,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m guessing he was a Fenlander.’

‘I thought all the werewolves thought you were fantastic?’

‘Apparently not all of them.’ Ceri winced as she balanced the phone on her left shoulder and tried to check the wounds on her arm.

‘You’re hurt?’

‘Nothing I can’t fix, and you should see the other guy.’ Ceri looked up as the MI5 agents currently on her detail appeared in the doorway. ‘I have to go, Lil. I’m okay. I’ll talk to you later.’

‘Okay, and you’d better.’

Ceri disconnected the call and looked up at the two men. ‘So where were you idiots when a werewolf was sneaking into my room?’

July 7th

‘I can’t believe I slept through the whole thing,’ Cheryl said as she downed two painkillers.

Ceri giggled though she felt tired; she had woken up from a dream of werewolves in military uniforms taking turns at her. ‘I can, you were dead to the world. Mind you, if I’d’ve done what you were hinting at the dumb werewolf would’ve been waiting until morning.’

Cheryl cringed. ‘I have some, uh, vague memories,’ she said.

‘Vague memories, right. Well, no harm done.’

‘No, there’s not a mark on you. You should’ve been in hospital.’

Ceri giggled again. ‘Not what I meant. They gave me one of the postgrad rooms. Double bed, en-suite bathroom. Some magic and a shower and I was fine. And the bed’s more comfortable too.’

‘So do you know why you were attacked?’

Ceri shook her head. ‘Lily was still at the Dragon. She told Alec, he’s going to make some enquiries. The cops say the Fenlanders have been almost silent for months, and my wonderful spook friends were just useless.’

‘Not exactly their job, but if they’re going to spy on you you’d think they’d watch your room. Which lecture are you going to?’

‘Uh… the one on magical channelling technologies. I’m hoping it may solve the power transfer problem from the Rift.’

‘Okay then, have fun,’ Cheryl grinned and patted her on the shoulder. ‘And try not to run into anymore werewolves.’

‘I’ll try. Oh, if you want to come up to my room this evening, you can change there. The shower’s better than those horrible ones downstairs too.’

~~~

Ed’s jaw actually fell open as Ceri and Cheryl walked toward him. Cheryl was in one of the dresses Carter had bought her, which meant that, while she had selected the most decent one of the lot, it was still very sexy; white and halter-necked, with a deep back. Ceri was in the gown she had got for the dinner with Malcolm Charles. Mind you, Ceri was almost as surprised to see Ed in a jacket which did not have patched elbows.

‘Close your mouth, Edward,’ Cheryl said, ‘before something flies in.’

‘My pardon,’ he said, ‘but I must have done something exceptional in a past life to be escorting such beautiful women into the hall.’

‘Have you been taking lessons from Carter?’ Ceri asked.

Ed gave his best disarming smile and turned, presenting his arms for them to take. He normally stooped a little, but he pulled himself up straight and positively beamed as they walked through into Merlin College’s Grand Hall.

It was not that grand, but it did have wood beams along its sides supporting the high ceiling and light oak panelling around the walls. It was also full of conference delegates intent on eating and drinking too much. Ed and Cheryl had met at a previous conference dinner when they had been sat together because they were two of the small number of people from outside Cambridge. As they took their seats, Ceri realised that the same situation was more or less true, except that the number of non-Cambridge attendees was higher. Down the table was the small delegation from China, there were Americans closer to the high table, and sat across from Ceri, Cheryl, and Ed were the Australians. Ceri had just determined that the suntanned young man sitting opposite was apparently called Gazza when the sound of a spoon ringing on a wine glass brought silence across the hall.

‘Right,’ Alfred Barnes’ voice rang out, ‘I’m going to keep this short because you don’t want to listen to an old man who’s only up here because he’s paying for the booze, you want to be drinking the booze.’ Ceri could tell why he was successful; he was a bright man with good business sense, and he definitely knew how to play to an audience. ‘Well, this last year has been a bit of a mixed bag for me, but for thaumatology and several other magical sciences it’s seen some great advances. I’m glad to see more of our friends and colleagues from distant lands here to share in all the creativity. As some of you may have heard, next year we plan to expand this venerable old meeting of minds to include other disciplines, possibly in a new venue. This could be the last time we all get drunk, pretend we can dance, and do inappropriate things in this hallowed hall. So, you’d better make the most of it, hadn’t you? Go on, if you’re drunk enough when the food arrives it’ll go down better.’ There was a lot of laughing and clinking of glasses as the delegates began to follow his suggestion.

Ceri leaned toward Ed. ‘There’s dancing?’

‘Oh yes,’ the professor replied. ‘Don’t think you’re getting away without having me tread on your toes.’

Ceri grimaced appropriately, but actually that could work out. She needed to talk to Ed alone, and she was not going to get much chance to do that without her minders seeing, or someone overhearing. On a dance floor, however… That could work? She looked across the table at “Gazza.” ‘Seriously? Your parents named you Gazza?’

‘Oh no, Garry, but everyone calls me Gazza. We like our nicknames.’ Ceri had never heard an Australian accent before, except on TV. ‘I know who you are, of course,’ he went on, ‘I was ordered to attend your presentation and take a lot of notes. Our crypto, Kylie, was real bust up that she couldn’t come over here herself.’

‘Did you come over by airship?’ Ceri asked.

‘Oh Hell no,’ Gazza said, without the slightest rancour. ‘I wish we could afford to fly over here. No, ship all the way, which is not as much fun as you’d think.’

Ceri grimaced. ‘Uh, I’m willing to bet it was actually more fun than I’d think. I have… anxiety issues, when I travel.’ She went for changing the subject quickly. ‘There are no Aborigine members of your group?’

‘Oh no, there’s none of them in the thaumatology department.’ Ceri was about to wonder at the racist sounding statement when he went on. ‘Don’t get me wrong, they’re allowed in. The tribal leaders even encourage their kids to come out to our schools once they’ve done their time in the tribal ones. But they don’t do thaumatology, or any of the other magical sciences. Their magic, y’see, it’s all about their culture and beliefs. Y’don’t go doing science to religion, good way to get your head lopped off.’

Ceri nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. We got into some hot water with the Druids over an experiment at Stonehenge. Of course, they’re possibly a little more protective of their religion since they made most of it up.’

‘All of it,’ Ed commented almost absently. ‘The general concept is, I suppose, right, but I can’t get behind the idea of claiming ancient lineage just so that you can grandstand at a national monument at Midsummer.’

‘Well, you can say a lot of things about the tribes back home,’ Gazza said, ‘but they’ve been doing what they do for thousands of years. Hundreds of thousands of years. Of course, when the Shattering happened and it all started producing real results things changed a bit. Things were a bit nasty for a while, but we worked it out. We’ve even been able to persuade some of the tribes to exchange information. Their magic is pretty specific though. Anyone trying to learn from them has to really submerge themselves in the culture. It’s fascinating really.’

Ceri could feel her enthusiasm trying to overcome the sheer terror of travelling half way around the world. ‘It does sound… really interesting,’ she said, ‘but I’d be a gibbering wreck before I got half way there.’

‘You’re really that bad at travelling? If you came over in your winter it’d be summer in Aus. We’ve got the best beaches in the world.’

Ceri grinned at him. ‘My friend Lily would just love the idea of two summers in a row, but I’ll have to pass. At least until I can overcome my fear of travel. You should have seen me after a couple of hours on a train.’

‘We sedate her for long car journeys,’ Cheryl put in.

Ceri felt her cheeks redden. ‘Do you have werewolves in Australia?’ she asked to change the subject. Again.

‘No,’ Gazza said, ‘none living anyway. We’ve got foxes though. Aborigines say they’ve been in Aus since before red foxes were introduced from Europe. Kylie was working with the Meta-genetics department to try to trace their mitochondrial DNA back, but she wasn’t having much luck.’

‘Do you have an email address for her? I’ve been talking to the Meta-genetics people at LCU. Lily’s interested in the subject, but she’s not got the education to deal with it. To be honest, neither have I, but I pick things up a little faster.’

Gazza frowned. ‘So why’s this Lily so interested?’

Ceri grinned. ‘She’s a half-succubus, she’s got something of a personal interest.’

‘You know a half-demon!’ Gazza’s eyes went wide in surprise.

‘Intimately,’ Cheryl said.

‘I don’t,’ Ed said mournfully.

~~~

The music shifted into a waltz and Ceri grabbed Ed’s arm. ‘You owe me a dance, Professor.’

He rose to his feet with a grin. ‘Are you sure your toes can stand up to it?’

‘I’ve been becoming far more nimble on my feet recently.’

He was, actually, quite a good dancer. Ceri had had about two lessons with her father once, but she was good enough to avoid making a fool of herself. That really did not matter; she had got him out onto the floor between the tables to talk, not dance.

‘So,’ she said after a few seconds, ‘I take it you’re Athro? Mei already admitted she’s a dragon. It must be dragons I’m feeling. I can feel it now, and you’re the only common factor.’

‘We all have our inclinations,’ he replied. ‘Mei Long keeps watch, observes, rarely reveals herself unless the situation warrants it. I teach, so I’m the Teacher.’

‘Then you know what I am? You’ve always known.’

Ed nodded. ‘All of us can sense your kind, just as you can sense us. Your exposure to Brenin’s skull probably triggered your awareness, or perhaps you’re just growing.’

‘Why?’ Ceri said. ‘Why can we sense each other?’

‘Because, my dear child, humans gained the ability to use sorcery from dragons. Somewhere in your ancestry is our blood.’ His grip tightened on her as he felt her falter. ‘The strength of it varies with the individual, and the dragon in your bloodline. You’re strong. I believe you’re more powerful than I am, but you’ve a lot to learn. You work by instinct mostly? Or by seeing a spell and replicating the patterns used to create it? You can do more. A sorceress of your power could be a tremendous force for good.’

‘Or evil,’ she breathed.

‘We need to get you educated,’ he said, acting as though he had not heard her. ‘There are things you have to know.’

‘You mean before Brenhines comes looking for me?’

‘She doesn’t leave her stronghold.’

‘Anglesey,’ Ceri stated flatly. Ed nodded slightly. ‘My parents died heading near there. Did she kill them?’

‘Possibly. I don’t know. I don’t know why she would.’

‘I need to sit down.’ She needed Lily. Lily was miles away in London. It had never seemed so far away before.

‘Of course.’ He guided her back to her seat and she dropped into it like a sack of stones.

Cheryl was all concern. ‘You’re paler than usual, dear. Are you all right?’

‘It’s nothing,’ Ed said, sparing Ceri from answering, ‘just a little head rush. Too much of this fine wine, perhaps. Just let her rest a minute.’ He steered Cheryl away by engaging her in some conversation about containment field resonance leaving Ceri to herself.

Lily was not expecting the “call” and her mind put up a little resistance before Ceri broke through. Still, her demon pet knew everything as soon as their minds joined, and so did Ceri. Lily was at the Jade Dragon. Lily missed Ceri. Alec had found nothing about the werewolf attack yet. Lily’s meeting with Mei had been short, but the ambassador had simply admitted to what she was as soon as Lily had explained Ceri’s suspicion. ‘You’re part dragon?’ Lily thought.

‘Alexandra told me I wasn’t human,’ Ceri replied. ‘I thought she meant I was… more like a werewolf, or better than most humans or… Not that I was actually not entirely human.’

‘We have more in common than we thought.’ There was a happy edge to the thought; trust Lily to find the bright side of everything. ‘Come on, this is awesome! You’ve got the kind of lineage royalty would be proud of.’

‘I… hadn’t thought of it like that.’

‘Of course you didn’t.’ A flicker of annoyance passed over the link. ‘You’re always telling me that being part demon doesn’t matter. That I’m the most human person you know. That you love me no matter what. Are you telling me it does matter because it suddenly applies to you?’

‘Well no, I…’

‘Too damn right, girly! You’re exactly the same person you were ten minutes ago. Now stop acting like this is some horror story. I’ve told you before, you’re the best Mistress a demon could ever have. Now I’m doubly right. I’m bound to a woman with dragon’s blood in her veins! How widder-fucking cool is that!’ Ceri could not help it, she giggled. Ed and Cheryl looked at her, wondering what had suddenly got into her.

‘Thanks, love,’ Ceri thought. ‘I knew I needed to talk to you.’

‘Always here for you, Mistress. I need to get back to work.’

‘Of course. I’ll talk to you later.’ Ceri opened her eyes as the link broke.

‘You’re looking better,’ Ed commented.

‘I’m feeling much better,’ she replied, smiling. ‘Ready to take on anything.’

‘Excellent,’ Ed said, ‘but perhaps you should take on this glass of water first.’

July 8th

Ceri stumbled into her room, followed by Cheryl. ‘I’m just going to pick up my bag,’ Cheryl said, ‘and then I’ll be out of your hair.’

‘You’re not in my hair,’ Ceri replied, giggling. They were both mildly drunk, though neither was as bad as Cheryl had been the night before.

‘You know what I mean.’ Ceri watched as her boss went into the bathroom to get some toiletries she had left there, and then watched as she walked back and dumped the bottles into the bag she had brought up from her room. Cheryl straightened up and looked at her. ‘What?’

‘You look fantastic in that dress,’ Ceri said.

Cheryl blushed. ‘Thank you.’ Ceri could see her nipples stiffen through the thin fabric.

‘You’re not wearing anything under it, are you?’

The older woman self-consciously smoothed the fabric over her hips. ‘We… shouldn’t,’ she said.

Ceri looked down at the floor. They should not, no, but… ‘I don’t want to be alone tonight. I’ve had nightmares all week.’

Cheryl looked at the door for a long moment and then reached up to undo the clasp at the back of her neck. The dress slipped off her slim body, pooling around her feet. ‘There’s nothing wrong with us sharing the bed at least.’

Ceri let out the breath she was holding. ‘Thanks,’ she said.

British Rail Train, approaching King’s Cross station

Ceri sat opposite Ed as the train slowed on approach to King’s Cross. Cheryl was staying on in Cambridge to have meetings with Alfred Barnes; Carter would be joining them on Sunday. Ed, however, had amended his travel plans to make the London leg of the journey with Ceri. It would take about an hour to get to London, considerably longer to proceed on from there to Aberystwyth.

They had spent almost the entire trip discussing the conference and the lectures they had attended. Trains were easier for Ceri to cope with than cars, but having someone to talk to who could keep her mind occupied the entire time was a godsend. She had barely noticed the passing of the countryside beyond the windows, and blinked bemusedly as the train started braking and she saw that they were already in the city.

Ed stood and, balancing himself against the table and his seat, started getting Ceri’s case down from the overhead luggage rack. ‘Very gentlemanly,’ Ceri commented. The case was hardly a big one and she could easily have managed it herself.

He bent over to put the case down on the seat beside her, which brought his head closer to hers. ‘Mei Long will be sending you a package over the next day or two,’ he said quietly. ‘I suggest keeping it in one of the rooms in your cellar. It needs to be secure.’ He straightened up before she could respond and took his own case down.

They made their way down the carriage as the train pulled into the station, passing one of the MI5 agents sat near the door. The other one was at the other end of the carriage, keeping an eye on that door. The woman left her seat behind them and followed them out to the carriage door.

‘They’ve really had, what, six agents keeping an eye on you all week?’ Ed asked.

‘Apparently,’ Ceri replied. The agent did not comment.

‘And I pay taxes for this?’

‘I know I think it’s worth every penny,’ Ceri replied.

The train came to a halt and there was a clunk as the locks unlatched on the door. Ed pushed it open and helped Ceri down onto the platform, and they headed off together toward the main concourse. They had just got through the gates at the end when all the air was suddenly evacuated from Ceri’s lungs.

‘Lily!’ Ceri squeaked. ‘Air. I need… breathe.’

Lily let her go, giggling. ‘I’m so glad you’re back.’ She looked at the laughing figure of Ed standing nearby. ‘And don’t think you’re getting away without a hug, Mister Professor.’ The laughter was suddenly cut off as Ed was crushed against Lily’s substantial chest as well. He did not seem to mind too much.

‘We need to get him over to Euston for his connection,’ Ceri said. ‘Preferably without excessive structural damage.’

‘You spoil all my fun,’ Lily commented, not very seriously. She released Ed, however, grinning at him.

‘Indeed,’ Ed said. ‘She spoils all my fun too.’

Euston station was only one stop down the Northern line and they soon had Ed at his platform and ready to leave. It took neither a psychic, nor a succubus, to tell that Lily wanted Ceri alone and Ed sent them off with a wave as soon as he was there. Half an hour later they were in the front hall of High Towers with a happy Twill buzzing around their heads.

‘Lily’s told me all the news,’ Twill said when she had slowed down enough to be understood, ‘so you can get right on with what she’s so keen to get on with.’

Lily giggled. ‘Do you want a shower?’ she asked Ceri.

Ceri looked around her home and then back at Lily. ‘I want a shower with you,’ she said.

Lily practically bounced all the way up the stairs.

Soho

It was a busy Friday and Ceri was enormously happy when her first break came around. She hopped up onto one of the bar stools, despite the fact that there was no way to get down again without flashing someone; her feet needed the rest.

‘Glad to be back?’ Alec said from behind the bar. There was enough sarcasm in his tone to let her know he was kidding.

‘Oh yeah,’ she replied. ‘After a week shuffling around between lectures, dashing around in a micro-dress is just what I need.’

He chuckled, though it was more of a rumble. ‘Dane managed to identify your werewolf,’ he said. ‘The name’s not important, but he was one of the Guards from the Fenlanders.’

‘I figured he was a Fenlander.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Alec said. ‘Their Alpha was pretty quick to denounce the attack. He said it was nothing to do with the pack and Dane thinks he’s telling the truth.’

Ceri frowned. ‘So, why?’

‘Rumour says the kid was flashing a load of cash about a day or so before you blew his heart out his back.’ The implication was left hanging.

‘He was paid to kill me.’

‘Or hurt at the very least. According to his pack mates he was a good fighter, vicious, but arrogant. Your rep with the wolf packs has gone up another notch. They’re saying you’re Luperca’s favourite and she frowns upon any wolf who goes after you.’ He smirked slightly. ‘I’m not saying a damn thing about it because it’ll stop any other greedy cur from trying anything, but personally I think the Goddess looks after those who can throw bolts of magic about.’

Ceri grinned, but she was not entirely happy. ‘I did get lucky. He had all the advantages. I freaked and did what I usually do, blew off power. I’d have preferred to have taken him alive.’

‘It would have been easier to get information out of him,’ Alec admitted, ‘but I’ve told you before, werewolves understand force. Force is clear, a defined threat. If you’d taken him alive and handed him to the cops it would have been taken as a sign of weakness. If you could have captured him and got him somewhere private to get the information…’

‘I won’t do that,’ Ceri snapped, a little more harshly than she intended.

Alec frowned at her. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I was just trying to make the point…’

She smiled bleakly at him. ‘I know, Alec. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. I… just couldn’t.’

He returned her smile with one just as bleak. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Some people who’ve had that done to them… It makes them hate.’ Her eyes widened. ‘No one told me anything,’ he explained. ‘You were in that camp for too long, alone. I don’t know exactly what they did, but I knew they weren’t being the greatest of hosts. Burned me up having to sit back and wait.’

