Page 64 of Livewire Witch

What’s up with me at the minute? It’s like my brain is filled with sand and new information keeps shifting right through it instead of sticking.

“You sure you’re okay?” Seb pauses his game and stares at me.

“Just a headache,” I lie. I’m not about to get into any of this weirdness with my little brother. He’s got enough shit on his plate without having to worry about me losing my marbles before I’m thirty.

“Are you sleeping?” Seb asks and I snort. It’s usually me asking that question.

Are you sleeping enough? Eating? How are you feeling today?

Shit. Clearly, I’m not doing a good job hiding how out of sorts I’ve been feeling recently.

Seb’s been doing better over the past month, although I know he’s frustrated that there doesn’t seem to be an end to whatever is making him sick. He’s a good kid, though. Doesn’t tend to show that any of it is bothering him.

“Work okay?” he asks, handing over the spare controller to his console without asking if I want to play.

This is what we do. Downtime. Pizza. Games.

It helps to get me out of my head for a while. Usually, at least. But today I’m useless, distracted and getting killed within thirty seconds of the game starting.

“Dammit.”

I chuckle humorlessly at Seb’s question. “Not really. Things are a mess. It’s like Felix istryingto wreck the district.”

“Ha.” Seb blows a zombie’s head off. “Or he’s always been a mess and you and your dad have been covering for him for years. You being absent has just made it super obvious how shitty he is.”

That’s... accurate. I’ve been training to take over running the district since I was a teenager.

A kid. Messing with things in a world that was far too far when I was far too young.

“Shit.” I rub at my brow, trying to soothe the ache that’s set up shop. “There’s a bunch of vamps looking to mess with the order of things in the city. Sounds like they want to cause chaos.”

“Are they involved with the people that blew up Zeph and Roscoe and—”

I don’t know. Shit.

“Not sure. I kind of hope they are,” I reply. That way, we at least only have people coming at us from one direction, not a bunch of separate attacks to deal with.

I rub my eyes, exhausted, and wait for the next game to reload.

“You look bad,” Seb says with that special bluntness teenagers seem to excel at.

“A lot on my mind.”

“It’s not just that, though. You look sad all the time, too.”

Is that what the gaping maw inside me is? Sadness? I just thought I was stressed out, but he’s right that it’s more than just regular stress. I’ve been worrying about the state of the district for years now and this sensation is something all new.

Whatever it is, it’s exhausting.

I yawn wide enough for Seb to notice. He flicks me on the chin and yanks the controller out of my hands.

“You’re no good to me like this. Take a nap, dude. You can take the bed or the couch.”

I should really go upstairs to my apartment, but I can’t seem to summon the energy.

Flopping down onto Seb’s bed, I throw one arm over my eyes as he returns his attention to the game.

“Wake me up in an hour,” I say.

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