The Problem With Black Magic (15 page)

The only one who made much of an impression was the tall witch in the blue dress,
who had a dazzling smile for Sam but looked at Cassie like she was a smear of dirt on the floor. She didn’t say anything outright nasty, but her tone was so contemptuous that Cassie felt sick to her stomach.

Serenus
must have noticed her turning green, because he moved to wrap up their social session. “ Andrea, it’s been a pleasure, but it’s been a very long day and I know Cassie’s tired. Big day tomorrow, you understand.”

“Oh, of course,” said the witch,
tossing her dark blonde hair out of her eyes and flashing Sam another 1,000-watt smile. “Sweet dreams, Sammael.”

As
Serenus led them out of the ballroom, Cassie shuddered. “That woman…she hates me,” she whispered.

Serenus
nodded. “Probably. Imagine you’re a celebrated witch, used to getting all the attention, and then you find out that some 16-year-old girl might blow you out of the water. That’s a bitter pill to swallow.”

“She liked Sam though,” she said, looking at him over her shoulder. “She was flirting with you.”

“Shut up,” he said sharply, averting his eyes. Cassie made a mental note that Sam was not a big fan of the sultry witch; either that, or he just found the very idea of anyone flirting with him insulting. With him, it was hard to tell.

When they got back to the suite, Khalil was still in the hot tub, empty trays that had once held food surrounding him. One tray,
still with a few pieces of cake on it, floated aimlessly in the small pool of water outside the tub Khalil had made with his cannonball. He was riveted to the flat-screen TV, playing some movie that featured a lot of cars chasing each other, jumping over bridges and then exploding.

“Hey, how was demon bingo?” he called over his shoulder at their entrance.

“Only slightly insufferable. Everyone else go to bed?” Sam asked, ascending the central platform and collapsing once again on a leather couch, rubbing his eyes. Cassie thought he looked as tired as she’d ever seen him.

Khalil yawned. “They went to their rooms, although the
y could be watching skin flicks. Hey, I wasn’t supposed to stop them, was I?”

“Good night, all,” said
Serenus, loosening his tie. “Get some sleep, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important tomorrow is.”

“Night,
Ser,” Cassie said as Serenus headed down the hall toward the bedrooms. She followed Sam up to the platform and sank into the couch across from him, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow.

“Hey, Sam?”
Khalil called from the hot tub. “We cool.”

Sam turned his attention from Cassie to Khalil. “Excuse me?”

“All that stuff I said, about not trusting you after you abandoned us and stuff? We’re okay now, I forgive you.”

“Oh. So pleased to hear that,” said Sam dryly, and Cassie had to crack a smile.

“Just don’t steal my soul or anything freaky like that, and you and I have no problems.”

Sam stared. “
We’ve been over this: What would anyone want with your soul?”

“I
dunno, am I a demon? Aren’t you guys always after souls?”

“That’s the devil,” said Cassie.

“Oh. Hey Sam, are you the devil? Because then, we might not be cool anymore, is what I’m saying. That could be a deal-breaker.”

“No, I am not the devil,” Sam said with a sigh. “And go to sleep; something tells me my familiar would like my undivided attention.”

Khalil mumbled something about being there first, but he got out of the hot tub and went to his room when Sam insisted. Even though the entourage thing was just for show, Cassie wondered if they were all beginning to defer to Sam without even realizing they were doing it.

She crossed her arms and legs, trying to keep her face blank as she spoke to him. “What is your problem with me, exactly?”

Sam
threw his head back and sighed. “Do we have to do this now?”

“We do, because tomorrow, you have to try to convince a bunch of demons that you want me to stay with you, and I’m not so sure you really do.”

He looked at her again, eyes narrowed. “Just because you annoy me that doesn’t mean I’m going to let them take you away from your home and your family.”

Aha.
“Why do I annoy you?”

Sam shrugged, picking a white chocolate bon
bon off of one of the overflowing trays on the coffee table. “I don’t see how it matters.”

“It matters to me.”

Sam popped the chocolate in his mouth, chewing while he thought. “You’re careless,” he said after a pause. “You don’t give anything your full attention, and you get away with it. You’re opinionated, though you have no experience to back up your opinions. You’re…” he shrugged. “You’re a teenaged girl, and most teenaged girls annoy me. I’m easily annoyed.”

“Is that really all it is?” she asked, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward, elbows on her knees. “You don’t like me because you think I’m careless?”

“You are,” he said firmly, leaning forward to mirror her. “First I thought you were just sloppy at work, and now…you’re leaking magic all over the place. But what’s a little stray white magic going to do? Make the flowers grow faster? Make headaches go away?” He took a deep breath. “If I did what you’re doing now, I’d hurt people.”

Cassie ran her tongue over her teeth as the gears started to work in her mind. “You’re jealous.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. You have no idea what it’s like, having to fight for control all the time.”

At that, Cassie laughed; first a little chuckle, then peals of nigh-hysterical laughter. Sam looked mystified? “What?”

“It’s just, oh my God,” she said when she got her breathing under control again. “It’s so hard to be you, Sam! It must be so terrible to be really powerful, my heart just bleeds for you. It’s so much better to be me, watching demons fight over you like a chew toy while you can’t do a thing about it.”

He looked for a moment like he was about to lash out at her, then caught himself and sank back into the couch. “As usual, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Besides, it’s not like it’s even my fault I’m leaking magic. You started it, when you tapped into me, remember? How can I control it? I just found out all this stuff really exists a few weeks ago: the hell is your excuse?”