‘Lily said you would have come in after me when they walked me around the camp if you hadn’t had a wolf on each limb,’ Ceri said.

‘She lied,’ Alec replied, ‘there were two lying on my back as well.’

Ceri smiled at him, properly this time. ‘Thanks, Alec.’

Lily appeared at her side, letting her tray hit the counter with a little more force than usual. ‘What a night! Three ‘Banes, three red wines, one white, and two Dragon’s Bloods, please.’

‘The vamps on table ten?’ Ceri asked.

Lily nodded. ‘The Bloods, one of the reds and the white.’

‘Much as my feet will hate me, I’ll take them. Tess is due her break.’

‘Thanks,’ Lily said. ‘Careful of the youngest of those vamps. He’s hungry.’

‘What about the older one?’ Both were young enough they still had all their flesh at least.

‘He’s also hungry, but the other kind.’

‘Other kind?’ Vampires did not get hungry for a nice, juicy steak, except when first turned. Even then they were incapable of actually digesting it.

‘My kind of hungry,’ Lily said, flashing Ceri a grin.

Ceri slid off the stool and straightened her skirt. ‘It’s not like their auras work on me.’ She picked up her tray with the drinks Alec had put on it. ‘I’ll tell Tess she can relax for five.’ Pulling herself up straight, she strutted off into the throng.

July 9th

‘Hello,’ Ceri said. ‘What’s a handsome young werewolf like you doing in a place like this?’

Michael blushed profusely, but she could feel the hunger in his body as she kissed him. ‘I thought I’d come welcome you back,’ he said.

Alec gave a short, barking laugh. ‘You’re not fooling anyone, kid. You can have her in a couple of hours.’ That just made Michael redder. ‘How’s your Alpha?’

‘Good,’ Michael replied. ‘You know her, she’ll outlive all of us.’ He looked around at Ceri. ‘I’m partially here because she wants to see you tomorrow morning.’

‘Later this morning,’ Lily corrected, slipping in on Michael’s other side. She kissed him on the cheek, not the mouth; it was a matter of form. She did, however, grope Michael’s leather-clad behind.

‘That too,’ Michael said.

‘Table thirteen, love,’ Lily said quietly.

Ceri gave her a grin and started off across the floor. Lily always knew when someone wanted something, which made her an exceptional waitress and helped everyone else. Thankfully things were easing off a little. The humans were thinning out and even the supernaturals, who were naturally a bit more nocturnal, were starting to move on. Table thirteen was something of an exception; they were human, all three of them, but Ceri could almost smell the necromancy, and necromancers liked the night too.

‘Can I get you anything?’ she asked as she arrived at the table.

The oldest of the three, a man, looked up at her. His face was expressionless, dark. ‘Three red wines,’ he said, his tone dismissive. There were many ways to use necromancy which did not blacken your soul beyond the point of inhumanity, but this man had not taken them.

‘Of course,’ Ceri said, turning and heading back the way she had come. ‘Three red wines, Alec,’ she said as soon as she was back at the bar. ‘Some necromancers creep me out more than old vampires,’ she added in a lower voice.

‘That one’s not nice,’ Lily said. ‘He’s been eyeing that vampire couple on sixteen.’

Carter’s head turned at her words. ‘Keep an eye on him for me, please.’ The way he said it suggested he knew the man and Ceri turned her Sight on. Generally she avoided it in the Dragon because the magic tended to be a bit thick. Even from across the room she could see dark tendrils around his Chakral Median, though they looked different from the jet black she associated with a demonic pact.

‘What would he want with the vampires?’ Michael said under his breath.

‘Some necromancers can control sentient undead,’ Ceri replied. ‘He’s got some form of pact so I wouldn’t put it past him.’ She picked up her tray and walked back to the table where the pacted necro was having a whispered and fairly acrimonious conversation with the woman at the table. They fell silent, the woman looking rather red faced, as Ceri put their drinks out and collected the empty glasses, but they were off again as soon as she was out of earshot.

The look of concern on Lily’s face made Ceri turn just before she got back to the bar. There was a spell building through the man’s Chakral Median, but she waited for it to fully develop and be launched before she acted. Stretching out her free hand, she focussed her will and said a single word, ‘Aros!’ There was a flicker of visible light in the air between the necromancer and the female vampire as the spell died.

Carter was moving before the necromancer could realise his spell had been blocked. The club’s owner was at their table just as realisation dawned and the pacted magician rose to his feet, anger written all over his face. Carter did not speak loudly, but it was just loud enough that Ceri could hear. ‘That kind of behaviour is not tolerated in this club. You’ll leave. Now.’

The woman was already standing and taking her coat from the back of her chair. She was just as angry, but it was not directed at Ceri or Carter. The second man rose more slowly, resignedly, as though he were used to being thrown out of bars. The first opened his mouth to say something, but the woman beat him to it. ‘Leave it Simon. You’ve done enough damage. Again.’

As the three walked past Ceri, Simon glared at her. ‘I’ll be seeing you again, girl.’ Then his face darkened further and Ceri realised that she was flanked by Michael and Alec. She could feel Lily behind her, her defensive aura on a hair trigger.

‘Not here you won’t,’ Carter said. ‘Don’t come back.’

The woman’s shoulders sagged. As they walked out Ceri heard her say, ‘The only place we’ll be able to take him soon is the Dubh Linn.’

Carter patted Ceri on the shoulder. ‘Well done. I’ll make up the lost tip money. Alec, Sasha, two drinks on the house for our vampire friends.’

Ceri kept watching the door for a second. ‘Don’t worry about the cash, boss,’ she said. ‘I don’t think he’d have left anything anyway.’

Carter favoured her with his best smile. ‘Then consider it hazard pay,’ he said, ‘because you’re getting something whether you like it or not.’

Kennington

Ceri awoke, as was often the case, pressed between Michael and Lily. In a shift from the more common pattern, Ceri had gone to sleep spooned against Lily’s back, which had left Michael to cuddle in, warm and fury, behind her. The reasons they tended to do it the other way around became readily apparent after a second; Lily’s gorgeous, lush, vibrant, chestnut hair was trying to crawl up Ceri’s nose and down her throat, and the intriguing indication of Michael’s sleeping thoughts which Ceri enjoyed using to wake her mate up was poking somewhat uncomfortably into her bottom. A little rearrangement and Michael’s protuberance was between her legs where it tickled instead of prodding, and made its owner start making little whimpering noises in his sleep, like a dreaming puppy. At most, Ceri estimated that the mewling and panting would wake Lily within a minute, so she was almost surprised when it took ninety seconds.

Awake, satisfied, and showered, the three of them trooped down to the kitchen where there was coffee, and hot toast, and both strawberry and elderberry jams. Ceri pushed Michael into the chair she usually occupied and sat in his lap before taking a drink of life-giving, glorious, caffeinated nectar of the gods. ‘I am coffee deprived,’ she said. ‘I had one decent cup all week until I got back yesterday.’

‘Well eat something too, dear,’ Twill said as she supervised a trail of toast into the toast rack.

Ceri looked gleeful and stared buttering toast. Her naked butt wriggling on Michael’s naked lap soon had her young mate whimpering again, but she ignored him, spreading strawberry jam thickly onto her buttered toast.

Lily giggled. ‘If you keep that up he’ll be after buttered muffin.’

‘No smut at breakfast, Lily,’ Twill said, smirking.

‘But breakfast is the best time for smut,’ Lily responded plaintively. ‘You’re just out of bed, you’ve had plenty of sex so you’re feeling naughty, but you’re not setting up for more of it like you are in the evening. Evenings are for innuendo, mornings are for smut.’

Twill opened her mouth, closed it again, and then floated down to the table looking a little shocked. ‘That was actually a remarkably well reasoned argument, Lily,’ she said. ‘I find myself unable to deny you your smut.’

Lily beamed. ‘All I ask is a little smut in the morning,’ she said.

‘All?’ Michael said. He had his hands around Ceri’s waist trying to hold her still, but she was doing her best to wriggle while eating toast and jam.

‘Okay,’ Lily admitted, ‘I lie. I also want world peace and enormous amounts of sex.’

‘What has got into you, Ceri?’ Michael groaned. ‘It’s like someone gave you happy juice.’

‘Well I seem to remember sucking…’ Ceri began.

‘That,’ Twill said emphatically, ‘is not smut.’

‘I know more about me,’ Ceri said, ‘and I’m back home. I’m happy, and wriggly, so sue me.’ She giggled again. ‘Though I will admit my cushion’s getting lumpy.’

‘And we want to be on the island before midday,’ Michael protested.

‘You could just tell me to get off, y’know?’

Michael’s hands squeezed her waist, pressed her closer to his body. ‘I’d rather cut my hand off than push you away,’ he said quietly. Grinning, Ceri twisted to give him a kiss on the mouth. He grinned. ‘You taste of strawberries,’ he said.

Battersea Park

Ceri was a little surprised to see Jenny sitting off to one side of the clearing on the island. She was dressed in a two-piece swimsuit which made little sense until it occurred that they had not seen a boat along the shore of the island; Jenny had to have crossed the lake by swimming. Ceri and Lily waved to her as they walked up through the trees from the beach, but their business was with Alexandra, so Jenny would have to wait. Besides, Alexandra was already pouring the tea.

‘Good morning, ladies,’ Alexandra said.

‘I hope it’s okay I came,’ Lily said.

‘Well,’ Alexandra said with a smile, ‘I knew you would.’

‘Does anything ever surprise you?’ Ceri asked.

‘Oh, many things,’ Alexandra replied, handing out mugs of tea. ‘Life would be tremendously boring if I knew it all before it happened.’ She settled onto the grass with her own mug. ‘My mate, for example. I knew nothing about him until I met him. Imagine what it would have been like to know, for a fact, that there was this man I just had to meet and he would fall for me. Worse, imagine I’d know he would never come back from France. Enough about me,’ she looked at Ceri, ‘we’ll not mention what you’ve discovered, but I know.’

‘You’ve always known,’ Ceri said.

‘Not the details,’ Alexandra corrected. ‘Hints, vague dreams. They make sense now. You’ve told your mate, of course.’

‘Last night,’ Ceri confirmed, nodding. She looked around at the grey furred wolf at her left and smiled. ‘He just accepted it. No fuss.’

‘Of course he did,’ Alexandra said, smiling in the knowing way she did when she had known it would happen anyway. ‘We’ll talk on this in the future, when we need to. I just needed you to know I know. Believe it or not, that’s not why I asked you to come.’

Ceri raised an eyebrow. Her assumption had been that the old Alpha had wanted to discuss her bloodline. What was going on that was more urgent? ‘Do tell,’ she said.

‘Your friend Jenny has made quite a good impression on the pack,’ Alexandra said. ‘She even took a day of holiday to help me at the shelter, and her understanding of our culture and language has grown considerably.’

Ceri grinned. ‘She was always good with languages and people.’

Alexandra smile indulgently. ‘One of my wolves has requested permission to take a mate outside the pack,’ she said. Both of Ceri’s eyebrows went up this time. ‘Lee, he’s one of the browns, but he’s more comfortable in his fur than some of them.’

‘I’ve met him, I think,’ Ceri said. ‘Fairly quiet, not bad at fighting?’

‘Anita does say he’s rather promising, yes.’ She took a sip of her tea. ‘I don’t think he’s had the courage to ask Jenny what she thinks. You know her, what do you think?’

‘I think I’ll talk to her,’ Ceri said.

‘Very wise,’ Alexandra said as Ceri climbed to her feet.

‘Nice outfit,’ Ceri said. Jenny jumped and then grinned sheepishly. ‘It’s very… casual.’

‘Well… I swam the lake,’ Jenny said. ‘How did you get across?’

‘I walked,’ Ceri said, grinning. ‘Mind you, normally I swim it. Of course, I’m usually just wearing a collar. I need a word. Walk with me?’

‘Uh, sure,’ Jenny said, looking confused. She jumped to her feet and fell into step beside Ceri as she started through the trees toward the other clearing. ‘Uh, Ceri… Am I in trouble?’

‘Maybe,’ Ceri said. ‘How are things going?’

‘Well… uh, I’m learning a lot. I don’t think I’ve insulted anyone in over a week or made a complete fool of myself.’ Jenny’s cheeks went pink and she lowered her voice. ‘And I’ve never had so much sex.’

Ceri laughed. ‘Single males keeping you busy?’

‘Whenever I’m here late one of them escorts me home. We, um, fuck first and then they take me home. I mean, it’s not exactly delicate, but…’

‘Werewolves aren’t much into foreplay,’ Ceri agreed, ‘but it is kind of exciting.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Jenny said. ‘I was with a couple last weekend, just learning some stuff, and that ended up in a threesome. The female just sort of asked if I fancied her mate and the next thing I knew…’

‘Do you know a brown named Lee?’

‘Um… yeah. He was my escort… actually, he’s taken me home a couple of times. Why?’

‘He’s asked Alexandra for permission to take a mate outside the pack,’ Ceri said.

‘Oh, right, well I hope she’s a nice…’ She stopped, her eyes widening. ‘You mean me?!’

‘You’ve made an impression,’ Ceri said. ‘The pack likes you. Apparently Lee likes you a lot. The males have been… well, field testing you. Everyone gets a go and then I think there’s a little negotiation over who wants you most. You got the easy version. Michael had already decided he wanted me, so they all did me in one night. It’s a little different with you not being a wolf, but Lee would like to… court you, I guess.’

‘I don’t know what to say,’ Jenny said. She sounded shocked.

‘Well, it’s up to you. Do you think you’d like to give it a go?’

‘My last couple of human boyfriends have been a total wash out,’ Jenny said, making a face. ‘They were real nice until I gave them what they wanted, but… I guess Lee’s already had that and he still fancies me. Yes, I’d like to try.’

Ceri nodded. ‘I’ll tell Alexandra. Just… if it’s not working out, don’t hurt him, okay?’

‘Promise,’ Jenny replied. They started back toward Alexandra’s clearing. There was a brown-fur hiding among the trees who quickly vanished back out of sight before Jenny could spot him. Ceri grinned. Jenny glanced at her and then asked, ‘You really had all the unmated males in one night?’

Ceri giggled. ‘What can I say? I’m a slut.’

Soho

‘Let me get this clear in my head,’ Alec said. ‘You’re a sorceress, and the reason that you’re a sorceress is that one of your ancestors was a dragon.’

‘And you can’t tell anyone,’ Lily added.

‘I should have told you ages ago,’ Ceri said. ‘I mean, not the dragon part, I only just found that out myself.’

‘It does explain a lot,’ Carter said. They were sitting in his office at the back of the Dragon. The club would be opening in ten minutes, but Ceri wanted this out of the way.

‘It explains why it had to be you who took on Remus,’ Alec said. ‘I feel less of an old failure knowing it took a sorceress to take him out.’

‘I was more referring to the draconic heritage,’ Carter said. ‘No one I know has ever actually come up with a reason why sorcerers were different. A few variant genes would explain it. At some point I hope it can be studied, but for now it’s a secret.’

‘Huh,’ Alec said, shrugging. ‘I’m good with secrets. I’m good with secrets even when I’d be better off not keeping them.’

‘I trust you,’ Ceri said. ‘Carter, I need you to bring Cheryl up to speed when you see her tomorrow. I didn’t say anything in Cambridge because I wasn’t sure myself, but she should know.’

Cater nodded, his mouth twitching into a smirk. ‘She’s going to be all over you when she gets back to London.’

Ceri grimaced. ‘I know. Luckily there’s not much she can do. She’s no geneticist.’

‘I’m quite sure she’ll think of something. Now, let’s get ready, we have a club to run.’

Kennington, July 11th

Ceri had just settled down to work when Twill buzzed into the study. ‘There’s someone coming up the path,’ she said. ‘A normal.’ Ceri sighed and put her tablet down. Well, at least it wasn’t actually interrupting her work.

The man on the step had to be all of nineteen and might have been handsome without the bulging eyes. ‘Uh, sorry,’ he said, ‘did I get you out of bed?’

Ceri looked down at the shirt she was wearing. It was opaque, what was he on about? ‘No, if you’d got me out of bed I’d be naked. What can I do for you?’

‘Oh, uh…’ He indicated the large box wrapped in thick, brown paper beside his foot. ‘I’ve got a delivery for a Miss C Brent.’

Ceri looked at the box. ‘Well, I’m Ceridwyn Brent,’ she said.

The kid produced a clipboard and a pen. ‘Okay, if you could sign here,’ he said, indicating a box with a barcode beside it. She signed the sheet. ‘All yours,’ he said. ‘Uh, be careful, it’s fairly heavy.’

It was. Ceri lugged it into the hall and put it down in the middle of the hall. Twill hovered nearby. ‘Were you expecting anything?’ she asked.

‘Maybe,’ Ceri said. ‘Ed said something about a package.’ She pulled the wrapping off and found the reason it was heavy. Under the paper there was a metal box. ‘Anodised in silver-iron,’ Ceri said.

‘Be careful, Ceri,’ Twill said. ‘The only reason for doing that is because there’s magic inside.’

‘Uh-huh. I’ll take it down to the summoning room and open it there.’ She picked the box up and started toward the door to the cellar. ‘If it is what Ed mentioned, he said it should be put somewhere secure.’

The summoning room did not get a lot of use. Ceri mostly went in there when she needed one of her father’s old analogue thaumometers, which was not often. It was clean and tidy, and it still had its summoning circle, without a huge cross mounted in it, carved into the floor. With the box in the middle of it, she got salt from the store room and formed a basic circle. Then she stepped inside, summoned her will, and raised a containment circle up around herself. If there was anything nasty inside, she only had to worry about herself.

Taking a breath and steeling herself, she undid the two latches on the lid and opened it. There was no sudden rush of magic, in fact nothing at all. Inside the box was a white marble statue of a dragon curled around a rock and rearing up to look at her. It reminded her of the golden one she had seen in Mei’s rooms and, as she looked at it, its eyes began to glow red.

‘This will be a lot easier if you take it out of the box.’ The voice was recognisable as Mei’s and seemed to come from the dragon statue. ‘Dropping the containment circle would also be useful. It doesn’t stop communication, but it does inhibit it.’

The circle collapsed around her as she lifted the statue out. Then she closed the lid of the box and placed the dragon on top. ‘Uh… so is the statue in your room like this one?’ she asked as she stepped back.

Mei appeared before her, slightly translucent, but definitely her. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘They were made a long time ago to allow us to communicate over long distances. I’m just here to make sure everything is working properly. Athro will be your teacher. It’s what he does. What he has done for millennia.’

‘And you watch?’

Mei grinned. ‘Someone has to.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Athro said he would be popping by at some point. You’ll know when he’s here.’

Ceri frowned. ‘How?’

‘You’ll know. He said, however, that I should pass on some homework.’ Ceri sagged slightly; back to school, great. ‘He wants you to sit in on Lily’s next lesson with her father.’

‘What am I supposed to learn from Faran? He’s a demon. He’s teaching Lily about being a demon.’

‘Hmm, yes,’ Mei said. ‘I don’t really know, but demons have been teaching humans for almost as long as dragons have. If Athro believes you can learn something from the demon, then you probably can. I have to go. I have your friend Malcolm Charles coming to see me.’

‘That sounds like fun.’

