Page 54 of Betrayed Pregnant Mate

“Shh,” I say, laughing a bit to soften the directive. “No, shit, sorry, I was just saying, like the costumes.”

“Oh,” Byron said, relaxing a bit. “Uh, I don’t know, I guess?”

“I just—I feel like there are a lot of people dressed as vampires this year.”

“Could be, man. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I have surveillance all over this place.”

“Okay,” I say, taking a breath. “Have you seen Veronica?”

“Yeah,” he says, turning away, “I think she was talking to Olivia at the cider stand earlier.”

When I’m heading for the cider stand, I see Bigby and wave for him to stop and talk to me.

“Are you noticing more vampire costumes?”

“Yes,” Bigby says, nodding. “It’s definitely higher than the average, but Olivia said it was trending this year, so I think it tracks.”

“Right,” I say, nodding and twisting my wristband around and around my arm. “Have you seen Veronica?”

“Yeah,” Bigby says, nodding, “she was dancing with Rosa, right in front of the stage.”

I’m pushing through the pulsing crowd of people in front of the stage, dancing to the eardrum-shattering DJ who’s playing spooky, dance-able music. Linnea did a great job of picking the music, but I can’t stand the way it scrambles everything around me, making it hard to focus on what I’m doing.

“Ado!” I say, seeing him near the front of the dancing crowd, keeping them from jumping onto the stage. “Have you seen Veronica?”

“No,” he says, brow wrinkling.

I nod, then turn and hurry back down, through the crowd, pushing out into the open air. I see Linnea hurrying through the park in the center of the town with her clipboard and job to catch up with her.

“Hey,” I wheeze, when I get to her. I’m not usually breathing this hard, and I wonder, in a brief moment of panic, if I’m having another vampire-venom-related attack, but then the breathless feeling goes away when Linnea turns, her face morphing into a smile.

“Hey,” she says, glancing around me, “where’s Veronica?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” I say, trying not to let the worry sink too deeply in my brain. “Have you seen her?”

“No,” Linnea says, “not since she was getting cider with Olivia.”

I’m heading back to the cider stand, getting more and more uncomfortable with the fake vamps around me. They’re all sporting glow-in-the-dark fangs, dripping blood, and dark clothing. Based on Paul Smith, the Midwest Vampire, this might not even be the right look, but it still puts me on edge.

It just feels like it can’t be a coincidence, and I’m not going to feel at ease until I have Veronica at my side. I’m almost to the cider stand when I see Aris, and pull him to the side, thinking that if anyone knows what’s going on, it has to be him.

“Dude,” I say, “are you seeing all these vampires?”

“Yeah,” he says, tilting his head at me. “That’s the theme.”

“What?”

“Every year, there’s a different theme. Last year was zombie. This was decided right after the last fest; it’s just a weird coincidence.”

I stare at him, incredulous. I’ve been nervous all night that this was some genius move on the vampire’s part, but it’s just a result of people following directions regarding theme.

“Hey, man,” Aris says, clapping his hand on my arm. “That dude signed a life pact with me,” he tugs his sleeve up a bit to show the edge of the swirling black lines. “There’s no way he breaks it. If he does, he will literally die. And that’s a vamp’s worst fucking nightmare.”

“Yeah,” I say, laughing a little forcefully. “Right. Yeah.”

“You looking for Veronica?” he asks, then says, “I saw her over by the mini donuts thing with Rosa and Olivia a little while ago.”

“Right,” I say, rolling my eyes and turning to go. Aris gives me a confused look, and starts pushing toward the stage, where Linnea is climbing up, standing in front of the microphone.

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