Never Just One Apocalypse

by Karen L Mead

  Dot swallowed and burped, loudly. “If you’ve met my kind, then you should know I’m not going to shake your hand, undead abomination.”

  Instead of being upset, Eugene just laughed. “I know. I thought, there’s always a first time.”

  Licking her fingers, Dot did reach out with her other hand and touch Eugene’s palm, but only with the tip of her little finger. “Odd. There’s something about your whole clan, vampire. I noticed it earlier with the dark-skinned girl. You’re not as distasteful as most undead.”

  The fairy turned to Miri. “Except for you, you’re awful. I don’t like you at all.”

  “Yeah, I get that a lot,” said Miri, lying down on the couch. She yawned and kicked her feet.

  Cassie was curled up in a little ball in the corner of the couch, by Miri’s feet. After Mike left with Dwight, Jay came over to Cassie and knelt in front of her.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Not really. As okay as possible given what’s happening, I guess.”

  Jay had a serious expression that she wasn’t used to seeing on him.

  “I just hope you know that none of this is your fault.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s still my responsibility,” said Cassie. She dropped her voice lower, hoping only Jay and Miri would hear her. “Maybe Mr. Golding wasn’t so wrong to talk about killing me. What if there’s no other way?”

  “Cassie,” said Miri in a pleading tone. “Don’t talk like that.”

  Jay looked furious, another odd expression on him. “Yeah. Don’t.”

  “I’m serious. If the Watchers come, they don’t care about humans…I know they don’t. They could kill so many people, maybe billions of people, and I—”

  “No. If the only way to save the world is by sacrificing you, then I don’t want it,” said Jay. “I don’t want a world without you.”

  Then he seemed to realize what he said, and his face burned red. “Umm, what I’m trying to say is, we’ll find another way…I’m sure there’s another way.”

  Cassie looked up and saw that Sam was standing behind Jay, watching him carefully, like he’d never truly noticed him before. Then he seemed to snap out of it and got Cassie’s attention.

  “I know it seems kind of low-priority with everything going on, but I made the charm to keep Teddy fun-sized. Should I put it on him now?”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think he’s gotten bigger just in the last day,” said Cassie, getting up off the couch.

  “We’re heading out,” said Eugene, supporting a sleepy Ethan. “Thank you for having us at your party.”

  “I wish it was more of a party and less of a group freak-out session, but I’m glad you came,” Cassie said, giving Eugene and Ethan both a quick hug.

  Soon, the only people left in the house were Cassie, Sam, Miri, and the sleeping Aeka upstairs. Dot said she’d meet Sam at home, but she had to talk to some more wood first. After she was gone, Cassie gave Sam an amused look.

  “So, you and the fairy are bunkmates now?”

  “Not really. I think she sleeps in a tree somewhere, but she’s made my apartment her home base, for the time being.”

  “I see,” said Cassie, opening the door to the backyard. When she stepped outside, her jaw dropped. Where before the backyard had been a long stretch of patio and empty grass, now there was a giant tree right in the middle of it. A blue-green weeping willow, its massive fronds vibrated in the evening breeze. Teddy was nestled up against the thick trunk of the tree, looking content.

  “Where did that come from?”

  “It must be a house-warming gift from Dorothy. She did mention she was going to give you something.”

  “I guess she’s never heard of a teapot?” Cassie murmured, but she wasn’t really annoyed. It wasn’t like she’d had any plans to develop the backyard anyway.

  While Cassie stroked Teddy’s head and soothed him, Sam put the leather strap on Teddy’s leg. After he’d put it on, Cassie checked the elephant for any sign of discomfort.

  “It’s not hurting him, is it?”

  “I think if he was in pain, you would know.”

  “Yeah, probably,” she said, standing up. Surprisingly, Teddy didn’t follow her and stayed nestled between the roots of the big tree.

  Sam kept his eyes on Teddy, not making eye contact with her. “I’ll get going now,” he said quietly.

