Thaumatology 101 by Niall Teasdale Read Free Book Online

the Shattering and there was a load of weird shit going on then.’
    Ceri shrugged slightly. It was true that there had been a massive surge in magical energy back then. At the end of World War Two, in an attempt to go down fighting, Hitler had activated four bombs in Berlin, Dresden, Munich and Hamburg. The exact nature of the weapons was unknown, or had never been released to the public if it was, but theorists suggested they were some sort of nuclear device, triggered by enchantment to create the implosion. A huge, metaphysical crack in the world had divided Germany in two, and out of the crack on the eastern side had poured demons. Then the Americans had tested a nuclear bomb in New Mexico. The energy release, while having no magical component, was enough to punch another hole in the weakened reality around it. America began to drown in monsters out of nightmare and legend. Desperate to end the war so they could concentrate on matters at home, the USA had nuked Hiroshima. It had been like hitting glass with a hammer; a huge crack in reality opened along the Ring of Fire, circling the Pacific.
    Five years later, the world calmed down and the events after the war became known as the Shattering, a period of chaos when magic really had ruled the world. Not the controlled, tamed magic studied and categorised by thaumatologists, but wild magic. The world really had been full of “weird shit.”
    ‘There’s still no such thing as mermaids,’ Ceri said. ‘Sirens exist. They’re a fae species, distantly related to Banshees, but no mermaids.’
    Lily sipped her coffee. ‘Well, she could sing quite well, from what I heard.’ She glanced at the wall clock. ‘Oh, shit! Carter’s coming ‘round in about twenty minutes.’
    Ceri blinked. ‘Carter Fleming? Your boss Carter?’
    ‘Uh-huh. He read about the accident and he wanted to come over and see how you were?’ Lily said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
    ‘What on Earth is Carter Fleming doing caring about me?’
    ‘Carter’s a nice guy, Ceri,’ Lily said and then looked a little sheepish, ‘and I was a bit jittery last night and he noticed and asked about you. I gotta go put some clothes on.’ She bolted for the door leaving Ceri sitting in the kitchen.
    Carter Fleming owned the Jade Dragon and about a dozen other clubs around London and the rest of England. The Dragon had been his first, however, and that was the one he personally managed. He was, according to the gossip columns, loaded. He dated film stars, porn stars, and pop singers, generally not for extended periods, sometimes more than one at a time. He was known to practice wizardry, and rumour had it that his first million and his good looks had come from a demonic pact. If you just went by what you read in the papers, he was a dangerous, misogynist bastard.
    Except that Lily thought he was great. She had met him while working as an escort. Twenty years old, her life had been a sordid mess until Carter had offered her a job at the Dragon on the condition that she quit the prostitution and the illegal porn movies she had been using to pay the rent. He had supported and encouraged her and, aside from that first night, he had never once asked her to go to bed with him. If Ceri were honest, she did not understand the man; his public image seemed so out of place with what Lily said about him that it was hard to imagine how both could be true.
    Glancing at the clock, Ceri considered her own ensemble. No, perhaps greeting a man with enough money to buy her university in a large shirt was not a great idea. She stood and headed for her room, giggling. Well, if he was actually like his public image it would be a good idea, but she had a feeling it would disappoint Lily. She would get properly dressed.
    Opening up the big wardrobe in her bedroom, Ceri considered her options. Despite the consideration, she already knew one thing she was wearing, she just needed to work out the rest. She had