Chapter 29 ~Vivaldi-

SO, I’M STANDING THERE, swaying like a palm tree in a hurricane, and I can't help but wonder, “What in the world is going on these days?” I mean, I thought I had mind-controlled this guy to mind his own business, but apparently not. Is it because I've been chugging animal blood instead of the human stuff? My mind-control mojo seems to be going down the drain. First, it was Chloe—although maybe Casper really did break the mind compulsion on her—and now it's this kid. So, now any random teenager can resist my compulsion? It's getting ridiculous!

Suddenly, one of the customers pipes up, “Hey, what gives you the balls to bother our man?”

The boy let go of my collar, and the angry customer hops down from his stool, standing between us like some kind of bouncer. The kid who'd grabbed me is now face to face with a burly dude, whose unbuttoned grey shirt reveals a chest covered in a tangled mix of grey and white hair. He's all up in the kid's face, his nostrils flaring like a bull ready to c