Random Acts of Sorcery (15 page)

Asmodeus leaned forward and raised an eyebrow. “An impressive curse. I can sense the pride in this one, even in that shape.” He licked his lips, and Sam suppressed a shudder.

“I will give you a claim to him if you let me see Serenus for an hour,” Sam said. “You can have him for one day out of every year.”

Asmodeus cocked his head. “One day out of every year is barely enough to get started.”

“Three days.”

“You have to give me more.”

“Five days out of every year, and that’s my final offer. I’m only asking for a short visit with a prisoner.”

“He’s not a prisoner,” Asmodeus snapped, but then seemed to consider Sam’s offer. “That’s fair. I admit, I’m intrigued by your offer, and I’ve no reason to begrudge you seeing your friend.”

Actually, you do. Because the whole reason you
called him in early this year was probably because you didn’t want him available to advise me before my hearing, but as I thought, you’re so hungry for a foothold on a good soul that you’re careless.

“Excellent,” said Sam, standing up. “Just show me where Serenus is and I’ll be on my way.”

Asmodeus frowned, not rising from his own chair. “You’re not trying to sell me part of a soul that you don’t truly own, rendering our agreement void, are you? Because let me warn you, I have no patience for that.”

Sam allowed himself a grin. “No. You
forget, that as I am not a full-blood, I’m not bound by all of your laws. I don’t need a verbal contract to take a soul; I cursed him, so he’s mine now. Isn’t that right?”

All the fight seemed to go out of John; Sam couldn’t really blame him. It was amazing the rat had struggled for as long as he had.

“That would seem to be the way of things,” said Asmodeus, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “You’ll forgive my skepticism, but I’m concerned that you may be utilizing some other loophole regarding your status to weasel out on your end of the deal. I would have this agreement stated in full, with full names.”

“I, Samuel Christian Andrews, the Son of Sammael, do swear to give a portion of the soul of John Benjamin Golding to Asmodeus, High Lord of the Realm. I agree to give him
the soul for the allotted time—”

“Five days every year,” Asmodeus interrupted.

“I agree to give him the soul for five days every year, and during said time, I renounce all claim to him.”

Asmodeus nodded. “Fair enough; it is done.” He gestured with his hand. “You’ll find Dr. Zeitbloom through that door.”

Sam looked to his left; next to the fireplace, a door had appeared where none had been before. “Well then,” he said, putting John back in his pocket, and turned to go.

Asmodeus smiled thinly. “You’re not going to leave your little rat with me?”

This is the dangerous part. Don’t screw this up.

“I still own him 360 days out of the year,” Sam said. “Why? Do you want to claim your five days starting now?”

There was a pause, and for a moment Sam doubted his plan.
I said he wouldn’t come to any harm. I hope I didn’t lie to Dwight and Khalil.

“No,” said Asmodeus. “I have more souls than I can give my full attention at the moment; I’ll make time for him later in the year, when my schedule is lighter. Just out of curiosity,” he asked, standing up. “What did this man ever do to you?”

Sam smiled. “He was my familiar’s English teacher. I did not appreciate him calling her in for extra help.”

That is so close to being true it may not even count as a lie.

Asmodeus chuckled. “Is that so? I don’t sense much lust from him myself,” he said, considering John’s small form one more time, “But we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

And with that, he was gone; the blue fire crackled and whooshed to announce his exit, and the dim electric light in the room briefly flickered.

Showy, that one
, he thought as he went to go find Serenus.

It had been so long since Serenus had seen another person, then when he first saw Sam enter his cell, he thought it was an illusion.

“You can’t trick me, Azzie,” Serenus drawled, only half-conscious. “I know he would never come to see me.”

The illusion walked towards him slowly. “Come on, Ser. If he wanted to taunt you with a fake, why would he use me instead of Helen?”

“Hmm.
Well, it could be that Helen would be too obvious. I almost expect to see a vision of her as she was in her youth, only to be replaced by a giant scorpion. It’s a classic.” He found himself rapidly gaining mental acuity; this was the first mental stimulation he’d had in days. “Or he could show me someone else; despite what you may think, I have loved other women besides your mother.”

“Yeah, sure okay.
Besides, ‘Azzie?’ I know there aren’t many good nicknames for Asmodeus, but that’s just silly. It makes it sound like you’re both in elementary school.”

Serenus sighed deeply. “Sam, you shouldn’t be here.”

The younger man (whom he was now convinced was the genuine article), sat down cross-legged a few feet away from where Serenus himself was chained. “I keep being told that I shouldn’t exist, so really, I shouldn’t be anywhere. May as well be here.”

“What did you pay for the pleasure of my company?” Serenus asked.

Sam ignored the question. “Why did you do it, Ser? Why would you ever make a deal with him?” His eyes took in the full extent of Ser’s scarred, emaciated body. “What could be worth this?”

Serenus smiled. What Sam couldn’t know, and would never have guessed, was that until this year, his deal with Asmodeus had actually been rather pleasant, all things considered. He spent much of his time here drinking tea with the demon lord, filling him in on all the things that had transpired in the real world since his last visit. Asmodeus was always curious about human progress in the sciences, so the two would often talk for hours about new advances in technology. His accommodations were never princely, but they were always civilized; he was given a bed, and regular meals.

And because of that, I allowed myself to believe that he was fond of me. No, not really; I always knew it would come to this, sooner or later.

“That’s a long story for another time,” said Serenus finally. “I imagine your stay here has a deadline.”

“I have an hour.”

“What do you need?”

Sam frowned. “I’m sorry. You’re being tortured in a dungeon, and here I am, coming to you to try to save my own skin.”

