Thaumatology 06 - Hammer of Witches Page 3

  Ceri frowned. ‘Suzie Shore?’ Lily nodded in reply.

  ‘Obviously,’ John said, ‘we have uniformed police canvasing the areas she was last seen. Two of our Special Advisors have been brought in to hunt for scent traces at any potential crime scenes, and we are using diviners. Miss Shore’s parents and boyfriend have been most helpful in providing suitable material to act as a focus.’

  ‘Are there any indications that Miss Shore was kidnapped?’ Karen asked.

  ‘We have some evidence in her flat of a struggle, but it’s inconclusive. No one in or near the building saw or heard anything. If she was kidnapped, we are not sure it was from there.’

  Karen nodded. ‘And finally, Inspector, is there any connection between this case and the body found recently on Clapham Common?’

  ‘We are keeping an open mind,’ John said, looking even more uncomfortable, ‘but we are treating the cases as separate at this time.’

  The presenter turned to camera. ‘Thank you, Inspector Radcliffe. This is Karen Mitchem, outside Greycoat Street station, for BBC News.’

  As the screen switched back to the studio Ceri frowned and put her book down. Suzie Shore was the daughter of a parson, but she was also a witch with a talent for ending up in the gossip columns. She had been to the Jade Dragon several times, and gone home with Carter once or twice afterward. A little on the silly side, she was still not the sort of girl to just vanish without a word. ‘Do you know who she’s dating currently?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘You’re the one who loves the gossip columns in the Wednesday Witch,’ Lily replied.

  ‘Huh… um… Ah! No, there were a lot of rumours that she’d got herself a new beau, but no one knew who he was.’

  ‘You thinking the secret lover has a secret?’

  Ceri shrugged. ‘No idea. Besides, we aren’t on the case. No one’s asked us to look into it, or the Clapham body.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Lily said, her voice entirely neutral.

  ‘Like John said, there’s no reason to assume she was taken by the same person. Or even that she was kidnapped.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘I mean, if someone’s killing witches, then why would they kidnap a famous one? None of the others have been famous. I don’t think anyone even knew they were gone so it stands to reason that they were killed immediately.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘Are you listening to me or watching the TV?’

  ‘I’m waiting for you to talk yourself into calling Kate,’ Lily replied.

  ‘I am not going to call Kate!’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  October 10th

  ‘At the moment it’s still just a missing person case,’ Kate said, her voice made hollow by the phone line. ‘There’s nothing suggesting a link to the body you found. We’re still not even sure she didn’t just run off.’

  ‘She never struck me as the type,’ Ceri said. ‘She just has a habit of being in the wrong crowd at times.’

  ‘Well, exactly, she could… Hang on…’ The line went silent as the detective hit the mute button.

  Lily watched Ceri from the chaise, a told-you-so grin on her face. ‘What?!’ Ceri said. ‘I lasted until almost midday.’

  ‘Ceri? You still there?’ Kate’s voice cut in again.

  ‘I’m here.’

  ‘There is something you could do for us. Shore’s boyfriend is in the Royals…’

  ‘She was dating a werewolf?!’ Ceri looked at Lily, surprised. ‘That explains why she kept it a secret.’

  ‘We don’t think he’s involved, but it would be good to get some opinions from people who know him. Maybe the pack has seen them together, know how they were behaving. Maybe they’ve seen someone hanging around…’

  ‘We’ll see what we can do,’ Ceri said. ‘Has the Chief found out anything about that body?’

  ‘We identified her. Had to use dental records. She was a witch, lived alone. Nothing much else, but he’s keeping things pretty quiet about it. Don’t say anything to anyone.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Ceri replied. ‘We’ll be in touch.’ Hanging up the phone, Ceri turned to Lily again. ‘Better get some clothes on, we’re going shopping.’

  Lily bounced off the chaise longue with a grin. ‘Mysteries and shopping. It must be my lucky day.’

  Soho

  Catherine, Alpha of the Royal pack, looked up as the little bell over the door tinkled and gave a bright smile at the sight of Ceri and Lily walking in. Her shop was not large, but it stocked a wide range of clothing for the discerning female; everything from fashionable but inexpensive casual clothes to multi-thousand pound designer gowns. Lily’s eyes were already sparkling.

