Read The Problem With Black Magic for Free Online

Khalil had worked the entire day; with Sam gone, they could probably use the coverage, but she didn’t know when he’d gotten there that morning.
    Cassie stretched, tired; it had been typical annoying register work, with a couple of mean customers on top of that, but for the first time in several days, she felt tired in a good way. She was looking forward to collapsing in bed in about an hour, more relaxed than she had been since the time skip.
    As though reading her thoughts, Jay looked over at her from the fridge. "You know, about the time-skip..."
    "I am so sick of hearing about that," said Dwight, his tone showing an unusual amount of irritation from him.
    "Yeah, me too," said Cassie, slamming her till closed. Khalil said nothing, putting ceramic plates and mugs in their places quietly.
    Jay stood up suddenly, and pointed at her. "I knew it! You guys know something! Whatever you're not telling me, it has something to do with the time skip."
    Cassie, Dwight and Khalil, all shared worried glances. What were they supposed to do now?
    Jay was grinning like he'd just found out Christmas was coming early this year. "I mean, I wasn't sure, but I saw this video that pinpointed where the epicenter probably was, and I could tell it was this block. Then I talk about it, and you guys all wouldn't look at me, like all three of you suddenly looked really, really guilty! So, what's this amazing secret?"
    "Jay..." Cassie started, not sure what to say to calm him down.
    "It has something to do with Sam, right? That's why he hasn't been around, and why you guys all get spooked when I mention him. I think--"
    They never did find out what Jay thought, since his speech was interrupted by rapt, hard knocks on the glass door of the shop. The four of them turned to the door; two tall, powerfully built men in leather were standing in front of the Daily Grind.
    "Hey, we want some coffee," the one in front yelled.
    Dwight took a few steps forward so they could hear him through the door. "Sorry guys, we closed half an hour ago. Please come back tomorrow, hours are listed on the door."
    The man in front smiled, and Cassie recoiled; through the glass pane of the door, it looked like he had entirely too many teeth. "Closed, huh? Then I guess this is going to be an after-hours visit."
    With that, he pushed the door open, there was a sound like something breaking, and they both strove in confidently.
    Dwight turned to Khalil angrily. "I thought I told you to lock the door!" he said in a harsh whisper.
    "I did," said Khalil, eyeing the men warily as they moved closer. "I know I did."
    The taller man was wearing expensive looking-leather boots to go along with his ensemble, and had spiky, dyed-blond hair; under different circumstances, Cassie probably would have thought he was hot, but the fear slowly growing inside her made her regard him with nothing but dread. The other man, with slicked back brown hair and darker, more worn features, was holding what appeared to be a necklace in his right hand. Made of some sort of precious stone Cassie didn't recognize, the pendant seemed to give off its own ghostly light.
    The one holding the necklace approached Cassie at the counter, and she took an involuntary step back. He held the pendent up to her eye-level, where its lavender glow seemed to intensify. "See, I told you if we stuck around it would work out," he said, to which the taller man snorted." "Took a few days, but we found the familiar." He smiled, and Cassie realized immediately why his smile had looked so odd to her before: his incisors were entirely too long, and his canine fangs reflected the light from his strange stone.
    Cassie took a few more steps back, and felt herself back into Jay.
    "Before, when you were talking about the vampires, you were telling the truth?" asked Jay in a panicked whisper.
    "Jay, the spell thing was true, but I was totally making the vampire part up, I swear!" she responded. The men laughed, and Cassie realized that these