Random Acts of Sorcery (13 page)

“No, this is wrong! I’m saying no! Let me go!”

I’m sorry. I don’t think I can.

“No. Get your hands off me, I am NOT your wife! I don’t love you!”

I’m sorry
.

He pulled her close one final time, and then everything was gone again.

Cassie didn’t feel the same sickening pulling sensation when she reappeared back in The Daily Grind as when she had left. Instead of being turned inside out, it was more like she blinked and everything had changed; one minute she was on the couch with Sam, and the next she was back in the shop, standing near the grotesquely frozen body of Tad O’Donnel.  She shook her head; her future husband had probably been
more gentle in placing her back in time than Corianne had been pulling her out of it.

Thank heavens for small favors.

Miri whirled her around to face her, which made her a little dizzy. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” said Cassie blankly. If she was going to try to explain this at all, it wasn’t going to be here and now.

Miri was looking at her in confusion. “It was almost like you…flickered...” she said slowly.

Cassie glanced over at Sam to see if he had noticed, but he was cradling his head and didn’t seem to be hearing anything. He took a deep breath.

“Listen, I’m going to try reversing…to before he had…yes. Aeka, don’t cut him this time,” he growled.

Aeka was still standing in front of the time-locked vampire, holding the boxcutter in her bloody hand like she was itching to use it again. “If he doesn’t want me to cut him, then he mustn’t touch me,” she said in a sing-song tone. Sam looked at her and grimaced.

“I’ll handle it,” said Eugene, stepping forward. “Do it now Samuel, before the strain becomes—”

The room seemed to blur, and Cassie’s ears popped. When her vision focused, Tad was standing in front of Aeka again, gesturing with his arms theatrically.

“—human in exchange for a skilled witch is a great deal; my host makes out like a bandit here,” the smiling vampire was saying. “And all because this is a beauty that should never be—”

At that, Eugene came up behind him and dragged him backwards, well out of Aeka’s reach. Tad’s pleasant smile quickly turned to an expression of rage.

“Excuse me?” he said, pulling his arm out of Eugene’s grip with an exaggerated motion.

“Please excuse the rudeness, old friend, but I’m
afraid Miss Aeka does not enjoy being touched,” Eugene said.

While they were talking, Cassie slowly maneuvered her way to Sam’s side. If things got violent (again), he might need her help.

“I was only complementing her,” said Tad, his blue eyes flashing with anger. “I don’t understand this. I’m a guest, I make an entirely reasonable request, and I’m being treated as though I were some…miscreant.” He scowled at the room in general. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”

“I already told you,” said Sam. “I don’t trade in people. Ask me for something inanimate, and maybe I’ll be able to accommodate you.”

Tad’s smile was back, only it wasn’t friendly this time. “And what do you have to offer me in this dull little city? The old soda plant? The pollution?”

“Actually, neither of those are mine to give you either,” said Sam dryly. “But you’re getting warmer.”

Tad looked at Sam as though he were a simpleton. “I cannot believe this. Can you not read between the lines here? Without my help, you have maybe a week left in this world. You must have some idea what happened to the last person who was the subject of a blood status hearing.”

Sam was silent at that, just watching the vampire, wary.

“Let’s bring this farce to its conclusion,” said Tad, looking around the room as though taking stock. “I can see that you won’t budge on the human girl, but I’m willing to compromise. I would also accept her,” he said, pointing to Nyesha. The woman just looked at him coolly; she was too accustomed to being bartered around like a prize to be shocked, but Cassie knew that the idea was frightening to her, even if she wasn’t showing it.

“If all else fails, I would even take him,” he said, pointing at the table where Jay and Mike were sitting. Jay, who had been silent for the whole event, looked back and forth furiously to see who Tad was referring to. His eyes widened to the size of saucers when he realized that the vampire was pointing to him.

“I like those big brown eyes. I can make use of a boy who looks so innocent,” said Tad in a voice that chilled Cassie.

That’s it
, thought Cassie.
You can threaten me, threaten Sam, threaten the vampires, and that’s just business as usual. But now he’s bringing
Jay
into it? This guy needs to die.

