Thaumatology 02 - Demon's Moon Page 7

  ‘It was certainly instructive,’ Ceri said. ‘He knows a lot about magic. The practical side of magic not just the theory. I could probably work out all that stuff myself, given time, but it’s much easier to see it done and then work things out from there.’

  ‘I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,’ Lily began, but the rest of what she was going to say died off as two men approached from further down the car. Ceri had her back to them, but the look of irritation in Lily’s eyes put her on guard immediately.

  ‘What we got here then?’ The voice had a distinctly illiterate North London accent and the tone of someone who thought he was all that. Ceri turned slowly in her seat to observe the speaker, a relatively short man with a face like a ferret and mouse-brown hair. His grin showed fangs, quite obviously intentionally. His friend was taller, beefier, actually more attractive, but he was possessed of the kind of vacant expression that it took years of not paying attention in school to achieve. Ferret Boy’s grin grew wider as he got to see Ceri’s face. ‘Two good lookin’ women, out on their own,’ he said. ‘That just ain’t right, is it Dingo?’

  Ceri suppressed a wince at the nickname while Dingo nodded dumbly. ‘Which pack are you boys from?’ Ceri asked.

  Apparently that was not supposed to be her line. Ferret Boy looked vaguely confused for a second before pulling himself back together. ‘Serpents,’ he said. ‘You got on the train in our territory, got to pay the toll.’

  ‘The Serpents do claim Kensington,’ Lily said, ‘including the park. Hence the name since the Serpentine is in there. And I recall they do claim down to Cromwell Road.’ She looked up at Ferret Boy. ‘Except we came down through the south entrance on Thurloe Street so we didn’t go through your territory.’

  ‘Have to pay the toll, lupa, cos me an’ Dingo say you do,’ Ferret Boy said. Ceri worked her way through the possible meanings of “lupa” and came to the conclusion that he was implying that he thought they would be easy lays; neither were she-wolves, or ancient Roman prostitutes, and Ferret Boy was unlikely to have heard any rumours about the good times Ceri had had with the North Hills pack.

  Lily, apparently, came to a similar conclusion. ‘Look, lupa,’ she said, ‘my friend and I do indeed find a few hours spent in the company of some well hung wolves to be a perfectly worthwhile experience, but unfortunately you fail to live up to requirements.’

  Ferret Boy frowned, not quite sure what Lily had said. Dingo was probably never going to figure it out. ‘Just get lost,’ Ceri said, ‘before you do something stupid.’

  Something had finally sunk in. ‘Are you sayin’ my dick’s small?’ he said, glaring at Lily.

  Ceri sighed and gathered her power. ‘You’re also too thick to party with,’ she said. As he turned to glare at her, their eyes met. ‘You need to get off at the next station,’ she said, pushing the suggestion into his mind.

  Ferret Boy blinked. ‘C’mon, Dingo,’ he said. ‘We don’t need to listen to this crap.’ Dingo grunted and followed his pack-mate to the door like an obedient puppy.

  ‘That’s a cool trick,’ Lily said when the train was pulling away from Victoria station, leaving Ferret Boy and Dingo on the platform with the former wondering why he had decided to get off.

  Ceri nodded. ‘One of the spells Carter demonstrated,’ she said. ‘You push the suggestion into their head and they act on it.’

  ‘Right,’ Lily said. ‘So that’s why I thought it was such a great idea to cuff my own hands behind my back?’

  Ceri nodded again. ‘Yeah, pretty much.’ She grinned. ‘Though I suspect you weren’t averse to the idea anyway.’

  ‘He had just explained that they were enchanted and wouldn’t come off,’ Lily pointed out. ‘Even I may have thought it a little unwise.’

  ‘Possibly,’ Ceri replied, ‘but Carter was quite sure I could work out how to disable the hex before you had to go to work.’

  The train pulled into St James’ Park, stopped, and then pulled away again. ‘So, uh, how long do you think it’ll take you to do that?’ Lily finally asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Get me out of these cuffs?’ Lily replied, slightly exasperated.

  ‘Oh, that. I figured out how to do that before we left his flat.’

  Lily’s eyes narrowed. ‘So I’m walking around with my hands cuffed behind my back because…’

  ‘Because we’ll have at least an hour at home before you have to get ready for work,’ Ceri said, ‘and I feel like taking full advantage of your unfortunate situation.’

