Thaumatology 06 - Hammer of Witches Read online

  ‘I think that’s enough for today,’ Ed said. ‘You have your homework, I’ll leave you to it.’ He turned as if to walk out, though actually he was just going to vanish, and then turned back, his face serious. ‘I’m very proud of the work you and Cheryl are doing, you know? It’s the kind of advancement of knowledge we tried to progress back in the old days. It’s nice to see you surpassing the knowledge we had then.’

  Ceri smiled. ‘Thank you, Ed. I hope you’ve told Cheryl that.’

  He frowned slightly. ‘I haven’t. You’re right, I should.’

  Battersea

  ‘So, how did it go with Ray?’ Ceri asked. She had made a point of getting Anita alone and shifting back to human for a while to do it. The Captain must have known what she was up to because she was wearing an odd sort of resigned grin.

  ‘You gave him a few pointers, didn’t you?’ Anita said. ‘When he came back from that “talk” with Lily he was suddenly more… like a werewolf.’

  ‘I suggested he should be more demonstrative,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Well, he was certainly that. He even picked up on me offering myself. Most humans wouldn’t.’ She suddenly went a little bashful, her cheeks colouring and her eyes going down. ‘I must admit I’m not used to males… well, he… he licked… I’ve had bitches do it, but never a male.’

  Ceri rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going to have to start sex ed classes for werewolves. Michael’s learned that a little foreplay works wonders and he’s got pretty good at giving head.’

  Anita’s eyes widened. ‘Michael does that?’

  Ceri giggled. ‘In both forms. His tongue is amazing in wolf form, but his lips make up for it when he’s man-shaped.’ She developed a slightly distant look; so did Anita. ‘Would you excuse me? I need to go find Michael.’

  ‘Of course,’ Anita said, ‘I think I might have to go find someone myself.’ Giggling, the two girls started off in opposite directions, shifting as they went.

  October 20th

  Jenny Li, it turned out, had got visiting the pack in winter down to a fine art. Ceri spotted her on the bank of the boating lake and watched, fascinated, as she stripped down to a very conservative swimsuit, pushed her clothes into a bag and then swam across the lake. Once on the island she hurried into the trees, opened her bag, stripped out of the suit, and then pulled a towel out of the bag to dry herself. She was, however, shivering a little when Ceri appeared beside her.

  ‘H-hi Ceri,’ Jenny said, fairly brightly. She looked down as Ceri waved a clawed hand at the little rucksack. ‘Waterproof. I don’t have fur to change into if I swim over. It’s still a bit chilly this way, but it’s better than sitting around in a wet swimsuit.’

  Ceri made a snickering sound which she had worked out humans thought sounded like a laugh, but did not sound entirely stupid coming out of a wolf, and stepped forward quickly to wrap Jenny in a furry blanket.

  ‘Hey!’ Jenny yelped. ‘Stop that! Oh, actually, that’s really nice, you’re warm, but I might get to like it.’ Ceri tickled Jenny’s neck with her muzzle and Jenny burst into a fit of giggles. ‘No! Stop it!’ Ceri added a few strategically placed finger pads to the mix and Jenny was reduced to a giggling puddle on the grass squeaking, ‘Ah! No! Stop it!’

  When Ceri finally relented, at least partially because she was getting to the point of going further, Jenny lay there panting. ‘You… you did that… to me… when we were… six,’ Jenny huffed out. ‘Except… wasn’t naked.’

  Warmer? Ceri growled.

  ‘Yes, thank you.’ The half-Chinese girl hauled herself upright and pulled her dry clothes from the bag. Dressed, she put the damp swimsuit into a zip-lock bag and tucked it away. ‘There,’ she said, ‘all sorted. And I’ve had some fun, so now it’s down to business.’ She pulled another zip-lock bag from her rucksack, opened it, and handed an envelope from it to Ceri. There was another in the bag.

  Her brow furrowing, Ceri used a claw to delicately slit open the envelope. There was a card inside, embossed with gold lettering. It was an invitation to the New Year Ball at the Chinese Embassy on January the twenty-third addressed to Ceri and one guest. Ceri looked up at Jenny and blinked.

