Counter-Hex (Covencraft Book 2)

by Margarita Gakis

  "Yes, you are!" Paris bellowed.

  Jade could see Dex trying to fight off a cruel smile before he spoke. "It's fine, Paris. I'll catch up with you this afternoon."

  "You fucker," Jade muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt on fire with anger, her power pulsing under her skin like a bad fever, wanting to break out. She wanted to just... send magic at him, just to see what would happen, if he could or would defend himself. At the thought of it, her magic jumped up against her skin and then Paris' hand clamped down on her shoulder and she wanted to fall to the ground, feeling his power forcing hers to buckle. He was filtering his magic through her again and using it to prod hers into submission. It was a double-edged cruelty - forcing her magic to bend under his by using her own immunity to the Coven's magical taint so she could be a filter. Dex slipped back out the door, shutting it firmly behind him and Jade kicked out again, her foot coming down hard on Paris' instep.

  "Might is right, hey? Classy," she bit out, jerking away from him.

  Paris glanced at the doorway, in thought for a moment and Jade took the opportunity to take another step away from him. Her movement away seemed to galvanize his focus back to her. She heard Paris take a long, deep breath as though he was steeling himself for something. When he spoke, his voice was soft and low.

  "At first, I believed your lack of control and focus, coupled with your impetuousness and complete disregard for authority were only minor hindrances. You would learn. You would mature. However, it's becoming abundantly clear that these are real barriers with your magic. Not your limits, not your lack of knowledge, not even your sass."

  "Hey, that's uncalled for," she said.

  He slammed his fist down on the table and she jumped a bit.

  "I wasn't finished!"

  Jade stared at his fist on the table. "Don't bully me."

  "I'm not," Paris said, voice deadly calm.

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really? Because years of growing up with my dad would beg to differ," she replied, eyeing where he'd slammed his fist into the table.

  Paris seemed to blanch at that and she felt bad for all of thirty milliseconds before he spoke again.

  "You need to listen to me."

  That tone, that authoritative tone made her spine feel prickly. She opened her mouth to argue back, but he cut her off, beating her to it.

  "I'm telling you this as your mentor, as an expert, and as your Coven Leader. No more magic. Not until you learn better control."

  She glowered at him. "You can't do that."

  "Yes, I can."

  "No, I mean you really can't do that. What are you going to do to stop me? Your magic is broken."

  "Don't force my hand on this, Jade. My magic may not be working to spec, but I still have abilities and talents in my arsenal that you know nothing about."

  Okay, so that was probably true. Jade swallowed, wondering if he was bluffing. She felt hot tears of frustration and indignation prickling at her eyes but she wasn't going to cry, not in public.

  "I'm trying to help," she protested hotly. "It's not my fault if you can't see the truth."

  As convincing arguments went, it was shitty - browbeating the opposition with their weaknesses. Fuck. She wasn't good at this. She needed Lily for these kinds of things. Lily would know what to say, would know how to smooth over Jade's mistakes and placate Paris' feelings.

  "No more magic," he repeated.

  Jade ground her teeth together. She hated losing. Because that's what it felt like. Losing. It wasn't listening to reason, it wasn't seeing the other side - right now, from where she stood, it just felt a whole lot like they'd been having a fight and she just lost.

  "Fine."

  "I mean it."

  "I said fine!" Jade shouted back. She blinked several times in a row and swallowed hard around the tightness in her throat, muscles aching. She avoided looking at Paris, turning her face sideways. She knew with her complexion it was totally obvious she was trying not to cry and even though it wasn't remotely his fault that she was fair-skinned, she somehow hated him for it.

  The room was silent, and she didn't know if Paris was waiting to say something more to her or if she was supposed to say something back to him. All she knew was she wanted to go home. But she didn't quite know where that was. Was it the cottage where Bruce was probably curled up on a heating vent? Or was it her apartment, back in the city, where most of her things were?

  "Jade," Paris said, his voice quieter, softer than it had been before. "I know things have been difficult-"

  She shook her head. He didn't know. He didn't know about Lily and he didn't want to know about Dex. "I'm really not in the mood for the warm-fuzzy part of today's tyranny."

