Thaumatology 06 - Hammer of Witches Page 4

  The older woman broke and she positively beamed at Ceri. ‘Of course, we would need to pass this on to other groups to confirm. Cambridge have that massive accelerator. That might have the power to recreate the conditions.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Ceri said. ‘The energies in that region were really massive. It may need something bigger. Weren’t the Americans talking about building something twice the size?’

  ‘That’s Americans for you.’

  Ceri giggled. ‘You realise this would be a good indication of the existence of the Super-magic field?’

  Cheryl nodded. ‘I’m going to write up a note for the Journal of Thaumatology. I’ll pass it on to you to check, if you don’t mind?’ She sucked in a deep breath. ‘Proving Super-magic would be big. Bigger than the null thaumiton.’

  She was right. Super-magic had been proposed as the moderating field governing the amount of T-Null decay in a given ‘brane and that governed the amount of magic in the universe. Fluctuations in the Super-magic field could account for the periods of higher and lower magic in the world. ‘Don’t you think we’ve discovered enough for our lifetimes?’ Ceri suggested.

  Cheryl looked blankly at her. ‘Well… no?’

  Bursting into a fit of giggles Ceri said, ‘No, me neither.’

  Soho

  Giggling, the two women more or less stumbled through the door of the club. Ceri handed over the cover charge to the girl on the door and dragged Cheryl into the back room despite her protests; they were not exactly heartfelt protests.

  ‘What are we doing in this place?’ Cheryl said, her voice a little slurred.

  ‘We’re celebrating,’ Ceri said. ‘We’ve eaten, and had a drink, and now we’re going to sit here and watch half-naked women prancing around on stage.’

  ‘Why would I want to do that?’ Cheryl protested as she was half-pulled into a booth, but she sat down with a rather girlish giggle.

  ‘Because we shouldn’t,’ Ceri replied. ‘Sin is always fun.’ She looked up as a slightly bored waitress in bra, thong, and hold-up stockings appeared at the table. ‘Two glasses of white wine,’ Ceri said before the girl could speak.

  ‘You’re trying to get me drunk,’ Cheryl stated.

  Music started and a girl in a white kinky-cowboy outfit pranced out onto the stage. ‘I like you drunk,’ Ceri said, watching the stage. ‘You’re a fun drunk, and you deserve to let your hair down after finding that data.’

  With a laugh Cheryl reached up and pulled a couple of pins out of the bun her hair was wound into. A flurry of red fell about her shoulders and she shook it out. ‘Better?’ she asked.

  Ceri looked at her boss with the pale, freckled skin, green eyes, and deep red hair. Last time they had got drunk together had been in a tent on Salisbury Plain, beside Stonehenge. They had ended up in bed together, in the non-platonic sense, and it had changed their relationship. ‘Much,’ Ceri said. ‘You look great.’

  Cheryl smiled, a hint of coyness about her expression. Her head bobbed downward a little, her eyes avoided Ceri’s. Ceri felt a sudden tingle of pleasure rush through her and her breath caught. Was she going nuts? Was Cheryl? It was the alcohol; Cheryl had got drunk on her birthday and then thrown herself at Ceri. But the older woman did not seem as far gone this time… Then again, Ceri had said that doing things they should not be doing was half the fun. Maybe Cheryl was just going with it. Flirting was harmless, right?

  The arrival of their drinks broke Ceri from her thoughts. Cheryl paid for the drinks, her eyes on the stripper, and Ceri followed her example. The girl was not a bad dancer, though Lily was way better and Ceri was a match. Topless now, but apparently unimpeded by the heavy looking chaps, the girl swung around the pole with enthusiasm and a fair degree of acrobatic grace.

  ‘You do that at home, don’t you?’ Cheryl asked.

  ‘Mmhmm, it’s good exercise.’

  ‘I’d love to see that.’

  Ceri glanced at her boss, but Cheryl was still watching the dancer. ‘Lily and I do it Friday afternoons,’ Ceri said.

  ‘I bet she’s good.’

  ‘She’s done it professionally. I… uh, I guess you could come over tomorrow if you wanted.’

  Cheryl smiled. ‘Thank you, I will. Consider it my birthday present.’ Her birthday had been in the summer, while they were at a conference in Cambridge. Not knowing what to get her, Ceri and Lily had given her a “whatever you want” gift. She had not collected on it yet.

