Mind Games

by Christine Amsden

  “Are you using mind magic on me?” The words escaped before I had a chance to analyze them. Not that it would have mattered if I’d stopped to think, since Matthew could hear my thoughts.

  His eyes widened in evident surprise. “Excuse me?”

  I’d hurt his feelings. Great. That hadn’t been my intention. It was just all those doubts that Madison had planted in my mind.

  “How, exactly, does your roommate even know about me?” Matthew asked, his voice full of anger.

  I grimaced. “No idea. Surprised me, too. I swear I didn’t tell, though.”

  He put an arm around my shoulders. “I didn’t mean to sound angry. I believe you.”

  I leaned into him and tried to decide if I should back off or not.

  “Get it out,” Matthew said. “Whatever’s bothering you, we have to talk about it.”

  “Well, she just made a few good points. I mean, how would I even know if I’m being controlled?” Briefly, I laid out the arguments she’d made over dinner.

  When I finished, an uncomfortable silence fell between us, and once again I feared that I’d made him angry. “Cassie, what do you think I’m forcing you to do? Go out with me?”

  My face went red.

  “If you don’t like me, just say so.”

  “I do like you.” It was the truth. I just wasn’t sure if I trusted him.

  “Trust takes time,” Matthew said. “I understand that, but Cassie, I told you the biggest secret I have. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

  Of course it did, but one thing still stood in the way. “You never answered my question. Are you using mind magic on me?”

  “Yes.”

  It was my turn to look shocked. I peeled my head off of his shoulder and stared at him, open-mouthed.

  He took my hand in his and looked deeply into my eyes. “This may be difficult for you to understand, but everyone tries to manipulate others, whether consciously or not. You smile to make others feel better, you use facial expressions to empathize, and you use words to persuade. The difference between me and everyone else is that I’ve made a lifelong study of it and I know what I’m doing at all times.”

  He reached forward to run a hand through my hair, making me shudder. “I knew you liked that. That’s why I did it. I’ve smiled at you, shared truths with you, and even used tidbits I’ve gleamed from your mind to figure out what to say to you. Like right now, I sensed that telling you the truth would be better than feigning complete innocence. You’d never buy it.”

  I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  His hand slid down my arm, eliciting still more response. “You like that, too, don’t you?”

  I nodded. His touch made it hard to think.

  “Is it magic? I don’t know. It’s subtle, like your friend said, but if you don’t like it, all you have to do is tell me to go.” He paused for emphasis. “You can tell me to go.”

  I hesitated, not sure what to say in response to his frank and open honesty. On the one hand, he had admitted to manipulating me, but on the other hand, it was just a part of the essential him. Like he said, everyone manipulated one another. He simply did it, at all times, with full conscious intent. He knew the tricks of persuasion better than most and to top it all off, he could hear people’s thoughts. Persuasion wasn’t quite the same thing as control, though, was it?

  “Persuasion isn’t quite like control,” Matthew said, agreeing with my unspoken thought. “But there are times when it’s hard to tell the difference. Over half of my colleagues in Jefferson City have at least some measure of charisma.”

  “Subtlety.” I breathed the word, not sure whether to accept it or fear it.

  “What if I taught you some of what I know?” Matthew asked.

  I stared at him. “You would do that?”

  He hesitated a fraction of a second before nodding. “The psychological tricks, not the deep secrets of the trade. That stays inside the family.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because it’s harder to fear something if you understand it.” He ran his fingers down my arm once again in an almost mesmerizing pattern. “Let me show you what I do. Let me teach you to trust me. You can even use what you learn against me.”

  “I can?” I whispered.

  “Oh, I encourage it.”

  10

  KAITLIN RETURNED JUST AFTER MATTHEW LEFT, looking pretty worn out, and headed straight for the shower. When Madison came home from her walk, she looked longingly at the closed bathroom door before plopping down on the sofa.

  “How’d it go?” she asked.

