Author: Niall Teasdale
Date: 2000-01-01 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Urban Fantasy; Fantasy; Lesbian; Demons; Erotica; Magic; Romance; Vampires; Paranormal; Werewolves
Description: Ceridwyn Brent has been through a lot in the past few years. She’s been kidnapped, assaulted, brainwashed, used to summon an army across dimensions, walked across an alien world to rescue her lover, and had to embody an ancient war goddess to save a world… A bit of normality would seem in order. But when you’re the most powerful sorceress on the planet, even if very few people know that, and one of the best magical theoreticians in the world, and you have an entire demonic realm to run, normal is not the same as it is for everyone else.

Vengeance

The Twelfth Thaumatology Novel

By Niall Teasdale

Copyright 2014 Niall Teasdale

Smashwords Edition

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Contents

Part One: Herding Cats is Easy

Part Two: The Fall of Angels

Part Three: The Secrets We Keep

Part Four: Werewolf’s Holiday

Part Five: The Nature of Imbalance

Part Six: A Conference With Demons

Part Seven: The Dragons’ Teeth

Part Eight: The New Age

Epilogue

Part One: Herding Cats is Easy

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm, March 24th, 2013 (Earth Calendar)

The huge cavern behind the main entrance hall and staircase on the ground floor of the Castle of Bones had always looked too vast to ever be crowded. It had been built to house an army of dragons tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of years ago. It had huge, vaulted ceilings, massive buttresses, and it stretched back a considerable distance into Mount Khed. The chances of any normal group of people filling it were small, but as Ceridwyn Brent looked out across the throng of demons below her, it certainly looked as though the place was pretty full.

Standing on a wooden platform at the front of the room, her dress a tabard held in place with belts, her Iron Crown on her brow, and her staff in her hand, Ceri should probably have felt quite secure. She was the undisputed ruler of the Demon Realm with access to vast amounts of magical power and, more importantly under the circumstances, absolute control over every demon on the planet. Unfortunately, having ultimate power had not quite prepared her for the sight of all the Demon Lords under her control, and their subordinate Lords, and their retinues, standing there, looking up at her, and waiting for her to speak.

At Ceri’s sides were Faran and Lily, father and daughter, incubus and half-succubus. Faran, dressed in deep crimson robes, stood on Ceri’s right, just behind her shoulder where he could lean in to provide whispered information as required. Lily, naked aside from her silver collar, cuffs, and a chain running from her lip to her right ear, was on Ceri’s left. ‘Lady Ayasha,’ Overlord of All Demons, would never be seen in public without her loyal, cunning pet, Lilith, but Lily was there to lend moral support as much as anything; some of these things were scary, even for a woman with ultimate power over them.

Demon Lords tended to work on the principle that bigger was better. The minor Lords, such as Torn, the newly appointed Lord of Shilfaris, were the normal height for whatever type of demon they were, and that was generally fairly large, but the greater Lords were usually taller. Physical stature employed in making them more impressive. Most of them were around fifteen feet tall, twice the height of a typical demon, over twice the height of a human. Some of them employed auras, either just light or something more subtle to manipulate emotions. Several of them were Devos, the best known of demons on Earth, tall, muscular, purple-skinned, bearing horns and a pointed tail, but there were other types. Ceri had only heard about some of them by reading books: demons who seemed to have had an octopus nailed to their faces, demons who seemed to be shifting masses of colour, insectoid demons. Demons had far more shape and variety than humans and it showed in this collection.

Ceri took a deep breath. ‘All right then, we might as well begin. Does anyone know of any Lord who has not managed to get here?’ It was like taking attendance at school. There was a rumbling as the assembled higher demons looked around, checking for allies, enemies, and underlings. The noise fell away and no one had said anything; Ceri felt like a school headmistress. ‘Good. I really don’t want to have to repeat any of this.’

Her gaze roamed around the crowd once more. She had talked to various people over the last couple of days in preparation for this meeting and she knew the rumours flying around. ‘First item of business,’ she said, ‘rumour control. Your new Overlord, that’s me, is a human.’ There was some rumbling from the assembled Lords; it was not loud enough to suggest that they were surprised, or particularly outraged. ‘I’m a sorceress, a descendent of Gorefguhadget, and of Brenin and Brenhines of the White City. My dragon ancestry may bother some of you, but I should point out that Lilith and I kicked their butts a few months ago. No love lost there. However, let me make this quite clear… none of that makes any difference! I am your Overlord and I have all the power of the Iron Crown to back me up. I have no qualms about killing anyone who tries to usurp my authority. Are we clear?’

There was a generally affirmative sort of mumbling and Ceri nodded. It was not like they could do anything about it with her standing in front of them anyway. ‘The main thing you should take away from this is that, since I’m human and prefer to live at home, you’re going to be allowed to carry on pretty much the same way you’ve been doing since you kicked Molech off the throne.’ That produced a more appreciative rumble. ‘Obviously, there will be a couple of changes. I have a different viewpoint on things than some of you. I have some personal whims which I intend to enforce because I can. I know any of the rest of you in my position would do the same, so I hope you’ll understand. If you don’t, I will explain my reasoning to your corpse.’ Another audience might have laughed, or felt threatened, but the demons seemed to be happy that Ceri was being honest with them.

‘Details… My staff here at the castle need paying and I need a budget to work with for handling diplomatic matters, buying myself new dresses, and generally indulging any urges I might have. Frankly, I don’t need much. I’ll be expecting a tithe of one per cent of your income. I’ll be expecting a payment every ninety days, starting in ninety days, covering that period. Lady Jubilia has agreed to handle my finances for the next ninety days since I was the one who put her on her throne and handed her Molech’s estates. Any questions?’

One of the larger monsters standing at the back who looked like a cross between a grizzly bear and a squid raised a hand, maybe a tentacle. ‘What is “per cent”?’ Faran leaned forward, whispering the Lord’s common name in Ceri’s ear. The crown she was wearing gave her instant knowledge of the true name of any demon she looked at, but the name they were known by was another matter.

‘Fulgarve, is it? Hire an accountant.’ The demon’s hand started to go back up. ‘An accountant is someone who knows what “per cent” means. I’ll see if I can arrange something which won’t involve you being cheated out of everything you own.’ That seemed to mollify him.

‘Next, on the subject of my staff, I am not going to concern myself with how you treat your own people, but the staff in this castle are off limits, strictly my concern, not to be touched. If you have a grievance with one of them, take it to Ruffa. He will deal with the issue. Not you.’ She paused to make sure no one was looking disgruntled and then moved on.

‘There is one thing I’m going to be putting my foot down on, however. Det, most demons in fact, have been discouraged from studying the magical sciences, quite forcefully I’m told. That ends now. If I find anyone persecuted for or dissuaded from getting any form of education, I’ll come down on you like a falling mountain.’

A hand went up at the front and Faran leaned forward to supply the name as the Devos spoke. ‘Lady, if the masses are allowed to educate themselves, to study the ways of magic, we put our own power at risk.’

Ceri smiled. ‘Yes, Tollen, that’s the kind of excuse people have given for keeping people uneducated for millennia. You may find that you have to rule a little more fairly. You may find that your people are more ready to question you about your decisions. In return you should find that your people are more useful to you. Besides, I’m not suggesting you set up extensive school programmes if you don’t want to. I’m saying that if even a lowly det wants to spend time learning the science behind magic, don’t get in the way.’ Tollen nodded, seeming somewhat satisfied with that answer.

‘Lastly for this part of the discussion, I’ve opened diplomatic relations with the Fae.’ There was some rumbling again. ‘I know some of you have links with the Unseelie Court and I don’t expect you to shut them down, but I would like you to talk to Lady Ophelia about that so that we can coordinate our efforts. Ophelia is Unseelie herself. She understands the need to be underhand and sneaky at times. I am looking to increase trade between the two worlds. I’ve discovered at least one thing we can trade to their world. I’d like to hear from people who know of things we want from them.’

She paused again to check her mental announcements list, and came up with nothing she had missed. ‘We have a day or two here. I’ll be taking meetings in the throne room and Ophelia will be in her rooms handling diplomatic matters. If you want to meet with either of us, make an appointment through Faran.’ She turned without further comment, took the chain attached to Lily’s collar in her left hand, and marched down the hastily built, but apparently sturdy, steps to ground level.

Faran followed them down and Ceri heard his voice behind her as she headed off down one of the huge tunnels which led to the main entrance hall of the castle. ‘Lords, Ladies, I’m sure you won’t want to stand in line, so if you could please have your representative…’

‘Picking your father as a major-domo was a great idea,’ Ceri commented.

‘Yes, Mistress. He has a talent for it.’ Lily was in seventh submissive-half-succubus heaven. It had been her birthday yesterday and they had spent much of the day at Demi-monde, a fetish and BDSM club where she had been allowed to indulge her preference to play the slave to Ceri’s dominatrix. Then they had gone to work at the Tir inna Nok, a nightclub where they were both waitresses, and Lily had teased Ceri mercilessly by refusing to drop out of character. Then they had gone home to where Michael, Ceri’s werewolf mate, was waiting and they had celebrated Lily’s birthday again, and still Lily had remained the perfect pet. In the morning they had had a Sunday brunch, and Twill had promised to make a big lunch for Michael, and then Ceri and Lily had crossed over to the Demon Realm. And now, of course, Lily was subject to the same level of control as all the other demons, except that she thought it was kinky.

Curling around to the middle of the three corridors leading back from the hall, they soon entered the vast central stairwell of the castle. Pretty much everything about the Castle of Bones was big; it had originally been designed to accommodate a race which tended to be around fifteen feet tall. Down at the ground level, and particularly within this room, things were just taken to extremes. There were two helical stairways winding upward at the sides of the room, one with high steps, the other a smooth surface which accommodated normal-sized people. The central part of the room, however, was open all the way up to the top of the castle proper where the throne room was located. The only way you could get higher was to climb the stairs to the watchtower. Well, there was no way Ceri was walking up there…

‘Come, pet,’ she said, more for something to say than for any magical reason. Lily’s feet lifted off the floor, then Ceri’s a second later, and then they began to rise. They did not move particularly quickly; in fact, they might have managed to walk faster, but it was straight up instead of taking the long, winding slope, and they did not have to put foot to floor the entire time. It was like taking the lift instead of the staircase.

‘Could you teach me to do this, Mistress?’ Lily asked halfway up.

‘No,’ Ceri replied. ‘Sorcery uses completely different “magical muscles” from the way you work magic. I’d imagine I could find someone who could teach you though. It’s basic levitation. You’d need to start out lifting small things and then go on to shifting people about.’

‘It might be worth it if we have to spend time here on a regular basis.’

Ceri eased them forward toward the gap in the balustrade, which was there specifically for people flying up the stairwell, and lowered them gently onto the black stone which made up more or less the entire castle. The doors to the throne room were open and through them Ceri could see Hiffy fussing over the throne. The blue-skinned girl had a lot more blue skin on display than she usually had. She had indulged herself on the way to the castle from her old home in Shilfaris and had bought herself a couple of outfits which she felt were more fitting to her new role as assistant housekeeper to the Overlord. Ceri had been happy to have the expense on her account since Hiffy had also seen to it that Ruffa, her grandfather, also had decent clothes to wear, and because the outfits Hiffy had picked for herself were very sexy.

‘What are you up to, Hiffy?’ Ceri asked as she led Lily into the vaulted, semi-circular audience chamber.

Hiffy straightened her back and the blue-white translucent fabric of her skirt made swishing sounds as it shifted around her legs and tail. ‘I got you a cushion for this thing, Mistress,’ she said, indicating the huge slab of carved, volcanic rock sitting beside her, ‘and with all that’s been going on I totally forgot to bring it up here, and now you’ll be using the throne I thought…’

Ceri smiled, interrupting the stream of slightly nervous chatter. ‘That’s very thoughtful of you. It’s difficult to look dignified, powerful, and regal when you have a cold, numb arse. Now, why are you acting like a skittish gilda?’ Ceri was pretty sure that a gilda was an animal roughly the size, shape, and personality of a deer. They also had pretty, iridescent, purple skin which gave off a musk known to drive almost any non-gilda insane with lust which made them skittish; they constantly had to look over their shoulder.

‘We have every Lord, greater and lesser, in the Realm here, Mistress!’ Hiffy replied in a tone which suggested that this was an obvious reason for nerves. ‘I’m not sure we’ve got enough food in, or enough wine, or enough Lorril. What if Inak makes a fool of himself and you have to kick us out of the castle, and…’

Stepping forward, Ceri put her finger over the girl’s lips. ‘Enough.’ Hiffy’s eyes widened. ‘I’ve been over this with Ruffa already. He seems to have done an excellent job, you both have. He’s sticking to the kitchens and backrooms most of the time and letting you be the visible head of staff. And I quote, “If I have t’ deal with them ignorant, arrogant tavika-sucking mud worms f’r longer’n thirty minutes, I’ll want to test how big a demon I c’n get on the kitchen spit.”’

Hiffy giggled at Ceri’s impression of her grandfather. ‘He has been acting a little less grumpy recently, but that sounded just like him.’

Ceri nodded, stepping around the blue det to prod at the cushion with her knuckles. ‘So there’s nothing to worry about, is there? I wouldn’t throw you out of the castle anyway. I’d have you chained in my private rooms to use for my pleasure.’ The black, rough silk fabric was well padded and not too smooth. The huge, gothic throne was made of a polished version of the rock the building had been formed from. Indeed, it seemed to have been grown from the stone as the castle had been grown from the mountain, and then someone had carved in the details. The details included a row of skulls up the front of both arms. Nothing too subtle; this was for a demon Overlord to sit on. Ceri sat on it.

‘You’d do that, Mistress?’ Hiffy said, far too eagerly. ‘You’d chain me up as a pleasure slave?’

The Overlord of All Demons shook her head. ‘Impossible, the pair of you. If you’re a very good girl, you can assist me in testing the new dungeon later. Now, the first of the Lords is on his way up, so you had better go check on your grandfather. Then make sure everyone is settled into their rooms, and try to stay off your back before I’ve chained you to the wall.’

‘Yes, Mistress,’ Hiffy replied, giggling, and headed for the door, hips swinging and tail twitching from side to side.

‘Sooner or later I’m going to die of sexual excess,’ Ceri muttered, and then raised her voice a little to add, ‘I think I’d like you lounging on the arm of the throne, Lil. Left side. According to rumour, I already use you as an assassin.’

‘Of course, Mistress,’ Lily purred, moving around to perch on the thick, black arm of the chair. Ceri crossed her legs, arranged her skirts, and assumed what she hoped was a decadent, lounging posture. ‘Mistress looks every bit the demon empress,’ Lily assured her just before Faran appeared outside the door, leading the way for an over-sized Devos Ceri did not immediately recognise.

‘Lady Ayasha,’ Faran said, stopping just inside the doorway, which seemed to irritate the Lord behind him, ‘I present Lord Graggil.’

And now she knew who he was. ‘Ah yes, Graggil. You hold the lands north of Shilfaris.’ Graggil and Molech had been in a slightly uneasy truce since Molech had taken the territory between the Mountains of Khedra and the city of Shilfaris. The region around the city provided about two hundred miles of buffer zone between the two fiefdoms. Ceri liked it that way.

Faran walked forward to take his place at the right side of the throne which allowed Graggil to move forward. He was not exactly the best-looking Devos Ceri had ever seen, though his lordly power could be seen in his abnormal height, around sixteen feet. Unfortunately, he had something of a paunch and almost no muscle tone, and his skin had a greyish tint to it rather than the iridescent purple which marked his species. One of the briefings Faran had provided over the last month had described Graggil as ‘a bloated incompetent ruling an inefficient hierarchy of brown-nosed sycophants.’

‘My Gracious Lady,’ Graggil said, sweeping into what he probably thought was an elegant bow. ‘It is concerning the region south of my lands that I wish to speak. I feel it would be most appropriate if I were to bring them under my wing. I am sure that the Overlord will find that I am able to service any requirements that she has far better than a common Devos and a Lorril.’ The demon had confirmed Faran’s assessment in under a minute; it was impressive really.

‘Graggil,’ Ceri said after a second of consideration, ‘do I look like an idiot?’

‘No, Lady!’ The response came out along with widening eyes. It was likely he had hoped she had not had time to understand the political situation in her new world and if he had held lands further from her castle, he might have been right. Unfortunately, while she had never walked through his lands, she was quite intimate with the people governing the regions he wanted to usurp.

‘So, would I have personally selected Torn and Jubilia for their positions if I wanted you to walk in and take over?’

‘Uh… no, Lady?’

Ceri gave him a smile. ‘Good, you’re learning. Let me make this quite clear, Graggil. I intend to be a hands-off sort of Overlord. I’m not going to stick my nose in your business, or anyone else’s, unless I really have to. However, if you try to move your border so much as a hand’s breadth south, you will spend the rest of your life as a statue in my front hall.’

‘Yes, Overlord,’ Graggil replied, bowing as he retreated toward the door. In fact, bowing all the way out of the room.

‘Are they all going to be like this?’ Ceri asked.

‘No,’ Faran replied, ‘some of them will be sneakier about it, and some of them will just ask you to go to bed with them.’

The Overlord of All Demons heaved a sigh. ‘All right, let’s get the next one in.’

~~~

‘You know that big machine down in the torture chamber?’ Ceri asked as she slumped into the hugely oversized chair in her private chambers. ‘The one with the big iron plate with the spikes and you get squashed and skewered at the same time?’

Lily settled onto a cushion on the floor beside her. ‘Yes, I remember it. Why?’

‘Could you put me in it and kill me?’

The half-succubus gave her a smirk. ‘No, of course not. I’m your bound demon. I can’t harm you, even if you order me to.’

‘Damn. When we did that, I never realised there would be such a huge downside. Seriously, three hours of listening to whining creatures capable of demolishing a small army acting like spoiled children. How did I get this job?!’

‘You put on your infinitely-great-grandfather’s hat.’

Rolling her eyes upward, Ceri could see the edge of the iron circlet sitting around her head. Gorefguhadget’s Iron Crown, though maybe they would be renaming it if she survived wearing it long enough. ‘Not my cleverest idea.’

‘We would both be Molech’s personal pleasure slaves and you would have no mind if you hadn’t put it on, Mistress.’

Ceri turned her head as Hiffy stepped into the room carrying a tray. ‘Somehow that’s starting to sound like a pleasant fate in comparison. You know, Hiffy, you don’t have to act like you’re my personal servant. You could have sent someone with that.’ Raising her hand, she gestured at a side table built for someone twice her height and it lifted slightly to float over to sit beside her chair. It was not actually a conspicuous overuse of magic; the furniture in the room weighed a ton.

Hiffy put the tray down on it. ‘Inak says that the Overlord should be waited upon by the head of staff or, preferably, his far more attractive assistant since she’s easier on the eye and the Overlord should not have to put up with looking at a grumpy old goat.’ It did sound like Ruffa. ‘I brought wine, cheese, sliced meats, and bread. You’ll need to keep your strength up.’

Ceri looked at the tray of food. ‘Do you think that knife is sharp enough to slit my wrists?’

‘I would be most grateful if the Mistress could avoid killing herself before she’s tried out some of the toys in the dungeon on me,’ Hiffy replied.

‘I suppose that’s something to look forward to. All right, I’ll keep the suicide for later. Oh, we need some new furniture for this room. Something a little more to scale.’

Hiffy nodded. ‘It is all rather large.’

‘Keep one of the big chairs in case I need to entertain one of the Lords in here, but a human-sized chair, and a loveseat. And… does “chaise longue” translate? Something for lounging on. Lilith gives exceptionally good lounge.’

Hiffy giggled. ‘I believe I understand what you’re after. What about the bed? We could replace that with something more your size if you wish.’

‘No, the bed is fine. More room for when there’s three or four in it.’

‘When are you going to get four in it?’ Lily asked, frowning. Ceri was certainly not shy of multiple partners, but she had been a little more… selective about who they were since the influence of the dragons had been removed; there were very few people in this world Lily expected her to select.

‘I was hoping we might persuade Michael to come over. I know he’s not fond of demons, but he’s got used to Faran and he’s mostly going to meet det here. I figure if he sees that they’re just like any normal human or werewolf he’ll get over it.’

‘He is very good at adapting to new circumstances, Mistress.’

‘And we really need to keep you on a low-demon diet.’

‘Oh. Yes, I hadn’t thought of that.’ Lily had spent several months in the Demon Realm as the prisoner of Matthew Barnes, thaumatologist turned demon, and had been forced to feed on a lot of demons to the point of killing them. As a result, the metaphysical nature of her body had changed: her demonic half had been strengthened, her body had been tied more closely to the demons’ universe, and her appetite for sex and feeding from it had become far more intense. Ceri had been trying to figure out how to put her back to normal, but so far the only method she had come up with was to have her feed exclusively on people from Earth. It was a slow process.

‘Pardon me, Mistress,’ Hiffy said, ‘but who is Michael?’

‘He’s a werewolf,’ Ceri responded without thinking, and then realised that werewolves were not something most det had ever heard of. ‘He’s a man who is able to transform into a sort of beast-man. I’m his mate, which is a bit like marriage over here. I’d like him to come over because… well, I like him being part of my life, all of it, but it also means that Lil isn’t just feeding off me.’ She gave the blue-skinned det a wicked grin. ‘And considering that demons tend to be a bit rougher about sex than humans, we can set him loose on you and I can sit back and enjoy the show.’

Hiffy’s eyes widened. ‘Oh… my.’

‘If I feed from him,’ Lily said, also smirking, ‘I can keep him going like a steam train for half an hour.’

A slightly darker blue flush crept over Hiffy’s throat and upper chest, and she licked her lips. ‘That sounds… I would, of course, be happy to entertain my Lady in any way she wishes. I do have one question, if I may?’

‘Of course,’ Ceri replied.

‘What’s a “steam train?”’

~~~

‘How are things going in Quatilan?’ Ceri asked from her throne. She was speaking to what appeared to be a tall but relatively human-sized woman with long, black hair and dark eyes: Jubilia, the new Lord of Quatilan and its environs.

‘Well, Lady,’ Jubilia replied, ‘as I suggested when you appointed me, some of the demons under my command were somewhat unwilling to treat me seriously. A Lorril as a Lord is relatively unheard of, but I was able to assert myself adequately and they’ve fallen into line.’

‘Assert yourself?’

‘I picked the worst offender out and executed him on the throne room floor in front of the other Captains.’ She gave a malicious grin. ‘They all saw how he was unable to resist me, and then I made them watch as I fed on him for thirty minutes before his body gave out. Just to be sure, though, I have one of them come to my rooms every night. It’s a useful way to feed and you should see the looks of relief on their faces when they get to stagger out.’

Ceri smiled. ‘It sounds like you have everything in hand.’

Jubilia nodded, bowing slightly and sending a shiver through her dress, which appeared to be made of crystal bead curtains. ‘I’ve had some people I trust go over Molech’s treasure chambers and I know what the estates are worth. I came here with ten thousand gold pieces, which should tide you over until the money starts coming in from the other Lords.’

Ceri gave a cough. ‘I’d imagine it will. I have a project for you. The Lords have always been very strict in controlling their gates to other worlds, but I doubt you’ll want tradesmen marching through your throne room if we manage to establish trade links to the fae Otherworld. So, I’d like you to start constructing a more public facility. There’s a silver mine at Nedarish just outside your territories, and I’m sure there are other possible sources of trade within them. We’ll trial the trade system in your lands and expand to other places later.’

Jubilia pursed her lips. ‘It will still need to be kept secure. It can be sited outside the city… I think, perhaps, that constructing a market area around the gate building might be useful. We may be able to get some two-way trade going if the fae court is willing to condone it. Especially if they are willing to build the same sort of facility.’

‘And this is why I have people like you around.’ Ceri turned to Faran, standing at her right. ‘Faran, could you make sure that Jubilia discusses this with Ophelia? Our fae ambassador will probably have some selling to do to Oberon and Titania, but it does sound like an excellent idea.’

‘Lady Jubilia has an appointment with Lady Ophelia in the morning, Overlord,’ Faran replied. ‘I’ll shuffle some of the others to allow for a longer discussion.’

‘Excellent. Anything you particularly wanted to discuss, Jubilia?’

‘There is one thing. Molech set up a… research and education facility. Some of the richer families sent their more promising children there to learn magic and there were various questionable experiments conducted there. I was considering shutting it down, but after your speech about education I thought you might prefer if it was expanded.’

‘Without the questionable experiments,’ Ceri suggested.

‘Indeed. I can’t condone some of the things they were doing there and I’m a demon. Of course, it will take some time and depend on economics.’

Ceri nodded. ‘If you decide to go ahead with it, the Overlord will sponsor some promising poorer students to go there. On Earth it would probably be called a “university.”’

‘University…’ Jubilia rolled the English word around as if getting a feel for it. ‘I think that is as good a word for it as any. Thank you, Lady.’ She bowed and started back out of the throne room.

‘Only a few months on the throne and the new Overlord is introducing English words into the language,’ Faran commented.

‘Well I don’t know enough Devotik to come up with a suitable native word.’

‘Then you will have to attend to your studies more attentively, Lady.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted, rolling her eyes. ‘Go get the next one. I’ll read some more of the blessed book tonight.’

~~~

‘The blessed book’ was called One Thousand Nights and it was something like a cross between a fantasy story and a sex manual written thousands of years ago. Faran had been amazed to discover a copy of it in the castle library made by a famous printer and complete with all the original plates. Ceri had to admit that it was beautiful. The pictures that started each chapter looked more like something from a modern fantasy book cover: amazing, hand-coloured, highly detailed, and very erotic without being too pornographic. The stories were not too bad either, even if their main concern was what part of what demon went where. Her problem was that Faran had her reading it aloud.

‘Uh…’ Ceri frowned at the characters and then finished the sentence she was working on. ‘Ha nikit Shivika pa en tavikona, and there is no way that is even comfortable let alone pleasurable. I mean, what about breathing for starters?’

‘Demons are a lot more resilient than humans,’ Lily pointed out, ‘and they like their play a little rougher.’

‘And the text does point out that it requires considerable preparation,’ Faran added. ‘Timing is everything with that one. Climax should come just before asphyxia.’

‘Hence the “intense squirming action?”’ Ceri asked, still not being sold on it.

‘Precisely,’ Faran agreed.

‘It isn’t like I’ll be doing it to my Shivika,’ Lily said. ‘My shapeshifting isn’t up to it. I can manifest a tail…’

‘And I enjoy it a lot when you do,’ Ceri put in.

Lily gave her a grin. ‘I can’t do the gross body modification that trick calls for.’

‘To some extent it is a shame,’ Faran said, his tone regretful.

‘I’m thinking not so much,’ Ceri disagreed.

‘Ah, but you miss one vital point, I think. The Lorril’s Shivika gains great pleasure from the act, to be sure, but more than that she demonstrates her trust in her hinita. It would be easy to have an accident happen.’

‘The Mistress is trusting her submissive to almost kill her, but not actually do it?’

‘Allowing someone else to hold your life in their hands, is that not the greatest demonstration of trust?’

Hackney, London, Earth.

Anne Chisolm was not sure how she had ended up in his arms, but there she was, naked among the trees of Wick Woodland, sprawled in the leaf litter like a wild animal.

She had been running; she ran every evening, around the edge of Hackney Marsh and then through the trees. Tonight she was a little later than usual; it had been getting dark when she began and now the night had closed in entirely. She had not considered that a problem, even though she knew there were things in the world which might hunt at night. It had been safe since the dragons had fallen.

Then she had seen him. He was nothing more than a shadow, a dark shape in the darkness, and he had said nothing, remained unmoving when she saw him. But she had felt him calling her, had almost stumbled toward him as her legs became jelly. All she knew was that she wanted him, wanted to let him do anything he wished to her. He had stripped her, pushed her down into the damp soil, entered her hard, and she had groaned as her body gave itself up to him.

Now he pulled out, pushed her onto her back, and was inside her again before her hazy brain could catch up. She sensed him over her more than saw him, felt his breath on her neck, then the sudden sharp pain. She let out a cry which rapidly became a moan as the toxins spread through her system and the pleasure washed over her.

Somehow Anne Chisolm knew that her life was slipping away as he fucked her, but she did not care.

March 25th.

‘Vampire?’ Kate Middleshaw suggested, looking down at the body near her feet.

‘Hard to tell,’ her partner, John Radcliff, replied, frowning. ‘They don’t normally rip the head off after a kill.’ He gave a shrug. ‘Most of them wouldn’t have killed her. Do we have an ID?’

‘Anne Chisolm. She lived in Sunnyhill Close, just beside the park. There are tracksuit bottoms over by that tree. We haven’t found whatever else she was wearing. Looks like she was out running and he dragged her in here.’

John shook his head. ‘He didn’t drag. That’s what’s bothering me. Her hands and knees are scuffed up, sure, but the rest of her is unmarked…’

‘Aside from her head being torn off.’

‘Aside from that, obviously. The pants aren’t torn. Either she took them off herself or her attacker did it without resistance. A vampire old enough to have that kind of control over someone doesn’t have the equipment to commit rape.’

‘There’s one kind that does.’ There was a cold edge to Kate’s voice when she spoke, but John had considered that option already.

‘If there was another Ancient in town, we’d know about it. Lorna would have felt it and she’d have told me. If she didn’t, I think some of the older vampires would have warned us. They don’t want a repeat of last time any more than we do.’

‘If it’s not a vamp, then what?’

‘Demon? Incubus, maybe. They could fake an apparent vampire kill and they’d be more inclined to engage in sex with the victim.’

‘That means we have to eliminate the one incubus we know about,’ Kate said with a sigh.

‘Let’s just hope he has a good alibi,’ John replied.

Kennington.

The door of the odd-looking house on the corner of Kennington Park opened and the two detectives were faced by a tall, slim, very attractive woman with long, black hair. She smiled as soon as she saw them, then the smile faltered as she recognised the serious expressions.

‘Detectives,’ Gwyn said, ‘is there a problem?’

‘Is Ceri or Lily in?’ John asked.

‘No… You’d better come inside. You know where the lounge is.’

Closing the door behind them, she followed them up the stairs to the first landing and then through into the lounge. There was a fire burning low in the grate, staving off the cool of the spring day, and she had them sit in the chairs in front of it, retrieving a straight-backed chair to sit on herself.

‘Ceri is… out of town, on business,’ Gwyn explained. ‘Lily is with her, of course.’

‘Right,’ John said, frowning. ‘I don’t suppose you know where Lily’s father is?’

‘Actually, I do. Why?’

John nodded to Kate. ‘We’ve had a suspicious death,’ Kate explained. ‘We can’t be sure it was an incubus, or even a demon, but there are reasons to suspect it might be and, obviously, we need to eliminate the one incubus we know is in town…’

‘Faran is definitely not responsible,’ Gwyn interrupted.

‘You’re that sure?’ John asked.

‘He and Ophelia are with Ceri and Lily. I’d know if any of them had returned. Faran cannot be your killer.’ Gwyn gave a slight frown and chewed on her lip before adding. ‘Ceri will be back in a day or so, but if you need urgent action… I am quite knowledgeable in the magical arts myself. I could give an opinion if you wish.’

‘We’ll see what the pathologists come up with. We’d need clearance from the Chief to get another specialist in, but we need to catch this one fast.’

‘This was not a simple incubus kill,’ Gwyn stated rather than asked.

‘It was particularly vicious,’ Kate told her.

‘Lorril are not vicious killers,’ Gwyn mused. ‘This was almost certainly something else. There are a number of demons who kill violently, but not normally incubi or succubi.’

‘Unless they were ordered to,’ Kate countered.

‘Then, yes, but why use an incubus for that when there are other types who better fit the bill. See what your pathologists say, but I think you are looking for something else. Something far more dangerous.’

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the days here,’ Ceri muttered as she walked into the throne room. ‘Too long.’ They had been there for half a day and a night, had a moderately long breakfast, and back at home it would be after midday. Outside the sun had been up for two hours, but was still not really full in the sky.

‘You managed well enough last time,’ Lily replied. ‘You’re very adaptable.’ Her smirk was positively mischievous. ‘You demonstrated that last night.’

‘That’ll be enough of that, hinita,’ Ceri replied, her tone mock-severe. ‘Get to your place, we’ll have another annoying Lord up here in a few minutes.’

‘Yes, Shivika Ayasha,’ Lily replied meekly, skipping across to sit on the arm of the stone throne.

Ceri had just settled herself on her cushion when the first of the day’s supplicants appeared, a tall, powerfully built Devos. Or she thought he was a Devos. He was the right shape, but his skin had a greener tint to it and, looking closely, she could see that his fingers were webbed.

Faran was leading the way, of course. ‘Lord Ignash, Lady Ayasha,’ the incubus intoned.

Ignash gave a deep bow and Ceri nodded back. ‘I suspect that the Lady is wondering what I am,’ he said. ‘My kind rarely ventures beyond this realm.’

‘I thought Devos on first sight,’ Ceri admitted, ‘but you’re not. Something aquatic?’

‘A Guandosh, Lady, I am Lord of the Western Oceans. We dwell in the ocean depths, in the darkness. I am having to use a number of powerful spells just to survive here, but when the Overlord decreed that all should attend…’

‘Then I’ll thank you for going to the effort.’ Ceri got to her feet and stalked toward him, opening her Sight as she did so. He was, indeed, humming with magic; interwoven magical fields enveloped him, probably ensuring that his body was kept under pressure and the light did not bother him. She wondered if he could naturally breathe air. ‘I also may have use for your kind on Earth. There are some projects I’ve been asked to look into which require work in the deep oceans there creating ley lines.’

The demon looked both impressed and surprised. ‘I had not realised that magic had been taken to that level in your world, Overlord.’

‘I did the work myself,’ Ceri replied, glossing over the involvement of the dragons; it was almost certainly better to have the demons thinking of her as near-omnipotent and a genius. ‘I’ve created two so far and there has been considerable interest in extending the use of them.’

‘There are some… difficulties with constructing them through deep water. They become unstable due to the higher density of salt water…’

Ceri gave him a frown. ‘You’ve practical experience of this?’

‘Our own attempts to bring power into regions with lower energy levels have proven unsuccessful,’ he admitted.

‘Hmm…’ She came to a decision after a second’s thought: hearts and minds were going to be important. ‘My own calculations suggest that it’s possible without excessive loss. I suspect I have a different mechanism for containing the stream which may prove useful. We’ll arrange to have some of your magical theorists visit the castle and I can go over the equations with them.’

‘I…’ He stopped speaking, apparently at a loss, and then dropped to one knee. ‘Lady, I would be hard-pressed to adequately express my thanks were you able to help us in this way.’

Ceri gave him a smile which she hoped was just a little bit evil and reached up to pat him on the cheek. ‘Don’t worry, Ignash, I’m sure I’ll think of a way.’

As he walked back down the stairs, Ceri waved Faran over to her. ‘I haven’t just done something stupid, have I?’

Faran grinned. ‘Ignash isn’t interested in anything above the level the sunlight gets to and no one really bothers much with his domain either. As he said, he lives in deep salt water which tends to dampen the magic field. He has a rather impoverished fiefdom which you are offering to make more habitable. Succeed and he’ll be one of your most loyal subjects.’

Ceri returned to her seat with a sigh of relief. ‘Hope I didn’t get my maths wrong then. Wheel the next one in.’

~~~

Ophelia met them for lunch, or mid-morning snack, or whatever you wanted to call it. Demons had a habit of snacking when they could get the food, since they tended to be active for such a long time between night periods. Ceri had decided it was a valid habit since a three-meal regime would likely result in starvation and it broke up the meetings more.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ the raven-haired fae said as she sat in one of the enormously oversized chairs with some bread and cheese in one hand and a goblet of wine in the other.

‘Good,’ Ceri replied. ‘It is what I pay you for.’

‘You don’t actually pay me.’

‘Huh, yeah, forgot about that…’ Ceri held a hand out to Lily who handed over a small pouch, and that was tossed across into Ophelia’s lap. ‘Gold works here and in Otherworld, right?’

‘Uh… yeah. Which brings me to what I was thinking about. I’m the ambassador to Otherworld, so I figure I should actually be here and there at least some of the time, and I can’t keep living at High Towers. I mean, it’s kind of nice there and Gwyn and Mei have been great, but…’

‘You need a place of your own,’ Ceri finished for her.

‘Yeah. So I was wondering whether I could live here?’

‘Uh… I can’t see a problem, there’s plenty of space. I can set the portal up so that you can open it when needed. Do you really want to spend that much time here?’

‘Well, I’m going to see if I can schmooze some apartments in the Summer Palace and spend some time there, and I may crash in your lounge after my more mundane job, but… Look, you’ve given me a big job here. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right.’

‘You never struck me as the type,’ Lily said.

‘When I take a job, I like to see it done. Sure I like to play, I’m an Unseelie Sidhe, but I have a sense of responsibility.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘if that’s what you want I’ll set it up.’ She grinned. ‘Saves on rent too, right?’

‘Well, yeah, there’s that, but it’s all about the responsibility. Really.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Battersea, London, Earth.

Michael paused to sniff the night air, his muzzle rising inquisitively. The river was close by with its scents of water and diesel oil. There was a slight scent of aroused werewolf on the breeze this close to the full moon. The primary scent here, right beside the huge bulk of Battersea Power Station, was magic.

The generator did not raise the local magic field much; Ceri had tried to explain to him how the various huge pylons inside the building reinforced their own field within the circle while they suppressed the field outside, and Michael had smiled at her until she stopped. It worked, and the pack had a quite lucrative contract adding extra security to the site, and that was good enough for him. It did not leak much, but it was enough to ionise the air more than usual giving the area around it a scent something like standing on a beach on a hot day.

Satisfied that everything seemed quiet, he set off down the east side of the building at a fast lope.

When he was out of sight, something darker than the night around it detached from the shadows near the river and walked purposefully toward the generator building carrying a case. The door it went to was, of course, locked and alarmed, but the figure pulled open the door without pausing and no alarm sounded.

The only light in the room came from the random interactions of thaumitons in the generator. No one came in here unless they had to. That was partially because it pretty much ran itself. In fact, no one had figured out how to turn it off yet. The other reason was that most of the staff were just a little scared of the vast power residing within the twin ring of complex, geometrically formed pylons. In the central ring the measured reading was over twenty-eight thaums, very close to dangerous levels. Very odd things could happen to someone walking into a field that strong.

The figure made a beeline for the centre.

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm, March 27th.

The noise was deafening. It might have been early for a banquet as far as the demons were concerned, but the Overlord had to get back to her other home before dark and no one was going to let a little thing like daylight they could not even see get in the way of drinking too much and stuffing themselves with food they did not have to pay for. Of course, they were going to be paying for it eventually, but most of them had yet to work that one out.

Some of the more intelligent Lords had wondered why Lady Ayasha wanted to go back to the mundane life she had on Earth. A couple had even ventured to express the opinion that she should move to their world full time where she had all the power she could ever want.

The more perceptive ones, well, Jubilia, had worked out by now that ‘Lady Ayasha’ was an act and Ceri wanted to go back to being herself. It was a good act, and the crown let her pull it off to perfection, but it was still an act. Jubilia had no misconceptions regarding Ceri’s willingness to enact some of the horrible threats she handed out if they became necessary; she had seen her do some pretty nasty things in Dorilla and everyone knew what she had done to Molech. However, the Lady of Quatilan would have given good odds on Ceri hoping the threats and her reputation were going to be enough.

The big hall at the back of the ground floor now had long tables in it. They had not been there before the banquet and they were going to vanish once it was done with, but for now the power Ceri had available through the crown was keeping their food, and their behinds, off the floor. Hiffy had been given orders to sort out something more permanent, though Ceri did not think a banquet this size was going to happen that often.

‘Is this normal?’ Ceri whispered to Jubilia, sitting on her right. ‘I mean, do they normally behave like a rugby team at banquets?’

‘Perhaps if you explained what a rug bee was?’ the succubus replied. Then she gave a slight grin. ‘This is a fairly normal demon banquet, especially one where the host is providing such good food and wine. Ruffa has done an excellent job on relatively short notice. Try the tukta, it’s excellent.’

Reaching out, Ceri picked up two haunches of dark meat, putting one down in front of her and handing one back behind her to where Lily was kneeling on a cushion. ‘Here, shekushka, try this. It’s recommended.’

A hand took the offered drumstick and a second later there was, ‘Oh… Oh, Mishtresh. You have oo…’

‘Twill would beat you senseless with a spoon for talking with your mouth full,’ Ceri interrupted.

There was a pause followed by, ‘Sorry, Mistress. It’s gorgeous. We have to take some back for Twill to cook.’

Shrugging, Ceri bit a chunk off her haunch. The meat almost melted in the mouth and left a gamy aftertaste. It was a little like venison. Ceri glanced at Jubilia. ‘Is this one of those times where asking what a tukta was would make me regret that?’

‘It’s a reptile,’ the succubus replied. ‘Nothing especially horrific. Lives in deserts, moves very slowly. It’s amazing we haven’t hunted them to extinction, but they appear to have some method of keeping out of sight when needed. Some think they burrow.’

‘Huh.’ Ceri turned to her other table companion, Ophelia. ‘You tried this?’

‘Uh-huh. Torn said it was good.’

Torn was sitting on the other side of Ophelia, looking a little uncomfortable. He had protested his seating on the table with the Overlord since he was just a minor Lord and someone more suitable should be placed there, and Ceri had told him to grow a pair, which was unfair given that she knew he was a fairly well-endowed Devos. He was sitting there because he was her appointee, like Jubilia, and she wanted people there she trusted, and because, ‘I say so. Any questions?’ There had not been.

Beside Jubilia was Ignash, looking far happier than Torn, but not eating. Surface food disagreed with him, apparently. He had a supply of fish with him which he would take some of later. She knew he was quite anxious to get back into his nice, dark, deep water as soon as the banquet was over, but she had wanted him at the table, along with Jubilia and Torn, so that everyone else saw that he was currently in the Overlord’s favour.

‘You’re going back straight after the meal?’ Jubilia asked.

‘Yes. We’ve got things to do tonight… That’s over there night, not here night.’

‘It must be a little confusing, but, if you don’t mind me asking, what is it you do?’

‘Well, I’m a thaumatologist. I study the theory and science behind magic, but tonight I’ll be running with a werewolf pack, and I moonlight waiting tables at a club.’

‘I’m sorry?!’

‘You were the owner of a brothel until recently.’

‘Ah, well… I just think that, well… I didn’t expect to see a waitress on the throne of the Castle of Bones.’

‘You won’t. I’m also the first modern sorceress, the daughter of two of the best enchanters ever, and I come from the bloodline of two of the greatest dragons ever born. I’m pretty much as powerful as any of the Lords even without this crown. Some of them may have more experience, but I know way more about manipulating magic.’

‘Oh… Well when you put it like that…’

Westminster, London, Earth.

John had expected a different reaction from Gwyn at the sight of the decapitated corpse rather than a contemplative frown. She was supposed to be some distant relative of Ceri’s from Wales. Her Public Practitioner’s Licence said she was Gwyneth Price and he knew that Ceri’s mother had been a Preece before marriage, but there was something… not quite right about her.

‘They found bite wounds?’ Gwyn asked.

‘A single pair,’ Kate replied. ‘Very clean.’

‘Right up until the point he ripped her head off,’ Gwyn said.

‘Uh… yeah.’

Gwyn tightened latex gloves around her wrists and picked up the head, turning it to examine the torn end and either ignoring or not seeing the looks of surprise on the detectives’ faces. She turned the thing in her hands slowly, methodically going over it and showing no signs of discomfort.

‘It requires considerable physical strength to manually tear a head from a body like this,’ she said after a few seconds. ‘The murderer braced the body and then placed his hands on the skull under the ears… and pushed. Twisting is a far more efficient method of achieving the same goal. There is no evidence of magic being used, but any lingering pattern of control in her mind is, obviously, gone… You said she was raped?’

‘Technically not,’ Kate replied. Gwyn looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘There is evidence of sexual intercourse prior to her death. Seminal fluid was found and they’re still analysing it, but not really hoping to find anything. There are no indications that it was forced. Rough, yes, but not forced. We’re calling it rape because he killed her afterward, and if she was controlled it’s still legally rape, but I doubt we could get a conviction for aggravated rape given that she’s dead.’

‘Murder will have to suffice.’ She frowned again and put down the head. ‘I am at a loss to suggest a culprit, unless…’

‘Anything might help,’ John stated flatly. ‘We have no viable leads and no way of knowing when he’ll strike again.’

‘A human,’ Gwyn suggested. ‘A practitioner. Spells to enhance physical strength and provide control. The bite mark is torn making exact determination of the cause difficult, so this could have been done with a weapon, or needles. Blood is a common ingredient in several magical paradigms. The woman was killed in this way to ensure that a control spell went unnoticed. It is only a working theory, however. The evidence is circumstantial at best.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Alchemy uses a lot of blood and alchemical concoctions could explain everything.’

‘As you say, it’s a working theory,’ John said. ‘And frankly, after ancient vampires, demon lords, and dragons, I’d be kind of happy if this turned out to be a human.’

Gwyn gave him a weak smile as she stripped off her gloves. ‘Yes, I’m sure it would come as a relief,’ she said.

Kennington.

‘I’m just saying,’ Ceri said as she stepped through the portal. ‘I love this dress, but I think I need something more… uh…’

‘More Demon Overlord?’ Ophelia suggested.

‘Exactly. This is more fae witch, no offence Twill.’

The nut-brown fairy woman hovering at the bottom of the staircase in High Towers’ main hall nodded. ‘None taken. It was meant to be for a fairy wedding.’

‘Uh-huh. And we’re getting something for you to wear, Lily.’

Lily, resplendent in her silver finery, pouted. ‘I’m supposed to be your slave. Slaves go naked…’

‘You are supposed to be Lady Ayasha’s pet, the most beautiful and powerful succubus, Lilith,’ Ceri countered. ‘When we were trying to blend in that was fine, but now… You’re the personal slave of the Overlord of All Demons. If Lady Ayasha wants you dressed in a spun-platinum gown, then that is what her pet should be wearing.’

Faran, bringing up the rear, nodded. ‘That would actually be very much in character. Platinum is extremely rare over there.’ He glanced back to be sure the portal was closing behind him and then added, ‘Dressing a slave in it would be a particularly conspicuous display of wealth and power.’

‘But I like being naked,’ Lily whined.

Ceri grinned at her. ‘I know, love. I wasn’t actually thinking of a gown. Something…’ She frowned. ‘I’m not sure, exactly, but I’ll come up with an idea you’ll like. Promise.’ She turned back to Twill. ‘What time is it? Have we time for a sit down before we have to go out?’

‘Just after four,’ the fairy replied. ‘Mei should be home reasonably soon. Gwyn has something she wants to discuss and I’m sure we’d all like to hear how your excursion went.’

‘Great. Coffee? I haven’t had a decent brew for days.’

~~~

‘A Devos, perhaps,’ Faran mused, ‘but I concur with your assessment: a demon seems unlikely.’

Gwyn had just finished telling them about the case she had been brought in on. She was expecting that it would be handed over to Ceri now that she was back.

‘Good thing you were out of the country, Dad,’ Lily commented from her place on the footstool beside Ceri’s chair.

‘It is nice to have such a solid alibi for once,’ her father agreed.

‘Not that we can explain where you were,’ Ceri said. ‘Hopefully they won’t ask.’

‘I feel they were satisfied with my analysis,’ Gwyn said. ‘You realise that your new status is unlikely to remain secret forever, of course.’

Ceri sighed. ‘Eventually people are going to figure out I’m not just an extraordinarily powerful practitioner, and this isn’t going to help keep it all secret. I guess I’ll have to deal with that problem when it finally comes up. You know, I discovered one other sorcerer, an American, but I can’t help thinking there must be others starting to surface.’

Gwyn gave a nod. ‘They will not be common, but there will be more.’

‘Is that going to be a problem?’

‘Not all the sorcerers of history were benevolent.’

‘Another issue to deal with when it arises.’

‘Indeed, now, how did your first conclave of Demon Lords go?’

Ceri looked around at Faran and Ophelia. ‘You two are better placed to pass an opinion,’ she said.

‘No one died,’ Ophelia said.

‘Indeed,’ Faran agreed, ‘I believe it was a roaring success just on that basis.’

Battersea.

Ceri raised her muzzle and sniffed. Michael was not even trying to hide, she decided, since he knew full well where she got changed and had selected a position on the windward side to wait for her. His scent carried with it the reason he was not hiding and her werewolf body responded almost instantly. A few years earlier she might have been embarrassed at her sudden and obvious arousal, but she was long past that.

Her low growl produced a rustling in the bushes around her after a couple of seconds and then he was prowling toward her, growling back. Later they would have to go to Alexandra so that Ceri could keep the old Alpha up to date on events, but for now there was a mate who had not seen her for several days and a full moon in the sky.

Ceri dipped her muzzle, coyly averting her eyes, and then turned her back on him and gave a soft whine. It was an invitation and he wasted no time in accepting it.

~~~

It was a cool evening to be naked in the open air aside from jewellery and a leather collar, but Ceri had a furry wolf-man behind her, his arms around her waist, and a fire in front of her, and she felt quite comfortable. Besides, reporting to her Alpha in fur would have been difficult.

‘So it might be an idea to tell the working girls to watch their backs,’ Ceri said. ‘I don’t think they know when, or if, this guy might strike again, but…’

‘I’ll have the word passed around,’ Alexandra said, nodding. She was regal, as always, but tonight, with the moon shining down on her silver hair, she was every bit the werewolf matriarch. She had the same kind of incandescent quality that Gwyn could project when she wished, though the source was different. Or perhaps it was similar; they were both older than they looked, and they were both used to authority.

‘It would appear that your business in the Demon Realm went well,’ Alexandra went on, ‘and things here have been quiet. No security issues with the power station.’ She gave Michael a quick look and received a growl of confirmation. ‘So, all appears well.’

Ceri looked at her and frowned. ‘But?’

Alexandra waved a hand. ‘It’s likely nothing. No dreams, no portents.’

‘It’s something, or you wouldn’t be mentioning it.’

‘I’ve had an odd sense of disconnection from Luperca today. Her presence is usually at its strongest when the moon is full, but today she feels… distant.’

Ceri grinned. ‘It doesn’t seem to be affecting this lot much.’ Michael gave one of her breasts a squeeze to confirm that he was just as moonstruck as usual.

‘As I said, it’s probably nothing. I suggest you get into fur, and take that young man of yours to find some playmates for the evening.’

‘I think we’ll do that, if I can persuade him to let me go long enough to change.’

Michael gave a soft rumble, licked her ear with a very long tongue, and then lifted her up with him, hoisting her over his shoulder before starting off into the trees around the clearing.

‘Michael? I need to change,’ Ceri insisted. ‘It’s too cold…’

Use magic, he rumbled at her as he marched toward a group of six wolves who were already enjoying the traditional pack activities on a full moon.

Holloway, March 28th.

Cheryl Tennant looked a lot like a woman with too much on her plate. Considering that she was juggling three different planned generator projects in England, advising on another pilot in America, and holding discussions about another, far more adventurous, one in Australia, and she was heavily involved in the organisation for the next big thaumatology conference, her appearance of overwork was not unfounded.

