Succession of Witches (9 page)

At that moment, there was a flash of movement behind Sam, and before Cassie knew it, she felt something rustling her hair. She screamed and tried to push the thing off her head, while Jay jumped back toward the wall. The small, furry thing thrashed desperately against her hands, making her scream again.

“Stop that! Come here!” Sam yelled.

At that, there was a dark blur in her peripheral vision and in an
instant, the creature was perched on Sam’s outstretched arm. He looked at it with a dumbstruck expression.

“How on earth…” he began.

“Sam, you have a bat?” said Jay, his voice bubbling with excitement. At that moment, Cassie wanted to punch him in the face. “Like a vampire?”

“I am not a vampire!” snarled Sam. “And this is not mine.”

“And it went in my hair!” said Cassie, combing her fingers through her hair, trying to get the essence of bat out of it. She was going to wash her hair with an entire bottle of shampoo tonight. Maybe two bottles.

“See, that’s funny, because they say they never really fly in women’s hair outside of horror movies. That’s like, a myth,” said Jay.

“Oh, is it?” Cassie snapped. “Sam, what’s going on?”

The door from the café opened, and Khalil poked his head in. “Was gonna leave you two alone but I heard—shoot, there’s a bat? You’ve got magical pets now?”

“It’s not a magical pet, it’s just a normal, brown bat. It was stuck in the wall of my motel room, and I let it out, so it’s kind of…following me around,” Sam said. In a quick motion, the bat flapped its wings and moved from Sam’s arm to his shoulder, while Sam tried not to change expression.

Khalil entered the room and closed the door behind him quietly, looking at the creature perched on Sam’s shoulder incredulously. “A normal bat wouldn’t,
wait, you STILL live in a motel? How long have you been living here now, man? Six months?”

“That is totally beside the point!” Sam said. The bat made a clicking noise, as though in agreement. Sam narrowed his eyes,
then looked at the small creature on his shoulder.

“Vladmira,” he said in a low voice.

“Oh God, he named it.”

Sam frowned, but otherwise paid Khalil no attention. “Vladmira, go back home. I will see you later.”

The bat made a few more clicking noises, then took off from Sam’s shoulder. It turned toward Cassie for a second, making her draw in her breath, but then changed direction at the last second and flew back out the partially open window it had entered through. Sam watched its flight for a few seconds, then fixed his eyes on Cassie, intent.

“Anyway, we’re not doing it, and that’s final.  Promise me you won’t try to rescue him on your own.”

“I, uh….” Cassie started, trying to stall. She didn’t know how else to try to convince him.

“Promise me or else,” he said.

Cassie groaned; she didn’t need to ask what he meant by “or else.” If she didn’t promise, he would probably compel her so that she couldn’t do it. Being magically compelled to do something against her will—or in this case, not do something against her will— was something she didn’t ever want to experience again in this lifetime, if she could help it. “I promise,” she said, not meeting his eyes.

He looked up at her with a scowl,
then held out his hand. “Give me those earrings back, I need to know if you mean it.”

“You’re taking them back? Indian-giver!” she retorted, putting her hands over her new earrings protectively. “I promise, okay? It’s not like I can bust him out without you anyway, so there’s nothing I can do.”

He dropped his hand, seemingly satisfied. “Alright,” he said, suddenly sounding tired. “I’m going home, I’ll clean the rest of this up tomorrow.” With that, he put on his leather jacket and exited the break room through the back door, heading to the alley by Dwight’s office.

After he had been gone for a few moments, Cassie took a deep breath. “Okay. This is going to be tricky.”

Jay and Khalil looked at her quizzically. “What is?” asked Khalil.

“Rescuing Ethan.
I was lying.”

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For hours, whenever a customer wasn’t in earshot, Khalil and Jay tried to talk her out of it. Around 5 p.m., when Mike showed up for his usual white hot chocolate, he got in on the act as soon as Jay had brought him up to speed. During a lull around dinnertime when the shop had no customers, he hovered over her while she wiped down the condiment bar with more force than was strictly necessary.

“Cassie, think! You can’t even break the familiar bond without Sam, you can’t rescue him by yourself. It’s not even possible.”

“I don’t need to break the bond just to get him out of his house and bring him over here,” said Cassie. “I’ll bring Ethan here,
then ask Sam again to break the bond. If Sam really doesn’t want to do that, then he can just tell the kid to his face that he won’t help him.”

When she turned, all three males were looking at her in open-mouthed disbelief. “You can’t do that,” said Khalil. “Cassie, babydoll, you do that, Sam’s going to kill you.”

“Then I guess the court will be really annoyed with him, won’t they?” she said with a tight smile. When she passed Khalil to go put the cleaning supplies away, he grabbed her arm.

“I don’t
understand, why is this so important? Who is this kid to you?” he asked.

