Thaumatology 06 - Hammer of Witches Page 9

  Ceri’s lips twitched. ‘Well… I’m not sure0. Perhaps you should remind me what you can do, pet.’

  The slightest touch of Lily’s lips on Ceri’s throat sent a sharp pang of desire through her body. ‘Of course, Mistress,’ Lily purred. ‘Pet will make sure you don’t even remember the vamp.’

  After a few minutes “Mistress” could not even remember her name.

  October 24th

  Busy as she was tracing over a rune marked on the side gate’s posts, Ceri barely noticed Lorna coming up behind her. Lily, sat on the grass with a mug of coffee, looked up and smiled. ‘You can see through that?’ the half-succubus asked.

  Lorna had left home in a hurry and had forgotten to bring her sunglasses. Instead she had a double thickness of bandage wrapped over her eyes. ‘Just about. I can’t see a damn thing without it.’ Vampire eyes were able to see in near total darkness. Unfortunately that meant they were essentially blind in daylight. ‘What’s she doing?’

  ‘I’m reinforcing…’ Ceri said, a little distractedly, ‘…the fence wards.’ She dipped the quill she was using in her pot of ink and started on the next rune.

  ‘She did the same last year,’ Lily said, ‘just after she got her power. Word from Alexandra is that this Samhain is going to be a bad one, so she’s beefing them up again.’

  ‘So,’ Ceri mumbled, ‘it’s a good thing… you’ll be here… and back with John by then.’

  ‘I will?’

  ‘You will,’ Lily said. ‘Call it a mission, but we’re not letting anything ruin Ceri’s birthday, so you’re both going to be happy by then.’

  Ceri sat up straight suddenly and the runes around the arbour sprang to life, glowing for a few seconds before dying away. Lily little out a little squeak of glee and Ceri turned to grin at her. ‘You were the same last time I did this.’

  ‘No I wasn’t,’ Lily said, ‘I was stalking you last time.’

  ‘Stalking?’ Lorna asked bemusedly.

  Ceri grimaced. ‘I made the mistake of thinking that we could keep going as we had been if I just held out until she’d got over lusting after my sudden magical ability. Then I spent a couple of days as her sex slave before I managed to take control.’

  ‘So, now you’re Ceri’s sex slave?’ Lorna asked, smirking.

  ‘Yes,’ Lily said brightly.

  ‘No,’ Ceri said. ‘Well, not exactly… Well, sort of, when I let her. It was either I be her Mistress or she be mine, and I’m a lot…’

  ‘A lot less likely to keep her slave in a half-mesmerised state and ready to service her mistress at any moment,’ Lily said. ‘I was really bad. My demon side was in almost full control.’

  ‘It was weird,’ Ceri said, picking up her ink pot and climbing to her feet. ‘It was like my head was full of fog. It got worse when she was in sight, but it was an act of will to disobey her orders even when she was away.’

  ‘I didn’t think succubi had that kind of power,’ Lorna said.

  ‘They don’t,’ Ceri said, starting down the fence to one of the corner posts. ‘It was a combination of the sex and psychology. I’d never had much of a sex life and suddenly I was having fifteen minute orgasms from a woman who really wanted me. I just didn’t want to give it up. Vampire bites are chemically addictive, and you could enslave someone that way, but succubi…’ She shook her head. ‘Mental addiction can be a far more subtle, nasty way of controlling someone than any drug,’

  Lily climbed to her feet, looking forlorn, her head hanging slightly and her eyes downcast. Ceri reached the post and sat down ready to start on the runes. ‘Still, for all the two of us were miserable, I wouldn’t have had it any other way,’ Ceri said. ‘Lily learned something about herself and I was stronger for breaking out of it. And I think I’m a better mistress for having been a complete slave. We probably have a better relationship for that screw up.’

  ‘I’ll get more coffee,’ Lily said, breaking into a smile. ‘She’s going to be at this for hours.’

