Friday afternoon, 11 September 1942, at Delilah Lockhart Patil's house in Londinium...
Jack Randall didn’t want to get his hopes up: the odds were against Vikram Patil’s wife knowing much about her husband’s work; he’d be lucky if she’d kept any of his unpublished notes. Still, he’d been lucky already in discovering that Patil had even had a wife, much less that she was in England; if she knew anything at all, he was confident in his ability to charm it out of her. He knew almost nothing about her, and he wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not that she was a white woman, wearing a plain pair of dark slacks and a fluffy sweater, though she had lined her eyes with dark kohl, had a red dot in the centre of her forehead and wore stacks of bangles on her wrists. “Good afternoon, Captain Randall,” she said as she let him in. “It’s always nice to meet someone who’s interested in Vikram’s work.”
Jack smiled admiringly. Mrs Patil was not quite what he’d expected; her mixture of different cultural styles made him feel more at home than he had since arriving in Britain. “Thank you for seeing me. Your husband’s work is very popular with the wizards in Califia.” And some of the more gullible Muggles, he thought to himself-but he doubted that would go over well. “I gather the same isn’t true here, but then wizards in the New World have always been a bit more open to new ideas.”
“I’m not surprised to hear it,” said Lilah. “Come have some chai-some tea-and tell me more about Califia. I had a letter once from Mr Parsons, but he never did turn up.”
“His loss,” Jack said, following her inside. “But I’m not surprised. He’s far more interested in rockets than magick these days.”
Lilah smiled and poured them both cups of chai, then leaned back into her couch as Jack sat down. “So they’re not doing research along the same lines?”
“I’m afraid our research hasn’t progressed as well as we’d like. So many people think they’re special, but so few actually are.” Jack answered, carefully not saying just who was doing the research.
“That’s not surprising. Who’s involved with the research?” Lilah looked into Jack’s eyes, wondering who he really was and who he worked for-he wore a military coat, but with a dark silk shirt she was sure was not standard issue. “Vikram was always concerned about what could be done with it.”
“Oh, various groups,” Jack said lightly. “Parsons’ old crowd, of course, and some independent researchers. We’re not quite so organised as you are over here.” He cocked his head, considering her last statement. “What sort of concerns? These new kinds of wizards-they aren’t dangerous, are they?” He didn’t remember anything like that from Patil’s book.
“Some of them are,” Lilah said lightly. “And some of the people who aren’t, but believe they are, are. There’s no such thing as a completely harmless class of people.” She winced a little in spite of herself; it was hard not to think of Piccard when this subject came up. “Vikram was murdered by someone who was disappointed at finding out he wasn’t as special as he liked to believe he was.”
“Of course. After all, that’s the reasoning behind your Wizarding Secrecy laws.” Jack frowned. “But surely that’s not an indication that the new wizards are any sort of threat? I don’t mean to belittle your loss, but greed and jealousy are rather common motives for murder.”
Lilah smiled painfully. “I don’t believe you’re belittling my loss. I’m just afraid of government involvement with the work. Of course it’s already begun, and I don’t suppose I can stop it…”
“You know governments,” Jack said with a gentle smile of his own. “Always want to stick their fingers in things, even if they don’t understand it. But I can’t really see any advantage to them-my government is mostly concerned that unscrupulous types don’t take advantage of people who want to be special. ‘Take this potion, do this ritual, and you too will have special powers’-that sort of thing.” Jack grinned at the incongruity of him working for that cause, considering the number of snake-oil salesmen in his family history.
Lilah raised an eyebrow. “All the research seems to show it’s inborn.”
Jack grinned at her. “That’s no obstacle. It’s even better, actually-after all, your husband said that many people with these powers don’t even realise they have them. Everyone wants to believe they’re special and all they need is something to unlock their innate abilities. Hollywood is full of people who’ve gotten rich selling that idea.”
“Is it now.” Lilah smiled as the elf brought up a tray of snacks and took a samosa, so that Jack would know just how to eat it. “I’ve never been to the Americas; I was born in India, and I’ve lived in Britannia since I came here for school.” She glanced out the window wistfully, trying not to think of all the plans she and Vikram had made once to travel the world. “We travelled in Europe. But only Viresh ever made it to the Americas, and that was Nouvelle Orleans, I believe.”