“You say that Sam has a week left,” said Cassie. Her voice sounded strong and resonant, surprising even her. “But right now, you’ve got much less, unless you back the hell off.”

Tad grinned at her and whistled through his teeth. “Threats, now? You let your witch dictate such things, Son of Sammael?”

“Cassie speaks for me,” Sam said, then gave her a sidelong glance.
“In this instance, anyway. I suggest you leave now.”

Tad shook his head, disgusted. “You’re just going to send me out the door, with nothing?”

“Looks that way,” said Sam.

Tad’s nostrils flared. He wasn’t stupid enough to try to fight Sam, Cassie could sense that, but he was about to give them all a serious piece of his mind before he stormed out.

But before he could open his mouth to begin his tirade, they were all distracted by the sound of the break room door opening. Mike came back into the room, holding the rat against his chest.

Cassie’s eyes widened.
When did Mike slip into the back? And what the hell is he doing with Mr. Golding?

“Mike, what are you doing?” asked Sam. His tone was more akin to “What have you done!?”

“I don’t mean to overstep, but I think you’re all overlooking something,” said Mike, sounding more respectful and serious than Cassie had ever heard him. “Look at this rat; it’s really a person,” he said, setting Mr. Golding down on a café table.

Still angry, but clearly curious, Tad took a few steps towards the table. At first he looked skeptical, but then his eyes widened. “It is, isn’t it? Those are human eyes.” He licked his lips, obviously reassessing the situation. “Prove it. Prove to me there’s really a human mind in there.”

“Mr. Golding,” Mike began, “What is two times three?”

The rat looked at Mike for a long moment, and Cassie imagined that Mr. Golding was thinking of all the terrible things he planned to do to Mike once he had his human form back. But still, he looked towards Tad and banged his tail on the table in sequence.
Six times.

“And what letter does Cassie’s name start with?” Tad added. “Bang your tail once for A, twice for B…”

Golding quickly banged his tail three times.

Tad was so
pleased, he seemed to forget his anger for a moment. “It is a human in there after all! What an exquisite curse!” he exclaimed. He looked past the rat towards Sam. “How long did it take you to perfect this?”

Sam was obviously taken aback. “No time at all. I just kind of did it,” he said, his eyes searching Mike’s. Cassie realized that he was trying to read Mike’s
mind to figure out what was going on. To the best of her knowledge, he could only read the minds of his familiars, but she couldn’t be sure.

Tad stood back and put his hands in his pockets, processing that. Mike leaned forward and spoke to him quietly.

“Think about what this could mean for The Lupine Project, if you have someone on hand who can change people this well, this easily,” he said.

Tad looked at Mike with interest, perhaps for the first time. “Who are you that you know about The Lupine Project, boy?”

Mike shrugged. “Just a hacker who found some stuff online that he shouldn’t have.”

“Interesting,” said Tad. He started to reach for the rat, but Mike scooped Mr. Golding up in his arms.

“Uh, we can’t let you have this one, but you see what I’m saying here.” He cocked his head in Sam’s direction. “You don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

“No, I see your point,” said Tad. His mouth became a hard line. “I will leave empty-handed for today, because as this boy knows, there are larger factors in play. But remember this, my friend,” he said, narrowing his eyes to blue slits. “I was invited into your home as a guest, and you insulted me and denied me several requests. But I take no action against you, nor do I demand recompense. Perhaps you should keep that in mind if I ask you for a favor someday.”

“I see.”

Tad looked at Sam for a few more seconds, considering,
then turned his back to him. “Arianna, we leave.” He walked to the dark haired woman, put an arm around her waist, and made for the door. With one puzzled glance over his shoulder, he went through the big glass door and was gone.

After a few moments of silence, Mike exhaled loudly and collapsed into a chair. “It worked, thank God,” he said, hugging Mr. Golding to his chest. “I was afraid he might not know about The Lupine Project.”

Sam took a tentative step forward, his face carefully blank. “Mike,” he began, and Cassie could tell he was struggling not to yell. “Just what the hell did you sign me up for?”

***

“I thought it was weird that there were no werewolves. Demons, check, witches, check, vampires, check, but no one ever mentions werewolves,” Mike said, letting Mr. Golding back down onto the table.

