The Problem With Black Magic (18 page)

She snuck a glance up at
Serenus on the panel, and guessed from the worried look in his eyes that this wasn’t part of his plan. Whatever Sam was playing at, the older demon hadn’t been a part of it.

Stopping a few feet from him, she shifted in her heels, not sure what to do. Finally giving into the temptation to look at his face, s
he gulped while he flashed her a brilliant smile; the fact that he showed no sign of his anger from just a moment ago was more disturbing to her than a scowl would have been.

“So, uh, what do we do? I’m still pretty new at this,” she said, provoking soft laughter from the audience. She briefly wondered how the crew from The Daily Grind was finding this whole spectacle.

Nathaniel was still grinning, but Cassie thought his smile looked a bit strained; just maybe, he wasn’t sure how this was going to play out either. “Just take my hand; I’ll do the rest,” he said, extending his arm to her.

When Cassie took his hand, she closed he
r eyes and tried to concentrate. Using the same senses she had when Sam had asked her to get a read on the demons in the room last night, she hoped that she could get a feel for how powerful he was. If he was weak, maybe tapping into her really would knock him for a loop, and she could go home.

Inhaling, she recognized the dark musty scent that she associated with Sam; not exactly the same, but similar. She realized it was probably the smell of demon magic.

When Nathaniel reached with his mind to tap her well, she gasped; the musky scent overwhelmed her senses and she knew he was strong. Maybe not as strong as Sam, but that wasn’t the point; he was strong enough that she doubted the act of tapping her magic was going to faze him.

As her mind began to reel from the connection, she had to resist the urge to throw a glance over her shoulder at Sam; had he just gambled everything on the hope that Nathaniel would be too weak to handle her? If he had, it was reckless and stupid.

She felt a strange sensation, like all the warmth was leaving her body. It wasn’t exactly painful, but strange. When Sam had tapped her, all that she had felt was pain; she guessed it must be because Sam hadn’t had any time to waste. Nathaniel was testing the waters, not trying to pull out all her magic through the pores of her skin under pressure.

Nathaniel laughed softly, a sound she probably would have found beautiful and sexy if she wasn’t so busy hating his guts at the moment. “Wow,” he said. “I was expecting it to be a rush, but this is…it’s so pure. This m
ust be what magic was like at the dawn of time,” he said, something akin to awe in his voice. “Cassandra, I would be honored to teach you.”

Thanks, but I still hate you
. And myself, for trusting that Sam knew what he was doing! If I have to go away with this guy now, who’s going to tease Hunter when he gets his first girlfriend? Hell, whose going to tease JAY when he gets his first girlfriend?

Someone on the dais began to speak, probably pointing on that Nathaniel seemed to be handling the power transfer just fine, but the sudden sound of Sam’s voice in Cassie’s head blocked out every other sound.

Now, this is the part where you knock him on his ass-- if you can stop lusting after said ass for two whole seconds, that is. Fickle little thing.

Cassie gasped, and Nathaniel looked alarmed.

“Uh, Cassandra?” he said. “Are you alright? Would you prefer to sit?“

Oh, and by the way? That thing
I kept saying about not being able to read your mind? Lying through my teeth. Did you really think I would admit to being able to do that? So much more fun if you don’t know.

Cassie felt her grasp on Nathaniel’s hand tighten into a death grip.
Son of a-- all this time?

There was a sound like a balloon popping, and before Cassie knew what had happened, Nathaniel was halfway across the room, twin trails of blood running from his nose, marring his perfect face. As he turned over and coughed
up a mouthful of phlegm on a seated witch’s platform shoes, Cassie realized that he’d flown twenty feet away from her, as though she’d pushed him with superhuman strength.

She looked down at her hand, still extended; she hadn’t moved a muscle.

On the dais, she heard a rustle as a demon, probably Graellen, got to his feet. “That was a set-up!” he growled. “No way did the familiar do that herself-she’s not even a witch yet. Sammael did it! He’s been planning this all along.”