‘Running lines across the North Sea is just ridiculous,’ she said as soon as Ceri walked into her office. ‘We can’t do it. Well, not on the timescales they’re talking about.’

‘And good morning to you too,’ Ceri replied.

Cheryl gave her a tired smile. ‘Sorry. Good morning. How did your meetings go?’

‘Remarkably well. I may have a solution to the Australian lines. Also, I had a thought about the distribution here. Actually, Gwyn had a thought: irrigation canals.’

The redheaded Doctor of thaumatology frowned. ‘Last part first… Irrigation canals?’

‘Mm, yes. When they used to build irrigation canals, they would siphon water off a river or lake…’

‘Much as we’re doing with the energy from the Rift.’

‘Uh-huh. Then they’d run it out to where it was needed down canals. The Water Board does it with the canals here too. They use the existing waterways to transfer water from one place to another. If we feed a branch off our existing line into the northbound lines…’

‘We don’t need to construct as many,’ Cheryl finished for her. ‘Would that work?’

‘I need to run the numbers. Natural lines are more liable to leakage, but maybe we can shore them up a bit.’

This time Cheryl’s smile was far brighter. ‘I suppose Gwyn knows more about irrigation than we might. What about the Australian problem?’

‘Guandosh demons.’

‘Never heard of them.’

‘No, they don’t get over here much. They’re aquatic, live in very deep water. Apparently they have some problems with running artificial lines through deep water. It’s the salinity. I’m pretty sure my tunnels don’t worry about that, but I was talking to their Lord and I’m getting some of his best people up to the castle to go over their methods. If I’m right, we get to trial a tunnel through the deep ocean and Ignash will owe me a big favour.’

Cheryl nodded thoughtfully. ‘I have a favour to ask then. I’d like to go over there for that meeting. I mean, I could be useful, and the chance to actually see the world the demons come from…’

‘Okay. We should ask Carter if he wants to come. Maybe if you two are there I can persuade Michael to go over.’

‘You didn’t have to think about that very hard.’

‘It’s safe enough. Aside from the visitors, everyone in the castle are det, common demons. They’re not that different from you. Well, aside from physically.’

Cheryl laughed. ‘No difference at all then. Now if I can just solve all the logistical problems with the conference, I’ll be a happy woman.’

‘I’m supposed to be helping…’

‘You have your hands full with the generator projects. The Americans want someone to check their proposals for their line, and you need to do this new idea for us and go over the deep water maths. I’ll manage. It’s just… Have you heard the expression “like herding cats?”’

Ceri giggled. ‘I’ve spent two days herding Demon Lords, cats are easy.’ Her expression shifted to thoughtful. ‘Though, actually, I didn’t do so much herding… Want some help?’

‘Ceri, I’d get down on my hands and knees in front of a Devos if I could make this easier.’

Ceri reached for the phone. ‘I’m glad you said that…’

~~~

Lily had decided that she wanted to hear about what was going on first hand, so she walked into Cheryl’s small office in the High Energy Thaumatology building along with her father and Gwyn. She was looking just a little bemused.

‘You’re going to put him to work?’ the half-succubus asked when she had heard Ceri’s plan.

‘Faran is an excellent organiser,’ Ceri replied, ‘especially when it’s people being organised. Gwyn used to run a whole city.’ She looked at her distant relative and added, ‘And you said you were feeling a little bored.’

Gwyn nodded. ‘Since Twill came back with Ishifa in tow, there’s very little for me to do around the house. I don’t have a job.’

‘I don’t really have a budget to pay either of you,’ Cheryl said, looking very much as though she was pushing away her best bet for a social life.

Gwyn waved away the statement. ‘Call it voluntary work. Mei brings in enough money for the both of us, and we don’t need much anyway. What I need is something to occupy me.’

‘I don’t,’ Faran stated, ‘but I’m sure we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement for my… services.’ He flashed Cheryl a fanged, predatory smile and she went beetroot red. ‘That said, both my daughter and my Overlord would skin me over a bed of hot coals if I took advantage. My needs are meagre and I’d be helping a friend.’

Cheryl managed to look both relieved and disappointed at the same time. ‘Well, thank you, both of you. With everything else that’s going on, getting time to do the basic administrative stuff is leaving me with no free time at all.’

‘Why don’t you show us what you need done?’ Gwyn suggested.

Ceri stood up and led Lily out of the office as Cheryl set to on her computer. ‘I can hear those cats purring like kittens already,’ the sorceress said, grinning.

‘Huh?’ Lily asked, looking confused.

‘Never mind, shekushka. Life just got a little easier, that’s all.’

Milbank, March 29th.

Avery Sachs sat in his heavily warded office wearing headphones so that no one else could hear the recordings he was listening to. He had arranged for the surveillance operation under the premise that the generator projects were high profile and those working on them should be watched for security purposes. There had been attempts to use the generator at Battersea for nefarious purposes, and attempts to kill both Cheryl Tennant and Ceridwyn Brent in the past. It was a matter of good stewardship to keep an eye on them now.

In truth, however, the counterintelligence officer had had other motives. He had explained the use of purely electronic bugs due to the interference they might get using scrying around the High Energy Thaumatology building, but in reality he did not want Ceri Brent to know what he was up to. He suspected that she was suspicious of him, and she was right to be. The last couple of weeks of recorded chatter had confirmed what he thought and given him some other information which was, quite frankly, beyond what he had even considered.

The problem was how to proceed. He was quite sure that one of his agents, Jennifer Mayhew, had been killed to protect Ceri’s secret. He was also quite sure that those responsible for that murder were gone. Ceri had found the body for him, with a lot of effort; she had not killed Jenny. But Sachs was still not sure that it was a secret that should be revealed.

Reaching out, he stopped the tape he was listening to and slipped off his headphones, a frown wrinkling his brow.

‘What am I going to do with you, Ceridwyn Brent?’ he mused to the empty room.

Part Two: The Fall of Angels

Soho, London, March 30th, 2013.

Ceri inched her dress down a little as she scanned her tables for signs that anyone might be in need of further inebriation. The garment was short enough without a slight tendency to shift up her body over time, especially when she was dodging groping paws. Not that she minded excessively, but there was nothing under it and there were decency laws.

The full moon was long enough past that the werewolves on three of her tables were just naturally ebullient, but they were still in a playful sort of mood. That was both checked and enhanced by the presence of Michael on a stool at the bar. Having her mate there meant that no one got very serious, but they felt they had more latitude for messing about. Werewolves could be contradictory creatures, but Ceri was used to them by now.

On the other side of the room, mostly, the fae were out in full force. The Seelie, and a reasonable number of the more modern Unseelie, had decided that the Tir inna Nok was their club: it was named after their version of paradise; one of the waitresses, Ophelia, was a Sidhe; and the theme was fae. All of that meant that the fae clientele had rocketed since the reopening. There were even fairies and sprites in, occupying one end of the bar where Carter had put small tables and chairs in just for tiny customers.

Alec, the werewolf bartender, had suggested the placement, then regretted it, and then decided it was not as bad as he had initially thought. Even the prank-prone sprites were loath to annoy the big black-fur, and the fairies were prone to flirting with him outrageously, confident that he would not actually take them up on the offer.

Alec was particularly happy tonight, and so was the immaculately dressed Carter. For the first time in several weeks, Cheryl had decided she could afford a Saturday night out. She was perched on a stool beside Michael, clad in a short tube of a dress which made the most of her figure. Her red hair was piled up into a slightly chaotic up-do which somehow suggested that she intended things to get a little wild later. Since both men shared her affections, they were both rather pleased about that.

‘Not so many undead in,’ Sasha commented as she walked back from a table run. Sasha was an attractive blonde with several vampire customers whom she liked.

‘In truth, they have been thinner on the ground since we reopened,’ Carter replied, ‘but they do seem lacking tonight. It’s not that long since the full moon though.’

Sasha nodded. While the fae had decided the place was theirs and came in constant numbers, along with humans who found the awesomely beautiful creatures exciting, the werewolf-to-vampire ratio naturally varied with the moon and always had. Vampires were more common when it was dark, werewolves when it was bright.

‘I like the new hair, Ceri,’ Sasha added, changing the subject entirely.

Ceri’s hands were drawn to pat at her new cut. She had gone back to shorter, if fuller, and her black hair now had more red around the fringe. ‘Long was starting to get annoying, but I’m pleased with it like this.’ She grinned. ‘Besides, Lily has enough to go around for all of us.’

On cue, the half-succubus strutted back toward the bar. Her long, auburn hair was currently thrust up into a ponytail by means of a conical, silver and ruby ornament which she had picked up in the Demon Realm as a gift from an admiring Lord. Ceri had checked it over before allowing her to wear it, but she had to admit that it was a gorgeous addition to a gorgeous woman. She suspected it was also a sneaky, indirect way of currying favour with the Overlord, and it had worked if only because she had gained some respect for that demon’s intelligence.

‘You’re looking happy, Shivika,’ Lily said, smiling at Ceri.

‘Where do you get these pet names from?’ Sasha asked. ‘What do you call Lily? Shek-something?’

‘Shekushka,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s Devotik, demon language. It means “sweet little morsel.”’ And Ceri was not going to explain Shivika. Carter knew it meant ‘Mistress’ but he seemed sanguine about Lily using it since she did seem to be employing it more as a pet name than an honorific. ‘And I am happy, yes. Crazy as it sounds, this is relaxing. No need to think, no great responsibilities, just aching feet and happy customers.’

‘I can get behind that idea,’ Cheryl agreed. ‘Well, not the aching feet. I am taking the rest of the weekend off, now that you’ve supplied me with some able assistance.’

‘Going to Chilcomb?’ Lily asked.

‘The three of us are,’ Alec replied.

‘Alec will drive me back on Monday morning,’ Cheryl said, ‘but tomorrow it’s going to be a relaxing day with nothing to do but entertain my men.’

‘Which is an idea I can get behind,’ Carter stated, his lips shifting as he tried not to smirk excessively.

Ophelia walked back from her tables, put her tray down with several empty glasses and a pile of cash on it, and sighed. ‘I honestly never thought I’d be doing this, let alone enjoying it.’ Reaching her arms up over her head, she stretched languorously. A couple of wolf whistles sounded from various parts of the room. She grinned, but did not look around. ‘I definitely didn’t think I’d find a bunch of horny werewolves lusting after my body quite so tolerable.’

‘That was not just the wolves,’ Michael pointed out.

‘And we said you’d do well,’ Sasha pointed out. ‘You were all “I can’t do this” the first night and look at you now. I’m still not getting the reaction from the fae you do.’

Ophelia looked at the blonde thoughtfully for a second. ‘I think we need to get you a little glamour. Nothing too excessive; a little goes a long way. Just a little fae magic and they’ll be eating out of your hand. I’ll arrange something.’ She held up a hand, palm toward Sasha. ‘Freely given, no strings attached.’

Lily’s eyebrows went up. ‘Are you sure you’re Unseelie, Ophelia?’

The raven-haired Sidhe gave a shrug. ‘I’m a very modern Unseelie. Sasha takes my tables on my breaks. If my customers are happier with her, I get bigger tips. Besides, she’s cute.’

Sasha, used to compliments given her looks, actually blushed.

Kennington, March 31st.

Michael sniffed at the large joint of meat, still on the bone, which had been placed in front of him. Sundays had changed a little since they had rather more people in the house. There was a dining table in the study so that everyone could sit around it, though Twill still preferred not to subject others to her eating habits, so she and Ishifa just had drinks. There were differences, and there were differences, however, and Michael was not entirely sure that roast demon meat was not a change too far.

‘What did you say it was called again?’ he asked.

‘tukta,’ Ceri replied.

‘Just try it,’ Lily suggested.

‘You know,’ he told them, ‘Twill does really amazing beef, and pork, and venison…’

‘Thank you, Michael,’ Twill said, ‘but try this. You never know, you might like it.’

Looking as though he was clearly about to be poisoned, the werewolf sank his teeth into the haunch, biting off a small chunk and then chewing for a second. His mouth stopped moving and his eyes widened.

‘Told you,’ Lily stated, grinning.

Michael swallowed; speaking with your mouth full in front of Twill was just asking for sarcasm. ‘I mean, it’s not Twill’s fae venison…’

‘That would be asking a lot,’ Ophelia commented as she started on her own plate of food.

‘Okay,’ Michael said, followed by another, far larger, bite.

‘Okay?’ Ceri asked.

Michael nodded, still chewing. ‘Okay,’ he said a second or two later, ‘if you really want me to go over there with Cheryl and Carter, I’ll go. Just…’

‘I’ll make sure they have some tukta in the larder,’ Ceri said, beaming.

~~~

Philip Rogers watched as his congregation filed out of St Marks, nodding to those he knew, smiling at those he did not. It was Easter Sunday, an important service, and there were far more there than usual. There had been something of an upturn in numbers recently, though he was not sure whether that was entirely a good thing.

First there had been the battles between opposing armies of angels during the Witch Hunter business. He had been a little more involved in that than he might have liked after Doctor Brent asked for his help. A few of his parishioners knew about that and they seemed to approve. Then there had been several very violent Samhains culminating in the fall of the dragons. Everyone knew that the supernatural was real; they could turn on the TV or read the newspapers to see it reported, but the last year or so had really thrust it into people’s faces. Many had become more… spiritual as a result.

Of course, there were many who had become more interested in magic. Rogers had heard rumours that demon and devil worship had increased in some areas. Some had turned to spiritualism and there was a roaring trade in mediums, both real and fake. Some, however, had seen angels on the news and taken it as a sign that God was real. For a man who believed in faith, they were not quite what he wanted to see. They had what they thought was knowledge, not faith. It was not quite the same.

With the last person gone, Rogers turned and walked back into the church, closing and locking the door behind him. He was walking down the aisle toward the vestry when he spotted someone still sitting among the pews.

It was no one Rogers recognised. He looked young, well-built, attractive in a slightly unkempt way, and healthy, but his expression suggested pain or sickness. He sat, almost sprawled, on the narrow seat with his arms wrapped tightly around himself and his head rolled forward.

‘I’m afraid I have to lock up for the night,’ Rogers said.

The young man looked up. His eyes were a startling blue and filled with such incredible pain that the vicar took an involuntary step back.

‘I… fell,’ the man said. ‘The pain…’

‘There’s a hospital close by…’

‘They can’t help me, Philip. I came here to be forgiven. I know not what for, but… Even here His voice is silent.’

Rogers swallowed. He fell… ‘What is your name?’

‘Jehoel. Or that was my name. Now… I can’t hear Him. Why, Philip? Why can’t I hear him?’

Rogers looked at the man. He was either what he claimed to be, or he was insane, and there was probably only one person who could resolve it one way or the other quickly.

‘Let me get changed,’ the vicar said, ‘and I’ll take you to someone who might be able to help.’

~~~

Ceri had not been one of the people who turned to religion after the fall of the dragons, so when she opened the front door of High Towers and found the local vicar standing there supporting a handsome young man in faded jeans and a T-shirt, she was a little surprised.

‘Philip,’ Ceri said, recovering quickly and putting a pleased-but-surprised tone in her voice. ‘Is there something I can help you with?’

‘Uh… sorry to bother you on a Sunday, but… This is Jehoel and he thinks he’s a fallen angel.’ Rogers was looking apologetic.

Ceri frowned, blinking her Sight on. The man calling himself Jehoel was solid enough, and that was unusual for an angelos, but he had an energy core around his soul bridge and his medians were all wrong. Whatever he was, he was not human.

‘You’d better bring him in. If he can get past the wards then he means no harm, but… Fallen are dangerous, Philip.’ She stepped back and the two men followed her into the hall.

‘I mean no harm,’ Jehoel said, his voice barely above a whisper.

‘Maybe so,’ Ceri told him. ‘Uh… hang on.’ She walked over to the stairs and called up, ‘Lily, Michael, we have guests.’ There was the sound of feet on the landing and she nodded before turning back to the angel. ‘If you’ve fallen you’ll begin to need to feed. The Fallen feed on people’s souls.’

‘He’s one of them?’ Rogers asked, swallowing hard.

‘He’s not human,’ Ceri replied, ‘but I’m not sure what he is. You’d better come up to the study. Maybe Gwyn or Mei have seen something like him before.’

~~~

‘We’ve got three more,’ Kate said down the telephone line. ‘Two are in holding cells at Greycoat Street, one’s in hospital at Kings. That last one was found unconscious on the top of Saint Paul’s. We were going to call you in to see what you thought, but…’

‘No one here has a clue,’ Ceri replied. ‘Well… Jehoel here isn’t, technically, alive, but he’s not undead either. He’s more like a construct, but he seems to need food. He’s looking a lot better than he did now we’ve fed him. He didn’t seem to think he needed it until there was food in his mouth, but… Anyway, there’s an internal thaumic source, but a lot of supernaturals have that. Philip says his theology is up to snuff. For want of another answer, these things were angels and now they’re…’ Her gaze shifted to look at the man sitting hunched in front of the fire and she lowered her voice. ‘Now they’re dying.’

‘What?!’

‘Gwyn’s better at this stuff than I am. She says he’s deteriorating at a cellular level. His physical structure is degrading. She gives him about a month before he falls apart.’

‘Oh.’ There was a slight pause and then, ‘Gwyn’s better at that than you?’

‘Every magician has their speciality, Kate.’

‘Yeah, true. Gwyn seems like she knows a lot though. Strange we’ve never heard of her.’

‘She kept herself to herself until… until the dragonfall. I was lucky she was there though.’

‘I should just stop asking about this, shouldn’t I? I probably don’t want to know the answer, do I?’

‘If we come up with anything, we’ll be in touch,’ Ceri said, not really answering the questions. ‘Anything on the rape-murder case?’

‘Nothing yet. If we get anything we’ll be in touch.’

‘Huh. Later then, Kate.’

Ceri hung up the phone and turned back to the others. ‘He’s not the only one. There are three others they’ve found, and I’m guessing there could be more. Jehoel, how many of your kind are there in London?’

The man looked up, seemed to consider for a second, and then said, ‘You refer to this expanse of buildings?’

‘Yes,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘It’s called London.’

He nodded acceptance of the term. ‘Perhaps two score, others who come and go.’

‘Forty,’ Rogers said. ‘There could be forty or more of these men around the city?’

‘Assuming this is only affecting the city,’ Gwyn pointed out. ‘They may not all be men. Angelos tend to be androgynous, and while Jehoel is clearly male now, some may have incarnated as females.’

‘What, if I might ask,’ Mei began in her quiet, contemplative voice, ‘do you remember of the time immediately before your materialisation?’ The pretty Chinese woman had been largely silent throughout the proceedings, as was her way.

‘I…’ Jehoel frowned. ‘It’s like trying to remember something that happened years ago. I can’t even remember what it was like. I remember being in His sight, and then it was as though a cloud was passing in front of the sun. I woke up outside the church and went inside. I thought that… that in His house I might…’ He shook his head. ‘But there was nothing. Merely stone and the chatter of humans.’

Ceri looked at Gwyn. ‘A spell capable of blocking interaction with a deity, over a large area?’

‘I’m unaware of any such working. We could probably formulate something…’

‘All right…’ Ceri slumped. ‘I’ve got so much to do! And you’ve got the conference work now… This is all we need.’ Frowning she turned to Rogers. ‘I’d offer him a room, but I don’t think he’d approve of our lifestyle and, frankly, I’ve no rooms left.’

The vicar nodded. ‘You’ve been more than accommodating and, given his nature, I think it’s my job to find him a roof to put over his head. Jehoel, we should go. These ladies have much to do if they are to get you back where you belong.’

The angel got to his feet and started toward the door without a word. Rogers frowned at his retreating back. ‘I’ll thank you for him,’ the vicar said.

Ceri shrugged. ‘Angels aren’t noted for their politeness. I’m kind of used to it.’

~~~

‘Some form of entrapment spell?’ Ceri suggested. ‘I’ve used it on an angel before now.’ She was sitting in the lounge beside the fire with Gwyn and Mei. The latter was not the sorceress the other two were, but she still constituted a valuable resource given that they had no idea where they were going with this one.

‘That might explain their fall from grace,’ Gwyn said, ‘but it would need to be combined with something else to solidify them. Fallen are just as immaterial as angels under normal conditions.’

‘They have been materialised,’ Mei said, ‘and then forced to maintain that state. Does this not suggest a Spirit Lock?’

‘They need to be maintained,’ Gwyn said. ‘It would require a team of magicians working around the clock. A very large team.’

‘I’ll talk to the Greycoats,’ Ceri said. ‘Something that massive should have their scryers in a fit.’

‘Ceri!’ Ophelia’s voice from the TV couch. She was sitting watching the evening news with Lily and they had both been quiet until now. ‘You’d better see this…’

Ceri stood, focussing on the large screen at the end of the room and the sound coming from it. The video was what looked like stock footage of a shopping mall out on the eastern side of London, but the voiceover was a lot more interesting.

‘…remains were unidentifiable and police have been unable to determine where it fell from. Three people were injured by falling glass as the body crashed through the roof of the shopping centre. The scene of carnage on the floor beneath was described as “horrific.” Later in the day it was announced that detectives from Greycoat Street would be taking over the investigation suggesting that the victim and the crime were supernatural. No one from the Greycoats was available for comment.’

‘Whoever it was,’ Lily said, ‘they apparently fell a long way out of a clear sky.’

‘So,’ Ceri mused, ‘whatever happened, it’s still happening. Any angel that gets too close gets transformed.’

‘Which begs the question,’ Gwyn said, ‘what happens if they leave the area?’

Holloway, April 1st.

‘We got him as far as Brent Reservoir,’ Kate said, ‘going out on the A-Five. Then he just… evaporated. I sort of felt him going so we’re pretty sure he didn’t die.’

‘I didn’t notice a damn thing,’ John stated. ‘We were sitting in the back of the ambulance watching this guy. One minute he’s there and the next… poof! You’d think he’d at least let us know he’s okay.’

Ceri gave a shrug. ‘I’ve never met an angel I didn’t want to strangle. We’re beneath them. No, that’s wrong, they just don’t have a clue about human feelings. They’re too focussed on whatever deity they’re in favour with.’ She frowned. ‘So that’s about five miles out of the centre of the city.’

‘Roughly,’ John agreed.

‘One data point does not tell you much,’ Cheryl chimed in. She was headed for the kitchen with Gwyn and Faran.

‘She’s right,’ Ceri agreed. ‘It could be a hundred miles from somewhere south of here.’

John gave a shrug. ‘We’ve got two more angels we can deport. If they think they’re going back home I doubt they’ll object. What are Gwyn and Faran doing here?’

‘Cheryl was going frazzled with the conference organisation and I’m no help.’

‘Yes you are,’ Cheryl called out. ‘You mean I don’t have to deal with the generator project details.’

‘I’m no help,’ Ceri repeated. ‘Gwyn’s got very good organisation skills and Faran is pretty good too. Plus, he’s great at handling people, even over the phone.’

The incubus poked his head around the door. ‘Admittedly my linguistic skills are more usually employed in talking people out of their clothes…’ His eyes fell on Kate and her cheeks flushed almost instantly.

‘But he can get someone to do just about anything if he needs to,’ Ceri stated a little too quickly. ‘So they’re helping Cheryl, which has the added advantage of keeping me out of most of it. I’m much better with numbers than people.’

‘You do yourself a disservice, Shivika,’ Faran commented before turning back into the kitchen.

‘Shivika?’ Kate asked.

‘It’s Devotik,’ Ceri replied. ‘He’s being funny.’

‘Looks like it worked, you’re blushing.’

‘Faran and I have been playing a game since he sorted things out with Lily. He tries to get me into bed and I reject him.’

‘You reject that?’ Kate asked, wide-eyed. ‘He’s like a male Lily!’

Ceri gave a weak grin. ‘It’s not always easy, but neither of us really wants it to happen. He was around when I got drunk recently and he absented himself rather than win with me off my game. You’ll try taking the other angels out of town? I could get in touch with Jehoel if you want another one. He’s likely to be anxious to get out.’

‘We’ll start with our two,’ John replied. ‘East and south. See where that gets us.’

Kennington.

‘Have they stopped with the pranks?’ Ceri asked as she walked into the lounge.

‘Uh-huh,’ Lily replied. ‘At least I think so. Ophelia’s gone over to the castle and I haven’t had anything weird happen since I got back from shopping.’

‘That’s why you’re dressed in a bra and knickers then? I thought they looked new. And anyway, you never normally wear either.’

Lily gave a giggle. ‘Like them?’

Ceri sat down beside her girlfriend, running a hand over the nearest thigh. ‘Uh-huh.’

After a sigh, Lily said, ‘Well I nodded off after you got up and when I woke up I’d been tied to the bed. I didn’t really mind that. The pepper in the coffee wasn’t so good. I decided I should leave before it got worse.’

‘Having three fae in the house on April Fool’s Day was probably not the best idea.’

‘Nuh-huh, but I got some sexy undies out of it. I was a little surprised at Twill though.’

‘I think Ishifa is reminding her of her youth. Ophelia just never grew up. You know, they don’t even play tricks on each other in Otherworld.’

‘Playing pranks on Unseelie seems like a bad idea,’ Lily commented. ‘News is on.’ Her attention focussed on the TV set.

Ceri pouted and leaned over to kiss her throat. ‘But I wanted to unwrap my present…’

‘After the news,’ Lily said firmly and Ceri sat back on her seat. Lily had become almost addicted to the evening news after her father had been the main item on it and, even if it was putting their sex life on hold for thirty minutes, Ceri had to admit that it was a useful habit.

‘Tonight on the Six O’Clock News…’ the presenter announced with an over-dramatic pause after it. ‘The Church of England has refused to comment on the plague of falling angels, or on the claims made by one fundamentalist Christian group that London is now so depraved that no angel can enter without being damned.’ Or maybe it was not so over-dramatic.

Ceri picked up her tablet and began searching news feeds as the presenter continued. ‘A Christian religious organisation known as the Watchers of Saint John claimed today that the City of London has been decreed blasphemous by God. Leader of the Watchers, Simon Ziel, gave a press conference this afternoon and had this to say.’

The picture cut to what was obviously a press conference in what looked like a disused church, not old, but lacking a lot of the paraphernalia Ceri would have expected. There was a very large, oak cross mounted on the wall behind the speaker though it looked a little odd to Ceri.

‘Exodus, chapter twenty-two, verse eighteen…’ the voice from the TV intoned.

‘Here we go again,’ Ceri muttered.

‘…thou shall not suffer a sorceress to live. Leviticus, chapter nineteen, verse twenty-six, thou must not practise divination or sorcery. And yet this very city has constructed buildings to study magic. It seeks to power its lights through magic. It allows the dead to walk among the living and its parks are home to beast-men.’

Ceri looked up. Ziel was a tall, attractive man with the kind of black hair you saw in movies, strong features, and blue eyes which blazed at the audience in his moment of righteousness. She imagined he was probably very charismatic to many, but she had seen people with real charisma; compared to Oberon, Ziel was a rank amateur.

‘We have learned that the angels we all know watch us from on high are unable to come within five miles of this city of depravity and corruption. The man who fell to earth through the roof of a mall was one such being. Others have been found, lost and unable to communicate with their God. A God who has turned His sight away from this place before He destroys it. Leviticus, chapter twenty, verse six, whoever turns to mediums and spiritualists, and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person.’

‘Oh… goody,’ Lily moaned. ‘Just what we need, another Bible-quoting nut job.’

The screen had cut back to the presenter, but all she had to say was that no one in government was willing to talk about the matter and Ceri mentally switched the TV to mute as she focussed on her tablet.

‘Looks like several evening papers are reporting it. The Watchers… Ah, here we go. The Watchers of Saint John were founded about fifteen years ago by Ziel, weird spelling. They’re named for the John who wrote Revelations. They believe that Revelations is a literal transcript of a conversation John had with Jesus and originally they believed that the end of the world was coming at the turn of the millennium. Have you ever read Revelations?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Lily said, nodding. ‘After the Witch Hunter business and America. I want to know what he was smoking. I mean, I didn’t think they had LSD back then.’

‘There’s a mould that grows on wheat that does the same thing.’

‘He was on that then. I mean, locusts shaped like horses with the faces of men, the hair of women, and crowns? Oh, and scorpion tails.’

‘Well, the Watchers… That’s another name for the Grigori. Interesting. The Watchers are quite sure it’s all going to happen fairly literally. We’ve had our thousand years of Satan being locked in the Pit, and now he’s out and deceiving us with lies.’

‘As opposed to deceiving us with the truth?’

‘Yeah, that’s what politicians do. The question is, how did they find out about the angels in the first place?’

Westminster, April 2nd.

‘We traced the leak to our ambulance driver,’ Kate stated, her eyes scanning her notes. ‘He’s a member of this cult.’

‘You’re calling them a cult?’ Ceri asked.

‘Not officially.’ Chief Inspector Barry gave Kate a withering look before continuing. ‘We can’t charge him with anything, but at least we know how the information got out. I’m more concerned at the moment about public reaction to Ziel’s speech.’ Barry was ex-military, a solid man and a good detective. He wore his years of dealing with supernatural crime like a very heavy cloak and the stress was definitely starting to tell around his eyes.

‘Is anyone actually going to take him seriously?’ John grumbled. ‘He’s a fruit cake.’

‘He’s a fruit cake who got the prime slot on the evening news,’ Lily pointed out. ‘And a lot of people have gone a little funny about spiritual stuff after all that’s happened over the last few years.’

Barry grunted, possibly in agreement. ‘We’ve tightened security at the power plant and increased patrols around the universities, just in case. There is, however, a complication.’ He tapped a button on a tablet sitting on the conference room table and a screen lit up behind him showing a map of London with three points marked on it. ‘These are where our guests vanished. This is why I actually asked you to come in.’

Ceri peered at the three dots, mentally joining them up. ‘You know, that does look like the centre point would be around Battersea…’

Another tap produced a vaguely circular shape on the map, hovering over the general area of the power station. ‘The mathematicians say it’s hazy, given the inexact points of reference, and there only being three of them, but the centre of the effect is somewhere in there.’

‘And the power station is right in the centre of that blob,’ Ceri added, frowning.

‘So the complication is that the nut job might be right?’ Lily asked.

‘Pretty much,’ Barry growled.

‘I’d better get Cheryl and go in to take a look,’ Ceri muttered. ‘There’s no way the generator could be doing this, but…’

‘But what?’

‘This effect would take a huge amount of power to run constantly.’

‘And,’ Kate said, ‘there’s a core region close to thirty thaums in there.’

‘Is that a lot?’ John asked.

‘Let’s put it this way,’ Ceri told him, ‘you need more than sunblock to go in there.’

Battersea.

There was a crowd outside the gates of the power station, several of them waving placards with various religious-sounding slogans daubed on them. John drove Ceri and Cheryl in slowly with Kate watching the protestors, but it seemed peaceful enough, if noisy.

Michael was waiting for them at the main entrance, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and a pair of moccasins, but with a name badge clipped to his waistband which made him look rather more official than Ceri was used to.

‘Michael?’ Ceri said as she got out of the car. ‘They called you in?’

‘About that lot outside,’ he corrected, ‘but when I heard you were coming over I said I’d take you in.’

‘Oh, the “pack liaison” thing?’

He nodded. ‘We’re keeping an eye on things out there. We’ve got Brian and Lynn in skin watching them in shifts. The other guards are under orders to steer clear.’

Ceri nodded in turn and glanced at the two cops. ‘Brian and Lynn are Guards, good people, very good at being unnoticed. They helped at the conference last year.’ She turned back. ‘Let’s get this done with. Did you get me something to wear, Michael?’

‘Torpen’s got a boiler suit, boots, and a hardhat for you. I don’t think he realises what you’re up to, but I figured they’d do.’

‘He’ll freak,’ Cheryl predicted.

~~~

Horace Torpen, supervising engineer at the plant, watched as Ceri pulled her T-shirt over her head and then spun on the spot, his cheeks flaming red. Cheryl gave him a smile as though Ceri stripping in public was just normal practice. From the way Michael was behaving, you would think it was.

‘Has there been anything unusual here in the last few days?’ Cheryl asked.

‘No,’ Torpen growled. He was not an agreeable man at the best of times and being embarrassed was not making him more pleasant. ‘Well, we had a slight fluctuation in output a few days ago. It stabilised.’

‘That shouldn’t happen,’ Ceri stated flatly. ‘There’s a buffer built into the enchantments on the central pylon. That should absorb any fluctuations in input over a short period.’ She was not about to mention that the buffer was there as a start-up reservoir for an inter-dimensional gate, but it had turned out to be useful anyway.

‘Well, it happened. What is it you’re planning to do, Doctor Brent?’

‘I need to take a look inside the generator,’ Ceri replied. ‘Someone may have done something to it.’

‘Inside… You’re going into the circles?!’ He turned around just as Ceri zipped up her bright orange boiler suit. ‘Are you insane?!’

‘Well… that’s a matter of opinion, but I’ve lived through worse than what’s inside there and I’m not risking anyone else. Now, when I come out I’m heading straight for the isolation box.’ She indicated a metal box about ten feet by five feet sitting in a corner of the room. ‘No one gets in my way. I don’t think it’ll be too bad, but it’s best to be cautious.’

‘That’s meant as a refuge,’ Torpen said. ‘It’s supposed to keep magic out if something goes wrong.’

‘Yes, but there are thaumometers inside and out, and it’ll keep anything I’m carrying in. Now, let me do my job and we can be out of your hair.’ It was not, perhaps, the most tactful of phrases to use; the engineer did not have that much hair to be in. Turning, Ceri headed for the structure which took up much of the middle of the room.

The generator was a rather clever construction based, very loosely, on Stonehenge. There was an outer circle of eighty pylons, each a stack of geodesic devices which Cheryl had invented to turn thaumic energy into electricity. They also acted as the outer layer of a harmonic system which concentrated energy within the ring and negated it outside, but Ceri could still feel the slight rise as she got within a couple of yards of the metalwork.

She blinked on her Sight, and quickly blinked it off again. The energy flowing within the circle made any view beyond the mundane a confusion of shifting streams and colours. She was probably not going to find anything that way.

Beyond the first ring the tension in the back of her neck jumped markedly. She was in a strong magical field, maybe ten thaums, and it would be stronger closer to the inner circle of thirty-three transducer pylons. Still, she had a job to do and she started doing it. If someone had tossed something into the circle then it would likely be here, outside the inner circle, but probably close to it. She walked around, scanning the concrete floor for anything which should not have been there.

There was nothing. In truth she was not sure she had expected to find anything since the power driving the spell probably needed to be more than it was going to get even at the very edge of the inner ring. She slipped through between two of the inner pylons and her skin began to tingle.

In here the readings they had got were up above twenty-eight thaums, pushing twenty-nine. At thirty and above probability tended to throw up its hands and cry foul. Twenty-nine was just about safe, but long-term exposure to it was likely to result in… interesting issues. The only ‘natural’ areas of the world with this level of energy were the three sites in Germany where thaumic bombs had been detonated at the start of the Shattering. Feeling as though her skin was trying to crawl off the top of her head, Ceri began walking around the circle, searching for the source of the spell though not really knowing what to look for.

It was only when she turned to the central pylon that she found it. Right in the centre of the generator, sunk into the concrete and then into the ground beneath, was a hexagonal, granite rod carved with glyphs. Naturally black, it shone from the energy being directed through it. Around that were four columns of transducers, and there were more mounted over it. The whole structure was about twenty feet in height, but the thing Ceri was looking for was at the bottom.

It was a metal cube with the edges and corners sheared off. Moving closer, she peered at it, shading her eyes against the glare from the rod. She could easily see two of the faces and those were carved with intricate patterns of tiny glyphs. Her fists clenched and she blanched at the sight of them; if the position the cube was in was not a big enough clue, the glyphs were draconic. A demon could have survived in the inner circle, but they would not use draconic glyphs in an enchantment.

Standing, she slipped back out to stand inside the outer ring where she could call out. ‘I need a camera shielded to work in high-energy areas. There’s something in here and I don’t want to move it until I know what it is.’

Kennington.

‘And this was in the centre of your generator?’ Gwyn asked.

Ceri nodded. The hall of High Towers now hosted a six-foot-wide copy of the cube she had found in the power station. More specifically, she had carefully transcribed the glyphs on it into the air in the same pattern they had been created in.

‘Well… this is definitely what’s causing the effect we’ve observed.’ Gwyn pointed out a sequence of runes curling around near one corner of the nearest face. ‘These deal with the materialisation of the immaterial.’

Nodding again, Ceri said, ‘Energy-mass conversion structures. I got that bit. There’s a section on the other side dealing with transformations.’

Gwyn smiled, rather proudly, and moved around a face. ‘Did you get this part?’ She pointed at a sequence near the bottom.

‘Uh… opening, breaching, release… Shit! I was right not to move it.’

‘I suspect the trigger is on the underside. Lift it out and it would breach the containment of the circles.’

‘We’d have a thaumic bomb going off in central London.’

‘There may be other little booby traps in other places. There is a lot of enchantment here just to create the spell transforming the angels.’

‘It’s going to take ages to work this out,’ Ceri whined. ‘I’ve got you doing the conference and I’ve got all the generator projects to do, and I need to come up with my presentation. I don’t have a clue what I’m going to give them this year. Mei has a job…’

‘I think,’ Gwyn said carefully, ‘that it’s time to mend some bridges with Edward. If you wish, I can go…’

‘No. No, you’re right. He’s the only other person I know who could figure this out and if I’m going to ask him… Well, I think it should be me who asks him.’

Aberystwyth, Wales.

The magical studies building at Aberystwyth was an imposing sort of structure, if you approached it from the right angle. Ceri had heard it described as a ‘Wrenaissance’ building; architecture was not her strong point and all she knew was that it was built of local stone and had a lot of French windows.

That was at the front. If you walked through the glorious interior and headed out one side you entered a far more prosaic, younger extension. There you would find stairs down into the basement, which was where Professor Edward Perry had his office.

Ceri knocked and heard ‘Come’ from the other side of it. She pushed the door open and walked in. Ed did not look up from the papers he was marking. He looked just the same as he had, but more so. As the dragon Athro he had taught sorcery, and as Ed Perry he taught thaumatology, and he fitted the role of slightly eccentric college professor perfectly. His salt-and-pepper hair looked a little greyer and far more unkempt. His tweed jacket was on the back of his chair; his shirts had always been badly ironed, but this one looked as though it had missed being washed the last few times. ‘Be right with you,’ Ed added when no one had spoken to him for a second or two.

Pushing the door closed, Ceri applied a little magic to keep it that way. When she looked around again, Ed had lifted his head, sensing the energy release. She saw his face shift as tiny expressions flickered across it: pain, loss, relief. The one it settled on was fear.

‘Ed,’ Ceri said, ‘I know I said I’d kill you if I saw you again, but I’m not going to teleport a couple of hundred miles to do it.’

‘Uh, no,’ he said after a second, his voice carrying a soft Welsh accent. ‘I never took you for unreasonably murderous.’

‘No, I’m just reasonably murderous. Look, I need your help, but that’s an excuse… I… Maybe I was a little harsh…’

‘You weren’t,’ Ed replied. ‘I’m a coward. I could have come forward with Cheryl’s whereabouts straight after the fall, but I was scared of how you’d react…’

‘You stopped Huanglong from having her killed, messily if his other work is anything to go by. You stood up to him on that at least and you deserve more credit for it.’

‘Still, I’m sorry…’

‘Not to me, Ed,’ Ceri stated flatly. ‘Apologise to Cheryl. I’m not a great believer in “I was only following orders,” but you were under duress. You did what you could. Mei was the same and I forgave her.’

‘Can we take my apology as read then, and move on? I’ll talk to Cheryl first chance I get.’

‘That may be sooner than you think.’ Taking her tablet from her bag, Ceri tapped up an animation showing the reconstructed cube and passed it across to Ed. ‘What do you make of that?’

‘A tesseract-form enchantment,’ Ed stated immediately. ‘That is old school. I haven’t seen anyone use one in… centuries at least. The glyph sequences construct a fourth dimensional inner construct…’

‘That’s what Gwyn said. Do you think you can work out exactly what it does?’

‘Well… no. You’re missing one of the sides. I can work out almost precisely what it does, but you could be missing something vital.’ He frowned. ‘These glyphs are too small to read properly, but…’

‘They’re draconic, Ed. Someone who knows how to build enchantments using draconic symbology has made something which is causing angels to solidify in London. And they’re using the generator to power it. I need… an expert, and you are about as expert as it gets.’

‘Gwyn could…’

‘Gwyn has a lot on her plate at the moment. I’ve got her helping Cheryl with the conference. She can help. Hell, I doubt you could stop her, but she’s got Cheryl’s sanity in her hands. I’ve got several generator projects and two worlds to juggle. Will you help?’

‘Of course I will.’ His expression said he was just glad she had got over her feelings for him in order to ask.

Mayfair, London.

Ceri had not really been in the mood for Demi-monde, but she had been faced with Gwyn, Twill, and Mei telling her that she needed to relax, and she needed to pay some more attention to Lily. The latter reason had been mean, but also true. Lily had got all dressed up for her, and then there had been the news break and they had been running from crisis to crisis ever since. So they had gone to Mayfair.

As they approached the club, however, they both started wondering if it was such a good idea. There was a woman, short and a little dumpy, standing outside the building with a placard which proclaimed ‘Babylon is Here.’ She was waving it at anyone passing by and saying something or other to them. The reaction she was getting in most cases was a quickening of pace.

As Ceri approached with Lily, both wearing long, leather coats, the woman eyed them, decided they looked like customers, and stepped forward. ‘And He cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird! Go thee not into this foul and depraved place lest you be judged.’

Ceri came to a stop, saying nothing, but she looked down into the woman’s eyes.

The woman looked back, then quickly at Lily, and then back to Ceri. Her mouth hardened. ‘If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable thing. They must be put to death, their blood is on their own hands.’

It was entirely the wrong thing to say. Ceri felt the anger surge, felt her dragon-self rising to the surface, and knew her eyes were changing. She did not care. ‘Go. Away,’ Ceri growled. The woman’s eyes widened and she backed away. Then she turned and hurried down the street away from the door.

‘Did you use magic on her?’ Lily asked quietly as they walked up to the door with its subtle little plaque.

‘No, that would be illegal. I just glared at her.’

‘You did the eye thing, didn’t you?’

Ceri pushed the door open. ‘She got me angry.’

Reynolds, the stiff-looking man who greeted the guests, was there as usual. He was one of the few members of staff who wore clothes, unless you counted leather jeans or a body harness as clothes. Today, however, Mistress Arabella was with him.

The owner of the club was the kind of woman who made a strict corset look great. Her décolletage was being pushed and pressed into particularly impressive form tonight, and the floor-length, silk skirt split all the way up the front, just added to the look. She looked like a thoroughly self-assured woman, a dominatrix, which was exactly what she was.

‘You seem to have scared off our protestor,’ Arabella said, smiling as Ceri removed her coat.

‘She annoyed me,’ Ceri replied. ‘I told her to go away. I’ve been getting a lot better at glaring at people recently.’ She handed her coat to a woman in a strappy, leather harness and then went to sign in.

‘The poor girl has been out there since about midday. I think she deserves a rest. Lily is rather more dressed than usual…’

Ceri straightened up and looked around. She had dressed Lily in the new lingerie she had bought and a pair of black high-heeled pumps. She had also left out all the jewellery Lily was fond of wearing to the club, but her hair was pulled back into a ponytail by the conical ornament she wore at work. She still looked both gorgeous and every bit the submissive.

‘I’m trying to teach her that she doesn’t have to be naked to be my pet,’ Ceri said.

Arabella contemplated Lily for a second. ‘She’s not actually wearing much.’