“So I looked into it. Turns out, werewolves used to exist, but they died out, and no one knows why. Kind of how witches used to be more powerful, and no one knows why. The Lupine Project is something the Western Court is doing to try to bring werewolves back, by experimenting with shapeshifing curses.”

There was a pause while everyone considered that. “Maybe this is just me being dense,” Khalil started, “But why do they even want werewolves back? Is it because they’re into hot wolf-girls?”

“No, Mr. Latif,” said Eugene was a slightly pained expression. “It’s because for demons, using werewolves carries many of the same advantages as using vampires. Only, they don’t drink blood, and never get the sun sickness. Of course,” he said, and Cassie could tell a put-down was coming, “they aren’t as strong as we are,
nor as smart, quite frankly. But they have their uses.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Mike. “Only, from what I’ve read, it’s pretty much been a non-starter. All the humans they’ve been cursing into wolves are just dying off.”

Eugene stroked his chin thoughtfully. “It’s curious that Tad knew of this,” he said slowly. “I’m not surprised that such an effort exists, but I had heard nothing.”

“I think that
maybe the court treats Tad more like a demon and not a vampire,” said Cassie, finally calm enough to start feeling tired. “He has his own witch; vampires don’t have witches, demons do.”

“If you’re all done considering this so calmly, maybe you can take a moment to figure out what it means for me,” said Sam. “Now Tad’s going to tell them that I can help with their werewolf problem, and I’m going to be forced to try to turn a bunch of people into wolves. Or who knows what else,” he said.

Mike threw up his hands. “I was in damage control mode, okay? It would have been really bad if that guy left wanting to nail you right before the hearing.”

“I’m not sure I’m seeing the improvement.”

“Look, I admit I’m not the most knowledgeable about all this stuff,” began Khalil. “In fact, I basically know nothing. But Mike took a bad situation, thought fast, and got that guy to leave tonight thinking that he still has a reason to want you in one piece. I’m going to call that a win.”

“I agree,” said Dwight softly. It was the first time he’d spoken all night. “You can’t help whoever they’re trying to turn into w
erewolves if you’re trapped in Hell.”

Sam still didn’t look convinced, but before he could respond, Eugene interjected. “It’s very late. Ethan has school in the morning.”

Sam blinked. “Yes, we should all go home. Staying here won’t solve anything.”

As everyone began to leave, Sam cleared his throat and the moving stopped.

“I, uh…I just wanted to thank everyone for being here tonight,” he said, looking sheepish. “I know it wasn’t pleasant, but it was important. I was glad to have all of you together…even though I wish there had been a better reason for it.”

Everyone seemed slightly taken aback by that. As he often did, Khalil broke the silence. “Anything for you, boss.”

Dwight mock-glared at him. “Hey, I thought I was your boss.”

“You’re my normal
boss, Sam is my special wizard boss.”

“Oh, for—everyone, just go home,” said Sam.

Only after she was safely at home, with Miri skulking somewhere nearby, did Cassie allow herself to think about the trip to the future. She wanted to talk to someone about it, to get verification that what she’d seen had been real, but didn’t know who she could trust.

She was pretty sure Sam wouldn’t know any more than she did, and dropping this on him right before his hearing seemed downright cruel.
Hey, just so you know I went to the future and I saw that we get married. Only, I die right after, and you’re stuck raising the most powerful witch in the world as a single dad. Good luck with that.

She could try contacting Helen, Sam’s mother, because if anyone was likely to know something, it was her. But could she be trusted? Cassie frowned around her toothbrush; there was no telling what the crafty witch would
do, and she’d been aware of that even before she’d learned what a terrible mother Helen had been.

Really, the only person she wanted to tell was Sere
nus; he had both the knowledge to be helpful, and the distance not to freak out. She was also confident that he would always look out for her best interests, even if it wasn’t always obvious in the short term; Sam’s too.

She spat out her toothpaste, feeling irritated. As tired as she was, how was she supposed to sleep with this on her mind?

Just then, a loud voice echoing in her mind made her drop her toothbrush on the floor.

