Mortal Souls Read online

“Dorian, what –”

  Dorian spun on his heel. The blood had drained from his face and his eyes were bright.

  “We need to get you out of here, Miss Bishop,” said Dorian. “Right now.”

  ***

  In the police station, Lee Yoo Min walked into the holding cell area of the Deeps, the part of Caledonia Interpol’s underground prison wrapped in the most powerful magic. She had been tasked to deliver meals to the prisoners who were awaiting trial at the faerie tribunal. She saw that there were not many cells empty; this city, unlike her own, apparently had its share of offenders.

  She pushed the trolley through the hallway, depositing meals, annoyed. She was also a detective, and this was brownie work. She was five thousand years old; she wasn’t a rookie. However, Chief Ben had indicated that the usual woman was off sick – a warrior faerie named Aoife who also served as one of the two receptionists at Interpol, along with Lindsey, a pixie, it was said, that some of Scotland’s most famous folksongs had been written about. She’d come to them via Lidl, where Ben had noticed her behind the counter, boredly ringing things up, and she’d jumped at the chance to join the fae police.

  Well, at least it isn’t Lidl, Yoo Min groused to herself. Still, she supposed it was always best to show willing at work.

  As Yoo Min was considering this, consoling herself with memories of former strength and feats of horror, she absentmindedly pushed a meal through the grate of a door. Lying on his side with his back to her, she saw a beautiful form and a cascade of brown and golden curls that had fallen over a shoulder. The form stirred, and rolled over to look at her. The ivory face, the large eyes with a natural kohl-like outline, the darkly arched brows, and the lazy smile when he saw the beautiful woman standing before him, spoke to her heart in the same way that a bar filled with various liquors glitters like gemstones to an alcoholic. Then the man stood, and sauntered over to her, walking like a cat. He placed a graceful hand on the bars, and she stared up into the widest brown eyes she had seen in her long life.

  “Hello,” he said, smiling down at her, his voice gentle and insinuating. “I don't think we've met.”

  She backed away, turning very red in the face. She shook her head. The beautiful man gave her a puzzled look.

  “No no no no no,” she said fiercely, almost to herself, the hunger rising up in her with a vengeance. She looked at him one more time, as if to make sure he was real, and then ran up the stairs.

  Magnus Grey stared after her, and laughed.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The phone at the Caledonia Interpol front desk was ringing off the hook.

  “Where the hell is that receptionist?” said Chief Ben. Yoo Min stood next to the desk.

  In a bright burst of energy, Aoife appeared. She sat down and picked up the receiver.

  “Caledonia Interpol,” she said.

  “You just can’t get good help these days,” Chief Ben said to Yoo Min. Aoife sent him a scalding look.

  Leah and Dorian walked into the office. They were surprised to see a young Korean woman talking to the Chief.

  “Who’s this?” asked Leah.

  Yoo Min turned around and bowed to them.

  “My name is Lee Yoo Min,” she said, “I will be working with you.”

  Leah raised an eyebrow at the Chief. He shrugged.

  “Someone had to replace Magnus,” he said, “Sorry, Dorian.”

  Dorian nodded, although his mouth tightened and his jaw twitched.

  “Quite all right,” he said, “Chief, there's an emergency.”

  “Oh?” asked the Chief, “What is it?”

  “A woman just died of the Black Death in a Bridgeton close,” said Dorian.

  The city had grown still, which Glasgow never was. There was a kind of fear in the streets, a fear in only the darkest quarters. Death crept among them there, but no one took much notice; no one ever did, besides the Guardians, and a young angel in a tracksuit whose halo shifted askew above his head.

  What was it to the other denizens of the city if the poor and drug-addicted perished? Their fault, really, words that were almost but not quite said over tea in their comfortable offices as rain lashed down the windows. The neds were an annoyance, bringing violence, begging, a nuisance; their women weren’t much better.

  And let’s not even mention the outsiders, the immigrants, they also didn’t say, warm and safe in their lives. The rain fell outside, on the less worthy, in their opinion; they read all the redtop newspapers, they knew the score.