Cassie turned to Sam, who w
as still reclining in his chair, sitting cowboy style with his left ankle resting on his right knee. When he caught her eye, he couldn’t suppress a smug smile.
Bastard
, she thought, even though she was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to have to go home with Nathaniel anymore.

“It was all her,” he said. “Have the Examiner check me if you don’t want to take my word for it; I haven’t cast a spell in days.”

“Oh, and I’m sure the Examiner will be totally honest with his findings!” the heavyset demon sneered. “This is a farce-- Zeitbloom has known this one since childhood! He won’t testify against his friend.”

“Putting aside the ludicrous suggestion that the Examiner, of all people, would lie to this court,” said
Arrigio, his voice dangerously calm, “we have more than one Examiner present for obvious conflicts of interest such as this. And sit down,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. Still grimacing, the larger demon obeyed.

“Garcia, check him,” the chairman said, gesturing to a thin, dark-skinned man standing beside the dais. Nonchalantly, Sam stood while the smaller demon circled him, sniffing and touching his wrists.

“He’s clean, Mr. Chairman,” said Garcia. “Like he says, this one hasn’t cast a spell in days-- weeks, even,” he said, shaking his head. “Furthermore, I don’t sense any spells coming from anywhere else in the room; whatever happened was between Mr. Lewis and the familiar.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Nathaniel, struggling to his feet. “I was handling her just fine-
- you all could see, and then there was a….a spike of some kind. It was an aberration, normally I would never--“

“Enough,” said
Arrigio, fixing Nathaniel with a withering glance that made even Cassie wince. “The fact of the matter is, young man, you said you could handle her and yet you couldn’t maintain the connection for 30 seconds. Given that assigning her to you is obviously unfeasible, and no other viable candidates are available, I see no reason to reassign the girl from her current master…who can at least draw from her without embarrassing himself.” At that, the audience laughed openly; Cassie thought she could hear Khalil’s barking laughter from way in the back.

Arrigio
looked from side-to-side, making eye contact with each of the demons on the board in turn. “All in favor of voting to keep the familiar in her current position?”

“Aye!” said Yamanaka.
Cassie noticed he seemed awfully eager to get this over with.

“Wait!” said
Graellen. “This is a landmark case-- I move that we recess, go into executive session, and reserve the vote until a later date. There’s still--”

“No,” said
Arrigio with more vehemence than Cassie would have expected. Apparently, this case had tried his patience…or was it Graellen who was doing that? “The evidence presented has been compelling, we have nine more cases on the agenda for this evening, and I know that most of the board is willing-- dare I say,
eager-
- to move on. Aye, or Nay?”

“Nay,” said
Graellen, fixing Sam with a look of pure hatred. The rest of the demons quickly voted Aye; Cassie got the impression they didn’t disagree with the chairman without good reason.

“Aye,” said
Arrigio, tapping his gavel softly. “Passed, by a vote of 6-1. We will now take a twenty-minute recess before the next case, in accordance with Section 8-A of the charter.”

When Cassie had told Sam that she needed some air after the vote, he had simply nodded. She was hoping that meant he would be surprised when she sucker-punched him.

They walked out the front door of the hotel, watching the bellhops scramble to accommodate rich patrons exiting their limos in gorgeous clothes. She inhaled greedily; she didn’t know if the night air smelled so good because it had been stuffy in the ballroom, or if it was the knowledge that she was free.

Well, almost free
she thought, glancing at Sam.

She walked a few steps toward the parking lot, shivering in the fall air. When she saw Sam move to slip off his suit jacket, she turned and punched as hard as she could in the general direction of his solar plexus, but he moved faster
and caught her fist in his hand.

“Dammit!” she said pulling away from him, but he didn’t let go of her. “That was supposed to be for lying about reading my mind.”

“I know, but I saw it coming a mile away. Actually, I thought you were going to go for my crotch….”

