Reality Hack (29 page)

‘You look… pretty devilish.’

Grinning, Alaina reached up and stroked at a horn. ‘You like? You don’t think the tail is too much? I wasn’t sure about the tail.’

‘It’s cute. I was going to say I felt under-dressed, but…’ Her eyes followed a brunette in a scarlet basque and thong as she walked past, smiling slightly.

‘Yeah,’ Alaina said, ‘don’t think so. Come on, we’ll get you a drink and I’ll show you the buffet, and then we’ll… uh… Well, we party, I guess.’

‘It’s what I came to do,’ Nisa replied, grinning.

~~~

Maxim was in an immaculate suit, black, very black, with a dark red lining and a shirt that was also a blood red, open enough to show off a firmly muscled chest. He was circulating through the crowd and so, eventually, he was bound to come to Nisa, happening upon her while Alaina was powdering her nose.

‘You are looking quite comfortable, Sergeant Harper,’ he said, smiling at her with a slightly wolfish glow in his eyes.

‘I’m off duty and this is a party, High Grand Master,’ Nisa replied.

‘Then perhaps we can dispense with the formalities.’

Her lips twitched. ‘That was the idea. I’ve been hearing Alaina call you Alexander all evening.’

‘And I’ve been hearing how happy she is that Nisa was coming for the last week or so. You’re enjoying our little get-together, Nisa?’

‘It’s… I think a place with a name beginning with “Hermetic” should be a lot stuffier than this.’

‘It was
much
stuffier, and you’ve been here during the day. We’re normally more restrained, but I believe everyone should let their hair down once in a while.’

‘I think we all do. People tend to go a bit… strange otherwise.’

‘And in our business, “strange” can be both very bad and
very
strange. I was glad you were able to deal with Jasperson.’

‘Yeah. Just a shame it wasn’t sooner.’ There was a sudden sensation of cold clawing at Nisa’s stomach and she knew exactly what it was. ‘Would you excuse me? I think I need to follow Alaina’s example. Too much wine.’

‘Of course. Enjoy the party.’

Nisa stalked away, locating the very well-appointed restroom easily and finding Alaina there fixing up her make-up in a mirror which would have spanned the width of Nisa’s bedroom. Alaina glanced at her in the mirror and frowned. ‘You’re looking pale.’

‘I always look pale,’ Nisa replied.

‘Paler. Something wrong?’

‘Uh… Not really. Your boss reminded me about something and I needed to be away from the party for a minute.’

‘That business we helped with? That was not nice and you were right in the middle of it, and he should know better.’

‘He didn’t–’

The blonde girl stepped closer, her hand lifting to touch Nisa’s cheek. ‘This is a party and there’s no call for reminding people of bad things.’ She stood there, her thigh pressed against Nisa’s leg, hand on her cheek, faces so close together. Deep, blue eyes looked into Nisa’s and Nisa felt her lips parting, waiting for the kiss, but Alaina blinked and pulled away. She looked confused, or hesitant. ‘We need more wine.’

‘Right,’ Nisa said. ‘More wine will fix anything.’

~~~

It was somewhere around midnight that Nisa found herself being led through dark corridors by a fairly tipsy Alaina. Not quite entirely dark corridors, there were lights on, but at wide intervals which left long expanses of shadow. Nisa had no clue where they were going, but Alaina had said she would take her on a tour, so they were touring. It was just that they seemed to be touring corridors…

Without warning, Alaina opened a door and stepped through, dragging Nisa along with her. The room was big and the sound she could still hear from the party was deadened suddenly, probably by the mass of books lining the walls. There were a lot of them, floor to ceiling on three walls aside from where the door came in. The fourth wall contained a fireplace, and the fire in that was the only source of light. Alaina did not turn the room lights on.

‘Small library,’ Alaina said, her voice soft. ‘No raised voices in the library.’ She giggled. ‘I like it in here. It’s quiet. If I’m working late I come here for a break.’ Letting go of Nisa’s hand, she walked over to a desk which was set near to the fireplace and rested her behind on the old oak. The firelight flickered wildly on her glossy dress.

‘It’s a nice room,’ Nisa said. ‘It’s kind of cosy.’

‘Uh-huh. Why am I so attracted to you, Nisa?’

The sudden question brought Nisa’s eyebrows up. ‘I… Well…’

‘No, I don’t get it either. First time I saw you I thought “that is a woman I’d like to shag senseless,” but it’s more than that and I don’t get it. Tell me you don’t feel the same thing.’

