Page 9 (1/2)

They were both lucid, strangely lucid, for two so near the end of en thes

"We’re done," said the first ghost Both of the to their plan or to their relationship but to their inevitable demise "Now only I must wait"

CHAPTER FOUR

Where Tethered Specters Meet

Lady Maccon, h the entrance to Buckingham Palace with very little ceremony It was not one of their scheduled visits, but Lord Akeldaulars and, as such, required only minimal perusal They were also favorites, or Lady Maccon was Lord Akeldaarded by members of both the ress as challenging in large doses However, the castle guards were diligent, hardworking lads with a care to their royal duties Lady Maccon’s neck was checked for bite al steam devices She yielded up her parasol without question Alexia would rather have them confiscate it than have to explain hoorked Lord Akeldaht for any hidden weaponry, but the guards did check his top hat before allowing him to proceed

Biffy was not permitted entrance, despite the extraordinarily royal color of his jacket He was pronounced, with ister However, Biffy was of such a pleasant disposition that he was content to remain behind at the entrance for the duration of the council Alexia distinctly heard hi hat you have, Lieutenant Funtington!" to one of the stoic-faced palace guards

"Incorrigible child," she said to Lord Akeldaht hi he knows, but Biffy’s a natural" Lord Akeldama nodded his approval

Theycha about in a tizzy Queen Victoria was not there The queen did not attendsignificant but otheras uninterested in the minutiae

"Threat to the queen, I hear" The deas a large gruff individual who reminded Alexia of her husband, in character if not in appearance or manner Not that she would ever tell this to either of theer boasted the country seat to accompany the title Similarly, he had the demeanor of a leader without a pack This freedom from responsibility both as lord and Alpha made the dewan the land And, even though he was not quite as big as Conall Maccon, it was generally acknowledged by all--including said Conall Maccon--that Lord Slaughter could give even that ht for his fur Thus, the dewan and Lord Maccon tended to circle each other, both in and out of polite coht--widely and with

"Indeed" Alexia’s practical side was pleased at the two Alphas’ respective siiven her the necessary skills for handling the dewan

She and Lord Akeldama wafted--or, in Alexia’s case, toddled--in and took seats at the longunmolested

Lady Maccon snapped open the lid of her dispatch case and extracted her harmonic auditory resonance disruptor The spiky little apparatus looked like two tuning forks sticking out of a bit of crystal While Alexia rued about for further necessities, Lord Akeldaer, waited a moment, and then tapped the other This resulted in a discordant, low-pitched hu, amplified by the crystal It would prevent their conversation fro overheard

"Serious, do you think? This threat? One to be taken seriously?"

The dewan ought to have been handsome with his dark hair and deep-set eyes, but his mouth was a little too full, the cleft in his chin a little too pronounced, and his ressive This facial hair had initially given Alexia entleht Poor Biffy had had to wait in scruffy purgatory until Alexia returned hoh to shave Professor Lyall had reportedly been kind and sy of tihostly event and closed her dispatch case She had atte the specter said to her "The threat caer I think we nificance than ould soht opportunist with a taste to beco of the anarchist press"

Lord Akeldas, if a supernatural told of the threat to a preternatural, it is likely that so or someone equally unnatural is involved"

The dewan sucked at his teeth "Very serious"

Lord Akeldaers on the table before hiesture oddly reminiscent of his predecessor

Alexia continued "Greatly mysterious as well My husband says that BUR records show nothing on this ghost We’ve been unable to locate either her or her corpse since she delivered thethe two disparate arms of Her Majesty’s supernatural supervisory operations, nor tapping into the advantages afforded by her position as wife to BUR’s chief officer So far as she was concerned, bureaucratic restrictions were all very well in their place, but they couldn’t be allowed to limit efficiency So while BUR was supposed to handle enforceislative issues, Alexia was actively causing the two to becoely held to be one of the reasons Queen Victoria had appointed her muhjah in the first place

The deas suspicious "Why was the host? Most are instinctively afraid of you because of what you are and what you can do"

Lady Maccon nodded Even when she was properly introduced to ghosts, they treated her with decided wariness "Valid points I don’t know If anyone, it should have been brought to the attention of my husband He’s the official channel"

"The fact that you are the muhjah is not well known around town except by the hives A standard ghost would not have had access to infor your state and position and would not have known that you have the queen’s ear So, there is even less reason to tell you under such circumstances"

Alexia looked over her notes "Perhaps it has so to do with"God’s teeth, why should it?"

"The ghost h she were specifically driven to find host knew Alessandro Tarabotti in life, ardless, if the threat is co from the supernatural element, who do we like as suspects?"

Lord Akelda little lone olves who’ve been getting restless" He tilted his head and snapped his teeth together a couple times

The dewan countered with, "There are so none of this kind of scapegoat prejudice "I think we ought to take everything into consideration and assume that it could also be a hive or a pack that is involved"

Lord Akeldaey and the dewan uncomfortable

The dewan said, "Oh, very well, but what kind of lead do we have?"