28. Aww

“ I guess it’s down here?” Octavius mused, eyeing the long hallway with a door at the end. There were duckies on the carpet, which made him happy.

“I’m surprised…they let us back here,” Turney said slowly, sounding suspicious. “Like…shouldn’t people need an appointment to see the owner? Rather than just letting random people wander around back here?”

“Maybe he likes visitors?”

“You don’t believe that.”

He didn’t, but Octavius didn’t feel like admitting it. To be honest, once Theo had mentioned the lack of cameras…he’d started actively listening for them, and… It was odd. Even in the hallway that led to the office of the owner of the whole entire park, there was not a single camera.

The only cameras he’d found so far in the hotel were the ones in the lobby, and a few here and there on the same level. And while there had been two near the door they’d just entered through, they had been pointed away. One down the hallway to the right, and one down the one to the left, but neither were actually focused on the door. It was strange that back rooms, which one would think would be monitored, were not.

And while he hadn’t thought much of it before, now that he had, it was slightly odd to him that the owner had an office at all, let alone here in the hotel… This was not a small, homey theme park. This was a large operation that spanned multiple miles.

“Maybe the owner instructed them to let me by? He did tell me to stop by if I needed anything.”

“Mmm,” Turney grunted.

Reaching the office door, Octavius knocked.

“Come in!” a now familiar voice chimed.

Plastering his best smile on his face, Octavius opened the door. The faster he got in, the faster he could get out, and…get to a specific planned activity that he couldn’t possibly miss.

“Hello, Aurelius,” he chimed, hoping beyond hope that the man would learn how to say his own name properly.

“Mr. Evander, Mr. Pimms, come in, come in.” The human smiled, and once they were inside and the door was closed, he asked, “What can I do for you two?”

“Well—”

Turney cut him off. “We were wondering how you decided on your events?” He blinked as the zombie gripped both of his shoulders. “You see, Octavius here was thinking about turning a spot of his land into a convention center back in Connecticut. While construction is simple enough, he had questions about after. How to plan, what to pick, would we need to search people out, or…”

Aurelius’ brows rose. “A convention center? Really?”

Not at all… Octavius would rather burn it all down than let someone tear down trees on even just a single square foot of his land, let alone have people no doubt littering over his property. Like, multiple heavily monitored haunted Halloween walks maybe…but a convention center… Over his dead, charred body!

But he said none of that to the human, and just nodded with a bright smile, forcing his eyes to go blank. He did find it admirable how easily his precious zombie bun could make things up. Really commendable in their field. His Turney was so smart!

Turney cleared his throat. “Yes, so like, the Mallard Mysteries convention? Octavius loves the show, by the way. But how was that decided? It is a rather new show, even if it is popular.”

Aurelius leaned back in his chair with a frown. “I’m afraid I’m not the right person to ask. I’m just the last one in a long line of people that approves it all.” The man suddenly straightened with a smile. “I know! The person you two need to see is my Park Operations and Event Manager, Alissa Grant…” He trailed off, tsking. “Unfortunately, she’ll be out until late this evening, I believe…”

Octavius’ head tilted. So far, he hadn’t…caught any lies. Could mean it was safe to assume the human wasn’t involved.

“Maybe tomorrow then?” Octavius suggested.

“Oh, I know. How about you two go have fun, and when she’s in, I’ll have someone leave a note on your door?”

“A note?” Turney said slowly.

“I’m afraid she is a bit touchy about who I give her contact information to,” Aurelius chuckled. “And I’d prefer to remain in one piece, if you know what I mean.”

As his eyes were drawn to the clock on the wall, he hurriedly said, “Ah, yes, well, a note will be fine! We’ll get out of your hair, as we have somewhere to be!”

“We do?” He could feel Turney eyeing him, but he ignored the zombie.

“Yes, a panel!” Octavius chimed, with zero remorse.

Holding Min-ji’s hand, Scarlett ignored her surroundings as she tried to mentally hype herself up enough just to get three little words out… She…had to say them…

Did she though?

Ugh…why were feelings so stupid?!

“There is…a surprising lack of cameras around the outside of this archery range,” Min-ji mused.

There was a significant lack of cameras in the park overall, but…that didn’t matter right now. Well, it did, as someone was trying to kill her best friend, but why worry when whoever it was, obviously lacked the intelligence and/or knowledge to succeed?

“So, there are only two cameras nearby, right?”

She nodded, not fully paying attention.

It was only three little words: I love you . It shouldn’t be hard to say. Assholes ran around spouting it everywhere, to anyone, yet she, someone who wasn’t…

Okay, Scarlett couldn’t exactly say she wasn’t an asshole, but there was, in her opinion, varying levels of that particular personality trait. She was on the lower level.

Either way, she had said the words before. She said them easily to Octavius, so saying them to Min-ji shouldn’t be a big deal.

