The Problem With Black Magic (5 page)

“You’ll know all momentarily,” said Serenus, dropping into the seat around the table Khalil had vacated. “But first, I’m parched. Sam? Could you make me one of those frothy cinnamon things you do so well? You know what I mean.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “You want me to make you coffee…now?”

“Really, I want you out of the room for five minutes, but I also want a drink; it’s actually one of those fortuitous two birds, one-stone situations,” said Serenus, leaning back in Khalil’s chair comfortably.

To Cassie’s surprise, Sam got up without a word and walked out to the shop.
Serenus’ eyes watched his retreating form, then turned to Cassie.

“I’m afraid I have to ask you to be patient with him: most men spend their lives trying to convince the world that they’re far more formidable than they are. Poor Sam seems to have it totally backwards. For him, admitting his power is like confessing that he still wets the bed.”

“So you knew Sam was a demon,” said Cassie.

“Well of course,
takes one to know one and all that,” he said, cleaning his glasses with a microfiber cloth.

He snorted when Dwight and Jay inched away from him. “Oh, stop. I’m afraid I’m not a big, gr
and one like your friend though, just a human with some demon blood in the background somewhere. I can’t do much more magic than any of you,” he said, shrugging. “I can sense magic, and I have a great nose for it, but I don’t generate any more of it than the most average human--less, in fact.”

“So what did you need him out of the room for?” said Khalil quietly, no longer pacing.

Serenus cleared his throat. “Listen, it’s not Sam’s fault-- like the good Mr. MacGregor here said, if he hadn’t done what he did, you would probably all be dead anyway. But the fact remains, you’re all in very big trouble.”

“I think the vampire punching Dwight in the face was our first clue,” said Khalil.

Serenus shook his head. “None of you will be safe until Sam successfully defends his claim to Cassie in court. He probably doesn’t realize it yet, but this is more than some undesirables breaking into your shop hoping to snag a quality familiar; right now, all of your lives are in danger. A human like Cassie is a very hot commodity among our kind, and you all will all be seen as potentially valuable by virtue of your connection to her. As well as all her friends, and family.”

Cassie suddenly went cold.
Oh my God,
she thought,
Hunter. He’s only ten….

“When you say court, you mean like…special demon court?” Jay asked, and
Serenus nodded.

“The good news is, he can protect you,” said
Serenus. “We can protect you. But he’s been running from what he is for so long, it’s not going to be easy for him to do it.”

Cassie looked at
Serenus, frowning. Something was bothering her about him, and she wasn’t sure what it was. If only she could remember….

Jay looked as enthusiastic as Cassie felt uneasy. “So, Sam’s a really powerful demon right? He said most other demons can’t freeze time like that.”

Serenus chuckled. “Demons are very patriarchal; half-demons’ powers depend partially on who their father was, partially on luck of the draw. It’s hard to say how strong Sam is per se, since he’s always refused to allow me to do anything to properly test him, but his parentage is…” he seemed to struggle for the right word. “…unimpeachable.”

“So, who’s his father? Is he a named demon, like in the Bible? Could we look him up?” Jay asked rapid-fire questions, his eyes gleaming with keenness.

Serenus gentle chuckle deepened into laughter. “Sorry, I’ll be happy to answer your questions about anything I’m reasonably certain he won’t kill me for telling you.”

Jay laughed weakly, like he wanted to belie
ve the bit about Sam killing the professor was a joke, but wasn’t sure.

The sound of Sam whipping milk in the espresso machine in the other room was suddenly audible over Jay’s outburst.
Serenus looked towards the door, as though to confirm that Sam was still out of earshot, and leaned forward conspiratorially. They all found themselves mirroring him.

“Listen, he won’t ask you not to be afraid of him, because he doesn’t want to
even put the idea in your heads, so I’m asking; don’t be afraid of him. I won’t say he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he certainly won’t hurt any of you; at least, not more than he already has by involving you in his life.”

There was a silence as they all considered his words. Were they afraid of him? Cassie knew that she was, but on some level she always had been, and hated herself for it. She had thought it was because of a crush, but her intuition has been trying to tell her something, too.

Khalil spoke quietly. “And we know that how? Because you said so?”

Before
Serenus could answer, Sam walked back into the room, holding a drink. “Here’s your five pump, half-caf cinnamon latte, shots over foam and steamed to 205 degrees. If I made it wrong, tough,” he said, sliding the wobbling paper cup over to Serenus.

Cassie blinked: of course, that’s what was bothering her: she’d seen
Serenus order a non-crazy coffee. Because he’d been there the day of the earthquake. “Dr. Zeitbloom-“

“Please, call me
Serenus. Or Ser, if you like.”

