Corrigan Rage (2 page)

Leah grins. ‘There are several different standard responses.’

‘Too complicated. You were always the one with the head for languages, not me. Teach me something else instead.’

She shrugged. ‘What would you like to know?’

I thought about it. ‘Kitten,’ I said finally. ‘What’s the Russian for kitten?’

Leah raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment. ‘Kotyonok.’

I smiled, licking my lips. She thumped me on the arm. ‘What gives?’

‘I have no idea what you mean.’

‘Your face just took on the strangest expression. All thoughtful and...’

‘And what?’

Her nose wrinkled. ‘Dreamy.’

I laughed. ‘Dreamy? I don’t think that’s me.’

‘I’m only telling you what I saw.’

‘You’re imagining things.’

We shuffled forward in the queue, finally reaching the front and purchasing two tickets. The imposing Tower stared down at us. Standing this close to it, I suddenly realised just how large it actually was. This might be harder than I’d thought.

‘Do you know where the seal is being kept?’

I shook my head. ‘Not a clue. It’s an ancient object filled with ceremonial significance though. It’s bound to be housed somewhere important.’

‘Makes sense.’ She pointed towards the nearest door where most people seemed to be heading. ‘Let’s follow the crowds then.’

We ended up at the Tower’s apparent star attraction – the British crown jewels. Each and every crown, despite gleaming under the lights with sheer opulence and expense, looked heavy and cumbersome. Leah halted momentarily in front of one emblazoned with fleur-de-lis. ‘I think you’d look pretty in this,’ she commented.

I rolled my eyes. ‘It’s completely impractical.’

She leaned in towards and me whispered, ‘but it would look awesome against black fur. You should commission something just for Lord Alphas to wear. You could put it on for special events.’

‘I don’t think so.’ I craned my neck round. ‘And I don’t think we’re likely to find any seals here.’

‘Not unless they’re made of gold and diamonds,’ she agreed. ‘There has to be an easier way to find what we’re looking for.’

I flipped open the glossy brochure and scanned through the pages. ‘There’s nothing in here that’s of use,’ I said frustatedly. ‘Everything’s related to the damn humans.’

‘Keep your voice down,’ she hushed.

I gave her a pointed look. ‘Did you just tell the Lord Alpha to be quiet?’

‘Yeah, what of it? We’re in the Tower of London. If you want to lock me up for insubordination, there’s no better place.’

I hissed in mock exasperation. ‘Don’t tempt me.’ I turned another page in the brochure. Then I grinned. ‘I know where to go.’

*

I
t was easier to locate the true guardians of the Tower than it was to work out where the damn seal was being kept. All we had to do was look for the clusters of people with smartphones and cameras focused on little blobs of black against the vivid green grass around the exterior walls. Leah and I managed to push our way towards the front of the crowds although I did receive several annoyed glances and one sharp jab in my ribs from an elderly lady with an umbrella.

There were two of them, clearly putting on something of a show for the many gawkers, flying a few feet up into the air and flapping their wings exuberantly at each other.

‘There are seven ravens in total,’ I heard a burly Beefeater state from the side. ‘Don’t get too close though. They only trust the Raven Master.’

As if to add weight to his words a small child, delighted by the large birds’ apparent playfulness, darted out in their direction. Both ravens turned beady malevolent glances in her direction and cawed in a manner that reminded me of nails down a blackboard.

‘They’re just birds,’ Leah hissed. ‘We’re wasting our time.’

The raven nearest us cocked its head and stared directly at her. There was definitely an element of surprise in its face. It squawked slightly and began to ostensibly preen its feathers, one wing outstretched towards the far corner of the Tower. I nodded in understanding and grabbed Leah’s elbow.

‘Now what?’ she muttered.

‘Peace and quiet,’ I murmured. ‘Come on.’

We’d barely reached a spot of relative silence between the brickwork of the Tower and the moat next to it when the same raven flew over our heads and swooped down, examining the grass intently by our feet.

‘Hello,’ I said softly.

‘It’s a damn bird, Corrigan. What do you think it’s going to do? Say hello back?’

‘Not very bleeding polite is she?’ Leah’s head swung down towards the raven and she gaped. It squawked in irritation. ‘What? Don’t tell me that a beast changer is surprised to see a talking animal?’

‘I ... I ....’ She stammered.

