The Problem With Black Magic Page 6

  ***

  After closing, Cassie was nibbling at the remains of a rainbow-chocolate cookie while counting up her till. Most of their unsold pastries went to a local soup kitchen in the morning, but the staff was entitled to help themselves to any cookies that broke throughout the day. One might think that policy encouraged cookie abuse, but the big, gooey cookies they sold broke often enough through normal handling, there was no need for sabotage.

  Jay was refilling the small refrigerators near the espresso bar with dairy and substitutes, while Dwight and Khalil finished cleaning up behind the counter and in the cafe. Later, they would count out all the money and put it in the safe, and everyone could go home. She wondered if Khalil had worked the entire day; with Sam gone, they could probably use the coverage, but she didn’t know when he’d gotten there that morning.

  Cassie stretched, tired; it had been typical annoying register work, with a couple of mean customers on top of that, but for the first time in several days, she felt tired in a good way. She was looking forward to collapsing in bed in about an hour, more relaxed than she had been since the time skip.

  As though reading her thoughts, Jay looked over at her from the fridge. "You know, about the time-skip...."

  "I am so sick of hearing about that," said Dwight, his tone showing an unusual amount of irritation from him.

  "Yeah, me too," said Cassie, slamming her till closed. Khalil said nothing, putting ceramic plates and mugs in their places quietly.

  Jay stood up suddenly, and pointed at her. "I knew it! You guys know something! Whatever you're not telling me, it has something to do with the time skip."

  Cassie, Dwight and Khalil, all shared worried glances. What were they supposed to do now?

  Jay was grinning like he'd just found out Christmas was coming early this year. "I mean, I wasn't sure, but I saw this video that pinpointed where the epicenter probably was, and I could tell it was this block. Then I talk about it, and you guys all wouldn't look at me, like all three of you suddenly looked really, really guilty! So, what's this amazing secret?"

  "Jay...." Cassie started, not sure what to say to calm him down.

  "It has something to do with Sam, right? That's why he hasn't been around, and why you guys all get spooked when I mention him. I think—"

  They never did find out what Jay thought, since his speech was interrupted by rapt, hard knocks on the glass door of the shop. The four of them turned to the door; two tall, powerfully built men in leather were standing in front of the Daily Grind.

  "Hey, we want some coffee," the one in front yelled.

  Dwight took a few steps forward so they could hear him through the door. "Sorry guys, we closed half an hour ago. Please come back tomorrow, hours are listed on the door."

  The man in front smiled, and Cassie recoiled; through the glass pane of the door, it looked like he had entirely too many teeth. "Closed, huh? Then I guess this is going to be an after-hours visit."

  With that, he pushed the door open, there was a sound like something breaking, and they both strove in confidently.

  Dwight turned to Khalil angrily. "I thought I told you to lock the door!" he said in a harsh whisper.

  "I did," said Khalil, eyeing the men warily as they moved closer. "I know I did."

  The taller man was wearing expensive looking-leather boots to go along with his ensemble, and had spiky, dyed-blond hair; under different circumstances, Cassie probably would have thought he was hot, but the fear slowly growing inside her made her regard him with nothing but dread. The other man, with slicked back brown hair and darker, more worn features, was holding what appeared to be a necklace in his right hand. Made of some sort of precious stone Cassie didn't recognize, the pendant seemed to give off its own ghostly light.

  The one holding the necklace approached Cassie at the counter, and she took an involuntary step back. He held the pendent up to her eye-level, where its lavender glow seemed to intensify. "See, I told you if we stuck around it would work out," he said, to which the taller man snorted." "Took a few days, but we found the familiar." He smiled, and Cassie realized immediately why his smile had looked so odd to her before: his incisors were entirely too long, and his canine fangs reflected the light from his strange stone.

  Cassie took a few more steps back, and felt herself back into Jay.

  "Before, when you were talking about the vampires, you were telling the truth?" asked Jay in a panicked whisper.

  "Jay, the spell thing was true, but I was totally making the vampire part up, I swear!" she responded. The men laughed, and Cassie realized that these men could hear even their whispers. Maybe they really were vampires.

  "You guys aren't here for the money in the till, are you," said Dwight quietly, making it clear from his tone that he wasn’t asking a question. Khalil inched closer, coming to stand next to Cassie and Jay behind the counter. When he met her eyes, Cassie realized he was planning to protect her if it came to it, and she was torn between being touched and wanting to yell at him for being an idiot.

  "Listen, Sam's not here," said Dwight, drawing up to his full 5’6 and walking up to their guests. Cassie never would have thought of him as the heroic type, but between being the first to volunteer to attempt to save Sam during the time skip and tonight, it was becoming obvious he was brave behind his quiet demeanor. "Whatever's going on, we don't know anything, and we don't know where he went; I suggest you look for him," he finished, crossing his arms in front of him defensively.

  "We don't need him," said the (apparent) vampire, swinging the necklace in his hand like a pendulum.