Jack sipped his chai and watched her nibble at the corner of her samosa. “Hollywood is very different. Thirty years ago there was nothing there, now it’s full of movie people who wouldn’t even blink at real magick-they’d just think there was a trick behind it. Los Angeles is older, but there are no separate wizarding areas. You could find anything you could get in Londinium; it’s just a matter of knowing what to look for.”
“There’s no separate wizarding area in India, either,” said Lilah after a moment. “Except where the British are. Wizarding Secrecy is very, very…white.”
Jack grinned. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right. I’ve heard that in Chinatown the apothecaries sell magickal potions to everyone. That’s rather frowned upon in other areas.” His expression grew more cynical. “Of course, the fact that Muggles can be convinced to buy anything, even if they can’t tell if it’s working, may have something to do with that. Which is why we’re concerned about your husband’s research.”
“We?” Lilah raised an eyebrow.
“My associates in Califia who want this treated seriously, instead of being used as another way to exploit the gullible,” Jack said smoothly.
“Ah.” Lilah glanced down at her hands. “Captain Randall, you must understand that our contacts in Italy are now working with the Fascists, that people we’ve identified have been impressed into service with the Axis, and that Vikram’s own son stole his research and turned it over to the same arm of our government that suppressed it initially. I’d like to know who wants this information.”
Jack frowned. He had no intention of breaking his cover, but obviously this was more important than he’d realised. “Is it really that serious? Our information is more out of date than I’d thought. We didn’t even know there was a way to definitely identify such wizards,” he said, stalling while he decided what to do. Of course, he had the advantage that he was telling the truth.
Delilah raised an eyebrow. “Yes, of course it’s that serious. It’s not really difficult to identify wizards with this anomaly. You just have to have the right training, and know what to look for.”
“Well, obviously if the enemy is interested it’s a lot more important than I’d been led to believe.” Jack shook his head in disbelief. “And here I was thinking we were so much more advanced, just because nobody else seemed to be paying any attention to this.” He decided to tell her at least a part of the truth. “I am working for the Califian government, but we really didn’t know how far the research had progressed. That’s what I was here to find out.”
Lilah sighed. “Even I don’t know how far it’s progressed. It’s in the hands of half a dozen different people now. Vikram’s son Viresh, and the Department of Mysteries. I’m fairly sure Alvaro Benedetto’s dead-his daughter turned up in Londinium-but I should imagine Niccolò Ficino has all of his work, and trust me, that’s not a good thing, especially not if Piccard’s still with him.” She couldn’t help shuddering, thinking of that-the mental image of Piccard never failed to upset her. “There are other people in Britannia who are working on it-Michael Charteris, for one-and there were people at Beauxbatons and at Durmstrang who knew a few things once, but the gods alone know what has happened to them.”
“So,” Jack asked, serious now and hoping to get as much information as he could, “if you’ve no objection to telling me, just how different are these wizards? I’ve met quite a few people who believed your husband’s work applied to them, but only one or two who I think really qualified, and even then I could find rational excuses for what they seemed to do.”
“It varies,” said Lilah flatly. “The vast majority of people simply appear to have a single specific wandless magic talent that doesn’t disappear with wand training. Visions, telekinesis, that sort of thing. Nothing a wizard with a wand can’t do-it’s just that they don’t need a wand. Or a broom, in one case we know of. And then there are the ones who can persuade you to do their will, read your thoughts or set fires.” She took a deep breath, ignoring the howling ache in her chest when she thought of the people she’d lost. “My little sister set fires.”
Jack nodded. “I know one actress who was absolutely convincing when I worked with her, but whatever she has doesn’t show up on film. Most of my work has been done with actors, so of course they’re all convinced they have that kind of talent.” He paused; he hadn’t talked about this in years, and it still hurt to remember-but something about Lilah’s expression made him want to tell her, made him sure she’d understand. “I had a friend in the war. Absolute genius at getting behind enemy lines, never could figure out how he did it. Never got caught, either, until one time when we had to work together.” He looked out the window, but he was seeing something much farther away. “I’ve always blamed myself for that. Ever since I read your husband’s book, I’ve wondered about him.”
