Once they were properly dressed again, Jenna announced that she was hungry. Robert looked like he could use a little nap on the back seat of the car, but he climbed out and occupied the driver seat.
‘And what do you fancy?’ he asked.
‘I don't know, you?' Jenna sat beside him and closed the door. She couldn't stop grinning: Robert might have used up all of his energy, but he got the job done. Very, very done. Her lower belly was still vibrating with pleasure.
The rain arrived while they were busy. It was kinda romantic, in Jenna's opinion, making love in the forest while raindrops knocked on the roof. "Making love…" That was an expression she never used before.
'We had pizza for lunch,' Robert said. 'How about fish and chips?'
'Man, you are so Brit,' she laughed. 'Let's get a burger. I know a place.'
It was a tiny little burger joint in one of the back streets of Camden Town. It was so far away from the main road and the Market that tourists barely popped up around, but that was one of the reasons Jenna liked the place. It had three tables, two of them empty now, and the last in the corner taken by them. The wall was covered with wood up until shoulder-height and had framed photos above that. Each one of them showed a big, historical sport event: Muhammad Ali standing over the knock-out Cleveland Williams, next to it Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists back in the Mexico City Olympics, then Dave Martin Washington, the first black man ever who won a Duel world championship raising the golden goblet, etcetera.
'I have to ask…,' started Robert, 'I know that using magic burns calories and what we just did was like a full workout, but still: how can such a small person eat that big amount?'
Jenna looked over her double beef patty hamburger, a huge portion of fries and the slice of pie she ordered for dessert.
'I always eat a lot,' she shrugged. 'Do you think there is a link between the strength of a sorcerer and the amount he eats?'
Robert shook his head.
'More like the other way around. When you are casting spells, you are using up the energy of your own body, the same as when you are running or just walking. Since this energy is very limited, you need to tap into the energy of your surroundings, that's why the air always goes cold when someone is doing magic, but of course, that's only one of the possible sources. We still don't know why certain people, like you, can channel much more outside power than others, but the fact remains: after a significant amount of spell casting you need to recharge. That means food and sleeping.'
Jenna just looked at him smiling over her burger.
'What?' Robert asked.
'Nothing, nothing. It's just… You are really freaking sexy when you are in full-on teacher mode,' she said.
Robert laughed and picked up his own much smaller burger. Jenna put the plate with the fries to the middle, the same as she did on the evening they ate together before the ghoul cemetery. For a few minutes they ate in silence.
'So, what now?' Jenna asked then. 'What's next?'
'Up to you, Jenna,' Robert replied. 'We could catch a movie, go to a bar, or even dance…'
She gave him a surprised look.
'You know how to dance?'
'God, no, I most certainly don't. But I figured you would have a great time laughing at me.'
'Good thinking,' nodded Jenna. 'I do laugh at you a lot. How about this: we swing by my place so I can pick up some clothes, then we go back to yours, watching a movie on your terrible sofa and having sex every time you say something romantic and I don't know how to answer.'
'Sounds like a plan,' grinned Robert.
After they finished, Jenna paid and they went back to the car, hand in hand. It was still raining and the streets were relatively empty. Only two people offered them drugs on the five minutes walk, it was a sleepy afternoon.
'Have you ever tried any of those?' Robert asked, bobbing towards the guy who asked them if they wanted to buy something.
'A few times,' Jenna shrugged. 'Weed does help to relax, I give it that, but it makes my magic unreliable, so I never really picked it up. Never liked the stronger stuff though, they are messing with my head too much. You?'
Robert shook his head.
'Same thing, sort of. I smoked weed once back in college, needless to say, Marcus got it from somewhere. It was an interesting experience but not one I'm keen to repeat. Especially not now, as my magic is already very limited as it is. Do you think Luther would tell me more words now that I know a few already?'
'He would bury you in his garden and you are lucky if he kills you first. Do not tell him what you know. Seriously.'
Robert nodded. Jenna seized his hand.
'Maybe we could learn more when we find out where the Goddess is,' she suggested.
'We will see,' smiled Robert. 'I can do magic now, and I couldn't yesterday, so that's a good thing, no matter what.'
They got stuck in the rush hour traffic on their way to Jenna's flat. As it turned out, they lived quite close to each other in this whole time.
'I still don't know what your hobbies are,' said Robert.
Darkness fell already and the countless brake lamps through the rain-struck windshield looked like an impressionist painting.
'I don't know, does drinking count?' she asked back. Just then she realised that she hadn't had a drop of alcohol since last night. Almost 24 hours without a drink… Interesting. She was kinda curious how long this can last.