  ‘Hello you two,’ Catherine said. Blonde and good looking, she fitted the image of designer clothing retailer nicely. ‘Another dinner with the Minister? Or are you just here for pleasure?’

  Ceri smirked. ‘No, no dinners at the Green Room, but if we get out of here without Lily buying something I may faint.’ Lily did not object; she knew herself, Ceri was right. ‘I need to talk to you, about Suzie Shore.’

  The werewolf’s face fell. ‘Garrett’s distraught. He came to me about… three weeks ago to ask for my permission. We’d known he was seeing someone for a while longer, but he waited to be sure before asking. Of course I said yes, so long as I could meet the girl. I was a bit surprised when it turned out to be Suzie, but she seemed genuine.’

  Ceri nodded. If the boy was faking, his pack would have known. ‘Kate asked me to talk to you,’ she said. ‘This is going to sound bad, but you understand they have to chase up every possibility?’

  ‘Ceri,’ Catherine said seriously, ‘you ask anything you want. I trust you and we’ll do anything we can to help find her.’

  ‘Okay, in that case I’ll ask the direct question. You’re absolutely sure he can’t have had anything to do with her disappearance?’

  ‘Positive,’ Catherine replied without the slightest rancour or hesitation. ‘Even if I hadn’t noticed, and I’m not the best wolf in the pack, someone else would have and they would have told me.’

  ‘Any ex-girlfriends or people with a grudge?’

  ‘I’ll check, but none I know of. He’s never been mated and I don’t recall seeing him with any particular bitch. He’s fairly quiet, never rubbed anyone the wrong way.’

  ‘I don’t suppose anyone would have objected to him mating with a human?’ Ceri asked. She was clutching at straws and they both knew it.

  ‘No. You know we’re a pretty mixed pack. There are several others with human mates. Male and female I might add.’ Catherine paused, looking as though she was unsure about going on. ‘I’m not so sure her parents liked the idea,’ she said, her voice quiet.

  ‘They are supposed to be fairly strongly faithful,’ Lily put in from where she was examining lingerie hung on a rack. ‘I remember someone tried to interview them about their daughter once. About all they got was some comment about praying for their daughter’s salvation.’

  Ceri frowned. ‘Seems unlikely. Kidnapping their own daughter to keep her away?’ Then again, her own father had saddled her with enchantments which made boys largely ignore her; over-protective parents could do some very weird things. ‘I’ll pass it on. Kate and John can look into it.’

  ‘Finished with the business?’ Lily asked. Ceri turned and looked at her pet, who was holding up a teddy in an iridescent black material. ‘Try this on,’ Lily said and Ceri sagged. ‘Come on, you know you want to.’

  With a sigh, Ceri took the garment from Lily and trooped into the changing rooms. Lily was right, it looked gorgeous and she just could not resist a nice teddy.

  Battersea, October 12th

  Usually a Tuesday evening was spent in High Towers curled up on the couch. Perhaps a bottle of wine would be opened. Perhaps Twill would sit with Ceri and Lily, a little wine in her drinking thimble, and they would all watch TV. Tonight had been no exception until it had got to just after midnight. It was going to be true full moon at seven minutes
past three and Ceri and Lily were going to be with the Battersea pack when it happened.

  They did not hurry to the park. It was a nice night with almost no cloud, the air was crisp, but not cold. Lily had put on one of her thicker jersey-dresses to walk the distance from Kennington to Battersea, while Ceri had just put a leather coat over her skin. There was plenty of light; the moon stood overhead, bright and huge in the sky, and the light from the Aurora danced across the sky in rather comforting blue-green waves.

  Under the trees at the corner of the park, Michael was waiting for them. A soft whine escaped his throat as Ceri slipped her coat off to reveal bare skin beneath. Werewolves were a distinctly straight species with very few sexual kinks; at least that was the theory. In practice, like any other race, individuals varied, and also learned from experience. Michael found the idea that his mate had walked over to meet him wearing only a coat quite erotic; hardly a normal reaction when he was often surrounded by naked, human-form she-wolves. Ceri grinned at him as she reached for her collar to change; the psychology of desire was a weird thing.

