Shadows on the Border [Lost In Time]

Chapter 3: Will’s Flat

Chapter 3: Will’s FlatAlec

The telephone on his desk rang and Alec answered it automatically. “Wapping Police Station. Detective Inspector Carter speaking.” He dropped the official tone when he realized who it was. “What do you need, Grant? I thought you’d gone home for the night?”

He sat back in his chair, the stem of the phone in his hand, and listened with increasingly raised eyebrows. Grant wasn’t usually hysterical. He didn’t sound hysterical now. Just…tense. “I’ll collect Tyler and come over. A police officer from the Outlands, eh?”

Will sounded like he heard the sarcasm clearly despite the tinny telephone line and greeted it with a long-suffering sigh. “Just get here, Alec. I don’t think he’s dangerous. But I’m out of my depth. And bring that magician of yours.”

“He’s not my magician. But I’ll bring him. Give me an hour.” Alec hung up with alacrity. He hated the telephone, it was just another way for people to pester him.

* * * *

It was just under an hour by the time Alec hammered on the door of Grant’s flat. Will lived in a new building off Piccadilly, of all places. The man never spoke about coming from money or having any sort of private income—why should he, Alec supposed—but it was clear something more than a police detective’s weekly wage paid these sorts of bills.

Lew had been finishing up whatever he’d gone into the newspaper to do when Alec went to collect him. McGovern still had him working on the upcoming exposé of the Florish Gang, Alec thought. They had a sort of gentleman’s agreement that if what Lew was investigating for the paper came too close to Alec’s professional interests, they pretended the topic didn’t exist. They’d left Lew’s Triumph at the paper and come straight to Piccadilly in the little police Model-T Alec used.

Lew hadn’t been best pleased to be pulled out of the office, although his colleagues knew he consulted for the department. He’d told Alec a couple of weeks before that he was worried about people finding out they were friends. Alec couldn’t see the problem—they were friends, for goodness sake, everything else aside—but Lew was cautious. Alec supposed he was still getting to grips with living in a whole new century. It wasn’t a problem. He was happy to spend time with Lew whenever he could, whether it was because of work or well, just because.

When Will finally answered the door, it was clear that he had, indeed, intended to be off for the evening. He’d changed into slacks and a sweater. “Come in,” he said, quietly, stepping back to let them both pass. “He’s in here. She’s in here, I mean. I can’t tell whether it’s male or female.” He gestured to an open door at the end of the hallway.

Alec stepped through.

There was a girl with a sword standing by Will’s settee. The sword was more or less pointing at the floor. But still. It wasn’t what Alec expected when he visited his sergeant at home.

“What?” Alec said, intelligently, stepping back into Lew, who was close behind him.

“What?” Lew answered, reflexively, unable to see past Alec’s shoulder.

The girl raised the sword a bit. Alec stepped back further, and Lew slid round to stand beside him. Alec didn’t like that much. He’d rather be between a sword and Lew, even one held by a girl.

Will stepped forward beside them both and eyed them all cautiously. “Fenn, this is Detective Inspector Carter, and this is Mr. Tyler, who also works with us. Neither of them will hurt you. Please, put the long-knife down.” He glanced at Alec, who realized he had his hand on his Webley. He’d taken to wearing it all the time after the debacle at the tobacco warehouse. His superiors hadn’t said anything to him about it so far.

He could feel Lew starting to tingle with Pull beside him. He’d learned to notice that much in the previous few weeks, although most of this magical stuff still went over his head.

Will continued, “Please. Boss, Tyler, sit down. This is Fenn. He says he needs our help.”

The girl…person…Grant was right, Alec couldn’t tell whether they were male or female either…carefully put the sword down on the floor by the chair, although she didn’t put it back in what Alec assumed was its sheath, a mess of leather straps at her feet. She remained standing.

Alec took off his hat and coat without taking his eyes off her and threw them on the dining table. Lew followed his example.

“Tea?” Will asked, raising a brow at Alec, probably just to see him snort. It was a sort of running joke they used to defuse tension. “No, honestly, it’s no trouble, old chap!” Will used his politest drawing room voice.