  Cassie grabbed his arm. “Don’t go.”

  Sam stiffened. “I really didn’t think you’d want me around.”

  Still holding Sam’s arm, Cassie walked toward the patio tiles and sat down, pulling him down next to her.

  “You think because you told me you have some bad, evil thoughts, I’m scared of you now? I already knew that about you. But I have so many other things to be scared of right now, I just don’t have any scared left over for you, okay? So I’d like it if you’d just sit next to me and hold me for a little while, and maybe I’ll try being scared of you when everything else is a little less messed up.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” he said softly, wrapping his arm around her. “I’m sorry. It was idiotic of me to try to scare you, of all people. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Obviously. Do you want to tell me what happened yesterday that made you totally lose it?”

  “No,” he said quickly.

  At another time, she might have argued, but tonight, she just accepted it. They sat quietly together for a little while, looking at the beautiful, otherworldly tree that had no business whatsoever being in Cassie’s plain yard. At one point, Vladmira flew into the yard and perched on the tip of Teddy’s ear, but the elephant flicked his ear and she disappeared up into the tree.

  Cassie moved closer to Sam, inhaling the smell of him. He always smelled so clean, like spring rain and mountain streams. That was probably because he showered a lot and used soap with added scents that were literally called “Spring Rain” and “Mountain Stream,” but it was still nice, even if it wasn’t natural.

  “Why won’t Serenus talk to us anymore?”

  Sam began stroking her back. “I think he’s protecting us.”

  Cassie started at that. “How? By abandoning us when we need him the most?”

  “Maybe so, but if he’s being watched by someone—or worse—the only thing he can do is stay away from us so he doesn’t end up spying on us against his will.”

  “If that’s what’s going on, he should have told us,” Cassie murmured, feeling childish. “Maybe not out loud, but he could have given some sign….”

  Sam stopped rubbing her back for a moment and met her eyes. “The fact that he’s not coming to the shop anymore? That’s the sign. That’s how we know it’s serious.”

  Cassie thought about the Professor some more. “I guess that’s true. So what do we do? We can’t just leave him like that.”

  “We can and we will.”

  Cassie furrowed her brow at him.

  “If it was as simple as him being bothered by some upstart demon that we could scare off, don’t you think he’d just tell us that? The fact that he’s severed contact means we probably can’t help him—or we would be risking too much if we tried. I trust him on this.”

  “I get that, but like…knowing stuff is kind of his deal. He probably knows stuff about the Watchers and the Phantasms.”

  “We can’t expect him to come save us all the time. We’re lucky he helped us out for as long as he did.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments, and Sam resumed gently rubbing her back. Cassie felt her whole body begin to tingle, then started to feel an odd, floaty sensation, like she was drunk. She’d never actually been drunk, but she was pretty sure this was what it felt like.

  She moved closer and rested her head on his chest, feeling the smooth, cool fabric of his white button-down shirt against her face.

  “I’m so tired of being Miss pure Angel girl, it sucks. The Virgin Witch, the last Angel, blah blah blah it’s so annoying. I want to stop being pure. I want to be nasty, so the Ang
els think I’m all disgusting and gross and leave me the hell alone.”

  Sam chuckled quietly. “I don’t think that’s quite how it works.”

  Sitting up straight for a moment, Cassie looked up at the sky, then at the man next to her. “I guess what I’m saying is, I want to try being a slut. Activate Skank Powers.”

  She maneuvered herself so she was in his lap, facing him, and brought her lips to his startled face before he could react. As she kissed him, she pressed her chest against his, enjoying the sensation of her breasts flattening against his body, and then tried to figure out what to do with her hands. Not sure what she was supposed to do with them, she kept one hand on his chest and moved the other one up to his head, where she began running her fingers through his pale hair. Had she ever touched his hair with her fingers before? It was silky, yet somehow firmer than her own hair.