  Turning, she took Lily’s hand and drew the power for her pet’s transformation through their binding. Using Lily as a sink for the energy would let them share the burden of maintaining her form for the night. Most brown-furs, which was what Lily became, were not terribly sought after as partners at pack orgies, which was what tonight would end up as. Browns tended to be a little scruffy looking, not the most attractive of werewolves. Lily, however, had soft, chestnut-brown fur and, while she lost her succubus abilities in wolf-form, she still had all her erotic skills to fall back on. Lily was a popular she-wolf at parties.

  Michael wrapped an arm around each of their waists and nuzzled their necks, starting with Ceri and then turning to Lily. He looked a lot like he did not want to share, especially when both girls returned the nuzzling and then began licking at his muzzle. He gave a terribly plaintive whine which said, Join pack, in a way which was more question than suggestion. Ceri gave a low, throaty growl and stepped around so that she could grind her behind up against his erection… And joining the pack was put off for a while.

  ~~~

  Ceri and Lily did not know it was coming; despite looking like werewolves, they were mentally the same as ever and they could not sense the moment of the full moon the way the real ones could. They were not the only ones since Jenny Li, once Ceri’s friend at school and now mated to one of the wolves, was there as well, though she was still human and had a better excuse.

  The humans, or near humans, whether transformed or not were totally lost in the gathering which had formed on Alexandra’s island in the park’s boating lake. Ceri was popular at parties like this too, when she allowed herself to indulge. Somewhere around the middle of it the thought occurred to her that she allowed herself to indulge more and more often these days. But Michael had pulled off quite a coup when he had got her as a mate; the only other black-fur in the pack was their Alpha, and even if Ceri was not actually a werewolf they could sense her power and it attracted them. After an hour Ceri had lost count of the number of males she had been with and the number of females who had cooed over her as their mates were busy. At one point she looked up to see Alexandra, the pack’s Alpha, laid out on the grass with Lily between her legs.

  Then everything stopped. It took a few seconds for the non-werewolves to realise that the clearing had gone very still. The bright light of the moon shone down, casting sharp shadows. The werewolves were waiting, waiting for the moment…

  Even if she was not a werewolf, Ceri could feel the instant where the full moon was at its height, when the wave of love, no, comfort, well-being, flooded over them. From the sensation Ceri felt through their link, Lily was feeling it too. Even Jenny was blinking, awed by what Ceri knew was a wash of emotion from Luperca, the goddess and mother of the werewolves. It lasted no more than a second, but they all lay in the moonlight for much longer, feeling the togetherness of the pack, perhaps even of all the wolves under the Goddess’ protection.

  When people started to move again the frenzy was gone and the orgy became more of a love-in. There was still sex, but there was more simple touching, caressing, being together. When the sky started to lighten the moon was still visible and Ceri was curled up beside the oil drum fire in the middle of the clearing with Michael’s furry form keeping her back warm. She had turned back to human when Lily had changed back, and Alexandra had joined them, and Jenny had crawled over with Lee, her boyfriend.

  ‘That was amazing,’ Jenny said, her voice soft. No one wanted to disturb the stillness which had descended. ‘When the moon… I just… I’ve never felt anything like that before.’

  Alexandra, wrapped in a blanket, smiled warmly. ‘It seems the Goddess feels you’re a proper member of the pack, Jenny.’

  ‘That was her?’ The half-Chinese girl’s eyes widened.

  ‘That was her,’ Lily said. ‘She’s changed a lot from when we first met her.’ She frowned slightly and glanced over at Ceri. ‘Was I dreaming, or was she there at Bevan’s funeral?’

  Ceri smiled slightly. In the smoke over the funeral pyre there had been a figure when they had sent Michael’s father off, but… ‘I saw her,’ Ceri said. ‘I wasn’t sure anyone else did.’

  ‘Does that happen every full moon?’ Jenny asked.

