Thaumatology 07 - Eagle's Shadow Page 3

  The First Lady smiled. ‘It was not exactly high art. With your looks you could be an actress yourself.’

  ‘I’ve… done a few films,’ Lily said. ‘You probably haven’t seen any of them and your husband doesn’t seem the type.’

  Hoffman coughed. ‘That’s a compliment, sir.’

  To Ceri’s amazement, Wilson actually blushed slightly. ‘I take your meaning, Miss Carpenter.’

  ‘Lily’s quite a good actress though,’ Ceri said. ‘She could probably have made it in movies if things had gone that way.’

  ‘I’m happy being a waitress and sometime detective,’ Lily said. ‘I don’t think I want to be famous.’

  ‘Good attitude,’ Eleanor said, nodding perhaps a little too emphatically. ‘Believe me, fame is not all it’s made out to be.’ She nudged her husband. ‘We should go talk to that Minister for Trade you wanted to talk to, hun. I haven’t yet seem him without a glass in his hand, and if you don’t corner him soon, he won’t remember the conversation.’

  Wilson tried very hard not to show his displeasure at the idea, and almost managed it. ‘We should,’ he said. ‘You have a good evening, and make sure Ed enjoys himself. He takes his job way too seriously.’ He started to turn and then paused, lowering his voice to a stage whisper. ‘Oh and give Ed the name of a couple of your films, Miss Carpenter, but don’t let my wife know.’

  Eleanor rolled her eyes again and dragged her husband off across the floor while Ceri, Lily, and Jenny giggled. Hoffman looked mildly mortified. ‘I can give you a list,’ Lily said, ‘though the best one is due out next month, I believe.’

  ‘I think he was joking,’ Hoffman replied. ‘I hope he was joking.’ He took a larger slug of wine than usual.

  ‘I like them,’ Lily told him. ‘They seem really genuine for a politician and his wife.’

  ‘They are,’ Hoffman replied. ‘I doubt you’d like the VP so much.’

  ‘VP?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Vice President, love,’ Ceri replied. ‘A bit like the Deputy PM.’

  Hoffman nodded. ‘It’s a purely political partnership. The President needed a running mate who could hold onto the religious conservatives. Levy is more right wing, and much more of a political animal. That’s him over there, talking to your Prime Minister.’

  They looked. The Vice President was a relatively short man with strong features. Not at all bad looking in a late middle aged way, but thin, almost withered. Age had not been particularly kind to him. His hair was fully grey and despite reasonable looks he seemed older than he probably was.

  ‘Who’s the woman with him?’ Ceri asked. She did not seem like someone who should be arm in arm with a man of Levy’s age. She was tall, maybe five-ten, slim, and very attractive in a cold way. Long, black hair fell down her back in a carefully woven pony-tail with a gold thread wrapping it. She looked to be easily twenty years his junior.

  ‘Angelica Levy,’ Hoffman said, ‘his wife.’ Ceri glanced at him; there was a cold edge to his voice. Hoffman did not like the woman. ‘He met her at an evangelical rally in Atlanta. He was the senator for Georgia before he became VP.’

  Lily appeared to come to a decision, picked up one of the wine bottles on the table, and refilled Hoffman’s glass. He raised an eyebrow. ‘We were told to make sure you enjoy yourself,’ Lily said. Hoffman continued to look at her with his eyebrow raised. ‘It was a presidential order,’ Lily told him. ‘Are you going to disobey an order from your President?’

