Chapter Twenty-Six

They were arguing.

He wriggled his wrists about within the bindings, hoping to prize free his hands. The entire time he and Lucy had been on the sofa, he'd picked at hers fruitlessly. Her hands were still bound in her lap, and his were still behind his back. Dean was shoved into a chair and his hands bound behind him as well.

There was the slightest bit more room in Sam's ropes. He pulled and strained for more. These had been well done, but not expertly done. There was a difference. From the slight movements on another chair, Sam knew that his brother was testing his own restraints.

The bloody knife that Hilary had used to cut open her hand was on the floor. Sam wished that he could make it fly over with his mind and saw through his ropes. Dean's blade was now in the possession of Travis, who was using it to carve his initials on the back of an armchair.

The demon was listening in amusement as the others debated what to do with the three of them. The spell could only be used on one, and something had to be done with the other two. They couldn't even agree on which one the spell should be used upon, with Shawn and Travis arguing in favor of Dean and Hilary leaning to Sam. Corey put in his vote for Sam, and Amber just wanted to know if this was going to be over soon since she had other things to do. When Adam asked if those things included kicking more guys in the face, she said top of the list was shoving the mouthpiece of his trumpet up his ass. Then the only way he'd be able to play it would be by eating beans.

"Use the spell on the little would-be hunter, and we'll stab the other two and throw them in the pond," Hilary said.

Only Travis blinked at that. "Dude, she's your sister."

Hilary was nonplussed. "The second she sided against me, we lost all ties."

The Kronoan clucked at Lucy and shook his head. She enthralled him it seemed, since his eyes kept drawing back to her as the commotion went on. "What a shame, sweet child. I am only here to be your friend. Your support, just as I have been for generations to your family and friends of your family. Didn't your father teach you the lesson of August?" When she did not answer, he went on. "How they wept upon my shoulder, those first seven! Metaphorically speaking, of course. That giant lad August, his flying fists and acid soul. They spoke to me through black eyes and puffy lips, their schoolwork torn in two and projects destroyed. To see such brilliant boys brought low! But they were learning an important lesson about the world: to protect oneself. Only children look to parents to save them; adults look to themselves. Those boys decided to be strong, and with that decision, they became men."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night," Lucy said sarcastically as the others discussed dumping grounds other than the pond. Sam knew that Lucy was terrified, but less and less of it was showing. The first demon of her life, a sister plotting her demise, her wrists in ropes, and Lucy was just looking pissed.

The demon chucked her chin and she jerked away. Sam thrashed in his chair. Laughing, the Kronoan said, "Such pride, all of you Warwicks from the first to the last here before me." Then he bowed grandly. "Let me prove to you that I am here to help. Is there no one at this school who troubles you, child? Do you have a tormentor in the hallways or classrooms or on the athletic field? Someone whose joys are borne from cruelties cast your way?"

"Yes, her name is Hilary Warwick, and she's standing right there," Lucy said. "Everyone else has been pretty cool."

Dean was looking hard at Lucy and the demon. He mouthed the last to Sam. But Lucy wasn't the last Warwick! There were younger direct-line descendants . . . but she was the last, the youngest one, to be enrolled at Penworth. This was a rat demon with a warped spell. Just as he could only visit his spell upon victims around the same age and in the same place as the first one in August Hilman . . . could he only be finished off by Warwicks around the same age and same place as the first?

That made Lucy the last blood. But it was only a guess.

"Wish you could just take out all of them and get this over with," Amber groused to the Kronoan.

"Ah, as do I," the Kronoan said ruefully. "It is indeed a sad truth about magic that it has its limits. I take it as far as it can go."

"Are you kidding me?" Dean exclaimed. "You pulled the short stick on magic and fooled them into thinking it's the big cigar? I've met so many more powerful demons than you."

"Shut up!" Shawn barked, and slapped the back of Dean's head.

"Trust me, this guy isn't on Satan's gift list every Christmas," Dean antagonized. "Satan doesn't even know who this one is."

Sam kept working at his restraints while Amber sighed. "Why am I here? This really doesn't have anything to do with me."

"You're here because our club is about to be exposed," Hilary snapped. "So let's take advantage of this. Kronoan, send that little one into the sun like Braden so there's nothing left-"

The Kronoan was looking at Lucy as he said, "But you know it doesn't work like that, Hilary. Magic is an untamed beast-"

"Well, yeah, when you suck at it," Dean put in.

"-and we can only guess where it will go. But I'm a very good guesser, and what a sense of humor magic has!" Stepping away from Lucy, the demon came over to Sam and inspected him thoughtfully. "Oh, yes. These are wise eyes. Old eyes. Yes, but in the body of one who is so young. The outside does not match the inside, would you say? I think this is how the spell might change him."

Amber sank into a chair. "I'll say anything to be able to go."

"Come on, use him on Dean," Shawn said to Hilary.

"My demon, my call. He's taking out Sam, and you and Travis can do whatever you like to Dean. Just make sure you clean up afterwards. I'll take care of Lucy." Hilary looked down to make sure that she was still upon the red circle. Frightened, Sam fought harder. The ropes were getting looser, but still not enough to slide his hands free. Dean grunted, since Shawn's big hands had just come down onto his shoulders to force him to stay in the chair.

"That's so annoying," Corey complained about the flickering light from the doorway.

The Kronoan looked over in surprise and then walked back to pat the frame of his insulted portal. "So, is that your command, Hilary?"

"It is," Hilary said. "Get rid of him."

"No!" Lucy screamed.

"Your wish is my command," the Kronoan demon said. He tugged up his sleeves theatrically, and stretched out his index finger to point at Sam.

Author's Note: Sheep do not have the best eyesight. Over the weekend, one little rejected triplet lamb who stopped growing had to be separated from the herd in order to ensure she was getting some nutrition. She is a black lamb and her name is Truffle. Truffle was naturally not very enthusiastic about being alone, since no lamb is an island. As she searched about forlornly for the herd, the neighbor's cat jumped over the fence into the backyard.

Mistaking the black cat for one of her black lamb buddies, Truffle galloped joyously across the grass in the cat's direction. FRIEND! The poor cat looked up to this strange creature thundering its way, and its eyes widened to cartoonish proportions. VELOCIRAPTOR! Then it hissed and ran vertically up the six-foot fence to escape, leaving Truffle to wonder how her lamb friend evanesced.

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