‘Oh, I have no doubt it won’t be.’ Her image vanished and the dragon’s eyes went dim. Ceri wondered who had been watching her when she had visited Mei. She locked the door on the way out.

~~~

Ceri had to wait all of two hours before she got her chance to sit in on one of Lily’s lessons. Faran was standing outside the shower when they opened the door. The lascivious grin on his face spoke volumes. ‘I thought you were supposed to be working this morning,’ he said, looking up and down Ceri’s wet body without the slightest embarrassment. ‘Not that I’m minding, of course. Lily should practice as much as possible.’

‘I was disturbed,’ Ceri said, ‘so when Lily got up for her shower…’

‘Pass us some towels you lecherous old goat,’ Lily said.

‘I don’t know, I rather like the wet look.’ He handed over two towels anyway.

‘I’d like to sit in on your lesson,’ Ceri said as she dried herself.

‘I have no objection,’ Faran said. ‘It may be a little boring. We’ve been doing some exercises to put Lily in touch with her demonic side. It’s… well, meditation I suppose.’

Lily looked at her. ‘Why?’ she asked.

‘Someone told me I could learn something. I don’t know what,’ Ceri replied.

‘Okay,’ Lily said.

Thirty minutes later they were all in the dungeon. Lily was sat cross-legged on the granite slab the circle was cut into, right in front of the St Andrew’s Cross. Her father was sat in front of her in a similar posture. Ceri had perched up on the altar; it had a cloth on it which was far more comfortable than cold stone.

‘All right, settled?’ Faran asked his daughter. Lily nodded. Her eyes were shut and she looked relaxed even though she was sitting with her back very straight. ‘Good. You know the drill… Allow your mind to empty. Breathe deeply… in… hold… out… hold.’

Ceri watched Lily’s chest rise and fall, and tried hard not to let the sight of it affect her, which would likely have distracted Lily. She could feel the calmness coming over her link with her pet and found herself relaxing along with Lily. She closed her eyes and just listened.

‘Imagine your safe place,’ Faran said. ‘Since we have a visitor, why don’t you tell us about it?’

Lily’s voice had a grin in it, but it was also kind of drowsy, relaxed. ‘I’m on a white sand beach. The sea is that green-blue, cerulean blue, and there are palm trees behind me. The sun is beating down on my skin. I’m naked. And Ceri is lying beside me.’

Ceri suppressed a giggle. She could see the image in her head and it did feel warm and safe. She settled into it herself, lying beside Lily on the sand.

‘That place is waiting for you whenever you need it,’ Faran said. ‘You can return there any time you feel uncomfortable. Whenever you feel unsafe, you can be back there, lying on the sand beside Ceri.’

‘Yes,’ Lily almost mumbled.

‘Good. Now, your body is mostly human, but your spirit and soul, and the bridge between your metaphysical and physical forms have more demon in them. Today I want you to focus on the metaphysical bridge. It links the two Median lines between the base nodes. It connects your sex organs with the base of your spine. The energy which flows through that bridge governs the physical manifestation of your demonic nature. Through it, you can control your sexuality since that is the most basic aspect of a succubus. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ Lily said softly. Ceri understood. She had seen that bridge of shadowy energy when she had examined Lily to find her father’s influence. She knew the same flow of energy existed in her own body and she focussed on it as Lily did the same.

‘Feel the power flowing,’ Faran said. ‘The very essence of your physical form sits there. Allow your mind to focus downward upon it. See the strands which make it up, the mixture of demon and human which forms you.’ Ceri felt like she could see it herself; the strands of human intertwined with slivers of something else. They were more silvery compared to the white of the human strands. In Lily the demonic strands were red; Ceri had seen them the last time she had looked, but had not known what they were. ‘Focus on the demon strands, Lily. Make them brighter. They can’t hurt you. If it feels wrong, just return to the beach. Allow them to grow.’

Across the link, Ceri began to feel Lily’s mind shifting with her body. Her succubus side was pure lust filtered through a physical form. She was a sex demon and her sexuality was everything. It filled her, it fed her, it formed her, and it gave her her power.

And Ceri could feel the same within herself as she allowed the draconic threads of her physical bridge to expand and fill with energy. She was magic. Magic filled her. It gave her form and meaning. Magic was her heart, and soul, and spirit. It…

She opened her eyes as Lily’s gasp broke through to her conscious brain. Faran had turned around so that he could look at Ceri as well. Lily’s eyes were blazing red, so were her father’s. ‘What?’ Ceri said. ‘Sorry, did I disturb you somehow? I…’ She stopped as Faran jammed his eyes shut. He was trembling. Both father and daughter had been wearing expressions of pure hunger, but Faran was obviously trying to suppress it.

Lily managed to calm down first. ‘You…’ she started and stopped, trying again. ‘It was like… like you were… glowing.’

‘You were tapping into your nature,’ Faran said, still keeping his eyes shut. ‘You followed the same path Lily did, but tapped into your own nature as a sorceress.’ He swallowed. ‘My self-control is better than I thought.’

‘Do demons know why humans can be sorcerers?’ Ceri asked quietly.

Faran nodded, swallowed again, and shifted around so that he was more facing Ceri. She tried very hard to ignore the throbbing erection he was sporting. ‘Dragons,’ he said. ‘Sorcerers come from a draconic bloodline. We don’t talk about it with humans, any more than we talk about sorcerers. We trap human magicians into pacts because they think they’ll get the power you have. If they know we’re lying… Dragons are, you could say, our competition.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri said, ‘considering that a dragon told me to sit in here today I find that amusing. She said that demons had been teaching humans almost as long as dragons had.’

The demon seemed to consider that for a second. ‘Take this with as much salt as you wish,’ he finally said, ‘but I don’t believe dragons are any more altruistic than demons.’

‘You don’t really have a high opinion of demons, do you Dad?’ Lily asked.

He looked back at her with a self-deprecating grin. ‘Something I’m trying to teach you, my gorgeous daughter, “Know thyself.” Once you know who you are, the rest of the world becomes far more obvious. As an incubus, I am rather more empathic than many of my fellows and I can tell you that demons are selfish, power-hungry, back-stabbing creatures, and I am no different. We do nothing which does not give us personal advantage.’

‘If that were entirely true,’ Ceri said, ‘you wouldn’t feel the need to help Lily.’

‘I hate to say nice things about you, but she’s right,’ Lily agreed.

‘Making her more at home with herself, increasing her power, these things help her survival chances and so ensure my continued ability to stay on Earth,’ Faran said.

‘That’s such a rationalisation!’ Lily said.

‘It is,’ Ceri agreed. ‘When you came here the first time, you said you wanted to make up for the mess you made. You feel a debt to your daughter, and I think you just like being around her.’

‘I think you always did,’ Lily said.

Faran looked between them and decided to change the subject. ‘So you’re going to be taught to use your powers better, Ceri?’

‘That’s the idea, yes.’

‘I’m going to have a very hard time keeping my hands off you,’ he said with a sigh.

Ceri hopped off the altar. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’ll go up to the roof and get some sun. You don’t have to come just to give Lily lessons. I might even let you put oil on my back.’

‘That’s my job,’ Lily said possessively.

‘Hey,’ Ceri replied, ‘he taught me something new today… Well, I suppose you both did actually. You could share.’

Giggling, Lily rose to her feet. ‘Sure, I get the front, he gets the back.’

Faran stood up, laughing. ‘Oh right, you get the interesting side. Have you no respect for you poor old dad?’

‘Ha! You’re just a dirty old man,’ Lily replied.

Ceri listened to them as they followed her out of the dungeon. They sounded like a father and daughter trading banter; perhaps a father and daughter with something of an odd relationship, but parent and child all the same. Maybe, just maybe, it had not been just a lesson on Lily’s nature which had been learned, and maybe it was not just Ceri and Lily who had learned something.

Holloway, July 21st

‘Before you go,’ Cheryl said, ‘I vant your blood.’

Ceri looked up at her, continuing to slip her tablet away into its new, MagiTech sponsored, carrying bag. They had been going over the meetings Cheryl and Carter had had with Alfred Barnes, and the planned activities for the continuation of their projects. ‘Has Carter developed some biting tendencies I wasn’t aware of Boss? Should I warn people to wear leather collars around him?’

Cheryl produced a vacuum syringe in a plastic bag from her desk. ‘He only bites if you ask him very nicely,’ she said, ‘and he told me once that vampires have a fondness for the inner thigh.’

‘I don’t want to know how he knows they prefer the femoral artery,’ Ceri commented. She nodded at the syringe. ‘Do you know how to use that thing?’

‘Hold your arm out,’ Cheryl said, smiling. Ceri did so and Cheryl examined her arm for a second and then pressed a thumb down on the bicep, just above the elbow. ‘This’ll sting a little,’ she said, and then jabbed the needle in firmly, but smoothly. A press on the head of the test tube and the vacuum inside it was drawing blood from Ceri’s arm.

‘You’ve done that before.’

‘I used to help in the blood donor clinic on campus for years,’ Cheryl said. ‘I haven’t had time to do it recently, but it’s a skill you don’t forget.’ She pulled the tube and then the needle, and shifted her thumb to cover the wound. ‘Damn, I should have brought something to cover it with.’

Ceri smirked and raised her index finger on her other hand. ‘If I may.’

Cheryl grinned a little sheepishly. ‘Oh, yeah. There was a slight flicker of light as Ceri closed the hole in her arm and then flexed the limb to test there was no stiffness.

‘What do you want it for anyway?’ Ceri asked.

‘Research,’ Cheryl said. ‘You know me, always out to discover new things.’

‘Carter told you about my new discovery then?’

Cheryl just grinned a little maniacally. Sometimes Ceri thought her boss might be even more of a curiosity driven obsessive than she was.

Part Four: Queen’s Gambit

Kennington, July 19th, 2011

‘Excellent. Maintain your concentration. It does get easier the more you practice.’

Ceri watched the twisting shape in front of her and tried to ignore the platitudes. She was manipulating raw magic. It had gone from a ball about six inches across to a torus, and she was now trying to twist it about itself, constantly increasing the complexity of the figure. A weak ago it had been hard enough to form the torus; Ed was right, it got easier.

‘Your progress is impressive,’ Ed went on. ‘Be careful of the extreme edges. It takes far more control to maintain a sharp angle. Very good, you’re holding it.’

‘Do you keep chattering on like that to distract me?’ Ceri asked.

‘Uh, no,’ Ed’s image replied, blinking, ‘it’s called “positive reinforcement.”’

‘Well you’re positively reinforcing the probability I’ll drop it.’ She merged the twisted torus into a solid bar and then began to twist that into a corkscrew.

‘Some of my students do say I talk too much.’

‘I’m amazed.’

‘Being sarcastic to your teacher is not recommended,’ Ed said, sarcastically.

‘Do I get caned?’ Ceri replied without hesitation. ‘I’ll wear a short skirt.’ Ed’s image blushed. Ceri compressed the corkscrew back into a ball and dismissed the energy. Tension she had not really noticed all the way down her spine relaxed. ‘You’re tens of thousands of years old and you still blush at innuendo?’

‘Believe it or not,’ he replied, ‘I don’t get that much attention looking like this.’

‘What do you really look like?’

‘This, except more solid.’

‘No, I mean… you’re a dragon.’

‘Oh, that. That’s no more what I really look like than this is.’ Ceri frowned at him. ‘Start another exercise and I’ll explain.’

Ceri smirked. ‘Now that’s motivational. Playing on my curiosity.’ She summoned up another ball of thaumic energy, allowing it to float from her right palm to the air between her hands. Slowly it began to flatten out into a disc.

‘Dragons can’t live without a magic field to support them,’ Ed said. ‘That’s what killed Brenin. He let himself be caught here when the magic vanished. So… where do you think we go?’

Ceri almost lost the disc. ‘Dragons are from another ‘brane?’

Ed nodded. ‘You’ve heard that magic is considerably stronger in the world the demons come from? Well our world makes theirs look mundane. We are the only species there, a random result of wild magic. Our natural form is a complex arrangement of thaumic energy.’

By now the disc had grown and flattened, forming something like a huge, gleaming, blue-white snowflake. ‘Faran said dragons were the demons’ natural competition,’ Ceri said.

‘Not an unreasonable assertion, I suppose. I wouldn’t see it that way, obviously, but everyone has their self-delusions.’

‘He doesn’t think dragons are much more altruistic than demons.’

‘I’d argue that altruism is far more common among dragons, but it’s not universal. We originally came here as explorers. Some stayed to watch, some to teach…’

‘And some to carve out a kingdom to rule over,’ Ceri finished. ‘Very human.’

‘Mei Long says we’re more alike as species than most dragons would care to admit.’

Ceri folded her snowflake in on itself, gathering it back up into a ball and crushing it out of existence. ‘I think there are only so many motivations in the world. Demons seem to have a far more racially defined one, with a few exceptions.’

‘Perhaps.’ He looked closely at her. ‘I think that’s enough for today. Despite it sounding like empty encouragement, you are making great progress.’

Ceri smiled at the tweed-clad mirage. ‘Thanks, Professor.’ His image vanished and Ceri turned, walking out and up, and keeping on going up until she emerged onto the roof where Lily was stretched out in the sun.

‘Good session,’ Lily said without opening her eyes.

‘Yeah, I think so.’ Ceri unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it to the foot of her lounger before grabbing the sun tan oil.

‘Want me to do that?’

‘No,’ Ceri replied with a grin Lily could not see, ‘I’m tired and if you do it you know what’ll happen.’

‘I’ll let you rest then, perhaps I can do your back.’

‘Maybe.’ Ceri sat down to rub oil into her legs. ‘You know, I think I might actually be getting a tan.’

‘You probably just need a shower.’

‘Hey! I had a shower this morning. You know I had a shower this morning.’

‘I certainly do. It was very enjoyable. I just find it a little unbelievable that you’re tanning. Your skin tans like I blush… white.’ It was true, Lily could not blush and, while there was no metaphysical reason for it, Ceri never tanned.

‘Mum was the same,’ Ceri said, resigned to the fact that she was seeing things. ‘I think she had a charm she used on holiday. It stopped her turning into a boiled lobster after ten minutes outdoors. I wonder if I could find it. It’d save on oil.’

‘Don’t you dare! I like rubbing the oil in.’

Ceri giggled. ‘How are things going with your dad?’

‘With Dad they’re going fine,’ Lily replied. ‘I’m having more trouble with the lessons.’

‘How so?’

‘Well, he’s been teaching me a few spells and that’s going okay. Neither of us are that good at magic, most succubi aren’t, but it’s another string to my bow, so to speak.’

‘Not hearing a problem,’ Ceri commented.

‘It’s that thing you sat in on,’ Lily replied. ‘Dad thinks I’m still scared of my demon side. I don’t want it getting stronger, so I won’t allow myself to… I dunno, get in touch with my inner demon.’

‘Maybe I can help.’

‘How?’

Ceri looked up in the direction of the tower blocks. There were still people there pointing long lenses and parabolic microphones in their direction. ‘I’m pretty sure the enhancements to the house enchantments that Ed gave me will stop them hearing us,’ she said, ‘but I’m not going to risk it on some things.’

‘Y’know, I forget they’re there now,’ Lily said. ‘I’m surprised they haven’t given up.’

‘Oh hell no. Alexandra put in an official complaint about attempts to invade her privacy. They were trying to listen in on the pack when Jenny was there at the same time as me.’

‘Did she get a reply?’

‘No, but Jenny said the embassy got an official request for information about why one of their employees was spending so much time with a werewolf pack..’ She giggled. ‘Apparently they said that their British employees were free to choose whoever they wished as a boyfriend, and they found it surprising that the British Government took such an interest in their citizens’ love lives.’

Lily joined in the giggling. ‘Well, they must have plenty of shots of us at it up here.’

‘Good point. Maybe MI5 is really a front for the Family Planning Organisation.’

‘I was thinking the BBC Natural History department. Interspecies mating rituals.’

‘Speaking of which,’ Ceri said as she turned over, ‘you can do my back now.’

‘I thought you’d never ask.’ There was the creak of her lounger having the load taken off, and then another as she sat down on the edge of Ceri’s lounger. The sound of oil being rubbed into her hands followed, and then those delicate, but firm, hands were rubbing the oil into Ceri’s shoulders.

Ceri sighed, feeling herself relax. ‘This is so relaxing,’ she said, ‘up until the point where my nerves are singing anyway.’

‘I aim to please,’ Lily said, her hands working down Ceri’s back, smoothing out from her spine. As the heels of her hands were pressing out the kinks above Ceri’s hips she stopped. Ceri felt her lean over slightly, as if examining something.

‘What’s up?’

‘You know that shadowy patch on your back?’ Lily asked.

‘Uh, well, yeah.’

‘It’s getting darker. It’s kind of… it’s a circle, a broken circle, but I think it’s got structure.’ She straightened up and started working the oil in again. ‘You should get it looked at.’

‘I’ll ask Alexandra to look at it on Wednesday,’ Ceri said.

Lily nodded and pushed Ceri’s legs apart to give access to her lover’s inner thighs. ‘Good enough,’ she said.

~~~

Heavy, silver-iron cuffs were locked around Lily’s wrists and ankles. They held her spread-eagled to the St Andrew’s Cross in the dungeon. It was not an entirely uncommon position for Lily to be in, but generally she was there for recreation; this was education.

‘Now,’ Ceri said, ‘I’m quite sure that you can control yourself, but we need you to feel secure, so let me reiterate. You’re chained up inside a magic circle. I have salt standing by and I can have a containment circle up around you in about ten seconds if I have to. I remind you that you can’t harm me and must follow my orders. I am perfectly safe, and so are you.’

Lily nodded seriously. ‘Yes, Mistress.’

Ordinarily Ceri might have told her off for calling her Mistress in any serious situation, but this was a serious situation where she really was being Lily’s mistress. She had even dressed the part. Getting dolled up in a corset and high-heeled thigh boots helped Ceri get into the right mind-set. She was getting better at the whole dominatrix thing with practice, but she was still not good enough that a few props did not help.

‘All right, pet,’ Ceri said, pulling herself up as straight as she could, ‘there’s no need for your safe place, because you’re in a safe place. Your Mistress is right here with you and she’s a sorceress, a descendent of dragons.’

Lily gave a little shudder. ‘Oh yes, Mistress.’

Ceri closed her eyes and reached down into her own body, finding the silver strands in her physical bridge and pushing power into them. She opened her eyes again when she heard the little gasp from Lily. There was light swirling and shimmering throughout the room. Ceri had never actually seen it before, but it had to be coming from her.

‘Remember what your father taught you, pet,’ Ceri said. ‘Focus on your physical bridge. See the bands within it.’ Ceri looked down toward the ghost-bridge between Lily’s legs. ‘The human strands are a dull white. Intertwined with them are the demon ones, a bright, shimmering red.’ Now she knew what she was looking at she could see that the demon bands in Lily were more common than her own draconic bands, though she was a little surprised to note that there was not that much difference. Lily was half demon, Ceri was probably a millionth dragon; surely there should have been more of a disparity.

‘I… can see it,’ Lily said.

‘It’s beautiful, Lily,’ Ceri said. ‘Really beautiful. You can’t be afraid of something that beautiful. Focus on them, see how wonderful they are. Let your demon feel my power. Let yourself feel the demon inside you. It can’t control you. It is you. You don’t fear it, it’s beautiful and natural.’

