The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (10 page)

He was human.

“I know you,” he said. His voice was nasal, as though he had a cold. It was probably the fucking cleaning chemicals. Fang me, did he have a sense of smell at all? “You’re the fucking goblin.”

The?
“Is that a problem?” My spine straightened.

“Of course not,” Penny answered, looking from me to her friend. “Is it, Lester old chum?” Dear Penny, she knew I’d cheerfully chew off his face and spit it back at him.

He crossed his arms over his skinny chest with a petulant sniff. “I don’t like goblins.”

“That’s too bad, because I bloody love humans,” I shot back with a grin. “ ’Specially on toast.”

He jerked back as though I’d pushed him. Penny shot me a filthy look. “No, she doesn’t. Lester, don’t be rude. We’re here for five minutes of your time and we can pay you for it.”

“Is it for her?” He jerked his chin towards me. I kept smiling. Really, he wasn’t worth baiting, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Childish, I know.

“No, it’s for me. My brother’s gone missing and I need you to see if his tracker’s still online.”

That sucked some of the snark out of the little bastard. “Val?”

I wanted to ask how he knew Val, but keeping my mouth shut was probably the best course of action now if Lester was going to help us. Penny nodded. Her glossy lips were tight.
“Will you check?”

“Of course, Pen. Of course.” Now that he was dancing to a new tune, Lester led us into his inner sanctum, which was a second bedroom with several desks crammed with logic engines. All of them were powered on. Some were running programs; others were waiting to be used, while the remainder were parked on individual aethernet sites.

Lester sat down in a chai Cownd, whir with casters on the bottom and pushed himself across the polished floor to the opposite wall of machines. He situated himself in front of a keyboard and began typing. The screen changed, bringing up a search bar.

It was the SI-5 secure site. Fang me. Lester really did know what he was doing. SI-5 dealt with military security and intelligence for all of Britain. They didn’t care if you had plagued blood or not; their concern was protecting the kingdom from enemies within and abroad. Just last year they’d broken up an American spy ring.

How the hell could he get into a government site so easily? I had been Royal Guard and I couldn’t have got anywhere near it if I was given six months and a map.

“What’s the transmitter serial?” Lester asked.

Penny pulled a slip of paper from her handbag, which matched her shoes. “752-01-3486-9.”

Lester typed the number, his fingers a nimble blur. He hit the return key and sat back. It took maybe two seconds for the screen to change, bringing up a map of London.

When I was younger, we’d had scramblers to bounce our signals so our parents and instructors at the Academy wouldn’t know where we were if we wanted to go clubbing or generally shag off. But I was thankful for the spyware now–if it would help find Val.

“Got it!” Lester announced a few seconds later.

I could have kissed the creepy bastard. “Where?”

He grinned as he lifted his head, then his gaze fell on me and a glare replaced the smile. “Between Queen Victoria Street and St Andrews by the Wardrobe.”

Who the hell gave a church such a ridiculous name? I knew it had to do with a long-dead king and royal vestments, but couldn’t they think of something more reverent? It was fortunate the church hadn’t been built near a privy.

Lester brought up the exact location on his screen. I committed it to memory and bolted for the door, Penny fast on my heels. I didn’t even try to convince her to stay behind. It would be like her trying to ditch me. Not going to happen.

“You’re bloody welcome!” Lester shouted after us. The door to his flat slammed shut, locks clicked and slid back into place.

We must have sounded like elephants banging down the stairs, both of us were running so hard, and Penny’s boots were so clunky. Outside I yanked my goggles down over my eyes and hopped on to the Butler. Penny jumped on behind.

It was late afternoon, the sun still high in the sky. Much of my skin was covered–either by cloth or a thick layer of sun-screen–but I felt hot, my flesh tender. Summer in England isn’t that uncomfortable, but this one was unseasonably warm and I was more sensitive to sunlight than I used to be. I still fared better than any aristo, but I was going to need some blood after this.

Traffic was heavy, more so as we entered the predominantly human area of the city. They took up so much more space than we did. If the Human League succeeded in drawing people to their cause… I wasn’t going to think about that. If the humans came for us, I’d fight, but for now Val was more important.

Finally, just when I was beginning to think I would cook in my own juices, we reached our destination.

The church was unimposing, yet stately. Like many buildings in London, it was older than God. The original had been decimated in the Great Fire back in 1666. There were rumours that the fire had been starte Cd b eyes and on purpose, because even that far back, humans were starting to see the effects of the plague, and it terrified them. A mob didn’t need much provocation in those days. However, most believed the fire was an accident, and by 1695 there was a new church on the spot–red brick with pale trim. There were a few public houses in the area, some shops and restaurants–even another church, only this one catered to a religion made up by a fiction author rather than the Anglican faith.

“Charming Lester said the signal was coming from here,” I remarked as we cautiously–but not obviously–examined the area.

“He’s not that bad,” Penny responded, pulling her rotary from her pocket.

I glanced at her. She wasn’t looking at me. “Fang me, did you shag him?”

The colour that rushed to her cheeks was all the answer I needed. I burst out laughing, couldn’t help myself. “Tell me you were pissed when it happened.”

“Of course we were!” she snapped. “You think it would have happened sober? Christ, he didn’t even know I had a cock.” Then she smiled. “You should have seen the look on his face.”

We both laughed. “So, how was it?” I asked as she began to dial a number.