At that, he
did get to his feet, and she leaned back in her chair automatically. She didn’t really think he would hurt her, but she knew it was stupid to goad him and yet here she was, doing it. She didn’t even know why, but somehow the urge was irresistible.

He seemed to think the better of whatever he was going to do and sat back down, slowly. “See, this is another thing I don’t like about you. You know control is an issue for me, so you mock me.
Because you can.”

Cassie felt her cheeks start to redden. “I am not mocking you.”

“Yes, you are, because belittling me calls attention to how little substance you have,” he said. He leaned back in his chair, mimicking a nonchalance that she was sure he didn’t really feel. “Who are you, Cassandra Tremblay? What are your hobbies? To what do you aspire?”

Cassie sat back, confused.
“Uh, what? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sam shrugged. “Your friends, they’re young but I know who they are. Mike is all a
bout programming, and Jay loves his games. But who are you? A girl who wants everyone to know that she makes her own choices, although as far as I can tell, you never make any. What are your hopes, dreams, ambitions? Have you ever even thought about it?”

Cassie’s jaw dropped. “Of course I have! What kind of a question-
-“

He jumped to his feet, so quickly it startled her.
“Oh, really? Who do you admire? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Cassie just looked up at him, not sure how to answer. So she didn’t have a definitive plan mapped out for her life yet…did that make her a bad person?
Was being indecisive the same as lacking substance?

He grinned at her, that sneering grin that showed more contempt than a glare. “Let’s face it, it was unfortunate I had to make you a familiar, but if you weren’t my familiar, you’d be nothing. You’re an average girl who thinks yo
u should be treated like a princess just for being average, and I’m sick of it.”

Several emotions vied for Cassie’s attention: rage, betraya
l, and a sickening rush of fear in her belly. Fear that maybe he was right, and as much as she lamented being fought over by demons, she was secretly glad of it: because without her magic, she was ordinary. Worse than ordinary, because she liked to think that she was something more.

“So that’s what you think of me,” she said, unable to keep the waver out of her voice. She didn’t want him to see her cry, but when the tears flowed freely, she didn’t even bother to hide her face; it seemed pointless.
He had won again.

Through her wet lashes, she saw Sam take an
awkward step forward, like he knew he should do something about the crying girl in front of him but had no idea what. She blinked, feeling hot tears drop onto her velvet blouse, and when she opened her eyes, he was kneeling in front of her.

“I’m
sorry,” he said softly, moving as though he were going to take her hands in his, then thought better of it. He returned his hands to his sides awkwardly. “That was…harsh. You made me angry, and I snapped. But Cassie, please don’t ask questions if you don’t want to hear the answer.”

Cassie nodded. Though slightly mollified by his apology, she noted that he didn’t take back anything he had said. He really did think she was an average girl who lacked drive and personality.

“I think we’ve talked enough for tonight,” he continued, meeting her eyes. “Remember, we don’t have to be the best of friends tomorrow. But we do have to present a united front in court. Do you think you can do that?”

She nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Good; I’m going to sleep. I suggest you do the same.” He got up off his knees and turned to leave the platform.

“Wait,
” Cassie she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve. There had been something else she’d been trying to ask him for a while. He turned to her, looking wary.

“Well?”

Cassie bit her lip before she responded. “How do I become a witch? That gross guy downstairs said you had to “make” me into one.”

Sam dropped his eyes, and if Cassie didn’t know better, she would say he looked nervous all of a sudden. “There’s a process for it.”

“What is it though? Do you have to cast a spell on me or something?”

A smile began to play on the corners of his mouth.
“Not exactly.”

Cassi
e spread her arms, annoyed. “Then what? Just spell it out!”

Sam looked up and met her eyes, his face flickering briefly with an emotion she couldn’t read before it settled into his usual calm. “I fill you with demonic essence, and like any other invader, your body has to adapt to neutralize it. With a bacterial infection your immune system creates antibodies, but in this case, your body chemistry changes.
Changes to something between a human and a demon.”

At first, Cassie looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language, then she started to sweat as her body processed his meaning before her mind caught up. It all added up; his nervousness at the question, his reticence to tell them what “demonic essence” was when he was crafting the amulets, Dan
Bucknell’s comments…

She covered her mouth with her hands and turned away from him. “Oh my God, you don’t mean…tell me it’s not like that. Tell me it’s not what I’m thinking.”

He smiled a sad little smile. “As I’ve already told you several times, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

She began to pace, holding her stomach at a sudden twinge that she wasn’t sure was from pain.
“Eww. Just ewww. Is there any other way to do it? Please tell me there’s another way.”

She looked up at him to see an expression she didn’t recognize on his face. Was he…hurt? “I didn’t realize the idea was so repulsive to you,” he said softly.

“Of course it is! I don’t even know if I’m ready for normal sex yet, now you’re telling me I have to do it with a demon? Ick. Maybe being a witch isn’t worth it--“

She
gasped at the ugly noise of shattering ceramic. Sam had spun, picked up one of the platters on the table, and thrown it across the room with an intensity that frightened her. Now, there was a dripping dark splat on one of the cream colored walls, where the chocolate had been pulverized by the force of his throw.

She jumped back from him, shocked at the strength of his reaction.
One minute, he was berating her for being average, boring and beneath his notice, and the next he was overcome with rage that she didn’t want to sleep with him? Were men all this contradictory, or was it just him?

Sam closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, composing himself before he gave in to the anger and broke something else. Like her.

“Do me a favor, okay?” he said as he turned away. “Don’t ask me anymore why I don’t like you.”