“Thank you, no,” Alec replied automatically, and then mentally kicked himself for falling for it. He remained standing, trying to keep himself slightly in front of Lew.

Lew finally spoke. “What are you?” he said, staring at Fenn.

Fenn frowned. “What do you mean, what am I? I am an Officer of the Law.”

Lew frowned back. “No. I mean what species are you? Like, we’re human. What are you?” He paused. “We’ve never met anything from the Outlands that wasn’t trying to kill us.”

Fenn glared, clearly incensed. “I do not wish to kill you.” Something flickered across her eye. Christ. She had a third eyelid. Alec glanced at Will. What the hell had he gotten them into this time?

Lew looked at the Creature steadily. “I don’t think you do. But you’re different to the Creatures we know are on the other side of the Border. They’re hungry for energy and they kill to get it. They look nothing like you. They have wings for a start. So, what are you? And what are they? Is that what you’re hunting?”

That translucent eyelid flickered again as they all surveyed each other. Then the girl seemed to half-laugh, and sat, breaking the tension. The others slowly followed her to the worn leather chairs around the coffee table. She leaned forward, workmanlike, feet planted flat on the floor, elbows on her knees, head bent a little, and the plait of fair hair falling forward over her shoulder.

“We call them Carnas. The Wild Ones.” She raised her head and looked at Lew. “They drain kias—er, energy? And leave a body with…a soft brain? Yes? And they will also kill with claws and teeth. By ripping at the throat, usually.”

Lew flinched visibly, and Alec had to suppress an automatic desire to touch him. “Yes. That’s right,” he said.

“And you know this how, Lew Tyler?”

Alec interrupted. “Because his friend is in hospital, still, recovering from an attack. Two months ago.”

Fenn became motionless. “She lived?”

Lew spoke again. “She was strong. She turned the Pull back to herself, so it didn’t drain her. But she can no longer Work. It’s all gone. She can’t even feel the energy now.”

“You killed it?”

“No,” Will jumped in. “It escaped. And it’s gone to ground. We haven’t heard sight nor sound of it since. Or been able to track it.”

“And the Young?”

Alec didn’t understand. “What?”

“The Young? What of its Young?”

There was a flabbergasted pause where they all stared at Fenn. Then Alec spoke. “It was female? It had offspring?”

“Offspring. Yes. Or a clutch of eggs.”

* * * *

It hadn’t occurred to any of them that there may have been spawn involved. Lew spoke first. “s**t,” he said, pithily, rubbing his face on his hands. “I thought we were done with this until it popped up again. That we just had to practice, then catch it and kill it.”

Fenn looked at him, sadly. “No-one is ever done with this, Lewis Tyler,” she said, voice soft. “Tell me about your friend. What happened to her?”

Lew looked at her woodenly. “She Pulled energy back from the Creature when we were trying to kill it. We think it tried to Pull from her, but she managed to turn it around. And although it mauled her, she survived. She’s been in the hospital since, drifting in and out of consciousness. Her ability to Work is completely gone.” He blinked. He didn’t like to talk about it at all, even to Alec, although Alec knew he was there every day he could manage it. “Her body is healing, slowly. But her skill hasn’t come back.”

Fenn looked down at her hands and then back at Lew. “May I see her? I may be able to help. And I may be able to sense something about the Carnas—if there were eggs—if I touch her. Because she was so close to it.”

Lew glanced over to Alec. “Alec? What do you think?”

Alec had been quiet, watching them all and listening to the conversation with as blank a face as he could manage, thinking furiously. “How do we know you are what you say you are?” he asked finally. “You could be anyone for all we know.”

Fenn leveled an equally assessing stare back at him. “Your friend has touched my kias. He can tell you what I am and am not.” They looked at Grant. “Tell them what you felt, Will Grant.”

Alec looked at him too, arching one eyebrow in an excessive parody of patience. “We met down in the warehouses earlier today,” Grant said.