‘Baby steps, Arabella. Um, a favour… Where do you get your clothes from?’

~~~

Ceri let out a soft groan as Lily’s hands worked over the muscles in her lower back. The baths at the club were perfect for massages and Ceri never passed up an opportunity for a really good massage from Lily.

‘Mistress?’ Lily said, her voice soft. ‘Why were you asking about Mistress Arabella’s clothes?’

‘I thought her designer might be able to work something up for us.’

‘Hmm, yes, some demonic corsetry.’

‘I don’t have the bust for the kind of dresses Arabella wears. I think something a bit like the fae witch dress, but… more… demony.’

‘Is “demony” a word?’

‘No.’ Ceri let out a soft moan as Lily’s hands shifted to a tense patch at the base of her spine.

‘Mistress is working too hard,’ Lily commented. ‘Her neck felt like it had iron rods in it.’

‘Now it feels like rubber bands,’ Ceri replied with a sigh.

‘Mistress needs to relax more.’ Lily’s hands slid between Ceri’s thighs, her fingers quickly finding the spot she was looking for.

Ceri let out a tiny squeak. ‘This is the quiet pool, pet.’

Lily began a slow circling motion which she knew drove Ceri nuts. ‘Mistress will have to be quiet then.’

Holloway, April 3rd.

‘Ceri,’ Cheryl said as she walked into the office her assistant had been allocated, ‘what are you wearing?’

Ceri looked down at her corset and skirt. ‘I came straight from the club. Lily and I had a very relaxing evening and I am feeling thoroughly refreshed and ready to face murders, falling angels, and aquatic thaumatology problems.’

‘That’s just mean.’ Cheryl’s gaze shifted to Lily who was apparently looking for research papers on the other computer in the room. The second office had been built for two, but Cheryl had never replaced her other assistant. ‘You don’t want to take your coat off, Lily?’

Lily took her hand away from the mouse, stood up, turned to face Cheryl, and opened up her coat to reveal the lacy bra and thong under it. ‘I came straight from the club too.’

‘That is just… cruel and unusual, but I should’ve seen it coming.’

As Lily sat back down Ceri said, ‘Lily’s hunting for some papers I need, and she’s available to make coffee and generally be useful.’

‘At least until lunch,’ Lily added. ‘I’m working tonight and I want some time to myself before then.’

‘Well, thank you,’ Cheryl said, smiling. ‘Gwyn and Faran are a godsend. Gwyn’s got everything organised like clockwork and Faran is talking the suppliers into whatever we need. He’s got the administrative heads of the two colleges eating out of his hand. Well, he has one and a rather attractive blonde has the other, but I’m ignoring the abuse of demonic power if it keeps them sweet.’

‘Dad always has been good at twisting people in knots. Of course, he has certain natural advantages, but he’s just got a lot of talent with social skills on top of that.’

‘He certainly is skilled,’ Cheryl agreed.

Lily looked around at her. ‘He’s persuaded you into the broom closet, hasn’t he?’

‘It was on that desk, actually,’ Cheryl replied, managing to keep her voice casual, though her cheeks were colouring.

‘I’ll have him tortured next time we’re in the castle,’ Ceri suggested. ‘No, wait, I never employed a torturer.’

‘We could put him in a few of the machines though,’ Lily countered. ‘Maybe the ones we haven’t worked out yet.’

Cheryl frowned. ‘You actually have a torture chamber?’

‘Faran wouldn’t let me rip it out,’ Ceri replied. ‘Aside from the scare factor he says that it’s the greatest collection of torture instruments in the world. It’s lacking a lot of more modern inventions…’

‘Thank God,’ Lily put in.

‘…but it’s a really amazing collection. I have to admit, some of the things down there are kind of beautiful… as long as you don’t think about what they do.’

‘We have the other kind of dungeon too,’ Lily pointed out. ‘Hiffy has added some very interesting equipment to that too.’

Ceri winced. ‘Demons have a lot of time on their hands to, uh, invent ways of making things interesting, no matter what the type of, um, torture you’re interested in.’

‘Any thoughts on when you’re doing that conference there?’ Cheryl asked.

‘I’ll go over there at the weekend and arrange it,’ Ceri replied. ‘I want to do it soon though, because the Australian project depends on the results.’

Cheryl gave a smile. ‘Isn’t it nice to be cursed with living in interesting times?’

Battersea.

‘We found a rather confused man wandering down the railway line two days ago,’ Alexandra said. ‘He seemed to think he was an angel, so we put him up at Acre Lane.’

Ceri nodded. ‘If he can get about five miles away from here he can go back to whatever god he owes allegiance to.’

‘I’ll get word to Andrea at the shelter.’ The old werewolf looked over Ceri’s shoulder to where Michael was sitting, arms wrapped around his mate. ‘Michael is still kicking himself that someone got into the station to plant that thing.’

Ceri reached up and slapped Michael’s muzzle. ‘Well stop it. Whoever did it was quite possibly a dragon, and at the very least they had access to very advanced enchantment. You’re good, but you know I could get past you no trouble if I used magic.’

Michael gave a grumbling acknowledgement, but Ceri suspected he was not going to give up the guilt just yet.

‘Other than that,’ Alexandra went on, ‘things have been quiet. The protests at the station are giving a little concern, but they remain peaceful so far.’

‘No sign of them coming over here? There was one of them outside Demi-monde last night.’

‘I’ve had reports of a couple of them walking past, but no protests. Anita has increased the standing guard around the island, just in case.’

‘That sounds like a plan.’ Ceri patted Michael’s arm. ‘Come on, let me get into fur and we’ll go do a border run. There’s that spot you like down by Eagle Pond. I’ll let you catch me there.’

Michael gave a rumbling growl and Alexandra laughed. ‘You’re not supposed to let them know we allow them to catch us, dear. It takes all the mystery away.’

Mayfair.

Ishifa peered around the interior of the Dubh Linn as though she might get eaten at any moment. It was not actually an entirely unreasonable fear; some of the inhabitants of the pub would have considered a fairy as a potential light snack, which was why there was a pipe running from the roof of the building down to the solid, polished wood bar.

‘Come, Ishifa,’ Twill said as she dropped to the end of the bar, ‘it’s not the most civilised of places, but Sean won’t let anything happen to us.’ She was speaking Low Fae rather than English, which was nice for Ishifa. Her English was still distinctly fragmentary.

As Ishifa landed, the tall, saturnine barman stalked toward them, a smile on his handsome features. He was Sidhe, you could just tell from the dark good looks and the slight glamour which hung around him like an aura of masculinity.

‘Mistress Wintergreen,’ Sean began.

‘Twill,’ Twill corrected. ‘My family has disowned me for one thing, and “Gloriandel” is too much of a mouthful.’

The Sidhe’s smile broadened. ‘Mistress Twill, then, always a pleasure to see you in my humble establishment, and who is your pretty young friend?’ Ishifa just about melted.

‘This is Ishifa Bushbottom, my fellow exile. Ishifa, this is Sean Finn Connell, and don’t let his charm fool you, he’s a rogue.’

Sean clutched at his chest. ‘You wound me, Mistress Twill. Make it up to me, let me show you…’

‘That trick you learned with a pencil eraser? I think not. Two glasses of mead, please.’

Still smiling, Sean dipped his hand under the counter to retrieve two small, fairy-sized glasses. ‘O’course, Mistress Twill, but the offer’s always there. Perhaps your friend would like to try?’

Ishifa let out a squeak and fought the urge to hide behind Twill. ‘N-no thank you, Mister Connell.’

Sean grinned at her and poured out two measures of mead while Twill unfolded a five pound note from her bag. ‘It’s Sean, kid. Only people who ever called me Mister Connell are long dead.’ He took Twill’s money and walked off to the till.

‘Twill?’ Ishifa asked.

‘Yes, dear?’

‘Why would he even want to…? I mean, how would I be able to… uh… well, satisfy him?’

‘I’m sure I wouldn’t know,’ Twill replied, lifting her glass and taking a drink.

‘Oh… Sorry.’ A little dejectedly, since she seemed to have upset her not-mistress-anymore, Ishifa tried her mead. Her head felt swimmy almost immediately.

Twill sighed. ‘I only did it once. A favour for a favour. It’s a lot of hard work and then you have to spend ages getting goo off your wings.’

Sean returned with the change, cutting off any reply, which was fine as far as Twill was concerned. ‘What brings you out to these parts?’ he asked. ‘If you’ll be begging my pardon, young Ishifa seems to be a little sensitive for the Dubh Linn.’

‘I’m seventy-three!’ Ishifa protested.

‘Oh well, all grown up.’ His tone implied otherwise, which was fair given the age fairies lived to.

‘More to the point,’ Twill broke in, ‘she’s been exiled here just as I have. I’m showing her around the town when I can and, strange as it is to say it, this is one place where a fairy can come if she’s in trouble.’

Sean gave a grudging nod. ‘The Lady wouldn’t let either of you come to harm here.’

‘The Lady?’ Ishifa asked. Then her eyes widened. Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘The Dubh Linn… The Lady of the Black Pool lives here?’

‘In a way,’ Sean replied. ‘A rumour you might be interested in,’ he went on, apparently changing the subject. ‘Well, less a rumour and more a fact, really. Hildegard Braun was in here Tuesday night.’

Twill’s eyebrows went up. ‘Above ground? Her?’

Sean nodded. ‘First time I’ve seen her, or heard of her coming up, in a couple of years.’

‘Who did she kill?’

‘No one. Came in looking for information, as best I can tell. Questioned a couple of vamps and then left.’

‘Sorry,’ Ishifa said, ‘but who are we talking about?’

‘Hildegard Braun is a vampire,’ Twill replied.

‘Huh,’ Sean grunted. ‘She’s the vampire in London. Oldest one anyone knows of. She lives in the Underground pretty much all the time, but she’s got her fingers in everything vampiric going on in the city.’

‘If she’s come up, it must be for something pretty serious.’

‘Aye,’ Sean said, ‘and I’m sure you know someone who’d be interested in knowing about it.’

Twill gave a nod. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move in the shadows, or perhaps the shadows themselves moving. Sean was the medium, but it was the Lady who wanted the information passed on.

Soho.

‘Hildegard Braun on the surface,’ Carter mused as he personally served Twill and Ishifa on one of the small tables at the end of the bar. ‘I wonder what she could be looking for.’

‘Nothing good,’ Lily commented. ‘She didn’t even surface when Raynor was here. If she feels she has to deal with this personally…’

‘I feel like I am missing much,’ Ishifa stated sadly. ‘London is… much different from the Wintergreen… estates.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘And speaking English is hard.’

‘Would you believe,’ Carter said, ‘that it started out as a trade language? It’s technically far simpler than German or Dutch. Unfortunately, after a lot of centuries, it’s developed a lot of annoying exceptions to the simple rules.’

‘You’ll pick it up,’ Lily said, smiling. ‘As for the history, Raynor was an Ancient vampire, a part-demon, part-undead creature who tried to get the vampires here to rise up against the living.’

‘Was?’ Ishifa queried.

‘Ceri got him banished to Hell.’

Ishifa’s eyes widened. ‘She can do that?!’

‘With some help from an angel,’ Lily replied, grinning. ‘The angels have decided that they can’t damn all the intelligent undead for what they are, or they’ve been told they can’t, but Ancients are another matter. They really hate Ancients.’

‘Well,’ Twill said, ‘under the circumstances, I decided that we would come here and hitch a ride home with you tonight, Lily. If there’s something out there which Hildegard Braun is looking for, I’m not sure I feel safe.’

Lily shook her head, grinning as she did so. ‘Twill, you and Ishifa rode into battle with Titania.’

‘Oh that was easy, she did most of the hacking.’

London Underground, Northern Line, April 4th.

Ishifa was more than a little tipsy. She tended to get giggly and a little flirtatious when she was drunk, and she was having some issues with hanging onto the collar of Lily’s coat. Sitting down on the tube train made life easier, but did not diminish the giggling.

‘Alec ish nice,’ the little black-haired woman slurred.

‘Yes, he is,’ Lily replied.

‘He ish a werewolf, like Michael.’

‘I know. Well, Alec is a black-fur, but they are both werewolves.’

‘Watsh that mean?’

‘Black-furs are the purest blooded of werewolves. Very little human in them. Michael’s father was a black-fur, his mother was human.’

‘Oh.’ There was a slight pause and then, ‘I wouldn’t mind some Alec in me,’ followed by a giggle.

‘I’m just glad there’s no one else in the car with us,’ Twill commented from the other shoulder.

As she said it, the train pulled into Embankment and Lily spotted two figures on the platform. She tensed, which made Twill look in the same direction. Generally vampires could be trusted not to be a bother, but sometimes the older ones could lose sight of their humanity enough to ignore the law or the younger ones could be stupid, and there was the fact that the oldest of them was out on the town hunting someone or something.

‘They look young,’ Twill said.

‘Uh-huh, so if they get fresh I’ll turn my aura up to full,’ Lily replied. ‘That should take them out until we can get off.’

It was not looking especially good. The vampires decided to skip down two cars to get onto the occupied one, but having done so they sat at one end and ignored Lily and her passengers. Lily relaxed, but kept her eyes on them as the train pulled out of the station.

Kennington.

Ceri was waiting at the entrance to Kennington station when Lily appeared at the top of the escalator with a fairy on each shoulder. Her smile shifted to a frown as she saw Lily look back over her shoulder and then quicken her pace across the concourse.

The reason for her haste appeared a second or two later, though the two vampires did not seem to be in much of a hurry, or to be particularly interested in the women they were following. They were both pretty young; neither of them needed glamour to hide the decay which set in in old vamps. If she had to guess, she would have said they were in their twenties and had not been vampires longer than five years.

‘You’re not normally nervous of vampires,’ Ceri said as Lily got closer.

‘After what happened with Raynor’s feral kids, I’m a little more cautious,’ Lily replied, ‘especially when they make a point of getting on the same car as us and get off with us. And there’s something else. Hildegard Braun was at the Dubh Linn a couple of nights ago.’

Ceri frowned, but remained silent as the two vampires walked past them and turned toward Clapham Road. She watched them continue onward for a few seconds before turning and started toward the park.

‘As I understood it,’ Ceri said once they were across the road, ‘she doesn’t come out of her hole much. What was she doing?’

‘Looking for information,’ Twill said. ‘Sean didn’t know what or he’d have told me. The Lady wanted you to know about it.’

‘Oh this isn’t good,’ Ceri muttered. ‘This is not good at all.’

White City (the evening after).

Linda Prentice looked up at the clear night sky, sighed, and kept walking. Her feet hurt. The new shoes looked great, and she would probably get them worn in eventually, but maybe wearing them to work without trying them out properly had not been the best of ideas. At least she didn’t have to walk to far to her flat where she could pull them off and sink her feet into a bowl of hot water. The weather had been dry for a couple of weeks, so she could cut through Hammersmith Park. Her flat was right on the other side; ten minutes, tops, and she would be in footbath heaven.

She saw him as little more than a shadow, standing under one of the trees in front of her as she entered the park. Her breath caught in her throat as the sheer wash of animal heat hit her. She felt her pulse quicken even as her feet dragged her toward him of their own volition. Whoever he was, whatever he was, she wanted him so badly she could taste it. She almost ran the last couple of steps toward him, her hands fumbling at the buttons of her blouse as she went.

Part Three: The Secrets We Keep

Holloway, April 5th, 2013.

‘The press are all over it,’ John said, his tone sour. ‘They found her body in Hammersmith Park. It’s right behind the BBC. Her head was ten yards from the Blue Peter Garden!’

‘Same MO as the last one?’ Ceri asked.

‘Pretty much identical,’ Kate replied. ‘Puncture wounds, evidence of intense but consensual intercourse, head pulled off. The coroner was pretty sure she was dead before she was decapitated.’

‘Overkill,’ Ceri said.

‘Just a bit,’ John agreed. ‘The tabloids are running with it in the late editions. They’re calling him “The Headsman.”’

‘Huh. Anything come of the semen analysis from the last one?’

‘He’s infertile. No sperm present. No DNA. No luck.’ He frowned with a distinct hint of worry. ‘It doesn’t help that this is not far from my place and…’ He stopped, his frown deepening.

‘He’s worried about Lorna,’ Kate stated flatly. ‘He thinks she’s been sneaking out while we’re on nights. He knows she can’t be seeing me on the sly, and I think we got over that anyway…’

John was blushing, though not as much as he might have been. ‘We have. And it’s not just that. She seemed a bit… distracted this morning.’

‘Not restless,’ Ceri asked, ‘like when Raynor showed up.’

The detective shook his head. ‘More like… a little vague. Almost like she was listening to two conversations at once.’

It was Ceri’s turn to frown. ‘See if you can get her out to the club tonight? You haven’t been since it was refurbished, have you?’

‘Uh, no, and we’re off tonight, unless our Headsman strikes again.’ He looked at Kate. ‘You up for it? Lorna could probably use a decent meal.’

The witch smiled back at him. ‘How could I refuse such a gracious offer?’

~~~

Cheryl peered over Ceri’s shoulder at the A4 drawings she was holding. ‘Those are beautiful. What are they?’

‘I asked Arabella’s designer to come up with some new clothes for me and Lily, for over there. These are what she’s come up with so far based on my suggestions.’ Ceri spread five sheets of paper out on her desk. There were three designs for Ceri and two for Lily.

‘Well,’ Cheryl said, ‘that one for Lily.’ She indicated one of the sheets. ‘I mean, she’ll look like a goddess.’

‘Uh-huh. I’m less sure about mine.’

Cheryl considered for all of a half-second. ‘That one,’ she said, pointing.

‘You don’t think it’s a bit… revealing?’

‘No. Well, yes, obviously, but… The first is far too formal. The second is beautiful, but it looks a little restrictive. The third one is… simple, elegant. It’ll show off your legs and your bust won’t overflow. That one.’

Ceri grinned. ‘Good. I thought that one was the best, but I was psyching myself up for it.’

‘It’ll make you look like a sorceress, dear. It’s what you are. Go for it.’

Soho.

With the moon past its last quarter, the werewolves were starting to be far less party animals and the undead quota in the Tir inna Nok was on the rise. It still felt as though there were fewer of them than might be expected, but they were there, and they all seemed happy enough. Ceri had asked the girls to keep their ears open for anything about Hildegard Braun, but all the conversations seemed to be revolving around blood, where to get it, and whether it could be obtained along with a few side benefits. There seemed to be nothing much wrong.

‘There’s something up with Lorna,’ Lily whispered just as Ceri felt the slight wash of negative thaumitons from the doorway and looked that way.

The tall, slim, model-attractive vampire looked the same as always. There was the pale skin, the long, black hair, the ample bosom… Except that she did not quite look the same as usual. Not quite. There was something a little wilder about her eyes. Even standing still there was something predatory about her. Lorna was the least vampire-like vampire Ceri had ever met, but tonight…

‘How does she read?’ Ceri asked.

‘Hungry,’ Lily replied.

Ceri gave Carter a quick look to say she would take them and started off toward the lectern where clients waited to be seated. ‘Good evening, I’m Ceri and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’

‘Nice… leaves you’re wearing,’ Kate replied.

‘I’m glad it’s not autumn,’ John added.

‘I think autumn could be fun,’ Lorna put in.

Ceri gave her a smile and turned, leading the way through the tables to one of the booths at the back. Vampires did not crisp in daylight, but they were night-adapted creatures and any form of bright light left them uncomfortable or effectively blind; the booths were shadowed for that very reason, though it also gave privacy to some of the clientele who were fond of it.

‘Beer, Dragon’s Blood, and a white wine?’ John suggested as they slipped into the seats, him beside Lorna, and Kate opposite. The two women nodded; Lorna’s bright smile showed a lot of fang.

Ceri gave a nod and headed for the bar. ‘She seems rather more hyped than usual,’ she said as she got closer to Lily. ‘Not vague, but…’

‘She’s hunting,’ Lily replied. ‘She’s hunting John and Kate, but she’s hunting rather than just being out with friends. I’ve never seen her like that. The desire for blood is… intense.’

‘Do you think she’s dangerous?’ Carter asked, a deep frown on his face.

‘It’s Lorna,’ Ceri said. ‘She’s a teddy bear with fangs…’

‘She’s not thinking like Lorna,’ Lily said. ‘She’s thinking like… It’s like she’s fixated. I think she might be under control.’

Picking up her drinks tray, Ceri strutted back across the floor, blinking her Sight on as she went. The interlocking magical fields of the club danced before her vision; as usual the place was humming with magic. Now that there tended to be a lot of fae in, it was even worse than before the refit. Stepping up to the booth, her eyes flicked over Kate; the witch showed the usual development of the chakral median you would expect in a practitioner. Her tantric median was flaring a little, but then so was John’s. It was not entirely uncommon in a relatively sexually charged environment. Ceri put Lorna’s cocktail glass down in front of her with a smile, and then had to force the expression to stay in place as she took in the threads of light wrapped around the triangle of metaphysical energy which was the vampire’s mind.

‘Enjoy your drinks,’ Ceri said, and then turned back toward Lily and Carter.

Carter was looking at her with a raised eyebrow as she approached. ‘Your expression suggests that all is not well,’ he said.

‘She’s possessed. Some sort of spirit.’

‘Gaki,’ the wizard replied. Ceri nodded while Lily gave them a questioning look. ‘A “hungry spirit,”’ Carter explained. ‘They are essentially unconstrained appetite, generally malevolent. A few people will summon some of them for recreation.’

‘Your parents and the lust spirit?’ Lily asked Ceri.

Ceri’s cheeks coloured. ‘Like that, yeah.’ She glanced back toward Carter. ‘How’s your exorcism?’

‘I’m a wizard, dear girl. If it were a demon I might be of some use.’

Ceri gave him a grimace. ‘If it was a demon I’d just tell it to get out or I’d have its intestines pulled out slowly in the castle.’

‘Alexandra?’ Lily suggested.

Ceri looked back out toward the booth where the two police officers were sitting with a vampire who wanted to suck them dry. ‘I’ll call Michael and ask if she can come over to the house. We’ll have to contain her. John is really not going to like this.’

Kennington, April 6th.

John did not like it. On the other hand, as he watched his wife trying to tear herself out of the restraints on the St Andrew’s cross in the dungeon of High Towers, he was smart enough to realise his wife was not quite herself.

‘Are you sure she can’t get out of those cuffs?’ he asked as Lorna screamed what sounded like Middle European obscenities at them.

‘I had this place put in when Ceri first got her power,’ Lily replied. ‘I was worried about my demon-side getting control and harming her, so I may have over-engineered the equipment a little. We’ve had a wolf-goddess on that cross and she stayed put.’

‘And you’re sure she’s possessed?’ He shook his head. ‘What am I saying? That’s not Lorna. Lorna doesn’t speak… What the Hell is she speaking?’

‘If I had to make a guess,’ Alexandra mused as she, too, watched the vampire straining against her bonds, ‘it’s one of the Slavic languages.’

‘Torlakian,’ Mei observed quietly. ‘She speaking Torlakian. It’s one of the Balto-Slavic languages. I recognise the structure.’

‘Lorna doesn’t know any Torlakian,’ John said, ‘so I assume that’s the…’

‘Gaki,’ Kate supplied. ‘Those things can be a real bitch to shift.’

‘I agree,’ Alexandra said. ‘I suggest we put her to sleep and Ceri can start on the ritual in the morning.’

‘Me?!’ Ceri squeaked. ‘I thought you would…’

‘It’s very tiring, dear. I know what I’m doing, but I’m not as young as I was the last time I did an exorcism.’

‘But I’ve never done anything like that. I thought I could help. We really need someone with experience.’

As one, the old wolf and the young sorceress turned and looked at the tall, raven-haired woman standing behind them.

Gwyn sighed. ‘It’s been… a long time. I’d appreciate some assistance.’

~~~

Gwyn watched as Ceri carefully poured salt into carvings on the floor of the dungeon. The cross had been mounted in the middle of Ceri’s mother’s summoning circle because Lily had enjoyed the symbology. It was a spirit circle, not a demon circle, but it was still a magic circle and Lily thought that was interesting. It was also facing the altar; spirits tended to like symbology more than demons did, so the room had originally been more ritual-laden than the demonology room down the hall.

‘You really are remarkably proficient for one so young,’ Gwyn commented. ‘Even with a vampire screaming Slavic swear words over your head.’

‘Mom and Dad taught me to lay circles when I couldn’t raise them,’ Ceri replied. She gave a small giggle. ‘I could barely walk.’

‘Precociousness runs in the family.’ She turned to John. ‘You may wish to step out. This is going to take some considerable time, and your wife will appear to be in considerable discomfort.’

‘Appear to be?’ John asked.

‘The spirit will be. Her body will react to that. She may come out of it a little bruised, but there should be no lasting harm.’

‘I’ll stay.’

Gwyn bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘Sergeant Middleshaw, if you would assist?’

‘Uh… me?’ Kate replied.

‘I would prefer Inspector Radcliff, but he is not a practitioner and you have a close relationship with Mrs Radcliff.’

‘If it’s going to help get her back, Kate,’ John said. ‘Please…’

‘Of course,’ Kate said. ‘Just… what do I do?’

‘You’ll be on the south side, dear,’ Alexandra stated. ‘Spiritual backup, if you will. Gwyn will wind you into the magic and you’ll be there as support for Lorna’s spirit.’

‘Circle’s ready,’ Ceri said, standing up and taking the salt bottle over to stand it beside the altar.

‘In which case,’ Gwyn said, ‘I suggest we get on with this.’

The four women conducting the ritual moved to the compass points of the circle. Gwyn bowed her head, eyes closed, preparing herself for several seconds. Slowly her head rose along with her arms; Gwyn was not one for extensive ritual. Around them the lights in the room seemed to dim as the salt in the circle began to glow. As if on some sort of command, Ceri, Alexandra, and Kate lifted their arms as well and the circle flared into brilliant life. Lorna let out a scream, her back arching as if in excruciating pain.

‘Oh Jesus!’ John breathed taking a step forward.

Lily was there instantly, standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder. ‘You need to let them work,’ she said.

‘I know, but…’

‘Lorna isn’t in pain, the spirit is.’

‘Yeah,’ the detective said, not looking convinced. ‘Yeah… right.’

~~~

The light died in the circle and Kate staggered back from it. Lily had, apparently, been expecting that and was waiting to catch her. Behind Alexandra, Michael was doing the same thing. Only the two sorceresses seemed to be relatively unfatigued by the experience and even they were stretching as though they had just spent a couple of hours in a confined space.

‘That thing put up a fight,’ Ceri muttered.

‘They frequently do,’ Gwyn said. ‘I could have gone after it harder, but it takes a lot more power and I was worried about our subject.’

Ceri nodded and looked around for John.

‘He left after about twenty minutes,’ Lily said.

‘Don’t blame him. Ishifa, would you go get him. I take it Mei and Twill are keeping an eye on him?’

‘Yes, Ceri,’ the little woman said, lifting from the altar and speeding toward the door. ‘Did you kill it?’

‘It’s gone,’ Gwyn said. ‘That is all that matters.’

Ceri nodded her agreement and stepped into the circle. ‘Could you unlock her while I take the weight?’

~~~

John sat in the guest wing-back, his wife in his lap with her head on his shoulder. He was still in the suit he had worn to the club, Lorna was still in her short, black dress, and Kate was in a tiny skirt and a camisole top. It was a little incongruous considering what they had just been through.

‘I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?’ Lorna mumbled.

Ceri, sitting in her usual chair with Lily beside her on the footstool and Michael beside her feet, actually laughed. ‘So Lorna,’ she said, grinning.

‘No, you didn’t, love,’ John told her. ‘You might have, but we know some clever people.’ He sighed. ‘Which brings me to a question I’ve… I think both of us have wanted to ask for a while.’ His gaze turned to Gwyn sitting with her back very straight in one of the upright chairs. ‘Who are you, Gwyn? You’re as good, or better, at magic as Ceri is. You’re powerful. You look twenty-five or thirty and sound like you’re Alexandra’s age. You’re a personal friend of the ex-Chinese Ambassador. You know forensics, science, administration…’

Ceri sighed and looked at Gwyn. Gwyn gave a slight shrug.

‘You just saved me and Kate,’ John added, ‘and my wife’s sanity. We’re not going to say anything, no matter what.’

‘You say that now,’ Ceri said, getting to her feet. ‘I think… I think we might as well get it all out of the way and then I don’t have to worry about it. I need to go over to organise a meeting anyway. Alexandra, Michael? Fancy going for a very long walk?’

The old Alpha blinked and then climbed to her feet. ‘I don’t really get out much. The pack can do without me for a few hours.’

‘Well, Anita would claw out my eyes if she didn’t have a guard,’ Michael grumbled, climbing to his feet.

Ceri nodded. ‘Gwyn? Mei?’

‘We are the subject of enquiry,’ Gwyn said.

Another nod. ‘You’re welcome too, Twill…’

‘Another time,’ the fairy replied, ‘and I think the fact that Ishifa is hiding indicates she would prefer to wait.’

‘Uh-huh. No, Lil, we’re not getting dressed up. There won’t be anyone there who cares. Take everyone down to the hall and I’ll be there in a second.’

‘Where, exactly, are we going?’ John asked as Ceri walked down the stairs, adjusting her slim, metal crown so that it was mostly hidden under her hair.

Ceri lifted her staff, pointing toward the main doors. There was a small flare of light, a ripple in the air, and the portal opened up as a swirling disc of colour and light.

‘Through there. Let me go first. Lily, would you make sure everyone gets through okay?’

‘Of course, Shivika.’ Ceri frowned at her pet. ‘What? I’m getting in practice.’

Shaking her head, Ceri stepped through the portal.

The Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

John Radcliff considered himself a fairly grounded man. He held to a reality based on reason. His wife was, sure enough, a vampire and his partner was a witch, but there were people around like Ceri and Cheryl Tennant who would sit there and explain to you the science behind the magic in the world. Magic was rational, even if the rules governing it could be esoteric, unintuitive, even twisted.

His skin tingled as he passed through the skin of energy which was currently occupying a space in the front hall of High Towers and, instead of finding himself in the little porch, or outside, he stepped into a large, open chamber. Well… translocation of some sort. He had always been told that was impossible, but he was pretty sure demons could do it, and Ceri was powerful and clever.

The room seemed to have been cut out of black rock. No… Now he looked at it, the walls were too smooth. No cutting tool had been used to build this place. Someone had used magic to form it. John had no idea how, but he would have laid money on it. He was standing in a cavern which had been grown out of black basalt.

Kate was looking white, and Lorna was looking a little whiter than usual, which seemed odd, but then both of them had been through something of a stressful experience within the last couple of hours.

‘This way,’ Ceri said, marching off toward the archway at the end of the room. She looked a little incongruous carrying her staff and wearing an over-sized men’s shirt, and she was barefoot, as she walked confidently across the black, stone floor.

She led the way down a corridor which came out in another black room without windows, though this one had a lot of red drapes hung around it and…

John was just about to ask about the big, black, skull-carved throne when his attention was drawn to the room’s doors bursting open and the woman rushing in. She was speaking gibberish in a runaway manner which suggested she was entirely unprepared for their arrival.

And she was blue.

John’s jaw dropped open.

~~~

‘Overlord! We didn’t know you were coming! Oh, the place is a mess and there’s nothing in the larders and I wasn’t here to greet you and…’

Reaching out, Ceri put her index finger to Hiffy’s lips. ‘Do I honestly look like this is an official, “I’m the Overlord of All Demons, bow before me,” visit?’ Hiffy shook her head, lips still pursed against Ceri’s finger. ‘No. I brought some friends over from Earth because… Well, I need to tell some of them about this place and it was easier to show them. Oh, and that young man standing protectively beside the older woman? That is Michael.’

Hiffy’s eyes shifted to where Michael was, indeed, standing beside Alexandra in a rather tense attitude. Then she looked down at Ceri’s finger. Ceri moved her finger. ‘The Overlord has good taste in males. The lady beside him and two of the others seem…’ She gave a slight shiver. ‘They seem very powerful, and that other one, the tall, beautiful one, she’s…’

‘A long story, and I’ll brief you on it later. I’m going to take them up to the watchtower, then… I don’t believe the stores are empty, Hiffy. Could we get something brought to my rooms? Nothing heavy. Meat, cheese, bread?’

‘Of course, Mistress. I just meant we hadn’t restocked for a banquet.’

Ceri gave her a nod. ‘Get Ruffa to organise that, would you? I’m here to sort out a conference. Did Ophelia come back?’

‘Yes, Mistress.’

‘Okay. Ask her to meet us downstairs.’ Giving the demon-girl a smile, Ceri turned back to her guests.

‘Not everyone speaks Devotik, dear,’ Gwyn pointed out.

‘I know,’ Ceri said, switching to English. ‘I think, given we’re doing the tour, and Hiffy might have been a giveaway, but I don’t think you’ll really believe it until you see it… It’s a bit of a climb, but it’s worth it.’ She turned again and marched off through the doors and onto the landing beyond.

‘Holy…’ John’s voice echoed around the vast room as they followed.

‘You do seem to have a very large extension,’ Gwyn commented.

‘Did you get planning permission?’ Alexandra asked. ‘I understand the local council can be a little officious about that kind of thing.’

‘Ha ha,’ Ceri said as she started up the spiral stairs on the far side of the room.

It was a fairly long way up. Michael was being solicitous to Alexandra by about half way up, until she told him to stop being silly after another dozen steps. They kept climbing until they emerged through the floor of the watchtower, a tall, slim spire jutting up from the front edge of the huge, black castle.

Both Lorna and Kate let out a gasp. John just stared in wonder. For as far as the eye could see to the north, the land stretched out in a series of mountains toward a sky which had a reddish hue with no obviously visible sun. On either side and behind them, the mountains were a harsh, black, snow-capped backdrop. Directly in front was a vast bowl filled in the middle by a perfectly circular lake which seemed to reflect no light. There was not a ripple on it.

‘Welcome,’ Ceri said, ‘to the Castle of Bones, atop Mount Khed in the Khedra Range, in the Demon Realm.’

~~~

‘Just so I’m straight on this,’ John said as he buttered some of the bread Hiffy had brought in, ‘you came to the Demon Realm to rescue Lily, got stuck here, made something of a name for yourself, discovered that the ancient overlord of the demons was actually a relative, put his hat on, and now you’re the new demon overlord?’

Ceri considered for a second and then said, ‘Sounds about right.’

‘And Mei and Gwyn are dragons?’

‘Were dragons,’ Gwyn corrected. ‘We’re no more dragons now than Ceri is.’

‘And Ceri is so powerful,’ Kate took over from John, ‘because she’s a sorceress, and sorcerers are people with a little dragon in their bloodline.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri said. ‘I have two, Gwyn on one side and her mate on the other, and he was from the second child of Gorefguhadget, who used to be the owner of this place.’

‘I’m not sure how you’re having so much trouble with this,’ Ophelia commented. ‘It’s been a known fact in Otherworld since she emerged, and there were hints that she was coming long before that. Most of the older vampires know.’

‘The packs don’t really care,’ Alexandra put in. ‘Ceri is Luperca’s favourite. She could be a singing fish or a demi-god. Actually, some of the stories I hear… Maybe they do think you’re a demi-god, dear.’

‘From what I remember from school,’ John said, ‘she might as well be. Sorcerers were supposed to be…’

‘Beings of incredible power,’ Kate said, her voice hushed, ‘for good or ill.’

‘I’ve been both already,’ Ceri told them. ‘I stopped Remus, and Barnes, and Gadriel. Raynor’s a mixed bag: if the dragons hadn’t been setting things up and decided to make it worse, he’d never have managed to cause the trouble he did, but I got him. And then there’s the whole Dragonfall thing. I brought an army of dragons to London…’

‘Ahead of schedule and without the Chinese Army,’ Mei said. Ceri blinked at her. ‘Huanglong planned to bring people he felt were loyal over a few at a time. It would have taken years, but he would have eventually had all his people with him in China. Then the Dragon Empire would have marched across the globe. When you were found, he chose the quick option and, thanks to Molech’s machinations and Lily, that choice destroyed our universe.’

Gwyn was nodding. ‘The fall was terrible, lives were lost, but it prevented a far more terrible war from happening later.’

‘Okay,’ John said, ‘so if you two survived, are there others?’

‘We know of one,’ Gwyn replied.

‘Edward Perry,’ Kate said, ‘the “expert” you brought in to decrypt that cube.’

‘He was my sorcery teacher,’ Ceri said. ‘He’s brilliant. If anyone can figure out how to move the thing, he can.’

‘The obvious conclusion though,’ John said, ‘is that it was another surviving dragon who planted the thing.’

‘I admit that that seems likely,’ Gwyn agreed. ‘I just cannot see why they would want to.’

‘How did you avoid the backlash when the bridge collapsed?’ Ceri asked. ‘I mean, I know what you did, you became human, but you’re not the same human you were before the fall.’

‘We had to shed our… dragon-ness,’ Gwyn replied, grimacing. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t come up with a better way of saying that. There were aspects of our nature which we had to destroy, or let be destroyed. Brenhines explained it to those he thought deserved to live.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Kate said, ‘and the comet we saw last year was actually the soul of your dead mate returning to try to stop the invasion. That’s another of the things I’m glad I don’t have to write a report about.’

Ceri saw Gwyn’s features shift slightly, the pain flickering across them for a fraction of a second. Thirty thousand years and the woman still grieved for her lost mate. Ceri glanced at Lily and Michael, wondering whether she had the same thing in store for her.

‘Actually,’ Ceri said, ‘I want your opinion on that. Not a report, as such, but… This is all going to come out, probably sooner rather than later. I think some bits of the government suspect, assuming they don’t know. If you think the Chief can handle this, I’d like you to tell him, or bring him to me so I can. I don’t want him finding out in some briefing. He’s earned more trust than that.’

‘It has to have been hard,’ Lorna said into the small silence which followed. ‘You’ve had this huge secret, and so much has happened, and I bet you wished you didn’t have to keep it.’

Ceri gave a small shrug. ‘When it does come out, I’m going to have a big bullseye painted on my back, but… I’ve got a world to run here, and I’ve got all the generator work at home. I opened relations between here and Otherworld…’

‘And that’s in the early, rushing about, stages,’ Ophelia said, grimacing. ‘I need an assistant. Anyway, the Court is using “Lady Ayasha” on all official documents, and that’s the name a lot of the fae know you as over there, but some know who you really are, and it just takes someone to say something in the wrong place.’

Ceri gave a nod. ‘I’m almost starting to think I should book an appointment with Malcolm Charles and tell him everything.’ She looked at a few shocked faces around her and added, ‘Almost. The tension’s getting to me, though. If I knew when it was all going to blow up in my face it would be nice.’

‘Give us a few days,’ John suggested. ‘We’ll think on telling the Chief. Meanwhile, he would like you and Lily to come with us on Monday to talk to Simon Ziel.’

‘If we’re on the subject of requests,’ Alexandra put in, ‘the pack leaders are having a meeting tomorrow, in Battersea, and Dolf has asked if you would attend.’

Ceri blinked. ‘Uh… If the Chief wants us to go see Ziel, then yeah, but… Dolf asked for me?!’

‘Both of you,’ Alexandra replied. ‘I believe the world must be about to end. Again.’

Soho, London.

Cheryl was back at the bar in a short, golden dress. Ceri was getting a little worried about her boss. Gwyn and Faran had managed to take a lot of load off her, but she was still clearly stressed and drinking more than she usually did. If it was just on Saturday nights… Well, Ceri was hoping it was just on Saturday nights.

‘I got things started on the meeting,’ Ceri said, her eyes on her tables rather than Cheryl.

‘Good,’ Cheryl replied. ‘Any idea of a date?’

Ceri glanced at Ophelia as she returned from a drinks run and began sorting cash. ‘When did we decide on?’

‘Uh… it’ll be the twenty-first,’ the Sidhe replied, her brain on two things at once. ‘That’s a Sunday. One overnight stay, back here on the twenty-fourth, early.’

‘Will two days be enough?’ Cheryl asked.

‘Two thirty-eight-hour days,’ Ceri supplied. ‘By then the difficult bit should be comparing notations and working out the differences. It should do.’

Cheryl nodded, sank back against the bar, and took a slug from her wine glass. ‘That’s a weight off my mind. And it’ll be a break from doing this interminable planning.’

‘You okay, boss?’ Ceri asked, failing to keep the worry out of her voice.

‘Next year, they are employing a proper conference organiser. I told the Dean I’d resign if I had to go through this again. I’m drinking too much. If it wasn’t for you, Gwyn, and Faran I’d be a lush by now.’

‘At least you know you’re drinking too much.’

‘And I know it’ll be hard to stop. Carter has told me he’s putting me on a detox regimen when the conference is over.’

Ceri grinned. ‘How are you explaining being away for the meeting over there?’

‘I said I would be attending a small conference on aquatic thaumatology to help with the Australian project.’

Ceri’s grin shifted to a giggle. ‘The Aquatic Thaumatology Conference? Okay. Ophelia, it’s got a name.’

Ophelia tucked tip money into her dress and handed the rest of the cash across to Alec. ‘I’ll get it put on the invitations.’

Battersea Park, April 7th.

Ceri spotted Jenny Li sitting with a small group of wolves as she walked around the edge of the lake with Lily and Michael. She had not seen much of the half-Chinese girl recently and crossed the grass to talk to her. They were early for the meeting anyway.

‘Ceri! Hey, how’s things?’ Jenny asked as they approached. There was also a yip from the brown-fur sitting beside her: Lee, her mate in the pack, her boyfriend out of it.

‘Busy, stressful, but I’m still alive, so that’s a plus. You?’

‘Still unemployed,’ Jenny replied, slumping. ‘The new Ambassador is a bit of an arse. I got dumped and I haven’t found a new job yet.’ Ceri’s eyes narrowed and stayed that way until Jenny said, ‘What?! I’m looking!’

‘How many languages do you know, Jen?’ Ceri asked.

‘Uh…’ The ex-translator began ticking them off on her fingers. ‘English and Mandarin are the main ones, Dutch, French, Low Fae, Devotik, and Werewolf, of course.’

‘You know Devotik and Low Fae?’

‘I’m not that great. Studied them out of curiosity, really. From textbooks. I’m actually better at reading Devotik than speaking it, I think. Not a lot of people to practise with.’

‘Would you come back to High Towers with us after the meeting? I might have something for you.’

‘Uh… sure?’

Ceri grinned at her and set off again toward the boats.

‘Assistant for Ophelia?’ Lily asked as they walked.

‘Jenny’s good with people as well as languages,’ Ceri replied.

‘Have you considered starting an employment agency?’ Michael suggested.

‘Sounds like a lot of paperwork. This way, I get to hand out gold coins and they get to deal with the tax issues.’

Donal and Sharon, Alphas of the Marshwallers, were getting ready to cross when the trio arrived and there was a boat just about big enough for everyone, including Grant, their Captain, so they went across together. Ceri did not know the Marshwallers well. In fact she knew Dolf and Freya of the Dog Boys better, and that was not saying a lot. They seemed to know her though, giving her smiles as their Captain rowed across the short distance between the boathouse and the island.

They were the last to arrive, and Alexandra smiled warmly at them while pouring tea. Dolf, a thuggish sort of man who had mellowed a lot in the last year, was sitting beside his mate, Freya, and looking a little impatient. Whatever was on the Dog Boys’ Alpha’s mind, it seemed like he was in a hurry to get it out, but Alexandra had seniority and she was going to make sure things started with the niceties.

‘I hope no one has any objections to Ceri and Lily being here,’ Alexandra said. ‘Dolf asked for them to come, but it is a slight deviation from usual decorum.’ Catherine, the Royals’ Alpha and sister to both Freya and Anita, just smiled. Donal and Sharon voiced their pleasure at having the guests; Sharon, Ceri decided, was an import from Essex. ‘Excellent,’ Alexandra went on. ‘It’s a beautiful day and I’d like to get on to more pleasant discussions, so… Dolf?’

The big man gave a grunt. ‘And I’m sorry to have to drag the mood down, and drag you two over from Kennington, but this came up and we thought you should know.’ He produced a small, plastic bag from his leather jacket and tossed it across to Ceri.

There were two dull, pale-brown pellets inside it, obviously manufactured. They looked like a type of alchemical preparation meant to be burned. Ceri popped the zip-lock and used a hand to waft the scent at her nose. There was a faint, generic chemical scent. She handed the bag to Michael.

‘It’s got the same sort of odd chemical smell that Oblivion has,’ Michael growled.

‘It’s alchemical,’ Alexandra agreed, ‘but it’s not Oblivion, or a derivative I think.’

‘Something new?’ Ceri suggested, looking to Dolf.

It was Freya who answered. ‘One of our people, Marco, found it. I say found it, but he’s still using. We’re trying to clean our people up, but it’s not easy. Marco keeps backsliding, but in this case it turned out useful.’

Frowning, Anita got to her feet from her place between Alexandra and Catherine, and vanished off into the trees around the clearing.

‘One of his sources said he had something new,’ Dolf went on. ‘Amazing new high. You know the crap. Marco bought some and didn’t like the scent, so he brought it to us. Well, to Freya. He knew I’d kick his butt the length of the river for using, but… He did do the right thing, sort of.’

‘We’ve been getting a few reports about something new on the streets,’ Donal supplied. ‘Haven’t been able to nail anyone selling it yet though. What were they calling it, love? Lupo, lipo…’

‘Leper?’ Sharon suggested.

‘Lepor or lepo,’ Anita said as she sat back down. ‘Tina says it’s doing the rounds north of the river. Not much supply yet, but it’s growing.’

Ceri snorted out a laugh, her eyes on the bag.

‘Something funny?’ Dolf asked.

‘Leporidae is the family name for rabbits. The stuff looks like rabbit droppings. Whoever’s making it has a twisted, but very educated, sense of humour. Why bring this to us, Dolf? You could have gone to the cops.’

‘They still don’t like us much, and they ask a lot of questions.’

‘We’re getting our act together,’ Freya said, ‘but it’s still fragile and our people don’t trust the police. If they start poking around…’

‘I’ll let the Greycoats know,’ Ceri said, nodding. Then she smiled. ‘And thank you. I know all this change has been a bit rough on you.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Dolf grumbled. ‘Have to get responsible at some point.’ His lips curled and he added, ‘Especially when you’ve got a pup on the way.’

The clearing erupted into howls of glee and congratulations. Ceri tucked the small bag away into a pocket and tried to forget it was there. Something about it was bugging her, however. Something she could not, currently, put her finger on. She stopped trying and got on with celebrating; it would come to her eventually.

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

‘You’re basically asking me to take on an apprentice,’ Ophelia stated.

Ceri gave a slight shrug, her eyes on Jenny and Lee as they stared, wide-eyed, out across the mountains toward Dorilla. ‘You said you needed an assistant, and this way we don’t have to bring in another outsider. Jenny’s bright, good with people, a natural linguist. Lee’s her mate and he’s pretty good in a fight, plus he has a werewolf’s senses. He’ll be your bodyguard when the two of you go over to Otherworld.’

Lee got over his awe enough to glance back at them. ‘I’m only a brown…’

‘Pfft!’ Ceri hushed him. ‘Anita and Michael say you’re up to scratch. Greys and browns don’t differ that much aside from colour. If we’re actually expecting trouble I can get some extra people from Alexandra, but you’ll be fine for a typical diplomatic visit. We need to get you some gold to wear, maybe some leather strapping. We’ll make you look as mean as any fae warrior, put the fear of Luperca in them.’

‘It could work,’ Ophelia said, nodding slowly. ‘We’ll need to teach you some Low Fae and Devotik. The fae are arrogant enough to think of you as some sort of wild animal, so they’ll talk around you thinking you don’t understand. The demons will probably think you’re some sort of monster.’

Ceri gave a nod as well. ‘Don’t take any lip from the demons. If you even suspect they’re disrespecting you or Jen, you rip the throat out of one of them.’

Lee blinked. ‘I don’t think…’

‘Demons respect power and force,’ Ophelia said. ‘Ceri regularly threatens to kill or torture them if they don’t like something she’s doing. They expect it. If you let them get away with something they’ll think you’re a walkover and we don’t want that.’

‘Oh,’ Lee said. ‘I’ll talk it over with my Alpha. I’ve never… well, had to kill someone before.’

‘Hopefully,’ Ceri told him, ‘you won’t need to, but…’

She was interrupted by a voice coming up the stairs and obviously getting closer. ‘Shivika! Qi fatsho la oshn!’ Hiffy emerged from the stairwell and Lee’s eyes bulged in a valiant attempt to pop out of his skull. The blue-skinned demon-girl was wearing a thin tabard-like shift belted around her waist, which barely contained her expansive breasts. Her tail was looped around the front of the skirt to hold it away from her legs.

‘Hiffy,’ Ceri said, grinning, ‘calm down. You don’t have to come running after me whenever I come here. Don’t you ever sleep?’

At the sound of Devotik being spoken, Jenny turned around. ‘Oh… wow,’ she breathed.

‘I was taking a break,’ Hiffy said, ignoring everyone else for now. ‘Vulsha came to tell me you were here. She’d have come up herself, but she wants to be formally introduced first.’

‘Vulsha?’ Ceri frowned. ‘I don’t remember a Vulsha on the staff list.’

‘Inak decided to bring on six more people when we realised the time difference might be a problem. You could turn up in the middle of the night and it wouldn’t be right if you had no one to wait on you. Vulsha takes over from me and Inak when we’re off duty.’ Hiffy flashed a bright, fanged grin. ‘She’s not as pretty as me, of course, and she doesn’t have a tail.’ The tail in question lifted and waggled itself in Ceri’s direction.

‘Of course,’ Ceri replied. There was no way Hiffy was going to risk another det supplanting her in the Overlord’s affections. ‘I’m not staying long, so don’t worry over it. Since you’re here though, this is Jenny. She’s an old friend of mine and she’s going to be Ophelia’s assistant, so you’ll be seeing more of her. I want you to help her brush up her Devotik. That’s Lee, her mate. He’s another werewolf and we’re going to need to get him fitted up in a gladiator harness.’

Hiffy peered at Lee for a second, possibly trying to imagine a hulking, brutish, wolf-man. ‘I’ll get word to Lord Torn and have him send an armourer. I think pit fighter would fit what you’re after.’

Jenny giggled. ‘Oh… yes. He’ll make a great pit fighter.’

Lee looked between the women, his cheeks reddening as he worked out he was being talked about. ‘What?’ he said, half-grinning in confusion.

‘Don’t worry about it, Lee,’ Ophelia told him in English. ‘We’re just discussing your guard costume. Jenny thinks it’s funny, but she hasn’t realised she’s going to need some new clothes as well.’ Jenny’s giggling stopped abruptly.

‘Oh yes,’ Ceri agreed. ‘We can’t have you running around in jeans. Something involving a lot of string and beads, perhaps.’

‘That sounds good,’ Lee replied, licking his lips.

Jenny tried her best to become invisible on the spot, and failed.

Croydon, London, April 8th.

‘Lepo?’ Kate said, turning the bag of pellets over in her hand.

‘Or Lepor,’ Ceri replied. ‘As best we can tell, it’s being sold mostly north of the river. Almost nothing on the south side. None of the Royals have heard of it yet, though, and there hasn’t even been a hint in the Battersea territories.’

‘Okay, well I’ll hand it off to Vice. They just use us for analysis. Technically they handle drugs and prostitution, even if there’s a supernatural element.’

John gave a grunt. ‘Except when there’s a succubus involved, or anything more than mundanely dangerous.’ He turned off the main road and down a far narrower one with a church on the corner.

‘Did you feel that?’ Lily asked.

‘No,’ Ceri said, looking out, ‘I didn’t… Oh. We must be outside the angel spell’s area.’

‘Yeah,’ Kate replied. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘The church is covered in angels.’

‘Interesting,’ John commented. ‘Ziel’s hall is just up ahead. It used to be another church. A lot younger, different denomination, but a church.’

Ceri leaned forward in the back seat of their sedan and peered out toward the building. ‘You know, I always figured those things hung out on the tallest building they could find, but that’s got that big bell tower and not a single angel.’

‘I’m going to ignore the theological implications of that,’ John said. ‘We’re here to interview Ziel to see what he knows about the cube. But don’t mention the cube. It’s been kept pretty quiet, if he mentions it…’

‘Then it probably means he’s managed to get a sympathiser into the power station. I kind of doubt this guy’s got the skills needed to make that cube.’

‘You’re probably right,’ Kate agreed, tapping her notes up on her phone. ‘Born out of wedlock in… fifty-two in London…’

Ceri frowned. ‘He’s sixty?’

‘According to this. No record of a father… Bright, but not interested in academic stuff. He dropped out of school as soon as he could, and then he dropped off the map. No information about him until he registers the Watchers of Saint John as a charity in ninety-seven.’

The car pulled up outside the red-brick building and John said, ‘Well, let’s go ask him how he stays so young.’

There were three people waiting on the steps of the small church. Ceri flicked her Sight over the doorway, seeing none of the wards common to consecrated buildings. There was no sign of anything magical about the three people either, but there was a twisted arch of laurel wound over the door.

‘Detective Inspector Radcliff,’ John said as he walked up the short flight of steps to the portico. ‘We have an appointment to see Mister Ziel.’

‘We were told police would be coming,’ one of the people said. He was in his late twenties, heavily built, with cropped, blonde hair and a sour expression. ‘There was nothing about harlots.’

John glanced back at Ceri and Lily, the first in her MIT T-shirt and jeans, and the other in a short jersey dress which did not disguise her figure. ‘Doctor Brent and Miss Carpenter are advisors on supernatural affairs with the Greycoats.’ He looked back. ‘Please allow us to enter.’

It looked like the man was going to argue when a voice came from inside. ‘Daniel, you forget your Matthew. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Chapter twenty-two, verse twenty-one.’ Daniel’s mouth closed and he stepped aside allowing them to enter.

Kate’s nose twitched as they walked in. ‘Laurel over the door, and they’re burning thyme.’

‘Protection against demons and witches,’ Ceri added.

‘Not used like that.’

Aside from the scent, the room looked like an old church. The walls were whitewashed brick with a couple of crimson drapes hung from rails near the ceiling. The pews had been removed, now replaced by rows of chairs set before a raised stage with a lectern, which was where Ziel had stood for his conference. Now he was standing at the foot of the steps leading up to it. Behind him was the cross Ceri could still not quite see as a cross.

Ziel was smiling. Up close he looked no older than he had on TV. There was no grey in his black hair, but a little magic could take care of that nicely and he certainly was a practitioner. A religious man would normally have been a theurgist, but there was no sign of a spirit pact; his medians were clear and quite strong. Ceri wondered whether his followers knew their leader was a magician. Looking around at the ten or so people in the room she decided they would not have believed it if she told them. Actually, she had only ever seen development of the medians like that in one other person…

‘Welcome to the House of the Lord, Detectives,’ Ziel said. He did not have the best of voices for public speaking, but he had obviously been trained to use it, or he had natural talent. ‘I must say, Doctor Brent, I am surprised to see you here, given that you are responsible for the abomination of science at Battersea.’

Ceri felt Lily tense, but did not need her demon’s senses to know the people around them had just got a lot more belligerent.

‘Perhaps we could go somewhere more private to talk?’ John suggested.

‘I have nothing to hide from my people,’ Ziel stated, smiling warmly. ‘He lifted himself up and said unto them, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” John…’

‘Chapter eight, verse seven,’ Ceri finished for him. ‘You’re very fond of quoting the Bible, Mister Ziel. Try this one. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Genesis six, verses one through four.’

He was good, Ceri had to admit it; his smile never faltered, not even for a second. ‘Perhaps the tension in the room would be alleviated by us taking our meeting in private,’ he said. Then he turned and walked up onto the stage, turning right and through a door there which had, presumably, once led to the vestry. Ceri’s eyes flicked over the sigils carved into the frame as she followed John and Kate through. There were no wards on the church building, but Ziel’s private offices were warded, quite strongly.

Ziel sat down behind a simple office desk, leaving two chairs in front of him. His smile had not shifted and Ceri was starting to hope he had done something bad enough that she could wipe it off his smug features. John waved Kate to a seat, and Lily nodded at Ceri to take the other. Lily took her place behind Ceri, as she was rather fond of doing, while John propped himself against the door.

‘What is it you wished to discuss, Detectives?’ Ziel said, all reasonableness.

‘We know that one of your… followers told you about the materialised angels,’ John said. He glanced at Kate who had her phone out to take notes.

‘John David Malcolm Cove,’ she supplied. ‘The ambulance driver for the one we first took out.’

‘A loyal member of my congregation, yes,’ Ziel stated, still smiling.

‘He must be. I understand the hospital is starting disciplinary procedures for breach of their confidentiality rules.’

‘But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. Jeremiah, chapter twenty, verse eleven.’

‘What else do you know about the effect?’ John asked, his frown deepening.

‘God has turned His face from this city of whores and idolaters. And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Deuteronomy, chapter thirty-one, verse eighteen.’

‘Wouldn’t your god have got his angels out of the city before he did this?’ Lily asked, her expression looking genuinely perplexed.

‘They are fallen. He has cast them from His sight.’

‘Presumably why they go back to him when they leave the area of the spell then,’ Ceri said. ‘It’s a spell. I even know how it was done.’

Ziel’s eyes narrowed. ‘And you wish to see whether I have cast this spell. I have no knowledge of magic, nor could I even consider…’

‘The Lord detests lying lips,’ Ceri interrupted, ‘but he delights in men who are truthful. Proverbs twelve, twenty-two. But you’re right. The person who constructed this spell was a genius. I highly doubt a man with your education could have done it.’

Ziel’s expression grew fixed. ‘I lack a formal education, but I travelled extensively when I was younger. I learned much in that time.’

‘People are always telling me that experience is the best teacher,’ Ceri agreed, smiling. ‘But this… This requires a knowledge of magical theory I’ve seen in very few. I could probably have done it. There was a man in America… What was his name, Lil?’

‘Gadriel?’ Lily supplied.

‘That’s the one. He exhibited knowledge ahead of the field, but he wouldn’t have wanted to keep angels out of London.’

‘And he’s dead,’ Lilly added.

‘That too.’ There had been no reaction to the name; either Ziel was a phenomenal actor or he had never heard of the angel.

‘So,’ John said into the silence, ‘aside from your belief that God did it, you have no idea how this happened, Mister Ziel?’

‘I have, as you point out, given my answer,’ Ziel replied.

‘I think we’re done here then. Thank you for your time. Oh, your people protesting at the generator?’

‘Yes?’

‘Make sure they stay outside the fence, especially at night. There are werewolves guarding it, their alert has been stepped up, and we don’t want people bitten, do we?’

‘Very true, Detective,’ Ziel replied and John turned, opening the door.

Ceri heard the Inspector grunt as he walked out of the front of the church. The reason became obvious as she followed him out and discovered that their car now had four flat tyres.

‘Local kids,’ Daniel supplied from his position on the porch. ‘They don’t seem to like cops. Must’ve opened the valves while we were inside.’ He was not the actor his boss was; the irritating man was smirking.

‘Well,’ Ceri agreed, ‘it certainly was childish.’ She raised her hand and each of the tyres re-inflated in turn.

‘You would work witchcraft on hallowed ground!’ Daniel snarled.

‘Air spell,’ Ceri said. ‘More often associated with wizardry. And this ground isn’t consecrated.’

‘The Lord will turn His face from those who…’

‘Don’t,’ Ceri said. ‘You’re not as good at it as Ziel is. Your Lord doesn’t pay me any attention at all unless he wants something, and then he…’

She stopped as she saw Daniel’s eyes widening. At the same time she heard Kate’s voice behind her saying, ‘Holy crap!’ When she turned the reason became obvious: there was an angel standing on the pavement beside the car. He looked familiar.

‘Jehoel?’ Ceri asked. It was a little difficult to tell, what with the halo and the glowing skin, and the ten-foot wingspan.

‘Ceridwyn Brent,’ Jehoel said, ‘I am to accompany you into the city. He wishes to have someone who knows His Word within and I have been chosen.’

‘Uh… But… Why me?’

‘You have also been chosen.’

There was a thud from Ceri’s right and she looked around, expecting to see Daniel. He was not there. Then she saw Lily nodding downward and followed her gaze. Daniel was on the floor at Ceri’s feet, moaning something about not being worthy.

‘Great,’ Ceri said, ‘just fucking great.’

Westminster.

‘You’re making a habit out of making my life complicated again, Doctor Brent,’ Chief Inspector Barry told her.

‘It wasn’t my idea!’ Ceri protested. ‘Stupid damn angels have it in their head to come to me to get messages across.’

Barry grunted and John said, ‘We dropped him off at the Acre Lane Shelter. He muttered something about doing God’s work and seemed happy enough.’ That got another grunt. ‘What was that stuff you were quoting?’ John asked Ceri. ‘The one that got us in to his office.’

‘The Nephilim thing? Well, it was a guess, I can’t be sure, but… No father, not aging, high-level practitioner, and something of a religious bent… I figured he probably was one.’

It was Barry whose eyebrow was raised. ‘A Nephilim? Here? I thought the whole point of the Flood was to wipe them out.’

Ceri shrugged. ‘They’re the children of humans and angels,’ she added for Kate and John’s benefit. ‘Immortal, just about impossible to kill…’

‘So Ceri killed one,’ Lily said, beaming in pride.

‘They can drown. Hence the Flood legend. But I don’t think Ziel is going to be a problem. I really don’t think he’s capable of creating the cube, and I don’t think Jehoel would have turned up on his doorstep if he was responsible anyway. He’s just going to be a nuisance.’

‘So we ignore him?’ Barry asked. ‘Aside from him being a political problem, which we can hand off to the Home Office anyway.’

‘I think so.’ Ceri glanced at Lily.

‘He was difficult to read,’ the half-succubus said, ‘but the predominant felling I got from him was greed. I think he’s safe enough.’

Battersea, April 10th.

‘Ceri?’ John said as a black-furred wolf-girl stepped out of the bushes, followed by a grey male. ‘And Michael, I’m assuming.’ Now he looked closely, the female had a collar on, which meant she was almost certainly Ceri.

The black-fur gave a quick nod and waved for him and Kate to follow, adding a bark when they did not do so immediately. They were heading across from the Chelsea Bridge gate toward the boating pond.

‘Lily said Alexandra needed to see us urgently,’ Kate tried. They got a yip of a reply. ‘I really need to learn some werewolf,’ Kate added, frowning.

‘She could just change back.’

‘It was Alexandra who wanted to see us, and it is Ceri’s pack time.’

John gave a grunt and silence fell as they crossed the park, got aboard a boat, and were rowed across to the island by Michael.

Things did not improve, however, when they got there. Alexandra was sitting beside her oil drum fire in close and very hushed conversation with the naked Amazon who was Anita, her Captain. The Alpha spotted the two detectives crossing the grass, looked slightly annoyed, and called out, ‘I’m sorry, Detectives. I know I called you, but I really need to deal with this. Go through to the other clearing. The Guards are drilling. You might find it instructive should you ever need to fight a wolf.’

John frowned, but being respectful to one of the most politically powerful women in the country, even if she did live in a park, was part of his job. He looked around for Ceri, but only Michael was standing behind them. The wolf-man pointed off to the right and the two cops headed that way, through the belt of trees which screened the clearing on that side. He could hear barks and grunts even before he was through to the other side; apparently it was combat practice.

The second clearing on the island was open to the park on the far side, but there was more space. Perhaps a dozen wolves, mixed sex, mostly grey but with a couple of browns, were busy throwing each other around the grass. A dozen wolves, and one tall, pale-skinned woman in a cropped T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms.

John took a step forward. Michael’s hand landed on his shoulder and Ceri, now human-shaped and wearing one of her over-sized shirts, stepped in front of him.

‘Just watch,’ Ceri said. She waited a beat to be sure he would do as she asked and then stepped aside so he could. His wife was there… His delicate wife was there, blocking swings of huge, hairy, clawed hands with her forearms, grappling things with huge teeth… And she looked like she was holding her own.

A slow smile spread over John Radcliff’s face. Hell, she was giving as good as she got!

‘How long has she been doing this?’ he asked.

Ceri was a little worried at how calm he sounded. ‘A couple of months, but she only comes when you’re on nights. She didn’t want you worrying. Which, of course, you were going to when you figured out she was going out.’

‘Yes, but… She’s pretty good.’

‘She’s as strong as most of them, and she’s far quicker, more precise. She’s got the natural vamp stuff going for her. Hell, I hit like, well, a girl when I’m this shape, but I’m a pretty mean scrapper as a wolf. She wanted to be able to defend herself, gain a bit of confidence, and stop you worrying about her when you’re not with her, of course. You’re taking this a lot more calmly than I thought you would.’

John grinned. ‘Well, later I’ll probably have a fit. Right now I’m just glad this is her secret, not that she’s sneaking out for snacks. Does she know we’re here?’

‘Of course. She probably caught your scent when you got on the island. She asked me to get you here because you were starting to get suspicious.’

‘Huh.’ He glanced at Kate. ‘You know, maybe we should come down here and do the same thing once in a while. Improve our hand-to-hand.’

Kate looked out at the field of fighting werewolves and swallowed. ‘Me in a field, wrestling a lot of sweating supernaturals…? Sounds like heaven.’

Part Four: Werewolf’s Holiday

Primrose Hill, London, April 11th, 2013.

The body lay under a tree in the park, limbs spread wantonly. It was obvious that she had been engaged in some form of sexual activity before she died, fairly enthusiastic, even wild, activity at that. She was never going to tell about it, of course.

‘The head is about a hundred yards south of here,’ Catherine said, swallowing hard and then turning her back on the Sight. ‘Randolph and Gloria found her on a routine sweep around our territory this morning.’

‘You’re running regular patrols now?’ Ceri asked.

‘Regular is a little strong. On the other hand, we do catch people doing things they shouldn’t because they aren’t expecting a werewolf doing the rounds. Randy likes to get Gloria out here most mornings though. He takes being a Guard quite seriously, and the endorphins make her frisky.’ She grimaced. ‘Not this morning though.’

‘Well,’ John said as he turned from the body, ‘we’re glad your people discovered her so quickly. Any scents?’ Ceri gave a small smile; when John had first started out with the Greycoats he had been pretty anti-supernatural, and now he was asking about scents as if that were perfectly normal.

‘Randy said it was confusing. He thinks there was undead scent, but there was something weird about it. Gloria said… She said it made her horny, except that the scenery was kind of putting her off.’

‘Horny?’ Ceri asked, frowning.

‘She said it smelled like the most male thing she had ever been near. Essence of male sex or something. Like I said, weird.’

Kate walked over from the corpse looking a little pink around the throat. ‘Uh, yeah. I think there’s still a bit of that hanging around. It’s like Old Spice on steroids.’

‘So…’ John was frowning thoughtfully, ‘we’re back to vampire. A vampire super-stud.’

‘I’ve never heard of a vampire using pheromones to trap people,’ Ceri mused. ‘I’ll check the journals and talk to Professor Mallow.’

‘No Lily this morning?’ Catherine asked. ‘It’s probably a good thing if this place is making girls go funny.’

Ceri grinned and started off toward the edge of the park. ‘Are you kidding? Getting Lily up this early requires a crowbar and heavy lifting gear.’

Holloway.

Peter Mallow was in good spirits. He was a lycanthrope, it was just after the new moon and that left him happier in his own skin than usual. He was, if anything, the polar opposite of the werewolves despite the fact that he turned into a wolf-man three nights of the month.

He was, however, a little perplexed at Ceri’s question. ‘Vampires aren’t exactly a major aspect of cryptozoology,’ he told her, ‘but I’m moderately sure that none of them give off pheromones.’

Ceri nodded, grimacing slightly. ‘That’s what I thought. I couldn’t find anything in the literature either, but I figured if there was something you might have heard of it.’

The gangly professor shook his head. ‘There are other creatures prone to consuming blood, some of them cryptids. There’s a Central American creature called a chupacabra which has begun appearing in the southern Tribal Territories, for example.’

‘Chupa…?’

‘Chupacabra, it means “goat sucker.” Apparently it has a taste for goats, but there are claims that it will attack humans. Descriptions are sparse and I don’t think that’s your culprit. There are tales of cannibalistic or vampiric monsters from the Mythic Age, but those are generally too confused or contradictory to give a clear indication of what they were. Most historians believe they all refer to vampires or werewolves, but something else may have survived as they did.’

‘Well,’ Ceri said despondently, ‘I guess it’s a line of enquiry.’

Kennington.

Ceri did not notice Mei entering the study. The ex-Sleeping Dragon had a remarkable ability to walk into a room and go entirely unnoticed when she wished, even though she was an exquisitely beautiful woman who could command attention and respect with nothing more than a cough when she needed to.

‘The Headsman case continues to puzzle you?’

Ceri almost fell off her seat at the quiet voice. ‘Jesus, Mei! Are we going to have to put a bell on you or something?’

‘My apologies, Ceridwyn. I did not mean to startle you.’

‘Yeah, well… Yes, the case is getting weirder if anything. Some of the Royals found the latest body. Same MO, but they got scents. Undead, they think, so we’re back to vampires, but there was also a lot of… masculinity hanging about the area. It was affecting Kate and that was hours after the murder.’

‘I am unaware of any undead which uses pheromones,’ Mei stated.

‘Gwyn said the same. I’ve found nothing in the academic literature so I’m checking my parents’ books.’

Mei gave a nod and turned to leave. She stopped and turned back, and Ceri marvelled at the woman’s poise. Even as a relatively normal human, Mei had inhuman grace.

‘Of course, I know what the Chinese philosophers would say about such a creature.’

Ceri frowned. ‘I’m willing to entertain anything at the moment.’

‘An imbalance between Yin and Yang.’

‘That’s that symbol, the circle divided into light and dark with the dots of one colour in the other?’

‘The taiji is a representation of inner balance. Yin and Yang are opposites, light and dark, earth and heaven, cold and heat… female and male. Where an individual has an excess of one or the other, the Taoists believed they would become ill. There may be some validity to the belief. Where the energy flows in, the medians become abnormal and it can result in various conditions. I believe that a large excess of Yang might explain your murderer.’

‘An excess of male energy?’

‘If one subscribes to the philosophy, yes.’

‘Well, like I said, anything’s worth a try at the moment. So, this thing has an excess of maleness, so it presumably wants Yin to make up for that?’

‘Traditionally the treatment for such an imbalance would be the consumption of food thought to be high in Yin while avoiding Yang foods.’

‘Which would explain his attacking women,’ Ceri noted, ‘but maybe we can take that further.’ She reached for the phone. ‘If I was looking for a lot of Yin, and keeping in mind I’m a scientist, not a philosopher, I’d go for women at peak ovulation, when their oestrogen levels are highest.’

Mei’s lips curled a little. ‘Your ability to rationalise even the most esoteric of concepts is quite remarkable, Ceridwyn.’

Ceri held the phone to her ear, listening to it ringing. ‘Yeah, well, I’ve had some good teachers… Kate? It’s Ceri. I don’t suppose the pathologists checked what stage the victims were in their menstrual cycle?’

Soho, April 12th.

Ceri’s eyes scanned her tables, watching for signs of anyone wanting something. She saw people wanting things, but no one wanting drinks, so she ignored them. There were vampires in tonight, just after the new moon, and very few werewolves. Actually, there was one wolf, a Royal out on the town with a few human friends and she had been dragged out.

‘It’s kind of quiet,’ Sasha commented.

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri replied. ‘How’s the bling doing?’

Sasha glanced at her right wrist where a fairy-silver chain had been added to her outfit. ‘I think it’s working. I don’t know what it does, exactly…’

‘No, it’s invisible to you. It gives you just a little bit of glimmer. Your eyes are shining, your skin has a bit of a sparkle to it. I think, mostly, it demonstrates to the fae you’re making an effort.’

‘I should think of something to do to thank Ophelia.’

‘Did she say it was freely given?’ Ceri glanced at the blonde; Ophelia was a very modern Unseelie, but she was still Unseelie.

‘Yes. Twice. She said it again when she put it on my wrist.’

‘Huh. Okay. She put it on your wrist? Didn’t just hand it to you?’

Sasha gave a nod. ‘Put it on.’

‘In that case… she’s not expecting anything, but it would be nice if you gave her something in return.’

‘Any suggestions? I mean, I’m not really used to fae. She’s gorgeous and smart… I’ve no idea what I could do that wouldn’t be crass…’

‘She’s great in bed.’

Sasha’s eyes widened. ‘But I don’t… I mean at parties… But I don’t usually…’

‘She probably knows that, but I think she likes you, and it’d show you were pleased with her gift.’

‘Making an effort?’

‘Uh-huh.’ Something made Ceri turn her head and she spotted Kate walking in past the lectern. ‘Up to you, of course. I think I have a Detective Sergeant who wants to talk to me.’

‘I’ll go see to twenty-five.’

Ceri gave a nod as the blonde girl walked away to be replaced by a redhead. ‘Detective,’ Ceri said, smiling. ‘Long day?’

‘Busy,’ Kate replied.

Alec put a whiskey tumbler in front of her. ‘I’ll get you a wine for after that,’ he said. ‘You’re looking frazzled.’

‘Huh. You were right about the hormone levels, Ceri. They went back over the blood work. Not that there was much blood left to work with. All the victims had peak levels of estriol in their systems. They weren’t on the pill, and they weren’t using Prophylaxys charms either.’ She knocked back half her drink before closing her eyes as the liquid burned down her throat.

Alec raised an eyebrow. ‘This the Headsman case? He’s going after women with high oestrogen levels? That’s… nuts.’

‘It’s not a significant enough sample to prove a pattern,’ Ceri replied, ‘but it fits a theory.’

‘It’s good enough for the Chief to think there’s merit to it,’ Kate told them. ‘He wants to know what we should look for.’

‘Not really sure. Mei was the one who suggested it. I just came up with a reasonable means of testing the hypothesis.’

Kate nodded. ‘John and I’ll come round to High Towers tomorrow. She gets weekends off, right?’

‘Uh-huh. Don’t make it too early.’

‘We won’t.’ Kate sank the rest of her whiskey and handed the glass across to Alec. ‘I’ll take that wine now.’ She looked like there were going to be a couple more before she left too.

Kennington, April 13th.

‘We have visitors,’ Twill said, appearing out of nowhere beside Ceri. ‘Two normal men and a witch.’

Ceri frowned and got up from her chair. ‘Two men? Kate and John are supposed to be coming… Barry?’

‘Open the door and find out,’ Twill suggested.

Chief Inspector Barry was looking just as harassed as ever, but there was a hint of ‘finally we’re getting somewhere’ about his expression; a hint of relief showed around the eyes, Ceri decided.

‘Doctor Brent,’ he said as she opened the door. ‘When Kate said your friend might know something about this killer I decided to come down and hear it for myself.’

Ceri stepped back. ‘Come in. Mei’s in the study. She likes the quiet.’

John pushed the door closed behind him, leaned toward Ceri and said, ‘Tell him.’

‘You sure?’ Ceri asked quietly. ‘He looks stressed enough.’

‘Tell him,’ John repeated. ‘We both think he should know.’

Barry had stopped at the foot of the stairs. ‘Tell him what?’ he growled.

Ceri sighed and walked toward him. ‘Wait here. I’ll get Mei and we’ll go to my… official residence.’ She stalked past him, ignoring the frown on his grizzled features.

‘What are you talking about, girl?’

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

Barry watched Hiffy putting mugs of a steaming, slightly purple liquid down on the table in Ceri’s apartments. He was still frowning, but it seemed to be more from perplexity than annoyance.

Ceri picked up her mug and sipped from the contents. ‘It’s not coffee, but it does keep you awake and it’s not bad.’ Kate picked up her mug, took a sip, and winced. ‘Once you get used to it,’ Ceri added.

‘Detka dak, Shivika?’ Hiffy asked.

‘Fa, shekushka,’ Ceri replied, smiling. Then she switched back to English. ‘You’re not looking too horrified, Chief.’

Barry gave a grunt. ‘Well…’ He glanced at Mei and Gwyn sitting on a loveseat opposite him. ‘There were suspicions that Miss Long might be more than human, but no one could identify anything during the asylum interviews.’

‘Because she was entirely human by then,’ Gwyn told him. ‘We were dragons. We gave that up to continue living here.’

The policeman nodded. ‘Frankly, I don’t see a problem with that, but the sorcery thing…’ His attention returned to Ceri. ‘You realise what’s going to happen when the Ministry hears about all of this?’ His gaze lifted to take in the large, black-walled room.

‘I’ve come up with several scenarios. None of them were improved by you being pissed off that I’d never mentioned it to you.’

There was another grunt. ‘Thank you for thinking of me. All right, officially I don’t know. Officially none of my detectives know either.’ He glared at John and Kate until they nodded at him. Then the big man actually cracked a grin. ‘I can’t believe I’m sitting in a castle in the Demon Realm being served drinks by a blue demon.’

Ceri giggled. ‘Hiffy’s adorable. She and her grandfather helped me get Lily out of Barnes’ clutches, and when I… inherited this place I thought of them to run it. They aren’t like the demons you have to deal with on Earth. Aside from the obvious differences, they’re really pretty much like you or John. No talent for magic. That’s what seems to be the difference between them and the higher demons. Of course, in the magic field of this place even someone without real talent can manage the odd spell, but on Earth Hiffy’d be normal, if blue.’

‘Huh. All right… Miss Long, this thing that’s sucking women dry…’

‘It is, most likely, a man,’ Mei told him. ‘Or it was. Such a strong imbalance might turn it into… Well, the Chinese called them demons, but given our setting that seems inappropriate. An excess of Yang energy will make it impulsive, libidinous, quick to seek pleasure. It will be warm, or even hot, to the touch and dislike hot places. None of this may be useful after it has fed, however.’

Barry raised an eyebrow, but Kate caught on. ‘It’s feeding to balance itself,’ she said.

‘Precisely, Detective. It draws out the Yin, the female energy, from its victims. So soon after feeding it is likely that this creature is indistinguishable from a “normal” vampire.’

‘Normal vampires don’t feed on Yin,’ John pointed out. ‘How would it end up like this?’

‘I am afraid I cannot be of much help there. Overuse of certain elemental magic could result in such instability, but vampires are normally necromancers where they practise anything. Besides, had a Chinese practitioner come here the embassy would have known about it.’

‘Maybe since you left?’ Ceri suggested.

‘The Home Office has been keeping very careful watch for anyone immigrating from the Empire since the fall. I believe they would have noted someone like this. Your murderer remains a puzzle.’

‘We’re further along than we were,’ Barry replied. ‘We’ve got something to work with.’

‘Good,’ Ceri said, ‘because I’m going to Wales tomorrow with Michael and Lily. It’s Michael’s birthday on Wednesday. I missed the last one because of that survival course and we promised to make this one something special. He’s going to be twenty-one.’

Kate flashed her a grin. ‘They grow up so fast.’

Ceri glowered at her. ‘I am not a cradle-snatcher!’

The witch looked entirely too innocent. ‘I never said you were.’

Cardiff, Wales, April 14th.

Carter had insisted on getting them the penthouse suite at the Castle Hotel again. He had said it was a birthday gift to Michael, and also a small present to Ceri for getting Cheryl her life back, and it was only going to be for two nights so they had accepted. Now the place was full of werewolves.

Rhys, Michael’s oldest brother, was looking a lot happier to see them than he had the first time they had met. He was also looking a lot more relaxed, slouched on one of the big sofas in the lounge with a grin on his face.

Kai, the middle brother, was sitting beside him, his arm around Tegan, his mate. Black Moonlight, Kai’s band, was doing studio work for their next album so he was looking a little harassed, though he seemed to get more relaxed the more he sat and chatted with family and friends.

And then there was the reason Rhys was looking happy, perched on the arm of the sofa beside him. Her name was Heather and she had run away from her Scottish pack much as Michael had run from the Brecon one. She had wandered into the Brecon territories, a bit lost and not a little scared, and gone to Rhys asking to stay a while. They had not made their relationship official yet, but the way Lily was grinning at them suggested it was just a matter of time.

‘So what are you planning to do with yourselves?’ Rhys asked once the main pleasantries were out of the way. ‘I assume you’re not planning to spend all your time in bed, though I admit I’d be tempted.’

Heather slapped his shoulder. ‘That’s a terrible thing t’ say!’ She had a soft Scottish accent, quite a soft voice in fact.

‘You don’t know these two young women so well,’ Rhys replied, grinning.

‘It’s true,’ Lily said, smiling brightly. ‘I’m half-succubus…’

‘And I’m wearing fairy-silver, which makes me… inclined to spend more time in bed,’ Ceri added. ‘You see the dark rings under his eyes?’

‘No,’ Heather replied. ‘You’re havin’ me on.’

‘Only about the dark rings,’ Michael told her. ‘We’re here all of tomorrow, then we’re going up to Tal-y-llyn for an afternoon, then on to Bala, and back to London from there.’

‘Not dropping in at Aber?’ Kai asked.

‘If we do that,’ Ceri said, ‘I’ll have to go see Ed Perry, and then we’d lose at least half a day in work. No, this is Michael’s twenty-first and there’s going to be no break from the regimen of carnal and other pleasures.’

The Scottish werewolf blushed and Ceri wondered whether the mores up in the Highlands were different from the ones further south.

‘We’ll get some of the pack together tomorrow night,’ Rhys told them. ‘Some won’t be able to attend since it’s a school night, but enough will for a decent birthday party. We’ll head out of town and run, and see what happens from there.’

Ceri noticed Heather’s brow furrowing slightly, but she was not sure why, so she ignored it as she felt the enthusiasm around her.

‘Sounds great,’ Michael declared, grinning broadly.