“One of the best I have had.” Then, into her phone, “Lester, darling, it’s Penny… Yes, I’m sure this connection is
secure… No, there’s no one around me but Xandra… Of course she can be trusted. Lester, any chance you can activate that tracker for us, ducks? Maybe send the info to me?… You’re brilliant. Ta.” She disconnected.

“Brilliant, eh?” I smirked at her.

“In all manner of ways,” she replied saucily. Her rotary pinged. “Ah, here we are.”

I joined her and looked over her shoulder at the small screen. On it was a map of the area, with a blinking circle about fifty yards from where we were standing.

There was nothing there but the back of a building and some bins.

My heart spasmed. My brother was not in one of those bins.

I ran towards the spot. Penny followed–fast despite her high boots. I pulled the covers off the bins and let them clatter to the ground, a terrible pounding in my chest.

It was all for naught. There was nothing in them but food scraps, packaging and a pair of manky boots.

“What the hell?” Penny glanced around. “We should be right on top of him.”

It wasn’t any sort of sixth sense that made me concentrate on the sounds around me and look; just her words.
Right on top of him.

The blinking light wasn’t very noticeable under the bright sun, but it was shaded just enough by one of the bins, and my tinted goggles made my eyes that much less sensitive to the daylight. I spotted the tiny gadget on the ground, near a discarded condom.

Charming.

“What is it?” Penny asked. Her hand went to her mouth as her lips parted and her eyes widened in horror. “Xandra…”

I crouched down. I could smell my brother over the stench of garbage, the faint copper of his blood and the scent that was uniquely his. The transmitter was dry to the touch; it had been here for a little while. Had they cut it out of him and dropped it here? Or had Val dug it out himself?

I put the tracker in my pocket. At least now I had proof tha Chadt ht Val was over his head in something. Maybe the Yard would be more cooperative.

“That means he’s still alive, doesn’t it?” Penny’s expression was so hopeful it made my chest hurt. “If they were going to kill him, they wouldn’t have bothered taking it out. Right?”

So hopeful. “No. They wouldn’t have bothered.” I didn’t have the heart to burst her bubble. To be honest, I didn’t want to burst my own either. Neither of us had any way of telling whether Val was alive or not, but this… this wasn’t good.

I needed to believe he was still alive. I told myself I knew it just as I had known that Dede wasn’t dead when she faked her own death, but that was a lie. I didn’t know. I just had to believe it.

But really, in the grand scheme, there were worse things than death. And for the people who had taken my brother, I was going to be one of them.

I called the Yard and left a message for Val’s SI about his tracker. I’d be surprised if she called me back. I assumed that if they knew about it, the peelers would have it locked away as evidence. Maybe this would get them off their arses.

Penny’s shift at Freak Show started at ten. She went off to start getting ready as soon as we returned to my place, fussing
about like she had to hurry even though it was two hours away. I reckoned it took a fair bit of time to look as fabulous as she usually did. Plus, if it took her mind off Val it was worth it.

On the kitchen sideboard was a dark bottle with a note from Vex telling me to drink the whole thing. I uncorked it and sniffed. Blood–human blood. Bloody hell, it smelled good.

I should have been disgusted, and perhaps I would have been if I’d let myself think on it too long, but I grabbed that bottle and chugged half of it before my brain could stop me. By the time my mind caught up, instinct had a firm hold and my hunger simply would not be denied. I drank the rest of it a little slower, enjoying it. Then I had a cup of Earl Grey and the last of the vanilla cupcakes in the cupboard.

Sated, I went upstairs and brushed my teeth. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Albert’s fangs, but I was pale now. It took a little getting used to, as did the amber in my previously completely green eyes. I reckoned the trade-off was the fact that my skin looked bloody amazing. Not a spot or dry patch in sight. Being goblin had some privileges.

“Xandy, help!” Penny yelled. She didn’t sound like she was dying, so I walked rather than ran down the corridor to the guest room I’d put her in. She was in front of the cheval glass, in her underwear, five-inch platform heels and a skullcap.

“If I only had a camera,” I remarked, earning a stuck-out tongue. “What do you need, dearest?”

“I lost an eyelash and I can’t get down to look for it.”

I thought about suggesting that she try taking off those ridiculous shoes, but kept mum. This probably had more to do with the fact that she didn’t want to be alone than a lost eyelash.

I moved closer, then crouched to better survey the carpet. I
found the caterpillar-like lash almost immediately, dusted it off and stood. “Crisis averted.”

Penny smiled. “Thanks.”

She applied glue to the lash and expertly set it on her lid. I studied the procedure with feminine appreciation. “Do you Con.h="27"> mind if I watch?” I asked.

“Not at all.”

There was padding built into her knickers to give her a slightly more rounded bum and hips, and some in the snug-fitting camisole she wore. I watched as she applied highlight and contour to her chest to give the illusion of real breasts. It was amazing.

I helped her into her baby-blue silk Marie Antoinette-style gown. The layers of petticoats alone would have made me scream in frustration. Then I laced her into a pale pink brocade corset, cinching it tighter at the waist so her hips and torso looked noticeably fuller and rounder.

“It’s none of my business, but have you ever considered surgery?” I asked. “Or hormones?”

Doe-wide eyes met mine in the mirror as she manoeuvred a gorgeous white wig into place. “Why mess with perfection?”

I laughed. “Indeed.”

She turned to face me and I handed her the earrings that were on the dresser. “I like me as I am. I can be a girl or a boy–the best of both worlds.”