Alec felt his eyebrow rise even further, which should have been impossible. “And you didn’t think to report this when you came back in this afternoon?”

Grant coughed uncomfortably. “I didn’t remember.”

“I smoothed Will Grant’s memory of our encounter,” Fenn interjected. “He did not remember until I arrived here this evening.”

Alec eyed Fenn warily. “So, you could blank this meeting out of all of our minds when we’ve finished it?”

“No. No! It does not work like that.” Fenn seemed distressed. “It is hard to do and it is uncertain whether it will work. And not something I can do to more than one person at a time.” She grimaced. “I only did it to keep myself safe when I met with Will Grant by chance this morning. I have been seeking the Carnas for a few days now and have had no luck. When I realized he was a man of the law, I wanted to ask for his help. But I needed to make sure it was safe for me first.”

“And you think it’s safe for you now?” Alec felt his face set.

Fenn returned his steady gaze. “I have taken that risk, whether it is safe for me or unsafe. It is in your hands, Inspector Carter.” She drew a breath. “I am tasked with finding the Carnas and the young and bringing them home. I would like your help. And I may be able to help Mr. Tyler’s friend.” She turned toward Lew as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” Lew’s face was blank.

“I have a certain amount of skill at healing wounds made by kias. And helping repair damage to kias itself, come to that. If your friend is not recovering as she should, I may be able to correct what has gone wrong with her kias, if that is the cause of the problem.” Fenn raised a hand. “But I cannot say for sure until I see her.” Her eyes were kind on Lew, the nictitating membrane drawn all the way back. Was that a show of good faith? Allowing someone to see into his eyes properly? Alec wasn’t getting anything but a genuine feeling from Fenn. But he’d been wrong before. Occasionally.

Grant clearly couldn’t take his eyes off the strange person. He was transfixed. And Fenn kept flicking her eyes toward Grant, too, almost for reassurance. Alec supposed that Grant was the first person Fenn had met…perhaps she could read Grant better than the rest of them and was checking to see how he was responding to what they were saying.

Grant stepped forward, filling the conversational space. “That might be a help, Tyler. If we can get Miss Fonteyne back on her feet again and at the same time pinpoint where the Creature is?”

Lew was eyeing Fenn cautiously. “Yes. It would be helpful. But we only have your word on this.” He looked at Grant and Alec. “I want to check a few things, first.”

Alec looked back at him. “What sort of things?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Lew was inscrutable.

Fenn was watching all of them now, carefully. “I need your help,” she stated again. “I am not used to the territory here. I do not want to cause worry or damage to property. My Ternants…my Council…do not wish for me to cause distress or come to the notice of the people here. I am to carry out my task and either bring the Carnas and the eggs or young back to them or destroy them both, as quickly and quietly as possible. The Shimmer must hold. It must not be used by individuals for their own profit. The Ternants control the Carnas and use them to police the Shimmer.”

She looked around at them all. “I do not know how your world works. I do not know how you use kias. I am adrift here and I need your guidance.” She looked at Grant. “Teach me these things, Will Grant. Help me capture the Carnas and take the eggs back to the Ternants. Perhaps we can learn from each other?”

Grant looked at Alec, who looked at Lew. Lew looked back for a moment, biting his lip, and then nodded. Alec turned to Grant and included Fenn in the look. “Very well. We’ll make inquiries about taking you to see Miss Fonteyne. It depends upon her health, which is frail. Until then, you stay with Detective Sergeant Grant. Yes?”

Fenn blinked her third eyelid. “Yes. Very well.” She looked at Grant. “If that is agreeable to you, Will Grant?”

Grant glared at Alec. “Very well. We can try and search some more of the docks, if that’s where you think the eggs might be. And I can keep an eye open for Reece at the same time.” He glared at Fenn as well. “Unless I already found him, and you erased my memory?”

Fenn did that rueful half smile again. “No. I did not. You appeared to be searching for something when we met. I thought you were looking for the eggs.” She reached down to the sword-harness on the floor. “Let us begin again.”