Robert left his car at home, so they had to take the Tube. Fortunately, while they were discussing all the unspeakable horrors what might be waiting for them sometime soon, the rush hour ended. Of course, London being London, that only meant that public transport went from unbearable to very, very uncomfortable. On the least busy lines.

'So where are we going exactly?' asked Robert. He let Jenna go onto the escalator first and stepped on the very next stair.

'It's an old cemetery, at North Acton Station, Zone Five or maybe Six, I'm not sure. You know the type, the one people use to walk their dogs. Only something trying to eat them now. The people, not the dogs.'

'An old cemetery after dark with something hungry… Lovely.' said Robert.

Jenna stepped off the escalator and looked back at the man.

'It's not too late to change your mind, you know.'

Robert followed her into a narrow tunnel. Its walls were covered with white and blue glazed tiles. There were signs everywhere but that somehow did not make the navigation any easier.

'I will not change my mind. Just… Old graveyards in the night aren't usually the places I go willingly.' he said, going down a corridor.

'What, are you superstitious?' grinned Jenna. 'Not really professory…'

Robert went around a small family from one side, while Jenna did the same at the other side. The family thought that stopping in the very middle of the corridor is a sensible thing to do for some reason. Jenna just sighed. London and its inhabitants never ceased to amaze her with their lack of logical thinking or common sense.

'I most certainly am not superstitious,' answered Robert with a lot of dignity. 'I am not afraid of imaginary things. I am a little concerned about real things that want to eat me, but I'd say it's normal, don't you think?'

Jenna nodded. She still remembered her first hunt: she was so nervous that she was shaking the whole time, and when the demon finally was in the trap, she threw up on Kahn's shoes. He wasn't impressed. Jenna loved her job ever since, which sometimes made her think about what the hell was wrong with her.

'It's okay to be nervous, Robert,' she said, 'I know it's not the same as having a brawl with other people.'

The man's face was shocked as he looked at her.

'Were you just actually nice to me? Are you ill, Carano?'

'Oh, shut up, moron.'

'See, that's more like it,' he laughed. 'We are going to need the Northern Line first, right? I think it's in this way.'

They reached a bigger, more opened area. It was kind of a crossroad with corridors from three different directions to run into it, and a pair of escalators going down. At one corner an old man sat behind a keyboard, a black case with a handful of coins and one banknote in front of the stand. He played a song Jenna couldn't quite recognise. It was slow and sad and beautiful. Robert got out his wallet and put a fiver into the case. The old man smiled and nodded without looking at him.

'You coming?'

Jenna just realised that she stopped to listen to the music. She shook her head and went after Montgomery, dodging people coming front the opposite direction.

'Do you know what was that song?' she asked.

'Wind of change, from Scorpions, released in 1990 on the album titled Crazy World.'

Jenna looked at him surprised, and he shrugged.

'I… Remember things,' he vaguely explained.

'Okay…' said the girl slowly. 'So, do you like music?'

'Do you like breathing?' asked back Robert.

'Fair enough,' nodded Jenna.

They were on an escalator again, what brought them even deeper down. Now Robert went first, and he turned around so they could see each other. In this way, their faces were almost at the same height. From this close, Jenna could see that there was a hint of green in the man's blue eyes and a few very pale freckles on his nose.

'Have you been drawing me?' asked Jenna suddenly.

'I draw everything I think worth drawing. It's… Hard to explain. Sort of a journal, I think.'

'Can I see them?' she asked.

'Sure. At the very moment you are telling me how are you doing the shadow dog,' he smiled, then turned his back to Jenna and stepped off the stairs.

The woman followed, quietly cursing in Italian. They finally reached the platform they were looking for. As they got closer, Jenna heard something that reminded her of the noise a turntable would make if the DJ wanted to be exceptionally progressive but got hit by an ice cream truck during the procedure. It was probably meant to be music, and it completely killed Jenna's memory of the Wind of Change.

There was a screen above the platform which said the next train is going to be there in five minutes. People waited around, sleepy, tired or bored faces were staring at phone screens, books or just into nothing. Some of them looked up from time to time and gave an annoyed look to the source of the weird noise. It was a man, listening to music loudly.

'Have you noticed that there is always an inconsiderate asshole playing their music on public transport?' she asked, shooting a sharp look to the young man. He didn't use his phone, but a small portable speaker.