“So how did he do it?” Lilah asked gently, able to recognise bereavement all too well.
Jack shook his head. “No idea. I thought maybe it was like acting-he just convinced whoever saw him that he belonged exactly where he was. I’ve done that myself on occasion, though it’s risky.”
“Well, it could have been something that,” said Lilah. “But that’s a psychological trick. Anyone can do it. Now, telepathy could help with that-but the only telepath I ever met is a boy of sixteen, who denies it, but has a bad habit of answering questions you haven’t asked, without ever seeing your eyes. But Vikram once had a report that there was a telepath out there strong enough to control how all the people in a given area perceived their visual environment.”
“Well,” said Jack, “I see now why you were so concerned. I’ll have to tell my superiors we have a new set of problems-instead of protecting Muggles and wizards from the special wizards, we may have to protect them from enemy agents…” He shrugged. “They’re not going to like this, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about from them. Califia is so far away from the war that we’re really still just a police force.”
Lilah sighed and shook her hair out. “I know so little about your country,” she admitted. “These people aren’t any more or less innately dangerous than anyone else-it’s just that when they decide to be dangerous, or are made dangerous, the amount of damage they can do is sometimes greater, and they can do it very efficiently.”
“That seems to be true of everything these days,” Jack said ruefully.
Lilah nodded. “The world is becoming a much more dangerous place. I’m sorry about your friend.” She thought it more likely that the man had been Randall’s lover, but she didn’t say anything; sometimes people were loath to admit same-sex attractions or relationships.
“Thank you,” said Jack.
“How much of his personal history did you know?” Lilah asked after a moment. She really wanted to know who this person had been, and she wasn’t sure why, since she might well be reopening old wounds.
Jack thought for a moment. “Not much. This was the Muggle army, so of course I didn’t join in when people talked about what they’d left behind, but I can’t recall him doing so either.”
“Was he a wizard?” Lilah asked softly.
“All I know is that he was French, but he could’ve been.” Jack shook his head. “We’re far too good at hiding.”
“If he was a Muggle, though, and he loved other men, that would give him a talent for hiding as well,” said Lilah gingerly.
“True,” Jack agreed. It was easy to forget how dangerous the Muggle world could be. “I did try to find his family after the war, to tell them what had happened, but I couldn’t find anything. He may well have used a different name-after all, I did.”
Lilah smiled at him. “It’s entirely possible. I could look through the list we have, and see if he ever had contact with Vikram.”
“I doubt you’ll find anything, this was so long ago, but-thanks.” Jack gave her one of his rare genuine smiles.
“It’s no trouble-it’s worth it to me, to have more information.” She led him upstairs.
Jack followed, shaking his head at the unexpected turn of events. He’d expected to charm his way into this information; even if he’d known that revealing this part of his past would work, he would never have done so. But Lilah had charmed him instead.
Lilah opened one of the dusty filing boxes, took some of the files out and leafed through them. “How old would he be, if he were alive today, do you think?”
“About my age, maybe 50,” Jack said, grinning. His bio said he was ten years younger, but there were definite advantages to being a wizard in Hollywood.
Lilah nodded. “You’re about my age, then.” She replaced a few more of the files, looked through the remaining files and frowned, shaking her head. “A woman, a false lead, and…this person, but I don’t think it’s your friend.” She showed Jack a photograph, shaking her head.
A quick glance was all it took for Jack to know it wasn’t the right person, though he looked at it carefully just to be sure. “No, but I really do appreciate you looking. It was too long ago, I’ll probably never know what happened to him.”
“I hope you do find out, just for your peace of mind,” said Lilah, putting the files away. She walked over to the wall where the maps were laid out and looked at the pins, frowning. “So where are you from, again?” She wondered if Jack knew what she could see, plain as day, in his own aura when she glanced at him sidewise, using peripheral vision-aetheric vision was always stronger when you didn’t try too hard to focus it.
“Most recently? Los Angeles, right here.” Jack pointed at an area of the map that held no pins. “Before that, my family travelled a lot, but I was born near San Francisco.”
