Thaumatology 05 - Disturbia Read online

  Disturbia

  The Fifth Novel in the Thaumatology Series

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2012 Niall Teasdale

  Kindle Edition

  Contents

  Part One: London City Blues

  Part Two: Blue Murder

  Part Three: The Green Hills of Home

  Part Four: The Wages of Sin

  Part Five: Underbelly

  Part Six: A Portrait of Revenge

  Part Seven: Taking Care of Business

  Part One: London City Blues

  Kennington, London, August 8th, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  ‘Oh!’ Ceri said.

  ‘It worked?!’ Lily almost squeaked.

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

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

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

  ‘I aim to please,’ he replied.

  ~~~

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

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

  ‘I, uh, see.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  ~~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  ‘That sounds… oh… great.’

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

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

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

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

  Ceri was too busy panting to answer.

  Westminster, August 9th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  ‘Lorna Radcliffe?’ Broadstreet asked.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ the girls chorused.

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