family, which I guessed excused her general attitude towards other magic-users. Still, she didn’t
have
to hang around with us. She only came to meetings to try to get in Howard’s pants―and admittedly succeeded, not that Howard saw her as much more than a diversion.
Personally, I thought that both of them were blind to how the other felt―but suggesting anything to Berenice was like poking a sleeping cobra with a stick, and just as likely to result in a venomous bite.
Other than Howard and Berenice, the group included Claudia, the first magic-user I’d met, and Leo’s older brother, Cyrus. All six members of our group had our reasons for not joining up with the Venantium. Howard held a constant grudge against them for arresting his parents, whilst Claudia’s had left to keep her safe. As for me, I was the only person without any magic-users in my family, and as far as we could figure out, no one related to me had ever been registered with the Venantium. We hadn’t yet had the opportunity to check if this was true of the
Sorcerer’s Almanac,
the book that held accounts of all registered sorcerers, because it had been missing from their library for months.
I wasn’t sure of the procedure for human-demons, but there was no concrete way of telling whether someone was a human-demon or just possessed―and considering there hadn’t been any records of a human-demon in years, no one had suspected a thing. The only clue, as far as I could tell, was that human-demons were better at demonic magic, and that sometimes our eyes changed to the violet colour of a demon’s. I hoped that now the doppelganger had gone, I had that particular quirk firmly under my control.
“Ash!” Alex, predictably, accosted me as soon as I stepped into the flat. Thankfully, no one waited to ambush me in a Grim Reaper costume this time around. “Tell me everything,” she demanded.
“You’re as bad as Cara,” I informed her, shutting the door behind me. “Oh yeah―she’s coming to stay this weekend.”
“Don’t change the subject. Did you sleep with Leo?”
“In the middle of the Pizzeria? What do you take me for?” I strode over to my door, sidestepping the small mountain of lager cans Pete had left lying in the hallway.
“I meant in his flat, stupid.” Alex banged on Sarah’s door. “Sarah! Ash is back.”
“I’m asleep.” Sarah’s voice drifted into the corridor.
“Don’t wake her up, you cruel person,” I said. “She’s got an early shift tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah… sorry. I’ll pester Mandeep instead.”
“I still have your scythe.” Mandeep’s voice came from behind the door that used to be David’s. I was privately glad our new flatmate hadn’t picked the other vacant room―Terrence’s. “Don’t make me come out there and use it!”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” said Alex. “We’ll need it in our epic revenge plan.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“You started it,” I told her.
“You were more evil.” She referred to my hiding in the cellar of the abandoned house in Crowley’s cemetery and scaring her and the rest of LitSoc to death. “How did you even know that cellar was there? None of us could see it.”
“I told you, Leo and I found it by accident. I kind of fell into it.”
Alex snorted. “Sounds like you.”
“Cheers.” In truth, we’d come into the cellar by accident via the underground tunnels that snaked beneath Blackstone and Crowley―probably the whole area. With the way Alex relentlessly asked questions, it had been tough to think of a valid cover story as to what the hell we were doing there in the first place―I’d just said we’d left early to give everyone a scare.
“But that would mean you were there for
hours,
” Alex had said. “Like… seven hours in a cellar. Tell me you weren’t screwing him in there?”
I’d just laughed. “Yeah, right. I just fell asleep. And… so did he.”
I really need to practise my cover stories.
Unlocking my
have
to hang around with us. She only came to meetings to try to get in Howard’s pants―and admittedly succeeded, not that Howard saw her as much more than a diversion.
Personally, I thought that both of them were blind to how the other felt―but suggesting anything to Berenice was like poking a sleeping cobra with a stick, and just as likely to result in a venomous bite.
Other than Howard and Berenice, the group included Claudia, the first magic-user I’d met, and Leo’s older brother, Cyrus. All six members of our group had our reasons for not joining up with the Venantium. Howard held a constant grudge against them for arresting his parents, whilst Claudia’s had left to keep her safe. As for me, I was the only person without any magic-users in my family, and as far as we could figure out, no one related to me had ever been registered with the Venantium. We hadn’t yet had the opportunity to check if this was true of the
Sorcerer’s Almanac,
the book that held accounts of all registered sorcerers, because it had been missing from their library for months.
I wasn’t sure of the procedure for human-demons, but there was no concrete way of telling whether someone was a human-demon or just possessed―and considering there hadn’t been any records of a human-demon in years, no one had suspected a thing. The only clue, as far as I could tell, was that human-demons were better at demonic magic, and that sometimes our eyes changed to the violet colour of a demon’s. I hoped that now the doppelganger had gone, I had that particular quirk firmly under my control.
“Ash!” Alex, predictably, accosted me as soon as I stepped into the flat. Thankfully, no one waited to ambush me in a Grim Reaper costume this time around. “Tell me everything,” she demanded.
“You’re as bad as Cara,” I informed her, shutting the door behind me. “Oh yeah―she’s coming to stay this weekend.”
“Don’t change the subject. Did you sleep with Leo?”
“In the middle of the Pizzeria? What do you take me for?” I strode over to my door, sidestepping the small mountain of lager cans Pete had left lying in the hallway.
“I meant in his flat, stupid.” Alex banged on Sarah’s door. “Sarah! Ash is back.”
“I’m asleep.” Sarah’s voice drifted into the corridor.
“Don’t wake her up, you cruel person,” I said. “She’s got an early shift tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah… sorry. I’ll pester Mandeep instead.”
“I still have your scythe.” Mandeep’s voice came from behind the door that used to be David’s. I was privately glad our new flatmate hadn’t picked the other vacant room―Terrence’s. “Don’t make me come out there and use it!”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” said Alex. “We’ll need it in our epic revenge plan.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“You started it,” I told her.
“You were more evil.” She referred to my hiding in the cellar of the abandoned house in Crowley’s cemetery and scaring her and the rest of LitSoc to death. “How did you even know that cellar was there? None of us could see it.”
“I told you, Leo and I found it by accident. I kind of fell into it.”
Alex snorted. “Sounds like you.”
“Cheers.” In truth, we’d come into the cellar by accident via the underground tunnels that snaked beneath Blackstone and Crowley―probably the whole area. With the way Alex relentlessly asked questions, it had been tough to think of a valid cover story as to what the hell we were doing there in the first place―I’d just said we’d left early to give everyone a scare.
“But that would mean you were there for
hours,
” Alex had said. “Like… seven hours in a cellar. Tell me you weren’t screwing him in there?”
I’d just laughed. “Yeah, right. I just fell asleep. And… so did he.”
I really need to practise my cover stories.
Unlocking my
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