'Well, first of all, define music…' said Robert. 'This… Thing, this is just noise. What genre is it anyway?'

'Some made-up crap someone invented accidentally when their computer started to crash during the making of another type of horrible noise they also consider as music,' shrugged Jenna. 'What do you think, can I curse him?'

'It would be thoroughly inappropriate,' said Robert strictly. 'Sorcerers have to be better than that. We need to show non-magical people that they have nothing to be afraid of. We cannot just go around and use magic to get our way.'

'Yeah, you're right, I guess. Can I punch him, then?'

Robert gave that some thought.

'That would still be a misuse of your power, regardless of the nature of that power,' he pointed out. Jenna groaned.

'Can I at least ask him to kill the noise?'

'Politely,' nodded Robert.

Jenna did so, and the reaction was uncalled for, but not surprising: 'Shut the fuck up, bitch! If you don't like my music, you can suck my dick. Or go home to your shitty country.'

Jenna showed her middle finger to the guy and went back to Robert. He shook his head.

'Can I curse him now?' she requested.

Robert gave a dark look at the young man and shook his head.

'It would be well deserved. Although I'd like to think that you are better than that.'

Jenna sighed and turned her back to the man and his beloved speaker. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and was tapping with her feet. The terrible music continued.

The train arrived in a minute, naturally not at the time the screen foretold it because that's not how public transport in London works. Music man didn't move, so he was probably waiting for another line to arrive. Jenna and Robert boarded, and as the girl looked back, she saw that the speaker grew four little, plastic legs, jumped down from the bench to the floor and ran away. The rude man hurried after it shouting: 'Hey, what the fuck!? Come back, you were fucking expensive!'

Jenna turned her head to Robert, who just put a wand back into the inside pocket of his trenchcoat.

'You are such a hypocrite,' she said with a strict face, fighting off a smile.

'Well, yes. In my defence, I said you are better than that, never stated that I was. But look at it that way: while cursing him wasn't morally right, letting him talk like that to you wasn't either. I needed to choose between two wrong, and I chose the scenario when I can hopefully impress you.'

'Your spell was impressive, I will give you that,' answered Jenna. 'The sentiment behind it, too. But I'm a big girl, you know, I can take care of myself.'

'Yeah, I know that,' Robert rubbed his crooked nose. 'I had the pleasure to experience it first hand. You didn't even use magic, you just punched me in the face.'

'Don't be a baby, Montgomery. It was a long time ago.'

The train was only half full, and they could even sit down. The windows were dirty and scratched and nobody could have told what colour the seat covers were originally. For now, they looked greyish blue with something on them that might have been the logo of London Transport once. Someone left an old newspaper on one of the seats. There was nothing about the break-in at the British Museum on the front page, but it was more than a week ago. The world moved on.

'So how do you exactly hunt for ghouls? Is there a specific way or spell you use?' Robert asked once they were seated.

'Oh, I don't know for sure if there will be ghouls, actually,' she answered.

'Beg your pardon?' blinked Robert confused.

'Well, it's not an exact science you know,' she explained, 'I have a couple of clues and they are pointing in the direction of ghouls, but it could be a number of other things, too.'

'For instance?'

Jenna considered the question, trying to remember the file she read in the morning. She tapped her lips with her forefinger.

'It could be a wendigo, although they aren't native here, or a werewolf, but that's very unlikely.'

'Very unlikely? That's… Reassuring.'

Jenna giggled and poked him with her elbow at the ribs.

'Relax, Montgomery. I'm gonna protect you out there.'

'If you are trying to boost my confidence, you are doing a terrible job, Jenna,' he said. 'That's our stop.'

They got off the train and had another couple of minutes of wandering at a different station until they found the platform they needed. This one was crowded despite the late hour, but it wasn't a surprise: the Central Line was legendary busy. Sensible Londoners tried to avoid it at any cost, but it wasn't always possible. There was a screen with arrivals just like at the other station, but it wasn't working. There was, of course, an inconsiderate idiot listening to music loudly. Jenna frowned and Robert sighed.

They found some space around the end of the platform, almost where the tunnel started. This station was even dirtier than the one before, with empty take away cups everywhere. Jenna saw brownish spots on the floor. They looked like blood.

'I am not exactly fluent in monsters, by the way,' he said. 'What do I need to know about ghouls?'

