CONTENT WARNING: Alcohol use, homelessness, starvation, addiction mention, kidnapping, chains, arson, murder, blood play, sexual content, slavery mention
No matter the dimension, the crisp, damp chill of the night on the London streets remained the same. Wolfram smiled and drew in a deep breath of the familiar chilled air. Even the electric whine of the neon billboards and hawking of the automated door greets couldn't take away the simple fact that this was London.
Turning in a slow circle with his boots crunching on the pavement, Wolfram's golden eyes roamed the square and took in the sights. Soft lights of myriad colors turned night to day; shadows clung to alleys and doorways, shying away from the touch of the artificial light. With all the glowing billboards, neon signs, and street lights, nothing stayed shrouded in shadow for long.
"Wolfram! You made it!" The excited shout came from his left, and the Witch turned. His easy smile turned to a wide grin as he spied one of those he'd come to see. Not too far down the street, an enormous dark-haired, tan skinned man in a fur-lined jacket waved his hand wildly. Ivan towered over the London shoppers, and his bulk pushed the tide of people out of the way for the petite woman who followed him.
"Rose, Ivan," Wolfram greeted, kissing both on the cheeks and squeezing their shoulders. "I'm so glad to see you two doing well!"
The giant Slavic man grinned back, pushing his dark hair out of his bright blue eyes. "We should be the ones saying that. Last we saw you, you got called away to stop a plague."
Wolfram shrugged, causing the metal feathers hanging from one ear to clink together. "It's the life I lead. I can't just sit back and watch innocent children die because of a biochemical weapon that shouldn't even exist."
Rose—a petite ebony-skinned woman who stood no taller than five-foot-two and had strawberry-blonde braids down to her tailbone—let out an expressive sigh and leveled a no-nonsense look at Wolfram. Crossing her arms over her chest, she cocked her head to the side, exposing the edges of protective runes inked into her skin. "You could, but you're far too nice of a person. Plenty of people, if they had your power, wouldn't lift a finger if they couldn't extort payment."
The Witch smiled at her and pressed an affectionate kiss to her strawberry-blonde head. "And that's why I must without asking for anything in return. Now, where did you want to eat?"
Rose rolled her hazel eyes, but didn't argue further. Ivan snorted and gestured with his chin back to where they'd come from.
"There's a good pub just up the way," Ivan said, "and we can talk there. Privacy curtains around every booth."
Wolfram raised a dark eyebrow but nodded. "Then lead the way. You're making me rather curious."
"Not here," Rose hissed, glancing around her. "Let's get to the booth we reserved."
Nodding, Ivan turned and led the way back through the tide of shop-goers. Wolfram kept close to the two, his golden eyes roving around them for signs of watchers. Once the three slid into a booth at the pub and tapped a few keys on the panel, a dense shimmering curtain flowed around them. The curtain sealed in their talk and hid them from prying eyes.
For good measure, Wolfram held up a hand to stop Rose from launching into whatever was bothering them. Purple and black smoke ghosted from his palm and suddenly spread through the booth, encompassing the group. It climbed the walls and clung to the curtain before dissipating.
"Safe now," Wolfram said, leaning back into the booth as he shrugged out of his leather jacket. "Now, what's going on? You wouldn't call me here if it wasn't important."
Rose nodded. "It is. You know we've had problems in the past with witches falling under the thrall of vampires and fae using us for their amusement." Wolfram nodded, frowning. "After the last incident, the Council put stronger restrictions in place and made sure to increase our intelligence network, but... we just heard there's been an increase in witch blood on the black market. Vampires and fae are paying dizzying sums for just a single vial. We're worse off than before, and we need help."