The bands of light in Lily’s physical bridge grew brighter, not just the red ones, but the white ones as well. Energy flared up through her Chakral Median, burning brightly in the Ajna node behind her forehead. Her eyes opened; brilliant red light shone in her pupils, but there was none of the usual flare of aura. She blinked and the light was gone, but the intensity in her gaze was still there.

‘Oh… Oh, Ceri…’ Lily sounded, well, awed. ‘I can feel the magic around you, in you. I knew it was there before, it attracted me to you, attracted my demon side to you, but now… now I can feel it.’ She licked her lips. ‘I want you so bad right now.’

Ceri smiled. Her own light dimmed as she allowed her focus to fade. Not that it made Lily look any less hungry. ‘Your internal thaumic field is stronger too,’ Ceri said. ‘You may find the magic comes a little easier.’ Lily was straining against the shackles now. Reaching out, Ceri slapped the inside of Lily’s left thigh sharply. ‘Control yourself, pet. Straighten yourself up.’

Lily gave a little squeak and pulled herself up straight. ‘Sorry, Mistress.’

‘You control the demon, not the other way around.’

‘Yes, Mistress,’ Lily replied emphatically.

‘Tell me how you feel.’

Lily blinked and looked unsure for a second. ‘I feel… I feel like me, but more so? I feel… I feel incredibly sexy.’ She grinned, showing her fangs.

‘You’re always sexy, pet,’ Ceri pointed out, though she had to admit that she was having more than her usual difficulty keeping her hands off Lily. She was just looking…

‘I feel sexier,’ Lily said. ‘I feel good. I feel… me, every inch of me.’

‘Well remember that,’ Ceri said. ‘You can summon it up whenever you need it, even if we haven’t just let it out and you just have to get used to it.’

‘I think I could get used to this.’

Ceri laughed and dropped to her knees, unlocking the shackles from Lily’s ankles. She straightened up and reached for one of Lily’s wrists. ‘You’ll stay right where you are when I’ve freed you,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you when you can move.’

‘Of course, Mistress,’ Lily said, lowering her free arm and waiting while Ceri unlocked her final limb.

Backing away, Ceri hopped up onto the altar and sat there, watching Lily. Lily stood there, squirming slightly. Finally, Ceri leant back on the stone. ‘All right, pet,’ she said, ‘you know what to do.’

Licking her lips, Lily moved forward like a cat stalking prey. ‘Yes, Mistress,’ she said.

Battersea, July 20th

The cool grass felt rather good against her stomach as Ceri lay there with Alexandra, Michael, and any wolf in the vicinity with a view, examining her butt. Technically, they were not actually looking at her arse, but it felt like it, especially after the looking seemed to go on for rather longer than seemed entirely necessary.

‘So… have I got a melanoma or what?’ she finally asked in an effort to get someone to say something.

‘No dear,’ Alexandra said, a hint of humour in her voice, ‘I’m merely enjoying a shapely behind. One takes all the thrills one can get at my age.’ Ceri grumbled something inaudible. ‘What was that, dear? I didn’t quite catch it.’

‘I was just commenting on lecherous old women.’

‘I thought so.’ She gave Ceri a swat on the backside. ‘Sit up so I can letch at your front instead.’ Ceri was grinning as she sat up straight and Michael slipped in to cuddle up beside her. ‘What you have there, Ceridwyn, is something you’re very familiar with. Though it’s not quite the same as the ones you had before.’

‘Alexandra,’ Ceri said with a hint of irritation, ‘you’re being enigmatic.’

The old werewolf smiled, wolfishly. ‘There’s a tattoo forming under your skin,’ she said. ‘I can’t quite see what it is yet, but I can guess. I think you can too.’

‘A dragon,’ Ceri said. Alexandra nodded. ‘They marked me somehow.’

‘Or you did yourself,’ Alexandra suggested. ‘Some manifestation of your own nature.’

‘I’d have put it somewhere I could see it,’ Ceri replied. ‘I hope it at least looks nice.’

‘You’re taking it remarkably well,’ Alexandra commented.

‘I wore tattoos for a long time. It’s nothing new. I may wig out later.’

Her Alpha smiled. ‘Always wig out in private. Preserve your mystique. You do seem to be more… well, more.’

Ceri laughed. ‘That’s how Lily said she felt. More her.’

‘You’ve allowed her greater access to her demon side?’

‘Yeah, I guess.’ Ceri frowned slightly. ‘I think it’s more that she’s more aware of it. She’s certainly enjoying it and I’m seeing no signs that it’s adversely affecting her behaviour.’

Alexandra nodded as though expecting that. ‘So, you’ve uncovered the Sleeper and the Teacher. The King is buried under Stonehenge. What of the Queen?’

‘According to Athro, she doesn’t stray outside her stronghold.’ Ceri took her cue from Alexandra; there were likely agents listening to them and giving real names would be unwise.

Alexandra’s expression was one Ceri had not seen before, worried confusion. ‘I’m losing sight of the future, Ceri. I see fragments. You’ll be meeting the Queen sometime soon. I don’t know where, or when… or why.’

Ceri’s gaze was steady, appraising. ‘Your vision doesn’t extend past choices,’ she said. ‘Important ones.’

Alexandra nodded. ‘But normally I can see up to the point where the decision must be made, even if I can’t determine what that decision is based upon or who is making it.’

‘But now it’s all fragments? Like the pieces aren’t in place yet. There are too many choices and only some small fragments are inevitable.’

‘Interesting. Yes, that might explain it.’

‘Quantum mechanics,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, Chaos Theorem. Some systems have wildly divergent outcomes from what appears to be the same beginnings. Tiny variations in the input parameters have huge effects which we can’t see until they happen. The weather, for example. That’s why diviners are so much more effective than mathematics. They can get a good perception of the whole atmosphere and we could never get that kind of information from ground sensors. You’re missing information from too many sources. Too many people don’t even know they’re going to have to make a decision yet.’ She stopped, realising she was going off on a tangent to avoid the impact of what Alexandra was telling her. ‘Something big and probably nasty is going to happen.’

Alexandra smiled bleakly. ‘As you are wont to say, nothing ominous at all.’

July 21st

Ceri lay in the crook of Michael’s arm, her muzzle resting against his neck. The moon was waning and the werewolves of Battersea pack were relaxed, which often meant that the couple just lay together under the tree where Ceri hid her clothes before she left him for the night.

Mate in danger. Michael’s rumble of sound broke a silence which had been going on for several minutes.

Ceri yipped an up-beat reply; When me not?

Michael’s reply was a sound like a chuckle, if a wolf could chuckle. Mate stay safe. Mate protect self. Me protect Mate.

Me safe. Ceri raised her muzzle, rubbing it against his jaw. Mate not worry.

There was another long rumble, but all Michael really said was, Me always worry. He glanced upward at the sky. Time you go own territory.

Nodding, Ceri lifted to her feet, her hand reaching to her collar. A second later she was able to speak normally. ‘You shouldn’t worry, y’know? I can take care of myself.’

Michael reached behind him and pulled her bag out of the tree, handing it to her. Man scent on bag, he growled, managing to get resignation into the sounds.

‘I can take care of myself with a little help from my friends,’ Ceri corrected. She opened her bag and cast a spell to detect devices before pulling three bugs off the bag and her clothes. She sighed. ‘You’d think they’d be bright enough to figure I could spot these.’

Michael rolled his amber eyes; apparently he would not have thought that. He watched her dressing in jeans and a T-shirt, seeming to take almost as much pleasure in that as he did when she undressed. Ceri suspected he just like watching her; she knew Lily did. He stood as she finished putting her trainers on and his muzzle rubbed against her cheek.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she breathed, before turning and heading off through the trees. The two agents watching her were trying to look like they were not watching her, but she made that difficult by walking straight up to the nearest of them and holding out her hand. The man looked at her as though she had just flashed him or something, but he put out his own hand so that she could drop the bugs into his palm. ‘I realise that it’s your job, and I realise there’s nothing I can do to persuade your bosses to quit this, but if you try that again I’ll start putting security enchantments on the bag.’

There was a flicker of annoyance across the agent’s face, but the two of them just watched as she walked off toward Kennington.

Soho, July 22nd

There was something odd about table twenty. Whenever Desmond Wren came into the Dragon, Carter placed him away from Ceri and Lily, but it did not stop the man eyeing Ceri like a threat. She was used to that and it no longer bothered her. In fact it rather amused her since she was planning to do nothing and he could not do anything.

His girlfriend was different. Not just in the sense that she might do something foolish, but that she was… different. Every time Ceri had seen her before she had had empty, soulless eyes. Now there was a sparkle which had not been there before, but it was not a nice sparkle.

It was not until Tess took her break that Ceri got close to them, however. She smiled as she walked up to the table, but her Sight was working at full strength. ‘Can I get you something?’ she asked, her gaze taking in both of the people at the table.

‘Two glasses of whiskey,’ Wren said. The look he gave her was pure acid; she ignored him. His Chakral Median showed the same dark streaks it always had; he was not working more magic, not becoming more corrupted than he had been the first time she had seen him.

The girl, however, seemed to have developed a soul. Where the bridge between her two Anahata nodes had been entirely missing before, now there was a dark band where her soul should have been. ‘Of course,’ Ceri said, turning on her heel and strutting back toward the bar. She was pretty sure the girl had not drunk whiskey before either.

‘Two whiskies, Alec,’ she said before turning and leaning against the counter.

‘Wren his usual self?’ Carter asked.

‘Uh-huh. I think he knows I’m holding his career as assurance for my safety.’

‘He probably does, yes.’ There was a hint of amusement in the club owner’s voice which made Ceri grin.

‘His girlfriend though, she’s changed. She’s got a soul, though I don’t think it’s hers.’

‘I’ve never heard of an Oblivion user growing their soul back,’ Lily said. ‘Then again, we don’t know that’s how she lost it.’

‘That would explain it then,’ Carter said. Both girls looked at him. ‘She felt… odd,’ he said. ‘I suspect someone’s taken possession of the empty vessel.’

‘She’s possessed?’ Lily said.

‘Makes sense of what I see,’ Ceri replied. ‘The question is, by what?’

Alec put two tumblers of whiskey on Ceri’s tray. ‘I doubt it’s anything good,’ he said.

July 23rd

The night sky was clear aside from the flickers of blue and green from the Northern Lights. Soon the light would appear on the eastern horizon, banishing the night; Ceri figured they would be going to sleep in daylight, especially since they hardly ever went straight to sleep.

Except that Lily seemed a little jumpy as they walked down Dean Street toward the tube station. ‘What’s up?’ Ceri asked after a few minutes of watching her pet twitching at every shadow.

‘I sense magic,’ Lily said.

‘Me?’ Ceri said. ‘Or Bill and Ben back there?’ She meant the two MI5 agents tailing them down the street.

‘No,’ Lily said, ‘something else…’ Ceri’s Sight showed nothing, but the sense of urgency coming at her through her link with Lily was starting to make her jumpy as well.

It was as they turned onto Shaftsbury Avenue that Ceri felt something as well. She stopped, looking around for the source of the sensation she was growing far more used to than when she had first felt it. She was looking for Mei, the only dragon she knew was in London. It would have been foolish for the ambassador to be waiting for her, not to mention out of character, but there might have been a reason.

What she saw instead was the bright flare of a spell being launched. Wound up as she was, her reaction was immediate. ‘Atroi!’ she snapped, her will and power focussing on the dart of energy flying toward them from across the wide street. The missile looped backwards and that was when Ceri saw the dark figure at the point it had come from leap out of the way. The dart struck the ground and exploded, flame roaring out with the figure barely ahead of the wave front. There was no sign of magic about the figure itself, but Ceri could tell it was carrying magic items of some sort, and she could tell what it was.

As the vampire turned and raised a short stick toward the couple, Ceri raised her hand. A beam of brilliant white light lanced out and the figure reared backward, instantly blinded. Lily was already moving and Ceri snapped, ‘Careful, it’s a vamp.’

That was when the two agents ran past. They had guns drawn and the first one stopped dead, turning his weapon on Ceri and Lily. ‘Hold it right there!’ The second was still running toward the vampire.

‘Are you fucking nuts?!’ Lily yelled at the agent, but he kept his pistol levelled at a point between the two women where he could snap a shot off at either.

His colleague slowed. ‘Drop the wand,’ he called out. ‘Lie down on the floor with your hands behind…’ The vampire twitched the want toward the sound of the voice and another magical dart lanced out. The agent got off two rounds before exploding into flame. There was a shriek from the vampire as fire washed over its body, it stumbled, but it was running before the second agent could even turn.

Lily moved. Demons were naturally fast, the agent was distracted by the explosion, and Lily knew something about combat. She grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted, and the pistol fell from his grip. She kicked the gun away and then backed off just as quickly as Ceri ran past, heading for the fallen agent.

The man’s clothes were on fire, but that was easy. A wave of her hand and the flames died, but the man was down, struggling to breath. Ceri guessed his lungs were burned; he had breathed in the flame. His colleague was busy wasting time chasing Lily. ‘Damn stupid…’ Ceri muttered as she summoned her power. ‘Hold still, idiot,’ she said, placing her hand over the charred skin on the man’s chest. Light washed out from her spread fingers, tissue reknitted, the agent breathed in a shuddering breath… And something hit Ceri from behind knocking her across the man’s body and onto the road.

Everything seemed to go into slow motion as she sailed through the air. She saw someone standing in the shadows; a tall woman dressed in white. There was a faint suggestion of long, dark hair and a regal bearing. Then Ceri’s head smacked into the tarmac and she was seeing nothing at all.

Westminster

Ceri opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing and her vision took several seconds to clear, and when it did she was not very happy. ‘Why the fuck am I looking at you, Sachs?’ she growled, not trusting her voice at higher volume. ‘For that matter, where am I?’

‘Greycoat Street,’ Lily said from just out of Ceri’s eye line before the spook could respond. Ceri looked around at her pet. She was sporting a large bruise on her right cheek. ‘Apparently they have a secure infirmary here,’ Lily added. ‘Who knew?’

‘The reason you’re looking at me,’ Sachs added from the foot of the bed Ceri was lying on, ‘is… Well, first I’m here to thank you. The doctors say our man might not have lived if you hadn’t healed him.’

Ceri closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. ‘So, what? I got hit by a bus after that?’

‘No, you got hit by his arsehole partner who thought you were trying to kill him,’ Lily said. ‘He kicked me. In the face!’

‘Yes, well,’ Sachs said, ‘I want to apologise for his… misreading of the situation.’

Ceri sighed. ‘Apology accepted.’ Lily made a disgusted noise, but nodded. ‘It was a fast moving situation. I’d have hoped your people would be better trained, but they’re only human. I take it the vampire got away?’

The spy chief nodded. ‘This appears to be the second attempt on your life this month. We’re calling off our watch on you. We’re convinced that you aren’t working for the Chinese. However, Malcolm Charles has put through some fairly high level requests to have you watched for security reasons. Apparently he considers you a national asset. I’m not sure whether they’ll assign Greycoats, or Special Branch, or someone else from… the Home Office.’

Ceri put her head in her hands. ‘Great, thanks,’ she mumbled.

Sachs climbed to his feet. ‘Someone will be in to escort you out of here, or interview you possibly,’ he said before heading for the door.

Ceri waited for him to leave before looking up at Lily. ‘Come here, pet,’ she said. Lily moved from her chair to the edge of her bed. Ceri reached out and touched her cheek, smoothing away the bruise.

‘You didn’t need to do that,’ Lily said. ‘You should rest.’

‘I’ll rest when we get home. I saw something before I was knocked out. I think…’ She stopped as the door opened and the two people she had expected to see walked in.

John Radcliffe looked at her with a “why do you put me through this stuff?” expression on his face. It was his partner, Kate Middleshaw who spoke. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Like I had my head bounced off a rock,’ Ceri replied.

‘I don’t suppose you saw who attacked you?’ John asked.

‘It was a vampire,’ Ceri replied. ‘Probably wasn’t too old. Probably wearing a ski mask and dark clothing. I never saw a face. They took a hit from a fireball so they’ll have burn wounds. On the right arm and shoulder, I think. Not that that’ll help much. Vampires don’t drop in at Casualty for treatment.’

John nodded. ‘Figures. We’ve been in touch with the Cambridgeshire force about the werewolf. They’ve got nothing.’

‘Rumour has it he was paid to come after me,’ Ceri told them. ‘Alec did some digging.’

‘A werewolf, then a vampire with magic weapons,’ Kate said. ‘Who’ve you annoyed this time?’

‘No one I know of.’ The image of the dark haired woman kept coming back to her mind, but she was not going to tell either of them about the dragons. Certainly not in the Greycoats headquarters.

‘Well, we’re coming home with you,’ John said. ‘You’re officially under guard until this gets sorted out. There will be someone watching you at all times.’

Brilliant! Just what she needed. ‘All right,’ she said, because she knew she had no choice. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Kennington

‘You said she would stay in her stronghold,’ Ceri said, ‘and there she was in the middle of London, watching me being attacked by a vampire… again.’

Ed’s image wore a worried expression. ‘She kept to herself through the Dark Ages and she has never left the island since she returned after the Shattering. To my knowledge anyway.’

‘Could she be the one sending assassins after me?’ Ceri shook her head; she was talking about people sending supernaturals to kill her again. What really disturbed her was that she had no sense that this was unusual.

‘It isn’t impossible,’ Ed said.

Ceri looked at him for a second. ‘But you don’t think so.’

‘She was never above getting her hands dirty. If she wanted you dead she would do it herself rather than hiring some ineffectual mercenaries.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but you were on your guard because you felt her presence? She knows as well as I do that you can sense us. Her being there warned you that something was wrong. Without her, you might have been caught far more by surprise.’

‘Then why should she help me?’

‘Brenhines’ motivations were always… complex,’ Ed replied.

‘I hate enigmatic statements,’ Ceri growled.

‘To be less enigmatic,’ Ed replied, ‘I would need to know more. Perhaps, instead, I should teach you something to help you defend yourself. What do you know of translocation?’

‘Theoretically possible, but the only people who have attempted it have ended up in pieces,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s generally thought to be impossible to actually perform.’

‘You mean like transformation spells?’

Despite her mood, Ceri gave a short laugh. ‘Yeah, just like that?’

Smiling, Ed lifted his hand and began drawing in the air with his index finger. He left a trail of silvery lines hanging there and Ceri moved around so that she could see what he was writing. He had done this trick before and she was used to it, but the formula he was constructing this time was far more complex than anything he had drawn for her previously. He finished and stepped back so that she could move closer and examine his work. Thaumatological equations were what a physicist would describe as a weird amalgam of standard mathematical notation and runes which represented constants and processes from thaumatology theory. Thaumatologists had developed shorthand notations for common processes found in spells, selecting runes from various cultures to represent them, but Ed added a few glyphs in which came from draconic notations. It made it all appear simpler, but impossible for Ceri to decipher.

She raised her hand and pointed to a glyph in the centre of the pattern. ‘What’s this?’

‘That’s the only one you don’t recognise?’ Ceri nodded in reply and Ed turned, writing a further complex equation up beside the first. ‘That’s the underlying transformation.’