  “Fine.” I tried to think of something else to say, but a new tension had suddenly sprung between us. I found myself wondering if Matthew had plans to make her forget what she knew, or if she had already forgotten. Of course, I couldn’t ask. Luckily, I was, quite literally, saved by the bell.

  “You expecting someone?” Madison asked.

  I shook my head and went to the door, looking through the peephole to identify the caller. A young man, twenty-something at the most, stood on the porch with a clipboard, trying to look official. “Who’s there?” I asked without opening the door.

  “My name is Larry Jackson. I’m here on behalf of Alexander DuPris to issue invitations to a conclave next Saturday.”

  “Sounds great,” I said, not opening the door. One doesn’t invite an unknown practitioner into their home. “Thanks.”

  “May I come in?” Larry asked. “I swear on my honor to respect your home and your person.”

  I blinked in confusion. No one had ever made such an oath to me before and I had no idea how to take it. “Why don’t you just slide your invitation into the mail slot?”

  “Mr. DuPris wants me to issue a more personal invitation, in hopes of making sure that each magical resident of Eagle Rock and the surrounding area feels welcome.”

  Kaitlin came out of the shower wearing a thick purple robe and a towel wrapped around her hair, one eyebrow raised in question. “Who is it?” she mouthed.

  I headed for my purse, freeing the cell phone from the side pocket. A few seconds later, I had my mom on the line. “Mom, what do you know about Larry Jackson?”

  She sighed, audibly. “I assume he’s one of Alexander’s men. They’ve been all over town, although they haven’t been out here yet.”

  “He wants an invitation,” I said, getting straight to the point.

  “Did he swear on his honor?”

  “Um, yes, but I don’t know what it means.”

  “It’s one of Alexander’s new magical initiatives… kind of hard to explain, but if he swore on his honor, then he won’t hurt you. Now, whether or not you want to buy into this plan of theirs… your father is trying to organize a counter-movement.”

  “What do you think of magical unification?” I asked.

  Mom fell silent for a minute. “I don’t know. I think it’s easy not to want change when things are basically working for you, you know? But I’ve seen the worst the magical world has to offer and frankly, I got lucky.”

  I knew that all too well, since I’d spent some time in her head a few weeks earlier, learning about how a magical slave trader had stolen her magic and sold her as breeding stock. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Bye, Mom.”

  After hanging up, I slid the phone into my pocket and opened the door. Larry stood there patiently, looking for all the world as if no time had passed.

  “Thank you.” Larry smiled and stepped across the threshold.

  “I, um, guess we ought to give you some privacy,” Kaitlin said, though she clearly didn’t want to leave.

  Madison nodded and stood, but Larry wrinkled his brow in confusion and took a small notebook out of his pocket. “I have two names on my list.”

  “Two?” Kaitlin shifted a quizzical gaze to her still fairly flat abdomen, before lifting it to Madison. I knew what she was thinking: Which would warrant an invitation, a magical pregnancy or a strong singing gift?

  “Yes.” Larry flip
ped through a few pages. “Hang on. Which of you is Madison Carter?”

  Madison lifted her hand slightly in acknowledgment.

  “And Kaitlin Meyer?” Larry continued.

  Kaitlin blinked a few times, nodding her head in acknowledgment. “What about Cassie?”

  Larry glanced at me, but I already knew the answer to Kaitlin’s question. I’d always hovered in the gray area between worlds, not quite belonging to either one. I had no magic, no gift, and no claim to speak at a conclave either for or against magical unification. If they unified, it would be without me.

  “Cassandra Scot,” Kaitlin said, as if the clarification would help.

  Larry continued flipping pages. “I have a few Scots on the list – Edward, Sheila, Nicholas, John, Leslie, Kyle…”

  “Stop!” I didn’t need him to get into third and fourth cousins to get the point.

  “But–” Kaitlin stopped. “This doesn’t make any sense. Cassie’s the one who protected the house. Neither Madison nor I knew how to do that.”

