Thaumatology 101 (30 page)

‘
Now
you’re living up to your reputation,’ she said, her lips twitching. ‘I’m off duty. There’s nothing illegal going on here, no one here is a criminal that I’m aware of, and my hemlines are a matter of personal discretion when off the clock.’

The playboy bowed his head. ‘Your hemline is most appreciated, I assure you.’

Middleshaw’s cheeks coloured more deeply. Ceri decided that it was not so much what Carter said, or even how he said it, it was that he just gave off the air of a man who appreciated women for what they were. He was good looking and rich, a fairly lethal combination in itself, and his reputation suggested he really was looking for women to take to bed at all times. He did not need to flirt much for a girl to get the impression she was in for a good night.

‘So, what did you get for your birthday, Ceri?’ the detective asked to give herself breathing room.

‘Oh!’ Ceri said, blushing. ‘I haven’t even opened them all. Twill, would you oblige?’

Twill floated up from the chair and off to one of the alcoves at the side of the room, returning with a train of packages of various shapes and sizes following her. The brightly wrapped presents settled down on the rug in front of Ceri’s chair, and the fairy dropped onto the arm opposite Lily to watch the unwrapping.

‘I didn’t ask for anything,’ Ceri said as she picked up the nearest box. ‘Some of the invitations were very last minute so I specifically said that presents were
not
required.’ The package was small, but had been wrapped incredibly precisely. ‘This is Twill’s,’ Ceri said. ‘She can get folds and creases tighter than anyone I’ve ever met.’ There was the sound of wind chimes as Ceri began to open the package.

Inside the box was a black, velvet choker with a bird skull attached to it by a gold fitting. ‘It’s charmed,’ Twill said. ‘Put it on and you’ll always know which way home is.’ Grinning, Ceri fixed the choker around her throat and gave the tiny, brown woman a kiss on the top of her head.

As she turned to pick up the next package, Dane stalked into the room. He circled around the back of Carter’s chair and settled onto the floor beside Middleshaw’s chair. He nodded up at the policewoman. ‘I’m Dane,’ he said, dropping his jacket behind him.

‘Kate,’ she replied.

Ceri had unwrapped a package from Cheryl containing a matched set of earrings and necklace; ivory stars inside circles of silver with carefully inscribed runes marked on each ring. She hung the earrings in her ears, but the necklace remained in the box since she was already wearing Twill’s choker.

‘Oh, yeah,’ Dane said, ‘presents.’ He reached behind himself for his jacket, rummaging in a pocket before pulling something out and tossing it toward Ceri. ‘Didn’t get a chance to wrap it or anything,’ he said. Ceri caught the small object, turning it over in her hand. It was a small figurine of a wolf carved in jet, its head raised in a silent howl. ‘Tabby makes them,’ he said. ‘She said you should have it. Shows you’re a friend of the pack.’

‘Thank you,’ Ceri said, ‘it’s beautiful.’ She placed it on the arm of the chair beside Twill where it almost looked life-size beside the tiny fairy.

There was a carefully wrapped box from Alec to open next. Ceri noticed his cheeks colouring a little as she picked it up and checked the label. ‘I hadn’t a clue what to get you,’ the wolf-man said, ‘but, uh… well…’ She opened the box and pulled out a black teddy with mesh inserts across the chest. ‘I checked your size with Lil,’ he said, his cheeks reddening more, ‘and I, uh, noticed you seemed to like them…’

Ceri giggled. ‘It’s lovely, Alec, thank you. I promise I’ll wear it to the Dragon next time I’m there.’ She smirked. ‘Though you won’t be able to look at my boobs as easily in this.’ While Alec blustered and tried to calm his glowing cheeks, Ceri reached for the last package, which was not exactly a package.

Five foot long and wrapped in deep purple silk, Ceri picked the object up and looked at it with a confused expression. ‘Well, it’s not from Lily,’ she said. ‘She gave me her presents earlier.’ Lily giggled.

‘Somehow I feel we don’t want to know,’ Middleshaw said.

‘Want to know,’ Dane chuckled, ‘maybe, but I suspect it’s not for polite company.’

‘Hey!’ Lily said. ‘The dress she’s wearing was one of them.’

‘If that’s the most decent,’ Cheryl commented, ‘I think Dane is correct.’ Lily pouted.

‘It’s from me,’ Carter said. ‘I bought it… oh, fifteen years ago. I really don’t know why. I think, at the time, I thought it would increase my power.’ He chuckled. ‘It’s never worked for me, so I’m passing it on to you.’

Frowning, Ceri untied the silk and unwrapped the object. It was a staff. The head came out first; a blue glass orb held in a moulded metal grip. She pulled the rest of the shaft free. The top third of it was slightly thicker than the rest, with carved and inlaid lines in what looked like a simply artistic pattern in blue. The base was another piece of moulded metal and the shaft between the two sections was textured wood, dimpled for an easier grip.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Ceri said. ‘I thought you didn’t give presents.’

Carter smiled. ‘Call it another investment. It’s never been much use to me. It just sat on my wall looking enigmatic. I have this… feeling, an intuition if you will, that giving it to you is the right thing to do.’ He chuckled. ‘Besides, a magician needs a staff, I feel. It sets the right tone.’

