Black Magic by Russell James Read Free Book Online Page A

Ricky said. He shoved the remaining cash in one pocket. He stuffed the cards into the other. He hit the door in a euphoric sprint.
    Lyle watched him go with great satisfaction. Four would be a good number. Manageable, yet still able to spread the power across town. At first he thought the boys’ ages would be a problem, but now he saw it as an advantage. The irresistible lure of the magic combined with limited life experiences meant things would spin out of control quite quickly.
    And that was just what the Grand Adventure needed.

Chapter Twelve
    “What’s that?” Angela said.
    Startled, Ricky jerked and magic cards sprayed from his hands all across his desktop. The desk in his room faced away from the door his little sister stood in. He shot an annoyed glance over his shoulder as he reassembled the deck.
    “Pest! Stop sneaking up on people.”
    “I’m not sneaking,” Angela said. “My shoes are just quiet.”  
    Since her fifth birthday she had started shadowing Ricky more often, wondering what her big brother was up to. Rather than flatter him, her curiosity had gotten on Ricky’s nerves. He wanted to kick himself for forgetting to close his bedroom door. She wandered in and stood by his desk.
    “Playing cards?” she said.
    “Yeah, that’s it.”
    “I can play too,” Angela said. Her little bangs bounced as she shook her head up and down in affirmation. “I know how.” Last week she had learned to apply her counting skills to playing Go Fish. A lamer game had never been created.  
    This deck wasn’t going to stoop to Go Fish-ing. But while Ricky had been able to practice some of his tricks, he hadn’t been able to test some without a participant to pull a card and be amazed. Angela might have a purpose after all.
    “These cards are for a different game,” Ricky said. “A magic game. You can play if you will keep it a secret.”
    “A secret?” Angela looked wary.
    “Sure,” Ricky said. “The magic will be a surprise for Mom and Dad later. You will just be first.”
    “I’ll be first,” Angela said. She straightened up like a soldier about to be decorated with a medal.
    Ricky turned to face her and spread the cards into a tight fan. “Pick one.”
    Angela ran her hand back and forth along the edge of the deck. She stopped and pulled out a card. She showed Ricky the four of diamonds. “How about this one?”
    “No.” Ricky said. He shoved the card back in the deck. “Pick one and don’t show it to me.”
    “You didn’t say that,” Angela said. She pulled out a second card, slapped it to her chest, folded up one corner and peered down at it. She looked back at Ricky in satisfaction.
    “Now back in the deck,” Ricky said.  
    She slipped it back in. Ricky cut the deck one-handed and then shuffled the cards with the fluidity of running water.
    “ Bakshokah serat,” he said. He felt the coin in his pocket get warm, but nowhere near as warm as it had before. He fanned the deck again. “Pick again, Angela.”
    Angela selected a card from a new place on the deck. She looked at it with confusion and flipped it around to Ricky. “King of Clovers,” she called the ruler of Clubs. “I had the six of diamonds before.”
    Ricky turned the deck over. Fifty-one different cards. Damn.
    Angela put the card on his desk and patted his shoulder. “I won’t tell Mom and Dad until you are good. Promise.” She gave an “oh, well” shrug and left the room.
    Ricky slapped the deck down on his desk. He’d hoped it would be different for him, but it seemed that the magic drained out of his purchase just like everyone else’s had. Whatever stream of wonder he’d tapped into earlier had run dry.
    Tuesday, he thought. Tuesday it would all come back. For all of them.
     
     
    Moments earlier, a third pulse of energy, weaker than the two that had preceded it, had come to life beneath the Arroyo house. It wrapped itself around the old copper piping like a boa constrictor and then corkscrewed down to