  ‘I know it’s well in advance,’ Jenny said, ‘but they have to organise this stuff really early. It’s going to be a huge deal this year. Huanglong is coming over and…’ She glanced around and lowered her voice. ‘…there’s a good chance the American President is going to be there. That’s really secret, by the way, but Mei said I should mention it.’

  Ceri reached up to her collar. Her skin tingled and she was standing in the cold night air. ‘Who’s the other one for?’

  ‘Alexandra. Who else? I’ll be there and I’m allowed a guest. I asked Gran already and she said not to be silly and I should take Lee. There’ll be plenty of pack there to keep an eye on her.’

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, I’ll check and send a reply. I don’t think there’s anything happening in January to stop me going.’

  Jenny beamed. ‘Good. The last ball I went to was amazingly boring. It’ll be so good to have some people I actually know.’

  Ceri smirked. ‘As I recall, you were complaining about old men staring at your non-existent cleavage.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jenny replied, sagging a little. ‘They aren’t rude enough to do it to Mei.’

  ‘Well, don’t worry. This time they’ll all be staring at Lily instead.’

  ~~~

  Ceri and Michael swam back across the lake with Jenny, and Lee was along as well, keen to see the girl he definitely thought of as his mate off for the night. Ceri wondered whether she had ever been that cute with Michael. In truth, she doubted it since they spent much of their time as wolves… Or perhaps she was just suffering from self-delusion again.

  Jenny and Lee cut into a thicket of trees nearby where she could change clothes again, but Ceri stopped as Michael paused, raising his muzzle and sniffing. Scent? Ceri growled softly, raising her own nose to try to sense what he had.

  Man scent, Michael rumbled back. There were always people in the park, even at this time of year, so she was not sure why he was concerned. Don’t know man, but smelled before.

  Ceri’s eyes caught something and she stared at the spot trying to make out any shapes in that area. There was no moon yet and the park was not well lit, but her wolf eyes were good in the dark. Still, all she managed to see was a figure moving away. He looked like he was holding something and as he moved she identified it; a camera.

  Reporter Captain said about, she growled.

  Michael frowned, and then shrugged before heading into the thicket. Ceri followed, and bumped into his back as he came to a sudden stop. She looked around his broad back to discover that Jenny and Lee were engaged in saying goodnight, rather enthusiastically. Lee, it seemed, had already learned the value of a little foreplay; his long tongue was working in long strokes between Jenny’s legs and, from the look on her face, he was pretty good at it. Michael looked around at Ceri and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Ceri gave a little shrug and a nod; she was not sure whether Jenny had been expecting a foursome, but she was going to get one.

  Soho, October 21st

  John looked serious and Kate looked harried. Ceri suspected the evening was going to go badly downhill as soon as she saw them waiting near the bar. Lily slid in beside her as she started back toward them and Ceri could feel the unease in her demon’s mind.

  ‘This isn’t going to be good,’ Lily said, her voice soft and carrying the same disquiet.

  It was not, and John was not wasting time. ‘We found another body,’ he said as soon as they were close enough. ‘Uniforms responded to a call from the golf course out at Kew.’

  ‘Middle of the eighteenth hole green,’ Kate added. ‘It must have been put there last night.’

  ‘There was nothing in the evening news,’ Lily said, frowning.

  ‘We asked them to keep it out of the news while we identified the victim,’ John said, ‘but that’ll only last until mo
rning.’

  ‘You think it’s Suzie Shore,’ Ceri stated.

  ‘She’s missing, the body’s female,’ John said. ‘Not that it was easy to tell.’ He swallowed back bile.

  ‘How can we help?’ Ceri asked. ‘I’m assuming you’re here because you want our help.’

  ‘We’re just the messengers,’ Kate said. ‘We’re going off duty, but the Chief wants to hear your theories on it. Tomorrow morning, ten o’clock.’

  Lily grimaced. ‘Why does police work have to start so early?’

  ‘If it’s any consolation,’ Kate said, ‘he’ll probably have had a couple of hours sleep in a chair at HQ.’