  Hoffman laughed and picked up his glass, raising it to Lily. ‘No, ma’am,’ he said.

  ~~~

  Anita dropped into her seat with a very heartfelt sigh and then reached down to take off her shoes. ‘I think my feet are bleeding,’ she moaned. ‘Oh Goddess, that feels good.’

  ‘Alexandra been dragging you around on her tour of politicians,’ Jenny asked.

  ‘Oh no. She ditched me by persuading some guy in a monkey suit to take me dancing.’ The Captain’s expression was half annoyance, half embarrassment. ‘And then there was another, and another…’

  ‘You don’t like dancing, Miss?’ Hoffman asked.

  ‘Not used to it. We don’t do a lot of ballroom at pack meetings.’

  Hoffman blinked at her. ‘I’m sorry, “pack”?’

  ‘I thought you knew,’ Ceri said. ‘This is the odd people’s table. Alexandra, Anita, and Lee are werewolves.’

  ‘Battersea pack,’ Anita said. ‘Alexandra is our Alpha. Technically, Ceri’s a werewolf too, and Jenny and Lily are honorary ones.’

  ‘I am?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Yes, you are.’ Lily beamed at Anita’s statement.

  Hoffman was not looking horrified, which meant he knew the difference between werewolves and lycanthropes. ‘How can you be “technically” a werewolf?’

  Anita gave a half-smile. ‘Well, she’s a member of the pack Guard, and we wouldn’t let a human be a Guard. She can become a werewolf when she wants, by the blessing of the Goddess, so she’s “technically” a werewolf.’

  Lily giggled and everyone looked at her. She pointed to Ceri’s dress where wolves had replaced the dragons charging around the fabric. One of them stopped over Ceri’s right breast to howl soundlessly before rushing onward. ‘I think I preferred the dragons,’ Ceri said. ‘You have some fairly large packs in America, don’t you?’

  Hoffman nodded. ‘Mostly in the tribal lands, but there’s a big one in the north. What used to be Canada. They don’t interact much with… well, civilisation, for want of a better term, but they do keep an eye on the Snow Line for us.’

  ‘The snow line?’

  ‘Ah, um, what was the western side of Canada is full of… stuff you don’t want to meet. The border with our territories and the tribal lands is called the Snow Line.’ He grinned. ‘I think that’s mostly because it’s where the snow starts going north from the tribal territories.’

  ‘That’d be a good reason,’ Ceri said, grinning back. ‘We’re trying to get far more open interaction between the packs and government here. Though that’s not why Alexandra is here.’

  ‘My fault,’ Jenny said. ‘I started working with the Battersea pack and Mei thought it would be good to meet Alexandra personally.’

  ‘And I’m here because Jenny’s my… uh, girlfriend,’ Lee said.

  Hoffman did look surprised at that. ‘You definitely don’t see that in the States. Relationships between humans and supernaturals… don’t happen much.’

  ‘They aren’t common here,’ Ceri said, ‘but they’re on the rise.’

  Hoffman’s gaze swept the room, coming to a stop. ‘It’s actually illegal in some states,’ he said. Ceri followed his gaze and spotted the Levys chatting to someone she did not recognise.

  ‘I think I can guess one of them,’ she said.

  ‘Louisiana allows it, oddly enough,’ Hoffman said, ‘but they’ve always had a big supernatural contingent in New Orleans.’

  ‘They’re big on Voodoo aren’t they?’ Jenny asked.

  ‘Yeah, pretty big,’ Hoffman replied.

  Ceri looked at her friend. ‘How’d you know that?’

  ‘Tanya told me about it at school once,’ Jenny said. ‘I think she was trying to scare me, actually.’ She added a grimace. ‘It worked too. I had nightmares about zombies for weeks.’

  ‘Class three,’ Ceri said.

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Voodoo practitioners don’t usually raise the dead,’ Ceri explained, ‘they turn living people into zombies. Class three zombies.’

  Jenny wrinkled her nose. ‘Thanks. I can see me having nightmares again.’

  Ceri shrugged. ‘I get enough. Just spreading the joy.’

  ~~~

  The toilets, hidden away down a small, side-corridor off the ballroom, were the only ones Ceri had ever seen which were more sumptuous than the ones at the Jade Dragon. It actually had magic hand driers! Blinking at the sheer extravagance of using enchantment to dry your hands, Ceri slipped out of the room and almost ran into Mei.
>
  The willowy dragon-woman smiled. She had been waiting for Ceri, not going into the restrooms. ‘What do you think of Huanglong?’ she asked, offering her arm to escort Ceri out into the ballroom.

  Ceri considered her answer for a second. ‘Charming when he wants to be. Possibly a little chauvinistic.’

  ‘A reasonable assessment, but forget the possibly.’ It was an alarmingly honest statement. ‘It’s in his nature, unfortunately.’

  ‘That’s more or less what I said,’ Ceri replied. ‘You know, Jenny’s figured out you’re a dragon. Or at least she heavily suspects. I doubt she’d say anything.’

  ‘Jenny is a very perceptive girl,’ Mei said. She was silent for a second and then, ‘It might be best if she were to keep her suspicions quiet.’

  ‘I know how to keep her quiet,’ Ceri said.