Ceri frowned, looking between the two walls of floating symbology. ‘Translating through six dimensions?’ Ed smiled and nodded. ‘No wonder no one’s got this right. Even the trans-brane gating spells only use five.’

‘Not when we do it,’ Ed replied, ‘and we’ve been doing it longer than humans.’

Ceri frowned, pouring over the formulae, calculating the power required and the field formation she would need to enact the spell… And suddenly she was stumbling and falling against the wall beside the door a few yards from where she had been standing. ‘Uh… wow,’ she said, turning to face Ed again.

The Teacher was beaming proudly at her. ‘So the next time someone attacks you…’

‘I can dodge attacks by popping out of the way,’ Ceri finished. ‘I need to practice though, my head’s still spinning.’

‘One gets used to it,’ Ed said. ‘Or you bounce your head off a wall too many times and stop using the spell.’

‘I’ll hope for the former. I should get upstairs before Kate decides to come looking for me.’

Ed nodded. ‘The police are not making your life easier.’

‘Don’t I know it,’ Ceri replied, but both Ed and his silver writing were gone. She narrowed her eyes at the dragon statue, but its red eyes were dim. Looking upward, she calculated the necessary jump, created the field and suddenly she was catching herself against the ladder up to the roof hatch in the attic. She giggled; this might be fun. Her foot missed the first rung on the ladder. Okay, it might be fun once she had got over the dizziness after a jump.

Soho

Lorna was pulling off the pale, beautiful vampire look perfectly. As usual, her husband, a reasonably good looking man, looked ordinary beside her, but John Radcliffe always managed to look like he was just a little surprised to have such a stunning wife. Ceri had considered pointing out that he would probably age gracefully while his wife would decay into a walking corpse who had to disguise her withered body behind a glamour, but that seemed far too much like sour grapes.

Officially, Lorna was simply there for a night on the town while her husband played bodyguard to Ceri. However, considering that John was a normal and probably less capable of keeping Ceri safe than Ceri was herself, the addition of a woman who could see in almost total darkness and had other enhanced senses was a good move. Even mildly inebriated, Lorna was amazingly effective at spotting trouble.

She also really enjoyed being able to spend a work night with John. Ceri, for all her acceptance of supernaturals, could not understand humans who stuck with vampires, or the other way around. When Lorna had been turned, she had died. Legally that had ended their marriage, though the law allowed them to sign a piece of paper so that they had the same basic rights as a married couple. Effectively their marriage became a civil partnership. Equally, they could have walked away from each other. Had they even thought of that? Did they ever think of it now?

‘John would never let me wear a dress like that,’ Lorna said, breaking Ceri out of her thoughts.

Ceri looked at the vampire with a quirky grin. ‘I’ve seen you lying on my hearth rug in your bra and knickers.’

‘Oh well, that’s different.’ Vampires could not blush, their bodies considered it a waste of blood or something, but Lorna wasn’t drunk enough to not be embarrassed. ‘There was an orgy happening in the front hall.’

‘Were you like this before… well, before you were turned?’

‘Like what?’ Lorna’s smile fell away from her eyes.

‘Kind of… wild and repressed at the same time.’

‘She hasn’t changed,’ John commented from the other side of his wife. ‘Neither have I,’ he added, ‘I’m still just repressed.’

‘You come out of your shell sometimes, love,’ Lorna said.

‘Yeah,’ Ceri commented, ‘especially while lying on a hearth rug behind your half-naked wife.’ She pushed away from the bar heading out across the floor toward the back of the room and table ten where three humans had been sat quietly drinking themselves into a stupor for the last two hours. She stopped in front of them and smiled brightly. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

‘Uh, sure,’ the most vocal of the three said. ‘Another three whiskies? Josh? You up for another.’

Ceri looked at Josh. He was looking pale and rather vacant. ‘Maybe not such a good idea,’ she said. ‘Are you okay, sir?’

Josh looked at her and opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Ceri prepared herself for the inevitable vomiting. Something however, looked wrong, and Ceri switched her Sight on. There was a growing field of thaumic energy building in Josh’s chest; uncontrolled thaumic energy, building at a growing rate. Ceri’s tray clattered to the floor as she reached out, her hand pressing against the man’s chest.

‘What the Hell?!’

Ceri looked around at the speaker. ‘There’s a tall man at the bar sitting beside an attractive, pale woman. Both of you, tell him I need to talk to him now and don’t come back.’ Neither of them moved. ‘Now!’ she yelled, but it was not the volume of her voice which moved them, it was the fact that her other hand now held a glowing ball of energy, growing more intense by the second.

‘Ceri?’ It was Carter’s voice not John’s.

‘We need to get everyone out of here,’ she said, not looking around. ‘If I can’t contain this…’

She heard his feet turn on the floor. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he called out, ‘we have an emergency situation which we are dealing with, but for your own safety can we please move in an orderly fashion to the door. Alec, Lily, Tess, Sasha, escort everyone out please.’

‘What’s wrong with him?’ John asked, just visible to her in the corner of her eye.

‘I have no idea, but there’s a huge build-up of thaumic energy in his chest. We need a containment team here as fast as you can get one. I can hold this, probably, but assuming it stops I’ll need somewhere to sink the charge.’ She looked down at the sickly-looking young man. ‘You stay with me, Josh. You’re going to be okay.’

‘William Bravo Ten to Control,’ she heard as John spoke into a radio. ‘I need a magical containment unit to the Jade Dragon.’ There was a pause. ‘Yesterday! Potential thaumic explosion.’

‘She said…’ Josh’s voice was strained, almost a whisper.

‘Don’t try to talk,’ Ceri said. The energy was almost certainly damaging his internal organs.

‘She said it wouldn’t… hurt. Just… just a… prank.’

‘Who said?’ John asked, his voice urgent, stressed.

‘Girl… model… Hannah…’

‘Hannah Shields?’ Ceri asked. ‘The model, Hannah Shields?’

Josh nodded. ‘We… got high together. Been empty… since. Said… said she could… fix me.’ His face creased up in pain. ‘It hurts!’ He started to slump forward and Ceri pushed him back against the seat. His eyes were glazed over. She felt something like a flutter under her palm and the energy flow broke down and stopped.

Ceri took her hand away slowly. ‘He’s dead,’ she said flatly.

Westminster, July 24th

Ceri looked through the silver-iron meshed, half-silvered window between the observation room and the interview room beyond with a blank expression. Hannah Shields sat beside a lawyer who was probably making more per minute than Ceri made in a week. The lawyer was courtesy of Desmond Wren, but Ceri had taken one look at him and known that the Order of Merlin was keeping things in-house. So far, the interview had consisted of John and Kate asking questions and the lawyer telling Hannah to say nothing.

Ceri leaned over to where Lily was sitting, bored but watching the proceedings. ‘Keep an eye on things. I’ll be just outside.’ Then, being careful to open the door as little and as quietly as possible, she slipped out into the corridor. The first thing she saw was Desmond Wren.

The politician glared at her, stepping closer and speaking through gritted teeth. ‘What the Hell are you doing? Trying to get at me through Hannah?’

‘I’d have preferred to deal with this privately,’ Ceri replied, her voice kept as low as Wren’s. ‘The kid who died implicated your girlfriend right there in front of John Radcliffe. Is she actually in the Order?’

‘Of course not!’ Wren snapped. Then he looked quickly around and lowered his voice again. ‘She’s got no magical talent at all. She’s been to the Archmage Club with me, but that’s it.’

‘She takes Oblivion,’ Ceri said.

Wren jumped in before she could say anything else. ‘She cleaned herself up before I even met her.’

‘Too late,’ Ceri told him. ‘Her soul is gone and Josh… the kid who died, he said he used to get high with her. John checked and they went to the same school, then college. Did they show you a picture of him?’

‘Never seen him before.’

‘Have you noticed anything weird about her behaviour?’ Ceri asked. ‘Sudden changes of mood, maybe?’

He looked at her. ‘You read the article in that rag then?’ He meant an article in The Wednesday Witch which had indicated that Shields had been fired from a job for violent and disruptive behaviour; Ceri had read it. ‘She has seemed a little… weird recently,’ Wren admitted. Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘She’s always been a bit flaky. Mood swings, crazy in bed and then suddenly depressed. Lately she’s got… I dunno… She was coming on to me like crazy a couple of nights ago. Then we went to the Club, walked in the door, and suddenly she wasn’t interested. Like someone flicked a switch.’

‘Or like something took over her mind,’ Ceri said. ‘When you were last in the Dragon, she was possessed. It would be easy to do without her soul. I think whatever was done to Josh was somehow related to his own soul being gone, or depleted.’ She turned her head to look at Wren properly. ‘Look, that expensive dick in there is doing her no good. If she’ll actually talk to the cops about what’s been going on, I’ll testify that I believe she’s been possessed. If I can get in to look at her now and check she’s free of it.’

Wren narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Why help her? Why help me?’

‘I’m not helping you, Wren, I’m helping me, and possibly the girl in there. If you get some benefit out of it, I’m not worried. What you people don’t get is that I don’t give a crap about you. You’re the ones who decided to attack me, not the other way around. I’d be quite happy if you just stopped treating me like the Anti-Christ and let me get on with my life.’

‘That’s not up to me,’ Wren said. ‘Sorry.’ He actually sounded genuine about it. ‘I’ll talk to Hannah.’ Pushing off from the wall, he walked over to the interview room door and knocked. There was a short pause, and then a minute of whispering to whoever had opened the door. Then he looked back at Ceri and waved for her to follow him in.

‘Desmond,’ the lawyer began as soon as he saw Ceri entering, ‘what exactly are you doing?’

‘Just… shut up, Martin,’ Wren replied.

Ceri looked down at the woman sat behind the interview room table. She looked nervous and that convinced Ceri that she was herself even before she found the hole where her soul should have been. ‘She’s clean,’ Ceri said. ‘I am willing to testify that I have noted a potential possession in Ms Shields. I don’t believe she was the one who killed Josh, or hired the vampire, but I think she might know more about this than she’s letting on… Or rather than her lawyer will allow her to say.’

‘On that basis,’ Martin said, jumping on Ceri’s statement, ‘we’ll be leaving…’

‘On that basis,’ John said, ‘if your client refuses to assist us in fully confirming Miss Brent’s assertions, we would have to assume that she was complicit with the possessing entity rather than a victim.’

The lawyer showed signs that his temper was flaring; having a pact with a demon had to be a real disadvantage in his line of work. Ceri watched as he unclenched his fists and the energy flickering around his Chakral Median died away. ‘Tell them what they want to know,’ he said.

Ceri backed away toward the mirrored glass, smiling at where she knew Lily was. If she was lucky and kept quiet no one would kick her out of the room.

‘I knew Josh at school,’ Shields said, ‘and later we went to a few parties together when we were in college. I never dated him or anything.’

‘Have you seen him recently?’ John asked.

‘Within the last twenty-four hours,’ Kate added.

‘I think so.’ It was a vague answer and she obviously saw from the detectives’ expressions that they needed an explanation. ‘I’ve been having these weird episodes recently. Blackouts. Waking dreams. I think I saw Josh yesterday morning, but… it’s like I was dreaming. I mean I must have been dreaming because I worked some sort of magic on him. I said something in a language I don’t know. A spell, I guess.’

‘Hannah?’ Wren said. ‘Did you get any impression of someone else being with you?’

Hannah nodded slowly. ‘Something male. I felt… male, powerful, alien, but it was like…’ She frowned, looking at Ceri. ‘I dreamed I was in the Jade Dragon with Des, and you served us. I hated you, but I didn’t want you to know who I was because you would know me.’

Ceri frowned back. Her heart was thumping in her chest. John looked around at her. ‘Any idea who this… person is?’

‘I have… a theory.’

‘Do you want to share?’ John asked.

‘I… don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.’

Radcliffe looked at her thoughtfully for a second. ‘You’ve said something very similar before,’ he said. ‘The first time we met, in fact.’

‘I did, yes,’ Ceri replied. ‘I need to get home.’

‘I’m going to arrange for some protection for Hannah,’ Wren said. ‘I know of amulets which can stop someone being possessed. She won’t be a threat to you after I get one of those on her.’

‘He has at least one other body to walk around in,’ Ceri said. ‘I need to get home, behind my wards. I need to check one of my father’s books.’

John reached across the table toward the recording device on the side of the table. ‘Interview terminated at… fourteen thirty-two,’ he said, and punched the stop button. ‘We’ll take you home straight away. Miss Shields, you’re free to go, but I suggest you stay in the city.’

Ceri was already heading for the door. She needed to feel safe. She needed to be somewhere Matthew Barnes could not get to her.

Kennington

She felt it as soon as she walked through the front door, the sensation that there was a dragon nearby. Ed would be waiting for her down in the summoning room. Ceri looked around at Lily and Kate. ‘Uh, you guys go get comfortable,’ she said. ‘I want to check the wards and a couple of things in the summoning room.’ She started for the stairs before getting a response.

The dragon statue’s eyes were glowing red when she opened the door, but there was no sign of Ed. She pushed the iron door closed and turned the lock. When she turned back she was looking at a tall woman with long, dark hair. Her trim body carried a substantial bosom and a fair amount of muscle, and it was all barely concealed under a white gown made of thin, flowing, silky material. Her face was severe, but beautiful, with eyes as black as Lily’s. Lily’s eyes, however, were somehow warm and sensual; the woman’s eyes were just black. She said nothing, she just stood there, a faint smile on her lips which did not reach her eyes.

Ceri sagged. ‘I so don’t need this right now.’

The woman actually looked a little confused. It was gratifying. ‘Not quite the reaction I was expecting,’ she said.

‘Well, last night I watched a kid die because someone hotwired his Medians together, then I spent most of the day watching some arsehole lawyer from the Order of Merlin trying to cover their behinds because they thought one of theirs might be doing something stupid, and then I discovered someone who tried to kill me has returned to Earth as a demon.’ Ceri took in a lung-full of air. ‘And now you turn up. I didn’t know you could use that thing.’ She waved her hand at the statue.

‘Any of us can use them, if we know they’re there,’ she replied. She had a soothing sort of voice. Ceri imagined she could do seductive really well. ‘I’m…’

‘Brenhines,’ Ceri said. ‘The Queen. I saw you in a dream. What do you want? I’m kind of having a bad day.’

‘I simply wanted to introduce myself.’

‘You could have done that the other night.’

‘With those nice men in suits watching?’

Ceri nodded. ‘Yeah… good point. I was told you didn’t leave Anglesey.’

‘For the right reasons I do.’

‘And I’m the right reason?’

‘Yes, you are.’

Ceri looked at her. ‘Okay, I’ll bite. Why?’

‘I’d have thought,’ the Queen said, amusement showing in her voice, ‘that that was obvious.’

‘If you’re going to make a habit of turning up here,’ Ceri said, ‘you’re going to have to learn that I really, really hate enigmatic remarks.’

‘You’re a sorceress,’ Brenhines said. ‘The blood of a dragon runs through your veins, figuratively at least. I’m the dragon, child. You’re of my bloodline.’

July 25th

‘That’s all you got from her? “You’re my descendent, live with it”?’ Lily’s voice was quiet. Kate was in the spare bedroom and was unlikely to hear anything, but better safe than sorry.

The half-succubus was lying against Ceri, in the crook of her arm. To Ceri, this was safe. Even with a police witch watching over her behind powerful magical wards, she still felt safest with her demon in her arms.

‘She left after dropping that bombshell,’ Ceri said.

‘Do you believe her?’

Ceri was silent for a second or two. ‘Yes, I think I do.’

‘Okay, so what’s her angle?’

Ceri gave a soft chuckle. ‘You might as well ask what Ed’s angle is, or Mei’s.’

‘Well… surely Ed’s teaching you…’

‘But why?’

‘Oh… I hadn’t thought of it like that. I guess he just likes teaching sorcerers.’

‘Yeah, maybe he does. And maybe Brenhines is just being protective of one of her descendants.’

‘There was the dream,’ Lily said.

‘She said we would meet,’ Ceri said, ‘which Alexandra said would happen, and we have. She said Ed wouldn’t tell me everything, and if he knows Brenhines is my ancestor, then he hasn’t. She said I needed to be watchful, and that was pretty good advice, considering.’

‘You said it sounded threatening, though.’

Ceri gave a little shrug, careful not to disturb the head on her shoulder too much. ‘I don’t think I know anymore, love.’

Lily cuddled up tighter, snuggling up like a cat against some nice, warm human foolish enough to lie still. ‘You’ll figure it out,’ she said. ‘You’re smart and I have faith in you.’

‘I wish I did.’ It was a stupid thing to say. Lily would be forced to tell her off, or voice some platitude, or…

Lily’s hand moved downward across Ceri’s body coming to a stop over her pubic bone. Ceri blinked when it did not do anything but rest there, and turned her head slightly. She could just about see a faint, red light cast on her skin from Lily’s eyes. Then she felt it, the power growing between her spine and her clitoris, and her skin began to glow, shimmering as Lily brought out the dragon inside her. It felt… wonderful!

‘You’re wonderful,’ Lily whispered, ‘believe it, because I do, and I’ve got the evidence to prove it. You come from a line that must stretch back thousands of years and there’s nothing you can’t overcome if you put your mind to it.’

Ceri’s body sang to her in a ringing, ancient voice. It sang of flying high above the land and looking down upon the world below. It sang of freedom. It sang of living magic, breathing magic, being one with the magic of the world. For a brief instant Ceri felt like she was aware of the entire planet and everything in it… And then she was just aware of Lily, and the meeting of their lips.

Part Five: Demon’s Wrath

Battersea, July 27th, 2011

Ceri had never felt so good in fur. There was the fact that she was no longer being watched by MI5 agents, and even the Greycoats had handed over her security to the pack. She could run with Michael to her heart’s content or talk to Alexandra and not worry who was watching. Mostly, however, it was just that everything felt glorious, fresh, new!

Michael had caught on to her mood and they had been running like yearling puppies through the park from the time she had changed. She ran after rabbits, frolicked with the other wolves, and felt wonderful the entire time. When Michael eventually took her out to the riverbank, even the humans making comments about them could not dampen her spirits.

You happy, Michael said in wolf-speech. His eyes were bright, happy that she was happy.

She gave a bright yip of reply. Yes. Most. Feel most me.

Wolf, Fire Worm, Man. There was not a word for dragon exactly, or if there was it had been lost to the language. Werewolves, for creatures so fond of tradition, tended to focus their “native” language on things that affected them now.

Yes! Ceri barked in response. Her gaze fixed on a young man walking past them. His reaction was atypical of the general trail of pedestrians. Most ignored them, sometimes very forcefully. Some made rude comments under their breath; the ones Ceri generally hated. This young man fell into by far the far smallest bracket, he was actually attracted to the sight of a naked, furry girl with the head of a wolf.

Ceri gave a little growl. ‘Wait.’ Then she bounced across the paving stones to block her admirer’s path.

His eyes grew wide as she stopped, bright-eyed, in front of him. ‘Uh… hi,’ the man said.

Ceri sniffed. His arousal was obvious and she twirled in front of him, trying not to laugh because it came out like a strangled hen with a wolf’s larynx. Stopping, she leaned forward, her muzzle an inch from his nose. His breath caught as her jaws opened, and then her long tongue licked his face from his chin, across his nose, to his forehead.

