Thaumatology 06 - Hammer of Witches Page 16

  ‘Then, if you’ll pardon my continued inquisitiveness, why did you spank her with a paddle?’

  Lily was walking back to the bar now, smiling happily, hips swaying as usual. Ceri looked at Carter and then at Lily. ‘Lil, why were you spanked this afternoon?’

  Lily fidgeted slightly, keeping her eyes down as she put her tray on the bar. ‘Because I giggled, Mistress,’ she said.

  Ceri turned back to Carter; her lips were twitching. ‘Ah well,’ Carter said, trying to keep his own face straight, ‘in that case I completely understand.’

  Lily hung her head and pouted. ‘It was just a tiny giggle,’ she said.

  ‘Do you want another spanking when we get home?’ Ceri asked.

  The fidgeting turned into squirming. ‘No, Mistress?’

  Ceri laughed. ‘You’re really hard to punish. All right, I forgive you.’

  It never failed to amaze Ceri how Lily, a twenty-five year old, fantastically sexy, very adult woman could turn into a beaming, happy twelve year old at a moment’s notice. The half-succubus grinned, bouncing forward to kiss Ceri on the cheek.

  ‘So what have they managed to dig up?’ Alec asked.

  ‘A name, well, part of a name,’ Ceri said. ‘Brother Falk. They got a few emails out and that’s what he’s referred to as in those.’

  Carter frowned. ‘That does not sound like a Brazilian name. Did they get a source for the emails?’

  ‘Not a confirmed one. The email headers were either forged or partially erased. The text sounds like it’s coming from a cleric of some sort, but nothing specifically identified.’

  ‘Naira was pretty sure,’ Alec said. ‘She said that he told her she was being sent home to be tried for her “crimes.”’

  ‘It must’ve been a complete nightmare for her,’ Lily said softly.

  Ceri nodded silently. She was fairly determined that Brother Falk was going to discover exactly what a nightmare was if she got her hands on him.

  Part Four: Angels in the Architecture

  Soho, London, December 1st, 2011

  ‘Three weeks,’ Ceri said. ‘It’s been three weeks and no sign of him.’ The full moon had faded, the new moon come and gone. The werewolf to undead ratio at the Dragon was on the way up, so Michael no longer felt out of place, but he was beginning to get restless around the house and fed up of spending half his evenings sitting at a bar. So was Ceri. The only outing they had had was to Ceri’s graduation ceremony; she was now, officially, Doctor Ceridwyn Brent.

  ‘You think he’s buggered off back to Brazil?’ Alec asked from behind her.

  Ceri shrugged. ‘His operation was trashed. Maybe I did manage to kill his angel. Maybe he went back home to regroup. The Greycoats are still working through that computer and the other stuff they found, and they got descriptions from Suzie and Naira which are out to all the police forces… But they have backed off the alert some.’ She glanced at Michael. ‘Much as I love having you around all the time, I think we should do the same.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Lily said as she dropped her tray onto the bar. ‘Three ‘Banes, Alec,’ she added. ‘Grumpy werewolves are just no fun, and we’re getting to the point where we actually go to sleep when we get home.’ She looked pointedly at Ceri. ‘I think I’m getting tired of nightly threesomes.’

  Ceri reached out and put her hand on Lily’s forehead. ‘She doesn’t seem hotter than usual.’

  ‘Too much of a good thing,’ Alec commented. He placed three glasses on the tray and nodded to Lily.

  ‘Well yes,’ Ceri replied as Lily picked up her tray, ‘but it’s Lily. Lily saying she’s tired of sex!’

  ‘I believe that’s one of the prophesied signs on the End Times,’ Carter said from the end of the bar. ‘Perhaps the Apocalypse nuts are right.’ Lily was smirking as she walked off.

  ‘I’m pretty sure they’re just nuts,’ Ceri said. ‘Besides, that’s supposed to be next December.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s early,’ the playboy said, his lips curling. ‘Cataclysms, so unreliable.’

  ‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted. ‘Well Brother Falk was apparently a devotee of Heinrich Kramer. I believe he thought that witches were a sign of the End of Days.’

  ‘I don’t believe I’m familiar with the name,’ Carter said. ‘Should I be?’

