Page 111 of Malice

“This is a party?” Wilder whispers.

“Yes,” Farnsworth says, clearly hearing him. “I’ve done the best I can, but the last party I attended was sometime in the late 1800s. I’m open to suggestions for future gatherings.”

“Dude, how long has Farnsworth been dead?” Hudson whispers. “Is he dead?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper back.

“There’s food,” Farnsworth says. “Catered.”

“Catered?” I repeat. “How the hell…?”

“With some difficulty,” Farnsworth says.

“On your wrists, there is a colored band,” the mistress says. “It indicates your region so that you may find others easily when you’re back Above.”

“Please enjoy.” Farnsworth offers a stiff smile. “Mingle. Get to know one another.”

I look down at my wrist and it glows a pleasant shade of blue, like the sky on a cloudy day. Wilder’s band lights up too, as do several others in the room.

“Forced camaraderie, how fun,” Wilder deadpans. “Rather be balls deep in my date, but whatever,” he grumbles.

“Duty calls,” another Chaser says from behind, clapping Wilder on the shoulder. He extends his hand to me with a big grin on his face. “The name’s Jovan.”

“Aster. This is my soul partner, Hudson.”

“Ooh a love bond mating in the wild.” Jovan’s still grinning. “We can all hope, right, Wilder?”

Wilder only grunts.

“Oh come on, you big grump,” Jovan says, wrapping his arm around the surly Chaser. “Even you must get lonely sometimes.”

“Nope.”

Jovan is unusual looking. He’s tallish, but shorter than me, with a wild mess of dark hair and tattoos covering most of his visible skin. It’s his energy that’s most attention grabbing though. Like he doesn’t have a care in the world. But he’s a Chaser, so he must.

“Don’t let him fool ya,” Jovan says, releasing Wilder from his clutches. “Even Chasers need love, but I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”

“No.”

Jovan lifts his arm, twisting his wrist to show off his blue band. “I hang around NYC mostly, but I’m all over the East Coast if you ever need to connect.”

“Thanks.”

“How long have you been a Chaser?” Hudson asks.

“Four years,” Jovan says. “Not like my ancient friend here.”

Wilder rolls his eyes, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips.

“It gets easier,” Jovan says. “Eventually, it’s just another job. You figure out how to live around it.”

“That’s good to know.”

Jovan salutes us. “See ya around, Chasers.”

He darts off, disappearing into the mix of people, but Wilder lingers.

“Heard you did good with your first Horror,” he says.

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