Yipping happily, she bounced away to where Michael was watching with amusement in his eyes. His growl said, Don’t play Men.

But man funny. It was a shame she could not pout, but she managed to get the same feeling into her posture.

Michael shook his head and watched the bemused young human walk away. Hopefully Ceri would calm down a bit soon. Otherwise he would have to resort to ropes.

Kennington, July 28th

‘You’ve been rather quiet for a few days,’ Ceri said as she closed the summoning room door.

Ed smiled weakly at her. ‘I’ve been rather busy lately…’

‘Strange, I thought you were avoiding me because Brenhines paid me a visit.’

‘Ah, well…’

‘Not mentioning she could just drop into my house any time she wished was bad enough,’ Ceri said before he could articulate much.

‘Yes, but…’

‘Not mentioning that she was the origin of my bloodline, however, was just plain stupid. How am I supposed to take that? What were you thinking? I’d rush off to see her?’

‘Perhaps if I could get a word in?’ Ed suggested. When she did not say anything to stop him, he went on. ‘I should certainly have mentioned that she could communicate through the statue. My apologies, it slipped my mind. As for the other matter… yes, I may have misjudged your reaction.’ He frowned slightly. ‘I may have misjudged her as well.’

‘How so?’ Ceri asked, settling a shoulder against one of the stone walls and crossing her arms under her bust.

‘I haven’t spoken to her since the end of the Toba Flare period. Losing her mate… unhinged her. She became unpredictable, capricious. The lands she had ruled over with Brenin was a grand civilisation before there was civilisation. The two races of man lived together there, peacefully. There was learning… I taught so many…’ He looked wistfully off into the distance for a second and then shook his head. ‘The world changed. Brenin tried to hold back the tide, so to speak, and died in the attempt. The magic field in this world dropped to virtually nothing. Their kingdom was inundated…’ The professor stopped, looking at Ceri’s expression of mild disbelief combined with resignation. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘They ruled over Atlantis?’ Ceri asked. ‘Ancient civilisation, enlightened, advanced, sank beneath the waves.’

Ed rolled his eyes. ‘Of course not! How could the destruction and submergence of an area of land over thirty thousand years ago have influenced Plato writing in three-sixty BC?’

Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘Uh-huh… You were saying?’

‘When Brenhines returned to look for her mate and discovered he was missing she became bitter. She formed another kingdom, but this one was oppressive, cold, driven by her need for love. After Badon she left. No one saw her again until she returned to Anglesey after the Shattering. We have no idea what she wants now.’

Ceri pushed away from the wall. ‘All right,’ she said, ‘I can accept that, and I understand why you kept the information from me.’ She straightened herself up and prepared for the exercises she knew he would make her do. ‘But you should have told me.’

~~~

Faran had had to sneak past John, who was doing guard duty, but that was a lot easier for a creature who could walk through solid objects than it might have been for someone else. ‘And I’m not letting a little thing like police surveillance stop me from seeing my daughter,’ he added as he settled down on the floor of the dungeon.

‘Well,’ Ceri said, grinning, ‘I’ll just ask a couple of questions and then I can be out of your hair so you can be with her.’

‘I quite enjoy seeing my daughter’s mistress as well, you know?’ the incubus replied. ‘I admit that’s at least partially lust, but I do.’

‘Thank you,’ Ceri said. A year earlier she would have blushed at being lusted over. ‘I have what seems to be an ex-pacted wizard trying to kill me. I suspect he was destroyed and dragged into your world last year and now he’s come back. He seems to be able to possess people.’

‘Lucky human,’ Faran commented.

Both Ceri and Lily looked at him with a surprised expression. ‘How is he lucky?’ Lily asked.

‘Most humans we get our hands on end up either torn apart or as slaves. Someone really likes him if he was given power.’

‘But what kind of demon is he?’ Ceri asked.

‘An ordinary one.’ He smiled at Ceri’s slightly perplexed expression. ‘The demons you see normally, Devos, Devim, Dakag, Cherich, Lorril…’

‘Lorril?’ Ceri asked; she had heard of the others.

‘Devotik word for incubi and succubi,’ Lily said. She beamed; she loved it when she could actually tell Ceri something she did not know.

‘Quite,’ Faran went on. ‘Those are the demon varieties most commonly called to Earth and able to manifest here. There are plenty of demons who have no particularly special powers and if they were actually summoned here they would not be able to manifest a form. The more powerful ones are able to possess humans, but only specific ones they attune to. Generally they need to have some impediment to resisting the possession as well.’

‘The one I know about has no soul,’ Ceri said.

‘Perfect. He would either have been summoned, or they sometimes slip over on… what do you call it… Samhain. Various immaterial demons pass over then, but most of them can do little more than scare people. Others tempt magicians into pacts, cause mischief, that kind of thing. Your demonologists refer to them as “Tempters,” we call them Det.’

‘Which is the Devotik word for demon,’ Lilly said.

‘I’m glad you remembered your lessons,’ Faran said, smiling at his daughter.

Lily giggled. ‘Akt letok mi tavishti chovach?’

‘I hope that was directed at Ceri, dear child. I’m your father.’ Lily tried her best to look entirely innocent and Ceri wondered what the Hell she had said.

‘How do I get rid of him?’ Ceri asked.

‘Banish him,’ Faran replied, ‘if you can corner him. Killing him here would be… difficult. He’s immaterial, Lily’s daggers have nothing to stab, and that’s assuming you can get him out of the body he’s in. I’m assuming you’d rather not destroy the host?’

‘I’d prefer that option,’ Ceri said wryly. ‘Aside from any moral issues, they’d probably lock me up for life.’ She sighed. ‘So I have to banish him, which means he could just come back.’

‘Not if you do it properly. Banishment bars him from this reality unless someone summons him back.’

‘It’s July,’ Ceri said. ‘If he had come over by himself he would have attacked me before, surely? He had to have been summoned.’

Faran shrugged. ‘He would need to find a suitable host, cement his position, possibly plan his attack. There may have been other things he needed to deal with unrelated to you. Remember, he would not have the power he does without the intervention of a Lord.’

Ceri nodded. ‘Banishing it is.’

‘If we can find the Mektopak,’ Lily said.

Faran blinked at her. ‘I never taught you that word.’

‘Oh yes you did.’

The incubus cringed. ‘Don’t ever tell your mother I did.’

Ceri grinned at Lily. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’

‘Oh yeah,’ Lily replied, ‘blackmail material.’

Battersea

Anita looked along the line of her troops and nodded. ‘All right,’ she said, putting her hands behind her back and marching along the line, ‘we’re solidly into the summer months, the schools are out, and we all know what that means. Yes, we’ll have kids running about trying to spot us naked in human form or at it in the bushes.’ Anita managed to keep a straight face through the rumbles of humour from the Guard, just like a real Sergeant Major; except that most of those were not six-foot naked Amazons. ‘Just remember, they’re human and teens, they don’t know any better. Make sure everyone keeps their activities private so we don’t get complaints like last year.’

There were nods from around the team, and Michael looked right at Ceri. Luckily her fur made it impossible to tell she was blushing.

‘We have had a few people scenting demon around the park,’ Anita said, and Ceri was suddenly all ears. ‘No one has seen anything yet, Alexandra is not sensing any direct threat to the pack, but you’re to report any evidence of them to me or Alexandra.’ She gave everyone a quick look, receiving nods of confirmation. ‘That’s it for tonight, off you go.’

She turned back toward Alexandra’s clearing, shifting as she did so. Ceri thought she would never get her transformations as smooth as that, but then Anita specialised in just that one bit of magic. Still… Turning to her mate Ceri gave a bark. Come, hunt demon.

Michael had obviously been expecting this since he was off before she could start moving. He headed out toward the eastern end of the boating lake among the trees. Scents here, he barked at her as she ran beside him. She lifted her muzzle, but could not catch anything in the breeze and they looped around to go through the trees on the south side of the lake.

They found nothing until they got to the south-west side, and then Michael raised his muzzle, scenting the breeze. He pointed and started off across Carriage Drive. Ceri’s brow furrowed; they were heading for the area where Ceri hid her clothes. Putting on a burst of speed, she caught up with her mate and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. His look was questioning.

Ceri nodded toward the corner of the park. Man stuff tree, she growled. Care. Do hide.

The scent of demon was stronger now. Michael nodded and they slipped through the trees taking it slow and easy. Michael stopped suddenly about ten yards from the little clearing where their tree was. He was the more experienced wolf and his gestures suggested that they were close, but Ceri had a trick he could not perform. Gathering her power, she allowed her perceptions to spread out around her, searching for the distinctive energy signature of demons. She held up three fingers and then pointed; three demons, one in the tree, two on the ground. She could tell they were Devim, but if there was a way to tell Michael that she did not know it.

He gave a soft growl. Attack?

Ceri reached out and touched his shoulder, light flickering over her fingers, and a faint, orange flame flickered over him. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she just did the same to herself and growled a reply. Attack!

They burst into the clearing, Ceri gathering a spell in her palm as she did so. Three darts of flame sprang from three points around the clearing, one up in the tree in which Ceri hid her clothes. Two of them hit Michael and he reared back… and then realised what Ceri’s spell had done. Devim, imps, were fire demons and she had fireproofed him. With a howl of glee, he charged at one of the sources of the flame bolts while Ceri, using the angle of trajectory from the tree, fired a bolt of light back the way it had come. There was a squeal and a Devim came crashing out of the branches; for a creature with wings, that had to be embarrassing.

Ceri could hear fighting from behind the tree Michael had dived behind, but she had her own problem in the form of a four-foot high, purple-skinned, winged creature flying at her with its horned head lowered. She seized up its trajectory, skidded to a stop and fell flat on her back, lashing out with a foot as the creature flew overhead. She felt her toe claws bite and heard a shriek of pain, and then the thud as the distracted creature slammed into a tree.

A flame dart hit her in the side of the head. The one from the tree was still mobile, though it’s left arm was missing; dark blood pumped from a hole where its shoulder should have been. Without warning a clawed hand came from behind it, wrapped around its throat, and ripped its windpipe out. There was a look of surprise on its face as it keeled over. Ceri watched it fall and then turned to what she assumed was the last of them. She almost fell over laughing.

The little creature was struggling frantically to free itself. Its horns were jammed firmly into the tree it had hit. Michael stepped over the second imp he had killed, wondering why his mate was doubled over. Then he burst into howls of laughter as well. About two minutes later there were six more wolves, including Anita, gathered in the clearing, looking on with amused expressions as the wounded demon cursed them enthusiastically, but in a language they could not understand, while trying to free itself.

Ceri finally tired of the creature’s antics, and apparently so did Anita. The Guard Captain looked at Ceri. Question? she barked. The chances of getting useful information out of the thing were slim at best. To her knowledge they did not even speak English. She shook her head and Anita grabbed the demon firmly by the shoulders and twisted. Ceri flinched at the wet crunch which came from its neck. Anita looked up again. To Alpha, she said.

Alexandra looked up at them as they entered her clearing, Anita and Ceri shifting to human. ‘I heard howls,’ she said, ‘but they sounded like laughter.’

‘Three demons,’ Anita said.

‘Devim,’ Ceri added.

No danger, Michael growled.

‘No,’ Alexandra said, ‘they wouldn’t be. Aside from the fire they’re no match for a werewolf.’

‘I fireproofed us before we went in,’ Ceri said. ‘One of them got his horns stuck in a tree, hence the laughter.’

‘Terrible breakdown in discipline,’ Anita said, smirking maliciously.

‘I see.’ The old woman’s face did gymnastics as she tried not to laugh. ‘No sign of whoever sent them?’

‘I scented nothing,’ Anita said, Michael rumbling a confirmation.

‘I was looking for demons, but I think Barnes would have shown up if he had been nearby,’ Ceri said. ‘I doubt he was though, he preferred to have his dirty work done by someone else, at a distance, when he was human.’ She scowled. ‘Of course, demons are easy to summon. He can send more.’

‘I suggest you check your bag for enchantments before you leave,’ Alexandra said, ‘but I think he’ll attempt something different next. We’ve demonstrated the ability to demolish such minor minions. Another plan is needed.’

‘I’ll pass word around for people to keep their noses high,’ Anita said, ‘but if he’s after Ceri we should be safe enough when she’s not here.’

‘I hope so,’ Ceri said. ‘The last thing I need is to be unnecessarily endangering the pack.’

‘Don’t be silly, child,’ Alexandra said. ‘You’re part of the pack and if you’re in danger then we’re here to protect you like any other wolf.’

‘But I’m…’

‘I think we’re well past that “honorary member” nonsense.’

Anita nodded. ‘Do you really think I’d let anyone into the Guard if they weren’t a pack member?’

‘I hadn’t thought of it like that,’ Ceri said, ‘but no, I wouldn’t expect you to.’

‘Precisely,’ Alexandra said. ‘If we come across or hear anything we’ll let you know, and if you need a guard detail besides the police you will let us know. Is that understood?’

‘Yes, Alpha,’ Ceri said contritely.

‘None of your sass, young lady.’ The old wolf grinned at her as she said it. ‘Now go and enjoy the evening. Eyes open, muzzles up. And you’ll escort her home tonight, Michael. No arguments.’

‘That’s one order I’m never going to argue over,’ Ceri said. ‘Not ever again anyway.’

Kennington, July 29th

The sound of a car engine coming to a halt outside the house came as enough of a surprise for Kate to investigate it. She walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down carefully. ‘Large,’ she said. ‘Wow, silver Rolls Royce. You expecting anyone?’ She paused and then gasped. ‘Holy shit! That’s Alfred Barnes.’

Ceri jumped off her lounger. ‘You take the door, Kate, you’re dressed. We’ll be down in a second. Yes, Lily, you have to get dressed.’

Ceri was struggling into her interview dress while Lily had just pulled on one of her many jersey dresses. She watched Ceri with a grin on her face and then suddenly went serious. ‘You know why he’s probably here,’ she said.

‘He’s heard about his son,’ Ceri replied. She managed to straighten her skirt properly and slipped on some heels. ‘This is probably not going to be fun.’ Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she started off toward the door.

Twill had appeared to help Kate, taking Alfred to the lounge and sitting him down. She flew out of the room as Ceri came down the stairs from the floor above. ‘Go easy on him,’ she said, ‘he’s upset and trying very hard to not show it. I’m making tea.’ Then she vanished into a ball of light and looped over the banister.

‘Here we go,’ Ceri muttered, and walked into the room.

Alfred was standing near the fireplace, Kate hovering nearby. Neither were saying anything and Ceri could feel the tense atmosphere from the other end of the room. She moved closer and the old man noticed her. He smiled, but the look in his eyes was painful. ‘Ceri,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry to intrude like this…’

‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘no, if you’re here for the reason I assume, I quite understand. Um, you’ve met Twill, this is Lily.’

Lily stepped forward and shook Alfred’s hand. You could tell how upset he actually was because he did not bat an eyelid at the half-succubus in the tight dress. ‘Good morning,’ he said to her and then turned back to Ceri. ‘I had a visit from the Cambridgeshire police force yesterday. They were checking that I had not heard anything from my son. It took a lot of persuasion to get them to tell me why and the explanation was lacking. However, the one solid fact I managed to get out of it was that he was once again attempting to kill you. I can’t imagine I can offer much help, but I can ask if you can explain what’s going on.’

Ceri indicated the chair guests normally sat in. ‘You’d better sit down.’ She waited until he had perched in the seat, his body language tense, and then sat down herself. Lily moved to sit on the footstool beside her, sitting upright and exuding calm over their link. Ceri breathed in and began. ‘You asked if I knew what happened to your son when I was in Cambridge. I didn’t lie when I said I didn’t, but I did have a theory which I wasn’t going to tell you.’

‘And you’re going to tell me it now?’

Ceri nodded. ‘It turned out I was right. If I’d been wrong… Well, the suggestion isn’t a nice one. Your son had a pact with a demon, probably a demon lord. A pact… It wraps your Chakral Median in dark energy, demonic taint. When the circle breached in the lab, he was hit with a massive surge of thaumic energy. His body was destroyed, but his soul and spirit were pulled into the demon world.’ She paused; Alfred was looking horrified. ‘I’m… sorry,’ she said.

He pulled himself together, apparently through pure force of will. ‘Please, continue.’

‘His Lord apparently gave him power and sent him back,’ Ceri said. ‘The working theory is that he slipped over last Samhain, but he might have been summoned. The type of demon he’s become can’t take physical form, but it can possess people. Certain specific people he’s attuned himself to. He seems to have a couple of them. He’s been using them to send various things after me. A werewolf in Cambridge, a vampire and some imps in London. He somehow managed to turn a young man into some sort of thaumic bomb and sent him to the Jade Dragon.’ She took a breath. ‘He’s not your son anymore, Alfred. He probably hasn’t been for quite a while.’

‘Do you plan to kill him?’ Alfred asked. There was no expression in his voice.

‘I can’t think of a safe way of doing that without killing his host. The best I can do is to banish him.’

‘And have him return next winter?’

Ceri shrugged. ‘It’s the best I’ve got. I’m told he would have to be summoned back.’

‘There may be something I can arrange,’ he replied. ‘I’ll call some people.’ He paused, looking across at Ceri. ‘I need you to understand, I’d rather have him destroyed than this… parody walking around blackening his name further than it has been. And I can’t allow him to keep doing harm.’

‘I understand,’ Ceri said. If she were ever to go bad, she really hoped someone would stop her.

Alfred frowned slightly. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I believe you do.’

Soho

‘It’s called an Amulet of Heimdal,’ Wren said. ‘He was the…’

‘Guardian of Bifrost,’ Ceri said, ‘the rainbow bridge between Midgard and Asgard. If you believe that sort of thing.’

Hannah, who was wearing the silver, rune-covered amulet around her neck, looked up at Ceri. ‘Do you?’

Ceri shrugged. ‘I banished a Norse demi-god last winter, I’m willing to give the concept the benefit of the doubt.’

‘Anyway,’ Wren said, ‘it protects against things passing between realms. He won’t be able to possess her now.’

The enchantment of the amulet wrapped around the woman like a soft blanket. Shimmering rainbow threads of light enveloped her entirely and threaded through her pattern, twisting around her spirit and the empty space where her soul should have been. It certainly looked as though it would work. Ceri smiled. ‘One less person to worry about.’ She straightened up. ‘Enjoy your drinks, and thank you for taking the time to reassure me.’

Wren nodded. ‘Maybe you can reassure the Greycoats,’ he said.

Ceri brightened her smile and turned, heading back to the bar. ‘He’s got her an “Amulet of Heimdal,”’ she said to Carter, though John was there to hear it as well. ‘It looks like it should work.’

‘I suspect he borrowed it from some friends,’ Carter said, nodding. ‘They’re rare and expensive, but they offer near absolute protection from spirits and demons attempting to possess the wearer.’

‘Near absolute?’ John asked.

‘To my knowledge, no one wearing one has ever been possessed,’ Carter replied, ‘but we’re talking about magic. I’m certainly not willing to guarantee any absolutes.’

‘Huh,’ John grunted. ‘I guess that’s as good as you’re going to get.’

‘It usually is with most things,’ Ceri commented.

‘Feeling safer?’ John asked.

‘No, not really. He’s still out there somewhere, in some other body.’

John nodded. ‘We’ll get him.’

Ceri gave him a smile and tried hard to make it look sincere.

July 30th

Kate handed a black case across the bar to Alec. ‘Could you put that back there somewhere you can get it back to me in a hurry?’ she asked.

‘For a policewoman in a low-cut mini-dress, I’ll do anything,’ the werewolf replied with his best leering grin.

‘Horn dog,’ Lily commented; Kate grinned, thought which comment she was grinning at was unclear.

‘What is this thing?’ Alec asked.

‘Ceri has friends in high places,’ Kate replied. ‘That is one of ten of the latest anti-immaterial weapons MagiTech have produced for the Army. And you don’t know it exists. Hell, I don’t know it exists and I’ve got one.’

‘Anti-immaterial?’ Lily asked, blinking.

‘Fires a phase-modulated pulse of negative thaumitons,’ Ceri said. ‘Causes disruption in the metaphysical structure of ghosts, spirits, immaterial demons… Or it would if such a device had ever got out of the theory stage and into production.’

‘I guess having the boss of MagiTech in your debt is kind of useful then,’ Lily said, grinning.

‘What would it do to a solid person?’ Alec asked as he tucked the case away below the counter.

‘Nothing,’ Kate replied.

‘Theoretically nothing,’ Ceri corrected. ‘Personally, I wouldn’t want to be hit with one.’

‘They didn’t mention that in the training,’ Kate said.

Ceri shrugged. ‘Military weapon. I doubt they’re too worried about it if they have to take down some big-arsed phantasm. If you have to use it, aim for centre chest.’

‘They suggested…’ Kate began.

‘Trust me. On one of his hosts, centre of the chest will do less damage to them and more damage to him.’

The detective nodded. ‘I’ll pass the word around.’

Ceri smiled and started off toward table fifteen just before Lily could say anything. As she walked away she heard Alec’s comment. ‘She’s getting good at this job, Lil. You better watch your back.’ She grinned; like she was ever going to match up to Lily. A woman had to know her limitations.

