by Karen L Mead
He made a conscious effort not to take out his aggravation on Liddell. No matter what issues he might have with the vampire (and there were quite a few), the missing tablet probably wasn’t his fault.
“I appreciate the information you’ve provided on this matter. If you find out anything that may hint to the whereabouts of the tablet, please contact me as soon as possible. Or rather,” he said, taking a quick glance at the man next to him, “contact John. He will serve as a liaison.”
Sam pulled Mike close, and bent down a little bit so he could look him in the eye. “Have a good couple of days, okay? See you Tuesday.”
He couldn’t warn Mike to be safe without being rude in front of Liddell, so he composed his message mentally. In the past, he’d only been able to communicate mentally with his familiars, but Mike was part of his entourage; he was pretty confident he could make it work.
Listen, regardless of everything else, I need you to take care of yourself first. If you need to make a run for it, then run, and screw hacking their computers or whatever. Contact one of the Buckleys, they’ll be listening for your thoughts. Okay?
Mike’s eyes widened in surprise, then he nodded almost imperceptibly. Sam was prepared to make his leave, only to be stopped by the sound of Liddell’s hacking laughter. Sam turned to the wizened man on the throne, perplexed.
Liddell recovered from his laughter and delicately gestured in the air with his fingers. “I could just let you leave right now, as I have answered your questions. However, in light of your exquisite gift, I feel duty-bound to answer even the questions you didn’t know enough to ask.”
“Excuse me?”
Liddell leaned forward in his chair, supporting himself on his cane. “What I have told you is not the only way to summon the Phantasms. There is also the Rod of Moses.”
“Moses?” Mike exclaimed, surprised. Liddell gave him an indulgent smile.
“Yes, your kinsman. Although you are descended from Aaron, his brother, and not the Prophet himself. Close enough though, for horseshoes and hand grenades,” he said, then laughed his painful chuckle again. “More importantly, just as Moses was by far the greatest of the Prophets, the Rod is the greatest of all magical artifacts. It can act in the place of, or overrule, any other spelled item. It can unravel every protection, dispel every curse.”
“Oh no,” Sam murmured, following the train of Liddell’s logic.
Liddell nodded gravely.
“So if you had the Rod of Moses, you would not need the tablet, or even the covenant of blood; you could summon the Phantasms at any time. And unlike the tablet, I know exactly where it is.”
“Buried deep inside an underwater volcano?” Sam asked with bitter irony. Liddell smiled for a moment and shook his head.
“If only. But no: The Eastern Court has it. They’ve had it for centuries. And they can use it whenever they want[GW5].”
Chapter 27
“Hello, you’ve reached Helen Andrews. Leave your number and a message and I might call you back, but whether or not I elect to do so depends on any number of factors, which I do not have the time or the inclination to explain in this pre-recorded message. Here is the requisite beep.” *beep*
Not seeing any point in leaving a third message on Helen’s voicemail, Cassie hung up the phone. She passed her phone from hand to hand, wondering what to do. If Helen wasn’t answering her phone, for whatever reason, there was another way to get in touch with her…but could she do it?
Miri came out of the kitchen, cradling a giant bowl of caramel popcorn to her chest. She was wearing her pink and black kitten pajamas, the ones Cassie had always been jealous of. Her own pajama pants had pictures of cartoon sharks on them; she had no memory of how she’d ended up with pajama pants featuring sharks, but they were soft and comfy, and she didn’t really care what they looked like.
Adding to the coziness, she was also wearing fuzzy rainbow socks, which were resting on top of Teddy’s back. The elephant seemed to really enjoy being used as a footstool, especially when Cassie wore thick socks and massaged his back with her heels.
Miri placed the bowl of popcorn on the glass table, then went back into the kitchen, quickly returning with Cassie’s hot cocoa. Cassie breathed in the scent of the liquid chocolate and smiled; okay, her life was confusing lately, but it did have perks. After all, not everyone could sip hot chocolate on their brand-new, fine leather couch, all while playing with their pet elephant.