  Lily’s lips twitched as she tried not to smile.

  Camden Town, November 28th

  Regent’s Park on a dull day in November was not the most glorious place to be, but it was nicer than Camden, which was where they had got off the tube.

  ‘The Royals like to hang around near the zoo,’ Alec explained as they walked along the path toward Broad Walk. ‘I think it makes them feel a bit more wild. Frankly, they’re about as attuned to nature as the average city dweller. No more wild than the werefoxes.’

  The first signs of the pack came as they spotted a man in biker leathers at the side of the path near the zoo’s fence. He might have appeared nothing more than a loner who had picked that place to stand and smoke, but Ceri spotted his gaze fixing on Alec as they drew closer, and the small nod of acknowledgement.

  Alec led Ceri and Lily into the trees and suddenly there were werewolves everywhere. Men and women, they leant against trees or sprawled on blankets on the grass beneath. Ceri watched them as she walked past, deciding that Alec was probably right. These wolves were nothing like the North Hills pack. For starters, they were less connected. Most were in sub-groups where the nomads had been one, homogenous whole. There was pack loyalty, but not to the same extent. Alec had told her there were more than fifty werewolves in the Royals, and even on a Sunday afternoon, there were perhaps twenty-five here.

  Lying on a blanket near the centre of the pack were a couple, surrounded by a few hangers-on. The male was smaller than Alec or Dane, but still moderately powerful looking. A handsome man in his late twenties with blond hair and carefully trimmed beard, his female was younger and looked almost like the trophy wife you saw older men with, haughty, with her honey-blonde hair tied up in a tight bun at the back of her head. They had a picnic basket and an open bottle of wine between them.

  ‘Joshua, Catherine,’ Alec said, ‘I hope you don’t mind me disturbing your picnic.’

  ‘Of course not, Alec, dear chap,’ Joshua said. ‘Especially when you bring such lovely creatures with you. Sit down, have a glass of wine.’

  ‘A little early for me,’ Alec replied. ‘I think you’ve met Lily before, you’ve been to the Dragon.’

  It was Catherine who answered. ‘Indeed,’ she said. ‘Lily is the waitress you drool over whenever we’re there, dear.’

  Joshua’s lips curled slightly; the two Alphas were clearly not on the best of terms. ‘And her companion…’ he began.

  ‘Ceridwyn Brent,’ Alec said, ‘Lily’s Mistress and a powerful practitioner.’ Ceri tried to keep the surprise out of her face. She was not sure why Alec was laying it on so thick, but she was sure he had his reasons. ‘I brought her to ask a favour of the Royal Pack, one which would most assuredly cast yourselves in a favourable light.’

  Joshua raised an eyebrow. ‘Ask away,’ he said.

  Alec turned slightly, a twitch of his brow indicating that Ceri should proceed. She stepped forward and, dropping easily into her role as Ceri’s pet demon, Lily edged forward slightly, standing at her right flank, eyes slightly downcast. Okay, if she was meant to be some great wizard she had better act it…

  ‘I’m a thaumatologist as well as a magician,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m currently researching the metaphysical transformation process of were-creatures and I find myself in need of some additional test subjects. Two of your people would do and there’s no danger in the test, just a scan while you transform.’

  Joshua nodded. ‘What do we get out of this�
� experiment?’ At least he was direct.

  ‘My thanks,’ Ceri said, ‘and… there’s a considerable amount of interest in the aspect I’m working on. A lot of very, very prominent thaumatologists, supernaturalists, cryptozoologists, and probably psychologists will be reading the paper and seeing the names of the weres who helped in providing the data.’ She smiled. ‘There will likely be newspaper reports as well. The last thing I collaborated on made it into the Times.’

  That had them; she could see their attitude change. Potential fame was waiting. ‘Very well,’ Catherine said, ‘we can provide the assistance you want… Who to send?’

  ‘The best results come from the pack’s Alphas,’ Ceri said.

  ‘And it’s their names who would appear in the acknowledgements,’ Lily added.

  ‘I can arrange something,’ Catherine said. ‘Tomorrow morning?’

  ‘I can be ready whenever you can make it,’ Ceri replied.