  Better them than me, they also didn’t say, dunking their biscuits into the cup for just the right amount of time, and the ritual observed, the biscuits eaten, the tea drunk, they went on with their day.

  The thing about disease is…it knows no boundaries.

  Death visits us all, rich or poor, saint or sinner.

  There is no safe place.

  The lines in Chief Ben’s careworn face hardened. His blue eyes sparked.

  “Are you absolutely certain about this, Dorian?” asked the chief.

  The selkie nodded.

  “Yes, I saw it myself,” he replied.

  “Was Leah exposed?” asked Chief Ben.

  Leah nodded, her mouth drawn tight. She knew enough about the Black Death to be worried, and she was definitely in agreement with Dorian’s plan.

  “Yes,” said Dorian, “We need to get her out of the city immediately.”

  “You’re in luck,” said the chief. “Magnus’s trial begins tomorrow.”

  Dorian held his gaze, pensive.

  “The three of you wait here,” said Chief Ben. “I’ll be back with your paperwork in a moment.”

  The three of them silently waited for his return, until Yoo Min spoke.

  “Drinking is like eating for lazy people,” said Yoo Min, apropos of nothing. “You don’t even have to chew.”

  Yoo Min did this often. She enjoyed making other people uncomfortable, particularly when she was hungry. As a predator she had never quite understood how to get on with other people.

  Yoo Min grinned at Leah, trying for a winning smile, but her sharp teeth and horror-movie-wide mouth didn’t help. Leah gave her a strange look.

  “So,” she asked, “What kind of creature are you?”

  Yoo Min smiled brightly, only serving to make Leah edge away a bit.

  “A gumiho,” she said.

  Leah backed away a little more, inadvertently. Yoo Min did not seem to notice; she continued to smile, looking slightly unhinged.

  “The nine-tailed fox woman?” Leah asked.

  “Yes, sunbae,” Yoo Min confirmed, using the honorific title of more experienced person.

  “That eats the livers of men?” asked Leah.

  “Yes, sunbae,” Yoo Min said again.

  “Dorian,” said Leah, turning him around by the shoulder.

  “Yes, Leah, what is it?” he asked, his mind elsewhere.

  “Dorian,” Leah hissed, “Gumiho are dangerous. Very dangerous.”

  Dorian shrugged.

  “Well, keep an eye on her then,” he said, “She’s working with us, you know, Miss Bishop.”

  “That’s Detective Bishop to you, Earl Grey,” said Leah.

  Dorian nodded.

  “Of course. My apologies, Detective,” he said.

  Leah turned to look at Yoo Min again, who was still smiling.

  “I am very good with knives,” said Yoo Min brightly.

  “That’s…good to know.”

  Chief Ben turned the corner, papers in hand. He gave a stack to each of them.

  “Everything is in order, you can leave today,” said Chief Ben. “Stop by the lab and talk to Milo about what you saw with Dylan in that close before you go; we’re going to need all hands on deck if there is an outbreak. Milo’s our best bet on this one. He’s the best forensic pathologist we’ve ever had, and he specialised in virology.”

  “Where did he specialise?” asked Leah. “I can’t imagine that Glasgow uni would’ve taken kindly to a man with a tai
l. Well, maybe not, but he’d have ended up in the Hunterian anatomy collection.”

  “He didn’t attend university here,” said Ben.

  “Then where?” she pressed, but he wouldn’t reply.

  “As you say,” said Dorian, taking the papers from the chief. “Chief, do we know if it’s the human type or…?”

  Ben shook his head.

  “Not sure which would be worse,” he murmured, and Dorian nodded his agreement.

  “You want to share with the class?” she asked.

  “When we’re sure,” said Dorian.

  “You know, I’m getting tired of being the last one with the information around here,” griped Leah. “You guys wanted a human officer, here I am. But you’ve gotta let me in on what’s going on.”

  “Leah, please trust me, there is a good reason for all of this,” said Dorian.

  “Yeah? Because it’s starting to look kind of sexist. Or species…ist,” Leah said.

  “I assure you,” Ben said, “there are good reasons, but Dorian will fill you in.”

  Dorian nodded, and they turned to go. Leah stopped.