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes.’ It had worked with Cheryl. It seemed like a better idea to head off her speculations with the truth than to let her figure it out herself.

  Mei nodded. ‘I’ll leave it in your capable hands then.’

  Ceri nodded back and then frowned. ‘Mei, are you… I don’t know, warning me about Huanglong?’

  ‘Why should I need to do that, child?’

  ‘I don’t know. You waited until I was alone to ask me about him.’

  They had almost reached Ceri’s table and Mei just smiled. ‘You are also a very perceptive woman, Ceridwyn. If you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to your Prime Minister.’ Slipping her arm free, she walked off across the dance floor, her hips swaying as she went.

  Ceri watched her go, frowning, and Lily looked up at her, feeling the confusion over the emotion link they shared, Mistress to bound demon. ‘You okay, Ceri?’

  Giving a small smile, Ceri walked the last few steps and slipped into her seat. ‘I got favoured with an enigmatic comment.’

  Lily patted her hand. ‘You’ll get over it.’

  Ceri gave her a poke in the ribs. ‘Are you asking to be spanked?’

  Lily’s lips twitched and she lowered her eyes. ‘You know I’d never ask…’

  Kennington, January 24th

  Ceri opened her eyes and smiled. It had been a good night. Considering everything that had happened the previous year, at least this one was starting out well. Waking up in Lily’s arms always helped her mood anyway. They had made love before sleeping, taking it easy and slow since they were both a little tired after the ball. It had been a perfect end to a perfect day, and since it was still January they had still gone to sleep when the sky was dark.

  ‘You awake?’ Lily’s voice was sleepy and quiet.

  ‘Mmhmm.’

  ‘What time is it?’

  ‘No idea, and I’d have to move to find out. It’s light.’

  The half-succubus pulled her lover a little closer, snuggling against her back. ‘I don’t mind just lying here.’

  Ceri almost purred. Lily’s body temperature was higher than a normal human, a result of the thaumic reactions within her which powered her succubus abilities. It was like lying against an animated, sensuously smooth, very sexy hot water bottle. The warmth and closeness felt wonderful. She heard a soft creak on the landing outside and then the shower starting up. Probably Anita taking advantage of the facilities. A shower would be nice later, but right now she was warm and comfortable and… drifting…

  High up. High in the sky. Flying. Sweeping over towns, cities, stretches of open country. Everything looked so small and insignificant below her. So…

  ‘Want to take a shower? I think Anita’s finished.’

  Ceri blinked. ‘You figured it was her too?’

  There was another creak on the landing and the sound of voices. ‘Too late,’ Lily said. ‘Alexandra’s next.’

  ‘I don’t mind. I’m warm and you’re comfy.’

  Lily gave a little giggle, but Ceri was already sliding back into a doze again…

  She was sitting on a hard surface. Stone. High up, on a hill? A mountain? Below her the land stretched away into the distance and she could see birds wheeling in the sky. She felt… She felt calm, serene, in control… powerful.

  There was something in her hand. She looked down and found that it was a length of chain. She was holding a chain and at the other end was…

  ‘We can go.’

  Lily’s voice broke into the dream leaving a vague sense of unease. ‘What?’ Ceri said, blinking away sleep.

  ‘The shower’s free,’ Lily said. ‘We can go take a shower.’