“It’s not who he is to me. It’s that he’s a child, and he’s scared, and I promised I would help him. His master locks him in the house with video games all day and never lets him out, never lets him see anyone. His parents think he’s dead—they already had a funeral for him.”

Khalil let go of her arm. “Why would they do that? Shouldn’t there be some kind of police investigation? He should still be missing.”

“He would be,” said Cassie slowly. “Only, his master killed another boy who looked like him, and dumped the body nearby. There’s another kid’s body in his grave.”

There was silence for a moment. Cassie swallowed.

“Guys, I know it’s dangerous but if I don’t do everything I can think of to try to save him, I’ll never forgive myself,” she said. That was the truth; it was that simple.

Khalil began rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “How you gonna get him though? You don’t have a driver’s license yet.”

Cassie colored. “Uh, well I wasn’t going to drive. I was going to take a cab.”

“Where does he live?”

“Connecticut.”

There was a pause, and then Khalil burst out laughing. Cassie felt the heat rush to her face and knew she must have looked red as a tomato. “What?”

When Khalil had recovered his breath, he just shook his head.

Cassie pulled hard on the hem of her apron to resist the urge to go hit him. “Well whatever, I’m doing it.”

“No you aren’t.”

“Khalil, I already told you—”

“You’re not taking a cab, because I’ll drive you.”

Then it was Cassie’s turn to look surprised.

Sam didn’t know what to do with himself after the fight with Cassie. He’d returned to his motel room, not sure where else to go, but he felt too agitated to read, and besides, he was out of library books. Practicing magic was out of the question, unless he wanted to risk leaving a smoking crater where Bob’s Motel had once been.

So for the first time in recent memory, he was watching TV. At first he had flipped through the channels aimlessly, only to find a show that seemed to be about building massive dioramas with cupcakes. To Sam, it seemed incredibly stupid, but he couldn’t help but feel that Khalil would probably be proud of him for finally watching some food-related television. Besides, the sheer banality was somewhat calming.

Vladmira made a clicking noise from her spot on top of the lamp, which seemed to have become her regular perch. Sam regarded her coolly.

“What do I have to do to get rid of you, anyway?”

The bat made a series of clicks in response, but Sam had no way of knowing if she was answering his question or if it were just coincidence. As he was studying the bat, trying to decide if it had some kind of magical property he couldn’t sense, a series of polite knocks on the door startled him.

“Mr. Andrews?” called a female voice. “Hi, can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

Sam stood up slowly, worried. The voice didn’t belong to Cassie, or one of the hotel staff. She knew his last name, so it wasn’t like she was someone else’s guest knocking on the wrong door.

Swallowing, he slowly approached the door, readying a curse in his mind. If the company turned out to be hostile, he could d
efend himself in a fraction of a second. Hopefully that would be enough.

He opened the door a crack and at first saw nothing; only when he angled his gaze downward did
he see the girl with tousled orange hair.

“Hi! I’m Miriam Buckley and I’m here representing the Buckley Clan. May I come in?” She smiled, revealing her teeth. Some of which were surprisingly sharp.

Sam felt a strange mixture of relief and dread; he was relieved she was clearly a vampire, because individual vampires were hardly a threat to him. However, the fact that there was a vampire on his doorstep at all did not bode well.

“What do you want?” he asked, not caring that he sounded harsh. It would be a cold day in hell before any vampire got a warm reception from him.

The redhead clasped her hands behind her back, shifting her weight on her thin, stocking-clad legs. Sam thought that she seemed strangely fidgety for a vampire, considering that they were usually deadly still. “I’m here to make you an offer on behalf of the Buckley Clan of Manhattan. I only ask for a few minutes of your time.”

“How did you find me?”

She blinked, the question surprising her. “Uh, I don’t know. My sire told me where to find you, I didn’t think it was a secret.”

Sam looked at her warily; true, where he lived was probably well-known by this point. He’d been living in the same motel for months, and he knew other demons had been spying on him. It stood to reason that information was available for a price; he just hadn’t wanted to think about it.

The vampire coughed, which Sam knew had to be faked since vampires didn’t breathe. “Listen, can I please come inside? It’s cold out here.”

Sam shrugged, opening the door. “It’s cold in here too, but fine.” He wondered later why he didn’t just slam the door in her face, which would be more in keeping with his usual treatment of vampires, but something about the girl intrigued him. For some reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on, she didn’t cause the immediate revulsion the creatures usually brought out in him.

He meant to offer her his reading chair, but she was distracted by the sight of Vladmira almost as soon as he had closed the door behind her. “Oh my God, is that a bat? It’s so kyuuuuuuute!” she said, scampering over to where Vladmira was resting. To Sam’s surprise, the bat didn’t move from her perch, not even when Miriam gently began to pet her.

“Who’s a pretty girl? You are! That’s right….”