Lilah stuck a pin into the map by the San Francisco Bay, then breathed out very slowly. It was the first change she had made to the wall since Vikram’s death.
Jack looked at her curiously. After the conversation they’d had, he couldn’t imagine she’d be doing that to flatter him; he thought he’d been pretty clear on how he felt about that.
Lilah looked up at him. “You have the anomaly.”
For the first time in far longer than he could remember, Jack was at a complete loss for words. “I think I’d know,” he said finally, even though he knew that quite often people didn’t.
“I don’t think so,” said Lilah. “Where you have it…we don’t really know what it does.”
“Where I-what?” Yes, of course if there was a way to detect it, she would know.
“Alvaro Benedetto found a child who had it there. But he never reported her doing anything unusual. Perhaps it does nothing unusual there, but it ought to.” Lilah smoothed her hair back, a careless gesture that was punctuated with clattering bangles. “Of course, she survived a fire, this child.” It was odd, that Valeria Benedetto should come to mind so often today. She had had a conversation with Lalage Parkinson about her the day before, and again this morning; it disturbed her that Mrs Parkinson didn’t seem to be taking the matter as seriously as she thought it deserved to be taken.
Jack shook his head. “I’ve grabbed the wrong end of a hot iron-who hasn’t?-and it hurt me just as much as it hurt anyone else.”
“Have you ever lived through anything that ought to have killed you, by rights?” Lilah leaned against a filing cabinet. “I don’t just mean dumb luck. Or bad marksmanship.”
Jack frowned. His first reaction was to say no, but old memories had been stirred up. “Maybe. That last mission, when we got caught? Well, let’s just say the Germans don’t provide captured spies with the finest accommodations.”
Lilah winced, and nodded. “Yes. Like that.” She thought of some of the facilities Vikram had seen in Switzerland and Italy, and wondered how much worse things might have got since then, with the Axis in charge.
“Well.” Jack shook his head again. What on earth was he supposed to put in his report about this? “On the whole, I rather think I’m glad I didn’t know about it at the time.” The idea of knowing that-what? he was harder to kill than normal?-wasn’t exactly reassuring, given the circumstances.
Lilah took a deep breath. “The lowest chakra,” she said, “is the one that sustains human life.” She walked over to a chart on the wall-a diagram of the aetheric body. “I’m sure you’ve seen this before. These…mutations…are associated with hypertrophy of one or more of the chakras, and an alarmingly fast rate of energy flow that in a normal person would be deadly. Any well-trained healer or sex magician who knows what to look for can spot them.” She paused to breathe again. “Anomalies in the upper chakras tend to dispose people to prescience, telepathy, empathy; the middle chakras to things like telekinesis, flight, moving down into elemental manipulation. The lowest and the uppermost are a mystery. The lowest one might make you effectively immortal, or cause spontaneous regeneration, or sterility…we just don’t know.”
Jack remembered this chart from Patil’s book, of course, but was still trying to come to terms with how it applied to him. “It’s not regeneration. I take just as long to heal as any wizard. Sterility-well, I’ve never had occasion to find out. I don’t think I want to test whether I’m immortal, thanks.”
“I wouldn’t suggest it,” said Lilah. “Sterility would be a side-effect, particularly in women; I can’t think of many people who’d consider it a positive.” She shrugged. “I’m a Tantric initiate. One of the first things I noticed was the hypertrophies. We always thought my sister was going to die, because of hers; I suppose she did, in a way.”
Jack looked at her carefully. She’d mentioned a sister before, but he hadn’t realised the full extent of her sorrow. “I’m sorry. She was one of-” He couldn’t quite bring himself to say ‘us’. But really what did it matter?
“Yes, I mentioned before that she set fires.” Lilah shrugged. “Maya was difficult; she had a hard time with it. It made her reckless and arrogant, and she could never stay completely away from Dark Arts.”
“I’m sorry,” Jack repeated. “That must have been frightening for her. Did you know then that she wasn’t just an ordinary witch?”
“Maya was always odd,” said Lilah with a sigh, “but I think the most frightening part was that our mother died in a fire when she was about six, and she always wondered if that was her fault. Vikram said not, that this is quite common.”
