Thaumatology 05 - Disturbia Read online

  ‘Oh hell no,’ Alec said. ‘He hangs out in Mudchute Farm. Take the DLR there, go straight into the park and march straight up to him. Don’t demand a damn thing. Werewolves respect force, not talking.’ He waved a hand. ‘And take that staff thing. Lily should have her daggers. Don’t be afraid to knock some wolves out of your way.’

  ‘Right,’ Ceri said. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Table sixteen, love,’ Lily said.

  ‘Thanks,’ Ceri said. She picked up her tray and headed off toward the table. Well, that seemed like a great plan. She had seen Dolf once at a rock concert in Hammersmith. He had looked like a thug, which fitted his image perfectly. She stopped at her table and smiled. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

  The table was a mixed foursome; two vampires and two humans. From what Ceri had managed to make out, the couples were not mixed, but the humans were all over the vamps. A little swinging was going on, she guessed. The male vamp was the superior in the group; old enough to be showing signs of decay which were covered up by his glamour. Ceri could see both images; the handsome, dark haired face seemed to shift slightly over the similar one beneath with the greying flesh around the eyes and the thinned lips. ‘Same again, I think,’ he said.

  ‘Then move on?’ his wife suggested.

  ‘Oh, the Dubh Linn,’ the other woman enthused.

  ‘I’ll get your drinks,’ Ceri said, scooping up their empties. Yeah, two chew toys out with their regular vamps. Vampires secreted a chemical analogous to endorphins into their saliva. It was an amazing high, quite legal, and addictive. All it cost was a little blood and, if you let it, your free will. Of course, sex with Lily was addictive, and Ceri was addicted, but at least it was psychological. People trying to come down off regular vampire bites went through Hell.

  Ceri put her tray down on the counter and nodded across to Alec. ‘Two Dragon’s Bloods, one red wine, one white,’ she said.

  ‘He’s fairly old,’ Lily said.

  ‘Hmm? Oh, the vamp. Yeah, sixty or seventy. He’s just starting to turn ugly.’

  Lily nodded, satisfied at her estimate. ‘They start getting more and more clear in their desires. He wants blood. His wife wants the sex too.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Alec said, ‘well, when he gets a bit older he’ll be incapable.’ It was true; after the first century or so there was usually nothing on a vamp to have sex with. The thought made Ceri shudder. ‘Get their drinks over there,’ the bartender said, ‘and you can go back to ignoring them.’

  As she walked back to her table she noticed Carter in one of the booths. It contained a lone woman, not particularly tall, but possessed of a lot of blonde hair and a very substantial chest. The latter was showed off to perfection by the low-cut, black mini-dress she was wearing. Add that to the platform pumps and the way she was giggling at some comment Carter had made, and Ceri pegged her for a porn actress. London had had a thriving porn industry for centuries, moving from erotic or bawdy books to film to video. Lily had been part of it until Carter had persuaded her to get out.

  Stopping at table sixteen, Ceri unloaded her tray, gave the occupants a smile, and headed back to the bar. ‘Carter’s found his conquest for the evening.’

  ‘I wouldn’t call her a conquest,’ Lily commented. ‘You don’t exactly need an army to breach her bastions.’

  ‘Maybe scaling ladders to get up them,’ Alec put in.

  Ceri giggled, propping herself against the bar. ‘You know her?’

  ‘Suzie Stacks,’ Lily replied.

  ‘Seriously?’

  Lily nodded with an expression of mild disgust. ‘Originally Susan Jenkins, but that’s her stage name. I never worked with her that closely, but I know her by reputation. Her legs would blow open in a light breeze. If Carter takes her home he’s really going down market.’

  ‘She’s probably good in bed.’

  ‘Maybe. Don’t count on it. I hope she’s got some other talents because she’s probably got another year or so before she’ll be having trouble finding work.’

  ‘Young woman’s game?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Tends to be. Certainly these days. And she’s older than me.’

  ‘I bet you’d still have no trouble finding work,’ Ceri said.

  ‘No,’ Lily agreed, ‘but I’m kind of a special case. But I’m not going back anyway.’ Ceri felt the surge of emotion as she said it; hatred, self-loathing, conviction.

  ‘No, love,’ Ceri said softly, ‘no going back.’