  Another day, I might have reminded her that details like that should remain a secret, but on that day, I had a secret of my own. I might have planted the magical plants and herbs, arranged the crystals, and carved the runes, but Nicolas had siphoned the magical energy into the runes and crystals that provided at least 75% of our protection. His weekly visits weren’t just social, either. They kept the protections running hot.

  Larry cleared his throat. “You can petition Mr. DuPris, Mr. Lake or their local representative, Evan Blackwood, for an invitation if you feel you have some stake in the meeting. But generally, invitations have been limited to those with at least nominal magical talent, a moderate to strong gift, or to those with an unborn or minor child with such a talent or gift.”

  I managed to keep a straight face, despite the double punch to the gut of learning that Evan Blackwood had been the one to fail to issue me an invitation.

  “Cassie, this isn’t right.” Kaitlin, who had far less experience hiding her feelings, looked like I felt.

  I shrugged. “It’s no big deal. It really doesn’t have anything to do with me anyway, does it? I’ll just go hide in my bedroom until you’re all done here.”

  Kaitlin grabbed me by the arm as I tried to pass. “We won’t understand half of what he’s talking about.”

  “It’s quite simple,” I assured her, though it wasn’t. “This Alexander DuPris is interested in creating a governing body for sorcerers which would create and enforce laws. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it in his sales pitch.”

  “But your family is against it, aren’t they?” Kaitlin asked. “Why?”

  Larry cleared his throat. “It’s more than that. We also need to establish rules about revealing ourselves to outsiders and attempt to maintain secrecy, both for our protection and for others’.” He looked at me, meaningfully.

  “Put those daggers back in your eyes, I’m going.” I started to move, but once again Kaitlin grabbed my arm.

  “But why don’t your parents want a magical government? Isn’t the alternative anarchy?”

  “Not exactly. There have usually been local magical governments controlled by the most powerful sorcerers, especially in big cities. Eagle Rock is a bit unique. It initially attracted sorcerers who wanted nothing so much as to be left alone and for the most part, they’ve stuck to that. A few families outshine the rest and have extended local protection to weaker members of the community. That’s why we don’t have a flourishing slave trade here, despite the number of people living here with talent strong enough to make them attractive targets but nominal enough to prevent them from caring for themselves.”

  Kaitlin seemed to be suffering from information overload, but Madison’s eyes shone with interest. “What about the McClellans? No one has shut them down.”

  “That’s because they don’t prey on locals, they just have their shop here. There are limits to how involved in others’ personal lives the locals will go, since independence is largely why they came here in the first place. Besides, the McClellans are also a powerful family, which makes interference costly.”

  Madison frowned and a second later, so did I. “Of course, David is dead now…” Had he crossed that line, as Pat Malloren had suggested?

  Larry cleared his throat. “Am I even here?”

  “Sh,” I said, waving a hand at him. “I’m trying to think.” But the moment was over. Whatever glimmer of an idea I’d had was gone now. “Oh, forget it.”

  “If you’re done explaining my purpose in coming here, perhaps I can have a go at it?” Larry asked. “And by all means, stay and listen, since you seem to know more about it than I do.”

  “What happened to keeping secrets?” I gave him a malicious smile.

  “Clearly, the only way to keep secrets from you is to do a full mind wipe.” Larry narrowed his eyes. “I’ll have to tell Alexander about you, of course.”

  If he intended to scare me with that threat, it missed its mark by a mile. “Of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really am going to go to bed.”

  11

  IT ISN’T AS IF I HAVEN’T been left out of magical doings before. For the most part as I grew up, my parents let me sit in on whichever magical classes I liked, but from time to time they closed the door and forbad me to participate. No, I don’t know why, although I think one such time had to do with this swirling vortex they keep in the lab.

  So I didn’t really care that no one saw fit to invite me to some gathering of magical townsfolk. It wasn’t as if I could have participated in a meaningful way, not truly being a part of their world. It’s like I had been trying to tell everyone for three years, ever since the day I overheard my parents openly questioning my place in the family. I’m not a witch. I’m just Cassie Scot, normal detective.