“That’s an odd coincidence,” Jack said. “We were still in San Francisco for the great earthquake, and our house burned down. But I’m quite sure I didn’t have anything to do with that.” He was certain Lilah would be far more concerned if these new wizards were capable of anything like that.
“I doubt you had anything at all to do with that,” Lilah agreed. “Earthquakes always cause fires-this would have been in only one house, in only one room maybe, even.”
“So, aside from house fires and enemy agents, what else do I have to look forward to?” Jack said lightly, though underneath he found himself actually concerned. He still wasn’t entirely convinced he had whatever this was, but if she thought he did so soon after meeting him, others might also.
“If there was going to be a house fire, it would have happened before you were twelve, most likely-it usually happens in the first year of life,” said Lilah. “You have hypertrophy of the first chakra. You can get that confirmed at St Mungo’s; actually, if you’ve ever been to a wizarding research hospital, they should know that.”
“I think I’ll pass on that, actually. I don’t really picture myself as a research subject.” Jack paused. “I’ve been in hospitals before, but nobody’s ever mentioned anything like this. But I’m not all that familiar with chakras, aside from what was mentioned in the book.”
Lilah nodded. “How much do you know about Tantra? That was Parsons’ primary interest, sexual magic.”
Jack grinned. “That I’m quite familiar with. Most of Parsons’ crowd were more into it for the sex than the magic, though.”
“Then you have to know how this works,” said Lilah. “Most Western sexual magic is bastardised Tantra.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “I bet you were very popular.”
Normally Jack’s reaction to a line like that would be a smirk, but she’d sounded serious. “Actually I am,” he said, equally seriously. “Is that another side effect? I thought it was just that I always take the time to make my partner feel as good as possible.” He knew other people didn’t, but really, where was the fun in that?
“It could be,” said Lilah, “the lower two chakras are quite involved in sexuality.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder. “It would give you stamina. And stability. And a powerful sexual drive.”
Jack nodded. “I think this is something I’d like to learn more about. Would you willing be to take on a student?” That could’ve been a pick-up line too, but he was serious. He’d often been annoyed at how so many of Parsons’ crowd only went for the flashy applications of their magick.
Lilah blinked. “Would you be interested in learning from a woman?” she asked hesitantly. Hypertrophy of the lower chakras often involved bisexuality, but he’d only mentioned a male lover.
“No reason why not,” Jack said, puzzled. “You seem to know what you’re talking about, and I don’t get the impression this is something your average British wizard would know.”
“It’s not all books and charts,” said Lilah lightly. “I taught Vikram most of what he knew about it, and I’ve had other students, some of them paying, but many of them were in training to become courtesans…”
“Ah,” Jack said with an embarrassed grin. “I didn’t realise. I don’t normally make passes at people without being aware of it. Not that I have any objection at all to learning anything you might want to teach me, if you’re still willing.”
Lilah smiled prettily, but couldn’t quite meet his eyes in the moment. “We could discuss it,” she said. “It’s all right. I run a courtesans’ salon; I’m not shy about things of this nature, but I didn’t think you knew what you were asking.”
Jack grinned. “I didn’t, but then I’m not shy either.”
“Somehow I didn’t expect that from one of Parsons’ crowd,” said Lilah.
“Not everyone in Parsons’ crowd is the same,” Jack assured her. “I assure you I’d give the subject all the attention it deserves.” Something she’d said earlier suddenly took on a different meaning now that he knew the context. He cocked his head curiously. “When you asked if I had any trouble learning from a woman, you thought that it was because my interests only lay elsewhere?” Reasonable enough, given their earlier discussion. “I assure you, I’d be absolutely delighted to take lessons from you. Provided you’re interested, of course. If not, we could just stick to the theory.”
“We’ll start with the theory,” said Lilah after a moment, and blushed, which was almost refreshing. She hadn’t really been interested in sex-with anyone-since Vikram had died, but she thought she might like to teach Jack. And that should have made her happy, but it actually made her sad, to think that perhaps she might begin to get over him. She didn’t want to put Vikram behind her the way she had Gaius Marvolo, who had never offered her marriage, not that she’d ever thought he could. “We’d have to, anyway, and then you can decide where you’d like to go from there.” She gave him a long, appraising look, and then she smiled at him.