  Millwall, August 20th

  Despite her dislike of fighting in leather, Lily had decked herself out in a lot of it. She looked incredible in tight leather jeans and a halter top, the collection decorated with chains, and her paired daggers attached to her belt. At her direction, Ceri had put on her own, not quite so form-fitting, leather jeans, a black, leather corset, and her collar. There had been some argument.

  ‘I want to interrogate them, not bed them,’ Ceri had said.

  ‘Yes, and your corset makes you feel more dominant, and the outfit will make you look tough,’ Lily had countered.

  As they walked into the park, Ceri did have to admit that she looked tough. She set her shoulders, put some swing in her hips, and let the boned garment do its other job. Lily was right, the corset was one of the crutches Ceri used when she had to be Mistress for her bound demon. Even when she had to be dominant for a bunch of petty, thuggish werewolves it was still a useful psychological platform to build her attitude on.

  ‘You look great,’ Lily said softly. ‘They’ll keep their distance.’

  Ceri had noticed the wolves trailing them as well. She steeled herself and kept marching, her staff swinging forward and slamming into the path in front of her with each stride. ‘Until we get closer to their Alpha,’ Ceri replied just as quietly.

  Turning up toward the farm area, they were tracked by more and more werewolves. Ahead of them, Ceri could see one of the old anti-aircraft battery sites, a large concrete platform. On top of it were people, wolf and human forms as best Ceri could tell. They made it to about two hundred yards from the platform before a squad of five werewolves barred their way.

  One of them, the biggest and most scarred, growled at them, Man go. Now!

  Ceri’s eyes narrowed; not shifting back to human to greet a human visitor was distinctly rude. It indicated complete lack of trust. ‘I’m here to see your Alpha,’ she said. ‘I mean no harm, but I will see him.’

  Man go, now, or else!

  They were getting nowhere. ‘Or else what? You’ll cower in fear?’ Ceri raised her hand, her will lashing out at the group of Guards. Suddenly the wolves were, indeed, cowering in fear before her. She heard rumbles and barks from the wolves around them. No one got closer as she led Lily past the shrinking guard squad.

  Dolf watched her close the distance between them from his position on a saggy old armchair which was probably supposed to look like a throne. He was a big man in human form, probably bigger when shifted. His body had a lot of muscle, shown off by his white T-shirt and torn jeans which hugged his thighs. His hair was close cropped and vaguely blonde, perhaps starting to grey, and his face looked like a battle map; his nose had been broken and reset, badly, several times, and there was a deep scar across the bridge which cut under his left eye to the top of his cheek. He looked annoyed. Then again, he had looked annoyed at a social event so maybe he always looked like that.

  He spoke before Ceri could start the formal greetings. ‘Oh look, it’s the Goddess bitch and her sex doll.’ The wolves around him made laughing noises; Ceri ignored them and watched the Alpha.

  ‘I’ll forego the pleasantries then,’ Ceri said. ‘You’ve lost three of your people this last week or so. I’m trying to find out who did it.’

  ‘It’s none of your business, human.’ He more or less spat the last word.

  ‘If this isn’t just something to do with your pack, then it affects all wolves, and that makes it my business as one of Alexandra’s Guards,’ Ceri replied sharply.

  ‘Tru
st that old bitch to make a human one of her Guards.’

  ‘This human killed Remus. That probably didn’t go down so well with you since he had you under his thumb on the first night.’ Dolf growled and Ceri sighed. ‘I’m not here to listen to you posturing about your wonderful superiority, Dolf.’ She was proud of herself for saying his name without giggling; his real name was Ernest. ‘Tell me about the men who died. It’s to your benefit to have me as a resource in this. I’m asking for nothing in return.’

  The Alpha looked down at her and she looked back, their eyes locked for a moment of appraisal. She could see he was smarter than he looked. He was a violent thug and his idea of solving a problem was to kill it, but he could see the benefit in making himself look like he was cooperating with the most respected pack Alpha in London and her Guards. She could also see something else; fear. He knew damn well she would take him apart if he tried anything.

  His eyes still on Ceri, he leaned back slightly and raised his voice. ‘Freya! Come and deal with this human for me.’

