Chapter 14 #2
“Hey, love, I’m here.” He wrapped both arms around James from behind and wedged his chin on the boy’s shoulder. “I gotcha.”
“I’m not scared.” His tone was scathing. “Just…” He shook his head violently. “Never mind. I’m watching.” His ‘hush, please’ was as clear as if he’d spoken the words aloud.
Isher walked through the completed arch to a sea of impressed faces. Charley was vibrating with excitement.
“Can I learn to do that? Please tell me I can! I really—”
“Charley, breathe. Let’s walk before you can run, aye?” I chuckled as Dalziel began ushering the boy through to the garden.
There followed some heated debate about the possibility of moving the carriage. Baxter insisted on poking about inside, returning with a grim expression.
“You really want to live in that?” she asked me, her tone not so much dubious as appalled.
I grinned at her obvious discomfort. “Eh, it’ll be fine after a good tidy-up and some fixtures and fittings.
Don’t fret, lass, I’ve lived in worse.” I hadn’t, apart from a very brief period in my distant past, but I’d sleep on an inflatable mattress and cook on a camping stove if needed.
A roof over my head was all that mattered while I coaxed my numerous plants to acclimatise to their new surroundings.
Baxter was still frowning. “Are you going to be all right living in something made of so much metal?” she whispered to me, her words heavy with meaning.
I felt my eyes widen at her question. “I’m a really good witch, Baxter. I assure you I’ve worked out all the possible protections I require.” I hoped my tone, while polite, told her firmly to drop the subject. She took the hint and walked over to join Stephen.
Now his moment in the spotlight had arrived, I could tell that Charley was nervous. I pulled Isher to one side. “If you can do all this without breaking a sweat, why is the boy even here?”
Isher’s gaze was fond as he watched Luc whispering to Charley; a pep talk, I presumed. “Because he needs to learn. His mother is, or was, of royal blood. As her son, he’s volatile and potentially dangerous unless he knows what he’s capable of.”
I considered that. “Fair. If he truly doesn’t know, it could be disastrous.
” I eyed Edwin rounding everyone up to keep out of Charley’s way.
There was no way of knowing how long the ice would last if he was attempting this solo, so we needed to move quickly as soon as it was down.
Ahh, that was nice, Pavel was speaking to James.
The pair of them would be best out of it.
I didn’t really doubt the vampires, but one false move and anyone not capable of superhuman speed could be crushed.
“So, Malin. Still no word of her whereabouts? She’s not back through the Glimmer? ”
Isher gave me a look that said he found my question intrusive, which I suppose it was. “Nothing yet,” he confirmed. “But presumably she doesn’t know anyone is searching for her. Excuse me, Trace, I need to supervise.”
Charley’s clear tenor wobbled as he reminded everyone to keep back while he worked.
He flashed us a grin, all teeth and nerves.
“I usually have to get really fucking angry to make ice, so I’m imagining Stanno just before Sorley got to rearrange his mind.
” There was a titter from everyone who knew the story behind that.
“’Cept I kind of like that idea, so I keep forgetting to be cross.
” More chuckles. He rolled his shoulders and screwed up his eyes.
“Right, c’mon, dickhead, concentrate. Ooh, I know!
I’ll think about homophobes and terfs and racists and…
yeah…” I saw his blue eyes begin to glow with unearthly fire. “…Tories. That’ll do it.”
As we watched, the grass began to sparkle with frost. It thickened, then thickened some more.
Isher said something under his breath but I was too far away to catch it.
Baxter was… Oh bless her, she was clutching Edwin’s hand.
I examined the sudden small stab of envy I felt until I reminded myself she was straight and he was gay.
The green began to disappear under a cloak of white, spreading out from where Charley stood, his arms taut with concentration.
The earth beneath us crackled as the cold spread, faster now and in all directions.
Another word from Isher and Charley shot him a small grin; his shoulders relaxed and he inhaled deeply. Then…
Whoooffft. Charley spun around, arms outstretched and we were all instantly fighting to keep our balance on thick ice.
There was absolute silence for a count of three, four, five. Then Edwin said briskly, “Well come on then if you’re possessed of supernatural strength. We’ve a railway carriage to move.” He nodded at Charley who looked a bit dazed. “Fucking awesome, sonny. Keep it crispy while we work, please?”
“Yeah, sure.” He in turn advised Isher to join the two shadows and me in one corner, then tucked himself into the protection of the new archway, muttering furiously to himself as his eyes darted continually over the spectacular skating rink he’d conjured up.
Edwin, Dalziel, Baxter, Hector, Stephen and Luc slipped and slid across the surface, until Isher, doubled up laughing, waved his hands and all six found traction and started running.
“Spikes on their shoes?” I asked him as he joined me and the shadows in the corner.
“Yep. Should’ve thought of that first to be honest, but it was too funny watching them with all the grace of newborn fawns.”
Pavel’s smile was a yard wide. He waved a mobile phone at us.
“Quality entertainment can be so hard to find these days. I will of course check with my master that he is willing to let me share it, but I have no doubt he will find it amusing too.” His eyes twinkled, then he heaved a sigh.
“Even vampires can get hurt. I do hope they will take care.” He held the phone up once more and pressed .
I was grateful this was being recorded, because it didn’t seem physically possible.
I was sure my memory would glitch at some point in the future, convincing me I’d dreamt it all, but, slowly but surely, the railway carriage slid sideways off its reinforced base, then creaked and groaned its way across the frozen expanse.
“What are all the pink lights?” James said suddenly.
What!?
“What pink lights?” Pavel replied with a bemused frown.
Isher’s face was a mask of studied bafflement as he turned to James.
“You are probably overtired and imagining things,” he said airily.
“As Pavel said, ‘what pink lights?’. Look, it turns out that vampires are capable of working harmoniously. Tch, the stories about them are obviously just fables.” As he spoke, one end of the carriage lurched forward and there was a sharp curse from behind it.
In the safety of the archway, I noticed Charley flinch, then I turned my attention back to James.
What business did he have seeing stuff that others didn’t? More to the point, how had he seen it?