  Except a few weeks ago, Evan had made me believe, for however brief a period, that I might be a little bit more.

  But so what if I’d killed vampires and helped take down a pair of magical slave traders? It didn’t make me a part of that world. It didn’t even make me want to be a part of that world.

  Oh all right, so maybe they managed to step on my feelings a little bit.

  I tossed and turned for several hours until I remembered the potion for dreamless sleep that I’d brewed the night before. Mom had stopped by that morning to add the final magical flourish, so all I had to do was drink it and hope.

  Within seconds, I fell asleep.

  * * *

  The mob crackled with nearly visible anger as I walked through the picket line to the station on Friday morning. Pastor Roberts had returned, along with the mayor, and all three were talking in raised voices that tested the soundproof quality of the sheriff’s office.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Jane, the first person I ran across.

  “Fire Chief’s report came in,” she said in a hushed voice. “No sign of accelerants, indeterminate cause… Basically, he has no idea how it started or why it spread so quickly. And from the sounds of it, the pastor has a few ideas of his own.”

  “Great.” I remembered the accusations they’d hurled at my brother, whose only crime had been trying to save Sarah Roberts’s life.

  Wesley waited at my desk with a cup of herbal tea, which I took gratefully. “It’s your case,” I told him. “Good luck.”

  He glanced at the sheriff’s door. “I think he’s trying to talk the pastor into having you work on it, too.”

  I nearly choked on a mouthful of searing hot liquid. “Why?”

  Wesley raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me. “Don’t you want in? Yesterday you were kind of ticked off that they wanted you out.”

  True, but that was before the fire chief’s report pointed a flashing red arrow at magic users, especially Nicolas. I had a feeling that politics would play more of a role in this investigation than sense or skill would, and besides, I didn’t want to face any sorcerers after last night’s blatant exclusion. It had reminded me of a truth I’d known all along but
had nearly forgotten – the magic users own this town. Everyone else is simply tolerated, and that includes me.

  The pastor stalked out of the sheriff’s office and shot an evil look my way before heading briskly out the door. James Blair left a minute later, looking remarkably relaxed.

  “Cassie! Wesley!” The sheriff bellowed from his office.

  We didn’t waste any time responding to his summons. A minute later we were seated in his hard-backed wooden chairs with the office door firmly closed.

  The sheriff took off his hat and ran his hand through his thick brown hair. A few months ago he had been all but bald, but thanks to something Evan had done to shock him out of a love spell, it now grew in thick waves. He did have to dye it regularly to keep the bright pink roots from showing, but at least he had hair. Unfortunately, it didn’t look as if he had kept up with his coloring schedule, because a hint of pink showed at the roots. “I assume you’ve heard the station gossip by now?”

  We both nodded.

  He slid over a yellow folder. “Here’s the details, for what it’s worth. Although I think the summary pretty much has it right. The bottom line is that the good pastor thinks someone did this in retaliation for his…” the sheriff’s lips twitched “…sermons of love and redemption.”

  “Is that what he called them?” I asked dryly.

  “What do you think?” Wesley asked.

  Sheriff Adams rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Honestly? I think he’s probably right, but my opinion doesn’t leave this room. Thinking magic was involved doesn’t narrow it down much because there are hundreds of suspects that we know about.” He looked at me, levelly. “You probably know even more.”

  “A few are closeted,” I admitted, “but don’t expect me to betray any confidences until and unless I become convinced of someone’s guilt.”

  “Of course, but I should warn you – the fire chief thinks he knows who did it.”

  I looked into his eyes for a moment. “Nicolas?”

  He nodded, once.

  “It wasn’t Nicolas! The Chief’s had it out for him for years now. It got worse when Nicolas wormed his way into the training program. Kicking him out apparently wasn’t good enough.”