“I’m guessing she’s still not picking up.”
“No,” said Cassie, blowing on her hot cocoa. “She could just be out, or busy. It is Saturday night.”
Miri crunched on her caramel corn, wearing her typical ‘hell yeah!’ expression that she always had on her face when she ate sugar. “But you’re in a hurry.”
“Yeah,” said Cassie, cradling the mug in her hands. There was something intensely comforting about feeling the warmth of the heated ceramic on the tender skin of her palms. “I’m wondering if I could contact her mind-to-mind, witch-to-witch. We’ve done it before, but the last time, she initiated it. I’m not sure if I can do it from my end.”
Miri shuffled her feet, taking them in and out of her cute bunny slippers. “Seems like it’s worth a try. If it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost anything.”
“Yeah,” Cassie said. She took a sip of her drink, and enjoying the feeling of the warmth in her throat, nearly drained the cup. “But I have to wait until I’m almost asleep. We have to meet in a dream.”
“You tired?” Miri asked. “It’s almost eleven.”
“I dunno,” said Cassie. “It’s like, my body feels tired but my brain doesn’t feel tired, you know?”
“C’mon girls, it’s a sleepover! Let’s stay up all night and tell ghost stories!” said Sammael, suddenly next to Cassie on the couch. He kicked his feet excitedly, like a small child.
Cassie jumped up, dropping her mug. It didn’t shatter on the floor, but simply made a loud thunk.
“What are YOU doing here? I didn’t summon you!”
As she was talking, she took in the demon’s appearance. He was indeed dressed for a slumber party, wearing blue and white fuzzy pajamas. Pajamas with feet, like toddlers wore. On top of his head was a conical night cap, complete with a crescent moon decoration hanging off the end of a ribbon at the top. Under other circumstances, she might have laughed at the sight of him in that outfit, but she was too shocked by his sudden appearance to have any sense of humor at the moment.
Miri had frozen on the couch, a hand full of popcorn half-raised to her mouth. At first Cassie thought that Sammael had done something to her, but small tremors in the thin vampire’s hand revealed that she was just waiting, watching.
Sammael stretched out and yawned; Cassie tried very hard not to look at his crotch, which wasn’t very well disguised by his pajama pants. When he was finished stretching, he leaned back on the couch, looking as content as a purring housecat.
“You think I need the likes of you to summon me in order to get anywhere? Pfft, nonsense!” He began picking the inside of his ear with his little finger. “Although, to tell you the truth, traveling to this realm without being summoned is stupid expensive and I hate having to do it, but you’ve made it necessary, my foolish, foolish witch.”
Cassie’s stomach lurched. Of course. Whatever she’d done to the vase this afternoon, he would have felt it. Technically, she was his familiar too; it was strange how easy it was to forget that, whenever he wasn’t around.
In a quick moment, Sammael grabbed the bowl of popcorn from Miri and began shoveling handfuls of it into his mouth. “Of course you would have to be…gnn, munch…the first witch in the history of the world…nom nom nom…to use true black magic. Did you think I wouldn’t notice that?” He licked his fingers. “You pulled magic out of my son, who is probably too dumb to even realize that you did it. But if you can do it to him, that means you can do it to me. And I can’t have that,” he said, putting the popcorn on the table. “I’m taking you h
ome with me.”
In a flash, Miri was on him, trying to twist his head off.
“You’re not taking her any—”
She didn’t have time to finish, since Sammael effortlessly picked her up and threw her into the wall. She hit the bookshelves with the center of her back, hard, knocking several of the empty ones down. The impact would have likely shattered a normal human’s spine, but Miri just looked furious. She crouched on the floor, ready to attack him again. Her fangs, so rarely visible, seemed to be elongating in her open mouth.
“Miri, don’t!” Cassie yelled, afraid for her friend.
