Black Spark (Dark Magic Enforcer Book 1) (20 page)

Anyway, Mary was a nice girl, and more than happy to tell me what she knew. She was seriously annoyed at how she had been treated, and I promised to put in a good word for her with Grandma if she could help me out. She gushed at the offer, as getting on Grandma's radar is no small matter, especially for a young witch-in-training.

It seemed that it was a regular thing for Ankine to go shopping before she and the Ambassador hit the clubs late in the evening, him hardly ever making an appearance until late the following day. Mary had received her marching orders from Teppo, who she said had begun to act strangely, but it wasn't her place to say anything. Her tone made it clear she was less than impressed with Ankine Luisi. She told me all she could about their usual routine. I just hoped that it was still the same.

I needed something to go on though, and this was the best I could come up with apart from just confronting her head on. A little intel wouldn't hurt, and I wanted to speak to Teppo alone if I could. According to Mary, Ankine was usually out until well past five, sometimes six, so I had plenty of time to see her in action, maybe get an idea of what I faced, and to be honest I suppose I was putting off the inevitable.

Pretending to talk on my phone, so I didn't look like a total loser, even though I knew Regulars couldn't even see me, only Hidden—and I bet most don't know how to get a coffee either—I watched people come and go from the stores.

We were on the main stretch through the shopping district, and most people have to pass that way to hit up the various department stores and boutiques. It was pleasant. Normal.

The rain had stopped, making the new paving gleam like a polished crystal ball as the sun made a risky move. It dared to shine for a few brief moments, before a concerted attack by the Welsh cloud gang took back their territory. The victorious clouds celebrated with a downpour so sudden and fierce the street emptied in seconds. The coffee shop risked expelling those without sufficient knowledge of its secret language as it became increasingly crowded.

Oliver scowled at the rain, but remained in the street, getting more morose the wetter he got. I acted sensibly and stood under the canopy while people came and went with their drinks and muttered about the weather like it was a revelation it rained in Cardiff.

Okay, I chose a coffee shop just to annoy Oliver. I knew he would have to remain some distance away as he had little choice if he wanted to stay alive. Vampires can't handle being in close proximity to a lot of humans, not the older ones like Oliver. It's too much temptation, like putting a witch in a herb garden and telling her to not even smell the leaves. Young ones can handle it as they don't have the same urges, but older vampires can never get enough blood magic. Even Oliver was intelligent enough to know that sitting in a crowded room would send him spiraling out of control, or make him too sick to remain.

So it was with great pleasure that I smiled at Kate when she arrived, opened the door to the unknowable world of coffee, and ushered her in ahead of me.

I winked at Oliver as we left him outside like a dog on a piece of string. Served him right.

Hopefully the bait would work.

False Pretenses

I tricked Kate into ordering coffee as I said I needed a pee, and when I returned she had picked a table in the middle of the crowded room. That wouldn't do at all. So, while she watched, bemused by this everyman, this entirely forgettable, nobody-remembers-what-he-looks-like man, I went and stood by a table at the window.

Some guy was there with a coffee and his laptop, taking up a table meant for two, coat on the empty chair and his attention lost to his Facebook timeline. I stood there, behind him, just for a second. His timeline was full of mentions of the viral campaigns Kate had put together and he laughed and tutted at the videos. Man, she had saved my hide with that.

He felt my presence and turned, then went straight back to his screen. I was nothing to look at. He would have already forgotten I was there, would never remember me, even with the bleached hair.

I let my tattoos tingle, not enough to make me feel sick, and summoned up a feeling that spread out from my body just enough to touch him. Wizards aren't all about blasting you with dark powers, it can be subtle too, just like with Grandma. A sense of urgency and forgetfulness permeated the air. This is the true art of dark magic—manipulating the energy you draw and actually making it into something subtle rather than just blasting away. It's a mental game, much more difficult to master but infinitely more useful.