  ‘Thanks, love,’ Ceri said, her voice once again taking on an absent tone as she concentrated on her work.

  ~~~

  Ceri was working alone, her quill tracing over the bottoms of the runes on the concrete gateposts at the front of the house, when a figure in a dark suit appeared in the corner of her vision. He said nothing, just standing there, waiting for her to finish. She made the final mark and looked up as a wall of orange light flared up along the fence line.

  ‘You’re learning,’ she said as she stood up.

  ‘I’ve had a year,’ John replied, ‘I’d hope I’d have become a little more aware of magic and magicians.’ He looked hesitant for a second and then added, ‘How’s Lorna?’

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri replied. ‘Unhappy, unsure, but okay.’

  ‘She… well, she hasn’t fed…’

  ‘I took care of that yesterday,’ Ceri said and watched his face stiffen. ‘If I’m going to have a vampire under my roof, it isn’t going to be a hungry one. I did it as clinically as possible. I’m no kind of chew toy. Frankly, the thought of being bitten freaked me out. It still does, but I won’t let her go hungry while you straighten yourself out.’

  ‘Me?’ His tone was snappy, angry. ‘Her and Kate…’

  ‘Your wife,’ Ceri said firmly, ‘is worried that you’re over-taxing yourself keeping her in blood. You know, most vampires have a small group to feed them. It takes time to recover. You won’t get a blood bank allowing you to give blood once a week.’

  John frowned. ‘Could we discuss this inside?’

  ‘Only if you’re going to keep your temper.’ She watched as his temper flared and he swallowed it back down again. ‘How much sleep have you had since she left?’

  ‘I’ve slept,’ he replied, his tone hedgy and defensive.

  ‘I’ll make you a deal,’ Ceri told him. ‘You come in and let me put a sleep spell on you for a few hours. We’ll all talk when you’ve had some decent rest.’

  The detective looked at her, obviously conflicted, and then sagged noticeable before nodding. ‘All right. You’re probably right. I should have a clear head.’

  ‘Good,’ Ceri said, opening the gate with a smile. ‘It sounds like you’re thinking more clearly already.’

  ~~~

  It was dark by the time Ceri woke him. ‘What did you hit me with?’ he asked, stretching. They had put him in the spare room since Lorna was not using it at the time. He had been uncomfortable about that, but he had climbed under the covers and found himself comforted by the scent of his wife lingering on the sheets.

  ‘It’s a spell Alexandra taught me,’ Ceri said. ‘It’s deeper than a normal sleep, but you wake up far more rested.’

  He did, actually, feel like he had had the best night’s sleep ever. Shrugging, he started to climb out of bed and then stopped. ‘I’m, uh, not actually wearing anything?’

  Ceri chuckled softly. ‘Come down to the lounge once you’re dressed. Twill’s made coffee and some sandwiches.’

  John stopped in the doorway to the lounge, his face going hard. ‘What’s she doing here?’ he said, his voice a growl. Kate, sat in a straight backed chair a strategic ten feet from Lorna in another straight backed chair, lowered her eyes.

  Twill appeared right in front of his face, red light flickering around her. John reared back as though a cobra had struck at him, but Twill just pressed forward. ‘That’s quite enough of that, young man. This business needs to be sorted out between the three of you. It isn’t Kate’s fault this happened, so you will treat her with the respect she deserves as your partner. Now sit down, shut up, and eat something. You look like you haven’t eaten any more than you’ve slept.’

  It was enormously difficult to stand up to Twill when she got in one of her moods. Something about a four-inch naked woman with rapidly flicking wings hovering an inch or so from your nose was just too much for almost anyone. Looking sullen, John backed up another pace before heading for the guest wing-back; it had obviously been left for him and he slumped
into it with a sigh. On the other hand, he did sink his teeth into a beef and mustard sandwich with more relish than Ceri had expected.

  ‘While John has his mouth full,’ Ceri said, ‘we’ve heard the story from everyone except John so far, and Lorna told me how she was turned, so we know that part. I think we need to hear John’s side and I don’t want anyone interrupting, which means you, Lorna and Kate. Are we clear?’

  The two women in the little love triangle nodded. Lorna actually looked a little scared; Ceri had spent the day pouring thaumic energy around like water and she was using her firmest voice. Ceri turned and looked at John. ‘When you’re ready. Calmly, please, no eruptions.’

  John carefully swallowed the last bite of bread and meat in his mouth. ‘I’m sorry, Kate,’ he said. ‘Twill is right, you should be here. This involves you too.’ He took a breath. ‘Well, if you’ve heard the story, then I don’t need to go over what happened…’

  ‘You don’t need to,’ Ceri said, ‘but I’d like to know what you were feeling that night.’