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri said, her lips twitching, ‘I should warn you that the pole is set up in the dungeon.’

  ‘Better and better,’ Cheryl replied. Her cheeks were flushing.

  Pushing any tentativeness aside, Ceri draped an arm around Cheryl’s shoulders, her hand draping down to settle over one breast. She felt the slight shudder pass through her boss’ body. Ceri was not going to go too far, but a little heavy flirting was harmless, right?

  Battersea

  Anita looked down the line of werewolves, nodded in satisfaction, and began the Guard briefing for the week. ‘All right, Guards, there’s nothing major this week. Everyone’s still a little hyper after Wednesday night, so let’s not have any incidents. Keep an eye on the younger wolves in particular, though I admit even I’m feeling frisky still. It was a helluva night.’

  There was a rumble of laughter. Ceri’s mind was not operating on the more intuitive level the werewolves were at, but even she had felt the excitement as she changed. Ed, her sorcery tutor, had told her that the shape you took tended to affect your mental processes if you assumed it for long enough; he would know since he was a dragon who spent most of his time as a human. The thought that the excitement might have been something to do with the horny Michael she had had pawing her as she changed almost made her giggle. She composed herself as Anita continued.

  ‘We got a heads-up from the Royals regarding some reporter they spotted snooping around their territory with a camera. He was using a long lens, and said he was a freelancer doing a report for the Wednesday Witch on human-wolf relationships.’ The Guard Captain looked a little wistful for a second, though it might have been Ceri’s imagination. ‘Apparently that kind of thing is on the rise. Anyway, keep an eye out for this guy. Make sure he doesn’t get any pictures we don’t want him getting.

  ‘Finally, two minor notices. We’re coming up to Samhain and Alexandra thinks it could be a tough one. Remind everyone that we want them under cover that night. As usual, Alexandra’s going to be raising a circle around the island with the pack’s help. Anyone not planning to be here, we want to know they’re going to be somewhere safe.’ Anita looked over at Ceri. ‘I think Lee’s going to be over at yours with Jenny?’ Ceri nodded a reply. ‘Well, that’s one covered. Please check on everyone else. Last thing, I have tomorrow night off on personal business. Michael’s drawn the short straw so he’ll be brevet Captain for the evening. Okay, that’s it, go to work.’ She started to turn away and then stopped. ‘Oh, uh, Ceri? Could I have a word in private?’

  Ceri glanced at Michael; he shrugged and Ceri decided that being human might be advisable. She followed Anita over to a corner of the north clearing where the trees would hide them. The north side of the island was open along the shore, but it was larger and not full of wolves, and Anita always gave her briefings there. What was confounding Ceri as Anita turned to face her was that the tall, attractive, supremely confident Captain of the Guard looked nervous.

  ‘I need some advice,’ Anita said. ‘Tomorrow night… well I have a date.’

  ‘Ray?’ Ceri asked, a grin forming. Anita nodded, and actually blushed! ‘Brilliant! That’s really great.’ Ceri’s face straightened suddenly. ‘There is no way I’m giving you advice on your sex life and I suck at dating.’

  Anita shook her head. ‘I figure my dating technique is my problem and I’m perfectly good at sex…’ She frowned a little. ‘…though if this gets serious I might ask for some tips on doing it with a human…’ Ceri’s heart sank, but at least that horror was likely to be in the
future. ‘No,’ Anita went on, ‘I need something to wear.’

  ‘I’m still not the best person to ask,’ Ceri mused, ‘but I know just the person. We’ve got another, err, appointment tomorrow afternoon. Could you come over to High Towers in the morning? I can get Lily out of bed by ten if there’s a promise of shopping.’

  ‘You’re going to get me dressed for a date by a succubus?’

  Ceri giggled. ‘She knows what she’s doing. Seriously, she’s got a great sense for fashion.’

  Looking as though she were putting her life in Ceri’s hands, Anita took a deep breath and let it out. ‘Okay,’ she said.

  Soho, October 14th

  Lily was not wasting time. She knew exactly where to take Anita and they marched into Catherine’s boutique on Poland Street with Lily doing her best determined stride. Even striding with determination the half-demon’s hips swung, swishing the little pleated skirt she was wearing. Ceri was thoroughly amazed at her pet’s ability to look sexy no matter what.

  ‘Catherine,’ Lily said, ‘your sister needs a new outfit.’