‘Mages hardly ever use staves these days,’ Twill said. ‘Something of an archaic practice, don’t you think?’

‘I’m an old fashioned sort of wizard, my dear Lady Twill.’ He took a drink from his glass, watching as Ceri ran a finger over the inlaid design. ‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘the old ways are best.’

November 1
^st

Ceri had to step over two sleeping couples to reach the kitchen. Alec did not “do brush,” but it seemed that was not a trait shared by all werewolves. The pack had brought their bedrolls in with them, and they were doing double duty as sleeping space for wolves, foxes, and humans. Looking back before she entered the kitchen she found herself wondering which of them were paired up. Or indeed whether there had been couples or just a mass of tangled bodies. It was hard to tell. She turned and went hunting for coffee.

By the time the activities in the hall had got heated, Ceri had already retired with Lily to engage in some heated activity of their own. She was moderately sure that Cheryl had ended up with Alec again, in Lily’s room. It was rapidly becoming “the guest bedroom” and Ceri was starting to wonder when Lily would just move her clothes into Ceri’s room. What had happened to Carter, Kate, and Dane she did not know.

Twill had made coffee. Ceri blessed the little woman silently and poured herself a mug. She settled down at the table and relaxed, letting the caffeine work its magic.

Lily’s bare feet slapped on the slate as she wandered in rubbing her eyes. ‘You got up,’ she said, pouting. She poured herself a mug of coffee and took a drink before adding, ‘I was planning to wake you up properly.’

‘You almost never wake up before I do, Lil. Besides, didn’t we spend enough time doing that last night?’

‘She’s half succubus, my dear Ceridwyn,’ Carter said from the doorway. He was dressed in his tuxedo trousers and a white shirt which was now a little rumpled. It occurred to Ceri that she had not remembered to dress before coming down.

‘Yes,’ Ceri said, moving herself slightly to cover more of herself with her arms, ‘enough time is
never
enough time.’

Lily, of course, was not the least bit bothered to be standing before her employer in the nude. ‘It’s not like I’m a nymphomaniac or anything,’ she said. ‘You want coffee?’

‘That would be glorious,’ Carter replied. ‘Then I should be heading off. I have afternoon plans with a French supermodel.’

Ceri laughed. She noticed that while she was embarrassed to be sat there naked in front of Carter, he seemed not entirely comfortable with her nudity as well. He was obviously not bothered by Lily, so why her? ‘Where did you end up last night?’ she asked.

‘In what I assume is Lily’s room,’ he said. Ceri thought about that for a second and decided that she was not going to ask. ‘Kate fell asleep on that lounger of yours after Alec and Cheryl left. I believe Dane went to sleep on the rug beside her.’ He smiled and took a coffee mug from Lily. ‘Thank you, my dear.’

Lily did a little curtsy and grinned. ‘It was a good night,’ she said. ‘It’s been a good summer, even with all that’s happened.’

‘It has been… interesting,’ Carter agreed.

Ceri took a drink of coffee and considered. She had started her first ever job, survived being practically drowned in thaumic energy, twice, and discovered both a fundamental particle and that she was a sorceress. She had almost fallen prey to the demonic side of her best friend, and the machinations of a demonic wizard. She had defeated both through wit and power, and her relationship with Lily had become something she suspected she had yet to discover the true nature of. Yes, it certainly had been a very interesting few weeks.

‘Academia is going to be quite boring after all this excitement,’ she said, ‘but I think I could live with a little boredom for a while.’

Carter and Lily looked at her. ‘Planning to finally get that doctorate?’ Lily asked.

Ceri’s cheeks flushed. ‘I have plenty of incentive,’ she said. ‘I was thinking of doing a full study on the were-creature transformation, if you wouldn’t mind me bothering a few of your dancers, Carter.’

The club owner nodded. ‘Be my guest. I suspect the north Hills pack might be available to help as well.’

Ceri nodded, experiment plans and a thesis outline already forming in her head. ‘That sounds like a plan, she said. ‘And I can’t imagine there’s much chance of me accidentally blowing up the planet doing that. It should be a fairly safe area for study.’ Both Carter and Lily winced, looked at each other, and started laughing. Ceri looked between them, bemused, and then began laughing herself.

Well, laughter was as a good a way as any to start a new year.

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.

I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.

For More Information

The
Thaumatology
Blog:
http://thaumatology.wordpress.com

Other Books in the Series

Demon’s Moon - B006JPN7A0

Legacy - B006OKR8PK

Dragon’s Blood - B0072S1DOU

Disturbia - B007GNICZO

Hammer of Witches - B007YG2I44

Eagle’s Shadow - B008E17TYW

Ancient - B00923F8AS

Dragonfall – Coming December 2012

The Other Side of Hell – Coming December 2012

Anthologies in the
Thaumatology
Universe

Tales from High Towers’ Study - B006ZAJ7TY

Tales from the Dubh Linn - B0080XPD88

Table of Contents

Part One: T-Null

Part Two: Power

Part Three: Sorcery

Part Four: Doomsday

Part Five: All Hallows’ Eve