  After only a moment, Sam pushed her away, gently but firmly. “No. We can’t do this now.”

  “I think we can!” said Cassie, breathless.

  Sam was breathing heavily, like he’d just jogged a few miles, but seemed otherwise calm and collected. “Cassie. Can you hear yourself? Can you hear what’s running through your head right now?”

  “Huh?”

  “Because as soon as you started kissing me, all I could hear was you screaming inside your mind ‘I want to go home, I want to go home.’”

  Cassie’s breath caught in her throat, and it hurt.

  I want to go home. I want Daddy to tuck me in, like he did when I was little, and tell me that the monsters are all in my imagination, because I’m a silly little girl. I don’t want to live in this big, empty house on my own, I don’t want to, why do I have to leave when Hunter still gets to stay at home just like a big baby it’s NOT FAIR.

  Hot tears began to run down her face; in fact, they felt so hot, she wondered if it was possible for them to burn her skin. She threw herself off his lap as quickly as possible and curled up into a little ball on the patio, hugging her knees tightly to her chest.

  “Some evil demon you are! You tell me, *hic* that you’re going to do all these horrible sex things to me, *hic* and then when I want you to, you won’t even do it! Don’t promise what you can’t deliver!”

  Sam exhaled, still getting his breath back after her surprise attack. “I’m sorry. I have imagined you coming on to me in total desperation but…not this kind of desperation. A different kind.”

  “Oh you are so picky,” she snapped. She lay down on her back on the patio, looking at the sky. They were still too close to the city lights to see many stars, but she could still see some: little pinpricks of light in the purple-gray haze.

  After a while, she said “Hey, I want you to put me to sleep.”

  Sam crossed his legs and put his elbows on his knees. “Hmm. Well if you want to be bored into unconsciousness, I could tell you all about my boyhood years in North Carolina. One year, the summer when I was eight—”

  “No, you know what I mean. Make me sleep. Make me sleep and not have dreams. Can you do that?”

  “Are you sure that’s what you—”

  “If you second-guess what I want one more time, I swear I’m going to hurt you.”

  He laughed softly at that. “Fine. Should we go inside and get you in bed?”

  Cassie thought about going into her new house, a strange house where all the shadows were still unfamiliar. She had a weird flashback to the first cold night she’d spent in her grandparents’ cottage when she was five, convinced that there was a monster lurking in every dark corner. It felt like it was only just yesterday.

  “No, do it out here and put me in bed…no, on the couch. On the couch in the living room.”

  “Now who’s being picky? Come here, then.”

  Cassie arranged herself so he was supporting her under her shoulders and her knees, princess-style. Her cheeks flushed; even though she had just kissed him, this felt far more intimate somehow.

  Sam gently put a finger on her hot cheek, and smiled.

  “‘Activate skank powers,’ huh?”

  “Stop embarrassing me and put me to sleep already.”

  “Go to sleep, little witch,” he said in that commanding tone she hadn’t heard for months.

  Her last thought before falling asleep was I’m not that little, I don’t know why he calls me that.

  But I like it.

  Chapter 21

  When Sam had carefully placed Cassie’s sleeping body on the living room couch, he felt Miri walk up behind him and put her arms around his waist.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, you.”

  They were whispering, not because they needed to—Cassie wouldn’t wake until morning—but because it would have felt rude not to. Sam turned around to face her, and she let go of him.

  “Listen, Miri, I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  “But I am sorry,” he continued. “I never should have said any of that, at the hospital…I’d just had a bad shock, but that doesn’t excuse it.”

  Miri looked up at him with an expression he couldn’t read.

  “Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?”

  “Huh?”

  “Do you even know why I got so upset?”

  “Well…no, honestly,” he admitted. “It’s not like I expected you to be happy, but when you reacted the way you did…crying…it was odd. It seemed so unlike you.”