~~~

Ceri reached over Michael’s shoulder, picked up her wine glass, and sipped from it, the cold liquid a sharp counterpoint to the bubbling, hot water surrounding her and the hot ache which was grinding its way up her body from where it was joined to her mate. They had not abused the hot tub on their last visit; it had been just after the death of Michael’s father and they had not been in the mood. Now…

The drinking did not interrupt her slow motion up and down his shaft and he gave her an exasperated grin. ‘You… you’re getting far too… good at this,’ he growled.

‘I get a lot of practice,’ she whispered. ‘You’re close.’

‘He’s just about exploding,’ Lily replied from behind her. ‘Don’t tire him out too much, I want him next.’

Ceri put her glass down, tightened her inner muscles, and pushed down hard. Michael’s back arched.

‘Oh Jeez…!’ he barked.

‘We’ve got all night if we want it,’ Ceri said as she rode his orgasm to its finish. ‘All night to make our Michael feel like he’s died and gone to heaven.’

Mile End, London, April 15th.

Andrew Fields was high. Whatever the Hell the stuff was he had burned, breathing in the vapour had been like sucking in the air of Heaven. Now that he was coming down from that incredible bliss he was aware enough of the world around him to know that the others in the room were just as blasted as he was. The stuff had been well worth the money.

Something which sounded like a door being kicked in impinged upon his senses, but if it was a raid then he was not going to be going anywhere any time soon, so the cops could have him. Frankly he could have cared less, maybe, if he had tried really hard. Like he was going to try doing anything with any effort…

And then he saw the angel. At least, he imagined it was an angel because she looked really beautiful. Her blonde hair shone in the light from the bare, sixty-watt bulb, her blue eyes flashed like icy fire. She grabbed the front of Andrew’s shirt and lifted him off the ground as though he was no weight at all, and she looked so slight…

She was speaking to him. She was asking him something, demanding it, and he really wanted to answer her, but all he could actually manage to do was giggle. Her hand wrapped around his jaw and he felt the pinpricks of claws digging into his skin, drawing blood. Were angels supposed to have claws?

Whatever, the sharp pain cut through the haze in his brain and he heard her voice clearly this time.

‘Disgusting piece of mortal filth…’

And then she snapped his neck like a twig.

Cardiff, Wales.

Producing music, even the kind of heavy rock Black Moonlight was famous for, seemed something of a boring process, and not really what Ceri had expected. Lily, used to film production, seemed to think it looked kind of normal.

‘It’s kind of artificial,’ the half-succubus said, ‘like filming. I mean, the performance is real, but they lay down all the tracks separately the way the bits of film get made in weird orders.’

‘Most of your filming involved taking your clothes off though,’ Michael countered as they stood at the back of the studio waiting for Kai to break for lunch.

‘Doesn’t make it more interesting.’

‘She told me I’d die of boredom after three days,’ Ceri told him. ‘You’ve been on a porn shoot. Remember how exciting that was?’

Michael’s cheeks reddened. ‘Well, actually…’

‘Visiting isn’t the same,’ Lily put in. ‘It’s all naked thrashing bodies and it looks great, but try that for days on end with some idiot stopping you in the middle because he wants to change the camera angle.’

One of the sound men was looking at them like there was a trio of total weirdos in front of him. Ceri decided he was human; a werewolf would probably have been less bothered.

‘Aside from the last bit,’ Michael said after a moment’s thought, ‘it sounds like a normal week back home.’

The sound man’s eyes threatened to pop out of his skull, but he was saved by the producer announcing that they would wrap for lunch. Ceri let the smirk which had been threatening to show on her face have free rein as she turned and headed out to meet the guitarist.

Tegan joined them when they got to Mermaid Quay, and they went to a restaurant Kai said did excellent steak.

‘Good idea,’ Lily commented as she perused the menu. ‘You should definitely have the steak, Michael. We need to keep your strength up.’

‘Five in the morning,’ Michael stated. ‘That’s when they finally let me sleep. Five. It’s a good job we didn’t have t’ get up early.’

Ceri grinned; his Welsh accent was reasserting itself in proximity to his brothers.

‘You’re complaining?’ Kai asked.

‘No, I’m bragging,’ Michael replied.

‘Bastard,’ Kai said without rancour. ‘I had t’ be in the studio at nine.’

‘I hate studio work,’ Tegan stated flatly. ‘And they’ve got me in there tomorrow.’

‘Oh?’ Lily asked, her eyebrows rising.

‘We’re doing a new arrangement of “Goddess’ Gift,”’ Kai told them, ‘a rock version. And we’re doing a new recording of the original that’ll go out as a “bonus” track. Company wants t’ put it out in America. They said that one of the tribal leaders got wind of what we do. If it sells well, they want us t’ do a tour. The northern States and some of the Tribal Territories.’

‘Katarina,’ Ceri said. ‘I’d put money on that “tribal leader” being the Alpha of the Black Crows.’

‘Alexandra’s sister,’ Lily added.

‘Oh,’ Kai said. ‘Suddenly I feel more inclined to go for it.’

Ceri gave him a grin. ‘Rhys seems to have settled in,’ she said, apparently changing the subject. ‘Has he?’

‘Yeah, I think so. Everyone’s happy with him. He’s got a good handle on running the pack, of course, and Heather’s been good for him. The Elders are a lot more relaxed since he got himself a bitch who’s probably going to end up his mate.’

‘Black-fur?’

‘Aye. Good few blacks in Scotland.’

‘Good. Think we can get him to London in the summer? I think things’ve settled enough for that conference.’

Kai gave a shrug. ‘I think, as long as no one minds Heather going with him, you can persuade him to go to the Moon. Talk to him tonight.’

Mile End, London.

‘Holy crap,’ John muttered as he walked through the scene of carnage which had been a squat and drug den the day before. ‘How many dead?’

‘We’ve got ten bodies,’ one of the SOCOs said. ‘We think…’

‘You think?’

‘Well a couple came disassembled, but we think the total adds up to ten.’

‘Shit. Right.’

Kate appeared from one of the rooms, her pale features a little paler than usual. ‘This place is a disaster area,’ she stated, her voice a little numb. ‘I mean, we’ve been to some bad scenes, but… The ones with broken necks got off easy. We’ve got disembowelling, castration, ripped out throats. All of it done by hand as far as anyone can tell.’

‘Werewolf?’ John suggested, not really believing it.

‘From what Ceri’s said, it’d have to be a black-fur. Ceri’s out of town, Alexandra wouldn’t, and I’m willing to bet Alec was at Carter’s place last night. We can check, but… To be honest, this doesn’t look like a wolf.’

A uniformed officer appeared in the doorway, notebook in hand. ‘We’ve got one possible,’ he said. ‘Guy across the street saw a woman leaving the building. About five-nine, slim, blonde hair. She was dressed in black.’

‘A vampire?’ Now John really sounded like he did not believe what he was saying.

‘Not a vampire,’ Kate replied, ‘the vampire.’

Brecon Beacons, Wales.

Heather’s eyes widened as she watched Ceri transform Lily from a stunningly attractive redhead into the best-looking brown-furred werewolf anyone had ever seen. Lily gave a yip of pleasure and bounced away to where most of the other pack members were already in fur, milling around with gathering excitement.

The wide eyes shifted to the collar around Ceri’s throat. ‘You… You’re that Ceridwyn Brent? The one Tegan wrote the song about?’

So that was what the frown was about in the hotel: she had not known who she was meeting. ‘I thought you knew,’ Ceri said.

‘No… Rhys just said you were Michael’s mate. His human mate. I thought…’ She stopped, biting her lips. ‘That was going to sound all wrong.’

‘What?’

‘Well, taking a human for a mate in the Highlands is… sort of an act of desperation. It’s like marrying beneath you. No offence. I mean, you’re Luperca’s favourite!’

‘None taken,’ Ceri replied. ‘Things are, apparently, a bit different in London. And here. Michael’s mother was human. He’s half-brother to Rhys and Kai.’

‘Rhys didn’t mention that either. He said, “He’s my brother, and a Guard in one of London’s greatest packs.” He sounded really proud.’

Ceri smiled; that was quite a change from their last visit. She touched her collar, feeling her skin tingle as she shifted. Come, she barked. Run!

London, England.

It had taken all day to find someone willing to give up the location of Braun’s hiding hole in the Underground and the tactical officers in charge of going in first were not especially happy with what they were facing. A narrow corridor, little more than an access walkway, led to the door to her rooms. It was going to be single file in with one of the most powerful vampires in the world on the other side.

Under orders from Chief Barry, Kate and John were in body armour and bringing up the rear, and they were carrying pistols loaded with incendiary rounds. Kate was of the opinion that if it got to the point where she needed to shoot something she was dead anyway, but John was holding his Sterling low as if he was waiting for a chance to fire it.

There was a crash from the head of the team, then the thud and flash of a stun grenade, and then a lot of shouting. John pushed forward behind the tactical team, Kate bringing up the rear with her heart in her throat.

She need not have worried.

‘No one here,’ John muttered as his eyes scanned the bed chamber which was the last of the two rooms. It was sparse. There was a four-poster bed with ragged drapes hung around it, a chair, and little else. There was certainly no sign of Hildegard Braun.

‘Yeah,’ Kate said, ‘but… This place looks like it was turned over before we got here.’

John gave a slow nod. There were papers scattered across the floor. Someone had torn open the pillows on the bed and ripped long gashes in the lumpy mattress. ‘Someone came looking for her before we did. So maybe she’s out looking for them.’

‘It makes sense. She doesn’t come up from here without a good reason, something threatening. Something personally threatening.’

John gave a grunt. ‘What threatens a five-hundred-years-dead vampire?’

Kate gave a shrug. ‘A six-hundred-year-old one?’

Brecon Beacons, Wales, April 16th.

They had found a spot where the hills had been cut into a slight bowl, found enough wood to build a fire, and now the wolves of the Brecon pack were celebrating Michael’s birthday in the manner of werewolves gathered together under the stars.

Somewhere among the scattered bodies Lily was back in skin and enjoying herself. Michael was in there too. Ceri had shifted back and was sitting beside the fire, taking a break from her constant stream of admirers, when Rhys appeared beside her. He shifted as he sat down, from a very impressive, black-furred wolf-man to a still fairly impressive man.

‘Your demon is leaving a trail of exhausted wolves in her wake,’ he said, grinning as he did so.

‘Sounds like Lily. She has the advantage of keeping her strength up while expending energy on sex.’ She glanced at him. ‘I wanted to talk to you anyway. About coming to London.’

‘I thought you might. When were you thinking?’

‘This summer. July, maybe early August.’

He gave a nod. ‘I can make arrangements. Get word to me when you’ve fixed a date. I’ll see about getting Hywel down from the north. You should think about contacting the Scottish packs.’

‘I wouldn’t know how.’

‘Ask Alexandra. Maybe Luperca can have a word in a few ears.’

Ceri chuckled. ‘I’ll need to talk to her about it anyway…’ Her gaze caught the slim, tightly muscled shape of Heather’s wolf-form on all fours in the grass. ‘Heather’s kind of quiet, but she seems to get into it fairly quickly.’

‘I’ve no complaints about our physical relationship, in either shape,’ Rhys replied, smirking.

Ceri turned, lifting her leg over his to straddle his hips. ‘Well if you don’t mind doing it in man-shape…’

He let out a low growl as she ground against him. A human might have had qualms about sex with his brother’s wife, but Rhys was werewolf to the core. ‘I find it a refreshing change,’ he whispered.

Battersea, London.

Lorna sat silently in the north clearing, watching the far side of the lake. John had insisted that she stay with the pack until he came to collect her. At first she had been annoyed; she had gone to all this trouble to persuade him that she was not a helpless waif and now he was treating her just as he had. What did he think he could stop that she could not? Except that she could tell that was not the problem. Her husband was worried, very worried. He would not tell her what he was worried about, but she knew it was the case he was working on.

So she waited, and watched for him, nervous and too restless to sit among the wolves in Alexandra’s clearing. And then something moved out of the darkness on the opposite bank.

Lorna started to move and then came to a halt as she realised that the figure she was seeing was not human. A woman, shorter than she was, but still moderately tall, her head surrounded by a cloud of blonde hair. She looked, as best Lorna could tell, like quite the beauty, but she was dead, and very old. The sense of age and power was almost palpable as she reached out an arm toward Lorna.

And then there were a dozen wolves around the younger vampire, growling and snarling at the figure across the water. Alexandra appeared beside Lorna, putting one hand on her shoulder. The blonde vampire turned and the shadows seemed to wrap around her like a shroud. Lorna felt her spine relax, unaware that she had tensed.

‘I’ve only seen her twice before,’ Alexandra said, ‘and that was in the wake of the Shattering. She keeps to herself usually, working from the shadows, out of the light.’

‘Who…?’ Lorna breathed.

‘It seems your husband was right to ask that you stay here tonight, child. Hildegard Braun is not someone a vampire wants taking an interest in her.’

Kennington.

Twill flitted back and forth in front of the doors in the hall as Gwyn took her time coming down from the study. Well, to Twill it felt like she was taking her time, but fairies tended to think faster than larger people, and it might have been worry. There were four wolves, a vampire, a man, and a witch on the grounds, and that could not be good. Ishifa hovered at the foot of the stairs, watching her not-mistress pacing in the air.

‘Detectives,’ Gwyn said when she had opened the outer door, ‘and Anita… I am assuming this is not a social visit?’ She stepped back and Twill watched as John and Kate trooped in, followed by Lorna, with Anita bringing up the rear and shifting to human as she stepped over the threshold.

‘I have a favour to ask,’ John said. ‘We need somewhere safe for Lorna to stay for a few days.’

‘Of course,’ Gwyn replied without a second’s thought, ‘but…’

John frowned. ‘Hildegard Braun…’

Red light flickered around Twill before he could say anything else. ‘Come Ishifa, we’ll make up some beds in the dungeon.’

‘Thank you, Twill,’ Lorna called out to the rapidly retreating fairy.

‘Braun,’ Gwyn mused. ‘Could she have been the one who had Lorna possessed?’

‘From what I know of her,’ Mei said, her soft voice making everyone jump, ‘it would not have been her.’ She had arrived on the small landing above the last flight of stairs without anyone noticing. ‘Unlike many older vampires, she does not practise necromancy, or any other form of magic. When she made herself known to Ceridwyn, I conducted an investigation of her under orders from Huanglong. He did not wish her influence affecting his tool. My information is far from complete, but it seems she has never had cause to use any powers other than her vampiric ones.’

‘That just confirms it then,’ John stated, his frown growing deeper. ‘We have two, very powerful, vampires on a rampage. Ceri picked a damn inconvenient time to be on holiday.’

Below Llyn Cau, Wales.

Michael was walking like a man who had somehow been mesmerised into following wherever he was led. Ceri was amused; it was terribly cute in a man who would be turning twenty-one in the morning. His eyes never strayed far from Lily’s behind even though the day was bright and warm, the sky clear, and the landscape quite beautiful.

Lily had decided that appropriate attire for a march up the side of a mountain was a T-shirt which draped over her large breasts, swaying as she walked, and her shortest pair of shorts. In truth, Ceri could feel contented, sun-warmed, half-succubus across their link; Lily had partially gone for semi-naked so that she could get sun on her skin. It had also been, according to her, to keep Michael entertained. If he got any more entertained his tongue would be hanging out.

Ceri was leading, in jeans and her MIT T-shirt. It was racer-backed and she felt that was enough flesh for this time of year in Wales. They had got to the lake at the bottom of the valley, Llyn Mwyngil, at midday, had lunch in Tal-y-llyn, and decided to walk up the side of Cader. People called it Cader, though correctly it was Cadair Idris, the seat or stronghold of Idris. There were false associations with King Arthur, legends about giants who sat up there watching the stars, and more prosaic tales of a mundane king who had fought the Irish. It was said that if you spent a night alone on the slopes of the mountain you would come down a poet or a madman, but they had no plans to stay that long.

‘Your skin’s changing again,’ Lily commented as they walked.

Ceri groaned. ‘What now? Am I growing wings or turning purple?’

‘Actually, it’s looking more normal. I think you’re even getting some colour in it.’

‘No chance,’ Ceri scoffed.

‘She’s right,’ Michael said, his eyes never rising above Lily’s waist. ‘It’s a little smoother than it was, but it’s not as pale. I may be male, but I notice these things.’

‘It took you a week to notice I’d cut my hair,’ Ceri pointed out.

‘No, it took me a week to say I’d noticed. Also, you cut it and then I didn’t see you in human form until five days later.’

‘Huh.’ Of course he was right. ‘You are better about noticing things like that than most men.’

‘That’s because I’m a wolf. We’re just naturally better than most men.’

‘Not arguing,’ Ceri replied, grinning. She stopped as they turned a corner in the track and the bowl of Llyn Cau appeared to their right, and she felt… something.

Michael’s head lifted and he sniffed, moving up to stand beside Lily. ‘Fae,’ he said softly.

Male laughter echoed from the walls of the rocky bowl and the sky grew darker. As they watched, the water of the lake grew still and then ice began to form, spreading from the far bank as a tall figure seemed to step out of nothing and begin walking toward them. Ceri was using her staff as a walking stick and she shifted her grip on it. The inlay around its upper third began to glow more brightly.

The man stopped, perhaps ten yards from them. His face was still clothed in shadow, but they could see a broad grin full of bright teeth and eyes that shone a bright blue. Black hair shrouded his head like a cowl and his body suggested that he knew how to use the long sword slung at his left hip.

‘Stay your hand, sorceress,’ he said, his voice deep and full of humour. ‘I am Gwyn ap Nudd, but I mean you no harm. I pass on the regards of Oberon and Titania. They also pass on good wishes to your young warrior for his birthday tomorrow.’

Ceri executed a short bow. ‘Gwyn ap Nudd, King of Annwn, Lord of the Wild Hunt. I hope we’re not disturbing you.’

The fae bowed his head in return. ‘Lady Ayasha, Overlord of All Demons. You bother me less than the tourists.’

‘Huh. Well, thank you for coming to see us personally.’

He waved the comment away. ‘I try to stay on the good side of those with power. You’re going to Bala after this little side trip?’ It sounded more of a statement than a question.

‘That’s right.’

‘Be sure to pay your respects to the Lady. Enjoy your walk.’ He turned and started back across the frozen lake.

‘I… will do that,’ Ceri told him, but he was already vanishing back to wherever he had come from. Colour returned to the sky and the ice was gone as though it had never been there.

‘That was… weird,’ Michael commented. ‘I mean, the way it went dark and the ice…’

‘Yeah, well… what do you expect the Fae Underworld to be like?’ Ceri replied before heading off down the track again.

Westminster, London.

‘It was definitely her?’ Barry was scowling, but his irritation was at the situation rather than his detectives.

‘Alexandra recognised her,’ John stated.

‘Damn it,’ Barry growled. ‘If it comes to it and we have to take her down…’

‘The vampire underground will gain power,’ Kate said. ‘It’ll be like Raynor, but less organised.’

‘We have no idea who this other vamp is?’

Kate frowned. ‘Well…’

Both men looked at her and she shrank a little in her seat. ‘If you know something, Kate…’ John said.

‘Before Ceri went to rescue Lily she came to see me. Braun told her something and she wasn’t sure what to do with it, but she didn’t want to go off and die without telling someone…’

‘So she told you? It was related to the Greycoats?’

‘To… one Greycoat in particular. It might not be him. It just seems like… I mean, it seems a bit weird that Braun should say something and then someone tries to use Lorna to kill John. Again.’

John’s eyes widened. ‘Chen. His name was Simon Chen.’

‘Apparently he’s really called Lo Chan. Braun said he’d come south, but he wasn’t actually in London. Maybe she told Ceri because she hoped someone would take him out before he came into her territory.’

There was an angry, dark shadow hanging over John’s face. ‘You should’ve told me.’

‘No,’ Barry stated flatly. ‘And the way you’re reacting is the reason she was right not to. I should take you off the case…’ He held up a hand before John could argue. ‘I won’t because I need the two of you on this, but I also need one of my best detectives on this, not an angry husband. Your wife is in the safest place she could be right now. Switch off your emotions and use your brain.’ He gave his detective a bleak smile. ‘Arresting someone like that is next to impossible. It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if he never made it to a cell.’

John nodded. ‘Thanks, Chief.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Kate said once they were outside Barry’s office. ‘I should’ve…’

‘No,’ John snapped. ‘Barry’s right. You were right. I’d have gone off alone and got myself killed trying to nail him. And that’s why we’re not telling Lorna about this until after he’s a pile of ash.’

Bala, Wales.

It was sunset when they walked down to the edge of the lake, choosing a spot on the northern bank away from the water sports centre at the very northern corner and the campsite on the other side of the river. It was quiet; no one went on the water after dark and they cleared from it well before then. Not everyone knew about the Lady, but everyone got the feeling that letting the dark waters have some peace was a wise idea.

Llyn Tegid was about three miles long, maybe half a mile wide. In the summer it shone, but now it seemed to carry the cool of the winter with it into spring. Ceri stood on the water’s edge, looking out at a lake she had never seen with adult eyes. Her parents had moved from the little town when she was still a baby and had never taken her back, even though they had visited other parts of Wales.

‘So you were named here,’ Lily said from behind her.

Ceri nodded. ‘My parents brought me down here, to this spot, days after I was born. I think it was the done thing, maybe still is. You’d bring a newborn down to the lake to show it to the Lady. I don’t think she usually made an appearance though.’

‘But she came to you.’

‘She spoke to me. I didn’t understand what she was saying until the advice was past its sell-by date, but she spoke.’

The water in front of them, about a yard from the edge, rippled and then rose upward, rapidly forming into the shape of a woman. Lily gave a soft gasp; she had seen the same sort of trick done before, in a room somewhere under the Dubh Linn, but that water had been thick and black. This time the liquid seemed to solidify more and when the Lady stepped out onto the bank, she appeared to be a fairly normal, if incredibly beautiful, Sidhe in a clinging white dress, her black hair slicked down by the water.

‘Do you understand me better now, Ceridwyn Brent?’ the Lady asked.

‘My Welsh is still a little basic,’ Ceri replied, ‘and my friends don’t understand it.’

‘Then I shall speak English. You’ve done much since we last met.’

‘It isn’t like I had much choice. I’ve been pushed and prodded into doing what other people wanted for most of my life.’ Ceri tilted her head, regarding the fae woman thoughtfully. ‘I can’t help but wonder what you want of me.’

‘Me? Nothing. My family always considered me something of a… doormat, I believe is the modern colloquialism. They were most annoyed when I exiled myself along with my sister.’ She looked back at the water. ‘I am allowed a little more freedom than she is; I can actually leave my pool.’ Shaking her head, the Lady turned back to the trio before her. ‘I want nothing of you. And you have made much of being directed. Sorceress, scientist, the name “Ayasha” is on the lips of half of both Courts, your companions are the stuff of legend.’

‘I don’t think…’ Michael began.

‘The return of the Morrigna did not go unnoticed, young man,’ the Lady told him. ‘The wolf who fought as Anann’s champion was seen by thousands of Sidhe. You are well regarded, Michael.’

‘Oh,’ Michael said, frowning.

Ceri grinned at him. ‘Sucks being famous.’

The Lady was smiling. ‘And a happy birthday for tomorrow. You’ll enjoy it, I think.’

‘I’m sure I will, ma’am,’ Michael replied.

Then the raven-haired fae turned and started back toward the lake. ‘I’ll leave you to your evening. And that advice I gave you, Ceridwyn… You have not actually met my sister yet…’ Laughter like wind chimes rippled out across the water, but the woman who had made it was gone, vanishing into the lake without a ripple.

Fulham, London, April 17th.

The body was lying in an alley, half-wedged behind a dumpster at the back of a fast-food outlet. They still had uniformed officers scouring the area for the head.

‘Unconfirmed, obviously,’ Kate said, ‘but she was probably Lucy Benton. She worked here, left about eleven-fifteen. No one heard anything. Seems like she just lay down and let him do that to her.’

‘Six days again,’ John mused. ‘I think we’re missing a body. He’s on a six-day cycle and there was a twelve-day gap between the first deaths.’

Kate nodded glumly. There was not much they could do about that unless the victim was found, but she figured he was right. ‘You think this is Chan?’

‘I think that this is Chan, and I think the new drug we’re seeing is his work too. You remember when this started, Gwyn suggested an alchemist might be involved? I think she was right. I don’t know whether he needs the blood for his experiments, but I’m betting the bastard knows alchemy.’

‘All the deaths have been north of the river, and the drugs are being distributed north of the river.’

John gave a nod. ‘And I’m thinking that he would keep his activities away from where he was holed up.’

‘That’s cut the search area in half, but…’

‘I think it’s time to ask for some help from some friends.’

Llyn Arenig Fawr, Wales.

They had not stayed in Bala itself, but in a small bed and breakfast establishment under Arenig Fawr, one of the mountains in the Snowdonia range. The place was run by Siwan, one of the local pack, with her mate Nye, and Rhys had said it was a well-run establishment which would not bat an eyelid at anything they got up to. Certainly Siwan had just smiled when three werewolves had run off into the hills above the cottage just after an early breakfast.

Now they were lying beside the lake which provided water to Bala and its surrounding villages, sitting in the shadow of the mountain. The sky was bright and clear above them; the wind was light enough not to be cold, and strong enough to cool them from their run. It was a perfect morning to be out in the hills with the senses and power of a werewolf.

Michael, lying between his two bitches, nuzzled at Ceri’s throat and she gave a snicker, but did not respond in the way he had expected. He turned and did the same to Lily.

No, Lily growled. Mate tired if now. Wait. Run top.

Michael gave a disapproving rumble and both girls snickered back at him.

Mate getting much bitch, Ceri said. Too much?

Lily gave a non-committal semi-bark and Michael let out a whine which was almost pleading. There was more snickering.

Coming to a decision, Michael bounced to his feet and reached out hands to help his women to theirs. Come. Top. Now!

Ceri and Lily looked at each other, and then crawled slowly up Michael’s body, their muzzles ruffling the fur on his neck as they straightened. Michael let out another whine, this time of frustration, and then there were more snickers as the two girls turned and ran for the mountain.

Westminster, London.

The desk sergeant blanched a little as three werewolves entered the lobby at Greycoat Street led by a tall, elderly woman with long, silver hair. Two of the wolves took up position on either side of the doorway while the third, obviously a female, followed the woman to the front desk.

‘C-can I help you?’ the man asked.

Alexandra smiled. ‘Not long on the job, dear? This place does seem to go through desk sergeants at an alarming rate. Would you please tell Detective Inspector Radcliffe that Alexandra has some information for him?’

‘It’s the shitty job they give people when they get promoted and sent over here,’ Kate explained as she led Alexandra and Anita through the corridors of the Greycoats’ HQ. ‘Once they get the hang of it, we tend to move them somewhere else, or they get out before they go ga-ga.’

‘They would see the worst of the supernatural world there,’ Anita commented. In the interests of decorum she had slipped into a corner and changed into a human, and into jeans and a T-shirt. In truth, with her physique, the result was not entirely decorous.

‘They do. Kind of shock therapy. How’s Ray?’

‘He’s good. We’re good. He’s learning to be quite like a wolf, and I’m learning when it’s nicer to be a human. And he can almost hold his own against me in fur now.’ Ray was a martial arts instructor who had met Anita because he taught Ceri staff combat and he wanted to learn more about how werewolves fought. There were rumours around the Met that his flat’s furniture needed replacing a lot, though whether that was from accidents while sparring or overly enthusiastic sex was not clear.

Kate opened a door and stepped through into a fairly large room with various maps and screens covering one long wall. Barry was there, as was John and a man in tactical uniform.

‘Alexandra,’ Barry said, nodding to the Alpha, ‘Anita, this is Chief Inspector Xavier. I wanted him here in case we need to send a tactical team in.’

Alexandra glanced at her Captain. ‘It looks like that’s a yes,’ Anita stated. ‘The place the Marshwallers thought might be where the drugs were coming from is outside both our territories, so we mounted a joint operation to check it out. It’s been set up to look like a paint workshop. The solvents mask the scents some, but we’re pretty sure someone’s up to something more unnatural in there.’

The Amazon walked over to a map showing the Greater London area and tapped a spot south of the river in Southwark. ‘There. He picked a good tactical position. There are only three doors and one of those is a fire exit. Your ingress is going to be difficult if they’ve got supernaturals in there.’