“Okay…
Ser…” she said, finding it odd to be calling a man his age by a nickname. “…why were you at the shop Sunday morning before the earthquake?”

A flicker of fear moved quickly over
Serenus’ face. Before Cassie could ask what was wrong, Sam had moved, picking Serenus up by the neck and slamming him into the employee lockers. The older man gurgled painfully.

“You bastard,” Sam said quietly. “You knew what was going to happen, and you didn’t t
ell me.” Serenus made a pained sound as Sam squeezed his neck.

Though Khali
l was closer, it was the smaller man who got between the two. “Hey man, stop!” said Dwight, separating Sam’s hand from Serenus’ neck. Sam grimaced, but didn’t fight back against Dwight. Khalil stepped back; biting his lip in frustration; Cassie could tell he had wanted to pull Sam off of Serenus himself, but had been afraid to touch him.

Though horrified by the sudden brutality of the attack, Cassie noticed that even when incredibly angry, Sam didn’t reach for magic. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that; she certainly didn’t want to see
Serenus hurt, but part of her wanted to know what else Sam could do. She hated herself briefly for the thought when she saw Serenus struggle for breath.

“Well, that was certainly uncalled for,” said
Serenus hoarsely. “Sam, I swear, all I knew was that something was going to happen regarding Cassandra that morning. That was the extent of my so-called “precognition.” I came to the store to see if being close to her would trigger any further visions, and it didn’t. If I’d known, I definitely would have warned you,” he said, slowly and evenly.

Sam exhaled and looked down. “I believe you…I shouldn’t have assumed…I’m sorry.” He collapsed back into his chair. “So…is it over? They won’t send more vampires now that I’ve made my claim official, will they?”

Serenus gingerly took a sip of the drink Sam had made for him, rubbing his throat. “You haven’t made your claim official, you’ve only just begun the process. You have to go to court for that.”

Sam’s eyes
widened, and Cassie thought for a fraction of a second she saw a flash of red in them. “I am not going to--“

“I’m not having this argument with you now,” said
Serenus, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “The important thing is that yes, they might come back, and it’s your responsibility to protect these people now. I can get the ingredients for protection amulets for you, but it’s going to take a few days to prepare them.”

Sam snorted and leaned all the way back in his chair, pitching it so that the front legs were off the floor.
“Protection amulets? That’s the kind of game we’re playing now?”

“Yes it is,” said
Serenus firmly, “And unless you want to explain to me how you can create and maintain a dozen different protection spells simultaneously, you’re going to craft them. Understood?”

Sam met
Serenus’ eyes for several moments. A silent understanding seemed to pass between the two men, and Cassie felt annoyed that there was obviously so much they weren’t sharing. It wasn’t that they were hiding things, exactly; it seemed more like there were entire worlds of knowledge shared between them, and they couldn’t have communicated them to the rest of the group had they wanted to. Not unless they wanted to be there all night, and maybe into next week.

“Fine,” Sam said quietly.

Serenus visibly relaxed, apparently convinced that Sam wasn’t going to pound him into any more walls that evening. “In the meantime, I suggest putting a protection circle around Cassie’s house. Don’t waste any time.”

Sam looked confused.
“Her house? I was expecting you to tell me to lay one down here.”

“Do that too just to be safe, but you probably won’t need it. If I were in the business of snatching familiars, I wouldn’t go afte
r them in my rival’s stronghold. Especially not after already failing once. Much safer to try to catch her out of your territory.”

Khalil leaned against the lockers. “So our shop is Sam’s territory right now? What does that make us?”

“It doesn’t make you anything,” Sam snapped back.

Serenus
drained his fancy latte before responding. “Like it or not, a class A spell has been done in this building-- this place is on the map as far as demons are concerned. There’s no going back.”

There was silence for a moment as they all considered that.

“So,” said Serenus, standing up with the aid of his cane. “I’ll start getting the ingredients you’ll need immediately. Sam, go with Cassie and put a circle around her house. Cassie, stay home this weekend in the circle’s protection until we can get the amulets crafted. The rest of you,” he said, gesturing with his free hand. “I highly doubt anyone’s going to come after you, but it’s not out of the question that some bright light might try to use you as a hostage to try to trade for Cassie. Try not to be alone for a few days until we can get you the amulets. As long as you’re in a group, it’s not worth the risk to snatch you.”