  ‘Henricus Institorius? Kramer was the man who wrote the Malleus Maleficarum. Falk was running his inquisition on Kramer’s rules, more or less. His notary was a digital recorder, but he did a lot of it by the book.’

  ‘Hence the torture equipment,’ Alec growled.

  ‘Pretty much. They think Suzie will be out of hospital before Christmas, but it’ll take a long time before she can use her hands properly again.’

  ‘I’d just like five minutes alone with him,’ Alec said.

  Ceri glanced down the bar at Carter. ‘You’d need to get in line, and I don’t think there’d be much left to bring to trial.’ She saw Alec’s mouth opening and added, ‘Not that I’m saying that would be a bad thing.’

  ‘Are you allowed to say things like that?’ Carter asked. ‘Being almost a policewoman.’

  ‘I’m a Special Advisor,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘And our special advice,’ Lily said as she returned, ‘would be to redecorate a wall with his brains.’

  ‘Too quick,’ Alec said.

  ‘Not if we crack his skull open and use a spoon,’ Lily replied flatly.

  December 2nd

  ‘No Michael tonight?’ Alec said. ‘You’ve broken up and I have a shot?’

  ‘You’ve had a shot,’ Ceri replied. ‘Salisbury Plain, remember?’ She smirked at him. ‘Was I really that unmemorable?’

  Alec smirked back and shrugged. ‘I’m up to my ears in hot, black-fur bitches. You can’t expect me to remember all of them.’

  ‘Right,’ Ceri drawled. ‘We backed down from red alert. Michael’s in Battersea, and I think Anita’s taking the opportunity to hump Ray into a sweaty blob.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Alec commented.

  Ceri glanced at him. ‘How so?’

  ‘I never pegged Anita to pick up with a human,’ Alec said. ‘Though I saw the guy and he looked made for her. I just never thought she would. Second, interesting the amount of trust Anita, and Alexandra, are putting in your young wolf.’

  Ceri considered that for a second. Anita did not seem to have a second stand-in for herself. It could be argued that she had stayed on duty with the pack during the period of danger… but Falk had not been targeting the packs as such. Anita had waited until Michael could take her place before taking another break with Ray. ‘Alexandra considers Anita and Michael as potential replacements when she goes,’ she said. ‘I’d imagine if Anita takes over as Alpha, she expects Michael to take over as Captain. So Michael gets more responsibility to see how he handles it, and a look at Anita’s job in case he ends up in it.’

  ‘Yeah, kind of what I was thinking. You didn’t comment on Anita’s choice of partner.’

  Ceri gave a shrug and pushed off from the bar; table ten was calling. ‘I didn’t figure it too, but I’m glad to see her doing something for herself for a change.’

  ‘Amen to that,’ she heard behind her as she headed across the floor.

  December 4th

  ‘I assume Michael will be there when we get home?’ Lily said as they walked down Dean Street.

  Ceri nodded, pulling her coat tighter and considering a warmth spell. ‘Aside from it being our usual arrangement, he’s been getting a lot of you these last few weeks and going cold turkey wouldn’t be a good thing.’

  ‘True. Grumpy wolf might become really grumpy wolf.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  Lily came to a stop. They were almost to Old Compton Street, but she stopped and turned, looking around. ‘Do you feel that?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t feel anything…’ Ceri blinked her Sight on and scanned the street around them. ‘I don’t see anything either. What are you feeling?’

  The half-succubus frowned. ‘I… n
othing I’ve felt before, but it has to be magic.’

  ‘Can you get a sense of where it is?’

  ‘All around us.’

  ‘Let’s move.’ They hurried down the street toward Leicester Square tube. Nothing attacked or even showed itself, but by the time they were heading down the steps into the tile-walled ticket office Ceri was starting to feel watched.

  ‘It’s gone,’ Lily said as they descended into the tunnels. ‘Whatever it was, I can’t feel it down here.’

  Ceri could feel the pressure wave of a train coming toward them. ‘I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad. Let’s see what happens when we come up the other side.’

  They travelled in silence, though that was at least partially because they had nothing much to say. Both of them were a little spooked by what had happened back in Soho and they were about to pass down through one of the most haunted sections of the underground. Still, there was no sign of anything odd as they passed under the river.

