The Problem With Black Magic (13 page)

“Obviously not, because then I would have hypnotized you all to shut up by now,” growled Sam, shoveling food into his mouth like he wasn’t really tasting it.

“He’s lying,” said Khalil. “He doesn’t want us to know he can do it because it’s harder to hypnotize people when they’re expecting it.”

“Most of the urban legends about hypnosis are false, but that one happens to be true. I’m impressed, Mr.
Latif.”

“Don’t encourage him!”
grunted Sam.

“T
o be fair,” said Dwight, “You can’t really blame us for being curious, Sam. You’re the first person we’ve ever known who has superpowers.”

“They’re not superpowers,” said Sam, crossing his arms. “And this discussion is over.”

“See, are you just saying that? Or are you commanding us, as our lord?”

At that, Sam rolled up his napkin
and threw it at Khalil, and Cassie giggled. Her laughter seemed to break the tension in the room, and even Sam broke into a slightly embarrassed smile.

“You should just give us one of those Dungeons and Dragons character sheets that
lists all of your powers and stuff. That way we won’t have to ask,” said Jay.

Sam’s smile disappeared quickly. “Jay, no offense, but my powers are none of your business.”

“Err, technically, they are,” said Serenus, who had drained his wine in the interim. He pointed at the table. “As official members of your entourage, these people are entitled to your protection. It is customary for them to know the limits of their lord’s power.”

Sam looked at
Serenus for a long moment. “You could have told me that before I agreed to this entourage thing,” he said through gritted teeth.

At some point Cassie hadn’t noticed,
Serenus must have indicated he wanted a second glass of wine, because another terrified waiter deposited a fresh glass in front of him. He lifted his drink in Sam’s direction in a mock toast.

“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t have be
en such an obnoxious little twit when I tried to move in with your mother.”

Sam clammed up for the rest of the nine-course meal, picking at his food and shaking his head softly when anyone tried to engage him in further conversation. Cassie guessed he was shocked that Serenus had brought up something so personal in front of the entourage. For his part, Serenus was more talkative, but still seemed somewhat subdued throughout the meal, as though he were only half paying attention.

As she ate, Cassie tuned out the conversation about tomorrow’s sightseeing, and thought about what she knew about
Serenus’ and Sam’s relationship. If Serenus had been in a relationship with Sam’s mother, that would explain how the two knew each other-- at the very least, she was positive Serenus wasn’t his father.

Looking at
Serenus over her roasted squab and black truffle shavings (or something like that; she’d stopped paying attention to a lot of the dish explanations), she wondered about the strange relationship he seemed to have with Sam. He was fiercely protective of him at times, almost like a favorite uncle, but there was resentment there, too. His comment had hinted at the fact that he blamed Sam, at least partially, for the fact that things hadn’t worked out with his lover.

The courses came quickly, no doubt motivated by the fact that the staff wanted to get them out of the restaurant as soon as possible. If any money changed hands on the way out, Cassie didn’t see it. It was still
fairly early in the evening when Serenus hailed two more cabs to take them to the hotel.

In a matter of minutes, the cabs pulled up in front of the
Regencia, a golden hued-building with swirls of crystal visible on the door handles and window frames; there was no doubt this was an expensive place. Cassie and Jay shared excited comments as the liveried hotel staff who met them at the curb took their minimal luggage and led them through the golden double-doors. Mike, who had stayed at expensive hotels with his parents before, tried to act casual, but Cassie could tell that even he was impressed.

The group approached the front desk, all feeling motley and out of place in the grand, cream-colored entryway with sumptuous leather coaches and marble floors.
Serenus took the lead once again.

“Reservation: the
Regencia Deluxe Suite, booked through Sunday,” he said, smiling at the lady at the counter. Cassie stared: even the woman who staffed the hospitality desk was wearing a sheer cream-colored evening gown, stunning against her ebony skin.

The employee returned his smile with a warm one of her own, surprisingly warm in fact; Cassie supposed that this place wouldn’t tolerate insincere half-smiles for the amount of money they paid. “Of course,
Zeitbloom party, for the dental convention. One moment, let me get your keys,” she said, turning her back to them for a moment.

The group, including Sam, exchanged confused glances: dental convention?
Serenus turned and whispered to them while the woman was occupied with the keys.

“That’s how they like to book these things: You say ‘dental convention,’ people get bored and they don’t ask any more questions,” he said with a subtle shrug.