As she fussed over Vladmira, Sam took the opportunity to examine her. Probably a foot shorter than he was, she managed to give off a leggy appearance by wearing a skirt so short it was practically indecent. Dressed in a sheer white top and glittering thigh-high stockings, she looked like a high school freshman dressed up in her big sister’s clothes in the hopes of sneaking into a club.

“How did you know Vladmira’s female?” Sam asked. The vampire answered without looking away from the bat.

“I don’t really know, I just kinda have this extra sense when it comes to animals—I was going to be a vet. You know, back before I was turned.” With that, she gave Vladmira a final pet and turned to Sam. “Anyway, the Buckley Clan wishes to pledge our service to you. Do you need servants?”

“Whoa, slow down,” said Sam. “First, sit down here. Second,” he said after she’d settled into the reading chair and he on the side of his bed, facing her. “…what are you talking about?”

Miri crossed her legs; Sam tried not to look at the wide expanse of thigh revealed. She wasn’t his type, on multiple levels, but she was dressed so provocatively it was hard not to notice. “In a nutshell, our current master? Sucks. We hate him. We’re looking to change territories and my sire knew that you don’t have a vampire clan in your service yet.”

Sam suppressed a smile; maybe it was just teenager-speak, but the way she spoke reminded him of Cassie. “What makes you think I want a vampire clan? I’m not the biggest fan of your kind. Don’t take it personally.”

“I don’t. We’re useful, especially if you need someone guarded. We do all kinds of odd jobs though, anything you can think of really.”

Sam scratched behind
his ear. “Listen, Ms. Buckley—”

“Call me Miri, everyone else does.”

“Miri. You seem like a perfectly nice…vampire. But I’m not in the market for what you’re offering.”

Miri licked her lips, seemingly nervous. “Are you sure? There’s no one you need to protect? Having a vampire bodyguard is much more economical than using multiple layers of protection spell
s, and we are very experienced—”

“…and if I ‘hire’ you, you’ll come here and drink people’s blood. Is that right?”

Miri frowned, puzzled. “Of course; we’re vampires. Comes with the territory.”

Sam stood up. “Get out of here.”

“Wait, please!” said Miriam. “We don’t hunt like animals. We make contracts with people for blood donations, we pay good money and everything. It’s as civilized as going to the supermarket.”

Sam laughed. “I may not know a lot about vampires, but don’
t expect me to believe—”

“No, you don’t know anything about vampires,” said Miri, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow. She balled her fists in her lap, the tension making her hands white. “If you did, you’d know there’s a whole world of difference between vampires who pay for their food and vampires who just take it.”

He sighed. “Maybe you’re right. But why is this so important to you? Is your current master really so bad that you’re willing to pledge your service to a demon who doesn’t even like vampires?”

Something changed in Miri’s face at the question. “That’s not for me to say.”

“But you’re the one they sent here to negotiate, so if you can’t answer my questions, we’ll never get anywhere.”

She hugged herself as though still cold; Sam wondered to himself once again at why she seemed to move like a normal girl rather than a vampire. It was possible that she was trying to appear vulnerable to evoke his sympathy, but somehow, he didn’t believe that she was that calculating. She was probably just a very young vampire.

“Look, they just sent me because sending the whole clan over could look like a threat. But if you want to know more, you can meet the whole clan tomorrow night.”

“I’d rather not get involved, honestly.”

“Please,” said Miri, standing up. Her face, pretty but thin, with sharp, fine features, seemed strained. “Just hear us out, and if you say no then we’ll go away and we’ll never bother you again. We won’t even drink any blood while we’re in the city, unless you make a pact with us.”

Sam rubbed his eyes. A clan of vampires at his beck and call was something he’d never wanted, for too many reasons to name. However, he found himself liking Miri almost despite himself, and it was clear that this was a matter of life and death to her.

Besides, if a bunch of experienced vampires were pledged to him, that meant they weren’t doing some other demon’s bidding, and there was something to be said for that.

“I can’t believe I’m even considering this, but alright. Bring the rest of your clan here tomorrow night and we’ll talk. But don’t think I won’t—“

He never finished his sentence because Miri was hugging him. “Hey!” he protested, feeling awkward.

Miri released him and giggled. “Sorry, but I’m just relieved. See you tomorrow, Sam.” Before he could say anything else, with a flash of pale limbs she had departed—not out the front door, but out the window. Sam had kept it open in the hopes that Vladmira would decide to go back to her own kind.

Sam stood silently for a few seconds, looking at the spot that the surprisingly vivacious vampire had occupied just moments before. He was actually considering making a pact with vampires; God help him.

When Vladmira began making noise again, he frowned at her. “Why don’t you follow her out the window? You seemed to like her.” In response, the bat flew a scant few feet and settled primly on his right shoulder.