Page 92 of Livewire Witch

All we know is that there is a group of young vampires that apparently sprang out of nowhere, who are hoping to take over the city. They’re hoping to demonstrate themselves as invaluable to the safety of the people of Arcanum.

Whatever that means, it can’t be good.

You would have thought that with the resources the Nexus mages have, along with my connections, we should have at least gleanedsomethinguseful.

We’ve had eyes and ears all over the city. From the grandest mansions to the dirtiest fleapits. And the only chatter we’ve managed to pick up on is that somethingmightbe about to go down tonight.

It makes sense. If the ‘Bad Vamps’—as the idiot walking alongside me insists on calling them—if they want to cause maximum carnage, they’ll target tonight’s Solstice Ball. All the city’s elites will be in one room. And there’s bound to be a ton of media attention. If they’re hoping to make the Archarcans look ineffectual, this seems like the most public way to do it.

Since we don’t know exactlywhatmight be going on, or where it might take place, I’m wound tight enough to snap. My palms are damp, so I jam them deep into my coat pockets.

Although, our cluelessness about this situation is not the only reason I’m weirdly nervous. My collar feels too tight and despite the fact I wear a suit every day, today it's chafing. I tug at my tie for the tenth time in the past hour, something that doesn’t escape Roscoe’s notice.

“Dude, calm down. It’s going to be fine. I mean, it might not be fine for the rest of us. But at least if we end the night with a bunch of vampire overlords, you might squeak by unnoticed. All the rest of us are gonna be chained up as sex slaves or whatever, but I’m sure they’ll let you join them.”

I raise an eyebrow, wishing we’d parked closer. Too bad the ball is a major event and every parking lot within a mile radius was already full.

The plan is that we’re supposed to rendezvous at the city hall before splitting off so that we have eyes all over the city and can jump into action, just on the off-chance that things do kick off.

For some reason, that meant I wound up paired up with Roscoe to drive over.

The other Nexus mages, plus Silver and a couple of others that she trusts, are meeting us at city hall.

That’s the real reason I’m going to sweat through my shirt before we get there.

We haven’t seen each other since that night at the docks, and we still haven’t cleared the air after what happened at the club that night.

It’s been torture. The memories of the sweet sounds she made as I licked her delicious skin has filled every one of my dreams since.

And every day that’s gone by without me bringing it up, without me apologizing for what went down, has stoked my guilt higher and higher.

I’m over a century old, for fuck’s sake. I should have been able to keep hold of my senses and not lose my mind like I did.

I shouldn’t have enjoyed it quite so much either.

Too bad that these days, the only images in my head every time I fall asleep are of Silver.

The intriguing witch enchanted me a while ago, and it feels like my addiction to her is getting stronger by the day.

We need to survive tonight. Then I’ll apologize and take a step back. We can go back to being acquaintances that see each other once in a blue moon. Whenever she needs me.

Because I just know that if shedoesneed me, I’m not going to ignore her. No matter how much it’ll make me feel like a creeping creeper.

Perhaps I should apologize first though, just in case she decides never to speak to me again. Or just on the off-chance things go sour tonight.

See what she’s done to me? I never used to be a neurotic idiot, and yet now I’m worrying about all the things that could be as well as the things that are.

“We’re meeting everyone there, correct?” I ask the banal question, despite already knowing the answer. At least that should distract the mage from noticing the minor mental breakdown I’m currently experiencing.

“Sure. Fabian’s already there. I guess Silver, Zeph and Silver’s family will want to get there as late as possible though. Considering who’s going to be in attendance.”

I glance over at him. “How do you mean?”

He looks up from where he’s messing with a coin, flipping it between his fingers. “Well, Z’s mom’s husband is gonna be at the Ball, plus I’m fairly certain Silver’s family is going to be there too. I tried to tell her she didn’t need to go to city hall, she could have just had a supporting role elsewhere but—”

“Her family?”

“Sure. Her mom is somebody Clements. Felix let it slip last week when we bumped into him,” he says. “It’s like she’s forcing herself to see her from afar. Guess she doesn’t want her being murdered or whatever the Bad Vamps might have in store.”

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