  ‘Between the bomb and the murders he isn’t seeing home much,’ John agreed. There was an undercurrent to his tone Ceri did not like. He looked around at Kate. ‘You want a lift to the station?’ The same undercurrent was there, but a little harsher.

  ‘I think I could use a drink,’ Kate replied. ‘You go on home.’ He said nothing in reply, just shrugged slightly and headed for the door. Kate watched him go before saying, ‘He’s still a bit…’

  ‘Of a jerk?’ Lily suggested.

  ‘Annoyed,’ Kate said, though she did manage a bit of a smile.

  ‘Sit down,’ Ceri said, ‘get a drink. Just forget about it for a while.’ She turned, immediately spotting one of her tables running low on alcohol.

  ‘Sure,’ Kate said, ‘but there is one thing you should know. We found a card near the body with a message printed on it. It said, “Her blood is on her own hands.”’

  ‘Oh,’ Ceri said. She started off for table fifteen. That did explain why Chief Inspector Barry wanted to talk to them, but somehow it did not make Ceri feel happy at the idea that Lily’s hunch had been right. There was someone out there killing people based on Biblical Law and she was a sorceress whose girlfriend was half-demon. That could not be good.

  Kennington, October 22nd

  A voice woke Ceri, though her eyes remained closed as she mumbled, ‘Just five more minutes, Mum.’

  Soft wind chimes filtered into Ceri’s sleepy brain. ‘That’s sweet, dear, but I’m not your mother. You asked me to wake you at nine.’

  Ceri lifted her head and looked at Twill. The action disturbed Kate who mumbled something unintelligible and pulled Ceri’s arm tighter around her waist. ‘Sorry, Twill,’ Ceri said. ‘We’re going to need a lot of coffee.’

  ‘It’s already brewing,’ the fairy said. ‘I’ll organise some breakfast.’ Turning in the air, she flitted out of the room.

  Ceri felt Lily stirring behind her, which left only the cop in front of her. She pinched one of Kate’s nipples. The squeak of surprise brought Lily fully awake too; two birds with one stone.

  ‘If you’re going to do that, it could at least be because you’re going to do something else too,’ Kate growled.

  ‘Sorry,’ Ceri said. ‘You wanted to come back with us, which means you get the pleasure of getting up with us.’

  Kate rolled out of bed with a groan. ‘What was I thinking?’

  ‘You were thinking,’ Lily told her, ‘that it would be really awesome having my head between your legs again.’

  ‘Yes, but what was I thinking?’

  Bursting into laughter, Ceri swung her legs out of the bed and jumped to her feet. ‘I’m grabbing the shower first,’ she said. ‘And no, no one’s coming with me or we won’t get there until midday.’

  Westminster

  Barry was using one of the conference rooms for their meeting. Besides him, Ceri, and Lily, there was John and Kate sitting on opposite sides of the table, Laurel and Hecks, and another man Ceri did not recognise. He was Barry’s age, but slim where Barry was bulky, and with far more grey hair. Ceri’s Sight showed her evidence of magic use, but no sign of a pact, and she turned it off again before she had to look at the one person in the room who did have one.

  ‘Ceridwyn Brent, Lily Carpenter,’ Barry said, cutting the introductions to a minimum, ‘this is Detective Chief Inspector Harold Nugent of Special Branch.’

  Nugent neither got to his feet nor offered his hand; Ceri was beginning to think anyone involved in counter-terrorism or counter-espionage was a dick. ‘I understand you have a theory regarding the explosion at Graham’s Bar,’ Nugent said.

  ‘We’ll get to that,’ Barry snapped. ‘Please have a seat, ladies.’ There appeared to be some jurisdictional rancour; Ceri and Lily glanced at each other before pulling out a chair each and taking a seat. ‘Right,’ Barry went on, ‘I want to go over what we have so far on all the cases to get Miss Brent and Miss Carpenter up to speed.’

  ‘The information on the bombing is classified…’ Nugent began.

  ‘They are Special Advisors,’ Barry said, cutting him off. ‘Miss Brent was responsible for the neutralisation of Remus at Stonehenge last Winter Solstice. Miss Carpenter led the team of werewolves who went in to take out Remus’ human associates. They have both been cleared for access to information well beyond some group of Scots malcontents you’ve fixated on.’ He glared at Nugent, Nugent glared back; Barry had a far more impressive glare. Nugent looked away. ‘John,’ Barry said, ‘you start?’

  ‘Unfortunately,’ John said, ‘there’s relatively little to tell. Suzie Shore, noted celebrity witch, is known to have entered her flat in Kensington on October eighth at around ten-thirty. Her boyfriend entered the flat at eleven the following morning, found signs of a disturbance and called the police. We don’t think there was a struggle at this point. Forensics believe the flat was searched. They can’t find any evidence of the intruder.’

