Page 10 of Pining for the Prince
“All right, grumpus. What do you know about Stardust?”
“The film? Or the drug?”
“For someone who wanted to move the conversation along, you’re being rather facetious. The drug.”
“It’s what half the dancefloor’s on by the look of it. Latest fashion, short high but relatively harmless compared to others.”
She played with her glass. “Harmless… now that’s an interesting adjective.”
“It’s not highly addictive or known to cause lasting side effects. At least not to supernatural creatures—it’s killed a couple of humans.”
“But it does lower people’s inhibitions, and I heard there’s been a couple of batches that hit the streets recently that caused concern.”
“Why?”
“A little bird, in a little lab, told me it was contaminated with iron filings. And another with silver.”
That gave him pause. Stardust was usually snorted and even a small amount of either of those elements could cause a nasty reaction in certain species. “I assume the authorities think it was deliberate.”
“Since their stance on drugs is that if someone takes it then the consequences are theirs to own, the authorities haven’t given it a moment’s consideration.”
“They don’t turn a blind eye to drug deaths. They’d be all over those.”
“Oh, no one’s died—yet. But there was something else, another component that was isolated but not identified, and the boffins think it makes an individual more suggestive, compliant almost.”
“Surely that’s most drugs.” He glanced back over the dancefloor. “Look at them, they’re lost in the rhythm of the music, almost hypnotised by it and whatever it is they’ve taken.”
“But they’re not shedding magic.”
He almost choked on his drink. “What?”
“I thought that might get your attention. A fae was brought into A&E unable to stop herself projecting, almost drained thepoor thing. Healers flushed her through and she was fine after a transfusion and rest.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “Just fae?”
“There had been other incidents but not confirmed.”
“And how do you know all this?”
She knocked back her drink and refilled her glass. “I have my people in several places, no different to how you have yours.”
She made it sound as if he had his own Bow Street runners, and while his contacts were good, they weren’t a pack of street urchins running around feeding back information. Well, not exactly. “I suppose I could ask a few discreet questions.”
“That was what I was hoping. You have avenues to explore that I don’t.”
“Why do you care though? Stardust isn’t your poison.”
“It might sound strange, but it isn’t sitting right, there’s something odd and I don’t like it. Put together with the increase in Met activity, it makes the Council unsettled.”
He groaned. “I’m not getting involved in Vampire Council business.”
“I’m not asking you to. You’re simply doing your sweet little sister a favour—to put her mind at rest.”
His sweet little sister who through her marriage had worked her way into liaising with the elite security wing of the Vampire Council, and had come to pick his brain and resources knowing he couldn’t say no. Gwil knew tonight had been a bad idea. He grabbed the bottle and stood. “I’m going home. And taking this with me.”
“Be my guest. Perhaps you and that delightful Hyax of yours can pop around for tea? I’ll send an invitation.”
“He’s not mine, as well you know.”