  It was not until they were walking out of the Oval station that Lily stopped again, her brow knitting. She turned slowly, trying to localise what she was feeling, and her eyes fell on Saint Mark’s Church across the road from the station.

  ‘It’s Sunday,’ Lily whispered.

  Ceri looked at the Church, her eyes rising to the roof, and gasped. They were just sitting there, dozens of figures which were nothing but distortions in the world’s magical field. They had to be angels. They were like the thing which had attacked High Towers, but not quite. Smaller, Ceri thought, probably less powerful, but watching. All of the ones she could see seemed to be looking down and watching. But that was all they were doing, watching.

  ‘They’re just… sitting there,’ Ceri said. ‘They’re watching, just watching. Why’ve we never seen them before?’

  ‘Because they weren’t there in that kind of numbers?’

  ‘But they’re just watching.’

  ‘I don’t think I care,’ Lily said. ‘Let’s get inside.’

  Michael was waiting in the hall when they got in. ‘Alexandra said to ask if you’d seen any of them?’ he said as soon as he saw them. ‘She didn’t say what.’

  ‘Angelos,’ Ceri told him, ‘angels, messengers, whatever your preference. Yes, we have.’

  ‘She has,’ Lily added. ‘I felt the magic. You know, these ones didn’t really feel like the one that hit the wards.’

  ‘They were smaller,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m not real good on angels. I know there are Angels and Fallen, but I’ve no idea if there are sub-classifications.’

  ‘Something for the morning,’ Lily said.

  ‘But…’ Ceri began.

  ‘She’s right,’ Michael said. ‘You can start reading books when you’re fresh in the morning.’ He looked more determined about it than Ceri had ever seen him.

  ‘Plus,’ Lily said, confirming Ceri’s suspicion, ‘we need to take the edge of Michael’s appetite before he turns into the Great Black Horg.’

  Ceri giggled, despite the fact that she really wanted to start researching. ‘Don’t you mean the Big Bad Wolf?’

  ‘No,’ Lily replied, heading for the stairs, ‘I’m talking about the proper version of the story. Back when Gorefguhadget was Lord of All Demons, on the shores of the Silver Lake, in the village of Shoshteffrif, there lived a young succubus named Tef…’

  ~~~

  Ceri lay, warm and exhausted against Michael’s furry back. Behind her, Lily shifted slightly to snuggle tighter. Sleep was beckoning.

  ‘I can’t believe we delayed the sex to listen to a fairy tale,’ Ceri mumbled sleepily.

  She did not get an answer, and fairly soon after that, she was busy being unconscious.

  Kennington

  The smell of roast pork filled the air of the kitchen and Michael was looking really happy. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘not having Twill’s cooking for a day or so makes it so much better when I get it again.’

  A tiny flicker of pink light danced around the little, brown woman as she hovered over the final stages of food preparation. ‘Thank you, Michael. It’s nice to be appreciated.’

  ‘You’re always appreciated, Twill,’ Lily said, ‘especially at birthday parties.’ This time the pink light was rather brighter and lasted longer. ‘You actually getting anywhere, Ceri?’ the half-succubus asked, mostly to change the subject before Twill threw something at her.

  ‘My parents weren’t big on theology,’ Ceri replied. ‘I found some more general stuff in one of the spirit books, but thaumaturgy is pretty specialist and not much use to them.’

  ‘I thought they tended to just pick stuff up for the interest value?’ Michael asked.

  ‘They did, but maybe this didn’t interest them. They were enchanters and people kind of frown upon using angels for enchantments.’ She gave a little frown. ‘Which doesn’t stop some people, but it’s frowned upon, and a bit of a pain.’

  ‘Have you considered asking an expert?’ Twill asked.

  ‘I don’t know any thaumatologists,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Neither do I, but it’s Sunday and they teach at least the basics at seminary school, I believe. The evening service is at six-thirty, if my memory serves.’

  ‘I haven’t been to church in years,’ Ceri said.

  ‘You’ve been to church?’ Lily asked, sounding surprised.

  ‘Well, Sunday School. My parents felt I should be given the chance to choose a faith if I wished.’

  ‘I take it you didn’t wish,’ Michael said.

  ‘I think I just found it all a bit illogical, and really boring. They wanted me to believe things I knew were ridiculous. I could get behind some of the essential concepts of Christianity, but then they weren’t really that different from a lot of other religions, so why believe in one, all powerful God. Why did God need me to believe in him? Why couldn’t just being a good person be enough?’ Ceri shrugged. ‘So I just told Mum and Dad that I was perfectly happy to determine my own morals and I didn’t need to be told what I should think by a crabby old man in a pulpit.’

  Twill glanced around and smirked at her. ‘How old where you then?’

  Ceri frowned in thought for a second or two. ‘About seven?’ Lily giggled and Twill’s wind chime laugh filled the air. ‘What?’

  ‘Precocious child, weren’t you?’ Twill commented.

  ‘By that time Tanya, Tawni that is, had already decided the only thing she wanted out of Rastafari was being able to smoke weed at meetings,’ Ceri countered.

  ‘That young lady strikes me as someone who always knew what she wanted,’ Twill said.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure anyone ends up in porn because they have a great life plan,’ Lily said. ‘I didn’t and I’m half-succubus.’ She glanced at Ceri. ‘On that note, if you’re going to the church later, I’m coming with you.’

  ‘Well, yes,’ Ceri said. ‘I figured you would.’

  ‘The thought of a half-demon walking onto consecrated ground doesn’t make you wonder?’ Lily asked. ‘I’ve never been into a church.’

  Ceri smiled. ‘I’m willing to bet half the parishioners at the service tonight have blacker souls than you, Lil. Besides, consecration carries no force unless it’s carried out by a practitioner with the active participation of an appropriate spirit. You’re quite safe.’

