Thaumatology 101 (21 page)

The skin on her scalp tightened and she paused. Slowly she scanned the trees and bushes around her, looking for the source of the aura. Her Sight cut in and she saw the streamers of energy curling out of the shadows. A vampire; only a vampire could produce that kind of aura, negative and yet caressing. She clenched her fists and pushed back on it.

There was a hiss and a female figure emerged partially into the light. From the look of it, she was dressed in skin-tight Lycra from head to foot. Her eyes shone red through the face mask. Ceri looked back trying to stay confident. This was not some vampire out hunting. This one was here for a reason.

‘What do you want?’ Ceri demanded. The dark figure watched her for a second or two, apparently gauging her. ‘You’re not hunting,’ Ceri said. ‘Your aura doesn’t affect me. What do you want?’

Reaching behind her back, the vampire produced a pair of knives and moved forward with the kind of speed only vampires and demons could manage. Ceri gasped and threw up her arms. Steel sparked off magic, a knife blocked by the bare skin of her arm, and Ceri dropped to her knees as the vampire jumped over her.

There would be another strike. Ceri turned, her hand pushing out toward the vampire as she spun. Fire burst from her palm, a jet of flame which struck its target and exploded across the undead’s chest. There was a shriek and the smell of melted plastic and charred flesh assailed Ceri’s nostrils. For a second, Ceri thought the vampire would attack again and prepared herself for another strike. Then the figure in black let out a half-sob of pain, and ran, vanishing into the darkness.

Soho

‘What possessed you to come here?!’ Lily asked. Her voice was full of concern, exasperation, and fear.

Ceri shook her head and sipped at the glass of whiskey that Alec had forced into her hand at some point. The liquid burned her throat and she almost gagged, but when it was down a delicious feeling of warmth flowed up from the pit of her stomach. ‘I was coming here,’ she said, her voice a monotone. ‘When she ran… all I could think of was to get here.’ She looked up at Lily; she had never seen her friend look so scared. ‘You were here,’ she said softly.

‘You should have gone home,’ Lily said. ‘You’d be safe inside the wards.’

‘I’m safe here,’ Ceri said. ‘I’m behind my parents’ enchantments, and a ronin werewolf, and a half-demon, and a wizard.’

‘It sounds,’ Carter said, entering the office, ‘as if you managed to defend yourself well enough on your own.’

Lily spun on her heel. Ceri felt her aura flare, but not its usual form, this was anger. ‘A widder-damned vampire assassin, Carter! Someone sent an assassin for her!’

The club’s owner smiled reassuringly and stepped right into the heart of the flames, taking Lily by the shoulders. Ceri looked at them, wondering if it was his willpower or his wizardry keeping him on his feet. ‘She’s
alive,
Lily. Any fight you can walk away from is a good one.’ The aura died away as Lily calmed herself. Carter nodded. ‘Good. Now go out there and be the best waitress in the club. I need to talk to Ceri.’

Lily looked like she was going to argue, but nodded. She looked back at Ceri. ‘I’ll see you later, ‘kay?’

Ceri mustered a smile for her friend and nodded. She watched as Lily headed for the door, her pace becoming more like a strut the closer she got until, as she walked through and pulled the door closed behind her, the half-succubus was all business.

Carter walked over, pulling a straight-backed chair from his desk over to in front of the couch Ceri was sat on. She watched him, taking a sip of her drink. The burning was less this time, but the warmth felt just as good.

He smiled. ‘I called a friend in the Greycoats. Some officers will want to talk to you tomorrow.’ He smiled slightly. ‘They wanted to talk to you tonight, but I told them you were safe, and in a state of shock. They’re dispatching a team to Cheryl’s flat…’

‘Oh! Cheryl…’ Ceri had not thought about it, but if someone had come after her, then it seemed likely they might try for Cheryl.

‘She’ll be quite safe,’ Carter said. ‘These people know what they’re doing.’ He looked down, gathering his thoughts, and appeared to be struggling with what he was about to say.

Ceri frowned. ‘What is it? What’s up?’

He looked up at her again. ‘About a month before your parents had their accident,’ Carter said, and she noticed his voice caught slightly on the last word, ‘your mother came to me. She asked me to keep something for you and to give it to you when “the time was right.” Well, of course I asked her when the time would be right, and she said “I hope never, but if it does come, you’ll know.”’

