Page 66 of Licence To Howl
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It wasan icy wind that rustled through the Tiergarten and Devereau was forced to put up his collar as a guard against the wind. He didn’t like the idea of having to transform to a wolf in a hurry – and then shift into his vulnerable human state without any clothes to protect him from the effects of winter. It had been bad enough doing that in Rome.
‘How do you manage transformations at this time of year?’ he asked Konig, as they walked briskly towards the area where Avanopoulos had been spotted. ‘When you have to change in a hurry but your clothes have been ripped to shreds by your initial shift, what do you do?’
Konig seemed amused. ‘It is rare that we do not plan in advance for such things. On the odd occasion when we are caught unprepared and are forced to transform in a hurry, we have caches of unisex clothes ready at various spots around the city. There is actually one up at the Venusbassin. Supes congregate here frequently and sometimes … accidents, shall we say … happen. The pixies who saw Avanopoulos are here most days. They peddle supe moonshine to passersby. It’s little more than vodka with a few herbs thrown in but humans lap that sort of ridiculous stuff up. The younger pixies weave tall tales of magic antidotes for all manner of ailments. We used to try and stop them from such scams but they’re incorrigible at that sort of age.’ She glanced at Rosenfarben, who was skipping along next to Scarlett at the front of their small group, and lowered her voice. ‘Truthfully, pixies are incorrigible at any age.’
Devereau suppressed a smile. ‘The human woman who was here before,’ he said. ‘I got mixed up with her in the first place because of my pixie neighbour. Sort of.’
Konig clicked her tongue. ‘I am not surprised. Pixies get away with a great deal because they are small and possess limited powers. But they meddle a great deal in all sorts of affairs. We have a saying here. It doesn’t translate directly but it’s along the lines ofthe pixie goes crazy in the pan. Or rather that they’re unbelievable and not to be trusted.’ She raised her shoulders in a shrug. ‘It’s a stereotype but it often fits. They have their own less than complimentary sayings about us.’
Devereau could well imagine.
Rosenfarben cleared his throat. ‘I can hear what you’re telling that poor wolf, you know. Don’t put ideas into his head, Alpha Konig.’
Konig’s answering grin looked genuine. There was far more warmth and camaraderie amongst all the supes here, despite the teasing. Devereau’s gaze drifted momentarily towards Scarlett and wondered if things would be easier between them if London supes were more like this. Probably not. She was her own person regardless of what other people did or said. He sighed to himself and pulled his coat tighter around him.
‘It’s there,’ Rosenfarben announced. ‘See?’
Devereau squinted, spotting the serene rectangular pool with a small monument at the far end. It was pretty, and there were still plenty of people wandering around it despite the threats to Berlin’s security. There was, however, no sign of anyone who might fit Stefan Avanopoulos’s description. That was hardly surprising, of course. It had been hours since he was seen here and the German police had no doubt conducted their own thorough sweeps. In any event, it still seemed an odd place for the Greek to come. And why would he have approached a group of pixies and asked for the time? Surely, he would have wanted to keep a low profile. There was more to this than met the eye. Devereau was sure of it.
Konig’s phone began to ring. A half second later so did Jurgen Meyer’s. It was swiftly followed by beeping alerts from the phones of every single German supe. Devereau and Scarlett exchanged dark, alarmed glances.
‘What?’ she asked. ‘What is it?’
‘The police have found an explosive device outside the Reichstag,’ Konig said, her voice vibrating with urgency. ‘The fucking German Parliament. That’s virtually around the corner from here.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Devereau had never seen somany police in one place. They’d better hope that damned bomb didn’t go off or it would decimate the infrastructure of Germany’s security and protection services for decades to come. He paused. Huh.
Meyer marched back from the official he’d been arguing with. ‘They won’t let us get any closer,’ he hissed, his jaw tight with frustration. ‘So far they think they’ve identified two separate devices but they think there might be more. Neither device is inside the actual building itself, which is something to be thankful for.’
Devereau swept his gaze round. It was a glorious building. Although it was far larger than the Pantheon, its glass dome and towering pillars at the front somehow put him in mind of the Italian structure as it had been until yesterday evening. He stared at it. And then he shook his head. No. This wasn’t right.
‘Have there been any demands yet?’ he asked. ‘Have the German authorities been asked for money?’
‘Apparently not.’ Meyer sniffed. ‘The bombs were found before the terrorists could do so.’ As soon as the words left his mouth, he frowned. ‘But that doesn’t make sense,’ he said slowly. ‘This is the most heavily guarded building in Berlin. With the police on high alert, those devices were always going to be found quickly.’
Concern flitted across Scarlett’s face. ‘And as soon as they were discovered,’ she said, ‘security forces from across the city would leave their other posts and descend here.’
Devereau nodded grimly. ‘This isn’t the target. Those bombs aren’t inside the building because security is too tight. The terrorists would never get explosives inside the Reichstag no matter how well they planned their operation.’ He looked round again. Despite the numbers of people milling around, there was an air of unhurried calm. The only palpable excitement was coming from the gaggle of journalists, who were being kept even further away from the scene than they were. Nobody was particularly concerned – and they absolutely should be. ‘You need to go and talk to them again. The troops and the police need to be pulled way from here and sent to the other important buildings and landmarks in Berlin. This is a bluff. There’s a reason Avanopoulos went to such a public location and made himself known. He wanted the bombs to be found. He wanted everyone to be drawn to this location. In fact …’ His voice trailed off as his eye caught a flurry of movement over by the media crowd. ‘Something’s happening,’ he said. He squared his shoulders. ‘We have to find out what.’ He began to stride in the journalists’ direction, but Scarlett caught his arm.
‘What?’
She held up her phone. ‘This,’ she said. ‘This is what’s happening.’
Devereau squinted at the screen, his stomach dropping when he saw what was displayed there. All around them, the atmosphere was changing. More people were looking down at their phones, growing horror reflected on all their faces. Konig pushed her way through the crowd towards them.
‘I have it too,’ she spat. ‘It’s all over social media in both English and German.’
Scarlett swallowed. ‘This is it, Dev. Avanopoulos or Alina or whoever is else is involved? This is definitely them.’
‘The German government has one hour to hand over two thousand bitcoin,’ Devereau read, his stomach dropping with every word. ‘Or three specific locations in Berlin will be blown up like the Pantheon was in Rome. Eeny meeny miny mo.’ Shit. ‘They’re escalating. More targets. More money. And less time.’
‘And they’re making fun of us with that eeny meeny shit. What’s the bet,’ Scarlett said in a chilled voice, ‘that the targets are more than an hour’s travel away from here so we can’t find them in time?’
Meyer’s jaw tightened. ‘We know the shortlisted buildings from what the Dutchman in Rome revealed. They’ve been swept already. There will still be security forces in those places regardless of what’s happening here.’