“Listen to the child, living dead girl. Don’t you know by now that you’re punching above your weight?” said Sammael. He made a disappointed clicking sound with his tongue, then stood up. “Don’t worry, I can see what a dedicated bodyguard you are. I’ll vouch for you if anyone asks. Five stars out of five, complete lack of any sense of self-preservation, a credit to her profession.”
Cassie turned her head and saw that Aeka had come out of the kitchen. She was holding a plate with a big slice of chocolate cake. She looked utterly unmoved by Sammael’s presence.
“They’re coming soon,” she said softly, addressing the demon. “No one will be able to stop them, not even you.”
With that, she took her cake and headed upstairs. Sammael’s eyes followed her retreating back, then flicked back and forth from Cassie to Miri until the latter disappeared into her room.
“Is it just me, or is she a tiny bit on the creepy side? Geez.”
He stood up, grabbed Cassie around the waist and pulled her close, which made her blurt out a little yip noise in surprise. Sammael grinned and patted her on the head.
“Oh, you’re just so cute and squishy! It’s been what, six months since you contracted with me, and I’ve held back all this time? Frankly, I deserve a medal.”
He stumbled slightly; Teddy was headbutting him in the back of his thighs. Sammael made a slightly pained expression.
“Normally, witches have cats. I’ve seen exceptions, but nine times out of ten, it’s a cat. You just had to be special,” he muttered.
“Don’t hurt him!” Cassie pleaded, suddenly terrified. “You can take me, but leave Teddy alone!”
He looked at her for a moment, like he couldn’t quite believe just how amusing she was. “Oh honey, I would take you either way, but I’m not going to hurt your little baby-animal familiar. What do you think I am, a monster?”
He kissed Cassie’s forehead, and in the next instant, both of them[GW6] were gone.
Chapter 28
Usually, when Khalil was stuck closing up shop at The Daily Grind, he tried to fly through it as fast as possible so he could get out of there. Now that he planned to quit, he found himself lingering over simple tasks. Even something as menial as wiping down the blenders seemed to take on new significance when he knew he wouldn’t be doing it too many more times.
It was for that reason that he was still at the shop around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, when Sam and John Golding came in. They were bickering about something, but Sam froze when he saw Khalil.
“What are you doing here?”
“I work here. For now.”
“But you opened with me this morning. You did a full close-open today?”
Khalil looked down at the shiny countertop he was wiping and shrugged. “Since I’m leaving, seemed like the least I could do for Dwight was give him a few more weekend days free. I took his shift so he could go to band practice.”
“Oh….” Sam said. It seemed like he wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure what.
“We have a problem,” Golding said, adjusting his glasses. “Cassie’s been kidnapped…again.”
“‘Kidnapped’ doesn’t quite cover it,” Sam said, collapsing into a nearby chair. “But leave Khalil out of it. He’s leaving, this isn’t his problem.”
Khalil threw the rag he was using down on the floor, irritated. “You don’t think I care that she’s in trouble? She’s my friend too.”
Sam put his face in his hands. When he looked up, he looked calm, but tired. “I’m only trying to help you. It would be nice if you would let me.”
Before Khalil could respond, Miri ran into the shop, in tears. It upset him seeing her so distraught, and he was surprised that she still had that effect on him.
“I’m so sorry!” she said, collapsing to the floor in front of where Sam was sitting. “There was nothing I could do to stop him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Golding, standing and pacing nearby. “You’re a young vampire. Your job is to protect Cassie from dangerous humans, other vamps. No one expects you to fight off a Lord of Hell single-handedly.”
“Still,” said Miri, her lip trembling. She wiped her eyes, then reached into the pocket of her leather jacket. “He left this note for you; I found it on the couch after they disappeared.”
Sam grabbed the piece of notepaper from her hand, stone-faced; when he had read it, he looked a little relieved.
Khalil approached awkwardly. “Can I see it?”
Sam had either decided to stop trying to “help” him, or was too emotionally drained to even care anymore. “Here. My father thinks he’s funny.”
