Floride closed his eyes. At least the sparks of blue alighting from his hands gave some hint that he was more powerful than his appearance suggested. The reek of magic began to fill the air and there was a familiar hum. Then it began, a trail of blue light surging forward and up to the summit of the dunes in front of us. He was creating a shadow of the thing that had attacked John, a scryed facsimile that would mimic the movements of that terrible evening. Every eye tracked the light as it swirled and began to take shape. I realised I was holding my breath and exhaled loudly. I needed some bloody answers.
‘Can you tell what it is yet?’ he asked flippantly.
‘Try harder, mage,’ I replied, ignoring his attitude. It was going to take more than an indistinct blue cloud to satisfy me.
Fortunately, he seemed to acknowledge my frustration and the magic began to do its thing. The blue light danced, coalescing into a more recognisable silhouette. I leaned forward. It wasn’t any damn earthquake monster: it was a stunningly beautiful woman, gracefully raising her arms in the air as her ghost shadow stared down at us. I took in her features. I’d never seen her before in my life and, while she might have looked human in origin, her features were too fine and her movements too elegant and controlled for her to be anything other than deeply Otherworld. I wondered whether she might be Fae but, for some reason, that didn’t seem to fit. It didn’t take long to realise why. The woman’s shape was floating in the air, the very antithesis of the beast we’d just killed that had seemed to draw strength from the earth. I didn’t know a great deal about the faeries but I knew for sure that if they were capable of that, they’d have advertised it long ago.
‘Is she meant to be floating?’ Mack interrupted. ‘I mean, is that a side-effect of the scrying?’
It was a sensible question for someone who knew next to nothing about what using magic involved. ‘No,’ I answered, not wanting the mage to be disturbed from his spell. ‘What you see is what was here. Neither would the dunes have shifted that much in the last forty-eight hours. She is hovering above the ground.’
‘Fuck me,’ she whispered.
I glanced over at her. It was on the tip of my tongue to agree to her demand and I only just managed to bite back the comment in time. The last thing I needed from Mackenzie Smith was allegations of sexual harassment. I felt a slight twinge of regret at the lost moment, however. Part of me would have enjoyed the expression on her face had I said what I was thinking. Let’s face it, she deserved it after everything she’d already put me through this evening.
With some effort, I focused back on the mage. ‘Is that it, Mr Floride? Is there a trail?’
‘No trail,’ he answered.
I was unsurprised. At least we now had a clear vision of who our perpetrator was though. The hippy wizard had come through after all. ‘Then we’re done. The money will be transferred to your account within the hour,’ I told him. ‘Can you take care of this?’ I needed to get back to the keep and make my preparations to return to London as fast as possible. Given his exorbitant prices, the least he could do was destroy all evidence of the beast’s corpse before it began to smell.
I shifted back to werepanther in order to make use of my shift’s natural speed, and leapt away. Just before the trees swallowed me up, however, I craned my neck round in the direction of the beach. It wasn’t a conscious movement – more as a result of the sensation of Mack’s eyes burning into my back. When my gaze met hers, she simply stared right at me, unafraid and unbowed. She’d patently put her temporary façade of submission behind her, then. I decided to give up concerning myself with her. Enough was enough – and I had far more important things to do.
Chapter Twelve
We hotfooted it back to the keep. It was clear that whatever was going on in Cornwall went beyond even John’s unnatural death. I had no idea who the floating woman was or why she had done what she did. But she was both powerful and dangerous. Until we resolved the matter and brought the threat of her existence to an end, the Brethren had no choice but to stay here. The Cornish pack simply weren’t strong enough to fend off such an attack. It didn’t change the fact, however, that I also had to deal with what was happening back home in London.
I divided everyone into two groups. The first hit the library, searching through the ancient texts for any details about who the floating woman was. The rest began to scour the Othernet.