  A tall, slim woman with long, blonde hair emerged from the back of the platform. She looked a little like Anita; her body was powerful with lots of long muscles and she had an impressive chest, badly hidden under a short, white T-shirt which showed off her abs. A short leather skirt and a pair of flat, knee-length boots finished off the outfit. There was something about the face, perhaps a slightly angular, faintly masculine, beauty which reminded Ceri of Anita as well. The woman who was presumably Freya, walked toward them with a confident, graceful strut.

  Her eyes flicked over Ceri and Lily appraisingly. ‘Come with me,’ she said in a cold tone. ‘We’ll go somewhere private.’ With that, she marched off in the direction they had come. Lily gave a little shrug in reply to Ceri’s glance and they set off after her.

  ~~~

  “Somewhere private” was a small coffee shop on Canary Wharf in the shadow of the huge tower. ‘The coffee here is excellent,’ Freya said as she led them in, ‘and they serve the best pastries.’ Her tone had changed markedly and there was a sparkle in her pale blue eyes which had been missing around the other wolves. The counter did, indeed, have a large supply of very pleasant looking sweets behind it and, with Freya carrying a tray of coffee and food, they selected a table in the back of the shop and sat down.

  ‘So, you know my sisters,’ Freya said as soon as they were seated.

  Ceri blinked. ‘I kind of got the feeling Anita…’

  Freya nodded. ‘She’s the eldest, Aleena was second, I was third, Catherine was the youngest.’

  ‘Catherine and Anita are sisters? They don’t act like it.’

  ‘Huh,’ the blonde grunted, ‘you know what Anita’s like. Catherine’s an Alpha so Anita’s all uptight and formal about it in public. She’s the same with me… well, worse really, she thought I was an idiot hooking up with Earnie.’ Her hand reached across the table and covered one of Ceri’s and her voice grew very serious. ‘I owe you way more than I can ever give for getting Aleena back. There’s only so much I can do while Earnie’s alive, but whatever I can do…’

  It made a degree of sense. Anita had trusted Ceri with a lot of power on what seemed like very little evidence. Gratitude for the return of a sister? ‘Who were your parents?’ she asked.

  ‘The previous Alphas of the Royals, Harry and Elspeth. Most of us bugged out of the pack when Mother died. Dad was ill, depressed, and we could see where things were going. We weren’t sure who would end up on top, but the candidates were all weak. Joshua managed to secure the Alpha position by getting his paws on Catherine. I’ve got to admit, she’s really grown up. I’m really proud of her, not that we talk.’ There was a sadness in her voice which yanked at Ceri’s heart. When was the last time Freya had actually talked to any of her sisters? ‘Anyway,’ the blonde Alpha said, ‘you didn’t come here for my family history.’

  ‘What do you know about the three dead wolves?’ Ceri asked, accepting the change of subject.

  Freya grinned. ‘I make it my business to know as much as I can about all my wolves. Goddess knows Earnie doesn’t. The first one was Ben. He was a weakling and got by mostly by hanging on the coat-tails of stronger wolves. He had a talent for collecting information, though. The people he mostly hung around with were Carl, Jarrel, and a female, Lisa. Lisa was putatively Jarrel’s mate, but the guy was a horn dog, thought he was Goddess’ gift to bitches. Carl and Jarrel are the other two dead ones, and no one has seen Lisa since Jarrel was killed.’

  ‘Has anyone told the Greycoats about her?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Freya laughed as she said it. ‘There’s precious few of the pack trust the cops.’

  ‘What about you?’ Ceri said, tentatively.

  ‘They don’t like us much, but I can’t blame them.’

  Ceri pulled her warrant card out of her jeans and placed it on the table. ‘We’re kind of working with them.’

  Freya eyed the card, frowning. ‘Special Advisor, huh? So, basically, you can be cops when you want, wolves when you want, and neither when it’s needed. Nice arrangement.’

  ‘I’m glad you haven’t just clammed up,’ Ceri said.

  The she-wolf shrugged. ‘Don’t tell Earnie unless you have to. Anyway, no one’s told the cops, but she has form for prostitution so they have her picture on file and they could have found out about her from anywhere, couldn’t they?’

  Lily smirked. ‘There are hookers in the Battersea pack. Ceri could have heard about her from them.’