Cassie pulled her hand away from him with a determined tug, and turned her back on him. “I thought about it, but that wouldn’t be classy.”

He laughed, and she drew her arms around herself and shivered; the first shiver had been to distract Sam from her upcoming punch, but she was genuinely cold; women’s gowns always seemed to be intended for the summer months only. She shifted in surprise as he gently put his jacket over her shoulders. When she looked at him over her shoulder, he shrugged and looked away, hands in his pockets.

“I wasn’t exactly lying when I said I couldn’t read your mind. I can do it because of the bond, but compared to most other demons, I-
- well, I suck at it, as you would say. Normally, your master would be able to do it effortlessly, but I have to try to hear you. It’s like trying to listen to a song on the radio in the next room over. Gives me a terrible headache.”

“So you were only 90 percent lying.”

He laughed again, seemingly giddy now that the hearing was over; not that she could blame him. “I guess. The point is, you don’t have to worry about me listening in all the time; it’s a pain. Although, I’m glad I was listening tonight,” he said, turning and meeting her gaze. She sniffed and turned away.

“I wasn’t sure if the fact that Nathaniel sent those vampires made a difference.”

“It did; before you told me that-- before I realized his civilized act was just that, an act-- I was considering giving up my claim and letting him take you with him.”

Cassie looked at him like he’d grown another head.
“Seriously? Are you crazy? The whole point of this was to stop that from happening!”

“I know, but their questions got me thinking,” he said, looking down at his shiny leather shoes, bought at
Serenus’ insistence, she had no doubt. “Nothing I said in there was a lie; you’re not safe with me.”

Cassie put her hands in the pockets of his suit jacket, not sure how to respond; she knew he was right.
Even if he weren’t a demon, the fact that he tended to lash out physically when he was angry made him dangerous to be around. Add stronger-than-usual demonic powers, and she would be lucky if she lived to see her 17
th
birthday.

She wondered how much the members of the court really knew about Sam, because she suspected if they knew the truth, they never would have allowed him near her, regardless of everything else.
Serenus had probably played a role in convincing Arrigio that Sam was less volatile than he actually was.

The jacket smelled pleasantly of him, that scent of dark magic that might be addictive, but she tried not to make it obvious that she was sniffing his clothes in front of him. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt a cold metal object in the pocket.

“Oh my God, you have a cellphone? Since when?”

He smiled, that rare smile that made her woozy; she was afraid for a moment that he would read her mind and know the effect it had on her, but she was pretty sure he was too exhausted to do anything of the sort. She could see the fatigue in his face. Whatever lies he’d told her before, she was pretty sure he was telling the truth when he admitted that reading her mind was a chore. “I felt it was time.”

She pulled out the phone and examined the display: no apps, no personalized wallpaper, but it was a start. “Well, well, will wonders never frickin’ cease.”

“There you are!”

Cassie looked up to see Dr. Cordley, his smile lighting up his face. “What a show; I would pay good money to see that smug bastard blasted across the room, and I got that just for showing up this time. Well done, Mr. Andrews,” he said, reaching to shake Sam’s hand. Sam shook hands with him, still looking slightly wary; Cassie was pretty sure he was incapable of trusting anyone, but even with her untrained senses she could tell that Cordley didn’t have enough power to challenge most demons, let alone Sam.

“Thanks,” he replied, “although I didn’t have much to do with it; it was all Cassie.”

Cordley’s eyes lit up in curiosity. “Actually, I was hoping to ask you about that; how did you two manage it? It looked like it was a surprise to you as well,” he said, looking at Cassie.

“Yeah,” said Cassie, putting her hands on her hips. “I’d kind of like to know that too.” She knew that making her an
gry had been part of Sam’s plan, but she didn’t know how that translated to frying Nathaniel.