  ‘The boyfriend is a werewolf, isn’t he?’ Nugent asked.

  Ceri could hear the insinuation. ‘Garrett, he’s one of the Royals. We were asked to check on him. He had nothing to do with it.’

  ‘And you know this because?’

  ‘His Alpha says so. They were checking on any ex-girlfriends or other people who might have had a grudge, but if there was anyone they haven’t found them.’

  ‘You’re taking the word of one of his pack that…’ He stopped as Ceri’s eyes flashed angrily.

  ‘When you know as much about werewolves as I do, I’ll be happy to take your opinion, sir,’ Ceri said.

  ‘We have no leads,’ Kate put in quickly. ‘We’ve had diviners trying to locate her, but she’s somewhere they can’t scry into.’

  ‘The body you found on the golf course wasn’t her?’ Lily asked.

  ‘No,’ Barry said. ‘We’ve determined that, but not who she was. Which brings us to the murders.’ He was obviously not going to let Nugent get a word in; Ceri had to suppress a smirk. ‘We know of four victims killed in the same way. Angela Hoff and Teresa Tobin died in the New Forest area, Miss Brent found Helen Brewster on Clapham Common, and now there’s the new one at Kew. They were all witches, but there appears to be no other connection between them. Forensics say that the bodies were exposed to a temperature of about eight hundred Celsius, which is above the ignition temperature of human flesh. There was no fuel or accelerant used. As you said at Clapham, Miss Brent, some form of containment circle was used to contain the heat and, presumably, the sound of the screams.’ He picked up a folder and pulled out a photograph, pushing it down the table. ‘This card was found at the Kew crime scene. The quote is, essentially, from the Bible.’

  Ceri and Lily looked at the photograph, but it just showed a standard index card with the message Kate had quoted laser printed onto it. ‘Have you had diviners check this?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Not a trace of anything,’ Barry growled. ‘Our killer knows how to break the Law of Contagion link.’

  ‘That’s not a particularly simple spell,’ Ceri commented.

  ‘So I’m told.’ Barry looked across at Nugent. ‘Inspector Nugent?’

  ‘A bomb consisting of eight pounds of plastic explosives and two gallons of petrol was detonated at Graham’s Bar in the early hours of the sixteenth,’ Nugent said, looking reluctant even though he was not saying anything Ceri and Lily did
not already know. ‘No one has claimed it, but we suspect a group called the Sons of Wallace, a radical Scottish separatist group. Intelligence indicates that they have been making plans for a more active campaign over the past year.’ He sniffed. ‘There was a letter sent to The Times with a similar message to that one. There are several active Catholics in the Sons…’

  ‘So a Scottish separatist movement begins their campaign by killing random witches?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Let’s keep this moving,’ Barry said. ‘Let’s hear your theory, Miss Brent.’

  ‘It was Lily’s idea,’ Ceri said, looking at her pet demon.

  Lily blinked. ‘Okay. It simply seemed to me that these things seem connected, certainly the murders and the bombing, but Suzie is a witch and it seems like the killer must kidnap his victims before burning them. Witches and homosexuals are both subject to the death penalty according to Old Testament law. They used to burn witches, cleansing fires and all that. It’s also interesting that a firebomb was used at the bar. Add in the messages… I think this is someone with religious motivations. A loner or a small group anyway. They’ll be a devout Christian or Jew…’

  ‘That kind of person wouldn’t use magic,’ Nugent stated flatly.

  ‘Thaumaturgy,’ Ceri said. ‘Religious adherents refer to it as “miracle working,” but it’s still magic. Since it’s through the intercession of some form of higher power, it can be fairly powerful too. The thaumaturgist doesn’t need to be too skilled to work serious magic. They just need to be devout.’

  ‘There’s also another possible death,’ Lily said. ‘Sally Pendle? She died in a house fire, but she lived near the New Forest and she was a witch, a fairly famous one.’

  ‘Patrick,’ Barry said, looking to Laurel, ‘get the locals to send us the case file on that.’

  ‘You’re taking this seriously?’ Nugent asked, disbelief strong in his voice.