Drained: The Lucid Read Online Free Page A

face broke into a broad grin. “Don’t tell me your baby project is done?”
    “Not quite.” Josh frowned. “It’s still in the early stages of alpha testing.”
    “Well, that’s still a milestone,” Riley encouraged. Her lips soon pursed. “You’re using me to test for bugs, aren’t you?”
    Josh’s dopey grin slipped easily into place. He was caught like a child with his hand in the cookie jar. As a nervous habit, he jammed both of his hands into the front pockets of his oversized slacks, which caused him to walk funny. Josh was living proof that, with age, some people were just elongated reflections of a former child self.
    Riley laughed. “I’ll call you sometime, okay?”
    Upon hearing what he wanted to hear, Josh stopped walking to return back to his department. “Okay!” he agreed. “Catch you later.” He scampered away as quickly as he had appeared.  
     
     
    Riley stopped in front of her supervisor’s door. The office door was closed, but it didn’t concern her. She rapped her knuckles against the placard that read “Hyrum Pratcher - C.S. Manager.” When no one answered, she frowned and double-checked the calendar on her phone. She wasn’t mistaken; there was a meeting scheduled. From behind, Hyrum’s secretary cleared her throat and nodded her head towards the meeting rooms that lined the far wall. Riley mouthed a thanks as she edged closer to the glass panels.
    The large room was filled with people, and from the look of things, they didn’t seem happy. In fact, some looked about ready to reenact the Salem witch trials. All of the customer satisfaction managers were in the room, as well as the head of the security division, the Branch Director, Niall Price, and strangely, a few custodes . Riley recognized one custos in particular as a more respected member of their group’s local chapter.
    The Custodes , as innocuous as their name might have sounded, were not all kind nor gentle beings. Instead, they represented a network of humans entrusted with the task of protecting their own race. It was a league of ordinary humans who were divided amongst themselves, two polar approaches united under one cause: the placid excubitors and the turbulent force that were the venators . The latter faction actively desired pitting their numbers against the supernatural strength of Riley’s kind to once and for all settle their dated conflict. As a compromise, chapters of the Custodes were disbursed across the planet to keep an eye on those they deemed a threat to humanity. It was even rumored that a few members from the venator’s sect had resorted to killing cubare who were off the grid. But the speculation was hard to confirm since the ‘victims’ were independents with no ties to an organization or other members in the community.
    Out of the entire room, it was the head custos who was visibly the most frustrated. His hands flew around and Riley could have sworn she witnessed a vein bulge on the side of his neck. It was like watching a soap opera. She couldn’t be bothered to conceal her staring. There was no point; she wasn’t the only one to find interest in the spectacle. If they had wanted privacy, they should have considered using a conference room with walls not made of glass.
    At some point during Riley’s impolite act, Hyrum’s assistant brought her a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the contents of the little paper cup were better than the coffee she had had earlier at the café.
    Glass doors opened, releasing the stuffy air of the room along with the individuals within it. The Custodes were the first to leave.
    They had taken a few steps before coming to an abrupt halt. The lead member turned to face Niall. “Be extremely careful. If you stir the pot too much, some venators won’t turn a blind eye. We’ve stayed away from your company because of your approach to this life, but things will change if they have to.”
    “And like I said a moment ago,” Niall steadied his voice. He