“I understand. And,” I hesitated for a moment, “I really do want to thank you for all you’ve done. If I don’t make it back, will you look after Mrs Alcoon for me? I know it’s a lot to ask, but she’s really a lovely person. Maybe some of your faerie friends will be able to sort her out, you know? Bring her out of stasis?”

“I’ll do whatever I can. It’s good you’re not hiding any more but I need you to promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“Sure,” I said, winking at him. “Those big scary witches and wizards won’t know what’s hit them though.”

He took both my hands. “I mean it, Mackenzie. Their wards are too strong. If you get into trouble once you’re inside the Ministry then I can’t help you out. And I’ve grown to like you. Well, tolerate you, anyway.”

“Gee, you certainly know how to make a girl feel good about herself, don’t ya?”

“Promise me.”

I was a bit taken aback by the serious tone in his voice. “I promise, Solus.”

He leaned forward until our foreheads were touching and closed his eyes, then turned round and walked back the way we’d come, not looking back. I watched him disappear into the crowds.

“Well, that was weird,” I muttered to myself.

I ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth and realised that I hadn’t managed to get hold of a toothbrush and toothpaste before he’d left. I didn’t have any money to buy them either. Using the corner of my sleeve, I rubbed my teeth, but it did little good. At least I could try breathing on the mages and knocking them out that way, I figured, giving up and continuing forward. I shifted my backpack on my shoulders as I walked, double-checking the shiny new silver daggers strapped to my forearms at the same time. I took in a big gulp of air and pictured Mrs Alcoon lying motionless in her chair in the now burnt out shell of Cava Books. No matter what happened as I was going to make sure that they freed her. I was not going to have yet another body on my conscience.

Barely five minutes later, I was standing in front of the Ministry. The sign reading Charter College that hid the Ministry in plain sight was dull and unassuming. The building itself, whilst imposing, would hardly encourage visitors to drop by. There was an iron fence circling the property, which didn’t look particularly difficult to scale. That was probably to avoid appearing to be too much of a challenge to any local youths looking for a dare I guessed though. I had no doubt that if I went straight up and climbed over it there would be all sorts of magical alarms suddenly being set off. I decided also that I couldn’t very well just stroll up to the front door and knock. They’d probably fry me first and ask questions later. I’d have to get myself inside and find someone important to speak to. A pre-emptive strike. I could always phone Alex again and ask him for tips but his involvement would probably only complicate matters. Keep it simple stupid, I told myself.

Looking around, I noted an old abandoned house in a row of terraced properties behind me. It offered a clear and unhampered view of the ‘College’. I decided that my best possible move would be to keep the place under surveillance for a time so I could work out how best to enter. Very Cagney and Lacey. I frowned for a moment, realising that there was only one of me now that Solus had vamoosed back into whichever Faerie plane he’d come from. Cagney and Lacey wouldn’t work. Inspector Morse? No, he had Lewis by his side. Horatio Caine? Nope, no hard-working CSI team to back me up. Ummm, I thought hard. Every sodding police detective I could think of had at least one side-kick with them. Eventually I shrugged and gave up. I was a lone wolf. Or at least a lone dragon anyway. We liked to work alone. Others would merely cramp our style. Or steal our treasure. I nodded to myself sagely and wandered round to the back of the house, yanking off some of the nailed on wooden boards that were barring the downstairs window.

I hopped up and crawled through the space that I’d made, snagging my t-shirt and ripping it slightly. I swore out loud and pulled myself through. The interior of the house was better kept than I’d expected. There was no furniture and everything was covered in a layer of thick dust, but the place appeared untouched by squatters or druggies looking for their own holes to crawl into. Satisfied, I strode through to the front and peered out through a crack. I had a perfect view of the Ministry’s front door.

“Phase 1 complete,” I said aloud, my voice echoing in the quiet house. I was prepared to stake out the mages.

Chapter Seventeen

A half hour later I was desperately wishing that I were somewhere else. The lack of any furniture in the house meant that I had to remain standing to see through the window. The positioning of the window meant that I had to stoop to see through it. I tried kneeling but I was too short then to peer through the crack. The upshot was that my lower back was now absolutely killing me and I wasn’t convinced that I’d in fact ever be able to stand up straight again. I rubbed my spine with both hands but it was a pointless effort. I sighed deeply and wiped my hand across my forehead. It might be winter but the little house was entirely airless and I was starting to sweat profusely. Stakeouts looked a lot more fun on television.