Are you away from all your little friends? Good. Summon me right now, little girl.

Cassie choked, surprised. Why was Sammael in her head?

Hmm, I wonder. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you stopped existing for a fraction of a second there? I need to see you with my own eyes. I command you to summon me, right now.

Cassie closed her eyes and breathed deep, fighting panic for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. He couldn’t make her do it. If he was here, that would be one thing, but while he was in Realm and she was in the real world, she didn’t have to follow his commands.

I’m not summoning you. You can’t make me.

Oh rats, I was hoping you wouldn’t figure that out. Fine then, now I have to play hardball. Summon me now, and maybe this guy’s day won’t get any worse.

She gasped as a vivid image spread out before her mind’s eye: Serenus, chained up in some kind of cell. His bare, sallow chest was criss-crossed with all kinds of scars, his glasses were cracked, and his cane was broken in half next to him.

You kidnapped Serenus? But why?

The voice in her head sounded impatient, like she was being slow.

No, Girl Genius, it wasn’t me. I didn’t even touch this guy when he tried to steal my wife out from under me; you think I would kidnap him just to put pressure on you?

Cassie stumbled to her bedroom, confused. Maybe she was just too tired, but she couldn’t keep track of what was going on. So Sammael hadn’t kidnapped Serenus, another demon had? Unless Sammael was lying—but why would he lie about that?

Stop trying to think, you’re bad at it. All I’m saying is that I know where he is, and I can make his already uncomfortable stay that much more uncomfortable if you don’t cooperate. You call me within the next five minutes, or he loses a limb.

“No, wait—
!” she started, but she could tell he was gone. He loved hanging up on her.

She took another deep breath and sat down on her bed. What was she going to do? She could summon him right here, but she was afraid to have him in the house with her parents and her little brother. But, she didn’t have time to make it anywhere else.

Except….

She took off, sprinting down the hall and out the front door almost before the thought had completed. She was in her nightgown and barefoot, but she didn’t care. She began pounding down the sidewalk, hoping she could get to the parklet as fast as she thought.

Please Miri, just this once, be a bad bodyguard and don’t notice that I’ve left. Please be sleeping—

As if on cue, something grabbed her arm and she nearly tripped.

“Where do you think you’re going at this time of night?” asked Miri, puzzled. Cassie had never tried to give her bodyguard the slip before.

Gasping, Cassie took Miri’s hand in hers and began running again. “There’s no time, just come with me!”

“Come with you where?” called Miri, but in a few more moments it was obvious. When they got to the parklet, Cassie released Miri’s hand and knelt in front of the swing set.

“Cassie,” said Miri slowly. “You’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”

“It’s going to look like Sam, but it isn’t him, okay?” said Cassie. She wasn’t wearing her earrings, so she used a sharp rock to draw blood from her finger. “It’s his father. And he’s very dangerous, so stay back.”

Cassie couldn’t see Miri’s face from where she was kneeling, but it was like she could feel the vampire’s eyes widen in alarm. “Cassie, do you feel sick? You’re not making any sense…
.”

Cassie smeared the blood on the dirt before her. “Come to me, Sammael, Sammael,
Sammael!” she yelled.

For a moment, there was nothing, and Cassie wondered if this was just the demon lord’s sick idea of a practical joke. But between one eyeblink and the next, Sammael was kneeling right in front of her, his face dangerously close to hers. It always unnerved her, seeing those blue eyes in a face that looked so much like his son’s.

Oh God, another Sam-who-isn’t-Sam. I can’t take any more of this. I wish he would look like something else, anything else.

He considered her, closing one eye, then the other. He was so
close, she could feel his hot breath on her face. “Hmm, that’s funny. You certainly look like you’re still in this reality.”

With that, he dropped back into a sitting position and Cassie started breathing again.

“How did you know I was gone?” Cassie asked.

Sammael was picking at the grass next to him, like a little boy. “Because unlike my idiot son, I notice when one of my familiars simply stops existing for a while. Then again, at the time, he was rather preoccupied with his most recent global time freeze,” he looked up at her then, expression somewhere between amused and livid.
“And by the way, good fucking luck explaining that one in court! Jesus H. Christ.”

