Demon Accords 10: Rogues (21 page)

Stacia’s eyes followed as he left and then turned back to the girl witch on the screen.  Tami was watching her with her arms folded, eyes hard.

“So you’re the one.  Why?” Tami asked.

“Why what?” Stacia asked, although she had an idea.

“Why is he fixed on you?  I get the physical part; you’ve got that in spades, but hell, there are at least four girls here who are pretty close to you and would tag team him if he wanted.  Why a werewolf?” Tami asked.

“We aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend,” Stacia said, suddenly wondering why she was even answering.

“Does he know that?” Tami asked.  “Because he won’t even look at the girls that are throwing themselves at him.  I almost started to think he was gay, but then some newbie made a crack about your picture on a magazine cover and Declan lost his shit.  Kid almost went home.  Baddest witch in the school got all up in his face on, like, his second day.  A lot of posters came down that day.  The garbage closet was full of them.”

“We are friends for now, not that it is any of your business,” Stacia said.

“Listen wolf cheeks, anything to do with that kid is witch business.  He’s like a global treasure.  Arcane’s witch population quadrupled this semester and we got some of the best teachers in the witching world all of a sudden.  Coincidence or intense interest in the strongest male witch ever heard of who has intimate knowledge of the Book of Sorrows?  You tell me.  If you’re leading him on for shits and giggles when he could be setting up his life in the Crafting world, then you’re a bigger bitch than my roommate.  At least she’s honest about her desires,” Tami said.

“I’m not leading him on.  I like him.  It’s complicated.  And why the hell am I telling you my business anyway?” Stacia said, getting angry. Inside, her wolf was standing at attention, growling.

“Easy there, Blondie-locks.  Don’t get your panties in a twist.  The kid is, in my opinion, besotted with you.  He obviously likes you a great deal more than you like him, but that doesn’t give you the right to jerk him around.  He’s all full of honor and loyalty and useless crap like that despite the people that constantly try to use him.  I just want you to realize that he picked you out of almost everybody and while I know you must be used to having any guy you want, this one is special.”

“You don’t think I know he’s special?  And for your information, most guys find me interesting right up until I Change.  Then they’re terrified, except the werewolves.  They just want me as a trophy mate and to get my connection to Chris and Tanya, or just to break my spirit and dominate me. And just how would you know how much I like him?  Maybe I’m just not going to drop into bed with a guy I really like.  Maybe I want it to go a little slow so we both know it’s real,” Stacia said, her wolf just under the surface.

Tami studied her for a moment.  “Good.”

“What?” Stacia asked, confused by the sudden change.

“I wanted to see where you stood.  I think that’s now pretty clear.  I’m not usually interested in who sleeps with who or any of that crap.  My path is clear of that shit.  But this kid is a game changer and frankly, I’d rather he was with you,” Tami said.

“What?  You just gave me the third degree!”

“Listen.  If he decides he likes a witch here, it will change the balance of power between every witch circle in the country.  Personally, he scares the fuck outta me because I can’t control him.  He’s too independent and full of principles.  So I’d rather he was with a werewolf and none of the witches,” Tami said.

“Why did you ask him to sleep with Erika?” Stacia asked.

“Because he knows I’m uncomfortable with him, myself, but he expects something like that.  If I didn’t go that route, it would make him suspicious.  Plus, I knew he wouldn’t touch Erika with his roommate’s dick.  Shit, he has girls knocking on his door in bras and lace thongs and he ignores them.”

“No way? How desperate are they?” Stacia asked.

“They’re serious like heart attacks. Like their whole lives depend on it.  He put a stop to it, though.  Moved his room into the middle of the werewolf floor.  Now any girl who comes strolling through in her undies—or even dressed—has to pass every male werewolf, who can smell them coming while they’re still on the stairs.  A lot harder to knock on a door when every other door is open and the wolves are laughing, making comments, and trying to get them into their own rooms,” Tami said.

“That was clever,” Stacia said, picturing it.

“Oh, your boy is sharp as a laser.  He’s pretty quiet about it, but there are times when he’ll bring up a spell or ward that none of the hotshot witch teachers know.  It’s partly why they’re here.”

“You’re saying the teachers are looking to learn from him?” Stacia asked, incredulous.

“The Book of Sorrows was one of those fabled grimoires that supposedly contained the knowledge of the ages.  He’s the only one alive that’s seen it.  And Chris Gordon gave the empty shell of the book to the Irwin Clan.  Word is it’s blank,” Tami said.  “So yeah, the teachers will sometimes describe a problem and then ask a student to try and solve it with a spell.  They did that to Declan a few times till he started playing dumb.  But the few times it worked, he used spells of such refined efficiency that they took your breath away.  No way any kid my age should have been able to come up with that on their own.”

Stacia was quiet for a moment.  “He threatened a kid over my poster?  That doesn’t sound like him.”

“Well, to be fair, we had just fired him from Wytch Wars, so he was already pretty pissed,” Tami said.

“You fired him from his own game?” Stacia asked.

