The Problem With Black Magic Read online

Chapter Nineteen

  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 aim a little lower….”

  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 17th 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 angry 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 d
oing 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 varying 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.