I smiled and inclined my head. ‘Excuse my sister,’ I said politely. ‘She hadn’t realised that the ravens of the Tower were sentient.’

‘What else would Corux be?’ the bird asked, patently affronted. ‘Do you know who Corux is?’

‘Your name is Corux?’ It inclined its head, irritation still apparent in its jerky movements. ‘And you keep the Tower safe,’ I soothed.

It wasn’t particularly appeased. ‘Corux does a bleeding sight more than that. As do the others. If there aren’t six ravens at the Tower, then it will fall. And the kingdom will fall along with it.’

‘That’s real?’ Leah said. ‘I thought it was just legend.’

It closed one eye and squinted up at her. ‘Do you want to test out that theory?’

She backed off. ‘Er, no. That’s alright.’

The bird squawked again. ‘Thought not.’

I crouched down to get closer. ‘You never leave?’

‘We’re not prisoners if that’s what you mean.’ It gestured with one wing up towards the sky. ‘Corux can leave at any time.’

‘But you really do believe the Tower will collapse if you do?’

It nodded slightly. ‘It’s not a matter of belief. It’s a matter of knowledge.’ It hopped to its left and began picking at a tuft of grass. ‘We all have our duties to perform, Lord Alpha.’

‘You know who I am?’

‘Naturally. And Corux knows responsibility can be a heavy burden.’ For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether it was talking about me or about itself. ‘Not every raven is as conscientious, of course,’ Corux continued. ‘There was Grog.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Grog?’

‘Enjoyed beer too bleeding much, didn’t he? Took off to hang around a pub instead of here. Caused all sorts of problems.’

‘I can imagine,’ I said drily.

‘So what do you want? Corux bets you’re not here because you want to do some sightseeing.’

The raven was clearly a canny creature. ‘No. We’re trying to locate an old shapeshifter seal.’ I pulled out my phone and showed it a photo I’d snapped of the old Way Directives canon.

It lifted its back and crowed. ‘You come for Albus!’

‘You know it?’

‘Corux knows everything about the Tower.’

‘Where is it?’ Leah asked eagerly.

‘It belongs to the Tower.’

‘We only want to borrow it,’ I added. ‘And it did originally belong to us anyway.’

‘You gave it away when you wanted help with Henry.’

I was baffled. ‘Who?’

‘The fat one. Hair the colour of fire. Killed his missus right around the corner from here.’

Leah nudged me. ‘He means Henry VIII.’

‘Yeah,’ Corux grunted. ‘Him.’

I had no idea what the bird was on about. All that I’d discovered about the seal was that centuries ago it had been gifted to the Tower’s collection of historical objects. No reason had been given. I couldn’t help wondering what had occurred between the long dead King and the shapeshifters for such an exchange to have been made. ‘Ravens have a long memory,’ I simply said, however.

‘We live in history every day of our lives,’ Corux answered. It cocked its head thoughtfully. ‘If you promise to return the seal by nightfall, Corux can get it for you.’

I gnawed on my lip. I’d hoped to have the thing for longer than that. It would have been good to display it to the different Packs, as well as the members of the Brethren. Seeing the seal would add weight to its importance. Not to mention that merely borrowing it from the raven would hardly be the glorious storming of the Tower of London that I’d envisaged. Take the easy way out, I told myself.

‘Fine. We’ll wait here.’

‘Corux wants something return first.’

I eyed the bird warily. ‘What?’

‘Grog is famous. Jim Crow is famous. Corux is not.’

‘You want fame?’

‘I want recognition!’ it hissed, forgetting for once to use the third person.

‘Okay,’ I said slowly. ‘Where’s the seal?’

‘White Tower. Not even behind a glass cabinet.’

I jerked my head round. ‘Which room?’

‘Top.’

I smiled. ‘I’ll go up and open the window. I’ll film you flying in and taking the seal. It’ll be on Youtube and going viral in minutes.’

‘Youtube?’

‘The whole world will see you,’ Leah explained. ‘Well, those with internet anyway.’

Corux considered this. ‘Done,’ it finally squawked.

Leah and I exchanged a look. It sounded like a damned good plan to me even if it still wasn’t the most exciting heist in history after all. Oh well.

