Page 27 of Livewire Witch

“First of all,” he says. “Can we all marvel at my restraint since I’m not checking out my ass or tits right now? Fuck, I really want to touch them now. Just a quick squeeze to see if they feel as good as they do in my dreams.”

Zeph smacks him around the back of the head with one hand, keeping his coffee steady in the other. “Behave, dude.”

“Aw, standing up for me again,” I tease Zeph, who rolls his eyes at me. “This is going to turn into a habit and soon you’ll be begging for a friendship bracelet.”

“Can I get one of those too, if you’re giving them out?” Roscoe asks me while Zeph grunts beside him. “I’d like mine to spell out how sexy you find me, as well as the fact we’re now BFFs.”

“Let’s get back to whatever the fuck this is,” Fabian says, gesturing to the illusion in front of us. He’s clearly taking charge before things can spiral out of control and I shoot him a grateful look and he gives me a small smile, which makes my chest pang.

“How does this help?” I ask, gesturing toward the wall of Silvers in front of us. “I’m trying to keep a low profile, not draw attention by being all over the city.”

“I figured we could either glamor or disguise the real you, then at least if Felix spots you on the cameras around the city, it’s less likely to actually be you. The only issue we’ll have is if we bump right into him, so we’ll just avoid the places he’s likely to be.”

“I thought Felix could see through illusion magic, though? Surely he’ll see straight through the illusions?”

Roscoe shrugs, the movement shifting my shoulder since he still has his arm wrapped tightly around me. “Felix isn’t exactly a strong mage. He wouldn’t be able to tell the difference on the cameras.”

I eye my doubles and then look over at first Roscoe and then Zeph, my eyes finally landing on Fabian who is watching this entire exchange with a thoughtful expression.

“You think this is a good idea?”

“It’s as good as any,” Roscoe says.

“Why don’t you modify the doubles a bit,” Fabian suggests. “Make them all slightly different to the true version of... Silver, is it?”

My voice comes out strained as I nod. “That’s right, I’m Silver.”

“That’s a good idea,” Roscoe says with an enthusiastic nod. “So if Felix happens to see any of the doubles on the cameras, they’ll look just a little different to the real Silver, and he’ll just think he’s seeing things.”

“Keep your glamor up the whole time you’re out,” Zeph orders me.

He sounds kind of like a mom, ensuring that I keep my coat on and my shoelaces tied tight. I nod at him and draw on my magic, pulling on the glamor that makes me forgettable. The one that makes me fade into a crowd.

I really want to get some fresh air. Maybe that’ll help me shake off this fugue I’ve had hovering over me since we came above the surface.

Despite how crappy I feel, more than anything, this whole breakfast meeting has left me with a warm feeling in my chest.

I feel like part of the team. Like I fit in with these mages.

It’s a feeling I could easily get addicted to.

“HERE,” ROSCOE THRUSTSthe file I still haven’t taken the time to look at, at Dante’s chest. “A favor for a favor. Thought you might appreciate knowing that the Archarcans are looking into your people. They want us to dish out as much dirt as we can find by the Solstice Ball.”

Dante raises an imperious eyebrow and crosses his thick arms in front of him, staring Roscoe down.

The effect is lessened slightly since he’s in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, with a white t-shirt stretched over his chest on top. We clearly caught him while he was in bed.

Probably because we broke into his apartment with zero warning.

I suggested to Roscoe in a hissed whisper that maybemaybethis was part of the reason Dante really doesn’t like him and the other Nexus mages.

Of course, Roscoe was too engrossed in practicing his lock-picking technique to listen to me.

I don’t really know what I expected. Once again, it’s the middle of the day, so Second Circle, the club Dante manages, is closed. In fact, most of the district is fairly quiet. There was a low-level hum of activity as we made our way here, but nothing like how it is after night falls.

The club was completely empty as we made our way through after Roscoe jimmied the lock open. He then sauntered right on in, leading the way upstairs into Dante’s private quarters like he’s been here a million times before.

Like he owns the place.

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