“What’s go
ing on?” asked Miri in a shaky voice. She looked scared and seeing her that way felt wrong; the vampire was always brave, even in the face of lethal danger.

Sammael seemed to notice Miri for the first time. “Did you bring me a present, Cassie?
How thoughtful of you!”

“She’s my bodyguard. Leave her alone,” said Cassie quickly. “You didn’t hurt Serenus, did you?”

He smirked at that. “Honestly, I wasn’t going to. I rather like that guy. I can bitch about my wife to anyone, but he’s the only one who really
understands
, you know what I’m saying?”

Cassie sighed. “Then why don’t you just leave and you two
can have a grand old tea party—”

In that instant, he was up in her face again, holding her neck. Miri tried to extricate her, but Sammael swatted the vampire away with his free hand. Cassie winced as she heard the vampire’s small body slam into a fence, far away.

“Tell me what happened to you today, now,” said Sammael. “You know I like you, but there are limits.”

For a terrifying second, Cassie’s mind went blank. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten what happened, but she had no idea how to organize the whole bizarre experience into words. Somehow, her mouth found the answer before her brain had caught up.

“I met your granddaughter today,” she said quietly. “One that hasn’t been born yet.”

For a moment, the demon didn’t react. Then he released his hold on her neck, his face an impassive mask.

“Give me the long version,” he said hoarsely. “Tell me everything.”

So she did. Everything from being pulled out of time by Corianne, to seeing her future husband, to the way Sam had very nearly kept her there. At some point while she was talking, Sammael got up and sat on one of the swings, where she joined him. By the end of her story, they were both sitting on the swings, looking up at the stars.

After she was finished, he was silent for a while; entire minutes passed. “She warned me about this almost 30 years ago,” he finally said, quietly.

Cassie didn’t respond, waiting for him to continue. She didn’t need to ask who “she” was.

“She said our children, and our children’s children, would have powers I couldn’t even begin to conceive of. I told her that she must be smoking crack. Her little brats, stronger than me? Ridiculous.” He stood up and took a few steps forward, still looking at the sky. “But I can’t do what that little girl did today.”

Cassie stopped swinging abruptly. “You can’t pull someone out of the past?”

He gritted his teeth; she had no doubt it pained him to admit his limitations. “No. Sure, I can go to the past,” he said, gesturing as though it was all trivial. “Or at least witness it. What I’m really doing is revisiting my memories of it, which are always perfect, I should note,” he continued. “But to pull someone out of the past, to tamper with the very nature of cause and effect…that’s…”

He seemed to struggle for the right word for a long time. “That’s blasphemy.”

It was strange, hearing him use that word. Cassie had known, academically, that he must have been an angel before he had become a demon. But this was the first time she had ever really believed it.

Cassie stole a glance at Miri’s prone body, hundreds of feet away. She was pretty sure the vampire was conscious but playing dead. Good decision; if Miri was around, Sammael might toy with her for the hell of it. But he didn’t care about her enough to bother with her if she was keeping out of his sight.

“So…what happens now?” asked Cassie.

“I don’t know. Despite my intellect being superior to yours in every other way, I conceive of cause and effect in the same way your limited human mind does; I was designed that way,” he said, sounding peeved. “I’m not any more prepared to live in a world where those rules no longer apply than you are.”

Cassie gulped down a mouthful of bile. This was bad. It wasn’t that she enjoyed him lording his superiority over her and acting like he was God’s gift to the universe (which, technically, she supposed he was), but it was what she expected. For him to come out and admit that he was just as clueless…well, that was downright terrifying.

“I may have to tell the others about this,” Sammael said quietly. “I’ve been coy about my son and his oh-so-miraculous destiny, but I can’t keep this quiet anymore. If the very fabric of existence is coming undone, they must be made aware.”

Seemingly filled with renewed purpose, he turned to her. “Don’t tell anyone what you’ve told me. And if that cursed child should pull you into the future again, do everything in your power to get back. And…”

Cassie stood up.
“And?”

“I’m sorry I threatened your friend. I have no idea what Asmodeus even wants with him, but I’ll try to keep him in one piece.” And with that, he was gone.