‘I’ll take a small group with me back to London,’ I told Staines. ‘But the rest of you need to stay here. Whoever she is, she needs to be contained. It could be we’re seeing the start of an all-out attack on all shifters. It’s unlikely – after all, she’d be more likely to start with the power base than a small pack with little fighting prowess like this one, but we can’t rule out the possibility.’
Staines agreed. ‘She may be testing her mettle, my Lord. We will be unprepared if she decides to turn her attention to other packs.’
‘Alert them to the possibility. And make damn sure that if she does appear, no-one tries to take her on. She’s far too dangerous.’
‘Yes, my Lord.’
‘We’ll complete the initiation ceremony for Julia. At least that might ease some of the concerns, if nothing else. She has a calming effect and tempers are brewing. Then I’ll leave at first light for London. Traffic will be light so it shouldn’t take long.’
‘I took the liberty of finding a local dealership to take your car away. We recouped most of the money. You’ll need to take one of the other cars or get the mage to open a portal.’
I frowned. From what I knew of the wizards, the latter part of their education involved specialising in particular areas. Floride was obviously a divination expert. I had no desire to risk venturing through a portal of his creation when there was a possibility it might send me to Siberia instead of where I needed to be. ‘Get the Arch-Mage to do it from his end. We can’t afford any screw-ups. I’ve been away from London for too long.’
Staines bowed. ‘For what it’s worth, Lola is apparently mending quickly now.’
‘At least that’s something,’ I grunted. It didn’t change the fact that others were dead though. I could only hope that the rest of the country remained strife free.
‘Don’t worry, my Lord. We’ll find out what’s really going on here. Concentrate on the London attack.’
I beckoned Julia over. ‘I have to leave at dawn. The majority of our contingent will stay behind to help you locate and destroy John’s murderer.’
Her expression was calm. ‘I have no doubt that we shall. We can probably manage it on our own, however. She…’
‘It has already been decided,’ I interrupted. I could understand her desire to deal with the problem herself but even with the strength of shifters like Mack and Anton, they wouldn’t manage it alone. ‘In the meantime, let’s complete the ceremony and name you as alpha. You’ll need to nominate two witnesses.’
‘Tom and Anton.’
I raised my eyebrows. Traditionally, the strongest shifters were the ones who were nominated to witness a new alpha being sworn in. It helped dampen down any animosity with those who perhaps disagreed with the succession. Tom was an effective werewolf and I was happy to allow him entrance to the Brethren ranks. Mack, however, was far more powerful. I looked into Julia’s eyes, but her expression was guileless. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the prickly werehamster, if that’s indeed what she was, was not the only person around here hiding something. Given everything else that was going on, it wasn’t a priority though. As I’d told Mack herself, I could easily return here when things were less fraught and conduct more of my own investigations.
‘So be it,’ I said. ‘The garden in an hour?’
She nodded and withdrew.
***
There were five of us present. Julia and myself, of course; Tom and Anton, the latter of whom had a black glower on his face; and Thomson, who I’d selected to join us merely so I could keep an eye on him. I wanted him to start to gain a better appreciation of the r
esponsibility we had as the Brethren. It wasn’t all about swanning around the city with bigoted opinions and machismo swagger. In fact, I had to admit that I felt a little squirm of nervousness. I knew exactly what the ceremony entailed and what was required. I’d been to enough of the damn things myself. Conducting it personally was a different matter to merely looking on, though.
I stepped forward, inhaling the cool night air. ‘We are gathered here to formalise the succession of a new alpha in accordance with the Way,’ I intoned, trying not to sound too gruff. ‘Julia Aspen of Cornwall has received the Voice. She has been deemed adequate.’ I hated that word. Whichever long-since dead Brethren leader had thought that ‘adequate’ was the best they could come up with when someone was agreeing to take on such a dangerous and difficult role should have been shot. I was reminded that as soon as I had some free time and was no longer being bedevilled by murder, I was going to start changing a lot of the Way. Tradition be damned.
