about Overworld law or the Red Syndicate." Elyssa shrugged. "Guess we'll have to deal with them as things happen."
"Any idea how many we're talking about?"
She shook her head. "The Arcanes are digging through Maximus's records for clues. Dash Armstrong put wards on his files, though, so breaking into them will take time."
After dinner, we headed to Arcanus Apparatus, a popular night club. Music boomed from inside, and I was thankful I'd instinctually figured out how to lower the sensitivity of my super hearing so I didn't get a migraine. When we stepped through the vestibule, I gasped at the sight of the dance floor. People our age were boogying in what looked like a magic forest, while unicorns and little glowing fairies zipped through the air, touching magic wands to some couples, causing them to float off the floor with hoots of enjoyment. I saw werewolves and vampires bumping and grinding, and even a couple of supernatural types I didn't recognize.
"Fairies are real!" I said. "And unicorns, oh my god, I want one!"
Elyssa laughed. "This is all illusion, silly." She put her hand up in front of a fairy, but it went right through like a ghost. "And I've already found my unicorn." She gave me a naughty wink before pulling me close for a kiss.
We danced for hours, enjoying the freedom to let go and just be kids again. Somehow, I managed to forget about everything, at least for a little while. When the lights came on and the illusions shut down to reveal a large white room, everyone groaned. I checked the time and almost had a heart attack when I noticed it was almost two in the morning.
A cold ache had settled into my leg, but I did the best to ignore the cancerous curse in my body. For now, it seemed to have stopped spreading, or at least slowed its march through my system. I wondered if my dual nature might afford me some protection from the inevitable, or if I was doomed to watch, helpless, as it consumed me.
Elyssa seemed to catch my change in mood, and her violet eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"
I smiled. There was still plenty to be happy about. Plenty to look forward to. "Yep. Just wondering if your dad was serious about that curfew."
She laughed.
"'Scuse me, Your Highness," said a very familiar voice as the crowd squeezed through the doors outside. A hand pressed into my pocket. I tried to grab the hand, but it slipped away like greased putty.
As we stood in the darkness outside, our breaths steaming in the cold night, I looked at what the hand had left. It was a piece of paper. I opened it.
Bigdaddy found out what you did to my spell, bro-bro. Not nice at all. I know you can't help being evil. That means, I gotta stop you. >:(
*smoochies* -Ivy
Elyssa scowled as she looked at the note. "Well, I guess you'd better start training."
I balled up the note and tossed it into one of the magical trash cans nearby, which incinerated it the moment it landed inside. Grabbed Elyssa's hand and twirled her around as we waited on the next trolley to take us to the parking deck. "My twisted little sister can wait her turn," I said, and pulled her in for a kiss. "For now, I plan on making this a night to remember."
She bit her lower lip. Leaned into my ear and whispered a suggestion that almost caught my pants on fire.
True, my sister and evil grandparents were out there plotting with an insane angel. My dad was about to marry his demon princess. And my mom might be an angel. Stranger things had happened. Or maybe they hadn't. I didn't care.
Because the night was still young, I had my beautiful girlfriend, and saving the world could wait another day.
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Section A
MEET THE AUTHOR
John Corwin has been making stuff up all his life. As a child he would tell his sisters he was an alien clone of himself and would eat tree bark to prove it.
In middle school, John started writing for realz. He wrote short stories about Fargo McGronsky, a young boy with anger management issues whose dog, Noodles, had been hit by a car. The violent stories were met with loud acclaim from classmates and a great gnashing of teeth by his English teacher.
Years later, after college and successful stints as a plastic food wrap repairman and a toe model for GQ, John once again decided to put his overactive imagination to paper for the world to share and became an author.