Hanna glances around. “He was here not long ago. Luna plied him with her new potion and—”
“You did?”
Luna nods, smoothing down her long skirt. “I’ve been working on it for about a month now. We’ve been trialing different potions, but this one seems to work best.” Her face creases into a frown. “I thought Seb had gone next door to wait for you all, though.”
A jolt of panic hits me just as Fabian’s phone buzzes. “It’s him.” He swipes the screen and hits the speaker. “Seb?”
His voice wavers, sending a horrible cramp of fear into my gut. “Fab, is, uh, is Silver there?”
“I’m here.” I hurry closer so that I’m right beside Fabian, our arms pressed together as we hover over the phone.
“Silver, I wasn’t wearing my Pretty Princess ring,” he says.
Fuck. It wouldn’t have mattered if he was, since I hadn’t topped them up recently and they wouldn’t have worked against coercive magic, anyway.
“Where are you, bud?”
“He has me.” A breath shudders out of him. “Simpson has me. He says it’s time for all of his toys to come out of their boxes.”
“Whereareyou?” Fabian asks, his fingers clutching the phone hard enough to blanch his knuckles white.
“Down by the city square. Close to that massive TV screen that shows the weather.”
“We’re coming, Seb. Don’t worry, we’re coming.”
I don’t need to look at any of the others to know that they’ll all be in agreement. It might be foolhardy, stupid even. We know full well that it’s a trap, and that Simpson wants me so he can use me for his own gain.
But this time, he won’t win.
There’s a moment where Fabian stares down at me, looking conflicted. “Maybe you shouldn’t come, Silver.”
I shoot him a dead-eyed look. “Yeah, that’s not happening. Come on, we’re wasting time. Let’s go.”
Granted, it could be the alien energy still pumping through my veins after I spent all night helping ghosts from the judiciary building go... somewhere. Still not sure about exactly what happened to them, but every orb that burst led to another surge of unfamiliar energy going through me. I pat my pockets. There are still a bunch of orbs safely tucked away which I grabbed as we left and haven’t touched with my bare skin yet.
Hence the fact I’m buzzing with energy, even though I haven’t eaten in at least a day and haven’t slept in longer.
Pretty sure there’s a heavy come down scheduled in my near future. But right now, I’m going to take advantage of the way my blood feels like it’s on fire. I’m going to use that energy to fuck Simpson up.
Seb’s like family now, and no one messes with my family and gets away with it.
We find both Seb and Simpson down by the city square. Simpson is standing with his arms folded, the large scar on his neck on display along with his sharp teeth, which are gleaming in a feral smile.
He’s dressed in army fatigues and he even has a collection of dog tags around his neck, like he’s trying to give off a military vibe. I bet the closest thing he’s ever got to active combat is feeding from the leftover bodies after a village is hit.
Seb stands beside him, looking small and terrified. He’s practically doubled over, clutching his stomach in an attempt to self-soothe, and seeing him looking so vulnerable sends a wave of fury rolling through me. And that’s before I see the way Simpson is gripping his arm, hard enough to break the skin with his overly sharp nails.
“It turns out your little friend with the telepathy had some uses before we got bored of playing with him,” Simpson says. “He told me all about this one’s special powers. Imagine if that fiasco with the video footage is just... wiped out from everyone’s memories. What a grand shame that would be. In fact, I think the boy could have a lot of use for us. He can wipe the city’s memories of everything prior to today, so they don’t know the difference when I am elected the city’s leader and you are all about to bow at my feet.” He clicks his fingers like we’re all dogs. “Come with me.”
He strides along until we reach the large TV screen, which usually displays weather or commercials for stuff. Most people barely pay them any attention to it. Today, though, there’s a crowd gathered around. Their eyes are glued to the blank screen.
None of them are moving. They barely seem to even be breathing. Like something or someone has caught them up in a spell. Frozen them in place.
“What have you done with Anna?” I ask.
“Who?”
“The techno mage, the one that put all that stuff on every screen in the city.”
