“It’s been everywhere the past few months. We think that a rival mafia group is distributing it on purpose. It’s extremely cheap and easy to obtain. It feels good to ingest, but it makes breathers - living humans - weak, so that vampires have more influence over them and are easily able to take advantage of them. There have been several deaths and abductions in nearby clubs, much more than usual. I wasmeeting with some other…local business owners to discuss the issue.”
“That’s awful,” I reply, with genuine concern in my voice.
“I suspect I know who’s behind it, but I need more information before I go after him,” says Celine.
A dark shadow crosses her face, and I have to suppress a shudder. I don’t want to think about what she means by that. But if people are being killed because of this drug, that’s a huge problem. I think about all of the customers who come to the club. Others might say that they deserve what they get because of the risk they put themselves in, but I completely disagree. Nobody deserves to be drained by a vampire. I remember all of the conflicts the Hecate witches have ever been in with vampires. There’s nothing worse than finding a ghostly-pale body when the sun comes up.
“I accidentally ingested a bit of it, the new drug,” I tell Celine. “When I was in the club. One of the guests was doing it, and I inhaled some when I was cleaning up.”
“Were you hurt?” she asks sharply, another flash of anger across her face.
“I’m fine. It didn’t affect me that much,” I tell her. My stomach twists itself up in a knot at the look of fear on her face. Is she that concerned about me?
Focus, Amara.
“Strange that it didn’t affect you,” she says, her lip twitching.
“Oh, I’ve always been like that,” I say quickly. “Drugs have never had much of an effect on me.”
My heart is thumping harder than I would like it to. I’ve got to be extremely careful about what I reveal to her. I can’t tell her why the glow didn’t affect me, although I know exactly why. As a skilled witch, I knew immediately that the drugs were magical, and I was able to combat their effects.
Maybe if she knew they were magical, she would be able to stop it.
“It was…very weird, though,” I say, trying to make my voice as casual as possible. “It wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced before. My mind felt all…hazy and strange. It’s almost like, I don’t know…magic? Like I was under a spell or something. But that couldn’t be possible, right?”
I take a rag and rub a spot on the immaculately polished surface ofthe bar. Why did Lavinia think I would make a good spy? It’s a miracle I haven’t been discovered yet.
Celine’s brows furrow. For a moment, I’m terrified that my awful lying has tipped her off. Then her eyes soften, and an expression of realization crosses her face.
“Hmm…that’s interesting,” she says.
I shrug. “I don’t have much experience with things like that.”
“Celine!” shrieks a voice from the entrance to the lounge. Renata stomps in, a characteristic expression of exasperation on her face. “I need to speak with youimmediately! Lexi is trying to livestream in the Gamble casino again, and I swear to god, if we get shut down because she can’t help sharing our illegal business to her stupid instagram followers, I will stake her myself!”
Celine sighs.
“I’ll come find you later,” she says to me with a twitch of her eyebrow. Then she goes to try and calm her sister down.
I’m slightly embarrassed by the warm, excited ache in my stomach as I watch her. How much later? Like, tonight later?
I can’t keep this up with her. It’s a terrible idea, right? She’s a horrible, undead monster with a taste for blood. Sooner or later, she’s going to decide that she’s sick of just sleeping with me and she’s going to drain me just like she’s probably drained hundreds of other people over the last three centuries.
But…if I can get close to her, maybe I can pick up some valuable information. Maybe the information that the Hecate witches need in order to prevent a conflict. It can’t hurt. I’m being noble, really, putting myself in harm’s way for my coven.
Right?
FINGERS CROSSED
Celine
Vampires don’t really sleep. During the day, we enter a state of low consciousness where we drift in and out of awareness. As an older vampire, I’m almost completely unconscious for the entire time that the sun is in the sky.
But lately, my rest has been punctuated by anxieties and nagging frustration.
Cedric has been taunting us. Tauntingme. He thinks that he can threaten our business, the very livelihood we’ve built for our family. He wants to rub it in our face, his success, his alliance with Lazarus.
His new drug, glow, is the most recent salt in the wound.
