Evan needed a better way to occupy his time. By avoiding the witch, he had fallen back into the issue he had when he first awoken.

He was bored.

The next few weeks were going to go by really slowly if he didn't find something to do.

But the town was dead.

Now he understood why no one ever left the compound. The rest of the territory didn't have much to offer. But he'd rather let himself bleed out or get fried by the sun than go back with his fangs tucked behind his lips. No matter how many times his brother called.

He would have to find some kind of entertainment, so in what may have been a lapse of judgment, he headed to the nearest bar to his apartment.

The low-key bar he had imagined turned out to be a club. Music pounded at his ears as he entered, nearly causing him to turn and leave. But Evan could probably benefit from the sensory deprivation the constant bass offered. His mind had been his only company he had for the last two days and he was already tired of hearing it.

He went to the far end of the bar, passing by sweaty mixed mortals on the dance floor to get a seat isolated near the wall. He signaled to the bartender to come over.

"I'll have your best scotch, neat," Evan said, hoping whatever he could find in this nowhere bar could get him at least tipsy.

"That'll run you $20," the bartender told him.

"Make it a double. And start a tab," Evan said. The bartender quickly brought him his order, and Evan pounded it back. He got all of his nutrition from blood, but he could still enjoy the sensations and flavors of mortal food and drinks. The scotch wasn't as luxurious as what he usually pilfered from his father's stash, but it still burned where it needed to.

He ordered another, hoping the alcohol would cleanse the witch's magic that continued to have her plague his thoughts. His peaceful drink was interrupted when a half-mortal and an incubus took the seats next to him.

They yelled to the bartender to bring them, ugh, beer of all things, and conversed even louder than the booming music. Evan cursed his sensitive ears for not being able to ignore them.

"Gods, where are all the chicks tonight? Saturdays are usually good here, right?" the mixed mortal asked.

The incubus ignored him, too busy scanning the dance floor to respond to his friend.

"Carter!" the friend hollered over the music.

"Shut up Ryan, I'm trying to find something to eat," the incubus said back.

Damn it all, leave it to Evan to choose a seat that would trap him next to two obnoxious women-hungry fools. This is why he didn't go out. He'd better just finish another drink or two, pay his tab, and go home.

"Ooh looks like tonight might not be a total loss, look at the pieces that just walked in," the mixed mortal said, motioning to the door.

"Medusa's tits, Ryan. I've already had that one before," the incubus said.

"Like that's ever stopped you."

The incubus went silent and weighed the decision by rapping his knuckles against the counter. "Right you are. Hey bartender, another two."

The incubus and its friend gathered the spare drinks and left the counter.

Thank gods he wouldn't have to listen to their dribble anymore.

He was finally beginning to feel the effects of the scotch after his third glass. The haze worked at the very edges of his senses, and he felt himself starting to relax. Maybe he would be able to get some sleep when he got back home.

"Drinking alone?" a voice said to his side.

Evan nearly knocked over his glass.

He hadn't expected to see the witch's friend here, but he supposed there weren't many hunting grounds for succubi in town. At least he couldn't smell the witch with her.

"Ah, the half succubus. If you're looking for a meal, you'll have to look elsewhere."

She gawked at him.

"I eat mortal food you centaur's ass!"

Evan chuckled. "Well, if you're looking for company, you better look somewhere else for that too. I'm about to leave. Just do yourself a favor and stay away from the pigs that were sitting next to me. Ryan and Carter, I think their names were."

Her eyes went wide.

"Gods, are you serious?"

Evan raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, a mixed mortal and an incubus. Shouldn't be a problem for you though, right? Even being a half succubus would make you impervious to their temptation."

"Well, yeah but I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about Vicki!"

Evan did spill his drink at that. He didn't smell her, he still didn't. How could she have entered the bar without him noticing? He set some money on the counter, got up from his chair, and began scanning the crowd.

"Are you sure she's inside?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, she had to go to the bathroom when we came in."