  "I'm not a tyrant," he said, a tired edge in his voice.

  Jade finally looked back and met his eyes. He looked more tired than he had this morning, more wrung out. The flash of sympathy she normally would have felt for him was too buried under the continual effort it took to keep from crying. "Could've fooled me."

  She turned away and tried to make her steps as even and solid as she could, focusing on the way they reverberated on the tile instead of on his harsh exhale as she left.

  #

  The worst thing about trying not to cry in front of a bunch of people was the feeling that everyone knew you were about to cry, knew you were trying to stop it and knew you couldn't. It was the strange combination of averted gazes, sympathetic looks and pure disinterest from some people. Jade grabbed her purse and coat from her desk at Counter Magic and managed to make it to one of the ladies' washrooms where she promptly shut the door and then kicked the wall a few times. She tried to focus on the pain in her toes so she could stop thinking about how she felt.

  Angry, frustrated, and embarrassed. Stupid feelings. She kicked the wall a few more times, going for more rhythmic and even strikes - not really hard enough to hurt anymore. More for something to do, something to focus on while she calmed down.

  Fucking stupid. So fucking stupid. She should have known better. She should have known it wasn't going to work and that Paris wouldn't believe her. Despite the fact that Dex passed the lie detection rune, Jade was still wholly convinced he was responsible. She just didn't know why the rune didn't work.

  Jade inhaled deeply a few times, getting her feelings under control. She looked in the mirror and cursed. She hated her pale skin. She was all flushed and blotchy, her grey eyes standing out sharply. Fuck it. It couldn't be helped. She wanted out. She was going home.

  Or rather, to her cottage. The jury was still out on if it was home or not.

  She successfully managed to avoid looking up at anyone, keeping her steps forceful and brisk - imagining herself like a Mack Truck at a constant speed - unstoppable. It worked pretty well till she got to the bus stop and had to stand there, feeling like a loser waiting for her bus. There was a slight wind in the air, cold and sharp on her face. She pretended that it was strong enough to account for the tears still pricking at her eyes.

  Goddamn public transportation. She needed her car.

  Back at her little cottage, Jade slammed the door as she entered, kicking off her shoes viciously. Bruce came around the corner and made an inquiring sort of 'pfffttt' sound, glaring at her shoes, lying carless on the floor.

  "Sorry, Bruce," she said lowly. He padded to the stairs and then loped up them with an easy grace she wouldn't have expected from him.

  Jade made a direct beeline for the kitchen, flipping open the book with the demon rune and not even bothering to sit down as she read it - hunched over the table, chewing on one of her ragged cuticles. She tasted blood and only then managed to pull her hand away from her mouth, fisting it in the fabric of her pants.

  She felt the tingle of Seth's arrival seconds before he appeared in the pantry. She spoke before he even had the chance to, without turning around.

  "I'm not in the mood, Seth. Get lost."

  "Rough day at the office, possum? I could feel you vibrating from the oth
er side."

  Jade turned and glared at him. "Creeper. Do you spy on me from over there?"

  He smirked. "Wouldn't I love to." He snapped his teeth together with a loud clack and then sighed. "Unfortunately, no. But this portal does afford me a certain connection to your emotional state and you're all fired up about something." He sniffed the air a bit. "Is that betrayal I smell?"

  "Hardly," she said, wondering if that was the crux of how she really felt. Betrayed. By Paris for not believing her, by the Coven for not accepting her the way she wanted to be accepted and by her magic for failing her.

  "What have you got there?" Seth asked, neck craning slightly to see what she was bent over reading. "Ah, demon runes. Clever. You know a lot of people can't use them. Too subtle."

  Jade paused. Seth could probably tell her why her rune hadn't worked, but she couldn't just ask him. That would be asking him for a favor, and would tip their neutral scale. She'd owe him.

  "Really?" she said, feigning disinterest, wondering if he would keep talking.

