Scenting Hallowed Blood (16 page)

Before they left, Johcasta
insisted on casting her stones for them. Daniel had consumed two
large glasses of wine too quickly, which had succeeded only in
burning his stomach, while leaving his head untouched. He felt sick
with nerves.

The others in the room seemed
oblivious of his condition, as Lily excitedly rubbed the handful of
stones between her palms. When they fell, Johcasta let out an awed
gasp.

‘What is it?’ Lily pleaded.
‘Tell me!’

Johcasta grinned and gestured
with outspread fingers at the fallen stones. ‘Tonight will be a
time of great happenings,’ she pronounced. ‘Marmoset the lover lies
close to Zahtumuzgi, the queen of serpents. Exciting secrets wait
to be discovered in the trance of passion.’

Daniel let out a groan,
prompting a quizzical glance from Israel. ‘The boy’s fretting,’ he
said and laughed. There was a moment’s awkward silence, then Israel
said. ‘Here, will this help?’ He held out what looked like a
joint.

Daniel grimaced. ‘Not with
wine, no.’

‘It’s not what you think,’
Israel told him. ‘Try it.’ He lit the roll-up and a sweet, herby
scent swirled around him, more perfumed than marijuana.

‘What is it?’ Lily asked.

‘Haoma,’ Israel answered, ‘an
old intoxicant of our people.’ He offered the joint to Daniel. ‘Go
on, it’ll settle your stomach
and
your mind.’

Daniel snatched it off him and
drew in a large lungful. For a moment, the air sparkled before his
eyes, then a languorous wave swept through his blood, like loving
hands reaching up to cup his mind.

‘Better already!’ Israel
said.

Daniel had arranged to meet
Jack in The Black Dolphin, a pub close to the square. By the time
they’d made the short walk to place, Daniel’s spirits had lifted,
which he supposed was the gift of the haoma. He also felt slightly
unsteady on his feet, and his mind hummed, as if he was on the
verge of hallucinating. The pub was quite full, and for a moment,
Daniel panicked, wondering whether he’d actually recognise Jack
again. It was Lily who spotted the figure with his back to them,
leaning against the bar. ‘Long hair,’ she whispered. ‘That
him?’

‘Um — I think so.’ Daniel
wasn’t convinced.

Lily swept up to the bar,
leaving Israel standing by the door with Daniel. ‘Hmm!’ Israel
murmured. He sounded faintly perplexed or displeased.

‘What is it?’ Daniel asked
him.

Israel shrugged and glanced
down his nose at Daniel. ‘Has a scent to him, that one.’

‘What do you mean?’

Israel shook his head. ‘Don’t
know. Yet.’ He smiled.

Daniel noticed Lily inspecting
the male figure at the bar discreetly as she ordered their drinks.
Then she tapped him on the shoulder and spoke. The man turned round
quickly. It was Jack.

‘Grigori!’ Israel hissed.

And Daniel answered, ‘No, no
he’s not. I’d know, Israel. I really would.’ He didn’t want to say
‘I’m psychic’, because it would sound absurdly melodramatic. Also,
it would be too much of a coincidence meeting another Grigori so
quickly, unless... No, he mustn’t think that. Shem was probably
right. There was no-one chasing them. ‘He’s just tall. Not every
tall person’s Grigori, you know!’

Israel shrugged and smiled.
‘Maybe he’s human, then. The sweet weed’s playing tricks.
Perhaps.’

Jack came over with Lily,
carrying a drink, which he handed to Daniel. Daniel noticed the
quick, intense glance Jack directed at Israel. Was there a hint of
nervousness there, the fear of recognition?
No, get a grip!
Daniel scolded himself. He felt small in the circle of towering
people. He wasn’t short, but the other three were unnaturally tall.
Now, he wished he hadn’t been so greedy with the haoma. It was
clearly warping his perceptions.

After five minutes of stilted
introductions, Jack skilfully put the group at ease. He spoke with
a sly, compelling wit, flashing his eyes flirtatiously at Lily.
He is perfect,
Daniel thought
.
There were elements of
Owen in Jack; the litheness, the clever sarcasm, the apartness from
Daniel that meant only
later you’ll be mine.
But a faint,
barely discernible alarm was ringing in his head. Had Israel caused
that with his suspicions, which only served to augment Emma’s
paranoia? Last night, Daniel had been convinced that someone had
found them, but perhaps that had been only a presentiment of what
was to come. He could not be sure he’d seen dark figures motionless
beneath the trees below his window.