“We made him the permanent Game Master.  It wasn’t really fair for him to compete.  Hell, he made most of the dirt dudes that we use.  Anyway, it was day two of the new semester and we were introducing the new kids to the game.  The veterans got together and voted him GM.  He wasn’t happy.  Then this new kid cut out a picture of your face from a poster and taped it to his avatar.  Asked Declan how he could make it more realistic so he could take you home and have his way with you. Obviously had no idea you were connected to Declan and, of course, being a dumb ass boy, he had to say it much cruder than that.  Declan waved a hand and the avatar just crumbled into dust, the picture mask evaporated without even smoke.  The rest of us oooo’d and ahhhh’d and the kid realized he’d stepped deep in it but didn’t know how bad.  He was a pyrokinetic and like I said, tree stump dumb.  He pulled a flame on Declan.”
 

“Ouch, what happened?  Did Declan hurt him?” Stacia asked.

“No, he just took the kid’s flame.  Took his power or something.  One second it was roaring, the next it was gone.  Then the kid couldn’t generate so much as a spark.”

“Witches can do that?” Stacia asked.

“Well, before, I would have said no.  But
he
can obviously do it.  We don’t know what he did.  That’s more than mildly terrifying, by the way.  Imagine that someone could just take your ability to Change into wolf girl,” Tami said.

“Did the kid get his power back?” Stacia asked, thinking it would suck to lose what she had now.

“Yeah, after Declan left.  A bunch of kids videoed the confrontation and we’ve been studying those, trying to figure it out.  Best we can come up with is that because he’s so strong in Fire, he just took all the heat the kid generated and directed it elsewhere.  Problem is he’s so smooth at it that we couldn’t figure out where it all went.  Imagine pulling your power on this kid and he just takes it and uses it against you?”

“Okay, that would be scary.  No wonder you don’t like him,” Stacia said.

“I don’t dislike the kid.  I just don’t have time for boys and certainly not that one, as if he’d ever stop looking at you and look at a girl with RBF syndrome,” Tami said.

“RBF?”

“Resting Bitch Face.  My relaxed expression is, I’m told, off-putting.  But that’s okay because I have way bigger things to think about than boys,” Tami said.

“Like what?  Family?  Career?  Money?” Stacia asked.

“My family is Navajo, what we call Dinè.  We follow the Witchery way… the path of death magic.  The path is hard and requires… sacrifices.  I have issues with it,” Tami said.

“Sacrifices?  Like human sacrifices?” Stacia asked.

“Hmm, you’re no dumb blonde, are you?  I begin to see what he sees.  Yes, human sacrifice.  Usually a loved one.  That’s what’s expected of me,” Tami said.

“Oh!” Stacia said as the light bulb went off in her head. “If Declan could or would teach you, you might be able to get power without sacrificing someone,” she guessed.

Tami’s frozen blank face, her RBF, cracked into shocked surprise.  “Okay, you
are
sharp.”

“That’s the favor you’ll ask of him,” Stacia guessed again.

Tami nodded.  “Only, let me ask you this.  The witch that wrote Sorrow was reputed to be a master of death magic as well.  So why does the kid need me?” she asked.

The answer was instantly apparent to Stacia.  “You don’t know?” she asked.

Tami shook her head.

“My turn to ask
you
a question… has Declan ever met your family?  Does he know about your problem?” Stacia asked.

Tami nodded.  “I had to give a brief presentation on the background of our family path once. And Declan let my kid brother run an avatar once on family day.”

“And what would happen if he just started to teach you some of his secrets?  How would the other girls react?” Stacia asked.

Light dawned on the dark witch’s face.  “They’d lose their shit.”

“But if he owes you a favor, that would be different, wouldn’t it?  Then they could seek to do him favors and get access, right?”

“He’s helping me?” Tami asked, shocked.

“It’s what he does.  And despite being a boy, he’s oddly observant sometimes.  And I hear him coming,” Stacia said, glancing at the doorway.

“So he doesn’t need my advice?” Tami asked.

“He will certainly value your expertise.  Both Chris and Tanya always harp on gathering as much information as possible.  Despite his book smarts, he doesn’t have firsthand death magic experience… I don’t believe,” Stacia said, then glanced back to the door.  “He’s back,” she said loud enough that Declan heard her as he came in through the door, lugging a hard-sided black case.

“Got it,” he announced in a breathless rush.  He popped it open and sat on the floor, glancing from Stacia to Tami’s face on the screen before looking into his case.  “Got the basics: osha, angelica, copal, anise, rosemary, rue, agrimony, blessed salt, sea salt, even iodized salt. Sage too, of course. The kitchen had basil, caraway seeds, clove, coriander, cumin, garlic, and bay leaf.  What else?”

“Anything protective that grows naturally in that region should be particularly effective.  Burdock, plantain, blackberry, maybe blueberry too, since Maine is known for them.  Also, any marigolds or chrysanthemum flowers grown locally will be helpful.  I’m sending you some family recipes for defending and defusing death magic.  Share these with the others and I’ll use your bones for a chair,” Tami said, typing into her phone.

“Right, no sharing.  Got it.  Thanks, Tami,” Declan said.

“Don’t thank me, warlock.  Repay me,” she said with an emotionless face.

“Okay. We’ll work that out when I get back,” he said.

“Good-bye wolf,” Tami said to Stacia.

“Yeah, nice chatting with you, witch,” Stacia said coolly.

Declan cut the connection.  “You two get along alright when I was outside?”

“We understand each other a bit better.  Now what do we do?” she asked.

“We start by opening these shotgun shells I borrowed from Shorty.  Game loads, but we’ll dump out the shot and refill with a mixture of blessed salt and some of these herbs.  I don’t have a lot of the really powerful ones like osha and angelica, so we have to make them count,” he said, settling into work.