Serenus shook his head; the effort made him slightly dizzy. “No, don’t feel that way. I did this to myself. Tell me what’s happened in my absence.”

Sam began filling him in. He glossed over the attempt to make Cassie into a witch, but Serenus was perfectly capable of reading between the lines there. When the name Thaddeus O’Donnell came up, Serenus let out a sharp breath.

“Tell me you did not grant him an audience.”

“I did. I listened to Eugene’s advice,” said Sam quietly.

“Normally, that would be wise,” said Serenus. “But O’Donnell…he’s not what he was 50 or 100 years ago. He’s become more brazen, erratic. Buckley must have been going by what he knew of him from the past.”

“I had to get him to think I could help with The Lupine Project to get him to leave peacefully.”

Serenus felt a pain in his chest; he was too weak to be subjected to this much shock. “How do you know about that?”

Sam began flicking some rocks on the floor. “Mike. He’s a hacker. I guess he must have found where the court stores their documents online.”

Serenus considered that for a moment. “That boy is an asset,” he said finally. “I would say that he could be killed for accessing such sensitive information, but if anyone involved has half a brain, they’ll see his potential value.”

“I hope so. It’s too late for me to give him the lecture about not sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, in any case.” He took a deep breath; the air down here was thin and unsatisfying. Still, there was much more demon in Sam than there was in Serenus; the air probably didn’t have the same stifling effect on him.

“Ser, what am I going to do? The hearing starts in a matter of days, and I have no idea how to pacify them. What do they want from me?”

Ser thought for a few moments. He was relieved that his brain seemed to still be working; up until now, he hadn’t been sure his mind would ever be the same. “Well, let’s see. I guess the first thing you must keep in mind is that while it’s called a blood status hearing, it’s not really about the status of your blood.”

Sam creased his brow. “Go on.”

“If it were, it would be a very short hearing. Exhibit A: Your mother is a witch, but she started out as a human woman. No need for an Exhibit B,” he said. He didn’t know that much about previous blood status hearings, but he was pretty sure most of them had involved a demon and a non-human parent; either a fairy, an elf, or some other strange creature that barely existed anymore. Helen had no appreciable amount of fae in her lineage; he had checked for that a long time ago. “But they’ll probably get around that by saying that Helen’s status remains somewhat unclear. It’s very easy to believe she isn’t human.”

“No argument from me there.”

“What it really is, is a cost-benefit analysis: how much you can do for them, versus the threat you represent. I don’t think there’s any point to trying to downplay the threat; they’re not stupid,” he mused. “You should be doing everything you can to make them see just how useful you can be to them.”

“But I can’t do that without lying, Ser,” Sam said quietly. “I know what kind of plans they have; I don’t want any part of it. And lying in court is worse than saying nothing…at least, that’s what you told me.”

Serenus considered that for a moment. “You know, there is a way to lie in court without a witch detecting it. You just have to partition your mind: to truly believe what you’re saying while you’re saying it, even if your real beliefs lie elsewhere.”

Sam let out a small groan. “You mean, become a politician. Even if I wanted to do that, I don’t think I could learn how to lie that well so fast.”

“Then…” Serenus thought for a few more moments and took another breath of the dank, unsatisfying air. “Trust your mother. She’ll be there, I can’t believe she won’t have a plan.”

Sam looked at him in disbelief. “You really think she’s going to outwit the entire Western Court? I know she’s smart Ser, but you love her so much you like to think she’s unstoppable.”

“It’s not out of love. I just know her much better than you do.”

Sam opened his mouth to respond to that,
then closed it again; he probably couldn’t argue that Serenus knew her better. He’d spent too much of his life running away from her. “I can’t rely on my mother to save me for my entire life.”

“No, but remember, she created this problem by choosing to have you, in the matter that she did, in the first place. When you are in a situation that’s truly of your own making, then you will be responsible for getting you and yours safely out of it.”

Sam looked unconvinced. “And when will that be?”

Ser stretched, and
clinked his chains. “I don’t know, Sam. But when it comes, I think you’ll find yourself wishing that you still had your Mama bear, protecting her single cub with all her might.”

Sam leaned his head against the wall, considering that. “I have one more thing I need to ask you.”

“I’m all yours.”

It was another few moments before Sam spoke again. “Did you know that Cassie has been summoning my father?”

A spasm of pain tore through his body, and the next thing he knew, Sam was shaking him awake. He must have blacked out for a few moments. After he gained some measure of composure back, Sam stood up and backed away.

“I can’t believe it. You knew. You hide everything from me.”

Serenus grimaced from the pain. It was too late; there was no backing out of this now. “Prepare yourself. Cassie is your father’s familiar as well as your own. That’s how he was able to appear in daylight in January, and that’s why she summons him.”

Even though he had to have seen it coming by now, the news seemed to shock Sam. He took a step back, like his legs were unsteady. “No.”

“It’s been that way ever since October, since London.”

The younger man glared at him. “It’s a good thing you’re in such a pitiful state right now, Ser. I’d feel guilty hitting you.” He turned on his heel to leave. “Goodbye.”

“Wait!” Serenus yelled, and Sam did stop, with his hand on the door latch. “You can only think of what this means for you, you don’t know what it means for her. Having two masters makes her stronger,” he said, gasping for air. “It’s a trick she knows how to use, and it’s already saved your life once. It may well again.”

Sam’s back was still to him, but Serenus could tell that he had made an impact. He could sense Sam putting the pieces together; how this information could help explain some of the things he’d never quite understood about Cassie.

“And I’ve never kept anything from you because I enjoyed keeping you in the dark. You know that. I did it because—”

“I know,” Sam said quietly. “Stay strong. It’s only another week and a half.” Then he lifted the latch and Serenus was alone in his cell again.