The Temporal Stone (The Morgan Sisters) (17 page)

The burly men uncrossed their arms but continued to keep a sharp eye on their surroundings.

Eleanor held her hand outstretched as the tall one pumped it up and down.

'Good to meet ya, Miss Jones.'

'Eleanor, please,' she replied.

'Eleanor... I wasn't expecting you. They didn't tell me I was to be meeting with the Guardian.'

Eleanor smiled, relieved that he was a friendly werewolf. 'I'm glad you agreed to meet with us. This is Declan, my right hand man, and Emma and Lana.'

The man with the long grey hair turned and shook their hands with a warm smile.

'I... I wasn't expecting someone so friendly,' whispered Emma to Lana on the side.

Suddenly he threw back his head and laughed.

'I get that a lot,' he said. 'I'm Giovanni, by the way.'

Declan raised his eyebrows, 'An Italian werewolf in London?'

Giovanni smiled, 'Yes, I was born here though, I'm an Italian Londoner. Right, let's get down to business. What can I do for you?'

'We've been led to the werewolves in our search for an ancient artefact that we believe is responsible for all this mayhem,' Eleanor said. 'We're hoping you can help us get to the bottom of it all.'

'I'm not sure how, but I'll try,' he answered.

'Good, thank you. We need to go back a few years though. We've been following the whereabouts of a man named Phillip James Bottomley from the 1930s. We believe he came to London towards the end of that decade to meet with a werewolf. The trouble is, that's as far as we've got. We need to find out the identity of that werewolf so we can ask him some questions.'

Giovanni nodded and flicked the cigarette he'd been smoking to the ground before twisting his foot on top of it.

'We do know that werewolves live very long lives, so we're hoping to find him still alive,' she smiled.

'And the name of this werewolf?'

Declan went from one foot to the other as Eleanor sighed, 'Yes well, therein lies the problem. We don't have a name.'

'Right, I see your predicament now. So all you know is that this fella, Phillip James Bottomley, you say?'

Eleanor nodded.

'He came to London to see a werewolf?'

Eleanor nodded again.

'It's a tough one, but I can ask around. Fellas?' His eight bodyguards turned to their leader and nodded their heads as Giovanni explained what he needed to know. 'Now go,' he instructed.

Suddenly, each one of the men burst out of their clothes, leaving ripped bits of fabric all over the grass, and large wolves standing at Giovanni's feet. Each one seemed to be different from the next. The guy with the streaky grey and white hair appeared to have the same coloured mane of hair running along his back, while the one standing next to him had fur the colour of charcoal. They were massive, stocky and strong.

Turning from Giovanni, they jumped away, running as fast as they could around the streets of London.

'Here's one advantage of having time stand still,' chuckled Giovanni. 'They wouldn't be able to do that ordinarily, not in such plain sight.'

'Of course,' Eleanor said. 'Perhaps a cup of tea, while we wait?'

'No need, Eleanor, my boys will be back in just a few minutes,' he said as the eerie sound of howling echoed all around them.

Lana and Emma both shivered at the creepiness of the sound as they stood, leaning against the fence, waiting patiently for news.

But before the news came, something else caught their attention. The sound of footsteps.

All five of them immediately stood on guard, each one looking around them to find the source of the sound. It soon became apparent, however, that the footsteps belonged to more than one person and these people weren't quite as friendly as Giovanni was.

Within moments, they were surrounded by a group of people wearing black.

The sound of snarling erupted from Giovanni's lips as he prepared himself for a fight.

'Skulls,' whispered Eleanor.

Apart from the snarling, everything remained silent.

'What do you want?' asked Eleanor as she looked at each of the faces until she spotted one that was familiar. It was the man she'd briefly sparred with earlier that day.

She could see his jaw clenching as he ground his teeth and his black eyes were like slits as he stared her down, but Eleanor wasn't buying it. She held her head high and smiled confidently. She knew something that he clearly did not.

A moment later, the Skulls became agitated as a noise filled the air. It was the sound of countless more footsteps. Suddenly, the square was full of Watchers. Students and Mentors alike. They all stood staring, waiting for the Skulls to try something.

Giovanni looked around and began to laugh as the Skulls retreated back to where they'd come from. They were outnumbered and weren't prepared to fight so many.

'Thanks for keeping an eyes on us, Wilbur,' Eleanor shouted a few minutes later.

Wilbur appeared and winked at her as he gathered the students back together. 'Just following orders,' he smiled.

'Why didn't we take them on?' asked Rupert who walked towards Emma and Lana.

'There was no need, Rupert,' Declan said. 'We don't want to cause a war.'

'But there weren't that many of them,' he said, practically pouting.

'Not this time,' Eleanor said with a raised eyebrow. 'But there are far too many Skulls to go to war with, unfortunately.'

The sound of howling could be heard again and soon, the square was filled with not eight, but nine werewolves.

Approaching Giovanni, they stopped before the sound of cracking bones echoed around them, making both Lana and Emma cover their ears. The beasts kept low to the ground before turning back to men when they stood up, revealing all their naked splendour right in front of the Watchers.