Julia joined me. I looked over at the waiting witnesses. Thomson appeared incredibly bored. I had to resist the urge to smack him hard around the head.
‘I was born into the pack of Cornwall.’ Julia’s voice rang out clear and unwavering. ‘I offer my allegiance to them, pure and true, until such time as I am either unfit to continue or gone from this world. I will maintain order, promote the Way and provide succour and safety to all.’
She held out her palms. I placed mine against hers, for a moment realising just what a small woman she was. Her size didn’t matter, however. I knew she had enough strength of character to do well. In fact, this entire ceremony was starting to feel like nothing more than lip service.
‘Julia Aspen, you are hereby deemed as worthy. From this point on, the position of alpha in Cornwall is filled.’
For a brief moment, the pride in her eyes was replaced by surprise. ‘I can feel it,’ she whispered. Both Tom and Anton leaned forward. Thomson inspected his fingernails. ‘I can feel the power.’
I watched her, wondering again why I hadn’t felt the same sensations as her when I took office at the Brethren. The natural order clearly wanted her; perhaps it didn’t want me. She bowed her head.
‘It is done,’ I said. I smiled at her. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you.’
There was a rustle of movement from somewhere behind us. Frowning, I turned and spotted the mage hovering there. What the hell did he want?
‘Hello!’ he waved, although his pale, strained face seemed to belie his words. ‘I’d like to offer my sincerest congratulations to the new alpha and beg a moment alone with her in private.’
My eyes narrowed. Was this the Arch-Mage’s doing? I wouldn’t put it past him to ingratiate himself with a new and theoretically vulnerable alpha. I opened my mouth to speak but Julia was already striding forward.
‘Of course, dear!’ she said, taking him by the arm and walking off.
I was tempted to call them back and demand to be present to hear whatever it was he had to say. I couldn’t stand over her like a worried parent, however. I had to trust that she was sensible enough to keep the wizard at arm’s length.
‘What did you think of the ceremony, Thomson?’ I asked instead.
He shrugged. ‘It was fine, my Lord.’
Damned by faint praise. ‘I wonder if perhaps we shouldn’t start looking into alternatives for such occasions. Perhaps a more democratic method to suit each individual pack.’
All three of them looked surprised. ‘But it’s tradition,’ Tom protested. ‘Having the Brethren Lord come and validate the succession makes it real. It means Julia knows she can’t just get away with being a tyrant.’
‘Do you think she would be likely to act like that?’
He blinked. ‘Of course not – but that doesn’t mean other potential alphas wouldn’t be like that.’
‘She received the Voice,’ I pointed out, ‘without any such validation.’
‘But not full powers. You had to do the ceremony for that.’
‘I think anyone could conduct such proceedings and the outcome would be the same. You don’t think it would be better to do it in-house? To trust that the packs are sensible enough to ensure the right person is chosen?’ I sensed a sidelong look from Thomson at that. I could bet exactly what he was thinking about the right person to be Brethren Lord.
‘It’s the way things are done,’ Tom protested.
I glanced over at Anton, who was looking interested. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think, my Lord, that a little more independence could be a good thing,’ he offered.
I rubbed my chin. At least not everyone would be against a bit of change, although I recalled an old quotation I’d once heard from Henry Ford, who’d said that if he’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster cars’. I was starting to realise that shaking up the Brethren and the shifter world was going to be an arduous process.
***
‘We have contacted the Arch-Mage, my Lord, and he has agreed to open a portal to allow you to return to London.’
‘Great.’
Staines cleared his throat. ‘Except he won’t do it until 9.30am.’
‘What?’ I roared. ‘That bloody wizard! He’ll do anything for a bit of one-upmanship. This isn’t on, Staines.’
‘What do you suggest?’
I bunched up my fists. ‘Arrange a face-to-face meeting with him for tomorrow. I’m going to make damn sure he starts treating us with a little more respect.’