~~~

It was just before midnight when the woman in the long, white evening gown walked up to the reception lectern. Ceri felt her before she saw her; the now familiar sensation of a nearby dragon making her scalp tighten. ‘I’ll take this one,’ she said to Carter. ‘Table ten is free.’ He looked at her a little quizzically, but nodded.

Ceri walked over to where the woman was patiently waiting. Somehow she had not expected patience, but there it was. ‘Good evening and welcome to the Jade Dragon,’ she said. ‘I’m Ceri and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’

Brenhines smiled and there was something like a flicker of light in her eyes. ‘Good evening, you can call me Gwyn.’ Her voice lowered slightly. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you in the flesh.’

Ceri maintained her waitress smile. ‘Please follow me,’ she said, and led the way through the room to the booth at the back. She let the dragon seat herself and then said, quietly, ‘To what do I owe this honour?’

‘Our powers are limited through the statues. I wanted to see you properly.’ Her smile was perfect. It was the kind of smile Ceri expected royalty bestowed upon you. ‘And I’d heard that this was the best night club in the city.’

‘It is,’ Ceri replied.

‘I admit I’m a little perplexed that one of my blood is working as a waitress.’

‘It’s extra money, and I enjoy it. Besides, the fact that I am “one of your blood” is something I’m keeping very quiet.’

Brenhines bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘As you wish. Could I obtain a glass of your finest red wine? I merely ask to remain here a while and… absorb the atmosphere. I’ve been alone a long time.’

‘Of course,’ Ceri replied. ‘I’ll be right back.’

‘Who is she?’ Carter asked as Alec prepared the wine.

Ceri glanced at him. ‘Gwyn,’ she said. ‘Old friend of the family from Anglesey.’ He looked puzzled. ‘A very old friend.’

‘Ah,’ Carter said, his eyes widening slightly. ‘You’d better take her her wine then.’

Grinning slightly, Ceri lifted the tray and walked back with it to the table where Brenhines sat waiting. ‘I’m told you’ll find this to your liking,’ she said, placing the glass down.

‘I’m sure I will.’ The dragon drew in a long breath through her nose and then allowed it slowly out, smiling her beatific smile. ‘I admit, far too long did I mourn for my lost mate.’

‘Ed… Athro, said he stayed when the Toba Flare died away and took the magic with it.’

‘Is that what he said?’ The Queen’s slightly angular jaw tightened slightly and then relaxed. ‘He stayed behind, yes, while our land sank beneath the waves.’

‘Athro was rather dismissive when I suggested you ruled over Atlantis.’

‘We did not call it that. We did not really rule over it. We took the best and brightest of the world, brought them together to learn, research. It was a land of wonders, truly enough. Then the sea reclaimed it.’

‘And, what?’ Ceri asked. ‘You went into seclusion for almost thirty thousand years?’

‘I may have overreacted a little.’ She smiled and nodded toward one of the inner tables. ‘I think you’re needed.’