Lana's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets as Declan tried hard not to laugh at her reaction, whereas Emma tried hard to look away. Eleanor remained professional as one of the men turned to face her.

'I can tell you what you need to know,' said the man with short brown hair.

'I knew the man you are looking for, but I'm sorry to say that he was killed in 1941. His name was Rogue and he spent an awful lot of time with the man you know as Phillip James Bottomley. Rogue wasn't a good guy, mind you. You ought to know that. He and Phillip caused quite a lot of problems down on the south east coast.'

'What can you tell us about an ancient artefact that Phillip brought to London with him?' Eleanor asked.

The man thought for a moment, 'I do recall there was something they tried to sell but I don't know if they succeeded.'

'Did you ever see it?' Declan asked.

He scratched his chin and looked to the floor, 'Yes, I did, actually. An odd looking stone that glowed different colours. It had tiny bumps on it, I think.'

'That's it!' said Lana, 'That's the Temporal Stone.'

'Is there anything else you can tell us about Rogue and Phillip?' Eleanor asked.

He chewed his lip before his eyes lit up, 'There was a third person. Another guy who used to spend time with them on and off. Not a wolf, though. Erm, I believe he was a vamp. Went by the name of Barber, I think.'

'That's very helpful. Thank you so much,' Eleanor replied as the man nodded and stepped backwards.

'Giovanni, thank you for all your help. We really do appreciate it. Perhaps we can repay the favour one of these days?'

Giovanni smiled warmly and took Eleanor's hands in his, 'It would be good to see you again, Eleanor. Just give me a call if I can ever be of assistance again, and good luck,' he said as he deftly removed something from his pocket and handed his business card to her.

'I will,' she said as Giovanni and his pack walked away.

Eleanor watched him go with a smile and a very slight blush to her cheeks. A blush that didn't go unnoticed by Lana and Emma.

CHAPTER 23

Back below ground, at Praxos HQ, Jimble waited patiently for the return of his friends. He wandered from room to room, inspecting each one in awe. He'd never seen anything like it, perhaps in part due to his severe allergy to house dust.

Soon his ears pricked at the sound of footsteps, a lot of footsteps. Nervously, he hid behind a beanbag in the white room and waited.

'Did you see them? First time I ever saw any Skulls,' a young man said as he walked past the door along with his two friends.

'Yeah I know. Ugly bunch weren't they? I wasn't afraid of them at all.'

A chuckled followed. 'You would be if they caught you alone,' said another.

Jimble remained hidden from sight as more and more students walked past the door until a couple eventually entered the room. Watching them, Jimble was unsure what to do. He didn't know these people and was therefore worried about their reaction.

A sudden yell told him he'd been seen, so he slowly walked out from behind his hiding place with a nervous grin.

'Please don't yell, yell. It's just me, me. You've nothing to be scared of, scared of,' he mumbled as he shuffled with his back against the wall.

'You're a pixie troll!' shouted a voice.

Soon the room was full of students, wondering what all the fuss was about.

'Don't go near it,' said the same voice. 'It might freeze you. Keep your distance everybody.'

'What's going on?' asked a familiar voice.

Daisy appeared in the doorway and pushed the young Watchers out of the way until she spotted Jimble cowering in a corner. Rushing to his side, she knelt down to face him.

'Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?' she asked.

Jimble shook his head while the others gasped.

'Don't touch him,' said a few of the voices behind her.

Daisy, however, took his hand in hers and turned to look at their shocked expressions.

'This is Jimble, he's a friend so please stop being so nasty. He won't hurt you,' she tutted as they strolled out of the room into the dining room.

'Can I get you something to eat, Jimble?' she asked.

Eyes lighting up, he nodded and rubbed his tummy.

'What would you like? I've no idea what pixie trolls eat,' she smiled.

'No sugar. No sugar,' he chuckled.

'Why not?'

'It make me grow, grow, sugar does, it does, does.'

'Oh, okay. Do you eat meat?'

Jimble screwed his face up in disgust. She laughed.

'Erm, bread?'

'Not sure, not sure. Never tried it, it.'

'Maybe a sandwich then? Erm, cheese?'

Jimble's face was blank.

'You've never tried cheese?'

When he shook his head, she turned to the table where the food was still laid out and made him a cheese sandwich, handing it to him with a bottle of mineral water.

Barely a second went by and the sandwich was gone, followed by a large burp and a chuckle.

'I like cheese, cheese,' he said. 'Another one?'

Daisy laughed as she made him a further three cheese sandwiches. He was just finishing when their friends walked into the room. As he turned, he noticed that many of the others were still creaking their necks to get a good look at him.

'That's enough gawping, everybody,' Eleanor said. 'I'm sure you'll all get a chance to meet Jimble personally, but for now, please give the little guy some space.'

Jimble grinned as Eleanor and the Watchers he already knew joined him at the table. Wilbur carried over a couple of pots of tea, before he and the kitchen staff began clearing the rest of the food away.

'So what happens now, Eleanor?' asked Emma.