Nisa crossed the space between them and paused, leaning forward with a hand on the desk. Their faces were barely an inch apart and she could feel Alaina’s breath on her cheek, stuttering, uncertain. ‘I could argue it’s fate or something,’ Nisa said, her voice almost a whisper.

‘Not sure I believe in that stuff. We make our own destiny.’

‘Then I’m going to make it now.’ Leaning forward, Nisa claimed Alaina’s mouth with hers. Tongue parted lips, slid deeper, met no resistance until it was fencing with Alaina’s tongue. The latex dress was slick beneath Nisa’s hands as she slid them up Alaina’s body and found the little points over her breasts and rolled them down. And then Alaina was gasping as Nisa’s thumb grazed over her nipple.

‘We… we should lock the door,’ Alaina moaned.

‘Does anyone come here?’

‘They might… m-might to do this.’

‘Cool,’ Nisa said, ‘we could get caught.’ She dipped her head and sucked in a nipple as her hands lowered to find the hem of the red, rubber dress.

‘Oh… shit. Don’t stop.’

Nisa had not been planning to. She rolled the rubber up Alaina’s thighs and spread those thighs, one hand cupping Alaina’s naked mound. No knickers, naughty girl. Just perfect, and she was already wet and there was no resistance as Nisa slipped a finger into her. How long had the hot little blonde been waiting for this? How long had she been planning to get Nisa alone in this room?

‘Oh…’ Alaina’s gasped cry told Nisa it was a long time. ‘Oh… oh… please… I need… please.’

Nisa dropped to her knees and slid another finger into Alaina, her tongue finding the hot, swollen nub of her clitoris easily and quickly. Alaina’s hands curled around the back of Nisa’s skull and pressed her closer. Nisa’s tongue lapped and her fingers danced, pushing and prodding, quickening and slowing, and driving until Alaina’s hips were bucking and she was gasping and panting, and then Alaina was clamping a hand over her mouth to cut off the scream which was most certainly not suitable for a library.

‘Pull that skirt up,’ Alaina said when her breathing had returned to normal. ‘I want you on the rug in front of the fire.’

Nisa grinned at her and turned to do as she asked. ‘But what if someone comes?’

‘Someone
is
going to come. You.’

Tower Hamlets, November 1
^st
.

Faline peered at her from the lounge sofa as Nisa stumbled into the flat. ‘I wasn’t sure you would actually be back before dawn,’ the Witch Cat said.

‘I’m back,’ Nisa replied, grinning brightly.

‘Hmm, yes. And you had sex, with the blonde girl.’

‘I so did. She was almost like I remembered from the fake world. A bit crazier. A little more wild once she got going.’

‘Interesting,’ Faline replied. ‘You wish to see her again?’

‘I
so
wish.’

‘I’m happy for you, but perhaps you should get some sleep.’

Nisa giggled. ‘I’m too hyped to sleep!’

She was unconscious inside of ten minutes.

~~~

‘…have seen…’

‘Is she in…’

‘…demon as well…’

‘Did she see?’

‘She saw, but has not yet
seen
.’

‘She must…’

Nisa turned in her sleep and the voices were cast aside, but her eyes flickered open and, for a brief instant, she saw the pattern of light hanging over the coin on her bedside table. Closing her eyes, she sank herself into a memory of Alaina’s face looking up at her. Fuck the stupid coin. Could she not have one night of being happy?

Westminster, November 3
^rd
.

‘You are looking rather happy,’ Kellog said from the doorway of her office.

‘I’m feeling kind of happy,’ Nisa replied. ‘I had a nice night out on Friday. Nothing bad happened and I didn’t sense anything weird. I didn’t see any signs of anything strange being used, though I won’t say they weren’t, just that I didn’t see anything. Plus, things are still pretty quiet.’

Kellog nodded, though it looked a little reluctant. ‘We had a report of some shadow figures come in. Filtered through from Newcastle. Vague, and late, but it sounds like the same sort of thing.’

Nisa giggled. ‘Well, Newcastle… Geordies? Probably too much of the “broon hale” on a Saturday night.’

Her partner winced. ‘I’m American and even I know that was a
terrible
impersonation of a Geordie. I’m going to put word out to a few of the regions, see if anyone else has seen anything out of the ordinary.’

‘You’re thinking that we haven’t seen them because they’ve been further afield?’

He shrugged. ‘And maybe they’ve just done what they came for and they’ll be gone.’

‘I never took you for an optimist, Kellog.’

‘Oh, I’m not. But sometimes these things do just quietly go away. Of course, when they do, it leaves us with an unsolved case and the worry they could come back, so it’s not really optimism.’

‘Well, that’s good. I don’t want you shattering my illusions of how the world works. Again.’