As soon as the words left my mouth, I spotted another person lacking in the ‘respect for office’ department walking up the staircase. Mack was dragging her feet and looking as if the whole process of moving upstairs was a laborious and painful one. Despite my earlier decision to leave her alone, I was curious about what was going on. I moved after her, reaching her just as she was about to enter her dorm room.
‘In the doghouse, Miss Mackenzie?’ I was proud of myself for sounding polite and solicitous. It was a damn sight more than she deserved.
‘Whatever do you mean, my Lord?’ she asked, turning round. I noted that she’d returned to pretending to be submissive. I was already in a foul mood; I didn’t need her faked subservience to add to it.
‘This,’ I said, goading her into the truth, ‘if I’m not mistaken, is the girls’ dorm. Not the room you share with the wolf.’
She looked surprised and, briefly, panicked. ‘We’re, uh, re-assessing our relationship in light of recent revelations.’
I was ridiculously pleased to hear it. Then again, however, considering the compromising position I’d found her in with the human, perhaps this was merely her modus operandi. She must be some sort of serial dater. I took a step closer, realising she was wearing the same clothes as she had during the fight with the earthquake beast. That had been hours ago and it looked to me like she was only just getting in. It rankled to think that she’d been off with someone else.
‘I just bet you are,’ I purred, ‘especially given that you are clearly only just arriving home. Who was it this time? The human? Or perhaps a new conquest with the mage?’
‘I spent all night self-flagellating for my behaviour towards you, my Lord,’ she snapped, finally meeting my eyes, her irritation visible.
I tried not to grin. ‘That mouth of yours does get you into a lot of trouble, doesn’t it?’ I watched her carefully. The spark in her eyes promised bloody violence. I wondered how far I could push her and what it would take to get her to re-consider joining us in London. It would be entertaining, if nothing else. And if we did bring along smitten Betsy too, perhaps Tom could be persuaded to involve himself more in her direction than Mack’s. Not that I was in the business of splitting couples up, but they were already on the skids and far from well suited. ‘Just because I’m leaving,’ I continued, ‘doesn’t mean that I won’t forget that you need to be punished for your infantile behaviour.’
‘Infantile? Why you fu…’ She stopped herself from completing her sentence just
in time. ‘Yes, my Lord,’ she muttered.
I almost laughed aloud. ‘I thought you should know that I was impressed with the wolf’s fighting skills last night. And yours. You might consider joining the ranks of the Brethren. Assuming that you can learn some manners, of course.’
‘How thoughtful of your Lordship to think of us. You would do better to engage your attentions elsewhere however, I fear.’
‘Indeed,’ I said, moving next to her to take another look at her hair. The tiny line of red at her roots was becoming much more obvious. ‘Well, till next time then, Kitten. Perhaps then your hair will be back to its normal colour. I am a fan of Celtic red hair.’
A strange expression crossed her face and she stared at the air beside me as if seeing a ghost. ‘My Lord.’ Then she spun on her heel, yanked open the dorm door and vanished.
Chapter Thirteen
The moment I stepped through the portal, returning to the bastion of the Brethren, I could smell the difference in the air. I was a city boy, born and bred, but despite the efforts made by the council to clean up pollution, I could still taste the smog on my tongue. It was a depressing difference to the salty tang of Cornwall. Still, I had more pressing matters to worry about than air pollution. Greeted by two familiar faces, I wasted no time in instructing them to take me immediately to Lola.
She was in better shape than I expected, propped up in bed with a steaming cup of tea. A pallor clung to her skin, and her dark eyes spoke of horrors, but she was recovering. The silly girl tried to get up when I entered her room, as if standing to attention and then collapsing in a puddle of limbs would show me the depth of her loyalty.
‘Don’t you dare,’ I told her, sitting on the edge of her bed. ‘Until the doctor gives you a clean bill of health, you’re staying right there.’