Thaumatology 02 - Demon's Moon Read online

  From the floor, Ceri could hear Tabitha making soft mewling noises, and Aleena had turned to Dane to mimic what Lily was doing to Ceri. ‘Here we go again,’ Ceri said with a contented sigh.

  Battersea, December 27th

  Ceri wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and sat down beside the fire. The tea was already being poured and Michael was sitting right beside her, a furry arm laid around her shoulders. He had been very pleased to see her in wolf form again.

  ‘You’re a little later than I thought, dear,’ Alexandra said. There was a knowing smile on her face.

  ‘Michael and I were…’

  ‘Renewing your acquaintance?’ Alexandra suggested.

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri replied. ‘There was definitely some renewing.’

  Alexandra handed her a mug of tea which she took gratefully. Without her fur it was a cold night. ‘The collar works,’ she said, touching the strip of studded leather around her throat. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘I’ll pass on the thanks,’ the Alpha replied. ‘The pack got the collar, and performed the ritual, but it was Luperca who provided the magic. You’ve done more than simply kill Remus, you’ve freed her from his influence. Things will change for the werewolves now. You’ve done us a great favour.’

  ‘I was just helping my friends, Alexandra,’ Ceri said.

  The old woman smiled warmly. ‘I know, child, that’s what makes it special. You’ll be welcome in our territory for as long as you wish to come. I hope you’ll continue to learn.’

  ‘I plan to,’ Ceri said. ‘Things worked out better than I could have hoped. The future’s pretty bright from here.’

  Alexandra smiled. ‘For now it is,’ she said.

  Ceri frowned and drank her tea. There was a slightly ominous quality to the statement which she did not want to explore right now. Right now, she was drinking tea among werewolves who were free of a malign influence for the first time in two thousand years. Despite the cold, she felt warm and happy, and nothing the old soothsayer could say was going to change that.

  Kennington, December 31st

  Once again, High Towers was crammed with people, but this time to celebrate the birth of a new year rather than the anniversary of Ceri’s birth. Pretty much the same people were there again as well. Naira had come with the dancers from the Collar Club, having become more or less fixed at the hip to Jasmine. Alexandra had regretfully declined, but had not just given Michael permission to skip the pack’s celebrations, but had told him he was representing the Battersea wolves; it was his duty to have a good time. Catherine and Stefan had come; Catherine had decided that the Royals would have a New Year party on the first full moon of the year. Kate Middleshaw was there in a shorter dress than she had worn to Ceri’s birthday, and this time the Radcliffs had come.

  The snow outside was thick and still falling, and the fires had been lit in both the lounge and the study. The body heat of dancing people was keeping the hall quite warm enough without additional heating. Alec had been running a ferry service during the early part of the evening, using Carter’s Range Rover to get people from the local tube stations to the house. Ceri watched as he finally put the car keys aside and looked around trying to figure out what to do next. Walking up to him with a bottle of beer, she handed it over and said, ‘Thanks for doing that, Alec?’

  ‘No problem,’ he replied lifting the beer to her in thanks.

  ‘So,’ Ceri said, ‘are you avoiding the North Hills wolves, or just not feeling too much like partying?’

  Alec looked at her. ‘Too damn perceptive,’ he grumbled. ‘Bit of both?’

  ‘Not feeling like partying because you’re having to avoid Dane?’ Ceri gave him a slap on his silk-shirted arm. ‘Talk to him, Alec. You cost him a lot of friends, but he got one of them back. A really important one. I think he wants to discuss some other stuff with you too. Talk to him.’

  ‘I, uh…’ Alec began.

  ‘You talk to him,’ Ceri said, ‘or I’ll get Cheryl and Lily to gang up on you.’

  ‘Okay, okay!’ he said, retreating toward the stairs. ‘I know when I’m beaten.’

  ‘Damn right,’ Ceri said, grinning, and turned, wiggling and dancing her way through the throng of were-creatures and waitresses who occupied much of the hall floor. Dressed in the teddy Lily had bought her for Christmas and a skirt which barely covered her behind, she felt more than a few hands in places she might have objected to in other circumstances. Tonight… well she had probably had sex with half the people there anyway.

  Kate and the Radcliffs were in the kitchen, along with Twill, Lily, and Michael. Michael was in human form and, as seemed to be typical of him when he was not covered in fur, he looked a little uneasy. Possibly it was his clothes, the same shirt and shorts he had worn to visit the lab which looked a little scruffy compared to everyone else’s party outfits. Alternatively it was that Lily, in her Christmas dress, was draped around him in a rather possessive manner. Lorna looked a little bemused at the half-succubus’ behaviour as well, despite the fact that she was draped around her husband in a similar way.

  Ceri headed straight for Michael and Lily, snuggling up to her mate on the other side from Lily. ‘I hope you guys aren’t going to spend the entire evening in the kitchen,’ she said.

  ‘We’re being sensible,’ John replied, ‘and eating before we start into the alcohol.’

  ‘Not that I’ll be getting drunk,’ Lorna said.

  ‘Don’t bet on it,’ Lily said. ‘There’s Syn in the fridge. It just needs warming through and we have a water bath ready to do that. Alec said he’d mix cocktails if you wanted.’

  Lorna giggled and John laughed. ‘We shouldn’t stay too late,’ he said. ‘The weather’s foul out there and…’

  ‘You can stay over if you want,’ Ceri said. ‘I think everyone else is. Cheryl will likely end up in the spare bedroom with Carter and Alec, but we have got some bedrolls set up in the dungeon if you want some privacy. No problems with light in the morning.’