'Drinking is the favourite hobby of our nation,' nodded Robert, 'yet I'd say no, it does not count.
'I guess I could say kickboxing, then,' Jenna said in a wondering tone. 'But that's more like a workout.'
Robert pushed the gas pedal gently and the car ate up a couple of metres before it had to stop again.
'Let me get this straight,' the man said. 'After a long day of beating the crap out of magical things, you go and beat out the crap from some humans too, just for fun.'
'Yeah, kinda,' she bobbed. 'I told you: I had a simple life. I fight for money and I fight for fun too, and sometimes I go home with the prettiest stranger around. Plus I eat and drink a lot. That's pretty much it. Not exactly girlfriend-material, right?'
Robert kissed her.
'You are smart, funny, beautiful and kind, even if you try to hide it,' he said then. 'Sure, you have flaws. So what?'
Jenna scoffed and shook her head in disbelief.
'Let's see what you are gonna say a month later after I messed up your flat with my stuff, clogged the drain with my hair and left bloodstains everywhere after a bad day at work…'
'Let's see,' Robert agreed with a smile.
It was a little after six when Robert parked the car in front of Jenna’s building, a three stories brick thing with glass stairwell.
‘Be right back,’ she said and kissed him.
‘Need a hand?’
‘Nah, just stay here and rest. You are not getting any younger and I might need your strength again later on, Professor,’ she grinned and ran for the entrance.
The lock was still broken. She went up on the stairs. She felt something weird while she searched for her keys but realised a second too late what was that.
Someone in the flat was doing magic.
The door opened up and a big man grabbed her hair. He knocked her head to the wall next to her once, twice, three times, then shoved her into the flat. Jenna couldn't see properly because blood was dripping onto her eyes. Her ears ringed. She fell on the floor then shot a curse blindly and heard a window brake. Someone hit her at the back of her head and something wet touched her hand.
'What the…?'
It was a Signum, same as the ones the SRU used. Jenna tried to cast a spell but she couldn't. The man pulled her up by her hair and once she managed to wipe the blood out of her eyes she saw a woman sitting on her bed, with a nice smile on her face. She had jet-black hair and a pale face except for two red spots on her cheeks. She played with a long metal magic wand. It had an evil looking pointy end. A tall, brunette woman in her forties stood beside the bed.
'Finally,' the sitting girl sighed. 'Forgot to come home last night, are we…?'
Just because she was unable to cast a spell, Jenna wasn't helpless. She swung her leg and got the guy behind her at the shin. Simultaneously whipped her head backwards and felt something pop in the man's face. He cried out and stumbled away, but before Jenna could have finished the job someone else grabbed her throat and lifted her up. Jenna's back clashed with the wall as she was trying to draw air. She kicked the woman in the stomach but nothing happened. Must have been a vampire.
'Ready?' the brunette said and looked at the black-haired woman. She was up now, and she switched her metal wand for a syringe full of something red. Jenna had no doubt what was it and panic started to darken her mind.
Jenna could only see a slice of the flat, the rest of her sight was occupied by the brunette vampire. It was still enough to see the silver top of the cane what sent the big man to sleep, then Robert reached out towards the kitchen. The microwave oven leapt into the air and hit the vampire woman at the face as she turned to see what was happening. She let Jenna's throat go and fell down.
'Hey!' the black-haired girl exclaimed and pointed her wand at Jenna, who was on all fours, coughing. 'Stop, or I will… Ouch!'
She dropped the wand. It smouldered red. While she was busy with her burnt palm, the vampire woman stood up, her face covered with blood but her broken bones moving back to their original places already. A ball of blue fire appeared above Robert's hand.
'Don't move,' he said. Jenna didn't like his voice at all. It was empty and professional, his words were falling coldly like hail.
Jenna got up and tumbled to Robert. She tried to get rid of the Signum, but the ink stayed where it was.
'Shit,' she groaned.
‘You okay?’ asked Robert.
The vampire jumped forward, dodging a handful of fire which lit up a curtain. Robert was struck by a curse from the sorcerer woman’s spare wand, Jenna didn’t see what was that exactly but the man doubled up and started to throw up. She wanted to help him somehow but the brunette kept her busy. Unlike Jenna, she didn't know how to fight properly, but she was very strong and quick, with a mountain-high threshold of pain. Jenna had to retreat step by step. She wasn't cursed only because she made sure that the vampire's body stayed between her and the black-haired woman as a shield.