Xavier gave a grunt. ‘About par for the course.’

‘Do we know Chan’s in there?’ John asked.

‘No one has seen him,’ Alexandra replied. ‘We are sure there are undead at the site, however. Probably more than one.’

‘All right,’ Xavier said, ‘I’ll pull plans for the building. Would you be willing to go over them with me, Captain?’ He was looking at Anita and her expression shifted to slight surprise as she nodded. ‘Good. Lionel, we’ll need to draw incendiary rounds.’

Barry gave a nod. ‘After the incident with Trina in your pack it requires two senior officers to authorise use of non-conventional ammunition. The Army aren’t allowed them unless we’re at war or they’ve been issued by us.’

Alexandra nodded. ‘An over-reaction, perhaps, but a welcome shift in attitude.’

Xavier was at one of the computer consoles already. ‘Here we go… Anita, what’s your recommendation for ingress?’

M40, Warwickshire.

They had been driving for two hours and they had another two to go before they got back to Kennington. Ceri had started out glad that she was, mostly, over her phobia of cars and travelling, and then forgotten all about it after the first thirty minutes.

Lily, who was the only one who could drive, had insisted that Michael and Ceri sit in the back of the Range Rover they had borrowed from Carter. ‘It’s still Michael’s birthday,’ she had said, ‘and we can’t have him sitting there in the back, bored and lacking entertainment for four whole hours.’ After fifteen minutes she had demanded to know why Ceri was still dressed.

Then there had been ten minutes of diminishing embarrassment about being naked in the back of a car with tinted windows driving down public roads. But… No one could really see in, could they? And it was Michael’s birthday. And oh God his hands felt so good doing that. And…

‘Are you over me being younger than you now?’ Michael asked. She was sitting in his lap and they were letting the motion of the Rover do its work. The thought had occurred to her that people could see her through the un-tinted windscreen, but she had decided she did not care.

‘For now,’ Ceri replied.

‘For now?’

‘Yeah. In a few years I’ll be thirty and you’ll still be in your twenties, and then everyone’ll think you’re my toy boy again.’

Lily giggled. ‘At least that’s done with for a few years. Good birthday, Michael?’ She pulled the car right to go around a slower vehicle and there was a chorus of moans from behind her. She giggled again. ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

Part Five: The Nature of Imbalance

Southwark, London, April 17th, 2013.

There were werewolves from two packs around the perimeter of the small industrial park. Both Anita and Grant had wanted to send people in with the teams breaching the building, but they had bowed to logic; no one made gas masks for werewolves and there were likely to be some very noxious fumes floating around, especially once the gunfire began.

Everyone was expecting gunfire. Kate and John were armed again, even though they had been told, in no uncertain terms, that they would not be going in until the situation was contained. John had not been best pleased, but Xavier had given him a look and said that Barry had ‘briefed him on the full situation,’ and John had nodded. Xavier was not taking prisoners unless they gave up without any fight at all.

The buildings near to the paint shop had been quietly cleared, it was still light, and they were ready to go in. Two men moved in, keeping low, and laid a string of explosive charges along the bottom of the big, garage-style door at the front of the building before backing off to cover.

‘Sound off,’ Xavier said into his field radio.

‘Alpha team, ready.’

‘Beta team, on station.’

‘Gamma team, covering rear door.’

Xavier glanced at John and then the she-wolf form of Anita, looking a little odd with an earpiece looped over one large ear. The Guard Captain nodded.

‘Breach,’ Xavier said, and then he was pulling his mask into place and running to join his men.

There was a thunderous detonation, the sound echoing off the nearby walls. The radio channels crackled with static as throat mikes caught random noise and movement. John could see the smoke rising from the dock, men pushing in through the hole, but nothing much else. His hands tightened around his automatic.

‘Clear.’ The voice declared the front area empty. That did not seem good.

‘Someone get that door open.’

There was another thud and then the bullets began flying. The staccato rattle of automatic weapons, deadened by interior walls, could be heard. John felt Anita tensing, her entire body readying for a fight if there was to be one.

‘Vampires!’

‘Stun grenade!’ That was followed by another loud bang.

‘Fucking smoke…’

‘On your right!’

‘Beta,’ Xavier’s voice, ‘room on the right. Alpha, check the corners. Anyone hurt?’

There was no immediate answer and John let out a breath he had not realised he was holding. Then…

‘What the fuck…?’

‘What is it?! Oh shi-’ And the screams began.

Kennington.

Something felt wrong as soon as Ceri walked through the gate of High Towers. The house was telling her something, but she was not sure what it was until she opened the front door and found the chaos in the hall.

There were half a dozen wounded werewolves lying around on blankets. Several more were standing, but were covered in blood. Gwyn and Alexandra were moving between them dispensing first aid and magic in equal measures.

Ceri’s fists clenched as she spotted Anita lying unattended on one of the blankets. There were deep wounds in her stomach which looked like they had been scorched in with a hot iron. Knowing Alexandra and Gwyn, and knowing Anita, it was likely that the Captain had told them to see to her people first. Taking two long steps across the floor and summoning her power as she went, Ceri reached out and poured that power into Anita. The howl that went up stilled every other noise in the room.

‘Anyone else need immediate, massive attention,’ Ceri snapped.

‘The rest should heal themselves now,’ Alexandra told her. ‘We were just about to get to Anita. She…’

‘Told you to deal with everyone else first. Yes, I’m quite well aware of my Captain’s need to get herself killed protecting her people.’ Ceri was aware that the anger she was feeling was irrational, but she had just come back from a nice break to find carnage in her front hall. ‘Now, would someone like to explain to me what the fuck’s going on?!’

~~~

Kate and John turned up about thirty minutes later, his arm in a sling. Lorna’s anger at not being told about Lo Chan battled for supremacy with worry for her husband, and lost. Ceri decided that she would heal the torn ligaments later; she wanted a quiet Lorna for the interrogation portion of the evening. Kate had a livid bruise under her right eye and Lorna was almost as solicitous about that. The combination had her sitting between them looking like she was angry for being angry.

John sat with his head bowed for a minute while Ceri watched him, and then he began to speak of his own accord.

‘It seemed to be going well enough. Xavier told us we were to stay outside until they had secured the building. That’s what they were doing. Then…’ He looked up at Ceri and she saw the pain in his eyes; he blamed himself. ‘Then all Hell broke loose.’

‘There was a lot of screaming,’ Kate said, her voice numb. ‘Something exploded. John started running in and I followed. The wolves closed in their cordon. Then something came out through the smoke.’

‘Something?’ Ceri asked.

‘It was like a cloud of darkness,’ John said. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Not that that’s saying much, but… One minute I could see, the next it was pitch black. Something grabbed my arm and swung me around. I hit a wall…’ Lorna let out a little whimper.

‘I lost sight of John,’ Kate continued the story, ‘and this cloud kept moving, fast. I wanted to shoot, but… A few of the wolves on the far side of the cloud from me ran in, and that was when the fire started. Bolts of flame, jets… I heard something and turned around, and someone hit me.’ Her hand lifted to her cheek. ‘I didn’t go down entirely, but it felt like I’d been hit with a hammer. He was tall, slim…’ She frowned. ‘There was something odd about him though I haven’t quite managed to put my finger on it yet.’

Ceri nodded and looked at Anita, sitting in front of the fire wrapped in a blanket. ‘You went into the cloud, right?’

‘Stupid mistake,’ Anita muttered. ‘As John said, it was pitch black. I couldn’t see a thing, but I could smell undead, and heat. Something hit me in the ribs almost as soon as I got in there. It had claws, but it felt like I was having my flesh burned off while it ripped at me.’

‘From the looks of the wounds you were. Those were serious burns, Anita. You should have let Gwyn deal with them. They weren’t healing.’

Anita’s eyes flashed as she looked up. ‘My Guards were hurt…’

‘I know. But you’ll be bugger all use to them dying of your injuries.’ Ceri grinned. ‘And I wanted to see you stop feeling sorry for yourself.’ She paused and then turned to her Alpha. ‘How many did we lose?’

‘We lost none,’ Alexandra replied. ‘Grant is dead, and so is one of the other Marshwaller Guards, Brandon. The police… lost a lot more.’

‘Xavier is dead,’ Kate whispered. ‘There were ten men in Beta team and none of them came out. Others injured…’

‘It’s my fault,’ John said, his voice low.

‘No, John,’ Kate said.

‘I pushed the urgency. We should have watched them, gathered information…’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Ceri stated flatly. ‘The information you needed you were not going to get.’

Several faces around the room frowned at her. Lily, apparently, was on the same wavelength. ‘The darkness,’ she said, as though that explained everything.

Apparently it did to Alexandra, who said, ‘Oh,’ in the soft tone of someone suddenly seeing the obvious.

‘Lo Chan, the vampire who turned Lorna and just wasted a contingent of trained tactical officers, isn’t a vampire. He’s an Ancient. He’s not like Raynor, exactly, but enough that I think it’s a certainty. You were never going to figure that out, because you were never going to actually see him.’

Lorna was frowning. ‘Ancients can manipulate darkness?’ she asked.

‘They burn in sunlight. Something to do with the demon in them. So they can wrap themselves in darkness.’

‘When Hildegard Braun came to me… Well I thought it was a trick of the light, but she kind of… vanished into the darkness.’

‘Yes,’ Alexandra said, nodding slowly, ‘she did.’

‘Hildegard came to…’ Ceri began, then stopped. ‘One thing at a time. That explains why she never let me see her. I’d have known that she was an Ancient and she told me the Ancients don’t get on well so I’d have assumed, probably rightly, that she was using us to eliminate Raynor for her. So, we have two Ancients in London.’

She waited a second for everyone to digest that and then went on. ‘Okay, so I seem to be missing a load of stuff here. Like why Lorna’s staying downstairs and how you came up with the idea that Lo Chan is the Headsman. So… catch us up, please.’ She gave the room a scowl, aside from Lily and Michael. ‘Seriously, we leave you alone for a couple of days…’

Soho.

It seemed a little odd to be celebrating Michael’s birthday with a pair of Ancients in the city and people in the morgue from trying to catch one of them, but there was an additional motive for going to the Tir inna Nok so they had decided to do it anyway. Going out to celebrate meant that Lily was not coming home alone in the early hours of the morning and that seemed like a good reason.

And since Gwyn and Mei were both there, and Twill and Ishifa had been included in the little party, Lorna had come along too rather than be left alone in the house. It was a bit of a squeeze getting everyone on table one, but a couple of small chairs and a table were brought over for the fairies to sit at, on top of the bigger table, and since table one was near the bar, and one of Lily’s tables, it was convenient.

‘Despite the homecoming,’ Gwyn said, her long fingers curled around a glass of Carter’s best single malt, ‘you had a good break, Michael? You did not, I hope, spend the entire time in bed.’

‘Of course not,’ Michael replied, smiling. ‘There was the hot tub, the sofa in the lounge, the rug in the lounge, several fields…’

Ceri went crimson. ‘We did not spend the entire holiday having sex!’

‘I think she does protest too much,’ Gwyn commented, a smirk on her lips.

‘I just don’t like discussing my sex life with you. I don’t necessarily like admitting I have a sex life around you.’

‘My dear, we live in the same house.’

‘So? Anyway, we walked and talked to people. Michael’s brothers are doing well. Rhys has a nearly mate. It’s not official…’

‘But it will be,’ Lily finished, appearing beside them. ‘He’s all for it. She’s worried about what people will think since she just joined the pack. Have you been discussing sex? Ceri’s all pink and she only gets that way when Gwyn’s listening.’

Ceri got redder.

~~~

‘Why is Sasha looking kind of dopy?’ Ceri asked Ophelia. The Sidhe had stopped off to wish Michael a happy birthday.

‘Oh… She invited me back to her place to thank me for the jewellery. I told her it was freely given, but she insisted that she should give me something in return since it was working for her.’

‘That doesn’t explain why she keeps watching you walk around the room. She’s looking your way now.’

‘Well… I figured if she was going to do that… and I knew she doesn’t normally… with women, I mean… I might as well make sure she had a good time… I think I may have broken her a little. She wants to go again tonight.’

Ceri shook her head, and then nodded. ‘Do it. There are some bad people out on the streets at the moment. Safer if someone takes her home.’

Ophelia grinned. ‘Well, if it’s a matter of safety…’ She strutted off toward where Sasha was standing beside the bar.

‘Since dangerous people were brought up,’ Mei said, ‘there is something we have not addressed.’ Ceri looked at her, raising an eyebrow. ‘It seems to me that the ban on angels has been enacted to allow one or the other of the Ancients free rein in the city, but I do not believe either of them could have created the enchantment.’

‘So we still have someone else out there, maybe a dragon, working for one of the Ancients,’ Ceri agreed.

‘That puts you three in danger,’ Lorna said. ‘I mean, Lo Chan and Braun seem to be after me. Lo Chan may want revenge on John for breaking up his drug ring in Newcastle, but neither of them would have a reason to hurt you unless you come after them. This enchanter…’

‘If he is a dragon, he may have reason to dislike us,’ Gwyn said. ‘Until we know who it is, it is impossible to say.’

‘One problem at a time,’ Ceri said. ‘The immediate threat is Lo Chan. Hildegard may just be reacting to him and she’ll go back to being quiet when he’s out of the picture. We can worry about our unknown sorcerer when we have to.’ She sank the remainder of her glass of wine and then said, ‘Two… one…’

‘More drinks?’ Lily asked brightly as she appeared beside their table.

‘Just like clockwork,’ Ceri commented, grinning.

April 18th.

‘It’s quiet,’ Lily said as they headed down the steps into Tottenham Court tube station.

‘It’s kind of the middle of the night, love,’ Ceri pointed out, though she understood what her demon was saying.

‘It’s quieter than usual,’ Lily added to make sure everyone else did.

They walked into the ticket area and that was empty. No sign of anyone on duty, but that was not unusual in the early hours. But…

‘There’s no one at the ticket desk,’ Ceri said. ‘Let’s keep moving. I want to be behind my wards as soon as possible.’

They were through the ticket barrier when Michael turned and sniffed at the air. ‘Undead,’ he said. ‘Not Lorna, and… I’m not sure where from.’

‘Crap,’ Ceri grumbled. ‘I’m glad we paced the drinking. We move quickly.’ She started for the escalators. ‘Ishifa, keep an eye on our rear.’ The fairy was, as usual, riding on Michael’s shoulder and she twisted around to do as asked. ‘If we have trouble we put a defensive cordon around Lily, Michael and Lorna.’

‘I can fight!’ Lorna snapped.

‘You can fight anything that gets past Gwyn, Mei and me, assuming Michael doesn’t rip its head off first.’

Wind came at them from below, driven through the tunnels by a train, and Michael growled. ‘Below us. Definitely.’

‘There are more at the top of the moving stair thing,’ Ishifa said. ‘They’re staying there at the moment.’

‘Great,’ Ceri said. She reached out a hand to touch Lily’s shoulder, drawing power through her to fuel the ball of orange light growing in her right hand.

There were six of them, standing at the end of the landing area with its tunnels leading off to the platforms. They all looked young, fairly newly turned, but they seemed confident in their abilities. The tallest of them, a slim man with pale skin who really looked the part of undead lord of the night in his leather duster, took a single step away from the wall as the group reached the bottom of the escalator.

‘We don’t want a fight,’ he said. Ceri was pretty sure he was lying. ‘Give us the vampire and you get to walk out of here.’

Ceri smiled at him. ‘Clearly some form of compromise is available since we also don’t want a fight. Well, maybe Lorna and Michael do, but I like this dress. So, you leave, right now, and you get to keep your skin.’

The vampire smiled, showing a lot of fang. ‘You don’t seem to understand. You’re surrounded by vampires…’

‘Uh-huh. You have us exactly where we want you. Offer’s got an expiry date. Last chance.’

‘Get them!’ the vampire growled.

Ceri swung her arm forward. ‘Catch,’ she said and the orange ball flew down the room, missing the vampire by a couple of inches and hitting the wall behind him. Fire exploded from the impact point, engulfing half the room in flames and blasting heat past Ceri and back up the stairwell.

Gwyn raised her arms and Ceri felt the power washing out of her, and a wall of flame lifted up from the tiled floor to the ceiling, dividing the room in half. Ceri could feel the heat from it on her skin even from five yards away. One of the vampires, recovering from the blast, charged at the wall. He let out a shriek as the flames licked at his flesh, but he pushed through and two more of his friends began to follow.

And then Lorna was there, screaming in anger as the damaged, smoking vampire came toward them. Her arm swung out, fingers stiff and clawed. Blood spurted from the vampire’s mouth as her toughened, elongated nails tore through his throat.

Mei had been watching as a second vampire pushed through the flames, her hands dropping to her waist where she was wearing a rather unusual, for her, belt. A quick twist and a long length of heavy chain with a weight at each end was in her hands. She took a step forward, the chain swung in a fast arc, and the vampire’s skull was smashed open in a spray of bone fragments and gore.

The last of the three appeared through the flames, took in the sight of his fallen comrades and Michael in the process of shifting, and turned, flinching at the thought of going through the barrier again.

‘Stop him!’ Ceri yelled and Mei’s chain snaked out again, wrapping around the man’s throat and bringing him to a sudden halt. He was stronger than her, but the blood flow to his brain was being cut off. He took another step toward the flames, but then Michael was there, grabbing the chain and pulling. The vampire fell backwards and Lorna was on him in an instant, her hand raised to strike again.

‘No!’ Ceri snapped. ‘We need one alive.’ She turned, looking up the escalator to where another eight vampires were starting to run down from the top. ‘But we only need one,’ she added, and launched a ball of fire up at them. The explosion roared down the tunnel leaving charred bodies and overheated metal in its wake. The escalators ground to a halt and, a second later, the sprinkler system sprang to life. The two or three survivors, burned and hurting, struggled to go back up the way they had come through the rain.

Ceri looked around. The vampires beyond the flame barrier had gone and Gwyn was dousing the flames. The tiles were blackened through most of the back of the hall, and there was blood pooling on the floor where Lorna and Mei’s victims had fallen. The deluge was soaking through her dry-clean-only black dress.

‘Barry is going to be so pissed off,’ she said as water dripped off her nose.

Westminster.

‘Tottenham Court Road station will be closed until the weekend,’ Barry growled. ‘We have two dead vampires…’ he frowned at the redundancy, but refused to let that stop him, ‘…and a helluva mess to clean up and…’

Ceri got to her feet rather abruptly, which was enough of a surprise to bring his dressing down to a stop. ‘Okay, first of all… No, wait… First of all, John, your wife is an absolute beast when she gets her vampire on. You really need to stop treating her with kid gloves.’

Both John and Barry looked at her as though she had gone slightly mad, but she was working on no sleep at all and a mild headache, so she really did not care.

‘Back to first… no. Second, Mei, where the Hell did you learn to do that chain thing? I mean, I thought it was a weird thing for you to be wearing it as a belt, but…’

Mei seemed to be taking everything more or less in her stride. She and Gwyn were sitting in the conference room looking quite sanguine in fact. ‘I spent a few years in Japan after the Shattering,’ Mei said, as though that explained everything.

‘Right. Where was I?’

‘First?’ Lily suggested. Given that she was still in her waitress dress and desperately wanted a shower, she was looking fairly calm too.

‘Right, first off, they attacked us.’ Barry gave Ceri a nod of acknowledgement; the security cameras had verified that, before they were destroyed anyway. ‘Second, we had a chat with the vampire we captured. We know he was sent by Lo Chan, and we know where Lo Chan is hiding, and I’m very tired and I want a shower, and we’re going to have to queue up for the bathroom. Has anyone got any aspirin?’

‘You got him to talk?’ John asked after shaking off the shock. ‘He hasn’t said a word since we got him here.’

‘He talked,’ Lorna told them. She glanced at Mei. ‘Between us we were very persuasive.’

‘He is using a condemned block of flats in North Greenwich,’ Mei said, her voice calm. ‘An area of the upper floor has been sealed against sunlight. His people have excavated a tunnel from the basement to the sewer system. It is only large enough to crawl through, but it provides an escape mechanism and allows unobserved access.’

‘All right,’ Barry said, still frowning. ‘This man took out an entire tactical squad on his own. The last time we had one of these Ancients in the city it took an angel to get rid of it, and none of those can enter London. How do you suggest we deal with him?’

‘I have an idea about that,’ Ceri said. ‘I need to talk to Jehoel to confirm it. But first I need to sleep. I need a shower and then sleep. Brain need sleep for thinky thing. Does anyone have any aspirin?’

Barry shook his head and picked up an internal phone, stabbing at a couple of buttons. ‘Hecks? Get up here, I need you to organise a stakeout. And bring a bottle of aspirin with you.’

Kennington.

It was after six when Ceri stumbled into the kitchen, reaching for a mug and pouring coffee blindly into it with her eyes half-closed. She took a deep gulp, swallowed it, and let out a long sigh.

‘Good afternoon, Ceri,’ Twill said.

‘Nu,’ Ceri replied. ‘Wah mi whe munung.’ She took another gulp of coffee and then turned to refill the mug.

‘Let me do that, you spilled most of the last one.’

‘Sor… Wah upna mint.’ She glared at the mug, decided it now had coffee in and took another drag. Neurons began to fire. ‘Did I really interrupt Chief Barry to tell him off for telling us off?’ she asked, frowning.

‘You did cut him off mid-flow, but I wouldn’t say you told him off. I think he was just a little shocked by your incoherent babbling.’

‘Huh. Thanks, Twill.’

‘You’re going out to see the angel? There is less than two hours of daylight left.’

‘Uh-huh. He’s at Acre Lane. Michael’s coming with me. Then we’ll go to Soho. I don’t want Lily coming home alone.’

‘Another late night? You’re supposed to be hosting that conflab at the castle on Sunday.’

Ceri sighed and gulped down more coffee. ‘That’s why I want Lo Chan out of the way before then.’

Brixton.

Ceri had spent a day at Acre Lane Shelter before. Alexandra volunteered her time there, healing people who could not afford magical aid any other way, and Ceri had gone along to help.

Andrea Clancy, the woman who ran the place, met them at the door. She obviously remembered Ceri, giving her a broad smile. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said, ‘we’ve got no one in with withered limbs at the moment.’

Ceri grinned back. ‘I came to see Jehoel. I understand he’s staying here?’

‘Oh, that one. Yeah, we put him up on the top floor. We do have a couple of those Lost people in and he seems to calm them down. He’s a weird one. Came in here looking at people as though he didn’t understand why they were here. After a while he asked if he could help so he’s been making tea… Except I had to show him how to do that. He’s not human is he?’

‘Did you see on the news about angels falling to Earth?’

‘He’s one of those? The other one didn’t say much of anything, and then he left and never came back.’

‘Jehoel’s god sent him back in to keep an eye on things.’

‘Huh.’ Clancy turned, heading for the stairs. ‘Oh… he’s been looking paler lately. Is he sick?’

‘Dying,’ Ceri replied flatly. ‘It’s been about ten days so I’d imagine it’s starting to show. If he’s here another twenty or so he’ll be dead.’

The top floor of the building was set aside as an infirmary where the more seriously ill could be isolated for their comfort and everyone else’s safety. There was one room set aside for those who had lost their souls to the drug Oblivion, and that was where Ceri and Michael found Jehoel. He was lying on a bed reading. The Bible, of course. What else would an angel be reading?

‘Ceridwyn Brent, and Michael,’ the angel said. ‘Is there news of a means to end this curse?’

‘I have one of the best thaumatologists in the country working on it, Jehoel,’ Ceri replied. ‘I’m sure he’ll crack the problem soon.’ Her Sight showed her the degradation in his medians. After less than two weeks she could see dark strands in his body bridge and the energy flow in his chakral median was fluctuating. His tantric median still seemed strong, however. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked.

‘I am feeling…’ He looked down at the book in his lap as though it might give him inspiration. ‘I am feeling emotional. I feel that I am unbalanced. I find myself… worrying for these mortals. I wonder what will happen to me should I remain here too long.’

‘You can always leave. Come back again when you’ve recovered.’

He shook his head. ‘I was told to stay.’

Obedience to the bitter end. ‘Well, there’s something else you can help me with, and it might get us closer to solving your problem. We think we know why this was done. Someone working for an Ancient did it so he wouldn’t have to deal with angels while he took over the city’s drug trade. What do you know about Ancients?’

‘What every angel does. They are an abomination before God.’

‘I was told that they were made by fusing a demon into a vampire.’ Jehoel gave a nod. ‘Is it a true fusion? Are they actually part demon? Or is it more like a possession?’

‘They are a melding. The demon is effectively destroyed in the process, though the exact form varies between Ancients. The… thing responsible for them liked to experiment. Each is a little different, caused by the means by which the fusion was performed.’

Ceri smiled. ‘So the nature of the demon, rather than the actual demon, is transferred into the vampire?’

‘Aspects of its powers and some of its personality traits, yes. The personality aspects are the most variable.’

‘Thank you, Jehoel, you’ve been a big help.’

The angel gave her a nod and, to her surprise, a small smile, before returning to his reading.

‘How does that help?’ Michael asked as they trooped back down the stairs.

‘Lo Chan, and Hildegard Braun for that matter, aren’t that much different from Lily,’ Ceri replied. ‘They’re part demon.’

‘So…?’

‘So spells meant to control and contain demons will work on them, just like they would on Lily.’

Soho.

Alec looked up as Ceri and Michael walked up to the bar, gave them a nod, and pointed toward the bottles at the back.

‘Not tonight,’ Ceri replied. ‘Maybe one before we go, but we’re on guard duty.’

The werewolf gave a grunt of approval. ‘Gwyn called. Says your expert thinks he’s solved the cube thing. He’s catching a train in the morning.’

‘Huh, I’d better warn Cheryl.’ She looked toward Carter at the end of the bar. ‘Can we use your office, boss? We can’t sit here in jeans and I need to call Cheryl about Ed.’

‘You realise you might have to hold me off him as well?’ Carter replied. ‘I’ll come through with you, there’s something I need to discuss. Alec, you’ve got things for ten minutes?’

Alec raised an eyebrow. ‘We need you here for something other than looking pretty?’

‘I pay the wages,’ Carter grumbled before starting for the back of the club.

Ceri pulled her T-shirt off as soon as the door was closed. Carter closed his eyes and then turned his back. It would have been amusing, given that the man was known as a playboy, were it not for the fact that Ceri found it embarrassing to see him in any form of undress.

‘What was it you wanted to tell me?’ Ceri asked.

‘I’ve been hearing some rumours,’ Carter replied. ‘Our mutual friends from the Archmage Club have been asking questions I don’t like the sound of.’

Ceri paused with her jeans around her ankles. ‘What kind of questions?’

‘Questions which suggest they’re trying to verify whether you have some form of power over demons. I think they may be trying to get leverage to break their deal. If they think you’re pacted…’

Slipping her jeans off, Ceri held out a hand for the dress Michael was taking out of the bag he had been carrying. There were slightly more club-oriented jeans and shirt for him in there too. ‘I could live without them messing me about just now, but I’m not sure I’ve time to worry over it.’

‘Do you mind if I do?’ Carter asked.

‘No. I’ve got everyone except Alec working on something for me, why not you too? You can turn around now.’

Carter turned. The dress was low-cut and very short, showing off her long legs. ‘I’m not entirely sure that’s much better,’ he said, smiling. ‘Ask Cheryl if she wants to come here to talk over Professor Perry’s return to our good graces.’

‘I will,’ Ceri said as she padded across the plush carpet to the desk.

~~~

‘To be honest,’ Cheryl said as she sipped wine at the bar, ‘I’m glad. I don’t have actual memories of what I went through. I know it could have been over faster if he’d said something, but all I really feel is that my friend is persona non grata. I wish he wasn’t.’

Carter gave a grunt. ‘I suppose… If you’re willing to forgive him, I should at least be civilised about it.’ He looked across the bar to where Alec was cleaning perfectly clean glasses.

‘I promise not to rip his throat out,’ the bartender said. ‘That’s the best I can do at this stage.’

‘Very magnanimous of you, old friend.’

‘I figure,’ Ceri said, ‘that if I blame Ed for what happened to Cheryl, I have to blame Mei for what happened to me. And I do, sort of, but I put her up in my house…’

‘It’s easier to forgive someone for something that happened to you,’ Michael commented. ‘If a friend suffers, you’ve got that guilty feeling that maybe you could have stopped it… Makes it harder to forgive.’

‘That’s pretty profound, kid,’ Alec commented. ‘I should stop calling you that now you’re old like me.’

‘The only werewolf I know as old as you is Alexandra,’ Ceri told him.

‘She’s got nearly twenty years on me.’ He paused in his glass wiping. ‘Goddess, I’ll be hitting the century in three years.’

Everyone blinked at that. ‘Well,’ Carter said after a second or two, ‘I don’t know about everyone else, but I suddenly feel very young.’

Kennington, April 19th.

There were odd sounds coming from the study when Ceri, Lily, and Michael got home, and there was Twill at the bottom of the stairs.

‘It’s Lorna,’ the fairy said. ‘She’s cleaning the book shelves.’

‘At four in the morning?’ Michael asked.

‘I think you should talk to her, Ceri.’

Ceri sighed and nodded. ‘Go to bed. I’ll be up shortly.’

The tall vampire, dressed in a little camisole top which did little to hide her chest and a pair of boy shorts, was indeed dusting the bookshelves with the air of someone who wanted something mind-numbing to do. Despite her senses, which were generally better than a human’s, she entirely failed to notice Ceri entering the room. Or perhaps she chose not to notice.

‘Trouble sleeping?’ Ceri asked.

‘Not exactly. Trouble dreaming.’

Ceri sat down on the chaise, crossing her legs and leaning against the back. ‘I get that a lot. Being with Lily helps.’

The duster stopped moving. ‘I can’t talk to John about it. I don’t know whether he’s figured it out… You…’ Lorna turned and walked over to sit down beside Ceri. Her hands continued to fidget with the feathers. ‘Lo Chan had me for a couple of days before he turned me.’

‘Uh-huh, you said he… oh.’

‘I couldn’t resist him. He made me do… things. When he wasn’t there he had me chained, naked, in a corner. When he was there I did whatever he wanted, no matter how much I hated it. He didn’t make me want to do it, he just made me submit. When I’d got over being turned, it still took months to get over the degradation… And what finally made it go away was the knowledge that it wasn’t real. He’d just made me think I was doing it because he was an old vampire, too rotten to actually…’

‘But he’s an Ancient,’ Ceri whispered.

‘It was all real! Everything he did. Everything he made me do.’ Her voice cracked up and Ceri looped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in so that she had a place to cry.

‘It’s not easy,’ Ceri said. ‘I know it’s not, but you’re strong. Stronger than John likes to admit. Tomorrow I’ll see to it that he never does anything like that again.’

‘You’re going to kill him?’

‘I’m going to do something worse than kill him.’

Lorna sucked in a lungful of air, controlling her breathing, and straightened up. ‘Good,’ she said.

North Greenwich.

‘Perry’s sure he’s got this cube figured out?’ John asked as they waited.

‘He seems happy with his analysis,’ Gwyn replied. ‘Thank you for arranging his escort from the station.’

‘Technically, Hecks did that.’

Gwyn looked at the other detective in the room across the street from Lo Chan’s new home. ‘Thank you, Detective.’

‘Just doing my job. Can’t have him getting hurt if anything gets out about why he’s coming here. Where’s Brent anyway?’

‘Ceri is watching the rear of the building,’ Gwyn replied. ‘He will try to escape.’

‘Twelve-thirty,’ John said. ‘Let’s move.’

Nodding, Gwyn turned and walked out of the room. Two floors down she stepped out onto the street beside a nervous-looking tactical officer holding a grenade launcher. She smiled at him, placing one hand on his shoulder. Her other hand held a ball of incandescent, blue-white energy, but her touch seemed to steady his nerves.

‘Are we ready, Detective Radcliff?’ Gwyn asked.

‘All units are reporting ready,’ John replied.

Gwyn looked down at the man kneeling at her feet. ‘If you would, Sergeant?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ The policeman aimed his weapon at one of the windows on the ground floor opposite them and fired off two quick rounds. The window held up to the impacts well enough, even if it allowed the projectiles through. It gave up when the two stun grenades actually went off and Gwyn launched her own weapon in through the gap. For a second it seemed like nothing was happening and then the ball of light expanded, tearing through the building’s interior. There was a rumbling sound which turned into crashing, and dust billowed out through the broken window as sections of the upper floors collapsed into the evacuated space below.

‘Holy shit!’ John breathed.

‘You can come on more of our ops, ma’am,’ the Sergeant said, looking at his grenade launcher and shaking his head.

‘I suggest you move in, Detective,’ Gwyn said, ‘though I expect that our target is already making a run for it.’

‘Yeah…’ John thumbed his radio and said, ‘All teams, move in.’ Then he released the key and added, ‘Remind me never to piss you off, Miss Price.’

Gwyn smiled. ‘I don’t believe I’ll ever need to.’

~~~

‘John definitely got the better job,’ Kate muttered as she waited in the darkness.

Ceri gave a grimace of empathy, not that Kate could see it. ‘I’m going to need about three showers before work tonight.’ The sewer did not contain a lot of liquid, thankfully, but what there was smelled bad.

‘You’re sure this’ll work? I mean, you’re sure he’ll come out here?’

‘Pretty sure.’

‘And the circle will work?’

Salt was, obviously, pretty useless in a sewer, but there were other ways to mark a circle, especially if you had access to draconic and demonic glyphs. Still… ‘Pretty sure,’ Ceri replied.

‘And if it doesn’t? This guy uses fire. He may be resistant.’

‘I’ll use raw thaumic energy. It’s not quite as good on vampires, but nothing much resists it.’

Kate fell silent as a deep rumble came from above them. ‘It’s started,’ Ceri said.

‘We should really have a tactical team with us…’

‘No. Not for what I’m going to do. Fewer witnesses the better.’ Something pinged at her senses and she whispered, ‘Hush, he’s coming.’ She waited until she saw the odd mixture of thaumic energy coming from a body which had just crawled out of a hole in the sewer wall, waited for him to take a step out and get upright… ‘Now,’ she said, as she released power into the ring of rune-scribed tiles sitting under the water around where Lo Chan was standing.

Kate flicked on the big search-and-rescue torch she was holding and the Ancient was revealed standing in the sewage. He was not especially tall, but above average, with a muscled body, shaved-back, black hair, and dark eyes which flashed in the light from the torch. He raised his arm against the glare and spoke, sounding surprised. ‘Shénme?’ Then he gave a snarl and reached out an arm, light flickering around his fingers. The spell flared against the wall of the circle.

‘What have you done?!’ Lo Chan spat at them as Ceri stepped forward, a shadow in the torch beam.

‘You’re a demon,’ Ceri replied. ‘Partially anyway. That is a containment circle for a demon. Dragon magic. Sorcery.’

‘Dragons… Ha!’ He opened his mouth and flame poured out of it, blasting into the circle as though there was a wall between them. The flame cut off. He was trying not to frown. ‘You can’t keep me in here forever.’

‘I have no intention to,’ Ceri replied. She raised her arms and the staff in her right hand shone almost along its entire length with blue light.

‘What are you doing?’ Lo Chan asked, backing away as far as the circle would let him.

Ceri ignored him as she formed the necessary power complexes in her mind. She was not sure what banishment would do to him, but she was fairly sure it would do something. Her Sight had shown her the twisted complex of elemental, demonic, and undead energies which made up Lo Chan’s body and mind. The Fallen who had created him had made a real mess. It was no wonder he was unbalanced.

‘You can’t do this to me!’ Lo Chan screamed. ‘I’ll burn you all alive. I’ll kill you and bring you back as my slaves. I’ll…’

And Ceri said, ‘Mynd i ffwrdd i chi fab i ast,’ and the vampire just began screaming. Ceri winced at the rush of power flowing out through her. She had banished Matthew Barnes easily enough, but this was far different. The magic burned through her and she staggered when it was gone.

Lo Chan was still standing there. The screaming had stopped, and he looked as though he had just had someone knife him in the guts. He turned slightly, looking at Ceri, and his mouth opened as if to say something. She could see light coming from his throat. He almost seemed to melt, his body changing as he sagged to his knees. His cheeks hollowed and his features became more feminine; to Ceri it almost seemed as though his hips swelled and his shirt was distorted by a pair of breasts, but then his head reared back and he screamed, and flame poured from his mouth. A second later his, or her, entire body was burning.

Ceri dropped the circle around him as his body collapsed into nothing more than a pile of ash which began to drift away in the sewer water.

Part Six: A Conference With Demons

Kennington, London, April 19th, 2013.

‘Unusual, perhaps,’ Mei commented, ‘but not impossible, given that we are dealing with metaphysics.’

‘The Yin-Yang thing,’ Lily said. ‘Lo Chan was a woman, the Fallen somehow gave her so much Yang energy that she became a man, and the demon then stabilised that form. Take it away…’

‘The male energy was released,’ Mei said, nodding, ‘he became she, but burned to death in the process.’

‘I still think it was extremely weird,’ Kate stated flatly.

‘And I’m going to concur with my colleague,’ Ceri said. ‘Given that I’m the Overlord of All Demons, if I think it’s weird… Well, I have a different view on weird to most people.’ She frowned. ‘I was kind of expecting Ed to be here by now.’

John got to his feet from where he had been sitting with Lorna. ‘Can I use your phone? I’ll call the office and check on the escort detail.’

‘Sure,’ Ceri said. ‘In the study, yeah?’

He nodded and walked out, and Lorna turned to Ceri. ‘Thanks,’ she said.

Ceri gave a tiny shrug. ‘He needed ending. Someone would have had to put him down even if there wasn’t… a personal reason for doing so.’

‘Thanks anyway. I feel like… like a weight’s been lifted.’

Ceri nodded, but there was another matter to deal with at some point. ‘Have we heard anything about Hildegard?’

Kate shook her head. ‘She hasn’t shown her face anywhere. We’ve got people watching her known haunts, but she could be anywhere.’

‘Someone’s going to have to talk to her when she’s found.’

‘Uh-huh. Probably you.’

‘Well don’t find her too soon. Banishing Lo Chan took me uncomfortably close to my limit. My staff’s full and it takes ages to shed its load.’

‘You’re okay though, right?’ Lily asked, suddenly worried.

Ceri looked down at her hands, seeing the bands of energy shifting under her skin. She blinked her Sight off. ‘I’m okay, but I’m not going to be doing anything big in this dimension for a few days.’

‘Speaking of big,’ Kate said, looking at Gwyn, ‘I heard you demolished a building.’

‘It was condemned anyway,’ Gwyn replied, waving the comment away.

Any reply was stopped by John coming back into the room. He did not look pleased. ‘Something or someone attacked the train Perry was on,’ he said. ‘It was derailed. Three dead, thirty-seven injured. He’s okay, basically. Broken arm, but alive. They’re driving him down from Birmingham under police escort.’

‘Attacked how?’ Ceri asked, her brow furrowed.

‘Fire, they think. Someone hit the side of the locomotive with a fireball? There was an explosion and no one’s found evidence of a bomb.’

Ceri’s frown grew deeper. ‘The cube’s enchanter, probably, but how did he know Ed was even on his way here?’

Soho.

‘He’s all right?’ Cheryl asked, concern on her face as she sat at the bar.

‘Broken arm,’ Ceri replied. ‘Gwyn offered to fix it and he said he deserved to suffer.’

‘Idiot.’

‘Uh-huh. He’s most pissed off that he lost his notes when the train crashed, but he’s got it all in his head. He’ll be getting his arm fixed tomorrow so he can write down what he needs again.’ Ceri allowed herself a grin. ‘I think he was rather enjoying being fussed over. Even Twill and Ishifa are being solicitous.’

Cheryl’s grin was broader. ‘He’s coming with us on Sunday, right?’

‘Oh! I hadn’t really thought about it.’

‘Ceri, he’s one of the best thaumatologists in the country and he already knows about… well, you. And I think he speaks Devotik. We’re going to need all the translators we can get. Gwyn and Mei will be there some of the time, and there’s Faran and Lily, but Gwyn’s handling the conference stuff while I’m away and I don’t want to tax her on this too.’

‘Put like that… Did you manage to get the equipment together?’

‘Everything’s ready. Carter’s going to pick it up from my place tomorrow.’ Cheryl grinned again. ‘This is going to be so much fun!’

‘A thaumatology conference with demons,’ Ceri said. ‘Yeah, there’s absolutely no possibility of problems there.’

Kennington, April 21st.

‘Is everyone ready?’ Ceri asked as she stood in the hall of High Towers, her staff in her hand. It was still basically useless, but being in a high-thaumic-level dimension for a few days would speed its recovery and it was a useful prop.

There was a rumble of affirmatives in reply, though some of them sounded more enthusiastic than others.

‘Has everyone got everything they need?’ More rumbling. ‘Has everyone been to the toilet?’

‘Ceridwyn, dear,’ Gwyn said, ‘don’t be silly. Open the portal.’

Grinning, Ceri turned around and exerted the small amount of power required to reactivate the gateway through to the Demon Realm. Setting up a permanent gate had been a really good idea, even if a night’s rest had reduced her thaumic load considerably. She stepped through, her skin tingling at the touch of the magic, and then she was in the portal room of the Castle of Bones and Hiffy was there, smiling broadly.

The blue det was dressed in one of her most revealing dresses, her large breasts barely concealed by the thin, silky fabric. She bobbed a quick curtsey. ‘Shivika Ayasha, welcome back to the Castle of Bones. Your guests’ rooms are all prepared.’

Ceri stepped forward to make room for the people coming through behind her and raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re just hoping I’ll invite you to a foursome tonight, aren’t you?’

‘I would never presume, Shivika,’ Hiffy replied, almost selling it until Michael stepped through the portal and she licked her lips.

‘Uh-huh. When are the Guandosh arriving?’

‘In about an hour, Shivika.’

Ceri nodded and turned to look behind her. Everyone was through. Alec and Ed were looking around in vague amazement though Alec’s nose was wrinkling. He had been persuaded to come over because Carter and Cheryl were, but he was not entirely happy.

‘Okay… Lily and I need to get changed. Gwyn, if you’d get Hiffy to show everyone their rooms?’

‘Why do you need to change?’ Alec asked, frowning.

‘I’m the bloody Overlord,’ Ceri grumbled. ‘Maybe later I can get back to jeans, but I’ve a reputation to keep. I’ll get someone to come get you when the other delegates are going to arrive.’

Alec gave a bark of a laugh. ‘I’m a delegate,’ he said, grinning.

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

Five demons, each seven feet in height with horns, a pointed tail, claws, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and greenish-purple skin, stepped through the portal and stood there before Ceri and the other ‘conference’ delegates. They looked distinctly nervous and, given that they were physically more than a match for everyone except perhaps Alec and Michael in wolf form, that seemed distinctly odd.

One of them, presumably the most senior, took a hesitant step toward Ceri and executed a stiff bow. ‘Overlord, I am Cagol,’ he said in Devotik. ‘Lord Ignash regrets that the power requirements of the spells keeping us alive here have made it difficult for him to attend personally. He hopes that this does not offend…’

Ceri waved a hand dismissively. ‘This is an academic proceeding, not a state visit. The idea is that you explain your ley line spells and we see whether we can do anything about your leakage problems. However, if you can explain the spells you’re using to keep you from exploding, I’ll see about powering them myself. I can easily manage it and there’s no point in you exhausting yourselves.’

The demon’s eyes widened slightly. Whether it was from the generosity or the demonstration of power Ceri was not sure, but he was surprised. ‘That would be… most generous. We were not expecting… uh, such a large retinue of… uh…’

‘We’ll get to the extensive introductions later. Some of these people are just guests, and some are here because they speak Devotik and my own language.’ She turned and indicated the two people standing just behind her: Cheryl and Ed. ‘However, this is Cheryl Tennant who is an expert in the science of magic, and beside her is Ed Perry, another expert. They’ll be helping me with your problem. Ed speaks Devotik, but Cheryl is looking dumb right now because she doesn’t have a clue what I’m saying.’

Cagol looked as though he was trying not to grin, which was progress. He turned a little and waved at a fairly young-looking demon to come forward. The young man took two steps toward Ceri and then dropped to his knees, bowing his head almost to the floor.

His boss let out a slight cough. ‘This is Aktik. I’m afraid he is a little overawed, but he has a rather unique outlook on magic. He has studied it as much as practising it…’

‘A demon thaumatologist?’ Ed said, sounding surprised. ‘Fascinating.’

‘Yes,’ Ceri said, ‘well we’re here to talk and I can’t do that looking at the top of his head. Get up, Aktik. You’ll find I’m not especially keen on grovelling.’

Aktik clambered to his hooves as fast as his reversed knees could manage. ‘Uh… yes, Overlord.’

‘Well, it’s a start.’ Ceri frowned. ‘We’re missing someone I think would be useful. Hiffy?’ The blue det rushed forward, bobbing a quick curtsey out of habit. ‘Get everyone sorted out with rooms. Once they’re settled, get them to the magic room. Ed, you and Cheryl can get things started with Gwyn and Mei if I’m not back in time. Lilith? With me.’

Lily strutted across from her place in line. Five Guandosh demons, one of them a female, watched her move with lust in their eyes. ‘Of course, Mistress,’ Lily said, ‘but where are we going?’

‘Nedarim,’ Ceri said. ‘I think Brebbam should be here.’

Nedarim.

It was fairly early in the morning, Demon Realm time, and the town square of Nedarim was not heavily populated. There were children playing and the inn was open for business. Someone was setting up a cart with fruit and vegetables on it at one side, and Ooda was drawing water from the well in the middle when Lily appeared out of nowhere dressed in nothing but silver jewellery.

The young det was about to cry out in shock when a second figure appeared. Ooda knew the woman was Lady Ayasha and she was probably the nicest Demon Lady ever to pass through the village, but at the sight of her the only thing Ooda could think was ‘the Overlord is here, in front of me, right there, and my dress has a big stain down the front.’ The bucket clattered down the well as Ooda threw herself to the ground at Ceri’s feet.

Turning at the noise, Ceri spotted the girl with the short, pale-gold hair tied into pigtails lying on the ground. ‘Ooda? Is that you?’

‘Es, Ov’lord,’ Ooda replied, her speech distorted by the fact that her rather long nose was pressed against the cobbles.

‘Well get up. I hate grovelling. You’ve grown! You must be three inches taller than you were last time I was here.’ As the det climbed to her feet, trying to hide the stains on her dress, Ceri added, ‘And you’ve filled out. I bet the boys are queuing up… You’ve been fighting again.’ There was a bruise the size of a hen’s egg under Ooda’s left eye.

‘You should see what Poga looks like,’ Ooda muttered.

Shaking her head, Ceri reached out and smoothed her thumb over Ooda’s cheek. The bruise faded to nothing in a second. ‘That’s better. Now…’ A flick of her wrist had the bucket lifting from the well on its own and settling to the ground, full of water, at Ooda’s feet. ‘I take it school isn’t in?’

‘No, Overlord.’

‘Well, I need to borrow Brebbam for a couple of days, so you’re going to get a holiday. Would you get your father to come to the school? I should talk to him as well.’

Ooda bobbed a curtsey and picked up her bucket. ‘Of course, Overlord. Um… Is it okay if I get Tooky and come to the school too?’

Ceri chuckled. ‘Yes, Ooda, but don’t take too long.’

As the girl hurried away, Lily stepped closer to Ceri. ‘They get over the awe faster than they did when we first came back,’ she said in English. ‘I don’t feel as… oppressed either.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri agreed thoughtfully. ‘They’re just as obedient, but it’s almost like some of the fear is gone. I can live with that.’

‘Have to watch it though. We don’t want them thinking the Overlord is a pushover.’

‘They don’t, but it’s like… like someone’s told them they don’t have to be scared unless they have reason to be.’

‘Weird,’ Lily stated.

‘We’re in the Demon Realm, Lil. Weird has different parameters. Come on, let’s go see Brebbam.’

~~~

Merada walked down the aisle between the school’s desks as though he really wanted to break into a run. He looked a lot like Ooda, including the hair of gold, the pale skin, and the elongated, high-ridged nose which made him look like an accountant.

Coming to a stop, he bowed deeply to Ceri, and stayed that way as he said, ‘Overlord Ayasha…’

‘Straighten up Merada, before I decide you’d be better off as a shivikin in a glue factory.’

Merada snapped upright so fast Ceri was worried about whiplash. ‘My apologies, Overlord.’

Ceri glanced at Lily, twitching a brow, and Lily nodded. They were just as terrified when they thought they had done something wrong.

‘That was a joke, Merada,’ Ceri said, smiling. ‘I wouldn’t do that. You’d make a terrible shivikin.’ Behind her father, Ooda covered her mouth as she started giggling. Tooky, still something of a shy, wide-eyed young det, was standing there with her mouth open. ‘Close your mouth before something flies in, Tooky.’ There was an audible snapping sound and Ceri winced. ‘As I was telling Brebbam, I need to borrow him for a couple of days for a conference I’m having with the Guandosh and some people I’ve brought over from Earth.’ Brebbam’s eyes widened.

‘Of course, Overlord,’ Merada said. ‘The children will, of course, be disappointed at missing the schooling…’ He paused to glare at Ooda and Tooky, who were both giggling. ‘I’m sure they can catch up when Brebbam gets back.’ That cut the giggles off quickly.

Ceri grinned. ‘Actually, I was thinking that they might enjoy an educational trip.’

‘Overlord?’

‘Tomorrow morning, an hour after full sun, I’ll come back. Any of the children who want to can come for a visit to the Castle of Bones.’ Ceri held up a hand to stop the mayor from saying anything, because she knew he was going to argue. ‘They won’t be any trouble. I’ve got staff who can look after them and I’ll see they get back when I bring Brebbam home.’

‘I’ll have word sent around,’ Merada said, nodding. ‘The Overlord is most generous. I see that Ooda’s eye is back to the right colour as well.’

Ceri nodded and turned to Brebbam, who was smiling. He was an older det with grey skin and three ridges in place of hair across his skull. He did a good job of looking his role of school teacher. ‘You’ve got your books out of hiding,’ she noted, indicating the shelves behind him which were rather fuller than they had been.

‘The Overlord’s decree that anyone should be allowed to study magic has made me more bold,’ Brebbam replied.

‘Good,’ Ceri replied, ‘that was the idea. However, I don’t think you’ll need them. I’ve got a really good library at home.’

Brebbam’s smile got wider.

Castle of Bones.

‘Neka!’ Brebbam’s voice drifted out from among the stacks of the library. He had gone in five minutes earlier and started making incoherent noises as he discovered what was there. Actual words were an improvement. At least he was not swearing, yet.

Ceri grinned and turned back to Cheryl who was examining a pair of thaumometers. ‘What do we have?’ she asked.

‘It’s quite remarkable,’ Cheryl replied. She indicated one of the instruments which was made of copper and mounted in a wooden box. ‘You had this built from scratch by a blacksmith and then did the calibration by dead reckoning?’

‘Uh-huh. The local measurement system is the quot. One quot is normal field strength across the world. I couldn’t work with that so I needed something I understood.’

‘Well, the expensive, electronic model we brought over is reading eight-point-nine thaums and your scale says eight-point-eight-five.’

‘Huh. Yeland’s a bit more skilled than your typical blacksmith, I think, but I’m still surprised it’s that accurate. The reading’s a little higher than the natural background here as well. It was eight-point-three-five in Nedarim. Come back with me when I take Brebbam and the kids. We’ll check the level there and you’ll get to see the outside world.’

‘Qi boradgi tavika chovach…’ Brebbam said from somewhere among the scroll racks.

‘What did he say?’ Cheryl asked. ‘It sounded like he was amazed at something.’

‘Uh… yeah, it was… well, literally it was “I suck boradgi penis,” but Devotik is terrible about tenses.’

‘Maybe we should get him out of there before he faints.’

‘Maybe we should.’