  "See this thing here? It's an amulet that senses latent magic. Barely picked up anything in days, but now that she's here—" he said, motioning to Cassie. "—thing goes ballistic. If that demon were around we couldn't snatch you, but now that he's abandoned you? I'm afraid it's open season on little cashier girls," he said, putting the amulet in his pocket. With no fanfare, he casually reached out a fist and hit Dwight in the face. Dwight dropped to the scuffed tile floor, like a limp rag doll. Cassie gasped and hoped against hope that he was unconscious, not dead.

  Khalil moved quickly, putting his body between Cassie and their assailants. The blond vampire swung his long legs over the counter and drew towards them with a feline grace.

  "I really wouldn't recommend that, man," he said, that disturbing canine smile from ear to ear. "You're low on the food chain— not your fault, just the way it is— so don't try to be a hero and get hurt. We've got no interest in you. Well..." He paused to run his tongue over his fangs. "I am kind of hungry, but you don't smell so hot, so get out of the way."

  Khalil paused for a moment before he moved out of the attacker’s way. Cassie felt a pang of betrayal for about a fraction of a second before she realized that Khalil had done the right thing. He couldn't fight these men off, and they both knew it; why should anyone else have to get hurt?

  "Get away from me, Jay," said Cassie. When he didn't respond, she pushed him to the side, so hard he fell on his butt.

  "Cassie, don't-"

  "I'll go with you, just don't hurt anybody else, okay? Or eat anybody," she said, looking up to meet the vampire's eyes.

  She backed up until she was against the back counter; dammit, she wanted to go with them so they would leave everyone else alone, but she couldn't help herself from shrinking away from the man. It was a survival instinct, stronger than her rational mind.

  The vampire towered over her and put a hand on top of her head. "Big of you," he said. "Of course, if I'm going to eat anybody tonight sweetie, it's gonna be you, not them." With that, he opened his mouth wide, red-tinged saliva glistening on his extended teeth, and Cassie took a deep breath.

  "Don't," came a warning from the man with the pendant. The blond one made a noise of irritation and turned toward his partner.

  "Why not? He said to snatch her if we could, he never said we couldn't taste."

  "Don't bother: I've heard that mage blood tastes terrible," said the short
er one. "Magic makes it burn like rubbing alcohol all the way down. Save your stomach."

  Despite her fear, Cassie felt her curiosity pique. If she was going to be kidnapped, at least she might have a chance of finding out what it was about her that had freaked Sam out. Apparently, whatever it was made her less tasty to vampires.

  The blond vampire frowned and put a hand under her chin, appraising. "Are you sure? Wouldn't you think the blood of a familiar would be especially tasty? Forbidden fruit, and whatnot?"

  The brown-haired one shrugged. "She can taste like nectar and ambrosia, it still wouldn't be good enough to be worth pissing off Nathan. Let's go."

  "You're going, alright," said a voice to Cassie's side, and she drew a sharp breath when she realized it was Sam's. Apparently, he had come in through the alley entrance and through the break room. "Get away from her."

  The blond vampire drew back as though she had stabbed him, and put his hands up, placating Sam. "Listen man, you were gone— it wasn't poaching because you were gone."

  "We were within our legal rights," said the shorter one, who Cassie noticed had also taken a few steps back. It was strange, watching the vampires get defensive in Sam’s presence. Part of her wanted to cheer that the cavalry had come, while she couldn’t help but notice that her protector was the thing the other monsters were scared of. She shuddered with the thought that something about that was deeply wrong.

  Sam stopped next to Cassie. She looked up at him, surprised to see his eyes were their normal brown color. She thought that facing down a pair of vampires would probably be a good time to pull out the glowing glare, but hey, if he could prevent her from being kidnapped, she wasn't going to critique his presentation.

  "That's true, you were," he said, his tone calm and even. "Your master had every right to send you to claim an abandoned familiar. In court, I would have no right to kill both of you for still being here in ten seconds; there would definitely be some kind of fine. It might even be worse than an overdue library book.”

  Cassie's jaw dropped as both men turned tail and ran— there was no better way to explain it. Quicker than she would have thought possible, they cleared the shop with superhuman grace, the blond one jumping over the counter in his haste. For about two seconds, they could all hear their leather boots hammering against the pavement, then silence.

  Sam exhaled, looking tired. "Is everyone okay?"

  "Dwight. They punched him," said Cassie, pointing.

  "Where?" said Sam, walking towards the cafe. "Dammit, I didn't even see him because of the counter."

  He knelt at Dwight's side, checking for signs of life. "It's okay," he said. "They just knocked him out. He'll wake up when he's ready."

  Cassie took a relieved breath, noticing that the air smelled different since Sam had entered. There was some kind of dark, musty scent to him that she had a feeling probably wasn’t cologne. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she couldn’t identify it.

  Jay stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Hey, Sam? Were those guys really...." he trailed off.

  Sam stood up, looking at Jay. "Vampires? Pathetic bottom-feeders, more like it. But yes."

  Khalil coughed. "Look Sam...don't take this the wrong way, since I'm glad you came back and got rid of those...yeah. But uh, what the hell are you?"

  Sam scratched the back of his head, like the question embarrassed him. "Well. About that."