"And you let her go alone?"

She crossed her arms.

"She's wearing a necklace that makes her smell like a succubus. What do you expect me to do? Sit on her like a dragon's egg? Just help me find her, quick!"

He started breathing again.

"Don't worry," he said to her, settling back into the chair. "An incubus wouldn't waste their energy trying to seduce a succubus, she's probably just in the bathroom."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Carter is her ex-boyfriend; he knows she's a witch."

Evan bit back a lecture about sticking together when out at night. Now wasn't the time for it. His blood was on high alert, but even that wasn't going to help him. He relied heavily on his sense of smell, and the half-succubus being so close to him was throwing him off.

They went to check the bathroom first. She went in as Evan stood outside. He leaned against the wall, trying not to tap his foot as he waited. The men's restroom opened and out came the mixed mortal that had been with the incubus earlier.

Evan grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

"Where is your friend?" he asked, careful not to show his fangs. He didn't need the whole underdweller population in town to know a vampire was in Elara. And yet part of him wanted to bare his fangs anyway until he knew where the witch was.

But that was probably magic, so he ignored it.

"Hey man, what's your problem? Get off of me."

Evan pushed him harder into the wall.

"Answer my question first," he said.

The mixed mortal put up his hands. "I don't know, he was talking to some chick, they've probably already left."

Evan dropped him and ran out of the bar. It didn't take long for him to find the incubus practically dragging the witch down the street. He sped forward, quickly overtaking them.

The incubus stumbled backward once Evan appeared in front of him. Evan could see the witch under the crook of the incubus' arm now, her stare vacant. She must've put up quite the fight to press the incubus into going so low as to put her into delirium. Good for her. With most of the incubus' energy spent, this would make it much easier for Evan.

"Evening," Evan said. "Vicki, your friend is looking for you."

Her eyes lulled, and she had no response to offer him but a small laugh.

Gods, she was completely out of it.

The incubus narrowed its eyes at him, measuring him up and down. Evan could tell he didn't like the conclusion his mind came to.

"Come on, let's take you home," Evan said, reaching for her.

The incubus pulled her back, a move that made it obvious that he was desperate for his meal. It wasn't Evan's fault he had made the critical error of targeting the witch, and Evan had no sympathy to offer once the incubus got defensive of her.

Evan was trying not to get into a fight, because if he did, there was no guarantee he'd be able to stop himself from tearing the incubus apart. And once the witch sobered up, he wasn't sure how she'd feel about it. The incubus had resorted to using powerful temptation lures on her, but they wouldn't have worked if she were completely over the underdweller scum. A part, a very tiny part by the looks of it, must have still held some desire for him.

Yeah, Evan would tear the incubus apart if they began to fight.

"Look incubus, hand over the witch, and continue your hunt elsewhere. Doing anything otherwise would be hazardous to your health."

He scoffed. "Who are you? Her boyfriend?"

Evan seethed and struggled to keep his fangs retracted.

"That's none of your concern," Evan said, taking a step forward.

The incubus took a step back. Good. Looks like he would be able to avoid a fight tonight.

"Underdweller law protects my right to feed as long as it doesn't kill the mortal. If you aren't her boyfriend, you'd better get moving," the incubus said.

Was he really resorting to using half-baked laws against him? That nearly made Evan laugh. As if vampires were constrained by the same laws that governed lesser underdwellers. He was half tempted to bare his fangs and let the incubus know whose family it was that put those laws in place to protect his meaningless ass.

Evan moved forward again, and this time took the witch by her hand. It was limp in his fingers. Gods, he needed to get her home to sleep this off.

"You'd better call a marshal, incubus. She's coming with me. Now."

He still didn't want to let the witch go, and Evan was getting dangerously close to tearing the arm off that was snaked around her waist. So, instead, Evan began with the fingers that were digging into the fabric of the witch's dress. Evan crushed them in his fist, nearly breaking them, but not quite, in a small demonstration of power.

