Black London 05 - Soul Trade

at Jack instead, trying to reassure him silently that she had this under control.

    “So Preston is on the side of the big bad evil and this Jeremy bloke is MIA?” she said. “After chasing demons in Hereford? What exactly are Jack and I supposed to do about all of that?”
    “The Prospero society wants an insider among the Prometheans,” Morwenna said. “They tried for Preston, but he couldn’t stand up to their techniques and he went over, genuinely tried to help them get inside ourorganization. But you…” she smiled at Pete, and it was as if they hadn’t been ready to go at each other’s throat a moment ago. “You’re more used to this sort of thing. Down and dirty, in the trenches. You’ll be perfect.”
    Pete was learning quickly that she preferred the sort of bastard who let you know flat out they hated you. Morwenna’s hot and cold act was going to give her a heart attack.
    “Just hold up here,” Jack said. “Your whole purpose was for us to be fucking bait?”
    “Think of it as an opportunity to do some good,” Morwenna said. “An actual insider would be far too dangerous—the Prospero Society clearly has no trouble reaching inside a mage’s mind. But you and Pete can go to Hereford, find Jeremy, and figure out who the Prosperians’ agent is. It’s the best way.”
    “It’s a shitway!” Jack exclaimed. “Why should we do your bloody grunt work?”
    “Because you don’t have a choice,” Morwenna said. “And neither do we. For the good of everyone in the Black who doesn’t want to see the world swallowed whole by something like Nergal, you’ll do as I say.”
    Pete’s first impulse was to tell Morwenna to bend over and cram it straight up her own arse, but logic dictated the woman wasright. Even if they could fight their way out of here, she and Jack already had too many enemies. They didn’t need a group as powerful as the Prometheans wanting a piece of their hides as well.
    “Jack,” she said. “Let it be. She’s right.” She went and sat next to him, putting a hand on his knee, and favored Morwenna with the sort of look she usually reserved for the killers and rapists she ranacross on the murder squad. “If you try and fuck me over, and more importantly if you harm one hair on Jack or our daughter’s head, there is going to be such fire rained down on you it will make the end of the world look like a chuch fete by comparison. You reading me, Morwenna?”
    “The Prospero Society won’t be able to resist the two of you,” Morwenna said without missing a beat. “This isn’t agame, a tug of war, any longer. This is stock your pantry and batten down the hatches before the war comes to your doorstep.”
    “So what, we swan around Hereford until a creepy bloke in a long coat makes overtures?” Pete said.
    “Oh, didn’t I mention?” Morwenna said. “You’ll be among old friends in Hereford, Pete. When Jeremy arrived he found the place has become something of a mecca for those buffetedby the Black—ordinary folks who’ve seen things they don’t understand. It’s like they’ve got their own little social club, right there among the weekend Wiccans and those nutters who hunt the Loch Ness monster.”
    Pete felt an uncomfortable frisson of regret crawl up her spine. “I don’t follow you,” she said.
    “There were quite a few traumatized families after the Algernon Treadwell business backin London, I heard,” Morwenna said.
    Pete tensed her hand on Jack’s leg until he grunted in pain, and she felt the words grit out of her as if she’d swallowed a handful of stones. “What are you saying, Morwenna?”
    “The children you saved—or failed to save—are in the village in Hereford where we last heard from Jeremy,” Morwenna said. “He found it quite peculiar, so many survivors of a spirit attackin one place, but I imagine for you it’ll be like a reunion.”
    “You knew,” Pete spat. She wanted to slap Morwenna in the face. Jack was holding her in place now as her body vibrated with fury. “You knew this whole time that I’d run into those people.”
    “Consider it added incentive,” Morwenna said. “We have no inkling what Preston found in Hereford, but it was bad enough to spread like a virusthrough the community and utterly corrupt him. So if you want to save those innocent babes, I suggest you get moving.”
    “I’ll do it,” Pete told her, standing. “Because I know when I’m beaten, and you’ve left me no choice. But don’t