  Joshua sucked on a fang and then nodded. ‘I’ll be there at nine,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll leave you to your… meeting.’ She turned and started away, Lily and Alec falling into step just behind her. The wolves watched her as she passed. There was a level of respect in the looks she was getting which had not been there before and she suspected it was more to do with the fact that she was leading Alec than that the two Alphas had agreed to her request.

  ‘What did you think of them?’ Alec asked as they got back out onto Broad Walk.

  ‘They were like… wannabe werewolves,’ Lily said.

  ‘The pack is far less tightly bound than the North Hills group,’ Ceri said. ‘Like you said, less wild, more… suburban.’

  Alec chuckled. ‘Joshua’s a stockbroker, Catherine runs a little boutique clothes shop off Oxford Street. Most of the rest work in the city and live out in the suburbs. They meet up in the evenings sometimes, but it’s mostly at weekends.’ He gave Lily a gentle swat on the behind and she giggled. ‘Wannabes is right, they don’t even change unless it’s full moon night and they’re partying. There’s not so many real packs around these days.’

  ‘We ran into a couple of Serpents yesterday,’ Lily said.

  ‘Huh,’ Alec grunted. ‘They don’t count at all. They’re a street gang that turns furry when they want to scare people.’

  ‘They tried to intimidate us on the tube,’ Lily said, smirking. ‘We weren’t particularly intimidated.’

  ‘What other packs are there around here?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Well, the Royals and the Serpents are the two main ones north of the river,’ Alec said. ‘There’s also the Dog Boys on the Isle of Dogs. South side you’ve got the Battersea pack between Vauxhall, Battersea Park, and Clapham, and the Marshwallers from Millwall way. The Dogs and the Marshwallers beat each other up regularly. Their territories are divided by the river, but they still manage to get into scraps. The Marshwallers like their fighting, bunch of violent thugs.’

  ‘What about the Battersea pack?’ Ceri asked. ‘We’re practically neighbours, I hope they aren’t too bad.’

  ‘No,’ Alec said thoughtfully, ‘they aren’t. Keep themselves to themselves, mostly. Rumour says their Alpha female has… mystic powers or something. Some say she’s a witch, but I’m not sure that’s even possible. Whatever, they aren’t a huge pack, but they’ve managed to hold a fairly big area. Always seem to know when someone’s invading their territory.’

  ‘Sounds interesting,’ Ceri said.

  ‘I’d introduce you,’ Alec replied, ‘but I don’t really know them myself.’

  Ceri nodded. ‘Can’t have everything,’ she said. ‘You want to come back to ours for a drink or something? Say “thanks” for the introduction.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say no,’ Alec said.

  ‘Twill’s doing a roast,’ Lily added.

  ‘Now you’re just trying to make me drool,’ Alec said, laughing.

  Holloway, November 29th

  It was rather amusing to see a werewolf in boxer shorts. Technically the undressing was to save their clothes which could suffer if the body inside them suddenly grew, and the elasticated waist on a pair of loose shorts would work fine. It was just that Ceri had rather grown used to weres stripping to change, and there was Joshua, a brown-furred wolf-man in black silk boxer shorts with “Calvin Klein” printed on them.

  She had to supress a smirk as she saved the recorded data from Joshua’s transformation. ‘Thank you, Joshua,’ she said. ‘Now if you take as long as you like before changing back, but give me a signal before you do, please.’

  The werewolf nodded. There was a rather uncomfortable look to the way he was standing. It was as though he were not happy being in wolf-form. Alec had said that the Royals tended to change rarely; perhaps this was down to their Alpha being unhappy about his nature.

  If that were the case, there was nothing abnormal about his transformation sequence, aside from the final pulse having a lower amplitude than either Alec or Dane. A weak leader creating a weaker catalysis pulse? As the analysis started to roll in, Ceri’s face lit up; she had been right, it seemed, and the frequency and modulation of the pulse was different from Alec, or the North Hills wolves.

  She noticed Joshua waving an arm out of the corner of her eyes and flicked the record button on. ‘When you’re ready,’ she said, smiling at him. The reverse transformation was just as per normal, though Joshua went straight for his clothes and began to get dressed as soon as he was able. Ceri decided it was not that he was not comfortable with his nature, he was not comfortable in his own body! How he had become the pack Alpha she had no idea.