The man became jittery and kept glancing at his watch. He drained the dregs of his mystery beverage then slammed the lid down on his laptop. He would be feeling like he had someplace to be, like he'd forgotten something important. He grabbed his coat and made a dash for the door.

I turned, winked at Kate and beamed. As she came over with our drinks I pulled a chair out for her. She sat, shaking her head.

"Aah, that's better."

"What's going on?" she accused, smiling in amusement but squinting at me. She knows me too well.

"Okay, I have an ulterior motive. I have to deal with Ankine Luisi now, and no, I'm not going to get you involved." A look of relief washed over her. "But I wanted to see you, and I, well, I wanted your opinion on her when you see her."

"So you woke me up, for the second time today, just so I could stare at women with you?"

"Hey, don't make it sound dirty. But, yeah. Not all women, just her. Tell me what you see when she comes along."

"And how do you know she will?" Kate took a sip of her overpriced, unpronounceable and calorie dense coffee, then sighed with pleasure. I drank my filter coffee and shrugged—I don't know what the fuss is about.

"Oh, she will. I've set some bait." I nodded at Oliver stood in the street, scowling at the people that passed, following some with his eyes as they entered or exited stores. He was looking for his next meal, sniffing out the lonely, the dispossessed, the alone or the weak, the ones that wouldn't be missed. I hope Kate never gets like that. I will do all I can to prevent it, and she's strong.

"How so?"

I turned from the window and let Kate have all my attention. She looked amazing. That inner fire that burned so bright after feeding is hard to resist, and I could see others in the place just as fascinated and drawn to her as I was.

To her credit, she didn't notice, or if she did she never acknowledged it. Classy through and through. "Because succubi are drawn to men, use them and abuse them, but they are also drawn to magic, like a faery to spaghetti. And blood magic is so close to what they know, what they are, that she'll be along to investigate. I'm sure of it. She comes shopping most days, apparently, so hopefully we can get a good look at her."

"And then what?"

"Then I at least know what she really looks like at the moment. It's not much to go on, but it's better than going in totally blind with no clue."

"What about us? She'll know we are here too, won't she?"

"She won't care about you, and she won't even care about poor Oliver there too much. But she won't be interested in me as I have no intention of letting her know I'm here."

"What, you gonna vanish or something?"

"No, I will shield myself. Here but not here, a part of the smell."

Kate sniffed the coffee-rich air, and looked at me, confused. "The smell?"

"I'm not just a pretty face. Look, I know I'm an enforcer, and some object to that, but I do good work, keep things together, on track, but I'm a wizard, Kate. I'm more than that."

"I know, Faz, but I still don't get the smell thing."

"I can blend back. You know how it is, that nobody in here sees me. They see a hot woman, but me? They see nothing. Succubi may be incredibly powerful, but they are fixated on men. Men they can take. Weak men, or men with a weakness. I will be nothing but a coffee-scented no-man. It's hard to explain, even to myself, but I can blend right back like you wouldn't believe. It doesn't work on all Hidden, but for Ankine Luisi it should. I will be the smell of this place. My magic will keep me hidden."

It's an old trick, just a blending really, but a different take on an old staple. One way out of many to be there but not there. A diverting of energy to make it easy to hide in plain sight. Subtle and yet immersive, the power of the mind, of the will, bending magic to make it do your bidding.

"Okay, if you're sure. But how long is this going to take? I'm tired, Faz. I need to rest, soon."

"Sorry, I should have never called. But I missed you."

"Haha, you've seen me loads today, more than for ages. Where have you been lately?"

I'd been keeping a low profile, trying to forget about her, keeping contact to a minimum as my feelings grew. It hadn't helped. It made things worse. "Just busy," I mumbled.

"Look, there she is."

We both turned to look out the steamy window. I let my ink vibrate as I sank into the ether, nothing but the smell of coffee and the slightest hint of a man. A technique that had come in handy over the years, perfect for Hidden that were so full of themselves they never searched for danger and believed themselves invincible.