Stupid underdwellers like this guy only spoke the language of pain, and Evan was fluent in it.

Finally, the incubus relented and scurried off, but not before wasting too much of the fleeting night hours. Evan took the witch in his arms, propping her up on his shoulder when he realized she couldn't even hold up her own weight.

"Oh gods, I knew that creep would do something like this!" the half-succubus said as the bar's doors closed behind her.

"Yeah, she's worse off than I thought," he said.

She brushed back some of the witch's hair.

"I didn't think he'd stoop this low. Vicki, sweetie, you okay?"

The witch let out a breathy sigh.

"It's going to be a long walk back to the store," she groaned.

Evan had the stamina to get the witch back, but the walk would take time that he wasn't sure he could spare. The sun was already beginning to eat at the fringes of the horizon. There just wasn't any helping it.

"My place is nearby; she can sleep it off there."

He expected at least the slightest push-back from her friend, but the half-succubus only gave him a sly smile and said: "That sounds like the perfect way to wrap up this terrible night."

Evan had made it to his apartment with the half-succubus and the witch in tow. He fumbled with his keys and wondered what would happen when they got inside. The half-succubus didn't know he was a vampire, and if she found out, Evan didn't know what he'd have to do.

He finally opened the door, and let her go through first. He was the only person to ever be in his apartment, and now he had two visitors. One willing and the other, well, maybe she wouldn't remember tonight anyway.

"I don't have any guest rooms," Evan said, trying not so subtly to convince the half-succubus to leave.

"We'll just have to put her in your bed then," she said.

Right. The witch needed a place to sleep too. He started for the concrete stairs that led into his loft. The witch was dragging her feet, and would likely scratch them to hell if he took her up the stairs that way. He stopped and picked her up, marveling at how light she felt and the warmth on her thighs.

The half-succubus followed closely behind him, but he noticed that she seemed more focused on looking at all of his things rather than him ogling her friend. They stepped into his loft, and Evan walked over to his bed and laid the witch on top of it.

"We should make her comfortable before the haunting starts," she said from behind him. "Do you have pajamas for her to borrow? Oh! Are they in here?"

Evan turned around just to see the half-succubus begin opening his dresser drawers.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh! No need to yel-hello what's this?"

She was in his second drawer, where he had kept the stuffed animals he bought. Evan gently pulled her away from his dresser, closed the drawer, and picked out a pair of sweats and a cotton t-shirt. She took them in her hands.

"Alright, you go downstairs."

He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Do you really think I'm going to leave you alone to go through my things again?"

She put a hand on her hip.

"What's the big deal? Are you hiding some old porno mags? Embarrassing sex toys?"

Evan was taken aback by her brashness.

"I am going to change her out of those clothes. I know you'd like to watch, but doing that when she's high in a fantasy is just gross. Go downstairs, already."

He sighed. "Yeah, okay."

Evan never thought he'd get ordered around by a half-succubus in his own home. Then again, he never thought he'd have a witch in his bed. And here he was, having both happen at the same time.

Stupid.

He was so stupid to get involved. It was nearly daybreak and the half-succubus was still there. How would he get her to leave?

Evan gasped as a wave hit him square in the face. The sweet blood scent from the witch overloaded his senses, coming at him from all sides until it was thick in the air of his apartment and he could breathe nothing else. He rushed up the steps back to his loft, where the half-succubus was placing the witch's necklace on his nightstand.

"You have good timing." She yawned and stood up. "I'm pretty tired, so can I leave her with you?"

He nodded.

"Good," she passed by him, and Evan followed to let her out. "Keep a close eye on her, once the fantasy ends, the terrors will come and she might hurt herself. Oh, and Evan?"

"Yes?"

"Just be nice to her." She winked at him, then left, leaving him to lock her and the sunlight out of his apartment.

And then it was him, her, and her delicious-smelling blood.