‘Well, you’re a woman of hidden depths, aren’t you? Selflessness now, is it?’
‘If I can do it, anyone can. Even you.’
‘We’ve got an obligation here,’ Church said.
‘The only obligation I’ve got is to myself,’ Hunter snapped, ‘and frankly I’ve not heard anything here that makes me think this is going to turn out anything other than disastrous.’
‘We have a plan-’
‘No, you haven’t. You’ve got half a notion, a little bit of an idea concocted from a brew of rumours, innuendos and hints. Even if I laughably consider that there’s the vaguest glimmer of truth in what I’ve heard, the possibility that we could do something about it is beyond my comprehension.’
‘Don’t you
‘I don’t trust anybody. And I don’t feel anything. I can see you’re all doing the evangelical bit, and you give a good sermon, really. But this doesn’t work for me. I wish you well, but I’ll be honest, I’m not going to lose any sleep over leaving you to it.’ He nodded decisively and glanced at Laura, who returned his look haughtily, and then walked through the wall of Blue Fire and away.
‘You’re not going to let him go?’ Ruth said to Church. ‘We need him.’
‘We can’t force him to help us.’
‘We could try,’ Mallory said hopefully.
‘We need all the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons we can muster if we’re going to stand a chance,’ Ruth continued. ‘What are we going to do now, Church?’
Church looked to Hal, but he shook his head. The flames had begun to die down, retreating towards the ground. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I can’t help. You’re on your own.’
2
Hunter spent the rest of the day in a brothel just off Wimpole Street. The girls came and went, but nothing could take his mind off everything he had seen and heard since he had first encountered Laura in Hyde Park. He felt troubled, and then angry that he felt troubled. He took great care to order his life so it would be bearable. The last thing he needed was to have it all shaken up, more responsibility thrust on him, more obligation.
When he emerged into a light rain as dusk was falling, he was in a bad mood and in need of some serious drinking. He made his way down to Soho where he could lose himself in the backstreet pubs without bumping into anyone he knew. He drank Jack Daniel’s and Coke at a rapid clip and only became more irritated when drunkenness didn’t come quickly enough.
It was past midnight and the rain was still falling when he finally gave up. The weather had driven the stragglers home or to clubs and the streets were deserted. As he made his way along Wardour Street, the instinct that had served him so well over the years came alive. It was the kind of unease he had felt moving through Belgrade at night with the Serbian security forces close behind. Slipping into an alley, he waited.
For several moments there was only the rain-slick street gleaming in the sodium lights and the drumming of droplets on fire escapes and parked cars. Then, at the far end of the street, a shimmer like the reflection of light from a moving car. Patches of mist emerged from doorways and alleys, rose up from manholes, gradually taking on greater substance before moving rapidly around.
Entranced, Hunter believed they were the most attractive women he had ever seen; any doubts were unnaturally silenced, even the dim realisation that they were searching for him as they quickly moved into every available space.
Closer and closer, the pale figures whirled through the rain. A cat darted out of one of the alleys where it had been scavenging in a bin and froze in the middle of the road, its hackles raised. Three of the women spun around, arms raised, swaying on the spot. They looked like cobras, hissing and drawing back their lips to reveal needle teeth. In the hollows of their eyes lay something corrupt and terrifying.
Hands grabbed Hunter’s shoulders and pulled him roughly back into the alley. It was the second time he had been surprised in as many days, and the shock of it broke the spell. He whirled to confront an ageing hippie, his grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, wire-rimmed spectacles, faded combat jacket, peace symbol T-shirt.
‘I thought you people were supposed to be better than this,’ he hissed. ‘Come on.’ He hurried into the shadows further along the alley. Hunter glanced back at the rapidly nearing feral women and chose to follow.
‘Who are you?’ Hunter asked when he caught up with the man, who was now staring up into the dark.
‘Quiet. The Baobhan Sith can hear the movement of an insect.’
‘The what?’
‘There’s a fire escape up there. If you boost me up, I can pull it down and we can get up onto the roof.’
‘Remind me why I’m listening to you?’
The stranger’s eyes were filled with a power belied by his shabby appearance. ‘Because in two short minutes, those things on the street will be tearing you limb from limb. Thirty seconds after that you’ll be nothing but a fine spray of blood and a few shards of bone.’
‘Okay, you’ve convinced me.’ Hunter cupped his hands and propelled the man up to the ladder, which slid down noisily. Within a minute they were on the wet roof. Hunter grabbed the man’s arm and said, ‘What do I call you?’
‘Tom. And despite what you might be thinking, I am a friend.’
Still suspicious, Hunter crawled to the edge of the roof and peered over the parapet. The Baobhan Sith flitted across the street with mounting frenzy. They reminded Hunter of hounds scenting their unseen prey. ‘Can they follow us up here?’
‘They could, but they’re not the sharpest knives in the box.’ Tom eased next to him.
‘Why are they after me?’
‘When you lived a life of dull ignorance, you weren’t a threat. Now you can no longer be contained or condoned. The alarms have gone off. You need to be removed from the field.’
‘Oh, I get it. You’re with the other lot. The mad Dragon Family.’ Hunter ducked as one of the Baobhan Sith scanned the rooftops. ‘They sent you to get me back.’
‘No. I have yet to join up with them. In these dangerous times, a touch of subtlety is required. Frankly, I think they’re flailing around like idiots. Dragging you in from your fake lives without any thought for how much fuss they’re making. Where’s the finesse? They’re going to bring all hell down on their shoulders, mark my words.’
‘If you’re not working with them, how do you know what’s going on?’
‘I’ve been watching.’
A high-pitched shriek rose up from the street, setting Hunter’s teeth on edge. It was joined by another and another.
Tom blanched. ‘They have found us.’
Hunter drew a carbon-steel knife from the sheath strapped to his calf. ‘Shall we see if they’re any good?’
‘You’ve got a death wish.’ Tom tried to grab Hunter’s arm, but he was already scrambling to the top of the fire escape. In the alley below, the Baobhan Sith looked like a mass of billowing sheets.
Before they could rise up the ladder, there was a disturbance at the entrance to the alley. A drunken couple were engaging in an argument en route home from the pub. She was shouting, ‘You didn’t have to keep looking at her!’
The Baobhan Sith stopped their relentless approach and turned as one. The couple were ripped to pieces in seconds. Hunter gaped at the speed and brutality of the attack; of all the many atrocities he had seen in his life, that was the worst.
‘If you’d run when I said, they might not have died,’ Tom said cruelly. ‘The Baobhan Sith are attack dogs. Anything that wanders into their vicinity is a target.’