Robert rolled over to avoid another spell and sent a chair towards his opponent. She blocked it with a little flick of her wand. The fire climbed over to another curtain.
Jenna decided to play dirty because her arms couldn't take the vampires punches much longer as she was protecting herself. She took out a bit of string from one of her jacket pockets and tossed it at the vampire. It worked splendidly: turned into a metal chain and tied her up, hands to the body, ankles together. Jenna knew that it was only a temporary solution, though: even the weakest vampire was able to break a chain like this with time. So she kicked the other woman at the face as she went down, just in case.
In the meantime, Robert got up and managed to bring down the sorceress. First, he swept her legs by a sneaky little Movement spell then made Jenna's blanket to wrap her tight. It probably wasn't enough to calm his anger, because he waved and a smaller bookshelf fell on the woman, who moaned and cried because of the pain. Her second wand was broken into half on the floor.
'You okay?' he asked Jenna. She nodded and grabbed the collars of his coat for a second, burying her face into his chest. She was shaking.
'You? What did she hit you with?' she felt Robert's gentle fingers on her head swiping bloodied locks away to check out how badly she was hurt.
'Just some Poison-based curse but it was weak. I'm okay. Listen, we got to go, now. Take what you need and let's get out of here. I will keep an eye on them.'
She did what she was told. Took an old suitcase and threw every clothes she could find in it. Then she stepped to the kitchen counter and picked up her coffee maker.
'Seriously?' asked Robert. He put out the fire and kept the silver head of his cane on the vampire's chains in case she would try something. His dark face said that he wanted her to try something. She didn't and it was a very wise decision.
'Yours is terrible,' she shrugged, then she bent over to get something from the floor. It was Robert's book that she borrowed back in the day when they lived in the Broken Shield.
Robert lifted the suitcase and gave the cane to Jenna. He got out his phone as soon as they left the flat. Jenna heard the anger still working in his voice as he told Marcus what happened.
'He will meet us at my place' Robert said. 'Maybe next time try not to get hit at the head…'
'It wasn't exactly my choice, you know…' she murmured.
Robert put the suitcase onto the back seat. Jenna kept the cane, even if she was sitting, she felt dizzy and it was handy to lean on. When Robert fired up the engine sirens cried somewhere close.
'Motherfuckers put a Signum on me,' said Jenna. 'Who does that?'
'Strategically speaking it was a very smart move. You would have swept the floor with them otherwise,' Robert pointed out. His voice was still cold. 'Were they Magda's friends?'
'Yeah,' nodded Jenna, trying to do a spell pointlessly.
The traffic was still jammed on the main roads, but Robert seemingly knew the neighbourhood and drove on the little back streets.
'Thank god they didn't come a day earlier,' he shook his head.
'Oh, no, I wasn't home in a while now, I slept in the office,' said Jenna.
'Don't you have a cousin to crash with?' frowned Robert.
'I do. But he was… Busy.'
'What do you mean bu… Oh. Good for him. Do I know the lucky lady?
Jenna sighed.
'What, lucky gentleman?' Robert asked.
'What? No. It's just… It's Ayana. I'm not sure I like her, but Teo seems kinda happy so I guess it's okay.'
Robert took a sharp breath.
'What?' Jenna asked.
'Nothing, it's just… How do I put it? There is an age gap between them.'
'So what?' asked Jenna. She looked at Robert and pain bit her temple. 'Cazzo. I mean, you are older than me by like, what, twenty years…?'
'Six, Jenna, only six years. What I meant is… A little more,' his face showed some hesitating, then he sighed. 'Well, it's not like it was a secret per se… So Ayana is more than 200 years old.'
'What? How? I've seen her doing magic, she isn't a vampire.'
'No, she isn't,' Robert agreed, taking a turn from one dark narrow street to another. 'It's a little bit more complicated than that. You know how she phases out sometimes, almost as if she was somewhere else? That's because she is talking to things she let inside her.'
'I did not like a word you just said, Montgomery. You are not talking about demons, right?'
They arrived. Marcus was already waiting for them in the parking lot across the road from Robert's building. He wore his biker jacket and was sitting on his motorcycle.
'Demons, ghosts, spirits, yes. They keep her young somehow and she uses their power and wisdom. I know it sounds weird for us, western people, but it had quite the tradition in Japan back in the 19th century. They believed they could have a better connection with their ancestors in this way, I suppose. Of course, that's another lost legacy… As far as I know, Ayana is one of the last practitioners still alive.'
'That's… Disturbing,' said Jenna.
Robert shrugged.
'Just different. Come on, let's go, the doctor will see you now.'
Paypal