The dark skinned woman returned with a small velvet drawstring bag, which Cassie assumed contained seven keycards. “Check-in, where you can pick up your badges, runs through midnight tonight in the Valencia Ballroom. Please enjoy your stay.”

Even though they were all
bracing themselves for opulence , the sight of the suite still caused everyone except Serenus to pause in the entryway, jaws agape. An elevated platform in the center of the large living room, tucked under a large crystal chandelier, housed leather couches and an onyx coffee table, filled with champagne and overflowing trays of bread, cheese, chocolate bonbons and fruit. A staircase led down from the platform to a pair of large hot tubs, with what must have been a sixty-inch flatscreen TV hanging on the wall above them. There was a full dining room, complete with a wetbar and a glass minibar complete with all manner of snacks, and an alcove that seemed to be set aside just for massage tables. Topping it off, the back wall was all glass, allowing for a breathtaking view of Central Park.

“
Whoo!” yelled Khalil, ripping off his shirt and making a beeline for the biggest hot tub. Cassie averted her eyes when he continued stripping. “Hey!” she yelled, only to calm when she realized he had a pair of bright red swimming trunks on under his pants. He cannonballed into the tub, splashing water over the edge and onto the marble floor.

Mike looked at him wide-eyed as Khalil came up for air, settling into a corner of the tub with an expression of perfect contentment on his face. “I’ll be
right back,” he said, running off to find a bedroom to change into his bathing suit. Jay quickly followed behind him.

Serenus
approached the onyx coffee table while Mike and Jay yelled something about the size of the beds. Dwight walked over to the dining room, picked up a frosted paper card, and tossed it to Khalil in the hot tub. “Check this out,” he said.

Khalil looked at the paper and then whooped again.
“Whoo! Free room service 24-7!”

“We just ate,” said Sam, speaking for the first time in a while.

“Yes, I know,” said Khalil, his face hidden behind the menu. “It was so enjoyable, I might want to do it again sometime.”

Dwight looked over to
Serenus. “They gave us all this for free? Seriously?”

Serenus
motioned to Cassie, and she joined him at the elevated platform. Sam came up behind her and collapsed into one of the leather couches. “Despite Sam’s admirable attempts to lower the average salary of demonkind singlehandedly, money is usually no object. This is nothing to them,” Serenus said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

He poured tw
o glasses of sparkling wine and handed the first one to Sam and extended the second one to Cassie. She held up a hand to decline. “I’m underage,” she said.

“I don’t think it matters here,” said Sam, taking a small sip from his glass.

Serenus took the champagne he had poured for her and sipped it delicately. “Your choice, but you might want a little something to relax you: we have to go to check-in.”

Khalil groaned. “I have to get out of the tub?”

“Not you,” Serenus said without turning around to look at him. “We three,” he said motioning to Sam, Cassie and himself.

Cassie felt her mouth go dry. “What’s at check-in?”

At that moment, Jay and Mike ran into the living room from the bedroom and jumped into the hot tub in their swimsuits. Dwight had to jump out of the way to avoid getting splashed, laughing softly.

Sam drained his glass in one quick motion. “Mingling, I’m afraid.”

***

Though they weren’t expected to truly dress up until the next day, Serenus made it clear that both Sam and Cassie had to look “presentable” at check-in, so she had an excuse to investigate the palatial bathrooms for a quick shower. The bathroom, four times as big as her bedroom at home, had a large shower, an old-fashioned bathtub with clawed feet, and yet another hot tub. Cassie was puzzled by the hot tub; were the two in the living room not enough? She was beginning to wonder how much of this luxurious presentation was more about showing off what you could afford than pleasure, since no one could possibly need three hot tubs.

Despite her skepticism, she still enjoyed the shower, moaning contentedly when she felt the great water pressure soothe her aching back; she must have twisted something when she was having her nightmare on the plane.

She put on a tight-fitting, purple velvet shirt, her jeans and a pair of simple black dress shoes, and Serenus nodded his approval. Sam came out of the master bedroom wearing a pair of crisp tan slacks and a black V-neck T-shirt. Cassie rolled her eyes; he looked great, with his cornsilk hair freshly combed, but damn if the man didn’t wear only the most boring clothes. Would it kill him to wear an actual color for once?