  She heard a tick-tick-tick sound and looked up to see Seth tapping his finger against the doorjamb of her pantry. "You know, possum, if you have a question, you've only to ask."

  Damn, she must be as transparent as an underage kid trying to buy liquor. She hesitated. She wondered how much the knowledge was worth - to both her and Seth. It could be all for nothing - it could be that the information Seth could potentially give her wasn't even useful. Or it could be that it was worth way more than she was willing to bargain.

  Bargain. That was the key word. That's what it all came down to. Was she willing to deal with Seth? It was only a short time ago, a very short time ago, that Jade had declared to Paris that she'd have to be pretty stupid to get into a demon deal, even if she was new. Now here she was, contemplating it.

  Seth grinned, teeth glistening and pearlescent. "I can see those little hamster wheels spinning away, Jade." The sound of her name from him was a jolt - he never called her by her name - always referring to her as 'possum.' She wondered if it meant something in the demon world.

  "You're thinking: Is it worth it? What does he know? What will he tell me? And, how much will it cost?"

  "Yes," she replied. At this point, she felt well and truly out of her comfort zone and into his. He'd probably made thousands of deals - knew all the ins and outs. Jade was just one more human to him - another worm on his hook.

  "The thing is, Jade, I've no interest to have you beholden to me for such a trinket. Little bit of demon rune knowledge is hardly in my league. I'm a higher-class demon. I've got enough other deals with witches to keep me busy. Light rune magic, minor spell work, little charms and tiny incantations are all a bit beneath me. I prefer weightier things."

  "Unbelievable," she said, metering out the syllables slowly and harshly. "I'm finally in a place where I'm considering this and you're telling me it's too much like slumming for you?" Jade shook her head. "Forget this. I'm sealing off the pantry. You can go fuck yourself."

  "Now, now, now, possum. Why so hasty?" Seth back-peddled, holding up his hands defensively. "I'm sorry if I hurt your little human emotions." Jade ground her teeth and tried to stay silent at his tone. "Although truth be told, I think they were more than a little bruised already when you showed up, is that right?"

  When she didn't answer, Seth waved his hand. "No need to reply. I can smell it all in the air. Betrayal, anger, hurt," he sniffed again. "Disappointment." He sighed. "It smells wonderful. Not as good as fear, but quite lovely. I do want to deal with you, Jade. I just want it to be a bit more memorable. Worthy. Of both of us."

  "Again, you're saying you won't help."

  "I didn't say that," Seth replied. "Only that I wouldn't deal."

  Jade frowned, suspicion curling in her gut. "What's that mean?"

  Seth sighed, put upon. "It means, dear possum, I actually want to help you. Out of the goodness of my heart."

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Okay, so to be truthful, there's no goodness in my heart. But I would like to give you a nugget and have your... gratitude." The way he said the word made Jade feel dirty and a little slimy. "Maybe that will help our little fledging relationship along. Maybe you'll see how useful I can be."

  "Is this wooing?" Jade asked. "Am I being wooed by you?"

  Seth's eyes glittered and Jade could almost see a tail behind him, swishing in glee. The illusion was gone when she looked directly for it, but when she focused on his face, she could see it out of the sides of her eyes - back and forth, back and forth.

  "I suppose it is. Are you feeling wooed?"

  "I'm feeling something, but it's more along the lines of distaste and mistrust."

  Seth sighed again. "Ah, the course of true demon deals never did run smooth." He clapped his hands suddenly and she started, jumping a bit at the loud sound. "All right, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. What's your problem?"

  "Wait, to be clear, I owe you nothing after this. We are not making a deal, there is no deal between us. No future deal is being agreed to, nor implied by this transaction."

  "The fine print. Clever to bring that up. You are correct. No deal, you're not implying nor inferring a future deal. This transaction is one-sided. I am giving you information. But," he said sharply and she stilled, waiting for the shoe to drop, "that means I decide when this transaction is over. I stop giving you information when I feel like it. Not when you're done asking."

