What the Hex (Hex #2)(6)
Author: Jessica Clare

 

Reggie glances over at Ben.

 

Ben shrugs again. “He’s a dick.”

 

His girlfriend gives him an exasperated look and turns back to me. “What do you want to know?”

 

Willem Sauer isn’t nice, if he’s been banned from having a familiar. But I think about my mother and her witch. Aurelia is a stone-cold bitch, according to my mom. She’s mean and ruthless, but she’s really good at spellcrafting and Mom is learning a lot from her. She has an agreement with Aurelia that after twenty years of being her familiar, Aurelia is going to get a new familiar and Mom will be educated enough at that point to be a full-fledged witch. Twenty years of a tyrannical boss doesn’t seem like such a bad deal if you know what you’re getting into. Heck, Mom leaves her job as a familiar in five more years, but I can’t apprentice with my mother. A witch has to have at least fifty years of casting experience before they take on a fresh familiar.

 

Witches live a long, long time, too. Some of the oldest ones date back to the Roman Empire, which would make them about two thousand years old. If you live for two thousand years, twenty years is just a blip. I can do twenty years if that’s all Willem Sauer wants from me.

 

I’ve already decided, but I go ahead and ask the basics. “Is he married? Single? Children?”

 

Ben rears back, a strange look on his face. “You’re not dating him. You’re going to be his familiar.”

 

“I know,” I say patiently. “But my mother is apprenticing with Aurelia Snowthorpe, and Aurelia has two young children. Mom’s been Aurelia’s familiar for fifteen years, but she’s spent the last five years nannying as well as apprenticing. I want to know what sort of family situation I’m getting into so I can find out how many people I’m having to help out.”

 

“Your mother helps Aurelia raise her children?” There’s an odd look on Reggie’s face, and I realize it’s a mixture of sympathy and pity.

 

Oh. Reggie gets it. I nod, letting the old ache wash over me. Reggie knows how abandoned I feel. I’ve more or less been on my own since my parents both started apprenticing. I look after myself and clean the house and try not to be bitter that my mom is spending more time with other children than she did with me in my teenage years. “Yes. That’s why I’m asking.”

 

“It’s just Willem,” Ben says, finishing his coffee and leaning back in his chair. He crosses his arms over his black henley and practically scowls in my direction. “Not married. No children. No one else can stand to be around him for long.”

 

Not a great sign. “How old is Willem?”

 

“Two hundred and some odd change. Not yet three hundred.” Ben shrugs. “Old enough to know what he’s doing.”

 

It’s a decent age. At two hundred, Willem would definitely be skilled, but not so old and set in his ways that he’d be impossible to work with. I’ve heard some of the oldest warlocks and witches are extremely sexist. It’s hard to break sixteen hundred (or more) years of misogynistic habits, I guess. “Any idea what sort of casting he does? Is he a specialist?”

 

“Not a specialist. And I imagine most of his casting has been minor or infrequent due to the fact that he’s without a familiar.”

 

“But you didn’t have a familiar for a long time,” I point out.

 

Ben gives me a smug smile. “He’s not me.”

 

Hmm, all right, then. Not a specialist, not too old to be impossible, just kinda a jerk. “He’s not allergic to animals, is he?” I ask, thinking of Pipstachio. “Because that’s a deal breaker for me.”

 

Both Reggie and Ben look confused. “We didn’t ask,” Reggie admits. “You can always ask him about it when you have your initial meeting with him. Feel him out. See if he’s someone you’d like to work for.”

 

I really don’t need an initial meeting. I already know I want to do this. I want to swap my useless society bracelet out for a familiar cuff. I want to do something with my life. I want to move ahead instead of stagnating. I don’t want to be waiting in the wings forever. “I just have one more question,” I say. “Why is he forbidden from taking a familiar? We’re told not to work with him, but no one said why.”

 

“Oh.” Reggie looks over at Ben. “That’s an excellent question, actually.”

 

Ben rubs his jaw. “Do you remember Y2K?”

 

I laugh, because it’s such an absurd thing to think about. The whole “all the computers are going to crash once the year rolls over to 2000” thing that people were so worried about back in 1999? “I mean, vaguely? Why? Was that him?”

 

“Yes and no.” Ben glances over at Reggie, his gaze lingering on her as she nibbles on a pastry. “I believe he was working with a young warlock at the time, a guy by the name of Dorian Winters. I knew him. He was very much an ass-kissing sort, always looking to get ahead through whatever means necessary. I couldn’t stand him.”

 

“You don’t like anyone, baby,” Reggie reminds him.

 

“Right. Anyhow, he was working with Dorian. They were pooling their resources and actually going to do a corporate takeover of some kind. Show the Society of Warlocks that they were a power to be reckoned with. But then the other warlock vanished.”

 

My brows go up. “Vanished?”

 

“As in . . . poof?” Reggie flicks her fingers.

 

“As in, cement shoes,” Ben corrects. “No one ever found the body.”

 

Yiiiikes. “And they think Willem Sauer did it? Oh em gee.”

 

“Actually, they don’t. That’s the sticking point.” Ben shrugs. “Willem’s old boss accused him of being responsible, and a bunch of investigative castings were done. Nothing was proven, but nothing was disproven, either, so Sauer was put on probation. He’s not allowed to have a familiar for thirty-three years. It’s basically a slap on the hand as far as punishment goes, but the Council of Warlocks takes a murder accusation seriously.”

 

“And so now he wants a familiar under the table. He sounds like a rules breaker.” I don’t know if I like that. I’m kind of a stickler myself . . . Well, except for the part where I’m considering becoming the familiar of a warlock banned from having an apprentice.

 

“What’s ironic is that he’s normally not,” Ben says. “Willem actually loves the rigmarole of warlock society. He loves spellcasting and books. I think he has a bigger library than most warlocks that I’ve met, and he’s very proud of his collection. It’s strange that he’d be the one to break the rules so flagrantly. Something must have been going on behind the scenes, but Willem won’t talk about it. Not to the council, not to me, not to anyone.” He shrugs. “You don’t have to worry, though. He’s a prick and a half, but I’m confident he didn’t do it.”