While the rest of the group se
t about ordering a lavish dessert from the hot tubs (Khalil had discovered the menu cards were waterproof), Sam, Serenus and Cassie took the elevator down to the ballroom to pick up their badges and mingle with some demons and their entourages. Picking up the badges was necessary, but Serenus had made it clear that the real reason the three of them had to go was to start making a good impression before their hearing tomorrow.

Which meant that Cassie should try to act like a respectable familiar.
She frowned as the elevator made pleasant dings to indicate each passing floor, thinking; she could playact at being subservient to her master, but how far should she push it? Overplaying it and looking phony could be worse than not doing anything.

She turned to Sam. “Hey, do I have to pretend to be in your thrall or whatever?”

Sam looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Thrall. Nice vocabulary there.”

“Thanks, it’s an SAT word.”

Sam chuckled softly and shook his head. “That ship sailed when you slapped me in front of two officers of the court. Just try not to hit me for the next hour, if you can possibly help it.”

“I won’t hit you,” she whispered as the elevator doors popped open. No matter what he might think, she did have some self-control; she hadn’t tried to throttle him yet, had she?

The three of them quickly made their way to the ballroom at the end of the red-carpeted hall. The room was filled with what looked like several hundred people, in all manner of dress; some had clearly just got there and were still wearing their traveling clothes, while others were dressed elegantly. To Cassie, the sight reminded her of cocktail hour at her cousin’s wedding, complete with sharply dressed waitresses walking around with hot trays of miniature spinach pies and tiny hot dogs.

Cassie smiled to herself; maybe Khalil wouldn’t have been so keen to stay in the hot tub if he knew free pigs-in-blankets were available downstairs.
The man seemed to have a gargantuan appetite, at least when the food was free.

Someone waved to
Serenus within seconds of their entrance, and he winked at Sam and Cassie over his shoulder before he left to go talk to his contact. “Now, be nice,” he said. “Also, remember they are far more scared of you than you are of them.”

“True,” said Sam, still looking uncomfortable.

“I doubt that highly,” said Cassie as Serenus walked off.

Sam used his height to get the lay of the land, then motioned that she should follow him. He led them past the bar to a table adorned with black and gold balloons.
A curly-haired woman in a glittering black gown manning the table gave him a big smile, which faded when a coworker whispered something in her ear as Sam and Cassie approached the table.

“
Zeitbloom party, checking in?” Sam said, flashing the woman one of his rare smiles. Cassie wanted to punch herself in the stomach when she felt it flip-flop at his grin, but managed to resist the urge.

“Yes of course, I just saw the Examiner,” she said, motioning to where
Serenus was already deeply engrossed in conversation with several other men. She reached behind the table and pulled up a black plastic bag.

“Here you have your badges, and a schedule. Yellow badges are for members of your entourage, while the blue badges are for any familiars you may have. Make sure your people wear their badges at all times during court tomorrow.”

Serenus had explained that the badges were critically important for their safety. As violent as demon politics might be in general, court was the exception: no violence was tolerated in court, and human servants were especially well-protected. Starting a fight at court could get a demon imprisoned, but daring to attack someone wearing a yellow badge during court was punishable by death. It was why Sam had been willing to allow them all to come.

Cassie wondered if the emphasis on keeping humans safe at court was indicative of demons trying to keep a fierce hold on whatever pretentions to civility they had left. Of course, maybe they just liked making up arbitrary rules that made everyone jump through hoops.

“Will do,” said Sam, still grinning. “Is there anything else?”

“No, you’re all set,” she said, her smile this time a little forced. Cassie wondered what she had been told about Sam. “Please feel free to relax from your trip here until you’re ready to return to your rooms.”

Sam grabbed the bag and led Cassie away from the table, stopping in a corner that was a little less crowded than the rest of the room.

“What now?” she asked, arms crossed.

“Now, we mingle,” said Sam, looking less than thrilled at the prospect. “Want a drink?”

“We just had drinks.”

“Welcome to court.”

Cassie sighed; she wasn’t thirsty, but she felt uncomfortable and at least having a drink would give her something to do. “Shirley Temple?”

Sam nodded and handed her the bag of badges before heading for the bar. “Don’t move,” he said softly.

Cassie bit her lip and looked around. How was she supposed to mingle? “Hi, I’m Cassie: I became a familiar by accident and now every demon and their uncle is trying to kidnap me so they can have their own witch. Why, if it wasn’t for this pretty pink necklace my master made out of diamonds and rat guts, I’d be in real trouble! How was your week?”