Page 15 of Livewire Witch

I’m not sure I believe him. Although it’s not like I have any reason to mistrust Roscoe’s words, other than a lifetime of only trusting the other outcasts that became my family. I’m also not going to stay down here any longer than I have to.

Turns out my panicked decision making was pretty shitty. And it’s a lot harder to get out of this city than I realized. Even with Ember and Rook looking into all the options above ground, they’ve come up with nothing concrete. And down here, after almost a week of walking, searching for the city boundaries, we haven’t found them. It’s almost as though the Buried Citadel didn’t want us to find it.

Seems like the only way out is by heading back above ground.

So, I guess that means I’m staying in Arcanum for now.

We slowly make our way back to the hole in the pavement Zeph and Roscoe used to head beneath the city. I’m a dirty, exhausted mess, and if I think about things too hard, I’m going to start to wonder why we just wasted nearly a week living in this hellhole, only to head right back into Arcanum with nothing resolved. Then Seb squeezes my hand and pulls me into a stinky, one-armed hug. The combined stench of us is eye-watering, but I hug him back tight.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he tells me confidently. Which tells me I’m doing a stellar job of hiding my tumultuous emotions if a teenager has to comfort me.

“Thanks, buddy.”

The first breath of fresh air is like sheer luxury, even if it’s tinged with car fumes and the faint scent of the nearby disused train tracks.

We hobble along the street, walking slowly to where Roscoe assures me there’s a car parked. I practically collapse into the car, letting my head fall back against the headrest as Roscoe grips my hand in his on one side and Seb links our pinkies together on my other side. Zeph drives us through the Arcanum traffic and I let myself relax more than I have in days.

My head pounds and I ache all over, but I know it’s the sheer exhaustion and stress that’s been eating away at my bones.

A good, long sleep and a meal where I can recognize what I’m eating. That’s all I need.

We pull up in an underground parking lot and Z then slowly hobbles along on his booted leg, leading us into an elevator where he punches the button for the penthouse. By this point, my mind has gone to a fuzzy, soft place.

“What is this place?” Seb asks. “We’re still in Nexus, right? I kinda thought we might be avoiding the area, since Felix has eyes everywhere.”

That’s what I told him when I justified our need to head underground. We couldn’t trust Fabian’s contacts since they’re all loosely connected to Felix.

“It’s not somewhere he knows about,” Z mutters. “No one does.”

I blink and refocus my eyes enough to see that he’s tugging at his collar and rubbing the back of his neck, like he’s uncomfortable.

“Z’s taking us to his secret fuck palace he never even told his best buds about,” Roscoe says gleefully.

“Not a fuck palace,” Zeph mutters, avoiding eye contact with everyone. “And I’ve never brought anyone here.”

“I didn’t know you had your own place,” Fabian says. It’s the first thing he’s said in a while and his voice is raspy with disuse. Still, the sound of it makes my stomach clench with hopeless want.

We step out of the elevator into an apartment that’s... dazzling.

Floor to ceiling windows facing in every direction, and two huge skylights mean that there’s sunlight streaming in from all directions. After being underground so long, it makes my eyes sting and I have to keep them downcast, only peeking at sections at a time.

It’s a minimalist space, painted in soft grays and blues. There’s a large sofa, a squishy armchair and a bookshelf. A weight bench sits in one corner and there’s a neat little kitchen at the other end.

“Yeah, well, I just needed a place that’s all mine. I found it right after I moved to the district. The entire building was a shithole. Took me a while to fix it up a bit and now I just come here when I need to.” He meets my eye for a fleeting moment, and it’s like being struck in the chest with a hot poker.

Without him having to say the words, I understand. He needed somewhere that was all his own, somewhere that couldn’t get taken away from him. Zeph’s all about control. And I bet that moving into the Nexus District as a teenager made him feel like he had no control at all.

This is his safe space. And he’s letting us inside of it.

Although, judging by the scowl on his face, he might be regretting that decision right now.

I risk glancing out the windows to see the view. In one direction, the Luminary District is visible with all its glittering glory. Where Zeph grew up. I briefly wonder if he spends much time looking out at it, thinking about the life he left behind before moving to Nexus.

The city is a constantly moving thing laid out beneath us. There are lights and movement in all directions and I soak it up. All the life going on just below. It couldn’t be more different than the dead place where we’ve been trapped for the past few days.

It takes me a moment to orient myself. When I do, I can see we’re at the far edge of the Nexus District, not far from the club where Z and I first met in a back alley. Where the both of us collectively lost our minds. He’s watching me as I take it all in and I meet his eye for a fleeting moment before he quickly turns away.

“So there are three bedrooms and this place has a fuck ton of security measures. Wards on all the doors, which I’ll get someone to re-spell in the next few days. You’ll be good here,” he grunts. “Safe.”

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