by ROCFanKat

Disclaimers: See Chapter 1.

Cassie stretched luxuriously and reached over to the little table for her margarita. Suspicious, I lifted the brim of my hat a couple of inches to count the leftover slices of lime. Was that three for her now, or four?

"Prohibition's over," she said. "I thought you'd heard."

"I didn't say anything."

She made a moué and offered me the glass. Well, it was the least I could do. Couldn't have her getting tequila poisoning. "Cheers," I said.

"Thanks. Don't mind if I do." Then she reached down to the sand beside her and brought up another margarita.

I regarded her in silence. I'd taken a nap for--what, 15 minutes?--and she'd already opened her own beachfront saloon. Cassandra's-by-the-Sea. Margaritas from coast to coast, no waiting, no cover...

Definitely no cover. Frowning slightly, I pulled my hat brim back down. At least I'd had the sense to put on the hat and a T-shirt after that last swim. It was a very bright day, and there was way too much of her showing in that swimsuit. Especially when she stretched like that, and especially because she kept doing it. The college boys on the blanket down the way had practically sprained their eyeballs gawking. Right now, they were playing some loud stupid game with a Frisbee, trying to get her attention.

Blissfully oblivious, Cassie lowered her glass. She licked her lips. "This margarita is defective. I think I should have it replaced. What do you think?"

"I think you should put on your T-shirt," I said seriously.

"Later. But only if you promise to take it off."

"Cassie..."

"With no hands."

Guiltily, I checked to see whether anyone might have heard that. She just smirked, though, and leaned over the arm of her chair to kiss me. She took her time about it, too. Well, all right, fine--probably nobody could see much, what with the umbrella behind us. And it wasn't like we'd never done this in public before. Sometimes I wondered whether we should start charging admission.

"You're causing a scene," a familiar voice said. "That boy in the orange trunks just hit a dog with a Frisbee."

We both jumped a little. Vanessa had set up shop in a beach chair next to us, complete with a tiny swimsuit and a large umbrella.

"Are you going to tag along this whole vacation?" I asked, annoyed.

"Of course not. You couldn't get me to go to Kansas City for all the souls in the world."

Cassie bristled a little. "It's a nice town, Vanessa."

"I'm not talking about the town. I'm talking about Thanksgiving dinner with your family. You and Pookie are on your own for that."

"Don't call me 'pookie'," I snapped.

"Lighten up, would you? This is a vacation. Speaking of which..." She raised her hand; a cute pink drink appeared in it. "That's more like it. Anyone else?"

"I could use another margarita, thanks," Cassie said. "And Pookie here..."

Another, even more familiar voice broke in. "So. There you are."

Oh-oh.

My personal demon slogged the last few steps toward us through the sand, shoes in one hand, hem of her long black gown in the other, looking extremely put out.

Cassie rounded on Vanessa. "I thought you got rid of her. I thought you said..."

The demon shrugged. "Temporary. Don't worry. I can always do it again."

"You are all in serious trouble with me," Monica said ominously. "Especially you, you cheap little soul-stealing slut."

"Lovely to see you, too, sweetie darling," Vanessa replied. "Little drinkie?"

Monica ignored that. She swatted as much sand off her gown as she could, glaring first at Cassie and me, then at Vanessa, then back at us.

"For God's sake, sit down," I finally said. "You're blocking Cassie's sun. What can we get you? Margarita? Daiquiri? Human blood?"

She ignored that, too. "That was a stupid trick, Vanessa. Driving me into that Kurt person. Slippery little bastard--I had Satan's own time getting out. On top of which, we wound up in bed with Jack Harper first."

Cassie started laughing like she would never stop. I couldn't help but smile a little myself.

"I'm not forgetting this," Monica warned.

"I don't see how you could," Vanessa agreed, stirring her drink with the paper parasol. "Now go away. I'm on vacation."

Monica's eyes glowed red, and she raised a hand in a menacing way, which was enough for me to leap over the chair arm to get Cassie covered up. But Vanessa just whistled, and a passing seagull wheeled around.

"You wouldn't dare," Monica told her.

"Wrong," she said, pointing with the end of the little parasol.

There was that pop again. The gull squawked in outrage and flew in a few angry circles. Then it started chasing a fat man in a beer-can hat down the beach.

Cassie gently pushed me off, the better to see. "She's really in that seagull?"

"She'll get back out again," Vanessa said, "but let her eat garbage for a while. What's the matter, Devlin? You look troubled."

"I don't think I like Monica popping in and out of things. It makes life too unpredictable."

"Life is unpredictable. Yours more than most people's, of course. But then, you're not most people."

No, I wasn't, at that. Most people would have jumped off a bridge by now, preferring the certainty of death to the past few months of my life. On the other hand...

I glanced at Cassie. She tilted her head a little and gave me one of those smiles that made my heart do funny things. On the other hand, I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

"To hell with most people," I said, "and damn everything but Cass."

Cassie laughed. "I love you too."

"This could be the start of a beautiful relationship," Vanessa declared, raising her glass. "For all of us. Well, all of us except the witch. Cheers!"

•••

(c) 1999, ROCFanKat

Continued in The Very Devil (starting January 2000)