The Problem With Black Magic Read online

Chapter Seven

  The silver-haired police detective was doing a better job calming Annette down than Cassie would have expected.

  “Ma’am, normally I wouldn’t tell you this— and we won’t know anything for sure until the medical examiners are through— but I’ll tell you right now, because children are involved: I don’t see how any of you could be suspects,” he said, drinking Annette’s too-strong coffee. “For the bodies to be in that…condition,” he said, faltering only slightly, “there would have to have been some kind of struggle. Instead, it’s like they just appeared on your front lawn a few hours ago, already in that state. I would be very surprised if the autopsy doesn’t confirm that they were killed elsewhere and just dropped off in front of your house.”

  Cassie hugged her knees to her chest; apparently, she had been deemed old enough to sit in on the detective’s comments. Hunter had been whisked upstairs, despite his protests, by her father, and she could hear the distant warble of an animated movie coming from his bedroom. They had managed to keep the 10-year-old boy from seeing the bodies, meaning that he still saw the sudden police activity at their house as “cool” instead of terrifying and traumatizing for life; Cassie hadn’t been so lucky.

  “But who would do such a thing? Why? I swear to God, we’re not involved with the mob or anything like that!” said Annette for what must have been the fifth time.

  “Maybe not, but everybody has enemies, ma’am; can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you or your family? Don’t try to think about who might be capable of it, because I can tell you that everyone’s capable.”

  Annette snorted; Cassie marveled at her mother’s self-possession in this situation. She’d thought Annette was crazy for a long time, but apparently, it was a kind of crazy that allowed her to stay remarkably calm in situations that would drive other people legitimately crazy. “I have enemies in the PTA, detective; they can be bitchy, but this is a bit much.”

  The two bodies, both men (from what they could tell) had been found on their front lawn, not far from where Sam had been standing a few hours ago; apparently, the spell hadn’t been about protection so much as it was about brutally dismembering anyone who wasn’t welcome.

  Cassie shivered as she remembered giving Sam a few strands of her hair last night, asking herself over and over again why she hadn’t asked him what he was going to use them to do. If she’d known, she never would have agreed to it; nothing that could do that to a human being should ever be used.

  But then what, she thought, I just let them take me? She knew the men had been there for her, as sure as she’d known that someone was dead once she’d regained consciousness.

  The detective looked at Cassie and she felt a small surge of fear; what could she do if he asked her what she knew? She knew everything, didn’t think she could lie to his face convincingly, and telling the truth would only make things ten times worse. Annette followed his gaze and put her coffee cup on the table with a loud bang.

  “Detective Cavello, Cassie is a minor,” said Annette. “I didn’t ask for a lawyer before questioning because, like I said, we have nothing to do with this, but if you want to question her, I will have to ask for it to be in the presence of a lawyer.”

  Cassie exhaled: Yaaay for maternal overprotectiveness! She didn’t know if being in front of a lawyer would help matters, but at least it would give her some time to think up what she would say.

  The detective shook his head sadly and went to stand. “Ma’am, I’ll let you know if the investigation requires your further participation, but as of right now I’d just as soon let your little girl forget this ever happened,” he said, giving Cassie a weak smile.

  As Annette went to walk the detective out, Cassie scratched between her shoulder blades. The spell was still active, dammit, and for all she knew it might kill more people before the weekend was over. She didn’t think demons would send more people to snatch her now that the most recent pair had met with such a horrific end, but she hadn’t thought it likely that they would try to snatch her in the first place; obviously, the way these people operated was alien to her.

  She frowned; she needed to talk to Sam, and she didn’t see how it was possible. He had to know the spell had activated, but he couldn’t come near the house without Annette going on the offensive, and that had been true even before dead bodies had started turning up. Actually, it was kind of darkly humorous how right Annette had been about him, in a way; she’d known he was dangerous for her daughter, just had no idea what order of magnitude the danger was.

  She passed her father on the way up the stairs.

  “He’s fast asleep, bless him,” said her father. “I’m going to have to tell him tomorrow some of what happened, but for now he just thinks the police came for a visit. You going to be okay, sweetheart?”

  She looked at him; her friendly neighborhood demon was blowing people up on her lawn, and he was asking if she was okay? Granted, he didn’t really know about the first part, but it still seemed like a ridiculous question.

  “I mean, for tonight,” said her father, backpedaling. “I know it’s hard, but the best thing is to try to get some sleep.”

  “Oh,” said Cassie sheepishly. “I’m so tired, I think I’ll sleep okay. I just hope I don’t have nightmares.”

  Her father winced. “Cass, normally I wouldn’t allow this, but you know your mother keeps her pills on the third shelf of the—"

  “Dad, I’m fine! And if I wake up from a bad dream, I’ll take the pill, okay?” she said when the look of naked concern on her father’s face made her feel strangely guilty.

  “Okay. We’ll get through this,” he said, pulling her into one of his big bear hugs that used to make her feel so secure.