Random Acts of Sorcery Read Online Free PDF Page B

so Eugene could take his place.
    “I renounce all of my ties with Crocus, son of Zethiel; Caius, son of Kekul; Julius, son of Matariel; Groth, son of Asceliel; William, son of Zerael; Joseph, son of Belial; Theodore, son of Deomondiel—“
    As Eugene continued, listing dozens of demonic masters, Cassie turned to Miri again. “Um, how old is Eugene, exactly?”
    Miri shrugged. “I don’t really know either. I know he assumed the name ‘Buckley’ though. Back in his time, people didn’t really use last names.”
    “Oh,” said Cassie, swallowing painfully. Just thinking about Eugene’s probable age seemed to hurt her brain.
    After Nyesha, Billingsly and Dmitri had also completed the ritual, Sam took a deep breath. “I accept all of your pledges; I am yours, and now you are mine.” He mouthed a word Cassie didn’t recognize and closed his eyes. She was expecting a thunder clap, a vibration, anything, but instead there was silence in the room. The only sign that anything was happening was that Sam seemed unusually tense.
    After a few moments, he resumed his normal posture and went behind the counter. It wasn’t until Cassie heard water running that she realized he’d went to go wash off his bloody hand.
    The vampires all stood in an informal circle, like they were waiting for something to happen. Khalil, who had been watching the whole thing silently from his chair, addressed the group in general. “So, did it work?”
    “Dunno. I don’t feel any different,” said Billingsly, after a pause.
    “We won’t know until sunrise,” said Nyesha quietly. “We shouldn’t assume anything until then.”
    “Yes, no one jump to any conclusions until we….” Eugene began, then suddenly inhaled and shuddered. The motion surprised Cassie; it seemed so very unlike him. “Good lord, does anyone else smell that?”
    “Smell what?” said Nyesha, then her nostrils flared. “Oh, my God. It’s cinnamon. It’s cinnamon, and sugar, and…and.…”
    They all began sniffing the air, dumbstruck. Liam staggered back, like he’d just been punched in the gut. “What is it? WHERE IS IT?”
    “There,” said Miri, pointing to a tray containing a slice of cinnamon crumb cake on top of the pastry display. “You’re all smelling the cakes and—”
    In her time as a demon’s familiar, Cassie had seen a lot of bizarre things. But she had to admit; seeing five vampires converge on the pastry case, ravenously tearing into cakes and tarts with their fangs, was in a class all its own.
     
    ***
    The Buckleys didn’t stop eating until the pastry case was almost empty. Eventually, they all collapsed, holding their stomachs and sighing contentedly. Finally, Ethan broke the silence.
    “Can I have a cookie now?”
    Khalil blinked a few times as though waking from a trance. Watching the vampires devour all the food had been captivating. “Sure, buddy. You can pick one from whatever’s left.”
    “What was the white one with all those little bits in it?” asked Billingsly from his place on the floor.
    “White chocolate macademia nut cookie,” said Cassie.
    The muscular vampire chuckled. “We didn’t have those, back when I was eating food.”
    “Such a wide variety of strange little dishes you have in this day and age,” Eugene added. “In my day, it was different…you had much fewer things to choose from. A leg of mutton, a hunk of simple bread, spiced wine…” he trailed off, a faraway look coming into his eyes.
    Billingsly balanced himself on his elbow, looking at his elder with a glint in his eye. “Are you sure they didn't have all those different foods back then? Maybe they had ‘ em, and you were just too poor to eat any of it.”
    Eugene laughed out loud at that. “It was probably a little of both.”
    “It’s strange. Why wouldn’t every vampire want this?” said Dmitri, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t see why such a practice would have fallen out of use.”
    “Probably because it doesn’t work,