  ‘Right.’ Suddenly Ceri did not want to sleep any more. ‘Yes, let’s do that.’

  ~~~

  Jenny had a habit of thinking the worst whenever anyone wanted to talk to her seriously about something, so she was fidgeting as she sat in the guest wing-back chair in the lounge faced by Ceri and Lily. Alexandra and Anita had gone back to Battersea, but Lee had stayed with his mate since she had a day off. Lee, however, already knew what Ceri was going to tell her and that, more than anything, was why Ceri was going to do it.

  ‘Did I, um, do something wrong?’ Jenny asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Ceri told her, ‘you were too clever.’ She grinned, and Jenny grinned back nervously. ‘You’re getting close to figuring something out,’ Ceri went on, ‘so I need to tell you and then you need to keep your mouth shut about it.’

  Jenny’s grin brightened. ‘A secret? Cool!’

  ‘Yes,’ Ceri said, grinning, ‘but I’m serious. You don’t tell anyone about this. Not your parents, not your grandmother, no one.’

  The half-Chinese girl schooled her face into seriousness. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘That’s like a real secret.’

  ‘Yes, my life might depend on it.’

  Now Jenny’s face lost any hint of humour. ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said. ‘Okay, you obviously know about the dragons. You’ve met Huanglong and you think Mei is one. She is, by the way and I’d recommend that you keep that to yourself too. If she brings it up it’s probably safe to say something, otherwise just don’t mention it, even to her. She knows you worked it out. I think she was rather pleased with you. Just be happy you have. What else do you know about dragons?’

  ‘Well… what most people do, I guess,’ Jenny said.

  ‘I bet I don’t,’ Lee put in from the floor beside his mate’s legs.

  Jenny giggled and ran her hand through his hair. ‘Okay, I know the Chinese dragons have been around for a long time. Huanglong is supposed to have turned up a bit after three thousand BC. Western dragons have been turning up in legend for a long time too, so I figure they must have been around the same amount of time. It seems like they went into hiding or something until the Shattering. They’re big, magical, able to assume human form. Uh… that’s about it.’

  ‘Not bad,’ Ceri said, ‘but they’re a lot older. They can’t survive in low magic conditions so, yes, they sort of go into hiding when the Earth’s magic field drops. They were around during the Toba Flare, which ended thirty thousand years ago. Huanglong first appears in a flare which started around three thousand BC and ended around nine-hundred BC. They are inherently magical creatures and their magic works differently from that of, say, a wizard or a witch, or a demon for that matter. Demon magic is closer to human, but still different.’

  ‘It’s more intuitive,’ Lily said. ‘It has more to do with our nature, well, our biology really.’

  ‘Okay,’ Jenny said. She was not hearing a secret and Ceri could tell from her expression that she was waiting for one.

  ‘You also know about my tattoos,’ Ceri said. ‘My parents always said they were protective, and they sort of were, but what they actually did was contain my magical ability and use that to protect me.’

  ‘So when you lost your tattoos, your magic started working?’

  ‘Exactly. Now, why would my parents try to stop me exhibiting magic? Why would they keep it secret, even from me?’

  ‘It… was dangerous?’

  ‘Yeah. Dangerous for me. I’m a sorceress, J
en.’

  Jenny’s eyes narrowed. ‘Sorceress? Like… Merlin or Morgana? I thought that was legend? Didn’t they say in History that sorcerers were probably pacted magicians?’

  ‘They were wrong. Sorcerers were real. I’m the only one at the moment. That we know of anyway. I’m the first to be born since the Shattering, again, as far as we know.’

  ‘And you want to keep it secret?’ Jenny’s eyebrows went up.

  ‘I know of at least one organisation who would do their level best to kill me if they found out,’ Ceri replied. ‘And imagine what the government would do. I’m dangerous. I’m massively powerful, or I could be. They would stick me in a lab and try to work out how to make more like me.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yeah, especially because they can’t. Sorcery is dragon magic. I’m a sorceress because some dragon bumped hips with a human thousands of years ago.’

  Jenny’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously? You’re like, part dragon?’

  Lily giggled. ‘Awesome, isn’t it? Genetically she’s as human as I am.’

  Ceri grimaced slightly. ‘It’s true. Actually, Lily’s more human than I am on a genetic level, but the effects are less physical. Might be because my ancestors are thousands of years ago and Lily’s dad is actually an incubus.’

  ‘Western dragons or Eastern?’ Jenny asked eagerly.

  Ceri grinned. ‘Western. Sorry, I’m not part Chinese.’

  There was a giggled reply. ‘I’ll try not to be disappointed. So, that’s why Huanglong was so interested in you?’

  ‘Pretty much. I couldn’t say anything much at the ball. He probably is a bit of an insular so and so, but it wasn’t you being half-Chinese, or a girl. He was only really being nice to his “relatives.”’

  ‘I still don’t think I like him.’

  ‘Might be a good idea to keep that under your hat too.’

  ‘No kidding,’ Jenny replied. ‘I like my job!’

  Holloway, January 25th

  Ceri liked her job too. Well, technically being Doctor Cheryl Tennant’s research assistant was one of her jobs; she was also a waitress at the Jade Dragon two nights a week, and a part time policewoman. But thaumatology had been her life since she was a child. Her parents had encouraged her to learn as much as she could; perhaps because they knew how useful it would be when her power was released, but she liked to think it was simply because they were just helping her do something she was good at.