I reached down and touched my toes, attempting to stretch out my back. When I moved back up and looked through the crack again, absolutely nothing had changed. No-one had come in and no-one had come out. I straightened up for a few moments, wincing at the creaking pain. Fucking hell. I walked around the room a few times and then resumed my stance at the window. There had to be an easier way to do this. I stared out at the railings surrounding the Ministry. Maybe they weren’t really warded all that much. I could just climb over them and drop into the garden, then…get zapped.

I took a deep breath. I could do this.

Why are you in London?

I shrieked aloud at the sudden mental intrusion, jerking my head upwards and banging it off one of the wooden boards barring the window frame that was jutting out ever so slightly.

“Goddamnit!” I swore aloud.

Kitten? I know you can hear me.

Perhaps if I just stayed very, very silent he’d think I wasn’t really there. If I ever saw Tom again, he and I would be having some serious words together.

Don’t be upset at your little wolf friend. He had a bruise on his neck. I compelled him to tell me who had given it to him.

Don’t respond, Mack, I said to myself. Just don’t say or think anything.

I’m disappointed that you didn’t come over and say hello. Or introduce me to your new… friend.

I snapped. Really, my Lord? Are you really going to continue to imply that I spend all my spare time shagging every male I can get my hands on?

Hello kitten.

His Voice that time was virtually a purr.

Get lost, Corrigan.

You don’t need to stay out there in the cold, you know. Tell me where you are and I can help you out. It’s not too late to still be one of us.

The metal gates that formed part of the fence to the Ministry were starting to open. They must be remote controlled. I concentrated my attention on them.

You should stop this stalker like behaviour. It’s most unbecoming for the Lord Alpha. Surely you’ve got better things to do.

There. I could be calm and reasonable. A garage door that I’d not noticed before because it was camouflaged by some trees began to wrench upwards.

I concern myself with every member of the Pack.

Well, I’m not part of the Pack, my Lord. Get over it.

Mackenzie, it’s not safe here. You need to…

Corrigan’s Voice was cut off abruptly. Whatever. And he was damn right that it wasn’t safe here, but if he thought that I was going to slink off with my proverbial tail between my legs then he had something else coming.

A shiny black Mercedes van bounced out of the garage and headed towards the now fully open gates. My heart was thudding. I told myself that I was just excited because there was finally some action. At the Ministry, not with Corrigan. Nooooo, definitely not with Corrigan.

The van’s windows were darkened so I couldn’t actually see who or what was inside. It didn’t matter though. Now I knew that part of the Ministry’s security relied on technology – and technology often failed. They might have magic on their side but I was fairly certain that if I could cut the power to their security system, they’d go into panic mode for long enough to allow me to slip in. If they relied on remote control to operate their doors and gates, then they weren’t relying on magic to stop people from entering. Sure, I’d trip the wards and set off their warning systems, but they’d work out I was there soon enough anyway. All I actually needed to was to get inside and find someone powerful enough to plead my case to before I got caught. And now at least I had an idea about how to get inside.

I sank back on my heels and allowed myself a moment to wonder about Corrigan. I didn’t know why he felt the need to keep on bothering me. Surely it couldn’t be because he was that bothered about one little rogue? He’d certainly never given a damn about any of the shifters in Cornwall before John had died so what was different now?

I tightened my ponytail and forced him out of my thoughts. I couldn’t make him a concern of mine, not right now with everything else going on. If I managed to sort out the mages and get them to release Mrs Alcoon then maybe I’d try to talk to him and get him to leave me alone. If he was going to keep chasing, then maybe I really couldn’t keep hiding, as Solus so charmingly put it. But right now I had other things to worry about.

I glanced around the room and looked for the least dusty spot. I couldn’t move any further now until it was dark, so I may as well make the most of my time and sleep. Scuffing away some of dustballs from one corner, I lay down and curled up in a ball, closing my eyes. Initially my thoughts kept tripping over one another, ticking away till I felt more awake than I really would have thought possible. Remembering an old breathing trick that John had taught me back when he was first training me in martial arts, however, I managed to calm myself down and empty my mind. Eventually I drifted asleep.

When I awoke, I was briefly disorientated and unsure where I was. It was so dark that for a moment I thought I was back in the halfway plane after entering the Clava Cairns portal. Then I realised that I was in the middle of London and about to storm the Ministry of Mages to save a little old lady from being stuck in a coma for the rest of her life. I stood up slowly, still feeling a nagging ache in the small of my back from my minor attempt at a stake out earlier on in the day. I stretched out, pushing first against the wall and lengthening out my hamstrings, then performing a few yoga poses on the floor.