  ~~~

  Lily stopped at the foot of the steps leading up to the church’s doors and looked up. St Mark’s was a slightly incongruous structure; yellow stone formed the body of the building, a relatively standard rectangle, but there was a large, classical portico with six columns and a clock tower and cupola above it in white stone.

  Ceri, half way up the steps, turned and looked at her. ‘It’s okay, Lil. There’s no hint of anything here which would affect you.’ Actually, there were some standard wards against demons on the door, but Ceri was quite sure they would not stop or harm her friend.

  Lily shook her head. ‘They’re still up there.’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ A middle-aged couple slippe
d past Ceri on their way in, the woman glancing between the two women on the steps, confused. ‘They’re not doing anything. C’mon, it’d be rude to sit down late.’

  Lily followed Ceri in, seeming rather subdued as they sat down on one of the pews near the back where they would not disturb anyone. Ceri remembered a little of the procedure. She had attended a couple of morning services during her times in church, but remembered little of it. They would be observers here, nothing more.

  They were right on time. A minute or so after they took their seats a tall, fairly young man in the usual robes of an Anglican priest stepped up into the pulpit. The church was perhaps half full, which was more than Ceri had expected, and the vicar looked around at all of his parishioners before beginning. Ceri could tell he had spotted the two strange women sitting at the back, but he made nothing of it; there was work to be done.

  ‘Oh God, make speed to save us,’ the vicar began.

  ‘Oh Lord, make haste to save us,’ the audience responded.

  ~~~

  ‘Thanks be to God.’ The chorus from the assembly marked the end of the service. Ceri watched as the vicar gathered his books and made his way down, heading for the door to thank his parishioners as they left. He had a minute or two to get there since most of the people at Evening Prayer were fairly serious about their religion and were taking a moment for personal prayer before going.

  ‘That was actually quite nice,’ Lily said, her voice soft and low. ‘I liked the hymns.’

  ‘A better choice than some I’ve heard,’ Ceri replied. ‘And the vicar’s better than the old guy I remember, but I’m still going with boring.’

  Lily was looking back toward the door as the assembly began to file out. ‘He’s actually kind of hunky,’ she said. ‘Are priests allowed to be hunky?’

  ‘Yeah, I think so.’

  ‘But aren’t they supposed to be celibate? It’s such a waste.’

  Ceri had to stop herself giggling. ‘Celibacy is only a requirement of religious orders. If he’s a secular priest then he can get married. I doubt he’s available for anything outside of marriage though.’

  Lily nodded. ‘Oh no, that’s okay. At least someone can have him.’