~~~

Covent Garden was a convenient place to meet, roughly midway between XC and the Order’s building. It was just coffee, on Nisa’s lunch break, and Kellog had noticed that she was actually going out for a break rather than staying in the office, but he had said nothing. So Nisa met Alaina in a coffee shop in Covent Garden.

The blonde looked nervous as she walked in, but her smile was genuine and bright when she spotted Nisa. ‘I… I wasn’t entirely sure you would be here,’ Alaina said as she sat down across the small table. ‘I know we said we would meet, but…’

‘Thought I might have forgotten you already?’ Nisa’s lips twitched in amusement as she spoke.

‘Well… You’re busy, police work and… whatever else. I haven’t stopped thinking about the library all weekend.’

‘I’ve slept,’ Nisa replied. ‘I’m not
sure
I was thinking about it then.’

Alaina giggled. ‘Okay, yes, I remember having a dream where we were doing it on a white beach, in the tropics maybe, so that wasn’t the library.’ Nisa returned the giggle. ‘When can we do it again? I mean, I don’t think I want you just for the sex, but the sex was…’ Alaina sighed and a shiver ran through Nisa’s body, originating somewhere in her crotch.

‘Uh, well, I am kind of busy, I admit. I’m still learning the ropes, so to speak.’

‘Ropes? Now there’s an interesting thought…’

Nisa felt her cheeks colouring and a few other physical reactions starting. ‘Friday night? We could catch a club and… And then see where we go to from there.’

‘Friday? So long. I’ll be dragging you into the restrooms.’ Flashes of her alternate life with alternate-Alaina danced through Nisa’s mind. ‘I can wait until then, but we have coffee on Thursday to confirm. You might have picked up a hot case and can’t make it.’

‘Nothing’s that hot,’ Nisa told her and then forced herself not to add ‘except you,’ because the line was too corny.

‘You are,’ Alaina whispered and then burst into a fit of giggles. ‘Damn that was too corny for words.’

November 6
^th
.

‘So we have a few reports of shadowy figures,’ Kellog said over coffee in the break room. ‘Not what you would call exemplary eyewitness reports, but reports which more or less match our other ones.’

‘This is out of the city, right?’ Nisa asked.

‘Yes. Newcastle, as I said, and there are ones from Glasgow, two in Edinburgh, York, Borth.’

‘Borth?’ Nisa felt her heart lurch. ‘Is that in Cornwall?’

‘Wales. A fairly small… village I think is the best word. Just north of Aberystwyth on the coast.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘You were thinking of Miss Norris?’

‘Yes. I wasn’t aware you knew she’d gone to Cornwall.’

‘Hanson mentioned it. We tend to keep an eye on people affected by the supernatural. Especially when they’re friends of our staff.’

‘Thanks.’ She pursed her lips and then took a pull on her coffee while she thought. ‘I’ve been working on some statistical analysis stuff to show up patterns in the data we have. Maybe when I finally get it all worked out we can spot something.’

‘Have you any idea how much longer? To finish the research, I mean.’

‘Couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it right. I’m going over my maths again. It’s a confidence thing, I guess. I’ve always been way better at applied. Statistics is… well, it’s statistics. It always feels like summoning facts out of thin air.’

‘You summon energy from thin air on a regular basis,’ he pointed out.

‘Statistics is more arcane than reality hacking.’

Norbery stopped in the doorway as he walked in, raising his eyebrows. ‘Now that is not something you expect to hear.’

‘You saying I’m wrong?’ Nisa asked, her own eyebrows going up.

‘Well… no… You’re probably right.’

November 10
^th
.

And just when Nisa was beginning to believe that life was really looking good, Alaina dropped a spanner in the works. They were back in the coffee shop. Nisa was feeling a tiny bit guilty since she had barely seen Faline all weekend, and that was due to Alaina having spent a fair amount of that time in Nisa’s bed. Faline had appeared late Sunday, sulky but trying not to show it, and had explained that she was not that fond of voyeurism. And now…

‘Alexander’s confirmed it,’ Alaina said. ‘We’re going to be away a month. Thirty-three days, leaving on Saturday.’ She pouted. ‘Early Saturday. We’re flying out to the US first and the check-in time is ridiculous. Two weeks bouncing across the States, and then over to Germany, down to Italy, uh, France, Norway…’