  ‘I can’t imagine I was feeling much different to the way Michael does when he’s watching you two,’ John replied.

  ‘I think you’ll find you did,’ Lily said.

  ‘Werewolves have a more social view of sex,’ Ceri agreed. ‘Michael might object to me sleeping with a lesser wolf or a stranger. To take a hypothetical example, he considers Lorna and you friends so, providing you asked him, he’d let you sleep with me and he’d have no objection to me laying Lorna.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘So quit stalling and tell us how you felt.’

  John looked at her for a second; his face said, “Too much information!” His mouth said, ‘I was… surprised. I didn’t know Lorna was even interested in girls and Kate had said she wasn’t.’ Ceri felt the amusement coming over the link from Lily. Lily had known, of course, but even Ceri had got the impression that Lorna would try it if she could. ‘I was… aroused,’ John went on, his cheeks colouring. ‘Seriously, who wouldn’t be? Two attractive women are making out in front of me. One of them is my wife… it was like a scene out of a porn movie.’

  ‘So you joined in?’ Ceri asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Enthusiastically?’

  ‘Yeah… Yes, I suppose I did. I was four sheets to the wind. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences, I…’

  ‘Enjoyed yourself?’ Lily suggested. John went bright scarlet. ‘You’re not Catholic, are you? You’ve got a bigger guilt complex than anyone I’ve ever known. Except maybe Ceri.’

  ‘I don’t have a guilt complex!’ Ceri squeaked.

  ‘Of course you do. You take on responsibility for everyone around you. Doubly if you actually know them.’

  ‘I’m not Catholic,’ John interrupted. ‘I do have… an over developed sense of responsibility. I think a fair number of cops have it.’

  ‘And your wife was kidnapped,’ Ceri said. ‘Not because of anything she had done, but because she was your wife and they were trying to get at you.’ She could see John’s face reddening, but she continued. ‘She was turned and left to kill you. She almost did, but you both survived, and you felt guilty. You swore you’d look after her, keep her safe, and you failed. Then you swore you’d look after her…’

  ‘Dam right I did!’ John exploded. ‘She should never have had to deal with this. It’s my fault…’

  ‘No, it’s not,’ Ceri said. ‘You know it’s not.’

  ‘Then who am I supposed to blame?’

  ‘The bastard who kidnapped her, you pillock! You didn’t even know you were dealing with a vampire. How were you supposed to know what he’d do?’ She raised her hand to forestall the denial which he was about to make. ‘That’s really not the point. You’re in this situation and you have to live with it. Why did you remarry?’

  Lorna looked as surprised as John did. ‘What?’ he asked.

  Ceri shrugged. ‘Lorna died, your marriage ended. You had to fill in a load of paperwork…’

  ‘Turn up in front of a registrar,’ Lily added, ‘with witnesses.’

  ‘And pay the registration fee,’ Ceri said. ‘It, uh, didn’t even occur to you to not do it, did it?’

  ‘Well… no,’ John said. ‘She’s my wife.’ Lorna nodded firmly in agreement.

  ‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘she’s a vampire. Your wife died. This is someone who looks like her and acts like her, but it’s a walking corpse.’

  John was getting redder by the minute, and that was the last straw. ‘Fuck you, girl! She’s my wife! I love her and…’

  ‘So what the Hell’s changed?’ Ceri said, raising her voice to be heard over his.

  The detective sagged into his seat with a thump. ‘Nothing,’ he said.

  ‘No,’ Ceri said, ‘it has. What’s changed is that your wife, who you love and have always protected and worried over, is worried about you? Like I said, you’re in this situation so you’d better make the best of it. You’ve been feeding her yourself for, what, eighteen months?’

  ‘Almost two years,’ John said quietly.

  ‘I’m going to be frank,’ Ceri said. ‘Feeding her at minimum, which I’m sure you’re doing, is going to do two things. You’ll start suffering organ failures and other delightful problems, and she’ll deteriorate faster. The less blood she drinks, the faster she’ll decay. You won’t be able to tell because she’ll learn to cover it up, but it’ll happen. You’ll end up in separate beds, probably separate rooms, because she can’t maintain the illusion when she’s asleep and it’s not nice being in bed with a shrivelled corpse. You want to stave that off as long as possible so she needs to feed more often and you can’t do it alone.’