Sam kicked at the
sidewalk, another thing Cassie was beginning to realize was a nervous habit with him. “I may not have much finesse, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind,” he said. “I noticed that you tend to summon much more of your magic to the surface whenever…certain topics come up. It’s an unconscious thing that you do to protect yourself, so you don’t feel yourself doing it. I figured that amount of energy all at once would be too much for Lewis, and I was right.”

Cassie blinked. “So it really was all me,” she said quietly. Somehow, despite the other Examiner confirming that Sam hadn’t done anything, she hadn’t been quite sure it had been her power that had sent the demon flying across the room.

“Certain topics, eh? Well, I know when something’s none of my business,” said Cordley, rolling his eyes. “You two going back to proceedings? I’m thinking the best of the night is over.”

“I’d like to go to sleep, but we can’t,” said Sam. “I’ve been…advised…that our presence is expected at court until it adjourns.”

Cassie groaned at that; now that she wasn’t overwhelmed with dread, sitting for several more hours wouldn’t be as unpleasant, but she’d still been hoping they could ditch court now that her part of it was over. Naturally, Serenus would advise against that; staying until the end would show their engagement in upstanding demon society. Or whatever.

“That guy, Yamanaka,” she said. “He seemed really eager to get this case over with. He was the one who was pushing
Arrigio.”

Cordley
nodded. “He’s been the most vocal on the board about securing more and better white witches. He has no children, and the rumor is that he’s hoping for a witch to fix his wife’s infertility while there’s still time, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Cassie and Sam exchanged tired looks
; it was easier to think of the court as petty and evil. Knowing they wanted her magic for good reasons made everything so much more complicated.

Still, if she was going to sit and listen to demons squabble for several more hours, she wasn’t going to do it without a bathroom break. “I need to go to the ladies room,” she said, feeling like a child asking the teacher for permission.

Sam turned toward her. “I’ll go with you.”

“To the ladies room?
Um, no?” she said. Wasn’t this the part where she was supposed to be safe for a while?

“I’m not letting you go off alone.”

Cordley laughed again; he had a pleasant laugh, like the sound of a babbling brook. “Honestly Sam, I can understand being protective, but do you really think anyone’s going to try to snatch Cassie now that you’ve been granted official custody? Now that the penalty for doing so is worse than death? I don’t think anyone’s quite got the stones for that.”

Sam knit his brows. “I am being paranoid, aren’t I?”

“Just a tad,” said Cordley.

Sam looked at Cassie. “Where’s the bathroom? Do you know?”

“It’s right up front here,” she said, pointing through the gilded double doors.

“Go there, do your business, come directly back here, and then we’ll return to court together,” he said, his instructional tone reminding her of Mr. Golding. “Don’t dawdle.”

“I think I can handle peeing, thanks,” she said, heading back into the Regencia. For a moment, she considered handing Sam’s suit jacket back to him, but instead tugged it tighter around herself; she wasn’t used to wearing something as revealing as her blue gown, and it was nice to have the coverage. Besides, she wasn’t on display anymore.

Predictably, the bathroom was massive and gorgeous, filled with varyi
ng shades of cream and gold. A woman in a cream-colored suit stood next to the sink, just for the purpose of giving out warmed hand-towels as far as Cassie could tell. She smiled professionally, but as though she’d rather be elsewhere; Cassie couldn’t really blame her.

Before heading into a bathroom stall, she looked at her face in the mirror,
then did a double-take; she looked like herself, but there was something slightly different; a rosy glow to her cheeks that normally wasn’t there. It was probably from the power transfer.

Because she was looking in the mirror, she saw the second woman in a cream colored suit coming up behind her, smiling mildly. Cassie had a second to wonder what the second woman did; having one person in the bathroom to hand out hand towels kind of made sense, in an excessive sort of way, but two? Did she hand out lip gloss or something?

Or maybe, she doesn’t do anything at all. Because she doesn’t work here.

Before Cassie could scream or bolt for the door, the second woman had put something around her neck, and her vision became blurry; she had a vague sense that the two women had picked her up like she weighed nothing, and were rushing her toward the window before she went to sleep.