  Two werewolves blinked at her and then blushed. ‘How did you know we…’ Anita began.

  ‘We talked to Bea,’ Ceri said. Beatrice was another of their sisters, the Alpha female of the Dog Boys. ‘So we know, so there’s no point in being all formal around us just because Catherine’s an Alpha.’

  The sisters looked at each other. ‘All right,’ Catherine said, ‘what’s the occasion?’

  ‘I’ve, um, got a date,’ Anita said. Catherine’s eyes widened, but her mouth curved into a broad enough smile that her fangs showed. ‘With a human,’ Anita added in case the need for clothes was not obvious.

  ‘You and a human?’ Catherine said. ‘He must be something special. Okay…’ She stepped out from behind the counter and moved over to stand beside Lily. Werewolf and half-succubus took up almost identical stances, chins resting in their hands as they studied their victim. Anita seemed to shrink under their gaze; Ceri almost felt sorry for her.

  Kennington

  Cheryl’s eyes bulged slightly as Ceri opened the door to her. Ceri grinned mischievously and waved her boss in. Clearly the outfit was a good choice; the skirt was a belt and the teddy under it consisted of a couple of strips of mesh held in place with thin ribbon. She had worn it before to go out to some very risqué clubs with Lily, but since she was not going to be doing much walking she had been able to add some outrageously tall heels to heighten the effect, and herself. Of course, if Cheryl was surprised now, she would fall over when she saw Lily.

  ‘Lily’s downstairs already,’ Ceri said, taking Cheryl’s coat. The older woman was not exactly over-dressed; Ceri had never seen her in a skirt that short and her silk blouse was far from opaque. ‘Go on down. You remember the way?’

  The spotlights were already on in the dungeon and Cheryl gave a little gasp as she preceded Ceri down the steps. There was a chair waiting for her, facing down the room toward the pole, though the area they used for dancing was not visible until they were all the way down. Cheryl turned at the bottom and her jaw dropped open.

  Lily was leaning against the chromed dance pole dressed in a sexy parody of a schoolgirl outfit. Her blouse was knotted under her large breasts, her pleated, tartan skirt was ludicrously short, and her hair was pulled up into a pair of pigtails. As Cheryl looked on, she slowly pulled the lollipop she was sucking on out between her full lips with a soft pop. ‘Ceri says you want us to dance for you, Miss,’ she said, ‘otherwise we get detention.’

  Ceri guided Cheryl into the chair, trying very hard not to giggle, and then moved over to Lily, snuggling up against her. The kiss was entirely for Cheryl’s benefit, but Ceri could not deny she enjoyed it. Lily tasted of cherry lollipop.

