Thaumatology 12: Vengeance (3 page)

‘Assert yourself?’

‘I picked the worst offender out and executed him on the throne room floor in front of the other Captains.’ She gave a malicious grin. ‘They all saw how he was unable to resist me, and then I made them watch as I fed on him for thirty minutes before his body gave out. Just to be sure, though, I have one of them come to my rooms every night. It’s a useful way to feed and you should see the looks of relief on their faces when they get to stagger out.’

Ceri smiled. ‘It sounds like you have everything in hand.’

Jubilia nodded, bowing slightly and sending a shiver through her dress, which appeared to be made of crystal bead curtains. ‘I’ve had some people I trust go over Molech’s treasure chambers and I know what the estates are worth. I came here with ten thousand gold pieces, which should tide you over until the money starts coming in from the other Lords.’

Ceri gave a cough. ‘I’d imagine it will. I have a project for you. The Lords have always been very strict in controlling their gates to other worlds, but I doubt you’ll want tradesmen marching through your throne room if we manage to establish trade links to the fae Otherworld. So, I’d like you to start constructing a more public facility. There’s a silver mine at Nedarish just outside your territories, and I’m sure there are other possible sources of trade within them. We’ll trial the trade system in your lands and expand to other places later.’

Jubilia pursed her lips. ‘It will still need to be kept secure. It can be sited outside the city… I think, perhaps, that constructing a market area around the gate building might be useful. We may be able to get some two-way trade going if the fae court is willing to condone it. Especially if they are willing to build the same sort of facility.’

‘And this is why I have people like you around.’ Ceri turned to Faran, standing at her right. ‘Faran, could you make sure that Jubilia discusses this with Ophelia? Our fae ambassador will probably have some selling to do to Oberon and Titania, but it does sound like an excellent idea.’

‘Lady Jubilia has an appointment with Lady Ophelia in the morning, Overlord,’ Faran replied. ‘I’ll shuffle some of the others to allow for a longer discussion.’

‘Excellent. Anything you particularly wanted to discuss, Jubilia?’

‘There is one thing. Molech set up a… research and education facility. Some of the richer families sent their more promising children there to learn magic and there were various questionable experiments conducted there. I was considering shutting it down, but after your speech about education I thought you might prefer if it was expanded.’

‘Without the questionable experiments,’ Ceri suggested.

‘Indeed. I can’t condone some of the things they were doing there and I’m a demon. Of course, it will take some time and depend on economics.’

Ceri nodded. ‘If you decide to go ahead with it, the Overlord will sponsor some promising poorer students to go there. On Earth it would probably be called a “university.”’

‘University…’ Jubilia rolled the English word around as if getting a feel for it. ‘I think that is as good a word for it as any. Thank you, Lady.’ She bowed and started back out of the throne room.

‘Only a few months on the throne and the new Overlord is introducing English words into the language,’ Faran commented.

‘Well I don’t know enough Devotik to come up with a suitable native word.’

‘Then you will have to attend to your studies more attentively, Lady.’

‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted, rolling her eyes. ‘Go get the next one. I’ll read some more of the blessed book tonight.’

~~~

‘The blessed book’ was called
One Thousand Nights
and it was something like a cross between a fantasy story and a sex manual written thousands of years ago. Faran had been amazed to discover a copy of it in the castle library made by a famous printer and complete with all the original plates. Ceri had to admit that it was beautiful. The pictures that started each chapter looked more like something from a modern fantasy book cover: amazing, hand-coloured, highly detailed, and very erotic without being too pornographic. The stories were not too bad either, even if their main concern was what part of what demon went where. Her problem was that Faran had her reading it aloud.

‘Uh…’ Ceri frowned at the characters and then finished the sentence she was working on. ‘Ha nikit Shivika pa en tavikona, and there is no way that is even comfortable let alone pleasurable. I mean, what about breathing for starters?’

‘Demons are a lot more resilient than humans,’ Lily pointed out, ‘and they like their play a little rougher.’

‘And the text does point out that it requires considerable preparation,’ Faran added. ‘Timing is everything with that one. Climax should come just
before
asphyxia.’

‘Hence the “intense squirming action?”’ Ceri asked, still not being sold on it.

‘Precisely,’ Faran agreed.

‘It isn’t like I’ll be doing it to my Shivika,’ Lily said. ‘My shapeshifting isn’t up to it. I can manifest a tail…’

‘And I enjoy it a lot when you do,’ Ceri put in.

Lily gave her a grin. ‘I can’t do the gross body modification that trick calls for.’

‘To some extent it is a shame,’ Faran said, his tone regretful.

‘I’m thinking not so much,’ Ceri disagreed.

‘Ah, but you miss one vital point, I think. The Lorril’s Shivika gains great pleasure from the act, to be sure, but more than that she demonstrates her trust in her hinita. It would be easy to have an accident happen.’

‘The Mistress is trusting her submissive to
almost
kill her, but not actually do it?’

‘Allowing someone else to hold your life in their hands, is that not the greatest demonstration of trust?’

Hackney, London, Earth.

Anne Chisolm was not sure how she had ended up in his arms, but there she was, naked among the trees of Wick Woodland, sprawled in the leaf litter like a wild animal.

She had been running; she ran every evening, around the edge of Hackney Marsh and then through the trees. Tonight she was a little later than usual; it had been getting dark when she began and now the night had closed in entirely. She had not considered that a problem, even though she knew there were things in the world which might hunt at night. It had been safe since the dragons had fallen.

Then she had seen him. He was nothing more than a shadow, a dark shape in the darkness, and he had said nothing, remained unmoving when she saw him. But she had felt him calling her, had almost stumbled toward him as her legs became jelly. All she knew was that she wanted him, wanted to let him do anything he wished to her. He had stripped her, pushed her down into the damp soil, entered her hard, and she had groaned as her body gave itself up to him.

Now he pulled out, pushed her onto her back, and was inside her again before her hazy brain could catch up. She sensed him over her more than saw him, felt his breath on her neck, then the sudden sharp pain. She let out a cry which rapidly became a moan as the toxins spread through her system and the pleasure washed over her.

Somehow Anne Chisolm knew that her life was slipping away as he fucked her, but she did not care.

March 25
^th
.

‘Vampire?’ Kate Middleshaw suggested, looking down at the body near her feet.

‘Hard to tell,’ her partner, John Radcliff, replied, frowning. ‘They don’t normally rip the head off after a kill.’ He gave a shrug. ‘Most of them wouldn’t have killed her. Do we have an ID?’

‘Anne Chisolm. She lived in Sunnyhill Close, just beside the park. There are tracksuit bottoms over by that tree. We haven’t found whatever else she was wearing. Looks like she was out running and he dragged her in here.’

John shook his head. ‘He didn’t drag. That’s what’s bothering me. Her hands and knees are scuffed up, sure, but the rest of her is unmarked…’

‘Aside from her head being torn off.’

‘Aside from that, obviously. The pants aren’t torn. Either she took them off herself or her attacker did it without resistance. A vampire old enough to have that kind of control over someone doesn’t have the equipment to commit rape.’

‘There’s one kind that does.’ There was a cold edge to Kate’s voice when she spoke, but John had considered that option already.