Khalil looked at the paper. The message was brief:
Hi! Looks like your naughty little witch has been peeing all over the carpet again, so I’m taking her to obedience school. I’ll give her back when she’s properly trained in the use of magic. I think YOU were supposed to do that, but we all know that was never going to happen, right? Because you’re just incompetent. Don’t worry, Mommy and Daddy still love you, even though you’re a failure and no one else likes you.
“What does he mean, ‘peeing all over the carpet’?” Khalil wondered aloud.
“He is comparing Cassie to a puppy. That is the joke,” said Sam in a flat tone.
Khalil sat down at the table across from Sam.
“No, duh. I mean, what did she do that made him do this now? He could have grabbed her anytime he wanted to, right?”
Sam flinched at that.
“He’s right,” said Golding. “She must have done something….”
Miri wiped her nose. “I know what it is,” she said. Regaining her composure, she stood back up, wiping the dust from her short skirt. “Today, Teddy broke a vase, and Cassie fixed it—with magic.”
“Since when can she do that?” Sam said, looking annoyed. “When we’ve practiced magic together, she hasn’t been able to do much of anything.”
“She didn’t just fix it though. She reversed time, so it put itself back together. Like you do.”
It took a while for Sam to grasp the full meaning of what she was saying. He looked up at the ceiling, at a loss.
“How is that possible?”
“Why is that so weird?” Khalil asked. He sat forward and leaned his forearms on the table. “So she can do some of the same magic you can do. So what?”
“You don’t understand, Mr. Latif,” said Golding, still pacing. “When a demon takes a familiar, they can tap into their familiar’s magic. But it’s a one-way street; the familiar, or the witch as in this case, can’t pull her master’s magic through the bond the other way. But in order to do what Cassie did, she must have done that.”
Sam groaned. “I think I felt it when she did it, too,” he said quietly. “I convinced myself it was my stomach acting up.”
Khalil chuckled, unable to help himself. Sam and Golding both glared at him.
“Sorry, but it is funny. Little Cassie’s going all ‘Equal Rights for Witches!’ on them, all by herself, and the demon bros are not happy about it.”
“I’m sure they aren’t,” Golding said, finally sitting down at the table. “But it’s not only that. If she can do this, that means the rules don’t apply to her. It’s impossible to predict what she can do, making her very dangerous. To herself as well as others.”
“So you think my father was right to drag her down into Realm?” Sam aske
d. His face was blank, but Khalil had a feeling that Golding could be in serious trouble, depending how he answered.
Golding seemed to realize it too, because he paused for a moment before he answered. “It’s not my place to judge your father. I’m saying that his concern is understandable, whether or not his reaction to it was justifiable.”
Sam stood up. “I’m going after her.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Miri yelled. “Azrael has all of Realm booby-trapped for you, you know that! If you pop in there, you’ll just end up chained down in his basement!”
“So what do I do? Stay here and do nothing?”
“It’s what the rest of us usually have to do. Get used to it,” Khalil said.
He didn’t know why he said it; he wasn’t especially angry at Sam, and didn’t want to provoke him. But once the words were out of his mouth, there was no taking them back.
“What is your problem!?” Sam yelled, standing up so fast his chair fell over. “You want to leave, I’m letting you leave, so get on with it!”
“Oh, you’re letting me leave? How generous of you, oh High Lord of Time, Space and Dishwashing. Would you like me to bow for you?” Khalil made an exaggerated little bowing gesture.
“Stop it, both of you,” Miri said, looking from one to the other.
“Yes, we have more than enough problems without—” Golding began.
But Sam was too incensed to stop. “I didn’t ask for any of this!” Sam yelled, truly furious now. “I didn’t ask to be put in charge of this, to be born this way, any of it. You act like I did this on purpose!”
Khalil stood up too, slamming his hands on the table. “What about me? What did I ask for, the day I signed up to work at a random cafe, just for the hell of it, and I ended up in the middle of Demon Monopoly? Where humans are just little plastic tokens?”
Sam didn’t seem to have a response to that, so Khalil continued.