  Jade went over Seth's words carefully in her head, feeling the urge to write them down so she could double-check them. She didn't think there was anything fishy about it. Other than that he was a demon. She couldn't see anywhere that the words had been duplicitous or double-edged. So the last question was this: was this a rabbit hole she was willing to jump down? How much was this worth to her? She wanted to help the Coven, but, if she was honest with herself, she kind of also wanted to stick it to them. Not in a painful way, but more of a 'See, I fucking TOLD YOU SO,' kind of way. Yeah, it was petty and it was small, but she really wanted to show them she was right. She was a talented witch, an important asset. They could have trusted her.

  Paris could have trusted her.

  She may not have the history with him that he had with Dex, but Paris didn't even listen to her. Maybe Jade was foolish to have thought that he should, but it was how she felt.

  "Okay," she said, her voice coming out quiet. She knew Seth would hear her, even if she whispered.

  "Now, come closer, possum and tell me all your troubles."

  Jade picked up Sakkara's grimoire and moved closer to the pantry, clutching it in front of her like a shield. As she got closer, Seth seemed to pause for a moment and then look her up and down. It wasn't sexual or carnal. It was more like he was seeing something he hadn't noticed before, something that had him confused.

  "My, things have been busy, haven't they," Seth murmured. "Got quite a bit going on in that noggin of yours. Getting a little crowded."

  Jade held the grimoire closer, tighter to her chest. "What do you mean?"

  He made a 'tsk' kind of sound. "Sorry, possum. That's a whole other vat of bones, as we demons say. Now, tell me about your rune work."

  "I wanted to catch a liar," she said, holding the book up in front of her so he could see it, like an altar sever holding a bible for a priest. She pointed at the rune she'd done, tapping it with her finger. "I thought it worked, but then when I asked him, Dex, it didn't flare up like it had for other lies."

  Seth tapped his finger on his upper lip. He made a motion like he wanted to reach out and touch the book, but then he glanced at the overall doorway of the pantry, as if sensing the barrier there.

  "Hold up your hand," he said.

  "I don't think it's working now," Jade said.

  "Hand, possum."

  Jade juggled the book into one hand and held up the demon rune hand. It still ached slightly. Seth squinted at it and then 'hmm'd. He held his own hand up and then hissed, "aperio," at her. She flinched, her han
d burning under his word. The rune flared to life, lighting up on her hand like a floodlight. He nodded sagely as though he expected this.

  "A little warning, next time." Her jaw was clenched tight as she spoke. Seth waved his hand again, and the burning subsided, the rune dimming out.

  "Oh, I can't wait for next time," Seth replied. "Well, you certainly have the rune correct, and it was still functioning."

  "Was?"

  He grinned. "Getting it to show burned it out." He shrugged. "Side effect."

  "If it was still working then why didn't it, you know, work?"

  "What did you say to your errant liar? Your words exactly."

  Jade huffed, breathing out long and slow as she thought. "I asked... um... What did you do to the Coven's magic?"

  "And his reply?"

  "He said nothing. He said he hadn't done anything to the Coven's magic."

  Seth leaned back a bit, steepling his fingers under his chin.

  "Did you ask him if he was involved?"

  Jade frowned. "I thought that's what I just said?"

  "No, you asked if he did anything. As I mentioned, demon runes are subtle. If this man, this Dex, didn't actively do something, didn't actively cast the spell himself, then he wasn't lying when he answered your question."

  Jade considered this. "Are you fucking with me? I had my shot and I got tripped up on semantics?" She felt hot and cold. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid.

  Seth shrugged. "Demon magic is specific. We like to take advantage of humans and their tendency to be non-specific. You rely a lot on implied meanings or intents. We do not."

  "I don't know whether I'm more mad at you or myself." Jade made a disgusted sound. "Can you tell me if he really did do it and what he did?"

  "Sorry. Can't."

  Jade snapped the grimoire shut. "Fine. Be that way. I'll figure it out on my own. I'll cast the rune again and this time, I'll nail him to the wall."

  "Oooh," Seth shivered. "I get all tingly when you talk like that."

  She slammed the pantry door shut in his face.