Outside the room Sorrow said, 'What’s really up with Number Five then?'

'Still unknown. He should have responded to something by now but he’s getting worse. I’ve never seen Dr Hung so upset. He’s taken samples of everything. He has our labs, the DRG, the druids at Kew and the Home Office toxicologist all running tests. The current working hypothesis is that it’s some kind of poison but it’s one we’ve never seen before. They sent a team of Benandanti* in to question Five but they can’t find him. Wherever his mind is we can’t reach it,' said Alex.

'If they’d told SIS any of this my man would have heard by now,' said Sorrow.

'Cepha’s orders. We don’t tell them anything until we have something concrete to tell them. I think she’s trying to spare Dr Hung the third degree from SIS. He’s taking it personally. You know how he is,' said Alex.

'He thinks when people die they only do it to piss him off. How is your man bearing up?' Sorrow nodded toward the room.

'It’s hard to tell. He’s a slippery one. He seems pleased that Dr Hung can get him up and around quicker. He’s either genuinely worried about his colleagues and trying to hide it or he should be on the stage. I can’t tell which without reading through his files,' said Alex.

'Can’t you just ask Cutty for the password?' said Sorrow.

'That is not how we do things in the Archives. That would be like you asking Jude for his blade so you could demonstrate something,' said Alex.

Sorrow’s shuddered in horror as she imagined how that would go.

'And my man is having nightmares,' said Alex. 'One of the Benandantis caught a whiff of it but we haven’t sent anyone in yet because his nightmares require the highest level security clearance. I asked him about it but he wouldn’t admit to dreaming never mind what it was about.'

'We don’t have any Benandanti with top level clearance?' said Sorrow.

'Not yet. I hear they’re trying to push Toby through.'

'Because he’s already halfway there because he’s married to Cutty?'

'That seems to be the logic.'

'Surely you can get it out of him without waiting for Toby?' said Sorrow. 'Use your charm, and by charm I mean boobs.'

'I think not,' said Alex.

'Oh come on. He’s a skinny, blond, posh boy with a mysterious and potentially tragic past. He could only be more your type if he was an archaeologist bearing ancient scrolls written in a previously unknown script.'

'I don’t think I’m his type,' said Alex. 'I think he prefers guys.'

'I don’t know how he feels about guys but I can tell how he feels about boobs because he was checking mine out. And he gave your arse a good look when you stood up,' said Sorrow.

'Since we’re on the subject, is your man as good as they say he is?' said Alex.

'Are you suggesting that I can’t keep my hands to myself?' said Sorrow.

'Of course not. But why would you keep your hands off someone like him? At least tell me if you’ve seen him with his shirt off?'

Sorrow looked both ways along the corridor and gauged the distance to the guard. She glanced through the viewing window in the door. Six and Seven were deep in conversation. She leant closer to Alex.

'You know those historical epics with all the mostly naked Spartans? The borderline porn ones?' said Sorrow.

'I’d argue about the use of the word historical but yes,' said Alex.

'Like something out of one of those. He shaves in the evening because he snuggles in his sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and he had his face in my hair. He helped me put my boots on this morning and, well, damn.'

'But you haven’t done anything because you’re “keeping your hands to yourself”?' Alex dropped air quotes around Sorrow’s words. 'Why? Why would you do that to yourself? In the name of all that is holy please just jump him before the sexual tension snaps and kills someone.'

She would have said more but Sorrow silenced her with a finger laid across her lips. Alex followed Sorrow’s gaze. Number Seven was staring at her through the viewing window in the door. Sorrow removed her finger.

'Oh hell,' said Alex. 'Could he have heard me?'

'No. I think he noticed you whispering. He can lip read but I doubt he can do it at this range. If it’s any consolation I don’t think it would hurt your chances even if he did.'

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

'Are you offering to share? Thank you but no,' said Alex

'Don’t pretend that you’re worried about Jude’s feelings. Everybody knows that you two are not exclusive. This jealousy roleplay thing you’ve got going on is getting old.'

'No I just… Wait, everybody?' Alex struggled to maintain her composure.

'Cepha could barely keep a straight face when Jude said you’d be jealous of him and Officer Jinx.'

Alex won the struggle with her own face and returned it to its usual pleasant half smile. 'Nevertheless, no thank you. I’ll wait for you to get bored with Officer Dee and then console him.'

Sorrow’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Bernard White, Senior Druid.

I have interrogated the raven. I will send you and Officer Dee a detailed report by end of business today. Drop by if you want to hear more.

Sorrow frowned.

'Trouble?' said Alex.