W
ith the official copies of the new Way Directives stamped and sent around the country, the seal returned to Corux and remarkably little dissension returning our way, I had to admit that I was bored. I paced around the mansion then, when I realised I was simply getting in the way and preventing everyone else from working because they felt they had to stop and salute and tell me what they were up to, I retreated to my office. I was glad there weren’t any problems to deal with but I was starting to feel somewhat redundant.

Flipping through the papers on my desk, I scanned the latest report from the Arch-Mage concerning Mack’s progress. He hadn’t initially been keen to keep me in the loop but I’d managed to convince him that until we knew what she really was, it was in all our best interests to track her activities. I was unsurprised that she’d been causing waves and struggling to make friends. It was actually rather gratifying to discover that it wasn’t just my authority she balked at, even if the information that she’d shorn her hair left me feeling faintly disappointed. I’d enjoyed seeing her with her natural hair colour and found it hard now to imagine her otherwise. I had to smirk at her enrolment in anger management classes though. I was sure she’d been less than thrilled to receive that assignment.

I drummed my fingers on the desk and made a decision. No doubt the Arch-Mage would think I was over-stepping the mark and sticking my nose in where it didn’t belong. Staines would probably agree. I told myself, however, that Mack had spent the majority of her life within the Pack so even if she wasn’t a de facto shifter, she was still my responsibility. It was a theory that wouldn’t hold up in court but suited my purposes for now. I threw on my coat, yelling out to Leah that I was heading out. She muttered something in return that sounded like’thank goodness’. I chose to ignore it.

The counsellor offices were surprisingly luxurious. The receptionist straightened the second she saw me, recognition flickering in her eyes. That would help. I wasn’t sure how seriously this place took their confidentiality. I didn’t want to breach any ethical rules but I didn’t want to leave without seeing Mack either.

‘You’re Lord Corrigan!’ She blinked several times and stood up, walking round the shiny chrome counter to greet me.

I turned on the charm. ‘You recognise me? That puts us at a disadvantage because I don’t know who you are.’

She gave me a full wattage smile. ‘Lydia.’

‘That’s a beautiful name.’

She blushed ever so slightly. ‘Thank you. Are you here to see a counsellor? We normally require appointments but I’m sure I can bump the next client...’

I put up my hands to stall her in midflow. ‘No, no. I’m simply here to catch up with an old friend.’

‘Oh.’ A tiny line appeared in her forehead. ‘We don’t have anyone pencilled in from the Pack. There’s a water nymph and a couple of pixies. I think we have a mage coming in too...’

I snapped my fingers. ‘That’ll be her. The mage. Mackenzie Smith. Although, between you and me, she’s not really with the Ministry.’

The receptionist’s face fell. ‘Oh. Are you sure she’s coming here?’

‘I am.’ I leaned in closer. ‘I would really like to surprise her. It would mean a lot to me if you didn’t tell her I was here.’ I felt a delicious shiver of anticipation at seeing her again. She didn’t strike me as the kind of person who enjoyed surprises but I wanted to see the look on her face and was confident that if I could just talk to her, she’d start to relax. The last time I’d seen her, we’d seemed to finally be getting on well. And she did save my life then tell me I was’alright’.

‘Uh, okay,’ the receptionist agreed. She tucked a stray curl of blonde hair behind her ear. ‘You know, I have a lunch break at midday. Perhaps after you’ve seen your ... friend, you could get to know me even better.’

Guilt flashed through me. I must have taken the charm offensive a touch too far. I hadn’t meant to give her the wrong end of the stick. ‘Sorry, Lydia.’ I tried to let her down gently. ‘I’m, er, busy. I have a lunch appointment at Alcazon.’

Her body jerked. ‘I thought it was closed on Tuesdays.’

Shit. I clumsily backtracked. ‘Maybe it’s at another place. That’s why I have other shapeshifters around to keep me on track. Sometimes I don’t even know what day it is.’

She appeared slightly mollified. ‘It must be hard being in charge of so many people. You can wait in our staffroom if you wish. There’s coffee there.’

‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘Will you let me know when she arrives?’

She bit her lip and nodded. Not wanting to prolong the awkward conversation any longer, I gave her a quick smile and edged away out of sight.

There were some interesting posters displayed on the walls of the little staffroom. I was just reading one about how to approach faeries with attention deficit disorder (apparently challenging them to make you some faerie dust is a good way to focus them) when Lydia reappeared.

‘She’s here,’ she said breathily. ‘She’s out at reception.’