  ‘Better still,’ Freya said. She frowned again. ‘There was one thing. Ben heard about some porn producer who wanted some werewolves for a film. As best I can tell, he got Carl and Jarrel into it, tagging along himself for some free pussy.’ Ceri could feel Lily stiffening beside her and Freya’s next statement revealed why. ‘I don’t think it was legal stuff.’

  ‘There are a couple of werewolves in porn,’ Lily said, her voice tight. ‘They’re no different from any other big guy with a big dick though. The illegal porn trade uses far more.’

  Freya accepted the clarification with a nod. ‘They used to brag about it among the males, but I’d hear things. “We DPed this white bitch and she was so hot,” or “You ever spit-roast a schoolgirl?” I tried to get Earnie to pull them up on it. I thought it was a danger to the pack aside from the fact that it sounded disgusting. Anyway, about two months ago it just stopped. No more bragging, and they seemed to run out of money. Carl was unemployed. I think he was starting to have trouble with his rent, but I know he bought some sort of high-end home theatre system last year.’

  Lily nodded. ‘Snuff pays well, in cash, off the book.’ Ceri shivered; Lily was unnaturally calm, but at her core she was burning.

  ‘Someone tidying up a mess?’ Ceri suggested. ‘That would be better than someone going after wolves in general.’

  ‘It’s not impossible,’ Lily replied. ‘The distribution paths are largely through criminal organisations. A lot of the actual producers are freelance, but they often use outside contractors to get their hands on victims. They might have picked the wrong girl and someone is taking out the people who knew about it.’

  ‘It’s worth exploring,’ Ceri said. She smiled at Freya. ‘You’ve been a lot of help, Freya, thanks.’

  The Alpha waved a hand dismissively. ‘Even if they were slime, they were pack and they didn’t deserve to die like that. And it’s Beatrice, Bea if you prefer. Earnie thinks Freya sounds better.’

  ‘I think you’re a better Freya than Earnest is a Dolf,’ Lily said. ‘You’ve got the build, the blonde hair.’ The half-succubus licked her lips. Ceri could tell it was forced; Lily was still trying not to think about her past and failing.

  Freya blushed, the flush travelling down her throat. ‘Well, you can call me anything you want.’

  ‘I think,’ Ceri said, ‘we should let you get back to your pack before I have a political incident to deal with.

  Both Freya and Lily pouted.

  Westminster


  The computer screen displayed a pair of images, in the traditional “mug shot” mode, of a short-haired woman, pretty in a run-down sort of way. She looked depressed, but then she was having her photograph taken following an arrest.

  ‘Lisa,’ Kate said. ‘Dog Boys pack, arrested three times for soliciting. Known associate of Jarrel, our third victim.’

  ‘How did he die?’ Lily asked.

  ‘He fell off a six storey building,’ John said. ‘Witnesses reported that he ran in off the street, charged through the lobby and into a fire escape. We have security camera footage showing that and him running up the stairs. From the trajectory of the fall he was trying to hit the building across the street.’

  ‘He did, too,’ Kate said, ‘Just very hard.’ Ceri winced.

  ‘There’s no evidence of anyone chasing him,’ John said, ‘but he really looks like he was being chased.’

  ‘A hallucination?’ Ceri suggested. ‘Chemically or magically induced.’

  John shrugged. ‘Get this Lisa’s picture out, Kate. See if we can find her. We’ll follow up the porn angle.’ He frowned. ‘I guess you two can sit this out until we come up with something else.’

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri said, ‘but keep us informed, if you would. If this turns out to be someone going after werewolves…’

  ‘We will,’ John said, ‘but let’s hope it’s just some revenge deal against a couple of bad Dog Boys. We may have seen the end of it.’

  Soho

  Ceri was surprised to see Michael standing at the lectern, waiting patiently. It was a really nice surprise, he was decked out in a tight, black T-shirt and the leather jeans she had bought him, but it was still a surprise. Glancing at Carter for permission, she walked over, smiling broadly.

  ‘Good evening and welcome to the Jade Dragon,’ she said; the standard introduction. ‘I’m Ceri and I’ll be your drooling waitress for the evening.’ That was not quite standard, but it was more or less true. His return smile was a little bleak and she frowned, worried. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Nothing really,’ Michael replied. ‘Probably just the moon. I was feeling a bit… Well, Alexandra told me to come here and get cheered up. I’m just a customer tonight. I’ve got cash and everything.’