  Cheryl managed to rally herself. ‘You two are very bad girls,’ she said. They nodded at her in unison.

  ~~~

  Cheryl’s eyes flickered open and she saw Ceri and Lily sat opposite her. Ceri was sat in her usual wing-backed, leather chair with Lily on the footstool beside her, which meant that Cheryl was in the other wing-back. She shifted slightly, discovering that someone had wrapped a blanket around her, and Ceri smiled.

  ‘You’re awake,’ Ceri said. ‘I was beginning to think we would have to put you to bed.’

  ‘You deserved the nap,’ Lily added. ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘Um,’ Cheryl said, considering how she did feel, ‘a bit tired, but… I feel really good. I’m surprised my wrists aren’t aching. How long did you have me up on that cross?’

  Ceri giggled. ‘An hour, give or take.’

  ‘Proper suspension cuffs,’ Lily said, quite seriously. ‘They spread the load over the hand more so the wristbands don’t dig in. I’m usually the one hanging up there so I’ve made sure I can be comfortable when I want to be.’

  ‘The question is,’ Ceri said, ‘did you enjoy your birthday present, belated though it was?’

  ‘I think it was well worth waiting for.’ She looked across at Ceri, her expression slightly quizzical. ‘You know, when we were in Cambridge you were… reticent about sleeping with me. I know I was the same, but I was throwing myself at you when I got drunk on my birthday, and then you never took advantage of being in the same bed on the last night. Now you’re more… You’re not in the least bit worried about it, are you?’

  Ceri blinked. ‘Well… um, no, I guess I’m not. I still wouldn’t take advantage though. That’d be… I wouldn’t.’

  ‘What’s changed?’ Cheryl asked.

  Ceri looked thoughtful, but Lily answered. ‘She’s stopped trying to be what she isn’t. She taught me to be me, she’s always taught me I should let myself be me, that there’s nothing wrong with what I am and I can let myself be that. Now she’s finally listening to her own advice.’

  ‘Like you said downstairs,’ Ceri said, giggling, ‘I’m a bad girl. It’s just taken me twenty-five years to figure it out.’

  Soho

  With the full moon barely past there were still plenty of wolves in the Jade Dragon, but the number of undead was starting to rise. It was actually one of the better times to be a waitress with the Sight in a dress that barely maintained your dignity; no old vampires looking disgusting, and the werewolves groped less.

  It was closing on midnight when Carter waved her over quickly as she was walking back from a drinks run. He nodded at the entrance lectern. ‘Isn’t that your martial arts instructor?’

  Ceri raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, and the woman with him is Anita, my Captain. I wasn’t expecting them here though.’

  Carter raised one of his own eyebrows. He had only ever seen Anita as a towering, grey furred she-wolf. ‘Impressive woman,’ he said. ‘Put them on table ten? They look like they would appreciate a little privacy.’

  Nodding, Ceri headed for the lectern. Privacy was likely a good idea, but Carter was looking at Anita’s clothes and Ceri was watching her body language. There was something wrong and Ceri suspected Anita had suggested coming to the Dragon because of that.

  ‘Good evening,’ Ceri said as she stepped up to the lectern, smiling. ‘I’m Ceri and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’

  Anita frowned a little. ‘Do you say that to everyone who comes here?’

  ‘The ones who I’ll actually be serving, yes,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘I’m quite sure most of them don’t deserve it,’ Anita commented.

  Ceri grinned and turned around. ‘Follow me,’ she said. ‘We’ve got a booth at the back waiting for you.’ Leading the couple through the tables Ceri spotted various people looking their way. They did make a very impressive couple. Anita was currently matching Ray’s six foot six and both had plenty of muscle going for them. Ray’s black jeans were stretched over his thighs slightly tighter than his T-shirt was stretched over his chest. The leather jacket just added to the tough-man image and having Anita on his arm just made the look. Lily and Catherine had gone for simple-but-sexy; Anita was dressed in a very short, black leather
shirt, a camisole top in striped mesh which hid little of her ample bosom, and slouch boots with three-inch heels. They looked incredible together, but there was something wrong.

  Ray was all gentleman, and allowed Anita to sit before slipping into the booth opposite her. Ceri watched them, noting Anita’s slight disappointment, Ray’s broad smile, the way they both sat… ‘Can I get you something to drink?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Beer or wine?’ Ray asked Anita.

  ‘Oh… beer,’ Anita replied.

  ‘Two beers then,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll be right back… Oh, Ray, Lily said something about talking to you tomorrow. Since you’re here…’

  He frowned, but he was a chivalrous sort of man. ‘Uh, sure. I’ll go see her now.’

  Ceri waited for him to be out of earshot. ‘Okay,’ she said to Anita, ‘what’s up?’

  Anita grimaced. ‘He’s so deferential,’ she said. ‘He was great in the shower, but now he’s acting like I’m made of glass. I really like him, but he’s just been talking to me all evening, and I’m getting all kinds of mixed signals. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.’

  ‘He’s human,’ Ceri said. ‘You’re not doing anything wrong. He’s being a gentleman.’

  ‘But we fucked in the shower!’ Anita said plaintively.

  Ceri gave her a supportive smile. ‘Just be patient,’ she said, and then headed off toward the bar where she could see Ray talking to Lily and looking a little confused.

  ‘She didn’t need to talk to me,’ he said as she walked up.

  ‘No,’ Ceri said, placing her hand on his chest and pushing him out of sight of Anita, ‘I do. Do you like Anita?’

  The big man blinked at her. ‘She’s gorgeous. She’s clever, amusing, confident, and, well, I mean, her body…’

  ‘Right,’ Ceri said. ‘She’s a werewolf. Werewolves are tactile and they have no idea of personal space. You’re confusing her by being all perfect datey. When you go back, sit next to her. Right next to her. Touch her. Her arm, her leg, doesn’t matter. Even the males don’t think anything of personal contact you’d be embarrassed about. This is a woman you’ve already had sex with so don’t be bashful.’ Ceri could not believe she was giving dating advice to a man who looked as good as Ray. ‘What are you going to do after you leave? Your place?’