Page 2 of Livewire Witch

“Dance with me.”

It’s whispered in my ear often enough, waking me up whenever I jerk out of sleep at odd hours.

I’ve dealt with ghosts before, back in Arcanum in my everyday life. And at least they were semi-entertaining. They have a smidge of humanity left, so you can have a chat. But the bones seem to be a whole other matter.

It’s now been three days since we first came down here and they haven’t let up. And I’ve seen enough of this place to wish we’d never come down here. We’ve been steadily making our way through the tunnels, trying to get to the boundary of the city so we can find a way out of Arcanum. It’s slow-going, especially after our first encounter with the sorts of people that live down here.

We stumbled across one of the abandoned subway stations on our first day here, and it’s not a mistake I’m planning on making again. The place was lit up and warmer too.

Too bad the cause of that warmth was thanks to the unknown meat being cooked on a spit on top of burning barrels. It onlytook a minute for us to spot them before Seb tugged me on the elbow.

“That doesn’t look like rat meat.”

No, it didn’t. It was far too big, too... torso shaped. As soon as they spotted us, the person behind the nearest barrel hissed in my direction, brandishing a long, sharp fork. They looked semi-feral. Desperate people with nowhere else to go.

I quickly summoned my glamor to make me unnoticeable, grabbed Seb’s hand in one of mine and Fabian’s in the other and we got the hell out of there.

Thankfully, no one followed us. I guess keeping guard over the food was more important than trying to scare us off.

Since then, we’ve avoided any other run-ins. Mostly with the help of my glamor magic, ensuring anyone goes straight past us without noticing the two mages and a witch huddling in the shadows.

“Hey, Silver?” Seb says, drawing my attention out of my head to where he’s walking beside me. “How much further do you think we’ll be going today?”

I glance over at him, noting the way he’s limping slightly. Damn, the last lot of vampire blood he had to help with his sickness is showing signs of wearing off already. The conditions down here aren’t exactly healthy for anyone, but Seb’s not used to walking much and the air we’re all breathing is stale.

I mentally track through the directions Rook gave me earlier today. We should be just a couple of minutes’ walk away from another section of catacombs. While they’re not good for my sanity, thanks to the millions of noisy bones hanging around, they tend to be deserted, since no one else seems to enjoy sleeping so close to the ancient burial grounds.

I nod. “Just a couple more minutes,” I tell him.

The sound of hushed whispering draws me closer, telling me we’re going in the right direction. These bones are at least alittle quieter than the ones we’ve come across over the past few days. Instead of intelligible words, the sounds they’re making are more of a murmuring, like how I’d imagine it sounds to be in a forest, surrounded by trees. I let out a little sigh of relief. Seems like I might actually get some sleep tonight.

The tunnel we’re walking along opens up into a domed, dimly lit cavern. Its walls are bare earth and stone, etched with ancient sigils that I can feel pulsating with latent magic. The carvings seemed to respond to the rhythm of my heartbeat.

“We’re staying here?” Seb asks quietly.

“For now. We’ll sleep here tonight as well.”

There’s a recessed alcove which Seb plops down into. It’s hard rock, just like everything else down here. There are zero comforts, no softness to be found anywhere.

“Come on, man. We’re staying here for a bit. Sit down,” Seb says to his older brother, who is roaming around the space, like he’s looking for hidden dangers.

“Are you both all right here if I go to find us something to eat?” I ask.

“Sure. Are you gonna be okay going by yourself?” he asks.

I try to smile at Seb, but it’s half-hearted. We’ve been walking all day and my feet are burning in my boots. While I’d love nothing more than to sit down and rest, it’s clear Seb can’t carry on walking. And since Fabian forgets about my very existence as soon as he turns his head, I don’t trust him to bring me any food back.

Food has only recently started to become an issue. By dumb luck on the first day down here, we came across a hidden cache of tins which turned out to be unspoiled and they’ve kept us going until now.

Right now, I’m exhausted, and my head is weirdly foggy. I haven’t eaten or drunk enough in days and it might be hours before I can find us something to eat. Still, I plow on, turningback the way I came and continuing on through the tunnels alone.

MAYBE MAKING A DECISIONwhile panicked and terrified wasn’t the best idea. All I wanted was to get Seb to somewhere safe, in case Felix came after us once he regained consciousness.

My brain went straight to ‘we need to get out of Arcanum’ and since getting out of this city when you’re unnamed and undocumented like me is almost impossible, we needed someplace safe to lie low for a few days.

‘Safe’ is no longer the word I’d use to describe what it’s like down here. I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, but the reality of this place is so much worse than I thought.

“Hey, Ember. Any luck talking to Roscoe or Zeph yet?”I summon a little of my magic and send the words telepathically as I head back through the tunnels, in search of something to eat and drink.

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