  Catherine seemed to have no such issues, unwrapping the robe she had brought with her and stepping nude into the circle of sensors without the slightest sign of discomfort. Her body was not exactly model material, but she clearly worked out and kept herself in trim and nature had gifted her with a reasonable bust; it had to be nature, no were-creature could have implants. In fact, Ceri got the impression Catherine was posing for her. Wondering whether she needed to get an “I am not a Lesbian” badge to wear for such occasions, Ceri started the recorder and said, ‘When you’re ready, Catherine.’

  ‘I need to dash,’ Joshua said, ‘I have a meeting in twenty minutes.’

  Ceri smiled briefly at him. ‘Thank you, Joshua,’ she said, and turned back to see the final moment of Catherine’s change. Catherine’s fur was grey and sleek, and the small amount of extra muscle her reformed body added was enough to turn her into a very nice shape, aside from the canine head mounted on top. Ceri stopped the recorder and began running the data through processing, looking back to find the grey wolf standing just behind her. ‘Uh,’ Ceri said, ‘this is you changing shape.’

  Catherine took the opportunity to step closer as she looked over Ceri’s shoulder at the screen. She was making little mewling noises in her throat and her hands moved to rest lightly on Ceri’s hips. The animation sequence went through to the end, but the wolf-girl remained where she was, showing no sign of wanting to move. ‘When you’re ready to change back,’ Ceri said quietly, ‘just go back to the circle.’

  Catherine panted hesitantly for a second, and then padded back onto the granite looking a little deflated. Ceri watched her revert to human form. ‘Thanks,’ the thaumatologist said, ‘those results are great, and pretty much exactly what I expected. Um… do you have to rush off or can you stay for a coffee?’

  The werewolf perked up a little at the question. ‘I can stay a little while,’ she said.

  ‘How d’you take your coffee?’ Ceri asked, starting for the little room which served as a kitchen.

  Catherine had the sense to put her robe back on. ‘Black, a little sugar, if you’ve got it,’ she called. Vaguely decently dressed, she followed after Ceri to lean against the doorframe as Ceri set the coffee machine going.

  Ceri looked at her. ‘You mind if I ask a couple of questions?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ Catherine replied, ‘go ahead.’ Ceri got the d
istinct feeling that the Alpha was being a lot more open now that she was out of sight of her mate and her pack.

  ‘Do I come across as gay?’ Ceri asked.

  Catherine blushed. ‘No,’ she said, flustered, ‘I mean with the half-succubus… I mean, I’m not actually, um…’ She sagged. ‘Some Alpha I am.’

  ‘I wouldn’t know,’ Ceri said, smiling, ‘you’re the first Alpha female I’ve met. So, it’s Lily. I’m wandering around with a pet succubus so you figured I might like to go with you? I’m sorry to put you on the spot like this, but you’re the second… the third were-girl who’s made a play for me and I’m starting to wonder if it’s me.’

  The she-wolf frowned. ‘You smell like an Alpha,’ she said. ‘A proper one like Alec. Josh… doesn’t.’ Her frown deepened for a second and then she shook her head and brightened up a little. ‘Werewolves are attracted to that kind of scent. Don’t know about the foxes, but I’d imagine they’re attracted to power to some extent or… Well, humans are kind of the same, even if they don’t know it. You’re more visual, but you size up prospective mates the same sort of way. Kind of “does this person look like they would be good to raise kids with.” Same with weres except there’s a lot of other senses involved.’

  Ceri put half a spoonful of sugar into a mug and poured the coffee. Handing the mug with sugar in to Catherine she asked, ‘So how did you end up with Joshua?’

  Catherine shrugged. ‘Everyone makes mistakes,’ she said. ‘Trouble is, werewolves are stuck with some of them. We mate for life, the Alphas anyway.’

  ‘Just the Alphas?’ Ceri asked. She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear Catherine say it.

  ‘Yes, though the others may mourn a lost mate the rest of their lives too. Depends on the wolf.’

  ‘So how come you have to put up with it?’ Ceri said flatly.

  Catherine blinked. ‘Well, uh… It’s tradition, I guess. Always been that way.’