Thicker Than Water

You’ll be trying to reel in a whale from a rowboat. It’s too big, Gwillam. It’s not like a ghost you can just summon to wherever you happen to be. When I tried something like that at the Royal London, I ended up in a place that looked like Hell’s sub-basement. And you saw what happened to your own people when they took the thing on. It’s camping out in a thousand different places - every piece of wounded or broken flesh on the entire estate. But it has a focus - the place where it first broke through onto this plane - and I’m going to take a wild guess and try Kenny’s flat.

‘Why there?’ Gwillam demanded.

A wave of weariness swept over me. I felt like I’d explained this a hundred times already. ‘Because Mark Seddon was a self-harmer, and this demon has a hard-on for incised wounds. You figure it out.’

‘The boy’s activities summoned something. An unintentional invocation.’

‘Exactly. If I’m wrong, we shift ground and we try again. But either way, this thing isn’t coming to us. We’ve got to go doorstepping if we want to have a chance.

Gwillam looked at Feld, who - impossible though it seemed - stood an inch or so taller as he prepared to take his orders. ‘Get the others,’ he said. ‘All of them. Meet us on the eighth floor of Marston Block.’

Feld nodded once and strode away, the crowd parting for him like the Red Sea parted for Moses, only with a lot more swearing.

‘What do you need from me?’ Gwillam asked.

‘As much back-up as I can get,’ I admitted. ‘The demon is going to fight back - hard - and it’s outside my weight class.

Gwillam nodded. ‘All right.’

‘I’ll probably need some physical protection as well. Best-case scenario - the guys on the walkways are just running wild. Worst case, the demon’s got some measure of control over them. Either way, I could get sliced and diced before I get a single note out.

‘I’ll do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen,’ Gwillam said. ‘And Castor . . .’

I paused as I was about to walk up the steps. ‘What?’

He seemed to be choosing his words with some care. ‘In the organisation I have the privilege of serving,’ he said, ‘someone with your background and your very considerable skills could rise further and faster than you’d imagine.’"

"‘Well, how about that,’ I mused.