‘Enjoy your drink,’ Ceri said and turned toward the table where someone was looking around for her.

~~~

‘Did no one else from your land survive?’ Ceri asked. She was on a break and, despite herself, found it difficult to stay away from this woman who was her most ancient ancestor.

‘Some did,’ Brenhines replied. ‘A few groups here and there who tried to keep the dream alive. I know a small number ended up in China, another group went to Greece. Obviously, they did not have those names then.’

‘Greece? So, maybe some descendent of theirs passed on a half-remembered memory to Plato?’

Ceri looked rather eager and Brenhines actually laughed; she had a beautiful, melodic laugh. ‘You’re determined to link our land with Atlantis aren’t you? Well, from what I heard, they all died. Their research turned to malign ends and they created a chemical weapon which they used to destroy all manner of life. Perhaps one lived, a girl named Makelo.’

‘Someone told me that I have her staff,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, they said it was “Makelo’s Staff,” which could mean it’s associated with her, or she made it, or…’

‘They were called the Telchines,’ Brenhines said. ‘She was perhaps the best of them, morally. They were very skilled sorcerers and scientists. She may have made a staff. They made a great many things which are beyond the ability of modern practitioners.’ She sighed. ‘So much was lost.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring your mood down.’

Brenhines flashed her smile again. ‘My moods have been decidedly variable for thousands of yours, child.’ She picked up her glass and drained it. ‘However, I believe I have had enough of society for a night.’ Her gaze swept the room. It was the night of the new moon and there were a fair number of undead in the room. ‘Be wary as you go home tonight.’ Standing, she pushed a few notes across the table to Ceri and then started off toward the bar to pay for her drinks.

Ceri picked up the bundle of notes and something fell out onto the table. It was a small tablet of silvery metal on a chain. Frowning, Ceri reached out to touch it and jerked back at the sense of magic from it. Steeling herself, she flipped it over. There was a circular design carved into the surface; a stylised dragon, its nose coming around to touch its tail. It looked sort of tribal and Ceri had the feeling that the tattoo on her back probably looked a lot like it.

She looked around toward the bar, but Brenhines was gone, leaving only the necklace and a warning.

Northern Line, July 31st

The three of them sat on the train watching the dark tunnel fly past. Kate looked tired, but she clutched the case slung over her shoulder firmly, as though it would somehow keep her awake until they made it back to High Towers. Ceri and Lily were more adjusted to an early morning lifestyle, but they were wary, as Brenhines had suggested, and that was tiring.

They were on the long stretch down from Waterloo to Kennington, sliding under the river, when Ceri felt something. ‘There’s something…’ she began.

With a squeal, the train’s brakes engaged. All three were tossed out of their seats, Ceri and Lily catching some of the posts down the carriage while Kate came to a slamming stop against one of the partitions. As the train came to a full stop, Ceri let herself slide down the floor to the fallen policewoman. ‘Are you okay?’ Ceri asked.

‘Bruised,’ Kate replied. ‘That was the emergency break. That’d happen if…’

‘The dead man’s switch,’ Ceri said, looking down toward the front of the train. ‘Get that gun out.’

Kate was working the catches as she craned her neck to see over the partition. Three semi-transparent shapes were sliding down the carriage, their bodies passing through walls and seats. ‘Crap,’ Kate said. The gun swung out of its case and she fired, apparently without aiming. A bolt of blue-white energy crackled from the muzzle of the futuristic looking weapon, hitting the nearest ghost. It reared backward as its form unravelled.

‘Hold them off,’ Ceri said as she began to build power through her body. There were more of the ghosts sliding through the walls and from the looks on their insubstantial faces, they meant harm.

Kate’s gun fired again, blasting a hole clean through one of the spirits. ‘I can’t stop them for long,’ Kate yelled back. ‘This thing’s battery life is pretty limited.’

Ceri said nothing; she was busy forming the concept of what she wanted in her mind. Another blast hit another ghost, but the creatures now filled the carriage and were massing to attack. Kate was falling back and Ceri felt Lily’s hand on her shoulder, drawing her down the car. Another blast flared out and the gun let out a whine of complaint. ‘I’m out!’ Kate yelled and the ghosts surged forward.

They were met by an expanding wall of energy moving in the opposite direction. It stopped at about four yards from Ceri, but the spirits outside it shrieked and battered against it as though it were a solid wall. ‘That’ll repel them for a while,’ Ceri said.

‘You can’t move it though,’ Kate said.

‘No,’ Ceri replied. ‘I don’t suppose your radio works down here?’

Kate grinned at her and fished the little box out of her pocket. ‘There are repeaters through the tunnels for the Transport Police,’ she said before thumbing the key. ‘Middleshaw to Control, come in.’

High Towers

‘The Kennington loop is one of the most haunted sections of the Underground,’ Kate said. They were in the kitchen, drinking coffee despite Twill’s protestations that they needed sleep, not caffeine.

‘And Barnes knew a fair amount of necromancy,’ Ceri said.

‘It looks like you’ve learned some as well,’ the detective commented.

Ceri shrugged. ‘It seemed like a good move, defence-wise.’

‘Huh, yeah.’ A squad of tactical officers had stormed onto the train with the anti-immaterial rifles and the ghosts had scattered once they realised that the policemen were able to harm them badly. The driver of the train and two people in one of the forward carriages had not been so lucky.

‘It wasn’t enough, though,’ Ceri said. ‘That’s four innocent people he’s killed trying to get to me.’

‘There would have been a lot more if you hadn’t stopped the bomb thing at the Dragon,’ Lily pointed out.

‘Yes,’ Ceri said, ‘but I can’t just keep hiding from the widder-damned bastard. I won’t have more people dying because of me.’

Kate nodded slightly. ‘The Chief sort of agrees. We’re getting a bit more proactive about this. He’s got every diviner in the department trying to locate active demons.’

Ceri glanced at Lily. The half-succubus nodded and slipped out of the room. ‘Just so they know to screen out Lily,’ Ceri said.

‘They know her from trying to find her father. She won’t interfere.’

‘Good to hear,’ Ceri said. She was not convinced, however. Barnes was likely well screened inside his host and there were probably a number of wizards around the city summoning demons. Finding him would not be easy. ‘I’m going to get some sleep,’ she said.

Kate nodded. ‘Good idea. I think we both need our rest.’

Ceri certainly did. When she woke up she was going to do something stupid.

Mayfair

The sun was bright overhead as Ceri and Lily walked around Berkeley Square toward the Archmage Club. Getting out of the house before Kate had woken up, or been replaced by John or some other Greycoat, had been fairly easy, but Ceri was dreading the talking to she would get when she returned. She had, at least, left a note.

The large, brick-built building stretched above them as they walked up to the front door. There was no sign of anyone watching them, no twitching of the thick, red curtains behind any of the windows. Ceri reached up to the knocker on the black-painted door and paused. ‘Are we sure about this?’

‘I’m sure I’m not letting you go in there alone,’ Lily replied. ‘Are you sure you want to go in?’

‘No, but I think it’s the best chance we’ve got.’

‘Well then,’ Lily said, and Ceri raised the knocker, bringing it down with a sharp “clack!”

It seemed unlikely that the rather disappointing noise would be heard through the heavy wood panels, but it was no more than a few seconds before the door swung open and a man in a crisp, black suit looked down on them, both literally and figuratively. He was tall and thin, and had a face like an axe. He looked down his Romanesque nose at them and spoke in a voice which suggested they might possibly need to scrub the steps after the girls had been removed. ‘May I be of assistance, miss?’

‘I’d like to see one of the Masters, if possible,’ Ceri replied. ‘Failing that, perhaps Mister Sharpe?’

The man looked her up and down slowly. She could almost see his mind working; the girl was not a member, but seemed to know something about the Order. It was most irregular; he did not like irregular occurrences. ‘Who should I say is asking?’

‘Ceridwyn Brent.’

The head withdrew without another word and the door was pushed closed. They waited quietly with Ceri getting more and more impatient with every minute that passed. She had almost reached the point of deciding that it had been a bad idea and she might as well go home and let the police diviners do their best when the door was suddenly flung open.

The man standing in the doorway looked to be no older than twenty-five. He was dressed in a sharply pressed suit with a black shirt and a slim, black tie, and he was good looking with trim black hair, bright blue eyes, strong jawline, and high cheekbones. He also looked bewildered, thrust into the job of playing host and not sure how he had landed it. For a second he just stared at them and Ceri felt like she needed to take pity on him.

‘Hi,’ she said.

He actually jumped slightly. ‘Uh, morning. I’m Len, uh, Leonard. I’m afraid none of the… people you asked for are available, but I can, uh, pass on a message or something if…’

‘I need to talk to someone about Barnes,’ Ceri broke into his stream of consciousness chatter. ‘I don’t care who it’s with as long as they can do something about him or provide information so I can.’

‘Uh… right,’ Len said. His head was tilted as though listening to someone; Ceri figured they were using a telepathy spell similar to the one she had used with Lily. ‘You’d better come in.’

The lobby of the club was high ceilinged, and decorated in dark oak and deep red wallpaper. When the door closed it felt like they had walked into a mausoleum; the light provided by a pair of rune-marked arches which crossed over their heads. The stiff man who had answered the door stood behind a reception desk at the back of the room; Ceri wondered whether he was contemplating having the carpets steam cleaned. Len, looking no more confident within the walls of the club than he had on the doorstep, led them through one of four huge, oak-panelled doors and into a room which must have taken up much of the north-east corner of the building. There were a number of big, wing-backed chairs set in groups around low tables. In the west wall was a fireplace you could have roasted a pig in, though it was unlit. As far as was immediately visible, the room was empty except for them.

‘Have a seat,’ Len said, indicating the nearest group of chairs. ‘Can I arrange for some refreshment?’

‘Coffee would be good,’ Lily said.

‘We had to leave rather early to avoid bringing the police with us,’ Ceri added. She slipped into one of the big chairs, facing the door. Lily moved to one which let her see the rest of the room.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Len said.

‘Can we trust them with drinks?’ Lily asked once he was outside the door.

‘Yes, but mostly because they’ll be expecting us not to trust them.’

‘That makes a certain backward sense.’

The door opened and Len came back in. ‘It’s being sorted out,’ he said and hurried to sit in the seat nearest the door. ‘Uh… you mentioned Barnes. The younger, dead one, I assume?’

‘The younger, returned as a demon one,’ Ceri corrected. ‘He’s been using Desmond Wren’s girlfriend as a host. I know you know that. Wren had to have got the amulet he’s using on her from here.’

Len looked a little embarrassed; he was not particularly good at this. ‘Right. Yes, he did. But that’s our side of this taken care of so…’

‘Either Barnes was summoned by someone in the Order,’ Ceri said, ‘or he crossed over himself and came here. Either way, he’s using your resources for his own petty ends. He’s killing innocent people and drawing attention to the Order.’

The door opened again and a young woman walked in. She was dressed in a ludicrous parody of a maid’s outfit; the skirt was so short even Lily might have been embarrassed and her nipples were peeking over the edge of the bodice. It was her eyes which caught Ceri’s attention, however. The woman was almost mindless, entirely enthralled. She placed a tray with cups and a silver coffee pot on the table, and then turned silently and walked out.

‘Frankly,’ Ceri said, ‘if she’s an example of what goes on here, you don’t need anyone paying attention to you.’

Len opened his mouth, closed it again, and then covered the fact that he was listening to instructions by pouring coffee for them. Ceri almost casually checked the cups for anything unnatural before taking a sip. She sighed. ‘Y’know, I could almost join this place for the coffee,’ she said.

Len grinned and then looked as though someone had kicked him. He sat down. ‘We may be able to help,’ he said. ‘What are you offering in return?’

‘I get rid of Barnes for you, you don’t get your hands dirty and upset his boss.’

‘We would need… something else,’ Ed said. He was looking distinctly uncomfortable.

‘Like what?’ Ceri asked flatly.

‘You join the Order,’ Len said.

Ceri smiled. ‘Nice try. I tell you what. When I banish his arse back home I won’t tell him you people told me where to find him.’

‘We, uh, haven’t told you.’

‘He doesn’t know that. The cops will track him down soon enough. They’re searching the entire city for demons. How many do you have in the cellar? Barnes has killed four people and his attacks are growing wilder so the Greycoats are really motivated.’ Ceri’s eyes were fixed on Len; he plucked at his starched shirt collar.

‘He’s using the body of one of our Journeymen, Andrew Chester.’ He took a notepad and pen from inside his jacket and scribbled something down. ‘He’s got a flat on Flexmere Road near the cemetery in Tottenham. One of our safe-houses.’ He tore off the sheet and pushed it across the table. ‘That’s the address.’

Lily picked up the paper and glanced at it, nodding to Ceri. ‘Thanks for the coffee,’ Ceri said, putting her cup down. ‘It’s such a shame I couldn’t persuade you to give me anything else.’

‘He’s strong,’ Len said. ‘Very strong, in fact. You’ll find him hard to stop and he’ll definitely try to kill you.’

Ceri shrugged. ‘You win either way,’ she said.

Tottenham

‘Are you sure you don’t want to call in the cops?’ Lily asked as they looked down the street toward the building Andrew Chester called home.

Ceri unslung the long bag she was carrying from her shoulder and unzipped it, pulling out her staff, Makelo’s Staff. She ran her fingers over the weird, dull blue inlay which wrapped itself around the upper third of it. ‘I don’t want anyone else hurt,’ she said.

‘I don’t want you hurt either.’

‘Well, that makes two of us.’ Ceri gripped her staff. ‘All right, he may have a demon or two in there. He’s also right beside a graveyard and he’s a necromancer, so there could be zombies.’

Lily pulled her daggers from her belt. ‘I’ve got the former covered, and I can make a mess of a zombie’

‘We’ll try to go in stealthy,’ Ceri said, and they started down the road to the house. It looked like an ordinary house on any street in London, but Ceri could see the wards on the windows and doors. Placing her hand over the lock, she tried opening it anyway. ‘Agor,’ she said softly with her fingers on the Yale lock plate. To her surprise, there was a click and the door opened an inch. ‘Crap wards,’ she muttered. ‘Ready?’ She got a nod from Lily and pushed the door fully open.

Something bat-winged with flailing claws came at them from the corridor inside. Ceri fell backwards to escape the swing of a hand, landing unceremoniously on the pavement. Lily’s blades swung upwards, slashing across the imp’s stomach and left thigh as she sidestepped. It tumbled out of the air and Lily was on it before it could recover. Dropping one of her blades, she grabbed one of the imp’s horns, yanked it upward, and opened the creature’s throat.

‘And that,’ Ceri said, holding out a hand so that Lily could help her up, ‘is why I love having you along on this sort of thing.’

‘I’ll go first,’ Lily said, ‘you back me up with the heavy artillery.’

‘We don’t have any artillery.’

Lily grinned. ‘Yes we do, you.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, grinning sheepishly. She summoned a ball of energy into her hand. ‘Lead on then.’

The ground floor was entirely empty and, despite finding the imp below, they went up to the next floor wondering whether there was anything there. When they found what they were looking for, it was not at all what they were expecting.

Andrew Chester was a distinctly unimpressive man dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, and they found him cowering behind a bed. He was also the man Ceri had seen in Cambridge. ‘Stay away from me!’ he shrieked as they entered the room. ‘I’m a wizard! I can…’

Ceri dismissed the energy bolt in her hand. ‘Shut up,’ she said.

‘There’s no way that’s Barnes,’ Lily commented. ‘You think the imp was here to guard him, or make sure he stayed here?’

‘Damn it!’ Ceri snapped. She turned her frustrated glare on Chester. ‘Where is he? Where’s Barnes?’

Chester cringed at her obvious anger. ‘He left me. He said he’d be back, but he had things to do.’

Ceri was across the room, her free hand gripping the front of Chester’s shirt before he could respond. ‘I’m going to ask this once more,’ she said, her voice low, her face almost pressed against his. ‘Where. Is. Barnes?’ Her skin was shimmering slightly, light flickering across it. That seemed to scare Chester more than the words.

‘The girl,’ he said. ‘The girl he took at the club. That model. He needed her.’

‘She’s wearing an amulet to stop her being possessed,’ Ceri growled. ‘Where is he?’

‘He’s attuned to us,’ Chester wailed. ‘We’ve got almost no resistance to him. There’s nothing can stop him entering people like us.’

Ceri dumped Chester unceremoniously on the floor and turned to look at Lily. ‘Wren,’ she said.

‘Shit!’ they said at the same moment and bolted for the door.

Southbound Train, South Tottenham

Kate was distinctly unhappy. Ceri held the phone away from her ear until the shouting had stopped and then lifted it back tentatively. ‘Yes, Kate, I know,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I snuck out on you, but it was important and I got some information.’

‘The Chief is absolutely furious,’ Kate said. ‘You’d better have something damn good.’ Technically Ceri knew she was not under arrest and if she wanted to slip her watchers it was on her head, but she still felt bad about it. Kate would likely have caught a fair amount of flak from her boss.

‘We found the other host Barnes was using,’ she said. ‘His name is Andrew Chester, he’s in a house in Tottenham. I’ll text you the address when I get off the line. You need to get him into a containment cell as soon as possible.’

‘Was using?’ Kate asked.

‘Chester said that Barnes is back in Shields. He said that pretty much nothing can stop him from inhabiting one of the hosts he’s attuned to. You need to get a squad around to Wren’s place. He’s in danger.’

‘You think Barnes might kill him for trying to save the girl?’

‘I think Barnes would kill him for breathing, but if he knows about the possessions then he’s no use anymore. He’s a dead man.’

‘All right,’ Kate said and there was a pause, the sound of muffled conversation in the background. ‘You’re to go back to High Towers and wait. We’ll take care of it from here.’

‘But…’

‘This is police business,’ Kate snapped. ‘You go home and wait.’

Ceri sagged into the dilapidated carriage seat. ‘Okay,’ she said and hung up. She looked around at Lily. ‘So much for keeping everyone safe.’ Remembering the address, she started punching it into her phone.

‘They’re professionals,’ Lily said, ‘and they have those guns they don’t have. I know it’s a little cowardly but I’d prefer they take the risks than you.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, but she could not help the sense of failure which lumped at the pit of her stomach and made the train journey back to Liverpool Street that much worse.

Kennington

Two sullen figures walked out of the Oval tube station and headed across Kennington Park Road at the leisurely pace of people who did not really care. The sun was shining and there was the sound of people messing about on the grass at the north end of the park. They had walked into the trees, starting along the path which would lead to High Towers when Lily stopped, her hand going out to Ceri to bring her to a halt.

‘What?’ Ceri asked, her voice indicating mild irritation.

‘Listen,’ Lily said.

Ceri listened. People laughing, traffic on the road behind them. ‘I don’t hear anything,’ she said.

‘The birds.’

Ceri listened again. ‘I don’t hear any…’ There was no bird song, no sound of any kind from the trees. Lily pulled her daggers.

Ahead, on the path, something moved. It came toward them at a walk, but there was something odd, slightly shambling about it. Ceri swung her bag around and unzipped it quickly, pulling her staff free. She looked up and recognised the figure; it was Wren. ‘He’s dead,’ she said as her Sight showed her the nothing where his Median lines should have been and the faint stream of negative thaumitons cascading from his body. It showed her something else too, but Lily was already moving, past Ceri and toward the zombie.

A bolt of flame erupted out of the bushes toward Lily. Barnes was not worried about harming his tool, just about killing Ceri. Disabling or killing Lily with her demon bane daggers was the first step. Lily dropped and rolled, the bolt passing over her head and erupting against a tree. Then she was on her feet, her daggers slashing at Wren’s walking corpse.

‘Hold them off!’ Ceri yelled. Her staff began to glow as she drew power through it.

Barnes seemed to recognise the danger he was in; Hannah emerged from the bushes, raising her hands, and fire flared in her palms. A few more seconds… Lily’s dagger carved through Wren’s arm, his wrist flapping as the tendons were severed. Then she was turning, her foot lashing out to slam into Hannah’s ribs. The model’s mouth opened, but the roar of rage which came from it was from something other than a human voice. She turned, preparing to throw the flames at Lily, but the half-demon was faster, snapping a kick into Hannah’s face and toppling her backward. Wren’s still functioning hand slammed around into the side of Lily’s head with more force than his living body could have provided and Lily went down as hard as Hannah had. Except that it was the demon-possessed woman who lifted herself into a sitting position and raised her hand toward Ceri.

Ceri lifted her arms, her staff held high. The crystal sphere buried in its head shone with a brilliant, blue-white light. ‘Gadael y byd hwn!’ she yelled out across the park and everything seemed to go silent. Hannah screamed, a long, drawn out wail of pain and horror, and then she collapsed. Wren took a faltering step toward Ceri and then he too collapsed, the spell animating him gone with the demon who had made it.

Ceri ignored them, rushing to Lily and lifting her up to a sitting position in her arms. ‘Lil! Lil are you all right?’

Dark eyes blinked and looked up at her, and a half grin formed on her pet’s face. ‘I’m going to need a lot of rest and recuperation after this.’

Ceri pulled her into a tight hug. She could hear voices drawing closer as people ran to see what had happened. ‘You can feed on me until you suck me dry,’ she said softly.

Part Six: Trust

Kennington, August 2nd, 2011

The arrival of the large, black sedan and the disembarkation of Detective Chief Inspector Barry from it was not exactly unexpected. Ceri had been waiting for the telling off since the police had wrapped up the interviews and left them to sort themselves out on Sunday afternoon. She had expected to be summoned into Greycoat Street, not have the Chief arrive at High Towers with Kate and John in tow. However, she was rather solemn as she directed the three cops into the study after pulling on jeans and one of her favourite T-shirts, emblazoned with the London Metropolitan University logo.

There was the slightly puzzling fact that Kate seemed to be trying exceptionally hard not to smile. The witch always had trouble looking mean and interrogative; Ceri suspected there was some Irish in her blood, especially considering the red hair and green eyes, and it was possibly fae. Either way, Kate was not looking like a woman who was about to witness a public, verbal flogging.

‘Miss Brent, Miss Carpenter,’ Barry growled. The man looked like a bear, an ex-military bear perhaps, but a bear all the same. ‘It seems that we can’t keep you out of police business.’

‘Not when it involves people dying because some psychopath wants me dead, sir,’ Ceri replied.

‘And you’re not going to reveal the source of information which led you to Chester?’ Barry asked.

‘I can’t, sir. The information was given in confidence and… revealing the source would put me in danger again.’ She did not mention that she had been willing to reveal that source to everyone to get the information in the first place, but she had to have a good sounding reason.

‘You leave me with little alternative,’ Barry said. Ceri put her hand on Lily’s arm as the half-succubus opened her mouth to object. Barry heaved a sigh. ‘I’m going to have to employ you,’ the detective said. Lily’s resurgent indignity died on the vine. ‘Both of you,’ Barry said, ‘since you’re joined at the hip and I don’t believe I can trust Miss Brent to act in a safe manner without someone to pull her back.’

John was smirking now; Kate was beaming. ‘You’ll be required to undertake a short course,’ Barry went on. ‘Legal awareness, police procedures, etc, then we’ll be able to employ you as Special Advisors. You’ll have limited police powers, we’ll pay you a consultancy fee for each case you’re involved with… you’ll actually be required to do what I tell you occasionally.’

Ceri looked at the big man with his crew cut hair and the slightest tremor of humour about his lips. ‘Any really major disadvantages?’ she asked.

‘You’ll need to declare your income to the tax people so you’ll have a week of hell once a year filling in the forms,’ he replied.

‘Don’t I need… qualifications and stuff to do this?’ Lily asked. ‘I mean, I dropped out of school before my exams. I couldn’t even prove I can write English.’

‘I considered that,’ John said. ‘The qualifications required for Special Advisor positions do not say anything about numeracy, literacy, or anything else really. The main qualification is that you can handle the job, which is at the discretion of the Chief Inspector offering the position.’

Lily looked at Ceri, grinning eagerly. ‘Can we?’

Ceri laughed. Trying to say no to Lily when she was in one of her “girlish enthusiasm” moods was like kicking a puppy. Ceri looked around at Barry. ‘Do I get to call you “boss”?’ she asked.

‘I’ll accept “Chief.”’

‘Okay, we’ll do it.’

Bloomsbury, August 3rd

Ted Barrowman-Leigh was distinctly geeky. You could probably focus the sun to melt lead with his glasses, he was out of shape, had no clue what fashion was, and needed a new barber, but there was a hint of a nice face hidden under the massive insecurity complex. Lily thought he was kind of cute, a fact which Ceri had firmly forbade her to mention near him for fear of his head detonating. As it was, Ted’s Adam’s Apple bobbed like a cork whenever he had to actually talk to Lily.

Except today. Today his enthusiasm was outweighing his shyness. ‘Oh you have no idea how exciting this is,’ the sandy haired young man was saying. ‘I mean, seriously, this is going to break open the meta-genetics world like a… a…’

‘An egg?’ Lily suggested.

‘An egg! Brilliant! Yes, like an egg.’

‘Ted,’ Ceri said, trying to calm the man down. ‘Ted, what exactly have you found out?’

‘I got the full genome analysis back on L-lily’s blood,’ Ted said. Even operating on excitement and adrenaline he could not manage to get her name out with stammering. ‘I believe that I’ve discovered the primary mechanism for transfer of genetic information. It’s amazing. Really, really unprecedented.’

‘Ted,’ Ceri said. ‘Either you tell us, or Lily strips. It’s your call, but I don’t think your boss wants to have to redecorate after you head explodes.’

Ted looked reproachfully at her. ‘I’m not that bad,’ he said, but he hurriedly tapped a keyboard several times, producing a display on a large monitor nearby which appeared to be of a number of worms lying on a sheet of paper.

‘Oh look,’ Lily said, ‘you’ve taking pictures of little worms. How do you get them to sit in pairs like that?’

‘It’s a karyogram, Lil,’ Ceri said. ‘I’d imagine it’s your genome.’

Ted nodded. ‘Notice anything strange about it?’

Ceri stared at the screen, trying to see what Ted was so enthused about. Basically it did look like pictures of small worms sitting there in twenty-three pairs… Except that, ‘There’s a partial trisomy of chromosome two.’ The second pair of worms was not a pair; sitting beside the two long worms was a shorter one.

‘Exactly!’ Ted exulted. ‘Partial replication of a third genetic source. We’ve sequenced that strand and it’s not like anything we’ve ever seen before. It appears to match no comparable human encoding, which is probably why she’s alive.’

‘I’m sorry?’ Lily asked.

‘Foetuses with trisomy on the second chromosome don’t go to term,’ Ted replied.

‘Oh, right.’ Lily looked rather bemused. ‘I guess that explains why there aren’t many half-demons around.’

‘Quite right,’ Ted said, ‘and now I have two examples.’

‘Two?’ Ceri asked, frowning.

‘Yes, Professor Mallow from your cryptozoology department sent us over a blood sample to check. We thought it was just straight human at first, but it has a similar aneuploidy, a trisomy of the second chromosome. It is a little different though, that one has a full strand and it’s drastically different. How that one went to term I’ll never know.’

Ceri felt her blood running cold. Peter Mallow was Cheryl’s friend and a cryptozoologist, and no one would be worried about him having a genetic analysis done. The second sample was probably hers. ‘What does chromosome two code for?’ she asked, trying to keep the distress out of her voice.

‘Oh well, we’re pretty bad at that kind of analysis currently,’ Ted said. ‘We know of various conditions associated with genes in that group. Um, autism, various organ disorders, synaesthesia.’

‘I get various disturbances of brain function there,’ Ceri said. ‘And synaesthesia covers modifications of sense perceptions. I’d say that this third strand is responsible for the sense aspects of Lily’s power at the very least. It makes some sense.’

‘Well, I’m going to continue the analysis,’ Ted said. ‘Frankly, L-lily, you’re advancing our understanding of human-demon hybrids… Well, we just had some basic ideas before. I mean, I’ll be rewriting the textbooks! I’m so grateful for your help.’

Lily giggled. ‘You’re welcome. You’re helping me understand my biology. It’s all good.’ Without really thinking about it, she leaned forward and gave Ted a kiss on the cheek. He was okay after about ten minutes.

Battersea

‘So, Barnes is back where he belongs and you should be safe until someone summons him back?’ Alexandra said, handing Ceri a mug of tea.

Ceri took it, though it was not easy with Michael almost draped over her. ‘Possibly longer. It depends on whether his Lord gives him another chance. I doubt they sent him here to kill me. He pretty much abused his time here.’ She took a drink of her tea. It was warm and wet, and not coffee, but… ‘I think I’m actually starting to really appreciate your tea.’

Alexandra laughed her melodious laugh. ‘It does tend to grow on people. I believe it’s the setting and the company rather than the drink.’

‘You may be right. This is one place I really do feel comfortable.’

‘I’m glad you feel that way, dear,’ Alexandra said. Somehow Ceri did not like the way she said it, but it was a nice night and soon she would be running with Michael. If Alexandra wanted to be enigmatic, she would let her.

Kennington, August 6th

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, ‘Aunt Sally’s dead.’ She was stretched out in the sun with her copy of The Wednesday Witch, a tactic which prolonged the period before she turned over and Lily began applying oil. It was almost teasing.

‘Who’s Aunt Sally?’ Lily asked. Her eyes did not open and, from the general feeling of warm contentment coming over their link which did not waver even a little, suggested that Lily was not terribly upset by this mysterious woman’s demise.

‘Sally Pendle was the first witch to ever play a witch in fiction,’ Ceri replied. ‘She was Penny Crabtree, the Ambridge Witch, in The Archers for… oh, she must have been in it for fifteen years. People called her Aunt Sally.’

‘I find it enormously hard to believe that you used to listen to The Archers.’

Ceri giggled. ‘Mum used to. Because of Sally Pendle, I think. She was quite controversial when she was written in in, uh…’ Ceri ran her finger down the article to find the date. ‘…sixty-four. Wow, and she finally left in eighty-four, twenty years. Yeah, the BBC got a lot of complaints for having a witch turn up in the village and playing her as a nice person. And now she dies in a house fire. That’s kind of sad.’

‘Yes,’ Lily said, ‘fire would be a nasty way to go.’

There was silence for a minute or two as Ceri flipped pages. Both of them had been close to death recently. Death seemed to have a habit of following Ceri around, licking its lips.

‘Suzie Shore’s done something silly again,’ Ceri said to break the mood.

‘What now?’

‘She was caught by the police having sex on a tomb in Highgate Cemetery.’

Lily giggled. ‘I swear that girl’s either trying to drive her parents crazy or she’s got some sort of death wish.’

‘She’s a parson’s daughter, she’s probably taking teenage rebellion a little too far.’

‘At this rate she’ll be rebelling in her forties.’

‘More power to her,’ Ceri said. ‘I hope to be rebelling when I’m eighty!’

Soho

The tight, silk shirt showed off Michael’s muscles to perfection and Ceri had spent half the evening grinning at him as he fended off female attention from various women. He was a one bitch wolf, which was great for her ego, but it was amusing to see women over twice his age flirting with him. At least he was not as embarrassed about it as he had been when she had first met him.

The short, black dress Carter had bought for Cheryl showed off her figure rather well too. It was tight, which she had the body for, but what probably made it was the low-cut halter neck. She definitely had the figure for that. The male customers knew she was with Carter and there was no flirting, but she was getting some long, lingering looks.

Walking back to the bar from a drinks run, Ceri put her tray down on the counter and settled between the two of them. She leaned slightly closer to Cheryl. ‘You gave that blood sample to Peter,’ she said softly.

‘Part of it,’ Cheryl replied. ‘He doesn’t know where it came from. Ted sent me the results yesterday.’

‘Interesting.’

‘Very interesting. He mentioned that it had relations to Lily’s genome, but the variant chromosome was more complete.’

‘I’ve been wondering about that,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll ask Ed, or Gwyn, next time I see one of them.’

Michael shifted on his stool. ‘Do you think you can trust them?’

‘I don’t exactly know,’ Ceri replied. ‘I think they have their own agenda, but that doesn’t necessarily make them bad. Any of them. All we can do is see how it plays out.’

‘We?’ Cheryl asked.

‘Me,’ Ceri said, ‘and the people I really do trust. And most of them are here tonight. We.’ Cheryl looked rather pleased that she seemed to have been included in that group and Ceri grinned. ‘I trusted you with what I was before Carter or Alec and you haven’t failed me.’

Lily and Carter came back across the floor at the same time. Ceri shifted sideways toward Cheryl and Lily slotted herself in between Ceri and Michael. Carter moved to the other side of Cheryl, settling close beside her. Ceri could feel Alec behind them as well. She really did have just about everyone she trusted around her tonight. It felt good. She felt safe.

So why did she feel like this was the calm before the storm.

###

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

Other Books in the Thaumatology Series

Thaumatology 101 – ASIN: B006IYIESW

Demon’s Moon – ASIN: B006JPN7A0

Legacy – ASIN: B006OKR8PK

Tales from High Towers’ Study – ASIN: B006ZAJ7TY

Coming soon: Disturbia – When a series of strange deaths require Ceri and Lily’s unique form of investigation, their path leads them down paths Lily has trodden before and would prefer to forget.

Table of Contents

Part One: Ancient Engineering

Part Two: Chinese Whispers

Part Three: Teachers of Men

Part Four: Queen’s Gambit

Part Five: Demon’s Wrath

Part Six: Trust