Page 22 of Chaos
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hat a fucked up day to apply for a library card. The line was wrapped around the building, and every single one of these fuckers had stinky blood. It wasn’t like they took drugs or had an unhealthy diet like I avoided eating. It was almost like they all reeked of Sulphur. It stank, and I was getting bad vibes off these people. I was about to high tail it out of there because I just didn’t do negative energy and stinky blood was just about the worst thing you could do to a vampire like me when everyone just up and disappeared.
I was just standing there alone like a total asshole. I was about to jump on my Harley and get the fuck out of here. I didn’t sign up for stinky blood and disappearing people. The fucking witch I had been dating turned into a psycho and started stalking me and blowing up my phone. I tried to break things off, and I did it to her face instead of over text like I wanted. I didn’t even ghost her.
Bitch cursed me anyway.
The worst was that witches stuck together. They wouldn’t help you remove a curse without getting the story about why it was placed on you in the first place. Apparently, showing up at your workplace and threatening your female coworkers, and trying to hack into your phone to track you and read your text messages is not a sufficient reason to break up with someone, according to the witches. They all sided with my ex and refused to help me.
I was desperate, so I headed to the Library of the Profane. Now, I had to ask myself if I wanted to keep asking witches for help or if I wanted to risk going in there. Yeah, I was going to nope right off this property.
Until the doors flung open, and I saw the librarian. Holy shit, she was hot as hell. Why did the sexy ones always have to be witches? They always got me in so much trouble. And this one was a tall, slim drink of water with legs for days wrapped up in tight leather.
“Hi! Sorry about all that. Just a little bit of housekeeping. The library is open for business now. What can I help you with?”
“Well, darlin’, I came to apply for a card, but if you’re going to magic the stinky people away before you unlock the front door, I might be having second thoughts.”
“Stinky people?”
“It reeked of Sulphur out here.”
“Interesting. You want to come in and apply? I don’t bite.”
I flashed my fangs at her.
“I do.”
“No feeding in the library. House rule. Do you still want to come in?”
She seemed friendly, so I just nodded and followed her inside. The Library of the Profane was something else. It looked like a fairytale castle. It smelled amazing in here, and it wasn’t just the witch. She smelled pretty fucking good too. She led me to a desk nestled into stacks of books and pointed to an ornate copper bowl.
“You have to bleed in that.”
“That standard for vampires or everyone?”
“That’s everyone. If you want a card, you have to bleed for me.”
“Kinky.”
I grabbed the athame and slashed my palm. I could see the magic working as she stared pretty hard. She cocked an eyebrow at me.
“What did you say you’re applying for a library card for?”
I cleared my throat. I took a chance applying here because I heard they based the system on magic. Even if the librarian were a witch, they would still have to help me on principle.
“I got cursed by a witch. I need help with that.”
She didn’t go straight towell, what did you do to the witchlike everyone else I spoke to. She just nodded.
“I can help with that. Ripley Bell.”
That was new. It was like she didn’t even care what I’d done to another witch, which was nothing. I held out my hand and took hers.
“Balthazar Orsini. I have to tell you. No other witch has been willing to help me.”
“OftheOrsini? Nice. Let me guess. They sided with the witch, even if she was wrong. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
Could I have actually met a sane witch? Or was I going to ruin everything when I told her about my ex? Something about her blood told me I could trust this woman. Her blood smelled like honeyed vanilla and old books.
