Read Online Scenting Hallowed Blood by Storm Constantine - Free Book Online

Ninka. He is Shemyaza now. If I try to find
him, he’ll no doubt sense it, and come crashing into my brain like
a hurricane. He might want to use me again, or simply kill me to
cover his tracks. I have no way of knowing which way he’d turn, and
I don’t want to find out. One thing I am sure of is that he won’t
just run away and hide. Not now. He has to be stronger now.’
    ‘Surely you could protect
yourself.’ In her heart, Aninka felt bad about pushing the matter.
She knew Taziel was right and that he’d be the person most at risk
if they went along with Lahash’s request. But she could not stop
herself.
    There was a moment’s silence,
then Taziel said, ‘He’s in London. Too close.’
    Aninka’s heart turned over.
‘Here? But... Taz, have you been looking for him yourself?’ The
last question was delivered carefully.
    ‘Not exactly, but I pick things
up.’
    He wouldn’t say any more.
    Aninka related the information
to Lahash as soon as he’d sat down opposite her in the restaurant
where they’d arranged to meet.
    ‘Well done,’ Lahash said.
    Aninka frowned. ‘It’s not
enough, and I’m not sure whether I can convince Taz to do anything
more.’
    Lahash shook his head. ‘You’re
wrong. What you said to Taz last night smacks of the truth. He would have gone home if he really thought this business was
over. Anything else he might say is simply excuses. We just have to
wait, that’s all. You know what he’s like. Be patient. Trust
me.’
    When she got back to the flat,
after a very pleasant couple of hour’s conversation, some of it
promisingly suggestive, she found Taziel in the kitchen, holding
the dish cloth to his nose, which was bleeding profusely. ‘Are you
all right?’ she asked.
    Taziel growled at her and
slouched into the living room. Aninka followed. ‘Taz? What
happened?’
    Taziel removed the cloth from
his nose and inspected it. The bleeding seemed to have stopped,
although the lower half of his face was covered in blood.
Experimentally, he sniffed. ‘This is what happens,’ he said.
    Aninka rushed to his side,
squatted down on the floor beside his chair. ‘What? What?’
    ‘When I try too hard.’ He
reached for Aninka’s hands, squeezed them. ‘I don’t know why I did
it.’
    ‘Did what?’ Aninka dared not
hope.
    ‘I have a location for you,’
Taziel said. ‘Are you satisfied now?’
    She had been visiting the cafe
for over a week now. From there, she could keep an eye on the Moses
Assembly Rooms. Lahash knew of the place; it was a refuge for
Grigori burnouts and freaks. Perhaps the most clever hiding place
Shemyaza could have thought of because it was just so obvious a
place to look for him.
    Just as she was beginning to
doubt Shemyaza, or any of his companions, were actually there, the
boy had come into the cafe. The moment she laid eyes on him, she’d
known he was significant. His name was Daniel, the name of
Shemyaza’s vizier and prophet. Coincidence? Perhaps. The boy had
been wary of her, she could tell. He had secrets, and had almost
confessed to living at the Assembly Rooms. Working in a conference
hall? No. Aninka had watched him leave the cafe and had stood in
the side street as he made his way back there, disappearing down a
side alley next to the Rooms. How to win his confidence? It would
not be easy. He mustn’t find out who she was, although she did not
feel afraid. For some moments, she had stood staring at the
Assembly Room’s blank windows. Was Shemyaza really in there? It
seemed bizarre to think she might be so close to him.
    Now, she had to tell Taz she
had made contact. Standing in the doorway to the living room she
said, ‘Stage one has been completed.’ It was difficult not to
laugh. She felt elated.
    Taziel looked up at her. ‘What
happened?’
    ‘Daniel happened,’ she replied.
‘At least I think so.’

Chapter
Four
The
Scrying Pool
    Meggie Penhaligon, her sisters of the
Council around her, gazed into the lightless surface of the