‘Cryptic,’ Ceri said, ‘I get that a lot lately.’ Her heart was pounding and she took a sip of whiskey.

‘Your mother could be like that,’ he replied. ‘When Lily said you wanted to ask me about your parents, I concluded this was the time she was talking about. We were close, your parents and I, in college. We lost touch after… after I left.’ There was the same sort of catch in his voice and pain in his eyes, and Ceri wondered how close they had been. He smiled, weakly, though it showed in his eyes even through the pain which was still there. ‘I can see both of them in you. You have your mother’s eyes…’

He straightened up, drawing in a breath, and took something from his inside breast pocket. It was an envelope, white and plain, with a wax seal over the flap. As he held it out to her she could see her own name written on the front in her mother’s handwriting. ‘She enchanted the seal,’ he said. ‘You’re the only one who can open it.’

Tentatively, she took the letter from him, turning it over to look at the seal. It was her mother’s personal rune. Carter climbed to his feet. ‘I’ll be out front,’ he said. ‘I think you’ll want to read it alone.’ He was gone before she thought to say anything to the contrary. Taking a deep breath, she broke the seal and pulled out the single sheet of paper within. She recognised her mother’s delicate handwriting and glanced at the corner of the page where she could see the date. Her mother had written it on February twelfth twenty-oh-four and they had died on the sixteenth of April. Focussing on the actual words was hard, but she forced herself to do it.

Ceridwyn, if you’re reading this then I’m sorry. If you’re reading this then you come to hear what I have to say through a letter delivered by a man you hardly know. It will likely seem a little odd to you that I’ve trusted Carter with this, but despite everything that happened, perhaps because of it, I do trust him. You must make up your own mind whether to trust him, I can’t give advice to you on that.

To the point then. The first thing I should say is that we told ourselves we did it out of love. We wanted to keep our only daughter safe. But we also did it out of fear, and that was wrong. We always thought we would free you when you got older, but as you do get older we find ourselves making excuses. I don’t know whether we will summon the courage to break your enchantments. I hope we do, but the letter you are reading is insurance against the chance that we do not.

Ceri blinked, her gaze falling on the inside of her left wrist, where the intricate markings had rested under her skin for over two decades. They had been her protectors all the time she had grown up. She continued reading with a growing sense of apprehension.

Your tattoos do, indeed, provide protection, but not the kind you think. The enchantment is a control and containment web. When you were little more than a toddler you were generating power. You were endangering yourself, and everything around you. We designed the enchantment to seal that power up inside you and use it to protect you. David, though I love him dearly, went too far, I now think. He locked away your talent for magic entirely, hiding it away behind these layers of enchantment. He fears what you might do, but more, I think, he fears what others might do when you are discovered.

We spoke to the Lady in Llyn Tegid soon after you were born, you see, and she told us what you were, even though we did not realise it at the time. She said, “Name her for Ceridwen, for she may surpass even the sorcerers of old.” We laughed with her at the time and didn’t realise what she’d said. We thought you’d be a great magician, we forgot that when we made the enchantments, and I remember it now. Magic is in your blood, Ceri, in a way it never was in mine, or David’s.

Again, I’m sorry. Please don’t think badly of us. All my love to you, daughter. Marion.

Folding the letter carefully and slipping it back into its envelope, Ceri drained her whiskey and stood up. The letter was shoved into her back pocket and she walked out of the office and into the bar. The sound of the Jade Dragon on a Saturday night hit her. Technically, she thought, it was Sunday morning now, but the revellers were far too busy getting on with having a good time to worry over the exact day. She was fairly sure there were words being said among the noise, but none of them made any sense. She would go to the bar, settle down to wait because she
knew
she would never be allowed home on her own. In truth, she did not really think she could get there alone. She felt numb.

Wandering around to the bar, she placed her glass on the counter intending that Alec should scoop it away, and lifted herself up onto one of the stools. She heard a soft glugging noise and turned to see Alec pouring more of the softly brown liquor into her glass. ‘You’re still looking shocked,’ he said, smiling.

Ceri smiled back. ‘It’s been a night for shocks.’ Raising the glass she added, ‘Thanks.’

‘Carter said you were to be looked after,’ Alec replied, ‘which is good. I get to look all considerate while all I’m really doing is enjoying the view.’

Despite herself, Ceri smirked. ‘At least you’re enjoying it,’ she replied.

‘And I get to enjoy it some more on Monday,’ the bartender said.