  There was silence. Ceri was voicing the fears both of the Radcliffes had and had never really spoken of. Lorna had tried, but John did not want to hear it. Ceri bent down and picked up a small, but thick, book. ‘You’re a strong man, John,’ she said, ‘but you’re only human. I was reading up on magic to ease the addiction problems for me if I needed it, and I found something which can help. There’s a potion Kate can make easily enough which helps with the effects, but it’ll still need more than just you if you’re feeding Lorna at more than the minimum level. You need the help, especially if you get ill, or hurt.’

  John sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right. I just… It’s always been the two of us. We took care of each other. We didn’t need anyone else…’

  ‘There’s the jealousy factor too,’ Lily said. ‘It’s tough having a wife who looks like Lorna. Always wondering when she’s going to find someone better?’

  ‘I’d never!’ Lorna interrupted, outraged.

  Lily smiled at her. ‘So not the point.’ Turning back to John, the half-succubus added, ‘Kate doesn’t want to take Lorna away from you. You can take my word on that. She’s not being entirely altruistic, there’s pleasure in it for her, but she doesn’t want to break you two up. She just wants a small part of what you have.’ Kate looked mortified, but nodded dumbly.

  ‘I’d be willing to donate again in an emergency,’ Ceri added, ‘which brings me to another point. There doesn’t need to be sex involved. I know you’re terminally straight when you’re sober, so if you have to come to some arrangement where Lorna and Kate just get together for a snack, so to speak, then I’m sure you can all cope…’

  ‘But you’ve already cracked that taboo,’ Lily said, smirking, ‘so if you don’t take the opportunity for a little extra-marital nookie we’re going to start thinking there’s no hope for you.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, trying to keep her face straight, ‘that.’

  John stared at them. His mouth opened and then closed. Lorna was holding her breath and Kate looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole. Then John started chuckling. Lily giggled first, followed by Ceri. The chuckling turned into laughter and soon John was doubled over in the chair.

  Twill floated up from the back of the chair behind Ceri. ‘If he doesn’t stop in a few minutes, I’d suggest intervention,’ the fairy said. ‘I’m going to
open a bottle of wine and make some snack food.’ With that she flitted happily off toward the kitchen, leaving John to his slightly hysterical laughter.

  October 26th

  ‘It’s nice having company,’ Lily said, ‘but it’s nice when they leave again and we’re alone.’

  Ceri gave a little chuckle, but she was concentrating. Down in the cellar, she was standing in front of the alcove which housed her mother’s clever solution to maintaining the house enchantment runes. Inside the stone cupboard with its iron door was a sort of model of the house, the shape made up of silver runes which hung in the air forming the same pattern as they did in the house walls and foundations. Ceri just had to retrace the patterns with her finger, supplying power as she went, to recharge the runes in the house.

  Lily was standing right behind Ceri, full breasts pressed against her back. Ceri could feel the warmth her demon was giving off and she was quite glad of it. A cellar was not a place to be standing in just a shirt, but Ceri never seemed to remember that until she was too busy to do anything about it.

  ‘You’re nearly finished, right?’ Lily asked.

  Ceri finished a rune and turned her hand to bring the last one around to the front. ‘Just one more.’ She reached out and started to trace the last rune. ‘Why?’

  ‘You know how hot it makes me when you do this.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri replied. The rune was quite complex and she was concentrating on that, not what Lily was saying. ‘You feel lovely and warm.’

  ‘So when you’ve finished we’re going to the dungeon,’ Lily said.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Ceri put the last loop in and the rune shone silver, and it snapped back into the model with a tiny shimmer.

  ‘Then I’m going to fuck you senseless,’ Lily said.

  Ceri swallowed hard and turned the model into its locked position. There was a pulse of power which both of them felt, a soft moan escaping Lily’s throat, as the model passed energy to the house runes. Ceri pushed the door closed on the alcove.

  ‘I’m so glad you waited until I’d finished to mention that last bit,’ Ceri said.