Jack took them to a club that
was hidden away down a side-alley, far from the hissing main roads
of the city. Ancient warehouses loomed high to either side. At
ground level, it could be seen that they were now all nightclubs,
but the windows of the upper storeys were occluded. Lights could
not be seen, nor the throb of music heard. Jack led them to a
narrow doorway, where gleams of purple light spilled out onto the
street. Shadowy figures skulked there, some hunched against the
wall, sitting down. It was named The Holy City Zoo.

Inside, Jack insisted on paying
entrance for all four of them. They paused at a red-lit booth,
where a girl in predatory drag clawed money through a wire mesh.
Daniel pulled an agonised face as he heard the price, but said
nothing. Jack, after all, had claimed he could afford it.

The club comprised a series of
linked rooms, none of which were very large, all of which were
either full of dry ice, or the lighting was so low it was
impossible to see anything but the bar. Heavy ambient dub oozed
from the sound system like molasses over stones. The clientele was
mixed; a jumble of nearly every youth sub-culture.

Lily was eager to dance, her
body moving involuntarily to the summoning of the music. She was a
tawny cat slinking and stretching before the pantherine grace of
Israel, who watched her with a smiling, feline eye. Daniel felt an
urge to warn her. He was trying to enjoy himself and relinquish the
nagging sense of unease, but it was fixed to him like a
parasite.

The group gathered in a booth
against one of the walls. Daniel sipped his beer, but didn’t feel
like drinking. Lily and Israel kept the conversation going, and
Jack joined in, but Daniel could tell he was perplexed by Daniel’s
mood. When Lily and Israel got up to dance, Jack addressed the
situation. ‘What’s up?’ There was accusation in the question as
well as wariness.

Daniel shrugged. ‘I’m just not
in the right mood for this.’ He forced himself to smile. ‘It’s not
your fault, I mean, it’s nothing to do with you.’

‘So what are your
problems?’

You don’t really want to
know,
Daniel thought.
This is just a line.
‘Nothing
really.’ He was assaulted by a vision of Owen left alone in the
Assembly Rooms, while Emma and Shem watched TV together in terse
silence. Suddenly, they all seemed so vulnerable. An urge to get
back there swept through him. He almost stood up. ‘I think I want
to go home...’

‘Don’t,’ Jack said, and the
word sounded like a command. When Daniel looked at him, he’d
softened it with a conciliatory smile. ‘Just give it a chance, OK?
An hour?’

Daniel sighed. ‘All right.’ He
hoped he could bear this feeling of anxiety for an hour. He glanced
at Jack, and saw the potential just waiting to be taken. This might
never happen again.

The next hour passed quickly,
as Daniel drank steadily in an attempt to quell his uneasiness.
Jack chatted smoothly about music, films and clubs he’d frequented,
taking care to ask Daniel questions about his own tastes. To
Daniel, it seemed absurdly to have been scripted, as if they were
actors on celluloid, moving towards the bedroom scene, when the
audience’s hopes and hungers would be gratified. Only Daniel
intended for there to be no bedroom scene. He had no desire for it,
felt too sick.

Lily and Israel seemed to be
getting on very well, performing the dance of flirtation to mutual
satisfaction. Occasionally, they’d come back to the table and drink
hurriedly, before moving back to the dance floor, which was
beginning to fill up with shadowy figures. More dry ice puffed into
the air, until Daniel could believe that he and Jack were the only
people in the room.

‘Something’s gone off-key since
this afternoon,’ Jack said.

‘You’re too impatient.’ Daniel
couldn’t keep the sharpness from his voice. ‘We’ve only just met.
What do you want from me?’

Jack recoiled. ‘Was that called
for?’

Daniel shook his head. ‘I’m
sorry. I don’t know this world. It’s alien to me.’ Jack couldn’t
possibly guess he was referring to casual relationships, the
careless use of the bodies of others.

Jack slumped back on his seat,
scowling, a bottle of beer nursed in his lap.

You are beautiful
,
Daniel thought,
but empty.
I thought I wanted to touch
you, but I don’t. You won’t let me reach the places I want to
touch.
With this thought, he glanced at his watch. The hour was
nearly up. The only problem he had was how to find his way back to
the square without an A-Z street guide. Perhaps Lily and Israel
would accompany him, although he doubted that. They were too
engrossed in their own mating ritual. Daniel began to compose his
departure speech. One or two mordant remarks wouldn’t go amiss.