~~~

By the time Ceri walked into the magic room wearing jeans and her MIT T-shirt, the demons had grown comfortable enough being around humans and their weird clothing that no one seemed too worried about that. They still got rather quiet as the Overlord returned to the discussion.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, frowning, ‘this isn’t going to work. I’m here to help and learn, just like you lot are. If you’re going to go quiet when I’m in the room, that’ll be hard.’

‘Overlord,’ Cagol began.

‘No,’ Ceri stated flatly. ‘Ayasha. Lady Ayasha if you feel you absolutely have to be formal, but I’d prefer Ayasha. You can go back to “Overlord” outside this room if you want, but not in here. And we won’t tell anyone so don’t worry.’

‘Lady Ayasha is most kind,’ Cagol told her, bowing his head in acknowledgement.

‘Lady Ayasha is being practical. How are we doing?’

‘Well,’ Carter said, ‘between Ed, Gwyn, Cagol, Aktik, and I, we have managed to get an agreement on some notations. I believe we should be able to bring Cheryl in now, along with the other Guandosh. Cheryl may not speak Devotik, but she does speak excellent maths.’

Cheryl had not been listening, since they were speaking in a language she only knew a few words of, but she was looking at the various sheets of paper scattered around the floor across the carefully inscribed magic circle which took up much of its centre. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I see. This is a translation of a three-dimensional tube into four dimensions. If that’s actually the basis for their lines, no wonder they leak.’

‘I rest my case,’ Carter said, grinning.

Cheryl looked at him, somehow sensing that she was being referred to. ‘What?’ she asked.

‘I was simply saying that language was going to be less of an issue than one might expect,’ Carter said, ‘due to your exceptional intelligence and wit.’

Cheryl blushed. ‘Charmer. Someone explain to me how this fits together and we’ll get started.’

~~~

Aktik was looking as though someone had just spread the secrets of the world out in front of him and said, ‘There you go, this is how it works.’ In fact, Ceri was just doing her ‘thaumatology in the air’ trick, which was impressive, but most of the people there had seen it before. Even Brebbam had watched her using it to work out whether she would be able to transport Lily back to Earth without a portal.

The young Guandosh, however, was both amazed at the working technique and at the mathematics he was seeing being used to describe the way thaumic energy from their ley lines would interact with the high-pressure salt water he spent most of his life in.

‘It’s the sodium ions,’ Cheryl was saying, mostly for the benefit of the non-academics watching since the demons did not understand her. ‘It just so happens that thaumitons interact with that ionic structure. Energy is lost and that’s why salt water is good at insulating against magic. Water itself produces a transmission lag, which would normally be okay, but if the water’s moving it tends to disrupt magical effects. Salt water gives you lag and energy loss, which is deadly.’

‘That sounds like a bit of a rationalisation rather than an explanation,’ Alec commented. ‘Magic has trouble crossing large expanses of salt water, but it’s not going through the stuff.’

‘It’s not an absolutely perfect explanation,’ Cheryl admitted.

‘It’s like gravity,’ Ceri said, her hands shifting as she rewrote a block of equations. ‘You’ve got Newton’s equations which give perfectly good results pretty much all the time, but if you look closely they don’t quite fit everything we can see. Along came Einstein and General Relativity, and that explains everything we can see, unless you’re dealing with some very small objects anyway. The Ionic Salt-Magic Theorem does a good job of explaining the basic interaction between the two. If you want the full explanation…’ She waved at a huge section of complex mathematics hanging to her right. ‘Well, there’s a lot of quantum interactions in there which make about as much sense to most people as magic usually does.’

‘One of the things you learn in quantum thaumatology,’ Cheryl added, ‘is that things really don’t follow common sense rules. Or rather, if they don’t it doesn’t mean they’re wrong.’

Aktik peered lovingly at a block of equations he had just grasped, and let out a sigh. ‘This is such a revelation,’ he said in Devotik. ‘My own studies have barely scraped the surface of the subject…’

‘Well,’ Ceri replied, not looking around, ‘Cheryl and Ed are the teachers. Try to make some time to talk to them. They can probably suggest some lines of investigation which would push you the right way. They taught me everything I know.’

‘Huh,’ Ed grunted. ‘We unlocked the potential and gave some direction. You have exceptional talent. Only Gwyn is your equal in native ability.’

‘She’ll surpass me,’ Gwyn said. ‘She has my mate’s genes in her as well.’

Ceri kept working and said nothing. She knew she was powerful, but the thought that she might surpass the most powerful dragon sorceress ever…

She felt Lily shifting somewhere behind her, sensing her disquiet. Happy thoughts. They were getting somewhere with the maths, and the demons, especially Aktik, were grasping the mathematics the thaumatologists were putting before them. Now it was just a matter of explaining how to do it better.

Herne Hill, London.

Kate was weeding. It was spring and the unwanted plants were starting to rear their heads, and she got little enough time to tend her garden so it was a pleasure to have a little time to work on it now.

It was more or less mindless work. Being a witch’s garden some of the plants in it might have been considered weeds by a more mundane gardener, but she knew what she was doing and the physical work was done almost automatically. It left her mind to drift and she had found that ideas would come to her while gardening which might have remained submerged otherwise.

Now her mind brought up the image of the man who had hit her while Lo Chan was escaping their first attack. She had not got a good look at him, but she knew there was something about him which had been distinctive. It was just that her memory was not providing the detail when she tried to see it.

He had been tall, thin… Oriental, maybe Chinese. Well that sort of fitted with Lo Chan. He had struck at Kate… struck at her backhanded with his left hand. That was something. It had been an unnatural move, clumsy, even if effective. Why his left hand? Of course he could have been left-handed, but there was something else…

Her hands paused as the image of his retreating back came to her mind. It was uneven. She closed her eyes, seeing the image there in front of her and she knew what it was she was not seeing.

The man who had attacked her, who had been working with Chan, had had no right hand.

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

Ceri was unsure of exactly how long they had been working on the problem, but when Gwyn had suggested they take a break she had suddenly realised how tired she was and agreed.

Hiffy and a team of servants had brought food and drink to the reception room of the Overlord’s suite. It was not the slightly more intimate room Ceri generally entertained in when in the castle, but it could seat more people and she thought it likely that her mystique would survive better if they sat there.

Right now she was sitting watching Gwyn and Carter trying to teach Cheryl how to cast a spell while the demons sat around watching her with some consternation. Demons, the full ones, were all magically talented. Even det, who were not, could work magic in the strong field of their world, if they could learn the processes necessary to do so.

‘Your friend clearly knows a great deal about magic, has she never worked a simple spell before?’ The speaker was Maganola, the one female in the party of Guandosh. She was fairly obviously female; all five of them were dressed in what amounted to expensive loincloths, which left Maganola’s firm, quite full, breasts on display.

‘Earth has a very weak magical field compared to here,’ Ceri replied. ‘The det here find it far harder to work magic than demons do, yes?’

‘Of course.’

‘Well, Cheryl is to Carter what a det is to you. She understands the mechanisms of magic better than Carter does, but she has no innate talent for it. It means she can’t normally generate the power necessary on Earth, or she would have huge difficulty anyway.’ It was a proven fact that every living thing could catalyse T-Null decay to create magical energy. That was what differentiated living things from inanimate objects. Sorcerers simply did it more easily, and mages and demons were able to use it to direct existing magic to their purpose. A normal, like Cheryl, needed more magic around them to be effective, but Cheryl was trying to do something even more complex.

‘She seems to be having more trouble than a typical det,’ Maganola observed.

‘Ah well, what Cheryl is doing is applying her magical theory to create the spell. She’s actually trying to do what Gwyn and I do rather than what Carter or you might. Well… You know some ritual magic?’

‘I do.’

‘So you use that to improvise magic you haven’t specifically learned, or work spells which would normally be too difficult. I improvise almost all my magic, using my knowledge of how it works to produce the effect.’

‘You can do that?’ Aktik put in. ‘I could do that?’

‘Theoretically, yes.’

Gwyn was wearing her patient smile, the one she reserved for trying to teach someone who was not getting it. ‘Relax,’ she said, in English. ‘You have the form you wish to create in your mind? The equations necessary to focus and direct the energy?’

‘Yes,’ Cheryl replied, her eyes focussed on the palm of her right hand.

‘Now, imagine the energy growing at the base of your spine. Feel it rise. Feel it flow upward until it fills your mind. See the equation, in your mind, fill it with that energy…’

There was a slight flicker in the air above Cheryl’s palm. Her eyes widened and her hand trembled, and the flicker steadied, becoming a globe of soft, bluish light about as bright as a candle. The thaumatologist gasped, lowering her hand, and the light remained hanging in the air.

‘Oh…’ Cheryl breathed.

‘Well done,’ Carter said, beaming like a teacher whose student had just cracked some difficult problem. ‘And from scratch too. That is really quite remarkable.’

‘It’s beautiful,’ Cheryl whispered, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

Ceri remembered how Cheryl had reacted when she had given her boss a glimpse of what it was like to have the Sight at Stonehenge. The look of wonder which had come over the thaumatologist’s face had been almost childlike. This was more or less the same.

‘It’s just a light spell,’ Maganola commented.

‘When you cast your first ever spell,’ Ceri asked her, ‘were you not elated?’

‘I… I suppose I was excited when it finally worked,’ the demon admitted.

‘Now imagine that you never thought you would ever be able to do that. Not ever.’

Demons were not empathic creatures as a rule; asking her to imagine such a circumstance was probably a little mean, but she was either a good actress or the thought was horrific enough to hit home. ‘Ah,’ Maganola said. ‘Then perhaps her reaction is… understandable. What of your first spell, Lady Ayasha? Did you react this way?’

‘Not exactly,’ Ceri replied, ‘but the circumstances were different. The first time I cast a spell I blew a hole the size of your head in someone.’

The demons fell silent. Ceri gave them a quick glance: they were looking slightly shocked. No, they were looking awed. Well, that was not entirely a bad thing. She had a feeling that that story was going to get spread around fairly quickly. Demons were attracted to power and if they could not have it, they wanted the people above them in the hierarchy to have it in spades.

Beside her, Lily stirred, leaning toward Ceri, but smiling at the Guandosh. ‘It was her great power, even before she took up Gorefguhadget’s crown, which attracted me to my Mistress. Is she not the most desirable Mistress any demons could have?’

Ceri winced inside, but kept the expression off her face. She knew Lily was hamming it up a bit for the benefit of their guests, but it was not entirely untrue.

Then Ceri saw Carter. The wizard was watching the interplay with a thoughtful expression on his face. Did he know Lily was playing to the crowd?

April 22nd.

‘You’ve been watching me,’ Ceri said.

Another session in the magic room had finally ended as night fell. They were making good progress and Ceri was sure they could spare the time to give the children a tour of the castle in the morning. The Guandosh had retired to their rooms for a few hours, leaving the Earth party to their own recreation, and it had been the first chance Ceri had had to get Carter alone all day.

‘I have been… Very well, I’ve been watching you,’ the wizard replied. ‘I was concerned that the power you have here might… influence your state of mind.’

‘And?’

‘I think you’re handling it well. Lily is not the slave I feared she might be. You treat the demons well, even though you could order them to do as you wished. My concern was unwarranted.’

Ceri smiled. ‘Thank you for the vote of confidence.’ Carter bowed his head. ‘You’re wrong, but thank you. You’ve set my mind at ease a bit.’

Carter frowned. ‘I’m wrong?’

‘Every second I’m here, the temptation is… It’s just there. I’ve got the power of this whole world at my fingertips. Every demon here, from the lowest det to the highest Lord, is subject to my will. I can do just about anything. Every time I come through that portal I worry I’ll succumb to it…’

‘But you haven’t,’ Carter stated flatly. ‘You are controlling it, not the other way around.’ He put out a hand, resting it on her shoulder. ‘Lily told me that even when the dragons had you in their grip and you were opening the bridge for them, you were fighting it. That part of you wanted her to stop you. You came alone to this world to get her back, knowing the danger. When you first put that crown on you came home because you hated how Lily was reacting to it. You’ve the strongest will of anyone I know, Ceridwyn. I can’t think of a better person to be in this position.’ His serious expression shifted to a proud smile. ‘You’re a credit to all your lineages. Don’t forget it.’

Westminster, London.

‘One hand?’ Barry said, frowning.

Kate nodded. ‘He was missing his right hand. I’m sure of it.’

‘So we’re looking for someone with one hand. That doesn’t narrow things down too much.’

‘It might,’ John said. His boss raised an eyebrow. ‘Lily told us that she cut Huanglong’s hand off when he confronted her in the power station. He was human-shaped at the time. If he managed to survive the detonation of the bridge…’

‘But the man’s a sorcerer. If he survived, surely he could regrow a lost hand.’

‘Maybe not,’ Kate replied. ‘That sword Lily used was enchanted somehow to make it hurt dragons. Maybe that enchantment is stopping him from repairing the damage. Whatever, it’s something to work with and I think it looked a bit like him. His face is still hazy so I’m not positive.’

‘All right,’ Barry said, sighing. ‘As you say, it’s something to work with. Get a description distributed. If he’s spotted he is not to be approached. If he’s even half as good as Ceri then he’s basically a magical disaster waiting to happen.’

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

Ceri opened her eyes and found herself looking at a mass of silver hair instead of the usual auburn or black. She grinned. Hiffy had just about flaked out where she lay when they had finished with her, and det were used to rather more violent sexual activities than humans were. Then again, for the special occasion, Ceri had allowed Lily to feed on both Hiffy and Michael while the latter was in wolf form and that tended to make for an incredible ride.

Shifting a little so that she could look over her shoulder, Ceri confirmed that her other two bedmates were still there. The bed was huge, designed to comfortably accommodate two fifteen-foot-tall reptilian humanoids, and possibly a Lorril at the same time. Four more normally sized people had plenty of room. Having giants in your ancestry was not always that great, the chairs were too big for starters, but in this case it had worked out quite well.

Grinning, Ceri reached out and trailed a finger down the blue skin over Hiffy’s spine. There was no immediate reaction, so she tried again and Hiffy’s tail twitched between her spread legs. Another stroke and the tail lifted, tensing and then trembling a little. This time Ceri slid her hand under the det’s hair, found the patch of smooth skin at the base of her skull, and began to circle her index finger over it. Hiffy’s tail began to twitch, first randomly and then with an obvious rhythm, and tiny whimpering noises came from under the mass of hair. Ceri had never discovered why some demons had the sensitive little patch on their neck. She had a theory that it was something to do with parenting, like the way young animals would go limp when picked up by the scruff of the neck. Whatever the truth, as they got older it turned into a direct path to their hindbrain, it seemed.

‘Fa, Ika,’ Hiffy mumbled. ‘Lebat dak.’ There was a little more groaning and then, ‘Neka! Neka! Dak… kotach dak… neka… neka…’

Suddenly Hiffy rolled sideways with a gasp, her eyes wide as she looked up into Ceri’s face. Ceri giggled. ‘Come back here and let me finish,’ she said softly.

‘But Mistress, what time is it? I shouldn’t have fallen sleep! I need to be working… Oh, this is terrible. It’s not my place. You have to punish me.’

Ceri looked at the pleading look on the blue girl’s face. She was really afraid that she had overstepped the mark and might have affronted her Mistress. It was insane, but there was also no way she was going to persuade Hiffy that it was all alright, unless…

‘All right,’ Ceri said. She reached out and light sparkled around her fingers as she touched them to Hiffy’s forehead. ‘There, you’re punished.’

Hiffy blinked at her. ‘M-mistress?’

‘Until I leave tomorrow you won’t be able to come, no matter how much you try. You’ll just get more and more wound up.’ Hiffy’s eyes were growing into saucers. ‘And I will be expecting you to come back to my rooms on a regular basis to perform all your duties. When I leave, all that pent up frustration is going to come out… all at once.’

‘You… Mistress is punishing me with pleasure?’

‘Mistress doesn’t think you need to be punished,’ Ceri replied, ‘but you do, so this is what you get. In future, I hope you’ll remember that it’s I who decide who needs punishing and when.’

Hiffy cast her eyes downward. ‘Yes, Mistress,’ she said, her tone contrite. ‘I’ll go see about some refreshment before you start your studies again.’

‘Good girl.’

‘That was really mean,’ Lily said once Hiffy had scampered off. ‘Brilliant, but mean. I think she’ll figure out she’s a favourite and not be so unsure of herself after this.’

‘I hope so. I sort of enjoy her worrying over me, but not when it’s patently obvious I wasn’t displeased. And I know it wasn’t as obvious to her, but she needs to learn I’m not a demon.’

‘She’ll get there,’ Lily replied, the grin evident in her voice, ‘as long as she doesn’t explode before we leave.’

~~~

‘We need to come up with a way of insulating the terminal point from the water,’ Ed mused. ‘The resistance to the spread of the resulting field would be significant.’

There was a slight pause while Cheryl listened to Carter’s translation and then, ‘It’s worse than that. You’re going to get a thermal reaction from the absorption of thaumitons. By my calculations… you’re going to boil the water near the final pylon.’

A round of gasps went up from the Guandosh when they heard the translation of that one. ‘A little warmer might be welcome,’ Cagol said, ‘but we could not stand such extremes.’

‘What about your canal idea, Ceri,’ Cheryl suggested, ‘except more like… a tree.’

Ceri gave her a nod and said, in Devotik, ‘Cheryl reminds me of an idea Gwyn proposed, actually, to distribute energy to different areas of our domain.’ Demons did not really have countries, and while it made it sound like the humans were in charge of England, domain was as close as she could get. ‘We could branch off the main line into many locations around the city. You would not get such a large rise in thaumic level in one place, but you would not get the massive heating problem.’

She scribbled some notations up in the air and stared at them for a few seconds. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at Cheryl. Her boss’ eyes were getting slowly wider as well.

‘God but I love it when we’re on the same wavelength,’ Ceri said, grinning broadly.

‘Like the generator,’ Cheryl said, ‘but on a much grander scale.’

‘Bigger, but lower power. A standing wave within a circle of containment nodes.’

Ed bounced to his feet, beaming and peered at the equations. ‘It has been… centuries!’ he said. ‘Centuries since a student of mine taught me something new. And not just a student of mine.’ He turned his smile on Cheryl. ‘No talent for magic my enormous, tailed behind,’ he stated. ‘I have no idea why you can’t cast spells on Earth, my dear, but it’s not for lack of talent.’

Carter barked out a laugh while Cheryl went scarlet, and the Guandosh looked between the various Earth people wondering what was going on.

Aktik, of course, picked up on it first. ‘Is this describing some sort of… interference mechanism?’ he asked.

Ceri smiled at him, and then at the other demons. ‘You five are about to become the supervisors of the largest magical engineering project this world has ever seen.’

~~~

Ceri stood in the portal chamber, Lily on one side and a rather fidgety Hiffy on the other, as a stream of children walked through the gate from Nedarim. Ceri had dressed up for the occasion; she thought the kids would want the full show, so here she was in her witch-seductress outfit with her staff in hand.

There were twenty-three children in total, though a few were older and there to make sure that the younger ones behaved themselves. They all stood there with their mouths open until Brebbam came through, bringing up the rear, and Ceri closed the door.

‘All right,’ Ceri said, ‘welcome to the Castle of Bones, stronghold of the Overlord of All Demons. I am Ayasha, as I’m sure most of you remember.’ There were a lot of slow, awed, nods. ‘Good. Now, I have business to attend to, and you’ll all stand there like statues if I’m around, so Lilith and Hiffy are going to be giving you the tour. They both know all about the castle, so ask them lots of questions.’

A hand went up at the front and Ceri smiled indulgently. ‘Yes. Ooda?’

‘Lady Ayasha, will we get to see the dungeon?’

‘I am informed by my advisor that the torture chamber is perhaps the finest example of its kind in the realm, if a little lacking in the most modern of terrible devices for inflicting horrific pain upon naughty young det. You will be getting to see it, because any young demon should have a full education. Should you not be on your best behaviour, you will be able to see it in use. Are we clear?’

‘Yes, Lady Ayasha,’ the children chorused.

‘Ooda?’

‘Yes, Lady Ayasha?’

‘You will not do something naughty because you want to try out the torture machines. Ask Hiffy what I do to people who think they should be punished.’

Ooda tried not to pout and almost managed it. ‘Yes, Lady Ayasha.’

~~~

Ceri sprawled on one of the chairs in the magic room, watching as the Guandosh went over the equations and the methodology for using them with Ed and, via Carter, Cheryl. She felt tired, elated, and a little silly since she was still dressed in her witchy gown. It was all going so well. None of the problems the Guandosh had would affect transmission through her tunnel system, they could trial the Australian lines in the Demon Realm without trouble, and the result would be an improved lifestyle for an entire domain.

‘You seem happy, Lady,’ Brebbam said, appearing beside her.

‘I am,’ she replied, giving him a smile. ‘This…’ She waved her hand at the party of Guandosh. ‘This is kind of why I got into thaumatology.’

‘To improve things?’

‘Yes. Don’t get me wrong, I had selfish motives as well. I wanted to know. I wanted to know things other people didn’t. But I always hoped that what I learned would benefit people other than a few academics.’ She frowned. ‘The old Lord of Shilfaris, the one I killed, his father gave a speech once about how something Cheryl and I invented would be useful for something other than hurting people. He said it was why he’d got into his line of work, to make life better through magic and…’ There was no word for technology in Devotik. ‘Magic and mechanisms,’ she tried. ‘That’s not quite what he said, but it’s close enough.’

‘Mechanisms like the one you had Yeland build for you?’

‘A bit more complex, but yes.’

‘Yeland did as you suggested. He built a few of them, set them up so that if they registered more than three quot they would ring a bell. He sold a couple, but not too many. Still, he made enough to be happy. Then one of his customers returned and wanted to know if he could make a lot more. Seems he’d been on his way to Shilfaris when a Wild Storm came through.’

‘A Wild Storm?’

‘We get them now and again on the plains. Higher demons can usually see or feel them coming and take shelter. Det quite often think they’re nothing but rain until it’s too late. The rain is charged by the strong magic in the clouds. It’ll eat its way through just about anything given time. Gilfaskeel is the only thing that’ll stop it. Seems Yeland’s bell started pinging and the merchant pulled up his caravan and got everyone under cover, and not a minute too soon.’

‘So now Yeland’s rich?’

‘He likely will be, but he’s been bright enough to say that the Overlord herself told him how to build his little bell boxes. It made his customers trust them more, and he could up the price a bit. They could save many lives. Making life better through magic and mechanisms.’ He gave her a smile and a nod. ‘We could have had a much, much worse person pick up Gorefguhadget’s crown, Lady.’

‘Oh!’ one of the Guandosh burst out at that moment. His name was Qoda and he seemed to be the least senior of the five, and the least well- versed in magic. ‘I see it. It’s just like the vibrations and counter-vibrations in a Gunbotva horn!’

Ceri gave a frown. ‘Why is it always the musicians who get this first?’

April 23rd.

The door of the magic room opened quite abruptly and Hiffy marched in with the look of someone trying very hard not to run. A crowd of children were standing on the landing behind her and she could see a few nervous looks on some of their faces.

Hiffy walked straight to where Ceri was sitting and bent down to whisper in her ear. ‘Mistress, there’s something outside you should see.’

‘We’re a little busy…’

‘Mistress…’ Ceri gave the blue det a frown; she did seem quite urgent. ‘I took the children up to the watchtower and there’s an army marching up to the front door.’

‘The alarms haven’t gone off.’

‘They aren’t attacking. They’re just… lining up in front of the lake. And I’m not sure what kind of demon they are. I’ve never seen anything quite like them.’

Ceri got to her feet. ‘Come in children,’ she said. ‘Brebbam, could you explain some of what we’re doing here to the children? I have to go out for a minute.’ She turned to Hiffy and added in a lower voice, ‘Find Lily and get the rest of the kids somewhere safe.’

With that, she walked to the door, past the throng of excited young det, picking up her staff on the way, and headed out to the landing. Walking off the ledge, she dropped down almost all the way, her skirts flapping around her. Right at that moment, decorum was the last thing on her mind. Arresting her fall and landing softly, she marched out toward the huge main doors of the castle.

If they were demons the crown would keep them in check, but the fact that they were not assaulting the castle, just waiting, had given Ceri’s curiosity a poke which it was not going to let her ignore. Thoughts about what curiosity did to cats came to mind as she asked the castle to open up and the vast slabs of rock which formed the gates swung aside as though they weighed nothing.

She could see them, two formations, each of five ranks by the looks of it, and each twenty demons across. Two hundred and one of them were standing there, the last a little taller than the others and in front of the troops. They were jet black, maybe seven feet in height. The reddish sunlight still managed to glint off skin which had a scaly quality, and the features seemed to be a sort of flattened reptilian. Aside from the height they looked a lot like the High Ones, the race Gorefguhadget had pretended to be when he sat upon the throne.

Ceri walked out into the sunlight, stopping a few yards from the leader and planting her staff on the ground beside her. As one, two hundred and one demons dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to her. Ceri blinked.

‘Lady Ayasha,’ the leader said, ‘Overlord of All Demons, Heir to the Iron Crown, the Dakishodet have returned to serve you.’

Ceri just looked at him, her eyes wide. Aside from anything else, he had been speaking Draconic.

~~~

His name was Naton, and he was the Captain of the Hands, apparently. He sat in a chair opposite Ceri in her reception room with his lieutenants, Aja and Pansh, standing on either side of him. Pansh was more heavily muscled than any of the Dakishodet Ceri had seen, and he led the Right Hand who were trained primarily in defence. Aja was a slim, wiry female who carried what seemed like an extraordinary abundance of sharp objects about her person. She led the Left Hand who were described as the offensive unit, but Ceri got the distinct impression that Aja was an assassin.

Naton was a little perplexed that Ceri had never heard of them. ‘The Dakishodet were made to be Lord Gorefguhadget’s personal guard,’ he explained. ‘In truth, none of us knew him, but we have been awaiting the return of his line to the throne for more generations than anyone can count.’

‘Uh… Prophecy or something?’ Ceri asked.

Naton gave a nod. ‘When he fell, the survivors of our people fled into the mountains, making a home far to the south. The land there is harsh, but that kept us strong. Still, once there were thousands of us. Now we are barely strong enough to do what we were bred for, but when we felt your rise to the throne we knew that we had to come.’

Ceri looked at them, frowning slightly. Dakishodet would translate as ‘superior demon’ or maybe ‘det of higher birth,’ or ‘more birth demon’ if you were being terribly literal. Gorefguhadget had not struck her as being that pretentious, but then her randomly recovered memories of him had been pretty brief and very personal. He had actually created a species specifically to serve as his soldiers?

‘Exactly what makes you so… special?’ Ceri asked.

‘We are strong, fast, fearless in battle,’ Naton replied. ‘We were also made to be resistant to magic, save for the spells of our Lord.’

‘Uh-huh.’ It still did not entirely make sense. Why had Gorefguhadget needed an army? He could effectively control any demon on the planet! Were they just a status symbol? Unless he had found out about the plot to kill him and these had been his answer. If they were, he had failed. She turned her head to look at Ruffa who was standing beside her chair.

The aging, blue det looked disgruntled, but then he always did. ‘There’s plenty of room in the barracks,’ he said, assuming she wanted his assessment. He was right. ‘Always useful to have more hands and some force when it’s needed. You’re not always on hand, Lady.’

‘True enough,’ Ceri agreed. ‘We can sort out a guard rota for the portal room. Hiffy won’t have to run up the stairs to greet me when I arrive.’

‘Honour guard for these “dipliomatic” things you like as well. Demons like a show of force.’ Also a very good point, but Ceri had to stop herself grinning as he mispronounced the English word; demons did not really have a word for diplomacy. ‘Staff we have should be sufficient, ’cos I reckon this lot’ll be used to fending for themselves, but there seemed to be a lot more males than females. Might be we should ask Lady Jubilia to recommend some suitable Lorril for the castle. They’ll be useful for your dipliomatic too.’

Ceri gave a sigh. Now she was employing what amounted to prostitutes to keep her troops happy. It was not exactly the same, or she could tell herself that anyway. The Lorril would be doing what they naturally did to survive rather than giving their bodies for money. It just felt like she was slowly sliding into being the kind of person she was not. Not that that was any different from how things had been going for years, but now she was doing it to herself.

‘Very well, see to it. Captain Naton, my staff will see to it that your people are looked after. If there’s anything you need, talk to Ruffa or his daughter, Hiffy. Ruffa is in charge of the castle while I’m not here. Hiffy is his deputy. If there’s actually a need for defence then, obviously, you’ll take command…’

‘Am I given to understand that the Overlord does not reside here at all times?’ Naton asked.

‘I’m human, Captain, from Earth. I have responsibilities there as well as here.’

‘We should arrange for a guard to be with you when you return,’ Naton stated. He seemed comfortable enough with his Mistress being a human at least.

‘That won’t be necessary. Really. I have other people who can guard me there.’ Ceri frowned. ‘I’m not even sure you could. You’re det, aren’t you?’

‘We have no talent for magic, no. We are… not exactly det either.’

‘Can det actually cross over and stay there?’ No one gave an immediate answer. ‘Rhetorical question really, but I’m going to have to find out because that’s going to bug me…’ She shook her head. ‘I have some other matters to deal with, so I’ll leave you in Ruffa’s capable hands.’ She climbed to her feet.

‘Your guests have broken for refreshment,’ Ruffa told her. ‘The Guandosh looked like they needed about twenty hours’ sleep.’

Ceri gave him a grin in reply. ‘We have been pushing them pretty hard. In that case, would you get someone to relieve Hiffy and Lilith? I’d imagine the children need feeding. Tell them to report to my chambers.’

Ruffa gave a nod. ‘Hiffy’s been acting like a gilda in a market square all morning.’

‘Oh,’ Ceri said, laughing, ‘it’ll get worse this afternoon.’

Battersea, London.

There was something on the wind Anita did not recognise. She was not big on curiosity, but she did not like scents in the pack’s territory which she could not identify. She ran north, toward the river, and then east… The scent was coming from the river side of the power station and that definitely made it interesting.

Closer she thought she had met something like it before. Gwyn had it, as did Mei. Something like hot plastic, but more organic. Snakes and Dakag demons had something of the same scent. But this was neither Gwyn nor Mei; both were in the other world for one thing, gone off after dark to meet with demons and discuss magic. But Anita knew their scents and this was different. Gwyn smelled like a warm summer day, and often of baking. Mei was fresh spice. This was sharp, metallic, chemical, or maybe alchemical. Yes, there was a hint of the same smells Lo Chan’s laboratory had had, but several days old.

Then she saw him, a figure briefly outlined against the lights across the water. She had been lucky: he was good at remaining hidden. This, she guessed, was Chan’s associate, the enchanter. How dangerous was he? Chan had been a significant threat, but this man was an unknown.

She was still considering her best course of action when something flew from where the man was standing, heading right for her. She started to move, but only succeeded in catching the bolt of light on her arm instead of her body. She smelled burning fur and there was an instant of searing pain. She let out a howl, clutching her useless right arm against her body as she looked for cover to hide behind. If he tried again…

But when she tried to spot him to see whether he was readying another spell, she saw nothing. Whoever he was, he was gone.

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm, April 24th.

Ceri let out a long breath of air as the portal closed behind Brebbam. Around her the castle seemed to heave a sigh of relief as well.

‘Children gone,’ she said, ‘Guandosh back under the ocean. All is finally quiet.’

‘Except for Hiffy,’ Lily said, keeping her voice down, but having some difficulty in not giggling.

The blue det was looking very fidgety. Her tail was in constant motion and she had a tendency to squirm if she was standing still for any length of time. Every now and then she would give a little whimper.

‘Yes…’ Ceri looked around at the others. ‘Everyone ready to go home?’ There were some affirmative statement, more nods.

‘I could stay on for another few months to study the place,’ Cheryl said sadly, ‘but I guess it’s back to conference organising.’

‘I don’t think Ceri would mind if you dropped by once in a while,’ Carter suggested.

‘No, Ceri wouldn’t,’ Ceri agreed, but she turned and reached out for the gate, opening it through to High Towers with barely a thought. ‘You lot go through. Lily and I have something to discuss with Hiffy. We’ll be through in a few minutes.’

Carter gave her a quizzical look as he walked past. He had seen the way their caretaker had been behaving and was wondering what they were up to. Well it was official Overlord business! Oh yes it was!

‘Now then, Hiffy,’ Ceri said when the gate had closed again.

‘Y-yes, Mistress?’ Hiffy responded. She knew Ceri was about to go, which meant that the curse she was under was about to expire. She was clearly unsure of exactly how she was going to react.

‘Have you learned your lesson?’

‘Yes, Mistress. It is your prerogative to punish your servants as and when you wish.’

‘Almost,’ Lily said.

‘A-and… and I should be less worried about your anger because… because you like me?’

Ceri nodded. ‘You’ll know when I’m actually angry with you, Hiffy. I’ll go very quiet and I’ll probably avoid you because I won’t want to do some of the things that’ll spring to mind. And here, in this world, if I think it too hard it’s liable to happen.’

‘Y-yes, Mistress.’

‘I certainly won’t wake you up by rubbing at that spot on the back of your neck.’

‘No, Mistress.’

Ceri shook her head. ‘You’re wound up like a spring, aren’t you? Lilith and I are both curious to see what happens when it lets go, so I’m going to release the curse before I leave, but first…’ Hiffy’s eyes had gone very wide; she had hoped no one would actually see what happened. ‘There’s an experiment I’d like to conduct. If it works, you’ll get to see Earth, but it could be dangerous. We don’t know what will happen to a true det who comes over. We’ll take every precaution, but I am not going to order you to go.’

‘I could see your other home?’ If her eyes got any wider they were going to pop out.

‘Yes, but…’

‘Of course I’ll do it! Do you know how many det have seen Earth? I mean, it might be none!’

‘All right. It’ll take a little while to set up, so it won’t be today.’

‘Aside from anything else,’ Lily said, ‘we’ll have to give Twill lots of warning or she’ll… be sarcastic.’

Ceri grimaced. ‘Uh-huh. Very sarcastic. And now…’ She raised her hand toward Hiffy, light shimmering around her fingers. ‘…on with the entertainment.’

Kennington, London.

‘Oh God, I think my eardrums have burst,’ Ceri said as she stumbled through the portal.

‘What?’ Lily asked, looking as though she had just been through an artillery barrage.

‘I forgot the chamber would echo.’ She looked around at various bemused faces. ‘What?’ she asked. ‘My ears are ringing.’

‘You’ve got to do that to me some time,’ Lily said.

Ceri blinked at her, frowned, and said, ‘What?’

‘Huh?’ Lily replied.

And it was about then that Ceri noticed Alexandra and Anita. Michael was with them, looking about as concerned as his Alpha. Anita had a lot of very pink skin down the length of her right arm as though she had been burned and it had heeled in wolf form. Focussing her will, Ceri banished the ringing sound which was blocking out everything else.

‘What the fuck’s happened now?’ she asked.

Part Seven: The Dragons’ Teeth

Battersea, London, April 24th, 2013.

‘I would really have liked more time to prepare,’ Ed said as Ceri settled onto her stomach in the heart of the generator. Gwyn and Lily were behind him; they had all insisted on being there.

‘If Huanglong came back here, he had to have a reason,’ Ceri replied, her eyes on the metal object. ‘I want this thing out of here and useless. Maybe he planned to activate the failsafe on it. It could wipe out half the city.’

‘Perhaps he just hoped you would try to remove it and do the job for him,’ Gwyn suggested.

‘Perhaps. But if that’s the case he’s going to be bitterly disappointed. Are you sure it wouldn’t be better if you did this, Ed?’

‘I am afraid, young lady, that my student surpassed me some time ago on all but experience. It’s far more likely that you will succeed than I. Just follow the schema I’ve set down and we should get to walk away, rather than flying, very fast, with an unfortunate landing.’

Ceri glanced at his notes, on paper since electronics would have been fried pretty quickly in the generator. ‘Don’t make me laugh,’ she said and then reached out toward the first set of runes she needed to disable.

~~~

Lily walked out of the circle, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her eyes flicked over the shed in the corner of the room to check that Gwyn and Ed were out of it.

‘How’s she doing?’ Cheryl asked from a safe distance.

‘How long’ve we been in there?’

‘Uh… just under three hours.’

‘Slowly then. She’s got through five traps and disabled three bands of insulating enchantment. That leaves… about nineteen layers to go.’

‘Oh.’

‘As she gets deeper it should go faster,’ Gwyn commented. ‘Maybe.’

‘Well, she’s coming out to take a break, so we’ll be going in the hut. We’ll be out in about twenty minutes.’

Ed frowned at her. ‘Neither of us was heavily charged,’ he said.

‘She’s stressed,’ Lily replied, ‘and I’ve been standing in a very powerful magic field for three hours. My tantric median is humming…’

‘We’ll try not to listen,’ Cheryl said.

Ceri stepped out through the columns and started for the hut, and Lily turned to follow her. ‘I really don’t care whether you do or not,’ the half-succubus called over her shoulder.

Canning Town.

Huanglong’s fist clenched. It felt as though both were, but he knew the sensation from his missing right hand was a ghost, and that was just another annoyance.

The ephemeral tether which connected his mind to the cube in the power station was unravelling. The Brent girl was un-working his enchantment, disentangling the threads that bound it together. Already she had destroyed the components which allowed him to sense the environment around the cube. That meant she had bypassed at least two of the traps. The last of them would give her pause, he was sure of that, but she was likely to go faster now until she reached that one.

He needed to work quickly, utilise his backup plan to gain advantage while he could. When she reached the tenth layer his connection would be broken entirely.

Picking up the ornately carved ring resting on his desk, he focussed his will, becoming a conduit for the power driving through the cube. Slowly, the ring began to glow.

Battersea.

Lily crawled up to lie beside Ceri on the floor of the little shelter. Her nerves were still ringing from what she had done. She had never tried it before, but it had worked and it had felt…

‘Was that good for you,’ Lily mumbled.

‘It was…’ Ceri tried, stopped, took a breath and tried again. ‘You didn’t feed, you sort of…’

‘I pushed power into you. I thought I could do it, but I’ve never tried it. I thought I could heal… Didn’t think it would feel like that. It was… wild.’

Ceri propped herself up on an elbow. ‘You felt what I felt?’

‘I… felt like my brain was on fire and there was liquid gold in my veins and stars in my eyes…’

Ceri giggled. ‘Uh-huh. I guess you get a backlash for “misusing” your demonic powers. I mean, I feel wonderful.’

‘So I can heal people, but it’s exhausting and I can’t move for five minutes while my body stops trembling.’

‘Sounds like a good pay-off to me.’ Ceri pushed herself upright and reached for her jeans. ‘Well, I feel like I can go another few rounds with an enchanted cube. Thanks, love.’

Dressed, they walked out of the hut to discover that Michael had arrived with Jehoel. The angel was looking sicker than he had the last time Ceri had seen him; his skin was paler and his eyes had a rheumy quality to them. Despite his nature, he did not seem especially bothered by what the two women had obviously been doing.

‘You are attempting to destroy the mechanism causing my disconnection from Him?’ Jehoel asked.

‘Uh-huh. It’s hard work, but I’m making progress.’

Jehoel gave a nod. ‘I will wait. I will provide assistance where I can.’

Ceri had no idea what assistance the angel could give, but she smiled and nodded, and then walked back into the generator. Something felt wrong almost immediately.

‘Does it feel… off to anyone else?’ Ceri asked as she crossed into the inner circle where Gwyn and Ed were keeping watch.

‘Something began happening about five minutes ago,’ Gwyn said. ‘It’s low level and doesn’t seem to be undoing what you’ve done, so we decided not to disturb you.’

‘We think something is drawing power from the cube,’ Ed added. ‘From the generator field really, but via the cube.’

Ceri frowned. ‘Somehow I don’t think that’s a good thing. I’d better get on with this. What’s next?’

‘The next sequence is a barrier enchantment,’ Ed said, checking his notes. ‘Uh… Yes, you’ll need to initiate a resonance disparity between the fourth, seventh, and tenth glyphs.’

Ceri settled back onto her stomach on the concrete floor and reached for the cube.

~~~

‘Something’s wrong,’ Ceri said. Her brow knitted as she examined the trail of glyphs she was currently working on. ‘There’s something missing.’

She felt Ed crawling in beside her, peering over her shoulder at the cube resting on the concrete between her outstretched hands. ‘What can’t you see?’

‘The seventh in the sequence. It should be here…’

‘It’s on the face on the other side.’

Ceri turned her head to the left and immediately saw what she was looking for. Her head sagged onto her arm.

‘Take a break, Ceridwyn. Gwyn and I have both been out. Even Lily has had a coffee.’

‘Coffee,’ Ceri breathed. ‘We’re so close.’

‘You’re tired and making mistakes. You’re lucky you were confused about where that glyph was rather than thinking you knew and being wrong.’

Nodding, Ceri slid her hands free and climbed to her feet. Lily rose at the same time and followed her out.

‘It’s almost seven,’ the half-succubus said as they got clear of the circle.

‘Shit, really? No wonder I’m tired.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Lily looked over at Cheryl. ‘Get some coffee ready for her. We’ll make sure she’s not too dangerous and then she can sit down for a while.’

In the hut, Lily pushed Ceri to her knees, lifted her T-shirt over her head, and set to work on the muscles across her shoulders and neck. ‘You’re pushing yourself too hard,’ the redhead commented.

‘Probably, but we need this thing defused. He was up to something before I cut off that layer. Drawing power somehow.’

‘Why?’

‘No idea, which worries me more than a little.’

‘I can tell. I could use your neck muscles to drive nails.’

‘Huh. You should take Michael with you when you go to work.’

‘I was thinking I’d call Carter and…’

‘We’re getting to the really difficult bits, Lil. I’d be happier if both of you were across the river. If I really screw up it won’t make much difference, but the moving water will provide a bit of defence against a small mistake.’

‘Ceri…’

‘Please, Lily.’ Ceri’s voice was pleading. ‘If you’re here… I’ll worry. I’ll second-guess myself. When it’s done I’ll come over to the Tir. I think we’ll all need a drink.’

‘If you get yourself killed I’ll murder you, you know? Put your shirt on, you’re barely making the thaumometers twitch.’

Cheryl handed Ceri a mug of coffee and a plate with two very thick sandwiches on it. ‘You haven’t eaten either,’ she said. ‘And I’ve got a second mug of coffee poured for when you drain that one in one gulp.’

Ceri gave her a grin and then proceeded to do just that. Then she picked up a sandwich half and bit into it. ‘Michael,’ she said around the food, ‘you’re going to the club with Lily. When we get wrapped up here I’ll come over with Gwyn and Ed.’

‘You want us out of the way,’ he stated flatly.

‘I… Okay, yes. It’ll help me concentrate.’

The werewolf gave a slight shrug. ‘I don’t have to like it, do I?’

‘Lily doesn’t.’

‘I don’t,’ Lily agreed.

‘As long as I don’t have to like it, I guess we can go. If it’s going to make you less likely to make mistakes.’ Ceri nodded as she stuffed the last of the first sandwich into her mouth and reached for the second coffee mug. ‘It’s a good thing Twill isn’t here to see you eating like that.’

‘I’m starving,’ Ceri said after swallowing. ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me I hadn’t eaten anything?’

‘I did,’ Lily said. ‘Gwyn did. Ed did. You muttered about being in the middle of something every time.’

Ceri grabbed the second sandwich. ‘Okay, we’ve established I’m a moron. You can stop hitting me over the head with it.’

‘As your hinita, I reserve the right to tell my Shivika when she’s being stupid. Call it a personal service.’

Ceri decided that it was better to shut up and eat than respond.

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Deirdre Cotton sat at the piano in the Cheltenham Grand Hotel’s lounge, her fingers shifting over the keys on automatic. This was not her kind of music, but if she was going to college in the autumn then she needed all the money she could get. The job at the hotel did not pay that much, but it would all go into her bank account, and she had no doubt it would all get spent faster than she had earned it.

The audience was, as usual, largely unappreciative. There were some men who looked in her direction and smiled, but she had no doubt that that was purely down to her looks. She was wearing a short, strapless dress which showed off her cleavage and her very long legs. Her rich, red hair was piled up into as best an up-do as she could manage. She was a beautiful woman and men looked at her a lot when she dressed to be seen. Generally she wanted to hide.

Something, an odd sensation at the back of her skull, made her look around. In the lounge doorway there was a man, a very tall man with oriental features, and he was watching her intently. She shivered a little and turned back to her keyboard, flipping the page in her music and segueing into a slightly more upbeat tune.

The man had been odd. Odd, definitely. He had been standing there with his right hand jammed into one of the pockets of his jacket, which seemed a strange way to stand, but the look in his eyes had been the really peculiar thing. It was like he did not know whether to laugh or burn down the building.

The weird tension she had been feeling vanished and she risked a quick glance at the door. The man was gone and Deirdre was very glad of that.

Battersea, London.

Ceri’s fingers shifted over the surface of the cube contacting precise glyphs and leaving a small charge behind on each one. The manipulation of positive and negative thaumitons had to be precise, carefully balanced. Done exactly right it would cause the complex, four-dimensional sphere the runes described to collapse in on itself and she would be through to the last layer.

Of course, she reflected, if she did it wrong she would probably not live long enough to realise she had made a mistake.

On the third hand, the resulting detonation would be relatively small, if intense. She was sure the containment mechanisms of the generator would block any effects reaching the outer room. That was why she had asked Gwyn and Ed to leave before starting on it. Well, she had asked, they had said they were staying, and she had said she would not make a move until they were safe. Gwyn had more or less had to drag Ed out; she had become used to knowing when Ceri could be persuaded otherwise and when to let her be stubborn.

‘All right you son-of-a-yish boradgi,’ Ceri muttered, ‘get your widder-begotten hide out of my way.’ Her right index finger tapped once on one of the uppermost runes and there was a shimmer of light from the cube. A faintly glowing, reddish sphere of light expanded outward for a second and Ceri bit her lip. ‘Oh shit,’ she said. And then the sphere collapsed inward, vanishing into the cube with an audible pop.

Hauling herself to her feet, Ceri headed for the outside of the generator. She was going to need her wits about her for the last stage.

Soho.

‘Quit worrying,’ Michael said, his hands cradling a tumbler of whiskey.

‘How am I supposed to do that?’ Lily replied, giving him a glower. ‘You’re worried. You never drink this much.’

‘Exactly. I’m worrying at least enough for two people, so you don’t have to.’

‘It doesn’t work like that.’

‘All right… You’re too pretty to be worrying. It makes your brow furrow. I don’t want to see your brow furrowed, I want to see the gorgeous face that belongs to the half-succubus who will be driving both me and Ceri insane later.’

Lily looked at him and then, despite herself, grinned. ‘Have you been taking lessons from Carter?’

‘I can’t hang around with him this long without some of it rubbing off.’

‘Okay, I’ll promise not to frown if you lay off the booze. It impairs the functions I want fully functioning when we get home.’

Michael grinned wolfishly at her. ‘Deal.’

Carter appeared beside them, back from the office. ‘Cheryl called,’ he said. ‘Ceri’s taking a break for coffee before she starts on the last layer. Now might be a time for a quick prayer to Luperca, Michael.’

‘If Luperca’s even thinking about this,’ Michael replied, ‘she’s already watching. Nothing I say is going to make a difference. I’ll just cross my fingers.’

Battersea.

‘I swear the thing’s trying to scare me to death,’ Ceri said as she sipped her coffee. ‘That last one tried to make me think I’d screwed up before it collapsed.’

‘The sphere expanded first?’ Ed asked. ‘Had I been there I could have told you that was normal.’

‘Not fast enough to stop me peeing myself. Uh… not literally. Well, I can’t do the next bit without you two. You’ve got the mirror?’

Gwyn picked up a small wand with a circular mirror mounted on the end from the table they were sitting at. ‘The bomb disposal people brought it over about an hour ago,’ she said.

‘What exactly is that for?’ Cheryl asked. ‘It doesn’t look terribly magical.’

‘It’s not,’ Ceri replied. ‘We don’t know what’s on the underside of the cube so we’re going to have to lift it and then look under it. We want to move it as little as possible, so… mirror.’

‘This really is like bomb disposal.’

‘Uh-huh, and we’re trying to disarm a nuke.’ She drained her mug and got to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s get this over with.’

Five minutes later Ceri, Gwyn, and Ed were playing a rather dangerous game of Twister in the generator’s core. Ed knew the enchantments the best, so he was in charge of the mirror. That meant he was balanced over the two women, in rather close proximity, while they took a side of the cube each and, very carefully, inched it off the concrete.

With the barest gap under it, Ed used the mirror to look at the floor as best he could, then summoned up a sort of light wand from one finger to flash into the gap. He let out a breath which gave the suggestion he had been holding it.

‘I see nothing on the concrete itself,’ he said, ‘so that’s one worry out of the way. Lift it another half-inch.’

The cube was moved slowly upward and Ed angled the mirror so that he could peer at the underside. ‘It’s definitely marked, but I can’t make out… There’s a ring of runes… Another half-inch?’ Again the cube was shifted upward. Ceri could hear Ed muttering as he examined the inscription under the block.

‘Ed?’ Ceri said.

‘A charging mechanism,’ Ed said. ‘There’s a trigger… Energy storage and release… A receptor…’ His tone suddenly grew urgent. ‘It’s charging. It started when we took the thing off the floor. You have to get it out of the generator. Now!’

He pushed himself sideways, off Ceri so that he ended up landing on top of Gwyn, but by that time Ceri had a firm grip on the cube and was turning in the other direction. The metal, which had been cool to the touch all evening, was now warm and getting hotter. Ceri bolted for the inner circle of pylons.

If she could get it out of the generator the charge would stop building, but what then? It seemed likely it would still release the energy it was holding… What if removing the strong field was the trigger for release? Either it hit a threshold and took the reactor with it, or it was removed and it killed whoever it was near. As she crossed the outer circle, she pulled up a ball of thaumic energy and wrapped the cube in it. The thing was starting to get hot enough to be uncomfortable, but she had to keep holding it. Get it out. Get it…

She cleared the outer ring and yelled, ‘Everyone get under cover!’ Not waiting to see whether they had done anything, she ran across the hall to the emergency cage, yanked open the door, and tossed the cube inside. Then she slammed the door, threw herself backwards and curled into a ball, summoning up a spell she hoped was going to be all she needed to survive this.

There was a sound like the dull thud of a distant explosion, and then the air was screaming. Ceri closed her eyes as lightning burned over her skin, skipping across spell-protected flesh and earthing against the concrete. There was a very strong smell of ozone.

And then there was silence, aside from the thrum of energy from the generator. Ceri uncurled and looked around. The hut had been built from silver-iron mesh mounted on a wooden frame, and the frame was now on fire. Right now, Ceri decided, she did not care. The thing had done its job; it had converted a lot of thaumic energy into electricity, just the way the generator did.

‘It is done,’ Jehoel said from behind her. He held out his hand to help her up; the man had come a long way from being a relatively callous angel before he was stuck as a human. ‘I can feel the effect is gone. You have done Him a service, Ceridwyn Brent.’

Ceri took his hand and winced as the friction of skin on skin pulled at the burns on her palms. She had not even realised she had been burned. ‘You stuck around to say goodbye?’ she asked.

He did not smile, but he stepped back as light began to pour from his skin. Huge wings spread from his shoulders as the rather sickly man was replaced by the angelic form he should have had. ‘Not goodbye. We will meet again.’ Then he beat his wings upward and vanished into the air.

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

‘I’m off, Mister Hooper.’

The aging manager of the hotel looked up from his desk and smiled. ‘Goodnight, Dre. I heard you playing. Beautiful. You have real talent.’

Deirdre was pretty sure that Hooper would not have known musical talent if it walked up and French kissed him, but she smiled and said, ‘Thank you, Mister Hooper.’ Then she turned around and walked across the foyer to the front door to leave.

She was pushing through the revolving door when she felt it, the same tension in the back of her neck that had happened before. Glancing back she saw the tall Asian man at the bottom of the main staircase. Well, he was a guest and had a right to be there. But he was watching her again. She pushed through and quickened her pace toward the bus stop, and the feeling faded.

That was until she was about ten yards from the shelter and it returned. When she looked behind her she saw nothing, but she could feel something there, someone following her. She walked past the stop and turned right down an alley.