‘Monday?’ Ceri asked ‘What’s happening Monday?’

‘I’ll be taking you to your course,’ Alec replied. Before she could say anything he carried on, ‘Lily was sure you’d go, despite the potential danger. Carter said that was entirely unacceptable. Lily said you could be very stubborn and the certificate was important. Carter said… Well, you get the picture. I’ll drive over to your house tomorrow evening, pick you and Lily up, and keep an eye out while you’re there.’

‘Pick Lily
and
me up?’ Ceri said, because Alec’s status as bodyguard had obviously been decided already.

Alec chuckled. ‘You think she’s letting you out of the house without her?’

‘The Hell I am,’ Lily commented as she put her tray on the counter. ‘Two red wines and a Vee-Bomb, Alec,’ she added and grinned at Ceri. ‘The vamp on table three thinks he’s scored.’ Ceri glanced over at the table where a vampire who did not, yet, need to hide behind an illusion was entertaining two young women. ‘Those two are in here at least once a week with a different vampire every time.’

‘Chew Toys,’ Alec said, sounding disgusted. He placed the drinks Lily had asked for on the tray.

‘Don’t think so,’ Lily said, and she was off to deliver the alcohol.

‘What’s a chew toy?’ Ceri asked. ‘Aside from something you give a dog to play with.’

‘Huh,’ Alec said, grinning, ‘not a dog, a vamp. Chew Toy is street slang for someone who bounces between vampires getting bitten for the fun of it. Vamp bites get you high, yeah? They’re addictive. Not like sex with a succubus, really, physically addictive. They’re like junkies, always looking for the next hit.’

Ceri looked across at the women. They did not look like junkies. If anything, they looked like they were in control. She blinked and looked at them through different eyes. ‘They’re… some sort of fae,’ she said. ‘Their auras have the same sort of pattern as Twill’s and they’re giving of T-Plus fields.’

One of the women looked across at Ceri and smiled. The fae’s glamour shifted for a second and Ceri found herself looking at a narrow-faced, gaunt women with viscous-looking fangs. Then the vision was gone and the woman went back to cooing over her next meal. Ceri shuddered and took a drink.

‘I’ve heard of a few Sluagh Sidhe who prey on the undead,’ Alec said quietly. ‘Never seen them though.’

‘That you know of,’ Ceri commented. She looked up at him. ‘Stick to looking at me. Believe me, I’m better eye candy.’

Alec grinned, well, leered. ‘I won’t disagree.’

Ceri frowned slightly. She thought she knew him well enough. ‘Alec?’ She tried for a delicate way of asking and could come up with nothing. She went for direct. ‘I was in here one night just before the accident. You commented on my tattoos.’ He nodded, waiting for the question; at least he remembered the night. ‘You were pretty uninterested in me then, and now you’re flirting with me and you can’t keep your eyes off my boobs. What changed?’

The barman opened his mouth for a snappy comeback, and then closed it again, looking thoughtful. Finally he said, ‘I was going to make some glib comment about how I was looking at your boobs that night too, but damned if you’re not right.’

Lily returned, putting down her tray and leaning back against the counter so that she could casually watch the room. ‘What’s up with Alec?’ she asked. ‘You give him a thought? He’s not used to them y’know? He could strain something.’

‘He’s trying to work out why he wants in my knickers?’ Ceri replied and was rewarded by a slight colouring in the man’s cheeks.

‘You’re not wearing knickers,’ Lily replied. Alec could not see her smirk. Ceri
could
see his blush deepen.

‘Less to take off,’ Ceri said.

‘It’s like,’ Alec said, probably hoping they would stop teasing him, ‘I couldn’t see you properly and now I can. That’s what it’s like.’ She raised an eyebrow and he obviously felt she wanted a better explanation. ‘You were there, and you were the same shape and looks and all, but it’s like you were…’ He trailed off, trying to find the right words. ‘Ordinary,’ he finally said.

Ceri nodded. Lily frowned and said, ‘I’ve never thought you were ordinary.’

‘Werewolves,’ Carter said causing Ceri to jump, ‘for all their supernatural ability to shape-shift, are essentially human. Heightened senses, some additional strength and dexterity, but human. Vampires, demons, mages with the Sight, they would have seen you as you are.’ He smiled at Lily’s look of confusion. ‘Think of it like a fairy glamour. Ceri has been wandering around for years trying to stay unnoticed, even if unconsciously.’