‘If there was another Ancient in town, we’d know about it. Lorna would have felt it and she’d have told me. If she didn’t, I think some of the older vampires would have warned us. They don’t want a repeat of last time any more than we do.’

‘If it’s not a vamp, then what?’

‘Demon? Incubus, maybe. They could fake an apparent vampire kill and they’d be more inclined to engage in sex with the victim.’

‘That means we have to eliminate the one incubus we know about,’ Kate said with a sigh.

‘Let’s just hope he has a good alibi,’ John replied.

Kennington.

The door of the odd-looking house on the corner of Kennington Park opened and the two detectives were faced by a tall, slim, very attractive woman with long, black hair. She smiled as soon as she saw them, then the smile faltered as she recognised the serious expressions.

‘Detectives,’ Gwyn said, ‘is there a problem?’

‘Is Ceri or Lily in?’ John asked.

‘No… You’d better come inside. You know where the lounge is.’

Closing the door behind them, she followed them up the stairs to the first landing and then through into the lounge. There was a fire burning low in the grate, staving off the cool of the spring day, and she had them sit in the chairs in front of it, retrieving a straight-backed chair to sit on herself.

‘Ceri is… out of town, on business,’ Gwyn explained. ‘Lily is with her, of course.’

‘Right,’ John said, frowning. ‘I don’t suppose you know where Lily’s father is?’

‘Actually, I do. Why?’

John nodded to Kate. ‘We’ve had a suspicious death,’ Kate explained. ‘We can’t be sure it was an incubus, or even a demon, but there are reasons to suspect it might be and, obviously, we need to eliminate the one incubus we know is in town…’

‘Faran is
definitely
not responsible,’ Gwyn interrupted.

‘You’re that sure?’ John asked.

‘He and Ophelia are with Ceri and Lily. I’d know if any of them had returned. Faran cannot be your killer.’ Gwyn gave a slight frown and chewed on her lip before adding. ‘Ceri will be back in a day or so, but if you need urgent action… I am quite knowledgeable in the magical arts myself. I could give an opinion if you wish.’

‘We’ll see what the pathologists come up with. We’d need clearance from the Chief to get another specialist in, but we need to catch this one fast.’

‘This was not a simple incubus kill,’ Gwyn stated rather than asked.

‘It was particularly vicious,’ Kate told her.

‘Lorril are not vicious killers,’ Gwyn mused. ‘This was almost certainly something else. There are a number of demons who kill violently, but not normally incubi or succubi.’

‘Unless they were ordered to,’ Kate countered.

‘Then, yes, but why use an incubus for that when there are other types who better fit the bill. See what your pathologists say, but I think you are looking for something else. Something far more dangerous.’

Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the days here,’ Ceri muttered as she walked into the throne room. ‘Too long.’ They had been there for half a day and a night, had a moderately long breakfast, and back at home it would be after midday. Outside the sun had been up for two hours, but was still not really full in the sky.

‘You managed well enough last time,’ Lily replied. ‘You’re very adaptable.’ Her smirk was positively mischievous. ‘You demonstrated that last night.’

‘That’ll be enough of that, hinita,’ Ceri replied, her tone mock-severe. ‘Get to your place, we’ll have another annoying Lord up here in a few minutes.’

‘Yes, Shivika Ayasha,’ Lily replied meekly, skipping across to sit on the arm of the stone throne.

Ceri had just settled herself on her cushion when the first of the day’s supplicants appeared, a tall, powerfully built Devos. Or she
thought
he was a Devos. He was the right shape, but his skin had a greener tint to it and, looking closely, she could see that his fingers were webbed.

Faran was leading the way, of course. ‘Lord Ignash, Lady Ayasha,’ the incubus intoned.

Ignash gave a deep bow and Ceri nodded back. ‘I suspect that the Lady is wondering what I am,’ he said. ‘My kind rarely ventures beyond this realm.’

‘I thought Devos on first sight,’ Ceri admitted, ‘but you’re not. Something aquatic?’

‘A Guandosh, Lady, I am Lord of the Western Oceans. We dwell in the ocean depths, in the darkness. I am having to use a number of powerful spells just to survive here, but when the Overlord decreed that all should attend…’

‘Then I’ll thank you for going to the effort.’ Ceri got to her feet and stalked toward him, opening her Sight as she did so. He was, indeed, humming with magic; interwoven magical fields enveloped him, probably ensuring that his body was kept under pressure and the light did not bother him. She wondered if he could naturally breathe air. ‘I also may have use for your kind on Earth. There are some projects I’ve been asked to look into which require work in the deep oceans there creating ley lines.’