~~~

Huanglong saw the girl walk into the side street. She knew he was there. Her senses were well developed, it seemed. He had used a spell to fade into the shadows, but still she could sense him. Huanglong smiled and followed her into the alley…

And she was gone.

He could feel her presence, but she was nowhere to be seen. Somehow she was hiding from him.

He walked on, a man out in the evening taking a constitutional. The girl was a distraction, and one which could wait. Huanglong had other fish to fry.

~~~

Dre watched as the man looked directly at her, saw nothing, and then walked on down the alley. He had looked right at her, hidden in the shadows, but right there, right in front of him.

She had always been the best at playing hide and seek.

Waiting to be sure the man did not come back, Dre finally turned back toward the bus stop. Hopefully she was never going to see him again.

Soho.

‘To still being here,’ Alec said, raising his glass. He rarely drank on duty, but he was making an exception for this one.

‘And to Ceri,’ Ed suggested, ‘without whom we wouldn’t be.’

‘Let’s just stick to Alec’s suggestion,’ Ceri said, ‘or we’ll be listing half the population of London. To still being here.’

There was drinking, and then Lily had to put her glass down and rush off to table five.

‘You should have seen it though,’ Cheryl said. ‘I was waiting outside with Jehoel and Ceri comes running out with this big ball of light in her hands, yells at us to get down, and then throws the ball into the refuge hut. I saw the sparking starting on the corners of the frame, threw the table over, and dragged Jehoel down with me. And then there were lightning bolts flying in all directions.’

‘It sounds suitably dramatic,’ Carter commented.

‘Considering it was mostly boring and uncomfortable,’ Ceri said, ‘the ending was moderately action-packed. I could live without having to do that again.’

‘Any word on… the enchanter?’ Alec asked.

‘None that I’ve heard.’ Ceri looked to Michael.

‘No one’s told me if they have,’ he replied. ‘My guess? He knew Ceri was working on the cube and high-tailed it out of London hoping he’d come back to look at the smoking hole.’

‘It makes sense,’ Carter agreed. ‘It leaves him in the wind, however. I find that disquieting, so I think we should forget about it until the morning at the very least.’

‘That,’ Alec said, ‘is definitely something to drink to.’

Kennington, April 25th.

‘You’re going to the university this morning, Ceri?’ Twill asked as she busied herself making breakfast. Michael was still there, so she was ensuring that ‘a growing boy’ had a good start to the day. Michael had decided not to argue with the ‘boy’ comment since he was getting one of Twill’s cooked breakfasts.

‘Uh-huh. We were out all last week. There’s bound to be stuff to catch up on. I haven’t even checked mail since Friday.’

Twill nodded. ‘I think there’s something you should know then.’

Ceri gave the fairy a frown in reply. ‘I don’t like the sound of that.’

‘No. You mentioned that Carter thought the Order was getting interested in you again, and that he was unsure how they were getting their information. I requested help.’

‘Kipple?’ Ceri asked, wincing.

‘Indeed. I had him check our phone line. Sure enough he found a tap on it. However, he back-traced it and it’s official. It was set up under a directive from the Home Office.’

‘Avery Sachs,’ Ceri growled.

‘Based on that, I asked Kipple to go over your lab. It’s bugged. I understand Carter sweeps his club on a frequent basis, but you may wish to suggest he does so again.’

‘You sent Kipple to our lab?’ Ceri asked, ignoring the actual problem in favour of something far more disastrous.

‘Oh, he was very keen to stay on your good side. He promised not to touch anything.’

‘Heard about the whole demon queen thing, huh? What did this little job cost?’

‘Nothing too terrible,’ Twill replied blandly. ‘He was keen to stay on your good side, remember. And Ishifa was curious.’

Flickers of pink light danced around Ishifa, who was helping with the cooking.

Lily did not help. ‘How was he?’ she asked.

‘Enthusiastic,’ Ishifa replied. ‘Very enthusiastic.’

Lily giggled. ‘What are you going to do about the bugging?’

‘I guess I’d better find out what Sachs knows,’ Ceri replied. ‘And what he plans on doing with it.’

Wembley.

Avery Sachs pushed open the door of his house and stepped inside. There was the reassuring beep of his alarm system, but he knew he had plenty of time to close the door before he disarmed it. It was a practised art, something he did every day, just as he then checked the building to be sure that the alarm was not lying. He classified it as healthy paranoia, given his line of work. Even though the house’s wards were some of the best available and anything the alarm failed to spot, the wards would have caught, it always paid to be cautious before letting down one’s guard.

The alarm disarmed, he checked the lounge and kitchen before going upstairs. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. His sense for the magical, something anyone capable of performing magic had, detected nothing. The lounge, with its single, large, very comfortable chair, sofa, and entertainment system, appeared as it had when he had left. There was a bowl in the sink from breakfast which would need to be washed.

Upstairs the hot tap on the bathroom sink was dripping. He made another mental note to see about getting it repaired before checking the two bedrooms. He had a guest room, even though he almost never had guests. The sheets would need changing soon, because he changed them once a month, even though no one slept in the bed. His own room was as tidy as ever; he always made the bed before leaving, even if the dishes waited for his return.

Satisfied, Sachs walked back down the stairs, mentally sliding into the relaxed state he allowed himself only when he felt quite secure in his own home. He walked into the lounge, sat down in his chair, and picked up the newspaper he had not read yet.

Then he said, ‘This house has exceptional wards, I am not in the phone book, and I am a wizard. Would you mind telling me how you are sitting on my sofa, Miss Brent?’

‘You don’t want to know why?’ Ceri asked.

‘Why after how. Call it professional curiosity. If my security is that poor I may need to find alternate employment.’

Ceri gave a little shrug. ‘Twill’s family are a bunch of conniving bastards, but they’ve been spying and sneaking for longer than… Well, a long, long time. Twill doesn’t like them much, but they did teach her a thing or two. Ishifa’s not so well trained, but she can be invisible when she wants to be. They followed you home. They’ve been watching your office since lunchtime.’

‘Which explains how you found this place…’

‘And there’s pretty much nothing that can keep me out of somewhere if I know where I’m going. You should close your curtains.’

‘And that, presumably, brings us to the why section of the interrogation.’

‘You’ve got my phones tapped and my place of work bugged. I checked the wards on my house and scrying attempts have been made. Carter’s pretty good about security at the Tir and his wards were designed by my parents so you probably haven’t managed to put anything in there.’

Sachs looked across at her. ‘I’m not hearing a question,’ he said.

‘What do you know? Who have you told?’

He looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds. He was, she had no doubt, assessing the situation and deciding what to do. He could, after all, call the police, but she would be gone without a trace by the time they arrived. She had an alibi set up, and he likely assumed that she would. As she watched his face, she tried to pick out the tiny telltale signs which would give away his thoughts, but Avery Sachs was very hard to read.

‘You never use the name, but you speak of demons and a castle, and refer to “the other side” and such. I’m a wizard, I know something about demons. The Castle of Bones, the legendary stronghold of Gorefguhadget, Overlord of All Demons. There his crown, made of iron, sits upon a black throne, awaiting the return of his rightful successor. After the Dragonfall you were missing for several months. Now you vanish off with a lot of your friends to attend a “conference” at the castle.’

He paused, but she could tell he was going to continue. ‘Then there are the stories and rumours. A number of wizards have heard that a new Overlord has arisen. It’s said her name is Ayasha, that she travelled the demons’ world to rescue her pet succubus, destroying armies and evil queens as she went, before going to the Castle of Bones and taking up the crown. Ayasha is a Devotik contraction meaning “blue eyes.” Blue eyes are extremely rare in demons. Almost unheard of in fact.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri agreed. ‘I know that. And the castle’s not legendary. Every so often someone’s stupid enough to go try on the crown. Lily’s father told us about it.’

‘Of course. Then there’s the rather exceptional ability you have to manipulate magic. Also almost unheard of. Also somewhat legendary. What you did to Remus, and your ley lines… These are the stuff of legend, Miss Brent. The kind of thing the sorcerers of old were rumoured to do.’

‘I was taught that sorcerers were either over-inflated legends or pacted wizards.’

‘But your feats are a matter of fact and you’ve none of the feeling of someone with a pact strong enough to do what you do. You associate with Demon Lords and dragons, but your power is your own.’ He took a deep breath. ‘The evidence is not entirely solid, but there is enough for me to say that you are a sorceress, I’ve even heard Doctor Tennant use the word, and that you are Ayasha. And I have told no one. I’m still trying to work out what the implications are and what to do about it.’

Ceri nodded thoughtfully. ‘Okay, guilty as charged, but if you haven’t told anyone then you’ve got a problem. The Order of Merlin is sniffing around, and the way they’re sniffing suggests they may know about the sorcery.’

Sachs’ frown looked genuinely troubled. ‘What is your relationship with the Order?’

‘Huh… Mutual dislike? They tried to force me into membership. I’m blackmailing them to leave me alone. They come after me or my friends, I promised to march an army of werewolves up to their doors in Cambridge. They stupidly threatened Alexandra.’

‘And you believe they’re trying to break the deal?’

‘Carter suspects they might be.’

Sachs nodded and was silent for a second. ‘How did you find the bugs?’

‘A gremlin. He helped in the Witch Hunter case.’

‘You do get around, Miss Brent.’

‘Well, yeah. I’m opening diplomatic relations between Otherworld and the Demon Realm. Ceridwyn Brent is officially exiled from Otherworld, but Lady Ayasha is welcome in Court any time she likes.’ Ceri frowned. ‘Actually, a little too welcome. Have you ever seen Oberon or Titania? Really hard to say no to.’

‘You’ve been to the Summer Court?’ He said it in flat tones which suggested he did not believe what he was hearing, but he was not surprised.

‘Uh… It was Twill’s wedding and we ended up saving them from an Unseelie army.’

‘Right.’

‘Ophelia, Lily, and I embodied the Morrigna and…’

Sachs held up a hand. ‘Please. I already suspected you could reduce me to ash with a thought, I don’t believe I want to know that it’s worse.’

‘I have no intention of harming you, Mister Sachs,’ Ceri told him. ‘I just need to know where I stand. This is all getting too big. Sooner or later it’s all going to come out. I know it can’t stay a secret forever. What do you plan to do?’

‘Remove the bugs and taps. If you know about them, they’re useless. Beyond that… Nothing about you. I’ll be watching, but I usually am. I do not believe you pose a current threat to the government of this nation, so it’s nothing to do with me. The Order of Merlin, however, have moved up my threat list.’

‘Well… Thank you. Be careful with the Order though. They have influence in places that’ll give you a nosebleed. Turn over the wrong rock…’

‘Thank you for the advice, but this is my job.’

Ceri gave a shrug. ‘Good luck with that then,’ she said, and then she was gone.

Soho.

‘It’s good of you to do this,’ Lily said as she walked back to the bar with a tray of empty glasses.

Anita was sitting on a stool there along with Ray, her human and also very hunky boyfriend. He looked like a very fit, handsome man in black jeans and a leather jacket. She looked like a warrior goddess, dressed in leather. The leather waistcoat showed off her décolletage beautifully, and the leather slacks had a slightly worn quality which suggested they had seen battle. As far as Lily knew, they had not.

‘What?’ Anita asked. ‘Bring my boyfriend out for a night on the town and, incidentally, make sure that a friend of the pack gets home safely?’

‘And give Ceri and Michael some couple time. They haven’t had much time to be themselves recently. Or be themselves being wolves anyway.’

‘Our pleasure,’ Ray said. ‘Literally.’

Lily flashed him a grin, but Anita was frowning. ‘What about you and Michael?’ she asked.

‘Well, what about me and Michael?’

‘Well, if Ceri has Michael time and you have Ceri time, where’s the Lily-Michael time?’

‘Oh… That’s… It’s not the same.’ Anita just looked at the half-succubus, which made Lily feel that something more was needed. ‘I mean, they’re mates and I’m Ceri’s… friend. And we’re lovers of course, and we share Michael, and he shares us. And, uh, he’s said I’m sort of like a mate, which is great because it shows I’m not just someone he sleeps with. But, I mean, werewolves don’t have harems, so… Well, Ceri’s his mate. What?’

‘Doesn’t happen much these days because if there’s a gender imbalance in a pack it’s usually more males, but when there is a shortage of males it’s not unheard of for a wolf to take two mates. Happens the other way around too if there are a lot of males. A few extra on either side isn’t usually an issue, but if it’s a big difference… Especially back in the old days, your mate provided food during pregnancy. It’s hard work for one male to keep two females, but sometimes it’s the only way to get pack numbers up.’

‘Oh,’ Lily said.

‘Talk to Ceri about it. She’s the human. She’s the one likely to get jealous over it. But I think you should spend the occasional night with just Michael.’

‘Okay…’ Lily did not sound entirely convinced. ‘Uh, table three. Be back soon.’

‘You’ve set a cat among the pigeons, love,’ Ray commented as Lily walked away.

‘Maybe,’ Anita replied. ‘I hope not.’

Battersea.

Ceri looked up at the full moon standing above the city. To the eyes of a werewolf, it shone brighter, an incandescent silver disc that bathed the world in a slightly eerie white light, but it also seemed as though Luperca was watching. The goddess had always struck Ceri as a fairly down-to-earth sort of woman, so she was probably enjoying the effect the moon tended to have on her children.

Ceri, however, was not a werewolf and did not feel the same mood swings they did. Oh, her time in the pack had infected her with some of it. Once she got among the wolves on a full moon night, their excitement built her own. The scents of sweat and sex were a heady mixture she could not avoid reacting to.

Tonight somehow felt different. Things were changing. It felt as though something was ending. She had tried to get into the swing of the evening, but it was far harder than usual. Michael, being a good mate, had picked up on her melancholy and taken her aside, finding a spot away from the others where they could just sit and cuddle.

Mate troubled, he growled.

Mate… unsure, Ceri replied. She dropped her muzzle, looking away. Mate not good mate this night.

He gave a grunt of displeasure, reaching up to pull her face around to his. His nose brushed hers, and he nuzzled at her throat. Mate ever good mate. He looked, briefly, about as thoughtful as a werewolf could. Not same, no demon. Go demon?

Ceri thought about it. They had been together a lot recently. Maybe they had become a threesome rather than two linked pairs. That was good, right? Night for mate, she growled.

She mate. Not first mate, but mate. We go demon.

Well… Cheryl would probably not mind if she was a little late into the office…

Kennington, April 26th.

They lay in the hazy light of early morning, Lily between Ceri and Michael, their legs a tangle. There had been excited sex followed by slower love-making, and then a lull. There might be more before they slept, but maybe they would just lie still and bask in the afterglow. It felt like that sort of night.

Ceri opened her eyes as a small sob disturbed the silence. There were tears in Lily’s eyes, a trickle of liquid running down from one corner.

‘What’s wrong, love?’ Ceri asked, suddenly concerned.

‘Nothing!’ Lily said quickly. ‘Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right.’

‘Then why the tears?’

‘I… Anita said that werewolves sometimes took more than one mate. Not often these days, but sometimes. She said maybe I should have some time alone with Michael, because he obviously thought of me as another mate.’

Ceri’s eyebrows went up, but she said, ‘Maybe you should.’

‘No,’ Lily replied, smiling through her tears. ‘This is much better. Don’t you see? You wanted me to be with you when you could have just been together. Nothing’s wrong, it’s all right. It’s perfect.’

Leaning forward, Ceri kissed Lily’s cheek. On the other side, Michael lifted his muzzle and licked away the trail of tears on that side.

Lily giggled. ‘Oh great, wolf spit.’

Ceri joined the giggle. ‘Maybe we should get some sleep. We can pick this up later.’ And they settled themselves where they were, Lily still smiling until drowsiness overtook her. Ceri felt sleep harder to grasp, however. Everything was perfect, so why could she not shake the feeling things were ending?

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, April 28th.

Huanglong sat in his room in silence. He had attempted to meditate several times over the last couple of days and had always come away dissatisfied. He knew what it was that plagued him and stopped him coming to a decision. He had lost his own inner balance, much as the creature known as Lo Chan had had balance taken away from it.

He needed focus now, more than ever. He needed to know that the path he had laid out was the right one, that this was the only choice. The act was simple now that the ring had been made: he needed only to slide it onto a finger. Admittedly, his inability to regrow a new hand made that simple task harder now, but it would not take much effort, and it served as a reminder of why he was doing it.

No, the physical act needed no preparation, but the act was little more than a symbol. It was a symbol that Huanglong was willing to do anything to get his revenge upon Ceridwyn Brent and Lily Carpenter. Was he really so obsessed that he would do it? Would he take the final step necessary to ensure that he could defeat them?

As he sat, legs crossed, on the floor of his hotel room, his mind drifting in the early stages of meditation, images flared into being before his eyes and he almost recoiled, once again failing. This time he pressed on and the images continued.

He stood amid the machines of the power station Brent had built, his right hand outstretched toward the auburn-haired girl in the magical armour. Her sword whipped about as he summoned his magic, and she severed his hand from his arm. And he had run, out into the night. The sensation of the sword’s magic burning through him had been sickening. He had known that returning to his dragon form would make things worse, and he knew that he was dying. In desperation he had cast aside much of what made him a dragon…

And in that instant had come the Dragonfall.

Huanglong had lost almost everything he was that night. He had hung onto a kernel of truth: that he was a dragon, born of a line which had sought to save the species from destruction for many thousands of years. But the dragons were gone and he was contemplating something horrific to revenge himself upon those who had destroyed them. Except… Had they been responsible?

The half-succubus, Carpenter, had stopped Brent completing the bridge, but she had been directed to do it and equipped to generate the backlash by the Demon Lord, Molech. Molech had devised a way of using Brent to destroy the dragons, and the tales Huanglong had heard through various channels suggested that Brent and Carpenter had destroyed Molech. Should he not be congratulating them? Should he not be turning his attention to helping the surviving members of his species, no matter how wretched they had now become, to keep something of their culture alive?

We are the purest of dragons, my son. The image crashed through his mind, filling his consciousness. His father was before him, around him, within him; in their natural state, dragons were indescribable in terms of mundane geometry. Our line stretches back, uninterrupted, to the earliest dates of known history. We have always stood for the greater good of the dragon race. We must see to it that the dragons survive.

So that was the answer. The dragons were gone, but the ones who lived could continue onward in some form…

It is the purity of the dragons which is all important, my son. Without that purity, without our purity to lead them, the race will fall. You must be the instrument of our rise to power. You are the weapon created to see that the dragons are victorious. You are the Dragons’ Teeth and you will see to it that the enemies of our people are destroyed.

It had been drummed into him for centuries. He had finally arrived on Earth to scout the way with that mantra playing constantly in his head. He was the weapon his father had forged, just as his grandfather had taught his father, on up to the son of Gorefguhadget, the boy who had watched his father sacrifice himself to save his wife and children following the failure of the second great attempt to save the dragons. No one had ever discovered how the demons managed to create the weapons they used to defeat Gorefguhadget. There had been rumours of treachery, and Lenadenora, Gorefguhadget’s wife, and the daughter she had borne had vanished from recorded history soon after returning to their home dimension.

Brent had come from that line, somehow. They had searched her mind when they took her for the final stage of the conquest of Earth. They had found the fragments of memory, the trails of ancestry. Of course they had known she was of Gorefguhadget’s line, but until then they had not known which branch of the tree she had come from. Had she come from a traitorous line even then? Why had they chosen to work against their own kind anyway?

We just want to survive, he heard his own voice saying. He was back in the power station, facing Lily Carpenter. Is that too much to ask?

Grow up. If that was what you wanted you could have asked nicely. The half-demon’s eyes seemed to burn red as she spoke. Her hair was a halo of flame about her head. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re bullies and frauds. You’re tiny, insignificant, unfit to survive let alone rule this world… That had not been what she had said. He was sure she had said something different. But still the words hit home. You’ll die and be forgotten. Brenin and Brenhines’ lines will rise and you will fade away, and you will have failed!

Huanglong jerked backwards, his meditation broken. His heart pounded as he reached for the ring sitting on the carpet before him. It was the only way he could seek revenge. He would be giving up the last of himself, but he would destroy Carpenter and Brent. Even if he no longer knew whether that was right or wrong, it was all he had. Putting the ring between his lips, he slid his finger into it, settled it in place and…

Pain tore through his chest. He bit back on a scream, not wishing to be found so soon. The second stab of agony tore a strangled shriek from his throat, but there was nothing else. Huanglong was dying, and pain did not matter to a corpse.

Mayfair, London, April 30th.

An evening at Demi-monde had seemed a little crazy. But Ceri had been feeling off for days and the idea of relaxing in Lily’s company also seemed likely to take her mind off that, perhaps even to shift the sense of dread that had been creeping over her. There was also the matter of their new Ayasha and Lilith outfits. They were, apparently, ready and Ceri could not wait to see how Lily looked in hers.

So they had got dressed up, which was to say that Lily was wearing a pair of heels and a coat, and Ceri was in thigh-high boots and a leather and fishnet teddy with a leather coat over the top. Now they were walking out of Green Park tube station onto Piccadilly. Across the road was Green Park itself. The Serpents, a werewolf pack, claimed the north-west corner of it, but steered clear of the end they were near.

They were, however, just walking down the road to turn right onto Half Moon Street so they stayed on that side of the road and began walking. Maybe it was the way they were walking, maybe the outfits looked a little out of place, but they seemed to be getting more than a little attention. Ceri ignored the glances coming in her direction; she was getting into character as they approached the club, though enthusiasm over how she hoped Lily would react to her new dress was threatening to overcome her superior, dominatrix demeanour.

‘You’re not going to tell me what the design is?’ Lily asked.

‘You’ll love it,’ Ceri replied.

‘That is not answering the question.’

‘We’ll be there soon, you’ll see it.’

‘What if I don’t like it?’

‘You’ll like it,’ Ceri told her.

‘But what if I…’ Lily came to a sudden stop, her brow furrowing.

‘What is it?’ Ceri asked, immediately on edge.

‘I don’t know. There’s magic… Something magical… I can’t isolate…’ She turned toward the park and Ceri followed her gaze, blinking on her Sight. Something seemed disturbed in the magic around the street, but Piccadilly was old, there might have been a minor ley line…

Lily let out a gasp, staggering backward. Ceri blinked, unsure of what was happening. The back of Lily’s coat was bulging outward as though…

‘Gadewch i mi weld yr anweledig,’ Ceri muttered as she focussed her will. Seeing the unseen… And the figure standing in front of Lily, its right arm pushed into her stomach, appeared. It was six-foot tall, gaunt to the point of skeletal, and translucent from the invisibility effect it was employing. Ceri had never seen anything quite like it before. There was a long sword in its right hand, the pommel flickering with stored magical energy. But it was in its left hand so the right…

‘Lily!’ Ceri shrieked as Lily grabbed the figure’s wrist. It struggled and then pulled back, and the shortsword it had run through Lily’s stomach appeared attached to a metal cuff. The thing had no right hand. Lily fell backwards, falling against the wall of the building and sliding down it.

The sword was swinging at Ceri’s head and she had no time to worry about Lily. Or she had to push that aside or she would be of no use… Twisting aside, she threw her arm up, her will hardening her skin to iron as the blade struck. She staggered backward from the blow and reacted to it immediately with another spell. The sword swung again, but this time when it hit her arm it shattered.

The figure whirled away, casting down the sword hilt. Ceri put herself between it and Lily before she spoke. ‘Huanglong… What the Hell have you done?’

‘The only thing I could do.’ The voice was rasping, harsh, but it still held a little of the timbre it had once had. ‘Had I stayed a dragon, even the little that was left of me, you would have sensed me coming.’

She could see energy building in his hand. People around them were looking about for the source of the voice and it suddenly appeared among them: a tall, semi-skeletal figure, withered and clearly undead. The screaming started and Ceri knew she had to get Huanglong away from the crowds. She reached out, a jet of air bursting from her hand and striking him in the chest, forcing him back into the street. Cars swerved and there was the blaring of horns. Huanglong turned and marched across the street, the energy still building in his hand.

He would use fire, she was sure of it. She collapsed the air jet and summoned up a defensive spell instead before walking after him. More car horns blared but she ignored them. Across the street and in the park, people yelled and ran. Ceri cursed under her breath, but there was nothing she could do to keep this private; Huanglong had decided to attack them in as public a place as possible.

As he reached the pavement he turned, throwing a bolt of orange light at Ceri. She did not try to dodge it, fearing it might hit someone else, and it flashed into flame right in her face. For an instant she was blind and as her vision cleared she saw flame licking up from her coat. She shucked it off her shoulders and let it fall into the road. She heard Huanglong’s scream of frustration, and she ignored that as she was ignoring everything else.

She could have asked why he was doing this, but she knew that. Or she thought she did anyway. In truth she did not care. He had stabbed Lily. He had run her through with a sword. A sword! Ceri continued advancing, energy growing in her hand.

As she crossed onto the grass he turned and closed the distance. She dropped into a ready stance, thinking he would swing at her. She had no idea how powerful he was, but the sword strike had felt solid enough. He swung and she tried to avoid him, the blow catching her thigh. The shock hit her like a sledgehammer and she staggered back, barely keeping her feet. She heard his rasping laugh. If he came at her again… She threw her spell at him, a ball of incandescent energy that struck his chest, burning into the dry skin beneath his shirt.

She heard his hiss, but he seemed unconcerned by the damage. Whatever he had become, it was unnaturally durable, and she was on her last legs, almost literally. She stumbled backward, her hand reaching down for her thigh. Light flickered around her palm and the bruise healed, though her leg was not working right yet.

Then Huanglong was on her. It seemed like his anger had overcome his tactics, but she was beginning to believe he was just not a fighter. He was aiming to grapple her, probably to carry her to the floor, but she pushed him off, sliding out from under his arms and snapping a knee into his stomach in passing. That seemed to do nothing more than hurt her knee. She needed magic to kill him.

He went for another grapple, and again she managed to dodge his assault. She backed up, trying to put space between them, and began summoning power. He came after her and she dodged as she backed up. He swung at her and she stepped back again, out of reach. He punched at her face and she saw magic burning around his hand as it swung past her nose. He swung again, aiming low, and she failed to get the block in fast enough. The impact was almost nothing, but pain lanced through her body as his spell took hold. She screamed and threw her spell into Huanglong’s face.

He lurched backward as the energy ate into him, but he was still standing. Ceri could not believe it as he swung blindly at her. His eyes were gone entirely, but he was still standing, still trying to get at her. She moved back, summoning more power.

‘Where are you?’ Huanglong rasped. The words were indistinct; most of his face had been corroded into dust by the blast. ‘You killed… everything… I’ve…’

Ceri hit him with another blast, and he fell, crumpling to his knees and then collapsing onto the grass. His arm stretched out toward her, and then stopped. He was gone.

‘Lily,’ Ceri whispered, turning to run back across the road. And stopped.

On the pavement across Piccadilly, the blazing shape of Jehoel was standing over the fallen half-succubus. His wings were spread and the light from him was almost blinding. As Ceri watched, the sword was drawn from Lily’s body and her back arched as if in pain.

Ceri dashed forward, through the stopped cars, reaching the other side as Jehoel turned.

‘A debt repaid, sorceress,’ the angel said, his voice an echo in Ceri’s mind. Then he dropped the sword to the pavement, beat his wings once, and vanished into the sky.

Part Eight: The New Age

Kennington, London, May 2nd, 2013.

High Towers was on the TV. Lily was sitting on the couch in front of it wrapped in a blanket, watching the news with a kind of sick fascination. She was healed, but still a little sore, and she tired quickly, so she was under orders to rest. Given the kind of person she was, that was not an easy thing for her.

Ceri stood at one of the windows looking out at the horde of reporters and cameramen who had been besieging the house since Ceri and Lily had got home. There were police out there as well; uniformed Greycoats officers stood at both gates and patrolled the fence. None of them could see in; the illusion which made the house look like something off a Gothic horror set also made the windows seem to be in different places than they were. Ceri watched the throng, her brow wrinkled.

‘They aren’t going to leave any time soon,’ Lily commented. ‘They can’t get in. There’s not much point in watching them.’

‘There’s not much point in watching them rehash the same news, but you are.’

‘I keep thinking there might be something new.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, there was that statement from the Ministry a couple of hours ago.’

Ceri gave a grunt. Malcolm Charles, Minister for Arcane Affairs, had appeared to give a prepared report which said that the Ministry for Arcane Affairs had no current position on what was being called ‘The Sorcery Incident.’ ‘Sorcerers,’ he had said, ‘are legendary and almost certainly not some special kind of magic wielder. There are perfectly normal, arcane explanations for what was seen in Green Park.’

‘Isn’t normal kind of the opposite of arcane?’ Lily had asked.

‘He’s probably a bit stressed,’ Ceri had suggested. Charles had looked stressed, and a little less confident than he usually did. Ceri had the worrying feeling that the Ministry was being frozen out on a matter they should have been taking the lead on. Again.

Ophelia walked into the lounge and Ceri turned to look at her. The Sidhe had been spending a lot of time in the Demon Realm and it was rare to see her in the house. Now she was there, and she was frowning.

‘Is that the BBC?’ Ophelia asked, waving a hand at the TV.

‘Uh-huh,’ Lily replied. ‘I like their presenters.’

‘Well there should be something coming up…’

The picture cut back to the studio where a fairly young, slightly nervous-looking man was flicking his eyes over a sheet of paper he had obviously just been handed. ‘We’re going over now to our Otherworld correspondent for a report from the Fae Consulate,’ he stated before the picture cut again.

A tall, inhumanely handsome man with shoulder-length, inky-black hair was standing behind a lectern in a fairly small press briefing room. The consulate was little more than a house owned by the Seelie Ambassador. It was somewhere in Mayfair, Ceri thought, so it was an expensive house, but it was still just a house.

‘Ambassador Irwan Alberich gave the following statement ten minutes ago,’ the presenter stated in voiceover.

And the man spoke, his voice rich and a little dark, as one would expect of a powerful Sidhe. ‘I have received the following statement from the Summer Court. I will read it as it has been presented to me. I will not be taking questions.’

‘He’s House Alberich?’ Ceri asked.

Ophelia nodded. ‘Distant cousin of Oberon. He’s competent, but not very imaginative.’

‘King Oberon and Queen Titania,’ Irwan said, reading from what looked like an actual scroll, ‘wish it to be known that the human woman, Ceridwyn Brent, is well known and well regarded by the Summer Court, her power, knowledge, and self-sacrifice brought victory in the face of sure defeat when dark forces sought to usurp the Twin Thrones. She is considered a friend of the Fae.’ He paused for a second and then added, ‘That is all,’ before turning and walking out through the door behind him.

The room erupted into uproar as people shouted questions and the picture cut back to the studio, but Lily was already muting the sound.

‘Well…’ Lily said, ‘that’s good, isn’t it?’

‘Not exactly,’ Ceri replied, looking at Ophelia for confirmation.

The Sidhe’s pretty face did not suit a grimace. ‘They basically just said that if something happens to Ceri, they’ll consider it as an act of aggression against the Fae. Not only that, but they’re saying that the Fae should act to protect Ceri.’

‘They have to know what that would mean,’ Ceri said warily.

‘Oh yeah, they do. You made an impression. You saved their royal behinds. You basically went to war for them, and they’re willing to do the same for you.’

‘Oh,’ Lily said. ‘Well… crap.’

‘Yeah,’ Ceri agreed. ‘That’s going to go down so well. The Foreign Office is going to be running around like scalded cats.’

‘Hiffy has your rooms prepared for an extended stay if necessary,’ Ophelia stated. ‘She’s working on the guest rooms in case you want to bring anyone else over. If we need to, we can evacuate and leave them to stew.’

‘That,’ Ceri said, ‘is the absolute last resort.’

‘Maybe, but you need to consider it.’

Biting her lips, Ceri walked past Ophelia, across the landing, and into the study. That was where Gwyn and Mei were, the latter speaking quietly into a mobile phone when Ceri walked in.

‘Gwyn, I need you to get a message to Ed,’ Ceri said.

‘Edward has had a visit from some policemen this morning,’ Gwyn replied, her voice level. ‘They told him they were making enquiries into his background and that he should not leave town.’

Ceri’s fists clenched. ‘Policemen?’

‘That’s what they claimed to be. He was not so sure.’

‘Right… If it comes to it, he’s to come here. Directly. No pretence about needing a train. Hiffy and Ruffa have prepared rooms at the castle. Who’s Mei talking to?’

‘The Foreign Office. They called her. Apparently they are in something of a state of anxiety regarding a statement made by the Fae Ambassador.’

‘Yeah, I’m a little anxious about that myself.’

‘You need to diffuse this situation, Ceridwyn,’ Gwyn stated.

‘Me?!’

‘You are the only one who can, dear. Thanks to Huanglong and Jehoel, and the BBC, everyone is aware that you are a sorceress.’

Ceri glowered, though not at Gwyn. Jehoel’s words had, apparently, not been kept for Ceri alone. Everyone within a hundred yards had heard him call her a sorceress. A lot of people had seen her pushing aside fire bolts and throwing around huge amounts of magical energy. Those who had heard the words had believed them and gone on camera reporting them. There had been others who had gone on record to say that an angel had come down to Earth to save the life of Ceri’s companion. When Lily had been identified as a half-demon, the implications of that had been debated on more than a few chat shows and talking-heads programmes. What Ceri had feared, the revelation of her secret, had come to pass, and so far it was not going too well.

‘The only person who can calm things down now is you,’ Gwyn went on. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, but we’re all counting on you again.’

Ceri nodded and turned away. Carter had said something similar the day before. He had managed to get past the press with Cheryl and Alec, primarily to check on Lily and tell her in no uncertain terms that she was to take a few days off work. He had also come to tell Ceri that the Order of Merlin had got very active suddenly. He had not been able to determine exactly what they were up to, but they were on the move.

‘Ceri,’ Twill said, flitting up over the banister, ‘there’s a werewolf on the grounds. Michael, I think.’

‘If it is, he’s got a key,’ she replied, and sure enough his voice came up from the main kitchen a second later.

‘Ceri? Where are you?’ The young man sounded anxious, and that was not good.

‘In the lounge, love,’ Ceri called back, trying to sound calm. She crossed the landing again as he ran up the stairs.

‘Alexandra’s in Catherine’s shop,’ Michael said as soon as he had joined them. ‘She’s got Anita with her and Stefan’s there. She sent me to tell you what’s going on.’

‘And?’ Ceri asked.

‘Catherine started getting calls this morning. We had Dolf and Donal over just after dawn. The packs, and I mean all of the packs, are up in arms. Most of them didn’t know what you were, but they don’t give a shit in a bush. What you are is Luperca’s favourite human and they’re not going to stand by and let you get hurt.’

Ceri slumped onto the couch beside Lily, her face in her hands. ‘Alexandra and Catherine are trying to calm them down?’

‘Alexandra’s doing that. Catherine’s helping and trying to keep a lid on things with the Home Office, but she says they’re acting weird. It’s a bit like when Raynor was around. They’re being unnecessarily confrontational.’

‘Politicians backed into a corner aren’t that different from rats. This could end up with a full-on war between the supernatural community and the normals.’

‘I am afraid that your assessment is accurate, Ceridwyn,’ Mei said from the doorway. Gwyn was behind her. ‘My colleagues have told me that there are several rumours to the effect that you are either a Demon Lord, or some form of envoy from the Demon Realm. It seems whoever is leaking the information is not giving your actual role away, just enough to make it sound very bad. The Home Office has taken control of the situation, sidelining the Ministry for Arcane Affairs and directing the Foreign Office to only talk to the Fae Ambassador regarding the matter.’

Ceri looked up. ‘Are they allowed to do that?’

‘They are allowed to make the request. They are painting the situation as a matter of national security, which means that everyone else is supposed to listen.’

‘Okay… what if…?’

‘A normal male and a witch just came through the gate,’ Twill announced.

Ceri sagged again. ‘Now we’ve got the Greycoats visiting.’

‘I’ll get the door,’ Ophelia offered.

‘This is starting to move too fast,’ Ceri muttered.

Both Kate and John were looking serious. John looked serious a lot when he was working, but when Kate was doing it it meant that the shit had hit the fan so hard the blades had broken off.

‘We were sent over to make sure you were still here,’ John said, his tone distinctly sour. ‘The Home Office is sending a car to take you to a meeting at Marsham Street.’

‘Our office is going nuts,’ Kate added. ‘The Chief’s been in meetings all day explaining how he had not known that you were anything other than a normal magician with a lot of technical knowledge.’

‘Damn,’ Ceri growled.

‘Oh, he’s fucking annoyed,’ John said. ‘He says it’s like Raynor all over again. Someone’s influencing the higher-ups at the Met, but he thinks it’s purely political. Someone’s pulled in a lot of favours to make things tough for people who know you. We both got grilled.’

‘I’m so sorry…’

‘Fuck off,’ John grumbled. ‘I’m not. I don’t like people threatening my friends. I’m quite prepared to say we found this place empty when we arrived.’ Kate was nodding in agreement.

‘No,’ Ceri said, getting to her feet. ‘No, this needs to calm down. We’ve got Otherworld and the werewolves ready to go to war for me. You’re ready to lie for me. This needs to calm down… And there’s the future to think of. I’m not the only sorcerer in the world. I know there’s one in America, there must be more. If I can’t get this under control, things will go badly for them. I’ll go to the Home Office and we’ll see what happens from there.’ Gwyn was smiling at her, which was a good sign.

‘A bit of preparatory work wouldn’t go amiss though,’ Ceri added. ‘Mei, call your contacts at the Foreign Office. Tell them that the Overlord of All Demons, Lady Ayasha, would like one of their representatives to contact her Ambassador to Earth with regards to opening diplomatic relations.’

Mei gave a nod, apparently unsurprised. ‘Who shall I say is your Ambassador?’

‘Lily, you are now the Demon Realm’s Ambassador to Earth.’ Lily let out a squeak, her eyes widening. ‘Where’s your father?’

‘He’s on the other side,’ Ophelia supplied. ‘He’s been helping Hiffy organise things.’

‘Right. Get him back here to help Lily. And you’ll be Lilith for diplomatic purposes. Okay, love?’

‘I… uh… I guess I can do it.’

‘They will take some time to organise themselves,’ Mei said. ‘You will have some time to prepare. Making the approach early will put down a marker, however.’

Ceri gave a nod. ‘Ishifa?’

The fairy appeared in the air beside Twill. She had been nervous for the last couple of days as if suspecting that her new life was going to have to change again. ‘Yes, Ceri?’

‘I need you to go out and take a message to Cheryl. Tell her that we may have to leave for the Demon Realm. If she wants to, she can come over. Carter and Alec as well, if they want. If they do, I’ll come get them before we leave. Make sure she’s clear I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but I need her to think about it.’

The tiny woman swallowed hard. ‘Yes, Ceri.’

‘Then I need you to go to Demi-monde. It’s a club on Curzon Street. Twill can tell you where that is. You’re to pick up a package that’s there for me and bring it back here. Talk to Mistress Arabella, and only her.’

‘Yes, Ceri.’ Looking even more nervous, Ishifa flew off toward the attic. She wanted to be wearing something if she was going out on an errand in the city.

‘There are men coming up the path,’ Twill said into the silence. ‘One of them is a practitioner and I don’t like the feel of him.’

‘Carter said the Order of Merlin was getting active,’ Lily said, her voice tense.

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri replied. ‘I’m going out to meet them. I’m not having a pacted wizard in my house.’

Westminster.

Four men escorted Ceri down a corridor in the Home Office’s headquarters, a building she had always disliked and now really hated. Three of her guards were boring, ordinary security personnel. She guessed at Special Branch, though they had not identified themselves. The fourth, and the only one who had done any talking, might have been from the same arm of the police, but he was less boring even though he dressed in the same style of dark suit and wore sunglasses as they did. Ceri’s Sight showed the black canker of demonic pact corruption wrapped around his chakral median. His confident smile had slipped a little at the look of disgust on her face when she had seen him outside High Towers, but it was back now.

They had spirited her away in a black car with a police escort, clearing the press back before they arrived. No one was to see her leaving, which was not a good sign. Now she was being taken via service elevators and back corridors to a meeting with… Well, he had not explained who she was meeting, which was also a less than favourable sign. Ceri was pushing down nerves as she walked, but then she saw something which made her more interested than worried.

Ahead of them was a door, but in front of the door was a shimmering barrier. Ceri had seen something very like it before, at Black Fields in America. It was caused by very fast Null Thaumitons passing from a zero-magic zone into normal space. The room they were going into had, somehow, been reduced to a zero-magic field. Black Fields had been the only time she had ever seen such an area. So how had they managed to get one at the top of the Home Office building?

The barrier offered no physical resistance to their passing, but Ceri felt a slight tingle as they passed through it. Then the door was opened and the room beyond became visible.

It was all oak panelled and boardroom-like. Much of the space in the middle was occupied by a long, wide table with very comfortable-looking leather-backed chairs around it. Several of these, Ceri counted a dozen, were occupied by men in suits, and one woman. To add to those, the double doors at the far end were guarded by two more Special Branch types, and there were a couple of less comfortable seats against the walls occupied by note-takers and also Avery Sachs. The latter was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Ceri doubted that was because of the chair.

Of the dozen people at the table, Ceri recognised two, both from the Home Office. At the far end was Anthony Lorian, the Minister, and sitting beside him was Roger Halpern, a Junior Minister with a demonic pact. Three more people in the room showed signs of pacts, besides the one who had brought her in. One of them, sitting a few seats away from Lorian, looked so corrupted he should have been visibly rotting, but instead he was a handsome man, fit, clear-skinned and with no sign of grey in his hair. He was clutching the head of a walking cane a little convulsively. Ceri’s Sight showed it radiating thaumic energy; it was a charged rod to be used in case its owner felt the need to throw magic around. Or maybe he needed the energy to keep himself intact given the amount of soul corruption he had.

The only other magical thing in the room was a simple golden goblet which had been placed in the middle of the table. The design suggested considerable age. There were some runes carved into its rim which were hard to identify at this distance, but Ceri thought they were draconic. It seemed to be the source of the null-magic effect, which was almost enough to make her forget that she appeared to be in trouble.

‘Miss Brent,’ Lorian said without standing up, ‘please take a seat.’ Halpern was handing his Minister some papers from a red case. Lorian took them and peered at them, ignoring Ceri as she circled the chair opposite him and settled into the soft leather. ‘It appears…’ Lorian began.

‘Doctor,’ Ceri said, interrupting him.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘It’s Doctor Brent,’ Ceri stated, her voice calm.

Lorian stared at her for a second. ‘It appears that we have something of a problem, Doctor Brent. You have become virtually indispensable to our plans for energy production for the next decade, the Ministry of Defence considers your work of vital importance, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is currently running in circles over the reaction to recent events from the Summer Court, and both the American and Australian Ambassadors have presented letters indicating that you are vital to their own power generation projects. On the other hand, the Dragon Empire wants you extradited along with their former Ambassador, and we have the fact that pacts with demons of any sort, especially Lords, are illegal.’

He paused, perhaps expecting Ceri to say something. When she did not he gave a small facial shrug before continuing. ‘The recommendations I have are as follows. You are to be confined in a secure location under magical enforcement. You will be studied to determine whether we can make further use of your talents. I’m told that your power derives from something called the Iron Crown of Gorefguhadget, which you will hand over. Otherwise you will continue your work. Mei Long will be sent back to China. We believe that your colleague, Edward Perry, is or was a dragon. The same is true of the woman called Gwyneth Price living in your house. Both will be confined separately from you. We’re currently considering trying them for treason.’

Lorian looked up from his papers. ‘Anything to say, Doctor Brent?’ he asked.

‘Out of interest, what makes you think I’m pacted?’ Ceri asked in reply.

Lorian looked at Halpern. The latter smiled. ‘The “angel” who came to the rescue of your companion described you as a “sorceress,”’ he stated, as though that said it all.

‘Yes,’ Ceri replied, ‘that’s because I’m a sorceress.’

‘Even I know that sorcerers were pacted wizards,’ Lorian growled at her, ‘or just hyperbole on top of legend.’

‘That’s what they teach in school,’ Ceri agreed, ‘but it’s conjecture. No one has seen a sorcerer since Badon. There might be a few Fae around who remember that time, but they aren’t going to talk about it. All right, you seem to think I’m pacted to a Lord… Do you know which one?’

Halpern’s face stiffened and the man with the cane gripped it harder. The people from the Order knew what was coming. Ceri really doubted they had expected her to just admit everything.

‘The reports suggest that a new power has arisen in the Demon Realm,’ Lorian stated, his eyes on his briefing papers, ‘a Lady Ayasha. It’s suggested that you have somehow empowered her, probably through the generator at Battersea. In return, she grants you powers. I have reports here stating that you do have a pact.’

‘Compiled by whom? The only way to be sure of a pact is a deep analysis by a specialist magician.’

Lorian looked down the table at one of the pacted wizards who was sitting quite close to Ceri. ‘Doctor Dreyfus?’

‘I have examined the subject,’ Dreyfus said, his face tight, ‘and I can confirm…’

‘No you haven’t,’ Ceri said, almost laughing. ‘It takes several minutes in close proximity. You need to cast an analysis spell. I’ve never seen you before and you haven’t done it here. There are only two people in this room who can work magic at the moment, and you aren’t one of them.’ She looked down the able at Lorian. ‘I’m not pacted. Dreyfus is, and Halpern there. There are three more in the room. They’re members of the Order of Merlin which Mister Sachs can brief you on if required.’

Lorian’s face had gone a little red and he opened his mouth to speak, but Ceri continued before he could. ‘There is a little truth to that report. You could say that I’m the power behind Lady Ayasha, but it would be a little more accurate to say that I am Lady Ayasha, Overlord of All Demons, Ruler of the Demon Realm.’

The guards were drawing guns. Sachs was sitting forward in his chair looking tense. Ceri relaxed back in her chair and had to stop herself from putting her feet up on the table. For some reason, she felt completely at ease. Finally, after all the secrecy, everything was out in the open and she felt… free.

‘You’re a demon?’ Lorian asked. He looked scared.

‘Of course not. I’m a sorceress. Sorcery is dragon magic. A long time ago the dragons tried to take over the Demon Realm like they did here, but they got a bit further, in a way. One of them, calling himself Gorefguhadget, created a crown of iron which gave him power over every demon in the Realm and access to that world’s magical field. He was a very distant ancestor and I sort of inherited the position.’

She smiled. ‘It’s weird. I’ve been dreading something like this meeting since I found out what I was. Now it’s here… Let me explain what happens from here. There are basically two paths. If you’re going to insist on trying to imprison me and threaten my friends, I’ll leave. I don’t just mean this room, I’ll leave the planet. I don’t want this to turn into a war, so I’ll take my friends and go live in my castle. I have good relations with Otherworld. I may ask the Americans and Australians if they still want my help, and I think they’ll accept. Great Britain will lose out on the gains it could have had, and other countries will rise.’

She sat up, staring down the table at Lorian. ‘But the thing is… Well, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Give it fifty years and I’m going to start thinking a lot more like a Demon Lord. I already have an army. Right now the thought of marching in here and taking the country by force is abhorrent to me, but every time I go over there I can feel it. The urge to be everything I can be is so strong…’ Her voice became cold and distant. ‘I’d make a good queen. I’d be the queen this world deserves. I’d kill with kindness. None would resist me…’

Ceri closed her eyes and looked down before her voice broke. She remembered the feeling of being under the thrall of the dragons. She knew what it was to be a warrior goddess with the power of life or death over everyone in her sight. Her chest felt tight and the shocked silence in the room just made it worse. She pulled in a deep breath.

‘Or… You let me get on with my life. There are other sorcerers out there. I know of one in America who probably doesn’t know what he is yet. There will be more. I want to teach them. Britain can be the greatest magical power in the world. I’ve already made overtures to the Foreign Office about opening diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm. We have things they haven’t even thought of, they have resources we could never hope to find on Earth. We’re negotiating with the Fae to construct a pair of open markets around gates between the worlds. Imagine being able to trade, freely and safely, with demons, maybe with demons and Fae. It’ll be difficult at first, but the benefits if we can make it work…’

‘You can’t seriously be considering this, Anthony,’ the man with the cane said, his voice low but firm. ‘We have her here, in a room where magic cannot be worked. She’s powerless and she’s admitted to being something evil. She’s threatened to take over the world!’

One of the other people, the lone woman, spoke up. ‘It sounded to me as though she were offering considerable social, economic, and scientific benefits if we simply let her get on with doing what would greatly benefit us, Mister Meadows. It would appear to be in our best interests to avoid pushing her into a situation where she succumbs to the temptation of power.’ There was a bitter edge to her voice which suggested she knew or suspected that Meadows had already succumbed.

‘And I said there were two people here who could work magic, Mister Meadows,’ Ceri stated. ‘Forgive me an academic conceit, but I hate poor background research. How do you think I got out of Black Fields? And back in again to rescue their President? You think I seduced a battalion of troops? Sorcerers catalyse T-Null decay. You need an external source of energy, like that cane you’re holding. I don’t. If you actually use whatever that spell is you’re building, I’ll block it and someone will probably shoot you.’

Sachs was on his feet, a pistol levelled at Meadows. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’d actually take a fair degree of pleasure in killing the Grand Master of the Order of Merlin.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted. ‘Carter said they’d pulled out all the stops. Look, I’m not going to interfere with your stupidity. I’ve told the demons I won’t interfere in their daily business. Personally I think the Lord you’re pacted to doesn’t know what you’re up to, because he knows what I’d do if you fail. I’m not going to stop him pulling your soul out to prove his loyalty to his Overlord either. If you wish, you can try explaining that Ayasha isn’t vindictive, but he probably is so I would get my affairs in order.’

Lorian got to his feet. ‘I need to talk to the Cabinet,’ he said, apparently deciding that he needed to take charge of the meeting again. ‘Mister Sachs, you seem to have a better handle on some of this than my advisors. See to it that Doctor Brent is returned home. Doctor Brent, I would appreciate it if you would stay there for the time being.’

‘Of course,’ Ceri replied.

The Minister nodded. ‘Oh, and I want these widder-damned, pacted idiots in custody at Greycoat Street before sundown. The police can verify their status and deal with them accordingly.’

Meadows surged to his feet and there was an audible click as Sachs pulled back the hammer on his automatic.

‘Just give me a reason,’ Sachs requested. Lorian did not even stop to watch.

Ceri got up from her seat and walked around the table. The two people she moved between to lean over where she could examine the goblet flinched away from her, but she ignored them.

‘Could you make sure this gets to the university?’ she said, her voice soft. ‘The boundary effects between a null-magic zone and normal space are… fascinating. Doctor Tennant could do really amazing things with a portable hole in the Super-magic Field.’

‘It’s ours,’ Meadows growled at her.

‘Not any more it isn’t,’ Sachs replied. He sounded just a little too happy to be saying it.

Kennington, May 3rd.

‘I hope you’re here to talk to Ceri Brent,’ Ceri said, ‘because if you want Lady Ayasha I’ll have to send you to the study.’

Malcolm Charles, Minister for Arcane Affairs, smiled. ‘Technically, the Minister is not here,’ he said. ‘Malcolm Charles is paying an unofficial visit to an acquaintance who has just become hot political property. Ceridwyn Brent will do nicely.’

Ceri was not sure she had seen him smiling quite so genuinely… well, ever. ‘Good. Lily is in the study doing the diplomatic stuff with some Foreign Office people. I’m staying out of it because… Well, I’m the Head of State, I guess, but also because I gave her the job and it seems rude to butt in.’ She waved at the wing-backed chair opposite. ‘Have a seat.’

The slightly portly man opened his jacket and settled into the chair, relaxing and looking quite comfortable. ‘I don’t wish to disparage Miss Carpenter, but isn’t she a little inexperienced for the role?’

‘Yeah, sort of, but then I’ve not got much experience in running a world. She’s got her father and Mei in there in case she needs help, but I’m more worried she’ll end up with us owning Berkshire or something. It’s an all-male Foreign Office team.’

Charles actually laughed. ‘I see your point. They have got one of mine in there for advice on arcane matters. That may help.’

‘You’ve been brought back in on this then? I was more than a little worried when I heard you’d been sidelined again.’

‘Brought back in is something of an understatement.’ He was beaming now. ‘The Cabinet hasn’t a clue what to do with this. The Home Office has been badly embarrassed. Again. The PM instructed me to take the lead on the magical side with the FO handling the diplomatic aspects.’ His smile faded a little. ‘Frankly it’s a bit of a mess. We were not prepared for this and I’m running my staff ragged to catch up on all the implications. Avery has been very helpful and Chief Inspector Barry in the Greycoats has been providing us with all the intelligence he can. I’m glad you thought to tell them what was going on. They’ve both made every preparation they could for this coming out. I take it you’ve known it would for some time?’

‘When I realised how much effort it was going to take to run the Demon Realm, how many people knew about Lady Ayasha, I knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later. I’d have come to you, but…’

‘It would have put me in a very difficult position,’ Charles said, nodding. ‘I’m glad you didn’t.’

There was a rattle from the lounge door and they both looked around to see Petra, Charles’ daughter, walking in with a fairy on each shoulder and a tray with mugs on it in her hands.

‘Ah yes,’ Charles said. ‘Since this isn’t an official visit, Petra decided to tag along and your fairy friends decided to co-opt her to help with drinks.’

The young blonde was looking a little wild-eyed and more nervous than Ceri would have expected. She relaxed a little as Twill and Ishifa took off, one to get a chair for their guest and the other to get a table for the coffee mugs.

‘Hey, Petra,’ Ceri said. ‘I haven’t seen you since the Chinese Embassy ball.’

‘I know, and now you’re… well, really famous.’

‘I’m still just me. I haven’t changed… No, that’s bollocks. I have changed, but inside these walls I’m just me.’

‘You are,’ Twill said as she spirited a mug toward Charles, ‘more confident in yourself, which you have a right to be, and more assertive. You take charge more readily, especially when no one else seems to be doing it.’

‘Well that just makes me sound pushy.’

‘You are, dear, but that’s not always a bad thing.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted, and picked up her coffee. ‘Well, if this is a social visit, how are you two doing? I haven’t seen Petra in the Tir recently so you can’t have annoyed her much.’

‘Dad’s been stressed enough without me adding to it,’ Petra replied. ‘God, that sounded really responsible.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Charles told her, ‘things are looking very much up. I’m sure you’ll be able to go back to sleeping with the wrong people soon. Yes, it’s early days, but I think we’re looking at something of a new dawn. Prosperity and happiness all around, so to speak. Now I sound like a politician. I was trying not to do that. How are you coping with all this, Doctor Brent?’

‘Ceri,’ Ceri said. ‘Didn’t we get over that already? I’m… feeling really good about things myself. The demons haven’t proven as bad as I thought they might be. It looks like the Government is taking this seriously. A lot depends upon what’s going on in the next room, but…’ She turned her head to look at the doorway just as Lily strutted in looking rather proud of herself.

‘Oh… my… God,’ Petra said when she looked around.

‘You met them in that?!’ Charles asked. His face was doing contortions while it tried to look shocked and extremely amused at the same time.

Lily came to a stop, raising her arms from her sides. ‘I was being the Demon Realm Ambassador, which makes me Lilith at the moment, and this is my official costume as the Lorrshini Dakisho ey Shivika Ayasha.’

Petra and her father just stared. Lily was practically naked, but not quite. There was a skirt, of sorts: a silvery silken waistband, adorned with silver scrollwork and a golden flower at the centre point, hanging on her hips to support two strips of translucent silk at front and back. She was in thigh-high, high-heeled boots of silver leather; the heels pushed her a little closer to Ceri’s height, which Ceri had wanted. And the rest of the outfit was jewelled metal. Her arms were adorned with curling strips of demon silver, separate ornaments around the biceps and forearms, and her expansive bust was held in place by a bra of similar silver bands. All of them had deep red gem stones from the eastern Khedra Range set into the metal at various points. Around her throat was a silver chain, one simple item to suggest her theoretical slavery to the Overlord.

‘Uh… what does the title mean?’ Charles asked, rallying faster than his daughter.

‘It’s roughly “Chief Concubine of Mistress Ayasha,”’ Ceri said, giving Lily an evil look. ‘There’s a whole slew of legends circulating over there about Ayasha and her succubus pet, Lilith, and we’ve found it’s best to keep up appearances.’

‘So you’ve got an outfit like that?’ Petra asked.

‘I’ve got something a little more…’

‘Sexy?’ Lily suggested.

‘Suitable for the Demon Overlord,’ Faran corrected as he followed his daughter into the room. ‘I’m sorry, Ceridwyn, I didn’t realise you had guests.’ Mei was slipping in after him, barely noticed by anyone until she wished to be.

‘I think they’ll be interested,’ Ceri replied. ‘Petra’s almost drooling. Faran, this is Malcolm Charles…’

‘I recognise him from the television,’ Faran said, nodding.

‘Malcolm, this is Faran, Lily’s father.’

‘So you’re…’ Charles began.

‘A Lorril,’ Faran finished for him. ‘An incubus to most humans. I’m also Lady Ayasha’s political advisor so it was appropriate that I attend the meeting. I have to say, I was largely unnecessary.’

‘It went well?’ the Minister asked.

‘There are details to be worked out,’ Mei said. She had worked her way around them to stand beside the fireplace and Charles gave a start at her words. ‘There are also some unknowns. However, in principle, no one can see any difficulty with opening normal diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm, and there are obvious benefits for both sides.’

The Minister smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ he said before turning to Ceri. ‘I think you can expect someone here later today to officially tell you that your “house arrest” is over.’

‘The Home Office isn’t going to argue with that?’ Ceri asked.

‘Let’s just say that your version of the truth appears to have more validity than the reports they’ve been listening to,’ Charles told her, a little cryptically, but he was still smiling, very broadly.