Sickness enveloped me as I hunched forward and watched outside, but I remained little but a wisp of a man. A smell amongst unknowable beverages consumed all around me.

Even through the sickness I smiled as Oliver tugged at the collar of his t-shirt and looked ready to pounce on the nearest human as Ankine Luisi made her presence felt.

Damn, she was enchanting.

Stalking

As we watched the people go about their business, in and out of stores, buying clothes, food, pasties from Gregg's or the more expensive Cornish Pasty Pavilion, and blowing on the food in their mouth in that "Hot, hot, hot" way that's always comical as long as it's not you with burning meat on your tongue, I felt oddly relaxed considering I was stalking the most dangerous woman in the country. Maybe on the planet at that moment.

The Armenian swung her Debenhams bag in a carefree, what-a-lovely-day-it-is way, seemingly oblivious to the cooling afternoon and the dullness of the new paving already plastered with discarded chewing gum beneath her feet. She wore a light summer dress, striking yellow like a buttercup, sleeveless with a flared hem. A seventies original—I know my eras.

Her arms were slender, but nothing that would make you take a second look. In fact, she appeared entirely unmemorable. It was the dress that drew a little attention because of its simplicity and style, not the woman.

She had brown hair, rather straight, long but a little limp even though she held a plain umbrella to stop the rain. She was slim, verging on scrawny, with the body of a middle distance runner—not very curvy, but athletic and at the same time womanly.

Ankine Luisi's features were unremarkable. She was neither drop-dead gorgeous nor too plain, but somewhere in-between. Average, like most people are. You would look at her, then look away and go about your business.

As a succubus, the Armenian could take on any human form she wished. Even locked to our world, because of the time spent here, she could still manipulate reality in ways well beyond the abilities of most wizards or mages. Yet she chose, like she always had, a rather innocuous image. This was her true stroke of genius.

The truth is that men get nervous around extremely pretty women, or they simply think they have no chance and won't risk a rebuff, so you often find that truly exceptional looking females find it harder to get dates and attract male company than somewhat good looking ladies do. This is obviously why women seldom approach me. Haha.

Ankine Luisi thrived on men. Used them, spat them out, and moved on to the next, sometimes becoming involved in many at the same time. So she took on the form of someone that was entirely approachable, and was able to set her sights on unsuspecting males without doing anything to scare them off or make them reticent.

We are, and I hate to admit it—but after over a hundred years of being a man and seeing how we behave, I can't deny it—fickle, easily led astray, and suckers for anyone that actually takes a shine to us.

Watching Ankine Luisi go about her business in a carefree, happy-with-the-world way, was like a lesson in how to bend a man to your will. Kate and I watched, entranced.

There was a way about her. She walked with confidence, yet without being cocky or unapproachable. She had amazing posture, and smiled and acted around men in ways that made me feel ashamed to be born a member of such a weak gender. What was wrong with us? Why were we so pathetic?

She would "accidentally" bump into men, giggle and tilt her head just so, smile and hold eye contact a fraction longer than necessary. She touched arms, kept her hand there, slowly drew it away, and the results were amazing to watch. As she moved off, the men would turn and smile, lost in a daze of boosted confidence and wonder at the woman they had just met.

She would haunt their dreams. She would go to them and a sense of her would always remain. This was her power. That contact, that sexual chemistry, it took something from those men, gave her a tiny piece of them. The magic that is in all of us, some of it would be hers, making them that little bit more empty inside, less connected to the magical world.

It increased her essence, her power, her life-force. She became stronger, better able to be who she was. A succubus that could ensnare you and take advantage of your weakness because you are just a man and have no control over your urges or your need to be wanted and loved and made to feel special.

Women feel the same way, I know, but it's different. We are weaker, and in her presence even the strongest man would find it nigh on impossible to resist her. If a few seconds of her company made men forget where they were going, or what they were doing, then imagine what a few hours, or a night in her company would do to a man. They would be hers.

This was exactly what she had done to Mage Teppo Quimby, Ambassador of the Finnish Dark Council.