Cassie was torn; on the one hand, it felt good to hear
Serenus lay it all out; having a plan made her feel less lost and helpless, even if she didn’t have control over any of this. On the other, she was beginning to get a sick feeling that some of Serenus’ knowledge about snatching people like her wasn’t entirely academic. She didn’t know if she could trust him, but couldn’t see any other choice.

As they all got up to leave, Khalil stirred from his position against the lockers. “Aren’t we missing something? I thought you had to threaten us not to tell anyone
your secret upon pain of death, or something like that.”

Serenus
smiled broadly. “Au contraire, you have carte blanch! Tell your friends, tell your mother-- just don’t blame us when they start proscribing psychiatric medication for you.”

Khalil seemed to consider that. “So we’ve officially moved into ‘too crazy for anyone to believe’ territory, huh.”

Cassie jumped when Sam put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his solemn face. “I’m coming home with you. We have to put a protection circle around your house, remember?”

Her jaw dropped.
“Tonight?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “No, tomorrow afternoon, after a bunch of vampires
have carted you away. That’ll be real useful.”

“Oh.
Right. Sure.” Somehow, when Serenus had been talking about putting some kind of protection around her house, she hadn’t imagined that would entail taking the bus with Sam at one in the morning. Cassie gulped: she didn’t feel comfortable spending more time with him, but it didn’t look like she had much of a choice.

Sam’s scuffed hiking boots kicked some pebbles on Cassie’s driveway as he approached the front of the house. Cassie stood on the sidewalk, not sure how to act around him now that Jay wasn’t around to serve as a buffer. The kid had taken the bus with them, peppering Sam with whispered questions Cassie mostly couldn’t hear, none of which Sam had deigned to answer, although one did make him laugh.

Jay had wanted to see the spell performed, but Sam had sent him home to his house two streets away, saying it was suspicious enough that two of them were poking around the house this late. Cassie had a feeling there were other reasons why Sam might not want Jay around, but she wasn’t sure what they were; maybe he didn’t want anyone witnessing his magic who wasn’t strictly necessary. Jay had only gone home when she promised to tell him all about the spell in excruciating detail.

Sam scowled as he looked at her house. “You would have to live in a brownstone,” he said quietly.

“Sorry,” Cassie snapped back snottily before she could stop herself. “Why does that matter?”

He turned to her, looking tired. “Does it look like I can pace a circle around your property?”

Cassie exhaled in realization; part of a complex of townhouses, her house was physically connected to all of the other ones on the block.

Sam looked away, perplexed. “Either I make a really huge circle around the whole block, which is hard to maintain, or I just put some sort of hex on your front yard and driveway. Easy, but unsafe.”

Cassie knit her brows, thinking about that. She didn’t want to seem needy, but after her experience with vampires, she wasn’t sure she wanted any sort of half-baked protection spell. If that meant asking Sam for a favor, so be it.

Cassie gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. “Do the big circle, if it’s safer. You’re a big, powerful demon, right? I’m sure you can handle it.”

He gave her a look that couldn’t have been much more frightening if he was using his red glare.
Oh my God,
she thought,
what ever made me think that saying that was a good idea?

He broke eye contact, looking at the prim row of brownstone houses. “I suppose I can,” he said quietly.

Cassie looked down at her shoes while Sam considered the property. There was something she wanted to ask him, and he probably wasn’t going to stick around after the spell was cast. Now was the time.

“Hey, Sam…” she began. He turned to her, one eyebrow raised.

“Cassie!”

Annette flung open the front door, running out on the driveway in her nightgown
and fluffy slippers, Jon following close behind her. Cassie stifled a groan; great, now on top of everything else, she had to introduce Sam to her parents.

“Your parents are still up at this hour?” he whispered to her.

“I guess they were waiting up for me,” said Cassie, feeling miserable as her parents approached, both eyeing Sam warily.

“There she is! Do you know what time it is?”

“I told you I was going to be home late, Mom.”

“You also said you were going to be coming home with Jay. This is not Jay,” said Annette, crossing her arms. Cassie thought she looked ridiculous trying to act tough in a pink nightie, but Annette didn’t seem to care.

“He did come home with us, Mom. He only left just now, to go to his house. Sam walked me home.”

Annette fixed her eyes on Sam. “So, I take it y
ou work with Cassie at the shop, Sam?”

Sam smiled in what Cassie assumed was his best attempt at being non-threatening. “That’s right. Sorry we kept your daughter out so late, it won’t happen again.”

Jon at least seemed pacified by Sam’s apology. “That’s alright, we’re her parents, we can’t help but worry.”