  ‘The… dungeon?’ Lorna asked, blinking. Vampires did not blush any more than succubi, but Lorna gave the distinct impression she was blushing, even without the colour change.

  ‘It’s… a long story,’ Ceri replied. ‘We have a dungeon and you can sleep down there if you don’t want to head home tonight.’

  ‘We’ll see how it goes,’ John said.

  ‘And I’ll take one of those cocktails any time I can get one,’ Lorna added. Her gaze turned to Michael as Lily disengaged from him to sort out the artificial blood. ‘You’re a werewolf, Michael?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Please,’ the vampire said, ‘it’s Lorna. You seem less… confident than the others’

  Ceri felt like she had to defend her mate. ‘Michael’s just one of those wolves that’s more comfortable in fur,’ she said.

  Lorna shrugged. ‘Then why not…’

  ‘I’d only be able to talk to the other wolves,’ he said, ‘and Ceri. Seems kind of unsociable. Besides, uh, I feel a bit out of my depth anyway. I live in the park, or on the streets, don’t really socialise with humans much, and my clothes are a bit…’ He plucked at his shirt. ‘I’m underdressed.’

  Lorna giggled and looked down at the little black dress she had decided to wear. ‘No, I’m underdressed, Ceri is very underdressed, and Lily is practically naked.’ Lily giggled in turn, placing a bottle of red liquid into a pan of water on the stove.

  ‘Chances are,’ Ceri said, ‘clothing will be optional by the end of the night.’ She grinned at Lorna’s expression. ‘The optional is entirely optional, it’s just… well, werewolves, strippers, waitresses from a nightclub… one thing leads to another…’

  Lorna smiled. ‘Oh, it’s not that,’ she said. ‘My underwear doesn’t really match.’

  January 1st

  The lounge was warm and comfortable, and had once again become the place to hide from the orgy going on in the hall. Not that it was entirely free of that in the lounge. Lorna was tipsy again, and h
er underwear did, indeed, not match. Ceri was a little surprised to note that John did not seem displeased at his wife’s state of dress, but then he was a little drunk too.

  ‘So,’ Cheryl said from her position in Carter’s lap, ‘you’re going to write up the paper on the werewolf cascade pulse this month?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri replied. She was in Michael’s lap, her feet over the side of the chair. Lily was absently playing with her toes and at some point her skirt had gone missing. Then again, so had Michael’s shirt. ‘I’ll write that up, scan the foxes, compile all the data, and then write up the thesis. Should be wrapped… March?’

  ‘If you girls are sober enough to be thinking about this,’ Alec commented, ‘you need another drink.’ Cheryl looked rather pleased to be referred to as a “girl.” A few seconds later she was handed a glass of whiskey.

  ‘Are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me, Alec?’ Cheryl asked coyly.

  ‘Do I have to?’ he replied.

  ‘I sincerely hope not,’ Carter said. ‘Have you considered what you plan to do after that, Ceri?’

  ‘Uh… no, not really. Depends on what money is available and whether Cheryl still needs an assistant.’ Ceri’s fingers were absently playing with Michael’s hair and he was reacting to it in the expected manner.

  ‘I’ll need an assistant,’ Cheryl said, ‘if we can get funding to work on the zero-point generator. The university is a little wary about the technology I’m proposing.’

  ‘Can’t think why?’ Ceri said. Lily’s fingers were stroking her ankles and playing with the chain.

  ‘Because we almost blew the city up last time we ran it?’ Cheryl suggested.

  ‘Oh,’ Ceri said dismissively, ‘that.’ There was a rumble of laughter from around the room.

  ‘You think it’ll work?’ Carter asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Cheryl and Ceri said at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled.

  ‘Something can be arranged I’m sure,’ Carter said. ‘It’s been quite a year. Let’s hope this new one is a little less stressful.’

  Cheryl raised her glass. ‘I’ll certainly drink to that,’ she said.

  ‘To a quiet new year,’ Carter said, raising his own tumbler.

  Ceri raised her own glass. It had been a hell of a year. She had become a sorceress, saved the world, freed a goddess, but the most important thing to her was the group of people sat around her, alive and well after all that had happened. ‘To new friends, and old ones,’ she said. ‘Cheers!’

  ###

  About The Author

  The first book I ever wrote was typed, on one of those strange mechanical things with a ribbon. You remember those, right? Typewriters. It was bad, but I was fifteen or thereabouts. I haven’t stopped writing fiction of one kind or another since. The Thaumatology Series is the first set of books I believe I can put in front of other people for their enjoyment.

  Out in the world, I write computer software. For relaxation, when I’m not writing, I play online computer games. I’ve been a geek for as long as I can remember. I’ve even played role-playing games, and done live action role-play. Magic, though, has always fascinated me; not doing it, I don’t believe in it. The theory and practice of it, however, is fascinating, and from that kind of mind-set, someone like Ceri just seems to flow.

  When I grow up, I’d like to be an astronaut.

  For More Information

  The Thaumatology Blog: http://thaumatology.wordpress.com

  Look Out For

  Legacy, the third novel in the Thaumatology Series.

  Table of Contents

  Part One: The Science of Magic

  Part Two: The Wolves of London

  Part Three: The Fair One

  Part Four: Ragnarök

  Part Five: Yule