'First of, don't let them eat you,' she said smiling.

'Noted. What else?'

'Okay, so… They live in cemeteries, sometimes around hospitals and of course they are regulars at battlefields. They are mostly necrophagous, but they will kill when they are hungry enough. They aren't afraid of humans at all, but for some reason they hate foxes. Which is not useful at the moment, I guess. Anyway, their vision is different from ours, moonlight is ideal for them. Oh, and they can dig very, very fast, the earth is almost like water to them, so always try and lure them to concrete or cobblestone ground where they cannot dig. If they surround you on soft ground, you are dead.'

Robert nodded. His face was a little pale but determined. Jenna found it kind of an attractive quality: he seemed willing to do things outside of his comfort zone. Or, in this case, outside of any sensible person's comfort zone.

'How intelligent are they? Can they use magic?' Robert asked now.

'Not particularly intelligent, but never tried to play chess with any of them. And even if they were smart enough for magic, they are more dead than alive, kinda like vampires. Dead things don't do magic. But do not underestimate them! They are very strong and very, very fast.'

Warm wind ran over the platform, a sign of the approaching train. The crowd moved, everybody at the same time. They were pushing Jenna and Robert towards the edge. An older woman wanted to be the first who gets on, so she squeezed herself between Jenna and Robert, shoving the girl, who almost fell under the cart that just arrived. Jenna stepped on the woman's foot as she went on with a sweet smile. Robert shook his head.

'It's official: Hell is real and it's called London Underground' said the man. Jenna just groaned her agreement. The two of them were pushed together by a hundred other people in a corner next to a door. Their bodies were pressed against one another, face to face, and Jenna could feel not only the magic pulsing in the protective spells of Robert's coat but his fast heartbeat too. She had to grab on the collars of his coat because she couldn't reach any handle. 'Although, this is nice,' Robert added and put his arm around Jenna's waist, masking the movement as seizing at another handle.

'Don't get used to it,' murmured the girl. Robert only answered with a jaunty smile, and Jenna had to admit to herself, it suited him. It was a very long ten minutes in this position, mostly because Jenna liked it, although she made a point of looking annoyed about it.

A few stops later, as the train left Zone One and people started to get off, Jenna finally had enough space to step aside. It wasn't necessarily an improvement, because they were still huddling, but at least they were now next to each other. Jenna found that she can concentrate on the task waiting for them so much easier now. The last thing one needed during a ghoul attack was to get distracted.

'Almost forgot… Ghouls don't feel pain. They won't stop just because they are injured. They might flee from fire though because they need to be burned or they will eventually be healed enough to kinda come back to life, but don't take any risk because that's how you get yourself killed. Fire can wait until they are mostly dead or at least cannot move.'

'They sound like charming little creatures,' said Robert. 'With that immortality angle and all.'

'They are adorable, for sure. I know that you are a big softy, but you have to understand: my job is tough. If you really want to come with me, I need you to be cruel and brutal. Ghouls aren't people, they are abominations that kill real people if we let them. So if you have any doubts at all, we should turn back now. I won't think less of you, I promise. This job isn't for everyone, no matter how good you are at magic.'

She gave him an intent look, brown eyes caught blue ones. She wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not about changing her opinion if Robert turns out to be a coward, but she didn't have to find it out, because the man just shook his head and smiled.

'I know you got confused easily around me, Carano, but you will have to deal with it because you can't get rid of me,' he said with that same smug smile from earlier.

Jenna poked him at the ribs with her elbow again.

'Oh, by the way, don't let them bite you because they will give you every kind of nasty diseases,' she said then grinned when Robert's smile disappeared.

As they went further and further from the City, the train slowly emptied. They left the tunnels a while ago and travelled now on the land like a normal train. Outside the windows there were warehouses, bus garages, factories, huge supermarkets and everything else what was too big and rough for the prettier neighbourhoods. The big family houses out here weren't homes for actual families, but for immigrants who lived in one small room, shared a bathroom with strangers and only got home to sleep before their next shift started.

'Whenever I'm out here I got the feeling that this isn't London anymore,' said Robert, 'I mean, it's what, Zone Four? And somehow feels so different.'

'But it is London,' answered Jenna quietly, 'maybe even more so. The people that live here are the ones making your morning coffee or take-away dinner, checking out your groceries, fixing your car. They are the ones keeping the city… Well, actually the whole country, running.'