Annette shot dagger eyes at her husband, then back at Sam. “Excuse me, young man-
-“ she began, and Cassie inhaled sharply, sensing what was coming next. “--but Cassie works at that shop fifteen to twenty hours per week, for shopping money. She’s not going to be serving coffee for a living, and I don’t think it’s fair to expect a high school student to put in these kinds of hours for what your place pays,” she finished bitterly.

Sam kept up his warm smile with some apparent effort. “Well, I’m not a manager, ma’am, but I’ll be sure to pass that along to Dwight.”

“If you’re not a manager, than aren’t you a little old to be working there? What are you, a drop-out?”

“Mom!” shouted Cassie, knowing everyone could see how red her face was even in the dark. She’d expected her mother to be rude, but this was beyond the pale.

“That’s enough, Annette,” said Jon, quietly, putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Look, he was kind enough to walk Cassie home, and we’ll tell the manager she’s not allowed to stay after midnight anymore, alright? Problem solved.”

“Oh yes, it was so KIND of him,” spat Annette, making the word sound like a curse. “Listen, ‘Sam’, you can see Cassie at work, but beyond that, you will have nothing to do with her. Is that clear?” she said, pointing at him with a pink-lacquered fingernail.

“Mom, it’s not like that…” Cassie said desperately, wondering why she bothered even as she said it.

“Cassie, I let you work at that dive so you can have some independence, not so you
can get involved with uneducated men twice your age.”

“Mrs. Tremblay,” said Sam, no longer bothering with his perfunctory smile. “I understand your concern. If you would just give me five minutes to finish a discussion I was having with your daughter, I’ll leave and you won’t see me around here again.”

“Cassie, inside the house now,” said Annette icily.

Cassie stamped her foot, knowing it was childish, but her mother tended to bring it out of her. “Mom, this is ridiculous! He just wants to finish answering a question
about work for me, okay? You can even watch through the front window, we’ll just be talking.”

“Come on honey, let them finish their conversation. No need to be unreasonable,” said Jon, using the same calming tone Cassie had heard him use with her mother a million times.

Annette sighed. “Fine. Five minutes, then you’re out of here, buster,” she said, turning on her heel. Jon gave a little embarrassed shrug for his wife’s behavior, nodded at Sam and went back in the house. They could see Annette settle on the couch in the living room so she could watch them talking through the front window.

Cassie let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Sorry about that,” she said quietly, not caring if Annette could read her lips.

Sam turned so his lips were hidden from Annette’s view. If he was mad about anything her mother had said, he didn’t show it. “You shouldn’t have told her she could watch us.”

“She would have anyway.”

“Unfortunately, I need a drop of your blood for the spell, and I don’t think I can get it with her watching. Can you come back outside after they’ve gone to sleep?”

“If Mom catches me, she’ll make me quit DG,” said Cassie. And Annette would catch her; there was no way she would let her guard down now, when her only daughter might be absconded with any minute.

Sam gritted his teeth, thinking. “Then rip out a few strands of your hair and hand them to me. Try not to be too obvious about it.”

Cassie did so, trying not to imagine what Annette’s face must
have looked like behind her. “Do you need anything else?” she asked.

“No, that should be enough. After you go back in the house, I’ll wait a while for all the lights to go off, then I’ll do the spell and leave,” he said softly.

“Can you do it without waking them up? I thought you had to say incantations and draw symbols in the dirt and stuff,” Cassie asked, genuinely interested. The one time she’d seen Sam use magic, it hadn’t involved any posturing or supplies at all, but the fact that he needed her hair led her to believe his magic required some set-up.

Sam fixed her with a sad smile. “That’s what people who summon demons need to do-
- and I’m already here, aren’t I?”

Cassie gulped.
Well great,
she thought,
so glad we cleared THAT up.

“Weren’t you going to ask me something before?”

Cassie’s eyes widened, surprised he remembered. “This familiar thing…you can’t undo it, can you?”

Sam paused, running his tongue over his teeth. “I don’t know.”

Cassie stared. “You don’t know?”

“You’re even more annoying than usual when you repeat everything I say,” he snapped, not looking at her.

“So this is my life now? Forever?”

They both stiffened as Annette knocked on the window, hard.

Sam began to back away. “I’ll look into it, alright? I don’t know if there’s a process for letting a familiar go, but I can find out. Now, get in the house before your mother kills both of us.” He turned, pretending to leave; Cassie figured he was probably walking around the block, marking the circle like he said he was going to.

Cassie went back in the
house, still not sure why she hadn’t wanted to ask him that question in front of Ser. It was academic now, since Sam was probably going to ask for Ser’s opinion on the matter; he was the only one who seemed to know anything useful.