“Excellent,” Jack said, smiling back.
“For now,” said Lilah, “I think you’d better tell me what they taught you in Califia. Is this something you want to do as a serious discipline? I can’t see you becoming a courtesan, but I think perhaps you use similar skills in whatever you do for your government.”
Jack frowned; it was a reasonable assumption, but a troubling one. “The government just relies on my connections and charm. They’ve never asked for anything else, and I’d refuse if they did. I-really don’t think I could, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever slept with anyone I wasn’t at least on friendly terms with.” Even if they’d become friendly very quickly.
Lilah nodded. “That’s a good thing,” she said carefully, “and I wasn’t suggesting that you’d be using these skills to betray people, which is never a good idea. There’s a difference, though, between personally friendly and professionally friendly. Some people can manage professional friendliness; others cannot. I don’t make moral judgements about it, because I myself am very good at professional friendliness-I’ve had to be, you understand.”
“Well, yes. I think all actors have to know how to be professionally friendly,” Jack said, though he was slowly beginning to realise exactly what she had done for a living before she was married. “But I agree, there is a difference.”
Lilah nodded. “That is my background. Of course you wouldn’t have known that; Vikram didn’t write about his personal life, after all.” She smiled. “I have a business meeting in a little while; why don’t you come back tomorrow or Sunday afternoon? We can discuss at length what you did in Califia, and how I can help you build upon that.”
Jack was pleased. “Sunday afternoon, then. I have a previous appointment for tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” said Lilah, but then she frowned. “You should be aware, that I do much of this for religious reasons, and that Tantra is primarily a religious act for me, a puja. As a student of mine you will attend at least a few religious ceremonies. Do you practise a religion?”
Jack shook his head. “Not really. Will that be a problem?”
“No,” said Lilah. “Better that you don’t at all, than that you practise some religion, such as Christianity, which would be incompatible with the exercises. But study has been known to lead to conversions; you should know that before you embark. My husband was an atheist, once, and quite proud of it. I converted Vikram, which is rather funny when you think about it. The same thing could happen to you.”
“Well, I have no particular objection to religion,” Jack said, though he was sceptical of all religion and he was sure it was fairly obvious. “It just never stuck. I think my family was fairly typical-if the town we were in had a church, we went to it, just because that’s what was done.”
Lilah smiled. “I grew up in a small town in India. My parents died and my sister and brother and I were raised there until we were brought here for schooling, and I do not really think like an Englishwoman-if I was ever a baptised Christian, I certainly don’t remember it. Of course, sometimes Indians resent that as much or more than white people do.” Viresh certainly did.
“That sounds fascinating,” Jack replied. “I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who grew up in India. I’m sure it was quite different from England or the Americas.”
“Very different,” said Lilah wistfully. “I don’t think Maya or Damien were ever really happy here.”
“And you?” Jack asked.
“When I was married to Vikram, I was extremely happy,” said Lilah. “The culture I grew up in is extremely difficult for widows, and it’s difficult for me to imagine remarrying, but I have my work, and perhaps it is time I went back to it: time I continued my husband’s work.” She certainly couldn’t do worse by it than Viresh was doing.
“I think that’s a very good idea,” Jack replied. “You obviously know and care a great deal about it.” He hadn’t known what to expect when he arrived here, but it hadn’t been someone who was so dedicated to protecting not just the research but the research subjects.
“I do,” Lilah admitted. It hadn’t been until quite recently that she’d realised how much danger the research, and its subjects, were in, but she did care. “There were a few people Vikram and I worked with closely, and it brought home to me how vulnerable some of these people are.”
“I’d love to hear more about it,” said Jack. “After all, that’s part of the reason I came here. But I don’t want to keep you from your other appointment.”
“We’ll discuss it more later,” said Lilah. “Do have a good evening.”
“Thank you. For everything,” Jack replied.
“You’re welcome,” said Lilah, and meant it.
pinup_boy and dirty_delilah