'Declan and Diarmuid are in the archives, looking up all the vampires we have on file. I'm hoping that this Barber character will be among them. If he is, there should be sufficient information to lead us to him. So until they return, we have to go on as usual. Which means, when we've all finished our tea, it's back to class,' she said with a grin.

Lana groaned.

'But first, there's something confusing me, Jimble?' Eleanor said as his ears pricked up and he gave her his full attention.

'I understand Phillip Bottomley froze you?'

Jimble nodded, 'We were frozen frozen for years years, but we didn't know know because we frequently hibernate hibernate. It wasn't until we awoke awoke more recently that it became apparent we had been frozen frozen.'

'How did you know?'

'You told me me,' he said, pointing to Declan.

'You didn't know until then?'

Jimble shook his head.

'I guess that makes sense,' Eleanor added, before continuing, 'Jimble, as we are short one or two Mentors at the moment, I thought perhaps you might like to give a talk to the students you haven't met yet?'

His eyes opened wide at the prospect and gulped loudly.

'Talk in front of a large audience, large audience?' he asked. 'But what will I talk talk about about?'

'You can fill them in on what's been happening since you met us,' she suggested. 'And perhaps tell them a little about your kind.'

Silently pondering the subject, Jimble's face soon lit up and he nodded enthusiastically, 'I'll do it, I'll do it.'

'Good.' Eleanor took a few more sips of her tea before pushing back her seat. 'I shall go and ring the bell.'

oOo

Converging in the gym of the Praxos Academy, just around the corner from the HQ, the students waited patiently as Eleanor walked to the front, where she turned to face them.

'Although life cannot go on for the poor humans out there, it must continue for the Watchers, which means that classes are to resume shortly. I know, I know,' she said as everyone moaned, 'But this is an Academy and you are here to learn, regardless of what's going on in the outside world. Unfortunately, as several of our Mentors are either out of action or away from London, we are slightly understaffed. Jimble, therefore, will be giving a talk and will take your questions about his species and his history. At the back of the gym, you will find five lists. These are the five groups you will be split into. Group One will head to the Lux Room with Jimble, Two please head to the Veritas Room with Oksana, Three to the Tempus Room with Brody, Four to the Concordia Room with Beau and Five to the Arcana Room with... me. Off you go,' she said as the students all turned around and headed towards the lists.

Eleanor stepped down and spotted Daisy.

'Daisy, I'm afraid your GCSE classes are on hold at the moment as Marian has still not returned from Edinburgh. So feel free to join any of these classes. Alternatively, you can just go and study, if you like?'

Daisy smiled, 'Thanks.'

But she was in no mood to go and study, nor was she in the mood to join the other classes, either, so instead she decided to sneak out of the Academy and get some fresh air.

Just as she tiptoed to the main door, a hand on her shoulder made her jump. Turning, she found Lana grinning at her.

'Ditching classes?' Lana asked.

'No... they're not my classes. You seem to forget I'm a year behind you guys.'

'True,' Lana said.

'By the looks of it, you're the one who’s skiving.'

Lana laughed, 'Busted. Weirdly, they put us in Group One with Jimble. We already know everything about him so I figured I'd go and, erm, get some fresh air.'

'That's what I was thinking too, let's go then,' Daisy whispered as the two of them carefully opened the door and ran outside without even a glance backwards. Climbing the stairs that were hidden from view, they turned onto Gower Street.

'Hey! Not so fast,' said a voice behind them.

Turning, they found Emma standing with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.

'I've been looking all over for you. What are you two doing?'

Daisy looked to the floor as Lana laughed at her sister.

'Why? You gonna tell?'

'Don't be stupid, Lana. It's dangerous out there.'

Lana spluttered.

'You do remember our specials skills, don't you? Remember when we beat up those muggers a while back? We can handle pretty much anything, Sis. And now that we know the wolves are pretty cool too, we've got nothing to worry about. Come on, come with us. We won't go far. We just really wanna get some fresh air and chill out. Just for a bit.'

Thinking for a moment, Emma sighed heavily and walked up the stairs behind them.

'Just to be straight, I'm only coming along to keep my eye on you.'

Lana shook her head and gently punched Emma's shoulder.

'Where shall we go?' asked Daisy.

Lana shrugged, 'We can pretty much go anywhere we want. Nobody can stop us.'

'Well, apart from the Skulls,' Emma whispered as they began walking down the street. 'We really shouldn't go far. We don't want to be gone long, otherwise they'll notice.'

'Just keep an eye out for anything unusual. I'm sure we can handle it. Let's go this way,' Lana replied confidently.

The sound of howling made Daisy literally jump about two metres back before stopping still, shaking.

'Hey,' Emma said as she turned back to make sure she was okay. 'You alright?'

Daisy gulped and nodded.

'I guess I just haven't got used to that sound since, you know... since the attack.'

'But you got away from them, Daisy. You were faster than that freaky Grycan wolf. Besides, we've met the main wolves in London and they're friendly. You've got nothing to worry about. Giovanni certainly wouldn't hurt us and he's the leader of the pack here.'