Then Jack raised his head.
‘Don’t bother thinking of the excuses. I’ve made a mess of this.
Sorry.’

‘What?’ Daniel felt
unnerved.

‘What you were thinking. You
want to leave. You do fancy me a bit, although you also think I’m
an airhead. The only thing that’s keeping you here is that you
don’t think you can find your way back to the square without an A-Z
and Lily’s having too good a time to go home yet.’ Jack grinned at
Daniel’s shocked expression. ‘That’s right. I’m psychic. Like you
are. Do you still want to go home?’

Daniel shook his head slowly,
his eyes round. ‘Not yet. Not now. I
can’t
go home now. How
did you know about me?’

Jack laughed. ‘I told you, I’m
psychic! Like calls to like, as they say. Want more proof? You had
a lover called Owen, who’s very ill now. Breakdown?’ He shrugged at
Daniel’s stunned stillness. ‘You haven’t got a job and you live in
a weird old place that feels very... temporary.’

‘Stop it,’ Daniel said. ‘Don’t
do this. It’s an abuse.’

‘I’m not prying, just trying to
convince you. Your secrets are safe, I promise.’

Daniel put down his drink.
‘This is weird. I’ve never met anyone who can do this. I mean, I
know other psychic people, and sometimes, under
certain
conditions, I’ve experienced things with Owen, but this...’ He
shook his head. ‘I’m not sure I like it.’

Jack put up his hands. ‘I’ll
back off, OK. I’ll keep my ears closed.’

‘Good.’

Jack was silent for a few
moments, then took a deep breath and said, ‘I’ve been through hell,
Daniel. I think we can help each other.’

Daniel glanced at him
cautiously. ‘What makes you think I’ve been through hell?’

Jack just shrugged
significantly.

Daniel didn’t think Jack’s hell
could be anything like his own. Neither could he imagine ever
confiding his experiences to a comparative stranger. He wasn’t sure
whether he wanted to take this on. He had enough problems of his
own without someone else leeching off his emotional energy. But
still, Jack was before him; splendid. This just needed thinking
about. There would be plenty of time.

‘Let’s go for a walk,’ Jack
said, and stood up.

They ventured into another
room, where the light was red. Here, they sat against the wall,
drinking in silence, watching the dancers writhe. Then, Jack put
down his bottle, which was empty. ‘Come on, let’s dance.’ He was on
his feet before Daniel had finished swallowing his drink.

They moved in among the moving
bodies, and Daniel let the music take him. It was easier than he
thought it would be. There was no break in the music: one track
flowed into another; tribal rhythms, electronic throbbing. Daniel
danced with his eyes closed, feeling the liquor swirl round his
brain. It felt good now, as if he’d drunk more than he had. Perhaps
the haoma was partly responsible. He was relaxed. Someone put their
arms around him, and he opened his eyes. Jack. For a moment, he
panicked, glancing round himself, but no-one was looking. No-one
cared. They danced together, bodies close, belly-grinding to the
rhythm, invoking the demands of lust. Jack pulled Daniel closer,
sought his mouth in a kiss. They stopped dancing. A girl came and
threw her arms around them both. ‘You’re beautiful!’ she screamed.
‘I love you!’

Jack grinned and mouthed.
‘Happy drug!’ They moved to the side of the dance floor.

Daniel realised he was
extremely drunk and began to laugh in a high, uncontrollable way.
Jack pushed him against the wall again and slid down to sit beside
him. He looked dazed, not altogether happy. Daniel touched his
face, and Jack glanced at him, took his hand in his own.

‘We have to talk, Daniel.’

His voice was too serious.
Daniel’s body was still hot with desire. He hadn’t expected this.
‘We can talk any time.’ Strange how the roles reversed, back and
forth, back and forth. He wanted to devour Jack and didn’t care for
conversation.

‘No, we can’t. This is urgent.
But we can’t talk here.’

‘Then where?’

‘My place?’

Daniel was silent for a moment,
then grinned. The moment of decision. ‘If you like.’

After a hurried explanation to
Lily, who clearly didn’t care what Daniel did that night, they
hailed a cab and drove through the city to Jack’s apartment. He
lived in Docklands, which hardly surprised Daniel. ‘What do you do
to earn money?’ he asked.

‘Scrounge,’ Jack answered, and
smothered any further questions with a kiss. Daniel was conscious
of the cab driver in front of them, and in his intoxicated state,
it only inflamed his lust.