~~~

They were up on the roof when the Greycoats arrived. Lily had said something about being cooped up in the dark for too long, which meant there was no arguing with her. It was a bright day, warm and sunny. There were still a horde of press people outside the fence, but when Lily wanted sunlight on her skin it took a braver person than Ceri to deny her. Even Twill decided it was best to just let it happen.

‘You don’t think this might be a little unwise?’ Barry asked, though Ceri got the distinct feeling that he was more concerned at having to do something official when his subjects were both naked.

‘No one can see us up here,’ Lily replied, her eyes still closed. ‘Well, if they use a very long lens from the tower blocks, but if they want grainy pictures of us in the nude to print then best of luck to them. And I just entertained a Foreign Office Junior Minister dressed in not much more. He coped. More or less.’

‘After all that surveillance, I tweaked the wards to stop sound travelling over the side,’ Ceri added. ‘Up here is almost as private as downstairs, and if you think you’re getting Lily out of the first sun she’s had this year I suggest you make sure your will is up to date.’

‘Too right,’ Lily muttered.

Barry gave a grunt. His detectives seemed rather more sanguine about it, but then Kate and John had been up there before. They had settled onto the third lounger while Barry paced. Ceri had viewed that as a good sign.

‘Very well,’ Barry said. ‘I think the Arcane Minister alluded to this already, but you’re free to move.’ He settled down on the third lounger beside Kate and unbuttoned his jacket. ‘I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do without a pack of rabid reporters hounding you, but you’re allowed to do it. We’ve examined the men Sachs brought in, all except one. They were, as you said, pacted and Sachs provided evidence linking them to a club in Mayfair which we sent a team into early this morning. I’m not sure you want to know what we found there…’

‘Dungeons, complete with chains,’ Ceri said. ‘Staff under enslavement spells. Maybe a few demons. We’ve been there. Matthew Barnes was a member, so was Desmond Wren, and that man, Tanner, who you fished out of a lake with his heart torn out. Lily was taken there to be brainwashed.’

‘Gashikagig,’ Lily muttered.

‘So this “Order of Merlin” is known to you?’ Barry asked.

‘We had an arrangement: they leave me alone, I leave them alone. They broke it, but I’m still not interested in doing anything drastic about it.’

‘I’m glad to hear you say that because their leader, David Alan Meadows, was found dead in his cell this morning before we could get around to checking him for a pact.’

Ceri sat up, frowning. Even Lily opened her eyes.

‘No marks,’ Barry went on. ‘No indication of what killed him. It’s being put down to heart failure…’

‘But?’ Ceri asked; she could hear the hanging ‘but.’

‘The look on his face,’ Kate said. ‘He looked like he was scared to death.’

‘I’ll make some enquiries,’ Ceri said, lying back on her lounger. ‘He had the worst pact I’ve seen other than Barnes. I told him his demon might be less than pleased that he was trying to usurp the Overlord. I suspect he had his debt called in.’

‘They can do that?’ John asked. ‘I thought you had to die before they could get you.’

‘It’s not easy, but I’d imagine the demon concerned was imagining what I might do to him when I found out who his master was. I did take the most powerful Lord in the Realm, turn him into a runt and teleport him into an icy wasteland.’

‘If he’s over there,’ Barry began and then stopped. ‘Uh… I’m not exactly sure what we can do about that.’

‘We haven’t ratified an extradition treaty yet,’ Lily commented. ‘You can bet the punishment he’s getting is worse than anything he could have done to him here.’

Ceri sighed. ‘Extradition… We might actually have to consider what we’re going to do about that.’

‘And immigration,’ Lily said. ‘Donald said there are some people who might want to go live over there, if we would allow it. And there are going to be demons who would like to move here. I mean, Dad did.’

‘But they can’t stay,’ John said. ‘They snap back after a few days. That’s why Faran has you.’

‘That’s a function of the summoning spells,’ Kate told him. ‘Or it’s believed to be.’

Ceri nodded. ‘It’s something to test, actually, but if they come through a portal they should be more firmly anchored here. They could still be forced back, banished, but the pull should be less significant under normal circumstances. So it’s a possibility. We’re going to need some English teachers. Oh this is going to get complicated. How did I get into this mess?’

‘You put on…’ Lily began.

‘Yeah, yeah. Remind me to just let myself be turned into a mindless sex slave next time.’

Holloway.

Ceri appeared in the middle of the containment circle in the lab and looked around, grinning. Not having to pretend she was anything more than a capable magician had some very significant advantages, including not worrying about anyone seeing her use the teleport spell, but she did not want anyone dying of shock when she appeared.

There was no one there; Cheryl, Gwyn, and Faran were all in Cheryl’s office, hard at work it seemed.

‘They let you out then?’ Faran said as Ceri walked into the room.

‘Uh-huh. The Chief came around to tell us. Lily and I are going to work later, and I came over here to get caught up.’

‘Well,’ Cheryl said, ‘things are going pretty well, but I have these two to thank for that. They’re keeping things organised and people happy.’

‘At your direction, Cheryl,’ Gwyn said. ‘We wouldn’t know who to talk to if it wasn’t for you. Don’t sell yourself short. It’s unbecoming in an intelligent woman.’

‘Pay heed to the lady’s words, Doctor Tennant,’ Faran told her. ‘They are wise.’

‘I thought we’d gone past “Doctor Tennant” when you had me over the desk,’ Cheryl stated wryly.

‘Formality seemed appropriate for the sentiment.’ He was grinning wide enough to show fangs.

‘Before this gets any worse,’ Ceri said, ‘I need to set up a meeting with the Dean. I want to start teaching classes in sorcery. Gwyn, I’ll need you and Ed to help formulate the curriculum.’

‘That can be arranged,’ Gwyn said, nodding. ‘We can go over it while he’s here for the conference.’

Faran was dialling an internal number on the phone. ‘I’ll organise something with the Dean’s office. I think he’ll consider this urgent.’

Ceri nodded. ‘Have we had confirmation of who’s coming over from America?’

Cheryl turned to her computer. ‘I think so… Yes, we’ve got the list.’

‘Is there a Billie Farmer on it?’

‘Um… Yes, she’s there. She’s part of the team presenting their work on the collider.’

‘Okay, what about Martin Whitaker?’

‘Whitaker… no.’

‘Okay, I need to set up a call with Barclay Macbay. We want Martin over here for the conference. He’ll be a student by now, but he’s a sorcerer. We want him here.’

‘That is going to take more doing,’ Cheryl said.

‘Yeah. I’m aware of that. Last thing: can you come over to High Towers on Sunday? Bring the full analysis kit. I’m going to bring Hiffy over to this side to make sure it’s actually possible for det to do it.’

‘She’s going to be lost, the poor thing,’ Cheryl replied, her face wrinkling in concern. ‘She won’t understand half of what’s going on for starters.’

‘I had an idea about that. I think I have it covered. Can you come?’

‘Of course. Try and stop me.’

Soho.

The moon was waning, which tended to cut the werewolf population, but the undead had not taken up the slack so much. Rumour was that there was still a lot of noise among the vampires after Hildegard Braun’s nature became known to more of them. No one had seen her in weeks, no one had heard from her, and there was disquiet among the ranks.

On the other hand, there were more Fae in than ever. Ceri’s tables were exclusively occupied by Sidhe of one faction or the other. Ophelia’s almost always were, but tonight only Lily and Sasha had humans, and they were celebrities who spent a lot of time watching Ceri as she went about her work.

And doing something as simple as waiting tables had never felt so wonderfully normal.

‘I’m still having some trouble adjusting to working with royalty,’ Sasha commented while she waited to be needed with Ceri.

Ceri glanced at her; the blonde was grinning, but there was a hint of nervousness about it. ‘In here, on duty, I’m as royal as you are. Even if half the Fae insist on calling me Lady Ayasha.’

Sasha, the only one not privy to Ceri’s secrets before they had come out, had been briefed before the club opened. She had seen High Towers on the news, of course, and heard some of the weird reports. But Ceri and Lily had featured in that kind of news before, and in a few things Sasha knew had happened, even if she did not know exactly what had happened.

‘Yeah… but…’ Sasha’s pretty face contorted as she worked out what it was she wanted to say. ‘I mean, you’ve got a palace…’

‘A castle.’

‘A castle, with servants…’

‘The castle has a staff to run it because I’m not there all the time…’ Ceri sagged a little. ‘Okay, well, yes. When I’m there they do insist on serving me, but it’s more like… like a government office. With a torture chamber, barracks, and a small army. What I’m trying to say, and doing it badly, is that I’m still the same person and I just got stuck with running the Demon Realm. It’s not like I was born…’

‘You’ve got dragons in your ancestry, Ceri,’ Sasha pointed out.

Sagging a little more, Ceri gave her friend a grimace. ‘Look… Are you and Ophelia still trying out your newfound liking for women?’

Sasha went scarlet. ‘I… Well we get together now and then.’

‘Well, get her to take you over to the castle and you can see for yourself.’

There was a squeak and Sasha’s eyes tried to pop out on stalks. ‘Really?! I could go to… Oh wow. That’d be amazing!’

‘Maybe you should start tours,’ Alec suggested from across the bar. ‘Come to the Demon Realm. See the Castle of Bones. Marvel at the slave markets of Shilfaris.’

‘Shilfaris only has one slave market,’ Ceri replied. ‘It’s in the square at Low Gate.’

‘They really have slave markets,’ Sasha asked.

‘They really do. You’d fetch a handsome price. Blue eyes are a rarity.’

‘I didn’t need to know that.’

Ceri decided that resistance was futile; she just had to say it. ‘Yeah, but if you do happen to fancy a bit of demon rough, you won’t be short of takers. That’s all I’m saying.’

Lily arrived as Sasha’s face shifted to mortified. ‘Dad always hoped I’d get Mom’s eyes,’ the half-succubus said. ‘Hers are green, not blue, but that’s pretty uncommon in demons too.’

‘But your eyes are gorgeous!’ Sasha countered. ‘They’re dark, and exotic, and…’

‘Ordinary, if you’re a demon. Very few manage anything as light as hazel. Some have red, of course, but blues and greens? Big money in the slave markets.’

Sasha grimaced. ‘Not helping,’ she sing-songed. ‘Didn’t they try to make you into a slave, Ceri?’

‘Fourth day I was there a couple of them got wind of a blue-eyed female in East Ward and gave it a try.’

‘What happened?’

‘I left the corpses in the street,’ Ceri replied, and then pushed away from the bar to head for table eleven.

Kennington, May 5th.

Hiffy looked incredibly nervous as she stepped through the portal into the hall at High Towers. She was dressed in one of her more formal outfits: the bodice was not as low cut as she often wore, there were sleeves, and a long skirt. The skirt was shifting about as her tail twitched beneath it.

As she had been instructed, she stood perfectly still when she was through while Ceri held the portal open, both Cheryl and Carter peered at thaumometers, and Gwyn and Mei checked her over with their Sight.

‘Everything looks normal,’ Cheryl said after a few seconds. ‘No unusual readings.’

‘We concur,’ Gwyn added. ‘Her body does not seem to be reacting negatively to the reduced magical field.’

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, and collapsed the portal.

There was more peering at instruments and Hiffy, and Ceri joined in this time. As far as she could see, the det’s medians were holding steady. There was no sign of anything odd in the flow of energy around her body. She looked like a human, or a blue human with a tail anyway, though the balance between her chakral and tantric medians was different.

‘All right,’ Ceri said. ‘I think we’re safe for now. We’ll watch you for a couple of hours to make sure, but it looks like there’s not going to be a problem.’

Hiffy gave a nod and then looked around as Twill buzzed in from the kitchen, flew around her once and then came to a stop a few inches from her face. Then Hiffy took a deep breath, bobbed a curtsey, and began to speak.

‘Mistress Twill… Good morning… I hope that I do not intrude upon your… territory.’

Ceri had taught her the little speech when she had cast the spell which let Hiffy speak English. When Ceri had danced with Huanglong, he had used a spell to gift her his skill. Now she had used a variant of it to let Hiffy use her command of English. The det was taking a little time to get used to the new language, and it would leave her when the spell expired, but it seemed to be working.

Twill was looking suitably surprised at the show of deference. ‘Well… any friend of Ceri’s is a friend of mine.’

‘Thank you, but Lady Ayasha is…’ The det’s eyes widened suddenly and she looked around at Ceri. ‘I can’t feel… I mean it’s like when we first met. Before the Crown.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri said, lifting her crown from her head with some relief. ‘It only works like that in the Realm. Here…’ She frowned. ‘I think it makes it a little easier to control demons, but it doesn’t have anything like the power it has over there. So I’m Ceri, or Ayasha if you must, and we’re friends, just like back in Shilfaris.’

Hiffy beamed at her. ‘Oh… I think I’m going to enjoy being here,’ she said.

~~~

Hiffy had taken to the concept of sunbathing quite happily. She lay in the sun, her eyes closed, her tail waving lazily in the still air, while Cheryl ran a trio of scanning thaumometers in a circle around her. Cheryl’s professionalism had not lasted in the face of Hiffy, Lily, and Ceri stripping off to enjoy the sun, though she had just stripped down to her knickers.

Lily had, of course, suggested they go up to the roof. Carter had stated that it was too hot and he would just be in the way, and even the thought of four naked women had not been enough to get him up the ladder. He was downstairs in the study, chatting with Gwyn. Lily had, rightly, pointed out that the light in the Demon Realm was significantly different from Earth. Hiffy should be observed under direct sunlight to ensure that it did not cause damage. Faran had opened his mouth to state the obvious and then closed it when his daughter had glared at him.

‘So, that big light?’ Hiffy said, sounding a little drowsy. ‘That is the “sun?” How does it glow like that? It’s so hot!’

‘Well,’ Cheryl said, ‘we don’t really know for certain. All the evidence is that it uses something called nuclear fusion. Research into that kind of thing is all pure theory, however. Mention “nuclear” to someone when you’re asking for a budget and they stop listening.’

‘It would probably be a little cooler if you had paler skin,’ Ceri added. ‘Darker pigments tend to absorb more of the heat. We better check you aren’t burning. That thing is… Well, the distance wouldn’t mean anything to you, but it’s very, very far away, and it still heats us up like that. All the life on the planet is basically driven by that big ball of gas. Sometime I’m going to have to work out where your world gets light from.’

‘Well,’ Ishifa said, sounding a little wary, ‘there’s the story of the Devim Who Flew Too High, but that’s more of a child’s tale.’

‘Tef and the Great Black Horg turned out to have a bit of truth to it,’ Lily commented.

‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri agreed. ‘What happened to the Devim?’

‘Well…’ Hiffy said. ‘Um… Back when Gorefguhadget was Lord of All Demons there lived a Devim who was more than safely curious. Everyone knows that curiosity is for the rich, the great, and the foolish, and the Devim was certainly not rich or great, but he did like asking a lot of questions.’

‘This is meant to teach children not to ask questions, isn’t it?’ Ceri said.

‘Of course it is,’ Lily replied. ‘Hush and let her tell the story.’

‘Sorry, Hiffy. Please go on.’ Hiffy was looking between Ceri and Lily as though she was expecting lightning bolts to be thrown around. ‘No crown, remember?’ Ceri explained. ‘You could insult me all you like here. Obviously, I’d have to have your entrails hauled out on hooks when I got you back to the castle…’

Giving a rather timid grin, Hiffy went on with her story. ‘Uh… oh yes… The Devim would ask why the sky was red, or why the night was dark. He would wonder about magic and he would think, as deeply as any Devim could, about even the most mundane of things. He would ask his questions of det, he would ask his friends, and he would ask his betters. And then, one day, a question came to him which no one knew the answer to: where does the light in the sky come from?’

‘This is sounding kind of positive,’ Ceri commented.

‘Even money says it doesn’t have a happy ending,’ Cheryl murmured, still watching the thaumometer displays.

Hiffy glanced between them before continuing. ‘Getting no answer to his question, and consumed with his greed to find the answer, the Devim eventually made the long journey to the Castle of Bones where Great Gorefguhadget sat upon his dark throne. Abasing himself before the Lord of All Demons, he said, “Great and wise Gorefguhadget, you are the most clever and knowledgeable of all. I beg you to answer a question which has been searing my very soul. Where does the light in the sky come from?” The great Overlord looked down from his throne and smiled. All in his court expected him to strike down the impertinent Devim, but he did not. Instead he said, “Simple Devim, you ask a most interesting question. It is a question I have asked myself and I do know the answer, but knowledge is something we must strive to gain for ourselves. If you wish to know the answer, you must go to the sky and see for yourself where the light comes from.”’

‘Now that sounds just like a dragon,’ Ceri said triumphantly.

‘Stop interrupting,’ Lily said, and there was a grin in her voice.

‘Sorry,’ Ceri replied. ‘Sorry, Hiffy. Keep going.’

This time Hiffy was grinning as she started up again. ‘So the Devim decided he would do just that. Despite everyone telling him that it was impossible, he determined that he would do just as Gorefguhadget had said. He packed a little sack with water, bread, and cheese. He put in a warm coat in case it was cold, and a fan in case it was hot, and then he took off from the highest place he could find and started climbing upward. He flew and he flew. He climbed and he climbed. The air grew thinner, but he pushed ever onward, up into the sky. But no matter how high he got, the light was just light, and there was no sign of the thing which made it. And then, just when he thought his task was hopeless and he could go no further, the sky began to sparkle and he thought that he saw something above. He thought, perhaps, that it was a face. It seemed round and huge, like the face of some vast demon hidden behind a sparkling curtain. Thinking he would soon see what only the Great Overlord had seen, he climbed higher, into the sparkling curtain.’

There was a slight pause as Hiffy caught her breath. Ceri suspected it was for dramatic effect. ‘But there are some things which even the most curious of Devim are not meant to know, and as the curtain neared he felt the sting of a thousand tiny needles biting into his skin. For the curtain was made of the frozen tears of the Light, and they were as sharp as any blade ever forged. Before he could turn back, his wings were cut to ribbons and he fell. He fell and he fell, and there seemed no end to his falling. And the unforgiving rock of Mount Khed was waiting to welcome him below. And in his heart the Devim was sad, for he had glimpsed the Face of the Light, but he would never know what it was.’

Hiffy stopped and looked at Ceri. ‘And then there are two endings,’ she said. ‘The one you hear most has him crashing into the mountain, but Inak says the other one is older.’

‘What’s the older one?’

‘It goes, um… But before the Devim could fall to his death on the black mountain, Lenadenora, the glorious and beautiful wife of the Overlord, appeared and caught him, and took him back to the Castle of Bones. She had him healed of his wounds, though his wings were ever after torn, and she said to him, “Some things, little Devim, lie beneath shrouds we lift at great peril. Be happy with what you know and let the universe have its secrets.” And the Devim thanked the great Lady, and he went home, and never again did he ask a question of anyone.’

‘Wow,’ Lily said, ‘Gorefguhadget and Lenadenora in one story. Dad told me a couple with him in, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard one with her as a character.’

‘There are very few,’ Hiffy replied. ‘And a lot of them have changed a little over time and she stopped being mentioned. She’s always portrayed in a softer light to her mate. I think that’s why she’s been dropped over time.’

‘I’m going to have to get Ruffa or Faran to tell me them,’ Ceri said. ‘I wouldn’t mind hearing more about them. So… if there’s any truth to that story, there’s a star up there, but there’s also some sort of cloud of crystals in the upper atmosphere.’

‘Refracting and diffusing the light,’ Cheryl put in. ‘Possibly the magic field helps it stay up, but the question would then be: where did the crystals come from? You know, we could have scientists from all sorts of disciplines begging to study the world over there.’

‘One step at a time. We still need to get some sort of diplomatic structure set up before we can start studying the place. Anything unusual from the scanners?’

‘No. Hiffy appears to be perfectly happy on a metaphysical level. I’ve just never had the chance to get a demon in a position where I could use a rig like this. It’s fascinating. I’m actually seeing minor T-Null decay going on.’

Ceri grinned. ‘Maybe we can make it more interesting. Lil, this is your experimental idea. Why don’t you put some sun oil on Hiffy? I’m worried she might burn.’

Lily was wearing a mischievous grin as she rose from her lounger. ‘In the interests of science?’ she asked.

‘Oh yes,’ Ceri agreed. ‘Pure scientific enquiry.’

Hiffy looked nervous.

May 6th.

Donald Colbert was a slight man who tended to look a little like a rabbit caught in a confined space with a fox. He wore glasses, except when he was talking to Lily. At first Ceri had thought this was because the heavy, black frames made him look a bit nerdy and he did look better without them, so he was taking them off to impress the half-succubus. It took a few minutes to realise that it was actually because he became even more nervous when he could actually see who he was talking to.

‘We ran an experiment yesterday,’ Lily was explaining, ‘and det, lesser demons, can survive in this world without difficulty. There’s the language barrier, obviously, but we can set up schools to teach English, or humans wishing to do business can learn Devotik. It’s not a hard language to learn.’

‘It’s pretty simplistic, actually,’ Ceri put in. ‘You need to get used to the sentence structure, and there’s plenty of vocabulary. Not as much as English; they tend to reuse words a fair bit so you have to go by context.’

Colbert blinked at her. Ceri was there as ‘scientific advisor,’ not as the Overlord. In truth, having got the basics out of the way, she was finding it hard not to get involved. Unfortunately, having what his briefing notes described as ‘probably the most powerful magician on the planet’ in his meeting was just making Colbert more nervous.

‘There, err, aren’t any demons here today, are there?’ he asked.

‘Well,’ Lily replied, ‘my father is a Lorril. I thought you knew that.’

Colbert looked over at the smiling man seated on the other side of Lily. ‘Oh, uh, yes. I meant… uh… dangerous ones?’

‘Lorril are quite powerful demons, young man,’ Faran told him, ‘however, we are less inclined to rip out people’s throats. The det Lilith made reference to are generally not quite so power-hungry as the higher demons. Frankly, humans are probably more dangerous to them than they would be to you.’

‘The Realm’s technology is basically Dark Age level,’ Ceri said. ‘They have magic, but det are no more magically talented than a normal human so they can’t work it here. We, on the other hand, have more sophisticated technology which they simply won’t understand. We have guns.’

‘We should add technology control to the list of things to discuss,’ Lily said. ‘If some Lord gets his people armed with machine guns…’ Ceri grimaced at the thought.

Colbert’s mind was on other things. ‘The, uh, det you brought over to check, they didn’t leave the house did they?’

‘She was on the roof for a while,’ Lily replied, ‘but we weren’t going to risk the press seeing her.’

The Junior Minister nodded. ‘Good. If everything works out the way we expect, it seems logical to consider this place as the Consulate for the Realm. Basically that means she didn’t leave the Realm when she came here.’ He gave Ceri a small, slightly timid, smile. ‘I understand there are tax advantages. Aside from anything else, they won’t ask you to declare your income from, uh… your other job.’

‘Useful,’ Ceri replied wryly. ‘I need that money to run things over there, not to pay tax over here. You know, you’re talking like this is all a foregone conclusion…’

Colbert said nothing for a second and then turned to the woman sitting behind him with a laptop. ‘May, if you would stop taking minutes for a moment.’

‘Of course, sir,’ May replied, and pointedly closed her laptop. ‘Consider my fingers to be in my ears,’ she added, her lips curling slightly. A civil servant with a sense of humour, who knew?

‘We’re under some pressure to make this work,’ Colbert said, lowering his voice as though he might be heard outside somehow. ‘We know that Otherworld is ahead of us on negotiations to start trade with the Realm, and we’ve had a number of departments, ministries, and other agencies coming to us with ideas which could be extremely fruitful or just useful.’ He gave them a wide-eyed, amazed look. ‘Someone at the BBC has put together a budget proposal for doing an “Overseas” broadcast service there.’

‘They don’t have radios,’ Ceri pointed out.

‘The proposal includes costs for manufacturing and distributing low-power radios using the transducer technology you and Doctor Tennant invented.’

Ceri opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again to say, ‘Cheryl invented the transducer, I just helped with the testing and designed the Battersea generator. Smaller assemblies could power small electrical devices in the field over there. That’s damn clever. Could you ask whoever came up with that to drop by the LMU some time?’

‘I’ll have the message passed along. The point is… Well, the more the Cabinet considers this, the more they see advantages in it. There are worries, obviously, but the fact that the Overlord of All Demons is a human suggests that we can likely avoid a full-scale invasion as long as we don’t annoy you. The Fae, on the other hand, could be an issue. They’re independent, and if they have access to the magical wealth of the Realm on top of their own power… We could end up like Ireland.’

Ceri thought that a little unlikely, but a little pressure to move things along could not hurt. She turned to Lily, pulling herself up straight. ‘Lilith?’ she said, putting some firm authority in her voice.

‘Yes, Shivika Ayasha?’ Lily replied, picking up on the shift in position.

‘We are inclined to accelerate negotiations. Perhaps the humans would like to push forward an announcement of the diplomatic overtures, declare the creation of a Consulate, and iron out the details of trade agreements and the like following that. It would allow their commercial agents to be involved in the treaties prior to signing, and permit demons to become involved directly.’

Lily nodded, grinning. ‘The Overlord is most wise,’ she said. ‘I will pass this proposal to the human representative so that he can discuss it with his superiors.’

Colbert almost laughed. Instead he turned to May. ‘Did you get all that, or does Lily actually have to say it all again for you to minute?’

May opened her laptop. ‘I think I can doctor the minutes appropriately. I’ll make you both sound good, don’t worry.’

‘She’s good,’ Ceri commented as May began typing. ‘You don’t want a job “overseas,” do you, May?’

‘Please, Doctor Brent,’ Colbert said wearily, ‘don’t poach my staff with offers of work in another dimension.’

Holloway.

‘You think they’ll agree?’ Cheryl asked, sounding a little eager. ‘I mean, if they do we can go ahead with the Australian project far more easily. The American one would be simpler if we could get demons to place the pylons at Trinity. We could maybe even invite Aktik and Brebbam over to the Thaumatology Conference this year!’

‘Slow down, boss,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘Yes, I think they’ll go for it, but you may be going a little fast.’

‘Why?’ Cheryl replied. ‘The engineering projects are crying out for people able to handle large amounts of thaumic energy, and demons are as immune to Wild Magic as you are. Inviting some of the theorists over would demonstrate that sharing knowledge can have advantages. You told them that they should let people study magic. Now it’s time to demonstrate why.’

Ceri frowned. It made sense, of course. It was just that… ‘It’s all going too fast.’

‘I suppose it is, in a way. You’ve got good people to help you, though. You don’t have to do everything yourself. I know you feel some responsibility for the demons, having put on the crown, but no one rules even a country alone. You’re dealing with a whole world. You’re allowed to have assistance.’

‘Lily does say I’m a bit of a control freak.’

‘And she’s right, but you’re also intelligent enough to know your limitations. When we’ve got the conference sorted, I’m sure Gwyn would help…’

Gwyn had been keeping quiet at a computer perched on the corner of Cheryl’s desk. She looked up at the sound of her name, however. ‘I might be willing to accept an advisory role,’ she said.

‘I was thinking you could just run things and I could take the credit,’ Ceri suggested.

‘No you weren’t, dear,’ Gwyn replied blandly. ‘You are too much of a control freak for that. I’d say you got it from me, but I think tens of thousands of years of separation have likely diluted my effect on your personality. You’ll have to blame your parents.’

‘My Dad,’ Ceri stated. ‘This is a man who made his daughter practically invisible to boys to save her virtue.’

‘Perhaps a little extreme, I agree, but you know what boys are like: only after one thing.’

‘Yes,’ Cheryl agreed. ‘Thankfully they never grow out of it.’

Soho, May 8th.

Wednesday was a pack night, but under the circumstances, which were ‘rushed,’ Michael had agreed to let that slide and go to the Tir inna Nok with Ceri. He had not seemed particularly unhappy about it, actually, possibly because he was a man, and he had not grown out of appreciating attractive women strutting around in barely any clothing.

Ceri was sitting at the end of the bar away from the fairy tables, dressed in one of her skimpier teddies and a skirt which barely covered her behind; well Michael had agreed to come out with her and she felt obliged to dress appropriately. She was actually there, however, to talk to Carter.

‘You’ve got people you use to handle the press, right?’ she asked.

‘Several,’ Carter replied. ‘There is an advertising company which handles the media for publicity on my clubs, and I have a small PR firm which handles my personal image. Are you thinking that you need something like that?’

‘Well… Ayasha probably does. This whole “Demon Overlord” thing is going to take some image management. The more immediate issue, however, is that the Foreign Office has agreed to push ahead with the diplomatic relations thing. On Friday they’re going to issue a press statement and they want me to hold a press conference in the new Demon Realm Consulate.’

‘You have a consulate?’

‘Yeah, you’ve been there. I call it “home.”’

‘Ah,’ Carter said, frowning. ‘I suppose that does make sense given that it’s secure and you have the only portal. It would seem to present some issues…’

‘Uh-huh. They’re currently talking to the Home Office about whether the Diplomatic Protection Group or the Greycoats should handle external security. I’m going to have uniformed officers outside my house full time!’

‘That’s going to make your birthday parties a little strange.’

Ceri gave him a grimace. ‘Luckily, that’s the one time of the year when they’ll probably not be there.’

‘Yes, but we may have to bring our passports.’ He gave her a grin. ‘I’m sure it won’t be too horrible. You need some help in arranging the press conference, I take it?’

‘Uh-huh. It needs to go well. I need to make sure I’m not saying anything stupid or coming across as… Well, as the Overlord of All Demons.’

‘I’ll talk to Philip and Jan. It’s short notice, but I think they’ll jump at something like this. Publicity agents need publicity as well.’

‘Thanks,’ Ceri replied, really meaning it.

‘My pleasure, Ceridwyn. I’m happy to help where I can.’

‘Cheryl talked to you about my tendency to take everything on myself, didn’t she?’

‘She may have mentioned it in passing. Now, go sit with your mate before he gets picked up by that rather buxom blonde.’

‘Oh, Michael’s a one-bitch wolf,’ Ceri said, but she put on her best strut as she walked back to the other end of the bar where Michael was sitting, just in case.

Kennington, May 9th.

January Shaft was a petite, slim woman with a cap of dark brown hair, who somehow managed to have far more presence than her size and looks suggested she should have. Ceri watched her as much as listening, trying to determine how she was doing it without magic.

There were the eyes. She had bright, blue eyes which she emphasised with just enough make-up to highlight them. She was, Ceri suspected, a master of the carefully applied cosmetic. Her lips were reddened just enough that they seemed natural while standing out. Her posture was up to the standard of Mei and Gwyn. Her back was held straight, her chest a little forward. She was not over-endowed, but she knew how to use what she had. When she stood still, one leg was always a little forward of the other. When she sat she crossed her legs. She had good legs and Ceri imagined that she never went out in public without a skirt. Her clothes fitted perfectly, and were stylish and business-like.

She regarded Ceri and Lily carefully once the situation had been explained to her, her lips pursed thoughtfully.

‘All right, let me get this out of the way before we start,’ she said. ‘I realise you’re using my husband and I because you know Carter and could get his recommendation, but it really is quite the honour to be let in on this and asked to help. Obviously we’ll be getting publicity for ourselves out of it, but we wanted to thank you for the work.’

‘Uh… thank you for agreeing to do it,’ Ceri replied. ‘I really need the help. I do have a budget as well, if you don’t mind being paid in demon gold.’

January’s eyebrows went up, but she waved the comment away. ‘If we’re going to be doing more work for you, then we’ll arrange something. For Friday we’re doing it pro bono. As I said, we’ll get the prestige of handling it. Just out of interest, what’s the difference between gold and demon gold?’

Ceri smiled. ‘I looked this up. Crown gold is twenty-two carat, about ninety-two per cent pure. Demon gold is only ninety per cent, but there’s more silver in it than in crown gold. Technically it’s a form of electrum. Should still fetch a fair price.’

‘Interesting. Now, first things first, stop hesitating. You’re an intelligent, powerful woman, and believe me when I say we could do with more of those around. Act like it.’

‘Well…’ Ceri began, and January’s eyes narrowed. Ceri pulled herself up straighter. ‘I don’t want to come over as some kind of super-powered, demonic empress. I need to work in this world as well as the other one.’

‘Agreed, but tomorrow you’re representing your Realm. You need to put on a big show for the announcement. We can arrange some more personal interviews after. You know Karen Mitchem, don’t you?’

‘She’s interviewed me a couple of times. Her boyfriend was killed in the Witch Hunter incident and we took care of her after that.’

‘Good, she can do something more personal and sympathetic. You can show you’re just like the woman people remember from that Stonehenge speech then. You’re already a celebrity, Doctor Brent, we just need to let people in on how much of a celebrity you really are.’

‘It’s Ceri,’ Ceri said almost automatically.

‘And I’m Jan,’ January replied. ‘Tomorrow, however, I’ll be calling you Lady Ayasha because I expect to see her wrapping the press around her little finger.’

Castle of Bones.

Ceri sat in her new chair in her private chambers with Naton occupying the much larger seat opposite. Aja and Pansh flanked him, though Ceri had insisted on them sitting down on a couple of padded stools which she had had brought in.

‘This is a semi-informal meeting,’ Ceri told them, ‘and I’m not that big on formalities anyway. You sit, because I’m going to ask you some personal questions. This is Ayasha talking to colleagues, not Lady Ayasha talking to subordinates. Clear?’

‘We can accept the distinction, Overlord,’ Naton stated. ‘You understand that we consider you our superior no matter what the circumstances, however.’

‘I know. This is going to be unusual, so I want your honest thoughts on the matter.’

‘Of course.’

‘Okay, as you know, I’ve been talking to the humans about diplomatic matters. I’m going to be hosting a “press conference,” and I know you don’t know what that means… Think of it as an audience for people on Earth who will spread word of what’s happening.’ She got three nods in response and went on. ‘I’ve been advised to be very… open about things. I’ll be doing my full Lady Ayasha routine with Lilith and Faran at my sides. I would like you three to come to Earth to act as my honour guard.’

Naton did not even hesitate. ‘If this is an official matter for the Overlord, we would be offended if you did not have us there,’ he said. ‘We would, of course, accept your judgement on the matter, but our entire purpose is the safety of the Overlord.’

‘I think I’ll be safe enough,’ Ceri told him, smiling. ‘The thing is… Over there this crown doesn’t affect demons the way it does here. It’s just an enchanted lump of metal. You’ll be seeing me as I am without the crown…’

‘The crown,’ Pansh said, which surprised Ceri because he rarely spoke, ‘grants you power over us, but that is not why we serve. The crown proves that you are the Overlord, the rightful heir to Gorefguhadget’s throne. With or without it, we would walk through pits of burning sulphur for you.’

Aja gave a nod, her fangs showing as she grinned. ‘My taciturn colleague has the right of it, Lady. The Dakishodet are loyal to the one who wears the crown, not to the power of the crown.’

Naton said nothing. He really did not need to say anything.

‘Okay,’ Ceri said, still a little shocked. ‘I’ll keep that in mind for other official functions, though I’m hoping not to have too many.’

‘You dislike formalities,’ Naton said. ‘As a soldier, I can understand that.’

‘One last thing then. You’re not going to understand what’s going on. I’ll be speaking English, not Devotik. There are going to be flashing lights and a lot of people shouting questions, and it’s going to seem dangerous. Unless someone comes running at me with a dagger, just assume I’m not in any danger.’

Naton smiled. ‘Aja, tell the Lady what you told me.’

‘I have an unusually precise magical sense for a det,’ Aja said, managing to look a little embarrassed, ‘and when I saw you I sensed the power in you beyond the power of the crown. I told Naton that you probably did not need our protection.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri replied. ‘Well I had a fight recently which says otherwise. Physical threats can be a problem, and there are some threats to the way I want things to go which the Left Hand are particularly suited to helping me with. You’re needed. Aside from anything else, I’m not going to pass on any help I can get. Now then, let’s talk a few details. We don’t have much time to prepare for this and we need to put on a good show.’

Kennington, May 10th.

Chairs had been set up in the hall of High Towers, but there were still several cameramen and reporters standing around the edges of the room. The Foreign Office had made an announcement that a press conference there would be followed by an official statement, and there were plenty of rumours flying around, but no one had any solid idea of what was going on. All they knew was that something big was happening and every newspaper and every radio and TV station knew that they had to be there to report on the events live.

A hush fell over the room as January walked down to the small landing at the midway point on the stairs. She paused for a second and then spoke.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, in a moment we’ll be starting this press conference. I’m January Shaft and I’m here to set a few rules because this is likely to be the most unusual press call you have ever attended. No matter what happens, please remain seated, or where you are standing. We will be taking some questions following the announcement. Further requests can be made through myself or my partner at Shaft Presentation. The Foreign Office will be issuing their own statement following ours. Any questions?’

Her gaze scanned the crowd, but no one said anything; no one had any idea what to say, but you could tell they were wondering what was going on. Nodding, January walked down the steps and moved to the left, and as she stopped beside the balustrade the lights dimmed and then went out, plunging the room into darkness.

There was a murmur of sound from the assembled reporters. It sounded a little nervous. Maybe they were not used to this kind of theatricality. The lights came up as quickly as they had dimmed and the murmuring fell away into a shocked silence.

Centre stage at the top of the stairs was Ceri. Her staff glowed blue in her hand, the crystal in its head shining brightly. She was wearing a silk tabard with chord shoulder straps, cut in the middle to well below her navel, but joined over her breasts by a metal medallion. A chord belt with similar pendant medallions fixed the skimpy dress around her hips. She wore flat, leather sandals on her feet and there were silver bands around her wrists and biceps. Her crown was just about visible beneath her hair. She stood straight and proud, but she was as nervous as Hell.

Flanking her were Lily, on the left in her Lilith outfit, and Faran, in his red robes. And flanking them were Pansh and Naton respectively, both in polished breastplates and leather kilts, long swords resting in their arms. Aja stood just to Ceri’s left, behind Ceri and Lily. She was dressed in a lot of leather straps which culminated in a loincloth-like skirt, and those straps had enough daggers mounted on them to fell an army.

Ceri waited a couple of beats for the shock to settle and then she spoke, putting all the confidence and authority she could manage into her voice.

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Press. My name is Ceridwyn Brent. I am a Doctor of Thaumatology at the London Metropolitan University. I am also a sorceress.’ The murmuring started again and she raised her voice to cut through it. ‘Sorcery is nothing to do with demons. It is a different kind of magic, using different techniques to that wielded by wizards, witches, and demons. I am not a pacted magician, I am a sorceress. There are more like me in the world and we don’t know where they are, but it’s time we found out.’

She paused to let that sink in and then went on. ‘That said, in the Demon Realm I’m known as Ayasha, Overlord of All Demons, heir to the throne of Gorefguhadget, bearer of the Iron Crown. As of today, the Government of Great Britain is opening official diplomatic negotiations with the Demon Realm, and you are now sitting in the Realm’s Consulate. Legally, you are all currently on the soil of another world, one which both I and the Government hope will have a fruitful and peaceful future with Earth.’

Another pause, and now her audience was getting restive. They wanted details. They wanted to ask questions. But she had one thing left to say before the chaos engulfed her.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new age of magic. I think it’s going to be wonderful.’

Epilogue

Kennington, London, May 25th, 2013.

‘There’s a werewolf on the path,’ Twill announced.

Ceri looked up from the equations she was studying on her tablet and frowned. ‘I wasn’t expecting Michael.’

‘I don’t believe that it is Michael. I think I know him, though.’

Still frowning, Ceri went down to the front door, opened it up, and found a tall, heavily built man in biker leathers standing on the porch looking bemused.

‘Dane! I haven’t seen you in ages.’

‘I know,’ the werewolf replied, ‘but what’s with the coppers on the gate? They won’t let us in unless we have the right paperwork or something.’

‘I’ll take care of it,’ Twill said, buzzing past them toward the gate where the rest of the North Hills pack, or a significant number of them, were waiting around looking disgruntled. The road was full of motorcycles.

‘What are you doing here?’ Ceri asked. ‘Not that I mind, but it’s a surprise.’

‘It’s Crierwy’s first birthday,’ Dane replied. ‘You still haven’t met her. I know things got a bit crazy last year, but we thought it had settled down…’

‘Yeah, well, this is now the official consulate building of the Demon Realm. Long story, I’ll tell you all about it when we’re inside. You named her Crierwy?’

‘Aleena’s idea. She liked the sound of it, and she’s a little beauty.’ His face straightened. ‘But we were hoping you and Alexandra could take a look at her. There’ve been some… odd things happening around her and… Well, she’s a perfect kid. She was a quiet baby, loved riding the bikes with us, hardly ever cried. But she hasn’t said a word, not even a mumble and… Well, like I said, odd things have been happening…’

Frowning, Ceri looked down the path to where Aleena, a child in her arms, was finally being allowed through the gate. Ceri saw the flicker of light pass through the wards as they entered, though neither Aleena nor Dane appeared to notice. She felt it as they approached, the slight tightening in the back of her skull, the feeling of power…

‘Ceri,’ the tall, beautiful Alpha female of the pack said as she stopped on the porch, ‘it’s nice to see you again. I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Crierwy.’

Ceri looked down into the dark eyes of the child. She was, indeed, a pretty kid with a thin mess of black hair. She looked very calm, and when she saw Ceri she reached out a thin arm and giggled.

‘You’d better come in,’ Ceri said urgently before backing into the house and yelling up the stairs. ‘Gwyn? Get down here, please.’

Dane and Aleena looked at each other and then followed Ceri quickly into the hall. By the time Gwyn was coming down the stairs, most of the rest of the pack were filing in. Gwyn got to the small landing and then came to a stop, her eyes widening. That was all Ceri needed to know.

‘Dane, Aleena, we know why strange things are happening around Crierwy.’

‘You’re making me nervous, Ceri,’ Dane told her.

‘Right…’ There was no easy way to say it, so she just blurted it out. ‘Your daughter has one of the dragon bloodlines in her.’ She watched the look of shock developing on the child’s parents’ faces, but she felt she had to spell it out. ‘She’s going to be a sorceress.’

###

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 science fiction when I was playing Traveller. 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 love 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

The Steel Beneath the Skin Blog: http://steelbeneaththeskin.wordpress.com

Other Books by this Author

The Thaumatology Series

Thaumatology 101

Demon’s Moon

Legacy

Dragon’s Blood

Disturbia

Hammer of Witches

Eagle’s Shadow

Ancient

Dragonfall

The Other Side of Hell

For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll

Anthologies set in the Thaumatology Universe

Tales from High Towers’ Study

Tales from the Dubh Linn

The Aneka Jansen Books

Steel Beneath The Skin

The Cold Steel Mind

Steel Heart

The Winter War

The Greatest Heights of Honour

The Ultrahumans Books

Ugly

Find all of these at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Thaumatologist