  ‘No, dear,’ Alexandra replied. ‘Just certain nights. When we’re lucky. I must say, I feel distinctly lucky to be part of that at my age.’

  Lily gave a soft giggle. ‘At your age… You gave me a run for my money.’

  The Alpha chuckled softly. ‘I should thank you, dear. The younger wolves were being a little timid around me until you showed them I wasn’t so fragile.’

  ‘Well I feel fragile,’ Jenny said. ‘I’m so glad I have tomorrow off. Now I just have to figure out how to get a shower before Gran asks what on Earth I’ve been doing.’

  ‘She wouldn’t approve?’ Ceri asked. Jenny’s grandmother had not seemed the type to object to a werewolf boyfriend, though perhaps attending orgies…

  ‘Oh, no, it’s not that,’ Jenny said, turning scarlet. ‘She’ll want to hear all about it.’

  Ceri and Lily burst into giggles. Jenny looked even more mortified when Alexandra joined them.

  Kennington

  The hall was full of light. Jenny walked down the stairs, rubbing at her hair with a towel, and sat on a step beside Lily, her eyes on the strange shapes and streams which occupied the space. It looked like some weird sort of fireworks display; coloured lines spread out from central points like stars. However, standing in the middle of it, Ceri was making little annotations against various points in silver light, constantly making reference back to her tablet.

  ‘What’s she doing?’ Jenny whispered.

  ‘She’s doing science with magic,’ Lily replied, sounding awed.

  ‘Cheryl gave me some data to analyse,’ Ceri said, her eyes still on the tablet, ‘and it’s kind of complex. I needed a bigger view.’ With a nod, she looked up at the illusory lines which rose above and around her, all the way to the ceiling. ‘They’re particle paths from the experiment we did last year. We’re still working through all the data.’ Her eyes narrowed and she began tapping at her tablet again.

  ‘She’s had an idea,’ Lily said, grinning.

  Ceri looked up and smiled. ‘I have. Now we’ll see if the data processors agree with me.’

  ‘You analyse data on that little thing?’ Jenny asked, indicating the tablet.

  ‘No, I assign processing jobs to a server in the study. This just displays the results. Feeling better?’

  Jenny grinned and nodded. She had spent a few hours sleeping in the spare room then taken a shower. ‘Much. Thanks for letting me come back here. You’ve saved me some embarrassing conversations.’

  ‘No problem,’ Ceri replied. ‘There’s coffee in the kitchen and I’m sure Twill can arrange a late breakfast if you’re hungry.’

  The half-Chinese girl beamed and bounced down the la
st few steps, walking through part of Ceri’s illusion to get to the kitchen. Ceri smirked. ‘She’s gone native.’ Lily looked at her questioningly. ‘Didn’t get dressed,’ Ceri explained.

  Lily, not wearing anything either, had barely noticed. ‘You going to be busy with your calculations for a while?’

  ‘Well, I’m mostly waiting for the results, but yeah, I’ll be busy for a while. Why?’

  ‘I’m feeling snacky and I didn’t get to Jenny last night.’ Lily’s smirk was predatory.

  Ceri giggled. ‘In that case, I’ll be in the study. Seduce her on the chaise, I could use the entertainment.’

  Lily giggled in turn. ‘You are turning into a really bad girl.’

  Pulling herself up straight Ceri walked over to Lily with a strut in her step. Placing a finger under Lily’s chin, she pushed upward and looked into her demon’s eyes. ‘Problem with that, pet?’

  Lily’s eyes widened and she gave a tiny whimper. ‘Oh God no. No problem at all…’

  Holloway, October 13th

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘according to my calculations, there’s a particle being generated of about a hundred-and-fifty TeV, plus or minus ten per cent. It decays into two opposing thaumitons and a photon after three hundred milliseconds.’ She looked expectantly at Cheryl across the desk.

  ‘That’s what I thought, yes,’ Cheryl replied. She was trying very, very hard to keep her face straight, but her eyes were sparkling and giving her away; she was excited. ‘Conclusions?’

  ‘A fermion in that mass range, with that kind of signature… you think it’s a thaumino.’

  Cheryl managed to hold her expression. ‘And a thaumino is?’

  ‘Super-symmetry suggests that every particle in the Standard Model has a super-particle counterpart. Pretty much all of them are theoretical. The super-symmetrical version of T-Null is supposed to be the thaumino. The last paper I read on it suggested that the lowest mass for one would be around one-fifty TeV.’