Robert sighed.

'I know. Just… It's so easy to forget. When you were born in the actual City, went to expensive private schools and grew up in a bubble, there are certain things you just don't know. Nobody told them to you .'

Jenna didn't answer but listened carefully. She heard something in Robert's voice… Bitterness? Maybe even some self-loathing. For a moment she forgot about the ghouls, the cemetery, even the train. She never saw Robert so… Real before.

'They are teaching you that you are unique, you are better, you deserve more,' he continued, staring into the distance now. 'Because you are British, you are a sorcerer, you are rich and you have a respected family name. The worst part is that you are just a stupid kid, and you will believe all of that shit. Well, I did, anyway, but I might just be a spoiled arse.'

Suddenly Jenna had to fight the urge to touch Robert's hand.

'Look…' she said, 'I don't really know you, but I still think that you are a little too harsh to yourself. I don't know, you might have been all of those things in the past, and God, you are an asshole indeed, but you are not a monster. Believe me, I really am a girl who can tell. That's my job,' she tried a small, encouraging smile.

Robert looked at her and smiled back.

'Thanks, Jenna. Quick question, if I was to kiss you, would you course me? And assuming the answer is yes, how badly?'

'Big time. Focus, Montgomery,' she said sharply.

'I am focusing. We might die tonight, and I don't want to die before I kissed you. Plus it would piss my father off spectacularly. Yours too, just think about it...'

Jenna shook her head but smiled.

'Well, that was a sexy thought… I don't want to piss my father off, by the way. I don't hate him,' she said.

Robert looked at her astonished, raising an eyebrow.

'Seriously. Yeah, sure, I had a fucked up childhood too, but I am kind of an adult now, and I can understand that shit happens. And even though he never gave a flying fuck about me and not much more about Teo, at least he was busy with doing good things. You know, to strangers, but still. That's something I guess. He just… Never had the time to be a father, too.'

'As devastating as it might have been, it still beats being raised by a racist piece of crap,' he pointed out.

'You really had a big fight with your old man, didn't you?' asked Jenna.

Robert waved in a dismissing manner.

'Nothing we haven't said before. He has never been a sensible man, and as he is getting older, his ideas are getting more radical. Now he wants to forbid magic for poor people, because he thinks if your father makes the education system better, young and powerful immigrant sorcerers will ruin the country… Or something like that, he hasn't provided details. They really should check people's mental health before they let them become a politician...'

Jenna snorted.

'I agree,' she said.

'And the worst part is,' continued Robert, 'that he thinks he is doing the right thing. He thinks he is being a patriot and doing what is good for us.'

'Yeah, "us" being white British people, preferably men and exclusively sorcerers,' said Jenna ironically.

'You are British,' pointed out Robert.

'No,' she shook her head, 'I am an Italian who happened to be born here. I always will be. A second class citizen. Or worse, actually, because I'm also a woman and I'm not ugly, so I should be someone's wife and someone else's mother by now, instead of doing a man's job.'

There was silence for a while. Jenna huffed a little. The train was mostly empty by now, but the few remaining passengers stared at them because she talked very loudly.

'Shit…' she murmured. 'Sorry. Sore spots.'

Robert shook his head with a serious face.

'No, you are right. People like my father need to be removed from the Parliament and from everywhere. They are like cancer, destroying the very thing they live in with all of that conservative nonsense you just said.'

She looked at him very surprised.

'So, no more fighting for him, then?' Jenna asked curiously.

'I never actually fought for him, not in a long time now, anyway. I fought so you or Teodore wouldn't tear another asshole on my stupid brother.'

Jenna laughed.

'Fair enough,' she said.

'Besides,' added Robert, 'the whole thing was ridiculous in the first place. People won't listen to my father or vote for yours just because we beat up each other somewhere in the middle of the night. We only ever did that because we were raised to do it. We were taught how to hate in the crib.'

He looked sour again, almost grim. She poked him at the ribs one more time, but now she did it gently.

'Heads up, Professor. The next stop is ours. Time to put all of that hatred and fighting experience in good use. Ready?'

'Certainly,' nodded Robert. 'Now, where did we land on that kiss again?'

Jenna just shook her head and hid a smile as she got off the train.