Suzanne McLeod - The Bitter Seed of Magic

‘—nothing to fear, Maxim. I will not give up your secrets,’ Malik was saying calmly.

‘No, you bleeding won’t,’ he replied angrily, ‘because you’re not getting to know them.’

‘Maxim, this situation is as a result of the curse; it could be what we have all—’

‘No! Not my problem any more,’ Mad Max interrupted sharply. ‘I’ve washed my hands of the whole sodding business. I’ve lost too much already assisting you and your horsey friend. I told you both, don’t ask me again.’

We? Who did he mean by we ? And what had Malik and Tavish asked Mad Max to help with?

‘I understand,’ Malik said gently after a moment’s silence, then added briskly, ‘There is another concern. Genevieve knows about the faeling, the one you took from Francine.’

‘So what? The little bitch is under the protection of the witches now.’

‘But it appears there is a vampire interfering with the family. This was not what we agreed.’

‘You’re not laying that one on me, mate. Oh, no, nothing to do with me. I haven’t been near the little cow, not since she took a fancy to that pipsqueak of a wizard.’

‘Francine?’

‘Your butt-licking little illusionist? Doubt it; she’s too busy playing with the girls she’s still got.’

‘Fyodor?’

‘The old man?’ Maxim gave a barking laugh. ‘Good God, you’ve got to be joking. He’s so trussed up in all his promises to everyone and her dog, he has trouble managing a nibble without checking what night it is.’

‘Who then?’

‘I’m not a bleeding oracle, old chum. If you’re all fired up about it, ask my nutter of a cousin to sleuth for you. She’s the one who’s pally with the fae. But then, you’re not her type, are you?’ His voice took on a taunting tone. ‘She likes them a good bit younger and a good bit more impressionable, like our yummy Darius. Quite a feat that: jumping bodies. Old Francine’s got the heebie-jeebies about it, not surprising, really, but it makes you wonder just what my cousin and her pet-fang have been up to, doesn’t it?’ He lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘I suspect they’re a tad closer, if you know what I mean, than we all thought. Not that I’d want to get that close to her; the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree with that one, my bleeding face still hurts like the devil—’

‘Maxim, who is Andy?’

My ears perked up: Andy was the name Darius had been thinking of when I’d wanted to know why Mad Max was taking my bagged blood.

‘Maxim?’ Malik’s voice came again, but however they were communicating, Mad Max had obviously gone offline.

After a few more minutes of silence, I opened my eyes. We were driving past the Gothic towers of Tower Bridge, its brightly lit walkways flashing colour into the heavy grey sky. Not far now. I frowned down at Malik in his bag, resisted the urge to kick him and ask what the hell he wasn’t telling me, and tried to work out what I’d learned by eavesdropping. That Mad Max had two kids was the obvious one, not that the info got me any closer to finding out how Mad Max and his kids were involved with Helen and the missing faelings. The only thing I did know was that Mad Max was afraid of the Autarch finding out—not that I blamed him—which suggested Max wasn’t quite as mad as he seemed. Then Malik had asked about the fanged cuckoo nesting in with Ana’s family, and while Mad Max had denied having anything to do with Ana, hadn’t in fact appeared to like her much, he hadn’t seemed surprised, so I was betting he knew who the vamp was—

The van braked, and I winced as Malik’s body bag slid into the back doors with a soft thud.

I looked up to see we’d arrived at our destination: the War Memorial at Tower Hill.

Hugh was waiting on the pavement outside, in front of the long stone-built corridor with its Greek-looking columns and huge engraved bronze wall plaques. I grinned as an idea hit me. Maybe Hugh could get Malik to reveal his secrets—after all, the annoying vamp was going to have to do something while he was waiting for me to collect our ‘Tour the Tower’ entry tickets. I jumped out, thankful that the rain had stopped. We said our hellos, then Hugh silently watched as the two constables carried the bagged-up vampire through the gate and into the vaulted building.

Finally he said, ‘I see you managed to convince Mr al-Khan to cooperate.’ His ruddy face creased into a concerned frown. ‘I hope he didn’t cause you any problems?’

‘Nothing I couldn’t handle,’ I said, keeping the grimace off my face as he gave me a searching look. Hugh doesn’t have a sense of humour when it comes to vamps. ‘Any news on Finn’s daughter?’ I asked anxiously.

‘Sorry, Genny, no.’ He gave my shoulder a gentle consoling pat. ‘Finn’s out with a couple of WPCs, canvassing all of Nicola’s friends to see if they can come up with any helpful information. He should be along shortly.’

I sighed, worried about how Finn was coping, then asked, ‘What about the doppelgänger plan?’

‘That one’s not going too well.’ Dust puffed from Hugh’s headridge and settled on his black hair. It was beginning to look like someone had emptied a bag of red flour over him. ‘Constable Martin spent half an hour talking to the Raven Master and six of the ravens, all of whom claim they know nothing whatsoever about the dead faelings, nor are they interested.’ He ushered me through the gate and we walked down towards the Memorial Garden. ‘She is currently chatting with Victoria Harrier and her daughter-in-law, Ana, about the antics of Ana’s large brood of children over tea and cakes in the café in Trafalgar Square.’

‘Damn. So Victoria Harrier didn’t buy the switch.’

‘Or she is as she seems, and her connections with everything are entirely coincidental.’

‘She can’t be,’ I said, ‘unless the vamp’s got her so locked up she hasn’t a clue what she’s doing.’

‘It’s possible, Genny, but unless I have proof otherwise, the judge won’t issue a warrant. My hands are tied.’

Which meant everything rested on my part of the master plan. ‘No pressure then,’ I said, determined to make it work.

‘Once Victoria Harrier and Ana have finished their chat with Constable Martin,’ Hugh said, ‘if nothing develops, then we’ll bring them in for questioning. We’ve already had Ana’s husband picked up in New York, and we’ve got Dr Craig down at Old Scotland Yard.’

‘Don’t suppose he’s spilled any interesting beans yet?’

‘Until we finish talking to him, Genny, I can’t be certain, but so far he is exactly what he appears to be: a workaholic doctor who spends more time at his job than there are hours in the day. Unless that changes, he’s not going to be of help.’

‘What about the Old Donn?’ I asked, hoping that one lead might pay out and give us something helpful. ‘Did you find out if he’s really dead, or not?’

‘The Old Donn’s definitely dead,’ Hugh stated, deflating my hope. ‘I’ve had it confirmed by the Lady Meriel. After the incident with the sidhe he was executed, along with two other wylde fae, Hallbjörn the White and Arthur Ursa.’

Executed! Well, executed sounded pretty dead to me, but— ‘What about Sylvia mentioning his remains?’

‘The three were decapitated, then burned, and their ashes were mixed with salt on Tower Green. Apparently a spell was cast to stop them from fading until after the execution had been carried out.’ Hugh’s ruddy face paled. ‘The Lady Meriel chose to explain it in detail for me.’

I patted his hand; his skin felt dry and gritty, a sure sign he was disturbed by what he’d been told. But then, Hugh was a softy at heart. No wonder the Librarian’s old newspapers had called their deaths a ‘Brutal Slaying’. The execution sounded a bit barbaric, but personally, I thought it was well deserved.