  “Wait, why do we need papers if we’re only going to the Highlands?” asked Leah.

  “We’re going further than the Highlands,” he said.

  “What is with you and all this mysterious crap?!” asked Leah, exasperated.

  Dorian favoured her with a little half-smile, and walked out the door.

  “Just once, I wish you’d answer me straight,” muttered Leah, who followed him.

  ***

  “What did you find?” asked Chief Ben.

  Yoo Min looked up at him from the computer.

  “Stolen passports,” she said, “reported at the entry point in Edinburgh, down at the statue of Greyfriars Bobby.”

  Ben stared at her.

  “Hmph,” he said, “I suppose I can see that. Enough people believe in the legend of Greyfriars Bobby, it makes sense the wall would be thinner there.”

  “Yes,” Yoo Min confirmed, “and where they find the thin places, and no doors, they push through. People will make a door anywhere. Still. For some reason, there seems to me a brisk trade in stolen passports. I’m not sure if it’s humans buying their way into Faerie without realising the price, or if it’s Fae themselves trading back and forth. Illegal immigration, either way.”

  “Stolen?” he asked, “Are the Fae capable of that?”

  Yoo Min nodded.

  “It doesn't take much,” she said, “Our passports are not very difficult; created by a people more obsessed with style than technology. We have much to learn from the humans in that way. I was once skilled at calligraphy. Now I am skilled at forgery. The past is the past, Chief Ben. Forging passports is not difficult. So the question is – why stolen? Not forged?”

  Ben raised an eyebrow. She shrugged.

  “Gotta make money somehow,” she said.

  “You're the police!” he said. “Also, I'm your boss, Yoo Min. You should probably not be telling me -”

  Yoo Min gave him a long look.

  “I think the fact that I have eaten over 70,000 livers of young men should worry you more than my dabbling in forged paperwork,” she said, “War is war. That war you won’t tell your Detective Bishop about. Someone had to get them out. There was no line, back then, between the Seelie and Unseelie court, as you know. We were all on one side or the other, regardless of our level of monstrosity.”

  “You knew about the war, all the way over there?” asked Ben.

  Yoo Min stared at him, her eyes dark.

  “Everyone knew,” said Yoo Min. “It was our world war, so to speak.”

  A chill descended on the room that had nothing to do with its weather. Ben glanced up to see the sun shining as clouds scudded across the ceiling. Yoo Min just kept staring at him.

  The phone rang, startling him. Ben went to pick it up.

  “Dorian,” he said. “What is it?”

  Ben paused.

  “What?” he said, “You can't be serious. Nour doesn't usually need help -”

  Yoo Min looked at him curiously.

  He put the phone down.

  “Looks like you have a reprieve from desk work,” he said, “Dorian needs you. Apparently Nour-el-ain - she's one of our officers - is fighting some redcaps in the alley behind the off-license. Dorian has requested your assistance.”

  Yoo Min smiled, and went to get her coat.

  Dorian and Leah were walking to the train station when Yoo Min caught up with them. Dorian’s mouth turned down, obviously displeased.

  “What brings you here, Yoo Min?” he enquired politely, an edge to his words.

  “What are you doing? Are you coming with us?” asked Leah.

  “Only to the train station,” said Yoo Min, smiling sweetly, “Chief Ben wanted me to get him some coffee.”

  “Caledonia Interpol is underneath a coffee shop,” Leah pointed out.

  “Yes, but he wanted something special,” she said.

  Dorian rounded on her.

  “I’m going!” he snapped, “I don’t need a chaperone! Besides, Miss Bishop – Detective Bishop - would make sure I did as I said. Ben doesn’t need to push me; I am going to the trial.”

  “Chief Ben wants to make sure of that too,” said Yoo Min, whose smile was really starting to get on Leah’s nerves.

  A fireball exploded against the wall above their heads, cutting off the conversation.

  “What in the everloving hell – ” Leah shouted from her crouched position.

  There was a beautiful woman walking towards them, as though it was a pleasant afternoon stroll, as she flicked fireballs at a few attackers. She wore a hijab and was taller in her flats than Leah would ever be in high heels.