  He moved away from the couch; even though Cassie couldn’t hear what they were saying, he wanted some distance from her. “It made me wonder if you were ashamed of what we—”

  Miri put her hand over his mouth, smiling wryly. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You have no idea.”

  He grabbed her wrist and moved her hand away from his mouth. “Then explain it. The world is literally ending any minute now, we don’t have time to be coy with each other.”

  She grabbed her hand back, turned around and walked into the kitchen; he followed. When she got to the kitchen, she looked out at the view of the yard from the large window that took up nearly the entire back wall. The weeping willow was still shaking, quivering in the evening breeze. She pulled her red hair back like she was putting it up in a ponytail, then dropped it; she seemed unsure of what to do with her hands.

  “That side of you, that selfish, evil-overlord side…I thought that was the side that only I got to see. For you to be like that in front of other people, in front of her, I just couldn’t…I just couldn’t deal with it right then.”

  Sam was at a loss for how to respond.

  “I love her, you know,” Miri continued, swinging her arms loosely at her sides. “It helps when you care about the person you’re guarding, but I really love her; she’s my best friend. But sometimes, when I think about you two together, I hate her. I don’t want to, I just do.”

  They stood in silence for a moment, staring out the window. Miri crossed her arms under her breasts, looking small and frail. In the darkness of the kitchen, her red hair looked gray.

  “Do you want to leave?” Sam asked after a moment. “I’m sure you know Nyesha’s leaving. You could go with her.”

  Miri shook her head. “You’d need a new bodyguard for Cassie.”

  “That’s my problem. We’re talking about you.”

  She turned her head to look at him, then sighed. “No, I did this to myself. With Khalil, I did that to myself too.”

  “He’s also leaving, you know.”

  “What?” she said, turning around quickly? “When? Where is he going?”

  Sam put up his arms, palms forward, gesturing that he didn’t know. “No idea. But he’s not happy here, wants a fresh start. I’m not going to try to stop him.”

  Miri hugged her middle as if she had a pain in her stomach.

  “I don’t want him to go, but I can’t tell him that…I have no right to tell him that, the way I borked everything up.” She leaned forward, supporting her weight on the kitchen table. “I know, I need
to apologize, I can’t say anything else to him until I apologize, but I’ve been trying to apologize to him for a month and I just can’t ever seem to do it!”

  Sam was tempted to tell her to try harder, but things between her and Khalil weren’t really his business. “I wish there was something I could do for you.”

  “Hmm, let’s see,” she said, still looking down at the kitchen table. “Reverse time so that we never met, so that I never fall in love with you. Or him, either. Can you do that for me?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  She turned around and looked at him; her eyes were shiny, like she was barely holding back tears. “Well then, what good are you?” she said in a curious tone. She stood up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek, then went back into the living room to guard Cassie while she slept.

  Chapter 22

  Serenus didn’t normally stay out late on Friday nights—or at all, really—but he’d had a social function at the university that he couldn’t get out of. One of the disadvantages of getting involved in university life again was that a bunch of people who had pretty much forgotten his existence now felt obligated to invite him to parties. He didn’t mind parties, exactly, but he found the mundane conversation tiresome. It was hard to sustain long conversations with people who knew nothing about magic; it was like half the world was closed off to them.

  After putting his briefcase down, he hesitated for a moment, then headed into his small kitchen to make coffee. He should just go to bed, but what would one cup of decaf hurt? Then he froze; someone had already made coffee. A full pot, from the smell of it.

  He was surprised, but not shocked, to see that someone was already in his kitchen, sitting at the table. Azazel had a bunch of notes in front of him and seemed to be fully engaged in what he was doing.

  “Good, you’re home. Tell me, what’s another word for ‘lugubrious’?”

  Deciding against coffee, Serenus moved to pour himself a glass of bourbon. “What do you take me for, an English professor? Not my area.”

  “I’m running out of adjectives,” the demon fretted, running a sinewy hand through his golden curls. “I used up too many of the good ones on the last core set.”