'I don’t know. Something from Bernard White about interrogating a raven,' said Sorrow.

'Upper case R or lower case R?' said Alex.

'Lower. But Bernard seems to think my man will want a report about it,' said Sorrow.

Alex pushed the door open,' Either of you know why a senior Druid has been interrogating a raven? She said.

'Did he get anything out of it?' said Seven.

'He doesn’t say,' said Sorrow, 'We’ll get a report later or we could pop over now and speak to him.'

'A raven?' said Six.

'One of the ones that ate Number Three. It can talk,' said Seven.

'That’s a long way from the Tower for one of those,' said Alex.

'It’s the drugs, isn’t it?' said Six. 'I’m hallucinating this whole conversation.'

#

Sorrow reached the car first. 'I’m driving,' she said.

'Ok,' said Number Seven, passing her the keys.

'But only because the place we’re going doesn’t show up on GPS. Driving is your thing. I don’t want to take your thing.'

'What kind of place doesn’t show up on GPS?' said Seven.

'Containment. We don’t mess about when it comes to that. The building doesn’t officially belong to the Department. It doesn’t show up in any of our official directories. I’m pretty sure that Google thinks it’s a privately owned multi storey car park.'

The building turned out to be an anonymous and brutally ugly 60s office building. Seven could see why someone might think it was a car park. It was hard to believe a building that plain might have people in it.

'What exactly does this place contain?' said Seven.

Sorrow used her ID on another of those familiar black glass panels by the front door. 'It varies,' she said as the door swung open. 'We tend not to hold onto people or things that require containment. The dangerous stuff that we can’t get rid of is in a quarry in Wales. The dangerous people are either rehabilitated or at the bottom of the North Sea.'

Seven fought to keep the shock off his face. He’d been thinking of the Department as the sweet and fluffy wing of the security service but the idea that they’d been summarily drowning people was…

'No. Not like that,' said Sorrow.

'Like what?' said Seven.

'You thought we were just chucking people in the sea. Didn’t you?'

'That is usually how people end up at the bottom,' said Seven.

'That’s where the facility we keep them in is.' She led the way up a flight of stairs and down a suspiciously bland corridor. She stopped in front of a heavy fire proof door. The sign on the door read Bernard White, Senior Druid, Non-human Interrogations. Beneath that there was a sliding indicator that showed him as in but busy.

Sorrow knocked.

'Come,' came the muffled reply from inside.

'What? In these trousers?' said Sorrow as she opened the door just wide enough to get her head through the crack. 'You said we could just drop in.'

'Of course you can, just, you know, step carefully,' said Bernard.

Sorrow pushed the door open with a degree of caution that was unlike her. It warned Number Seven that he could expect clutter beyond the door.

The room was a mess but it had the look of a deliberate and carefully orchestrated mess. There was a wall of bookshelves overflowing with books stuffed on top of other books and academic papers stuffed into any gaps left. The book storage had overflowed into stacks on every flat surface.

There was just enough clear space on the desk for the laptop that Bernard was typing on and a stand for a yPhone but the rest of the desk was crowded with exotic pot plants, crystal geodes and a chalice.

In the far corner of the room was a bird cage a meter deep and ceiling high. The precarious piles of books on the floor around it suggested that it was a recent addition. Inside it the raven perched on a gnarled branch. When it saw Seven the raven fled its perch and tried to hide. Since the cage was bare and there was nothing to get behind it only succeeded in looking like a scruffy black feather duster thrown in the corner.

Seven grimaced at the bird. The bird pretended it couldn’t see him.

'You get anything out of it?' said Seven.

'Sorry,' said Bernard, 'He’s claiming not to know how he got there. And to be honest I believe him. The wise birds of London lose their intelligence if they stray too far from the Tower. I’m going to try hypnotic regression but I don’t hold out much hope. If I regress him far enough so he can see what happened he’ll lose his speech again and he won’t be able to tell me about it.'

'That’s it? You’re just going to let him go?' said Seven.

'Oh we’re not letting him go. We’ll have to keep him in custody for his own safety. He’s tasted human flesh. If he goes back the Parliament of Birds will tear him apart,' said Bernard.

'Couldn’t he say anything?' said Sorrow.

'All he can remember is being called to the west along with every raven and crow for miles around. That and something about a woman with yellow eyes,' said Bernard.

Sorrow stiffened slightly at the mention of yellow eyes. It wasn’t much of a movement but Seven noticed it and it worried him. It worried him so much that he barely heard the rest of the conversation and his only contribution was to nod when Sorrow asked if he wanted to visit the Beta Safe House and talk to Jude.