  “What’s going on?” asked Leah.

  “The redcaps are fighting,” said Dorian. “Times of strife, they come out of the woodwork.”

  “Painted their caps in blood, yeah,” said Leah. “I remember.”

  “They’ll do it again, given the chance,” said Dorian grimly. “We try to prevent these things. The human world is not going to deal with the suffering well, if the plague takes hold, and the redcaps, like many other creatures, are opportunistic. We try not to allow the opportunity.”

  He raised a hand in greeting to the woman fighting.

  “Good afternoon, Nour-el-ain,” said Dorian.

  “Hi, Dorian!” chirped the woman, as if she were absolutely thrilled to see him, to be throwing fire in a small alley, and to be alive.

  Leah, now that she understood the situation, threw herself into the fight as she saw one of the attackers rise again. Now that she knew the woman was on their side, she’d put her all into it. Or at least her boot, to kerb them on the pavement.

  Dorian was momentarily surprised to see Dylan leaning against the stone wall, watching the proceedings. The selkie nodded to the angel, who bowed his head in reply, and they turned their attention to the action.

  “Splendid!” Dorian called out, as Leah got in a good punch to the gut, “Oh, good show!”

  Dylan hesitated.

  “Er,” he began, “Do you think we ought to help –”

  “No,” said Dorian. He watched the fight with the enthusiasm of a sports fan.

  “You can join anytime!” called Leah, kicking one of the assailants, but Dorian waved her away.

  One of the men got close to Yoo Min, who was also standing and observing the fight. She turned, unsheathed a wicked-looking hand scythe, and eviscerated the man within moments. Covered in blood, she turned back to watch the rest of the fight.

  “I think,” Dylan said to Leah, clearing his throat and staring at Yoo Min, “I think you’re doing all right yourselves.”

  Nour-el-ain walked over to the other two women as the men were now on the ground, unlikely to move.

  “Thanks for the help,” she said, “I’m PC Nour-el-ain, but you can call me Nour. I’m a phoenix.”

  “Detective Inspector Lee Yoo Min,” said Yoo M
in, “Gumiho.”

  Nour-el-ain turned to Leah.

  “And you are…?” she prompted.

  “Detective Inspector Leah Bishop,” said Leah, “Human.”

  This seemed to impress Nour. She clapped her hands in joy.

  “Human!” she said, as if she had never seen one before. “Wow, so it’s true! Aww, cute!”

  Leah narrowed her eyes.

  “How come I’ve never heard of you before?” she asked.

  Instead of being insulted, Nour laughed.

  “Oh, they never tell us lower levels anything!” she said, “And the sooner you realise the truth of that, the better. There are a lot of us here in Glasgow, officers from all over the world. Some have partners, some work alone. I’m one of the latter.”

  She turned to Yoo Min.

  “That was some incredible work. Welcome to Caledonia Interpol, Yoo Min.”

  Yoo Min bowed.

  “Thank you,” she said, and bowed.

  Dorian sauntered over to them, a newspaper folded under his arm, as though he was about to congratulate them on a fine sport played on a summer green somewhere outside London. Leah could almost see the glass of Pimm’s in his hand.

  “Fat lot of good you were, selkie,” Leah said, “Basking in the sun.”

  Dorian closed his eyes and sniffed, choosing to ignore the slight.

  “You had it under control,” he said. “I wasn’t going to get in the way. Besides, my suit was pressed just this morning.”

  He turned and bowed to Nour.

  “Our train is leaving in half an hour, we had best leave,” said Dorian, “My compliments on your fighting, Nour-el-ain.”

  “My compliments on your suit,” she returned with a smirk, “Where are you going?”

  At this, Dorian’s eyes darkened.

  “To my brother’s trial,” he said.

  Nour’s expression was soft.

  “I wish you the best, Dorian Grey,” she said, “Do not suffer too much on his behalf.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Nour,” said Yoo Min, taking her leave.

  “Yeah, see you around,” said Leah, “We could use a few more fighters around here, what with these lazy seals. Wrap them in blubber and they’d sleep for a fortnight.”