I can do this , she thought, with very little confidence. Come on, Scarlett. The woman literally sacrificed herself so you could live, like, those three words were the least you could give her!

Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth?—

“Scarlett…”

Her mouth snapped shut and she slowly looked over to the woman, who she’d been about to confess her love to without even glancing her way… Real brave there, Scarlett , she thought snidely.

“Yes?”

“The guys will be checking out the other scenes, do you want to go back to the hotel and relax at the spa?”

Ohh…spa… No, she couldn’t get distracted, but…she could say yes to a massage. “I like that idea.”

Min-ji smiled. “Thought you might.”

They started walking back the way they came, towards the transportation pick up.

Okay…she could do this… Once again, she opened her mouth to shove the words out, and…

“I started looking into couples therapists.”

Scarlett sagged. “Already?”

“I figured it may take us a while to narrow it down, and then…” Min-ji wrinkled her nose. “Sort through them.”

“There are that many paranormal couples therapists?”

“More than one would think.”

Scarlett frowned, and then said, “Probably less than one would think. Longer lives means more bizarre and likely more complex issues, I’d imagine.”

Min-ji nodded. “I can see that.”

“Are you close to narrowing it down?”

“I’ve started to make a list. I figured we could look them up together.”

“Sounds…like a plan.”

Scarlett looked forward, taking a deep breath. In three… She’d say it in three.

One…

Two…

Three—

“Scarlett—”

She moved without much thought, covering Min-ji’s mouth with both hands, as she blurted out, to her instant horror, in an almost accusatory tone, “I love you!”

The words came out so harsh, they’d actually hurt her throat.

As Min-ji’s eyes slowly widened, Scarlett felt her face drastically shift in temperature, letting her know that she probably looked like a dusty tomato. Her light foundation was no doubt barely hiding the full face blush.

Scarlett stared wide-eyed for a split second, before spinning around, wincing as she let out a string of curses in the various languages she’d learned over her years.

She groaned—how embarrassing.

Smiling so wide her cheeks were starting to hurt, Min-ji struggled not to laugh—ah…so adorable. The curses the woman had let out… She had only caught some of it. The word fuck had been used, along with monkey’s ass, but…a few too many of the languages were ones she wasn’t familiar with, which meant she missed a lot of no doubt hilarious nonsense.

“That…was quite a turn of phrase.”

“Shut up!” Scarlett growled. The woman hunched, yanking on her hair a bit.

Min-ji chuckled as she moved closer, wrapping her arms around her.

“Oh, my poor, poor girlfriend. I know those words were so hard to say.”

“SHHH!”

Giggling, she kissed the back of Scarlett’s neck. It was hot to the touch, and as red as the woman’s face had been. “I love you, Scarlett.”

“UGHHHHH, just kill me!”

Min-ji burst into laughter, resting her head on the woman’s shoulder as she held her tighter. “Never.”

Theo clenched the side of the table, trying to ignore everyone moving around him, and took a deep breath in and out. The problem was…he couldn’t ignore them. His sight wouldn’t let him.

His hands were shaking, his breathing had sped up, and his chest was tightening as panic began to spread. Theo reached down and started to pet Sprinkle, who was in his lap. “Calm… I have to…remain calm.”

He was out in the open, yet it felt like the world around him was closing in… Why… why was he still like this ?! It had been months!

Swallowing hard as his mouth dried up, he heard the beat of his heart in his ears, and he could feel his wolf pacing, getting agitated. Sweat formed on his brow, and the longer he stared out at the crowd, the worse it became.

“ Voice message from Alexander.”

He flinched at the slightly robotic voice, before rushing to pull his phone out, like it was his last lifeline. Without hesitation, he called the man.

“Ah, hello, Theo,” Alexander laughed on picking up, sounding happy…but then, the reaper always seemed to be to him.

“Alexander…” he rasped, his voice breathless and thready.

There was a brief pause before the man slowly asked, “Theo…are you okay?”

“I’m…” He gasped, but when he tried to speak, no sound came out.

“Theo, where are you?”

“I—” He choked, taking a struggled breath in before trying again. “I’m…”

“I need you to take a few deep breaths for me, Theo. Breathe in.”

He drew in.

“Breathe out.”

He let the air whoosh out.

“Breathe in.”

Theo drew in again.

“Out.”

This time he let it out a bit slower, even though his pulse and breathing remained fast.

“Good, now tell me where you are.”

Theo swallowed, but managed to get out, “Duckvilla Amusement Park.”

“Where in the park are you?” Alexander asked, with a calming voice.

His heart started to race further when he glanced around. “I…I’m at a…table… Next…to a restaurant called…” Theo swallowed. “Duck Soup.”

“I need you to keep breathing for me.”

Theo was doing all he could to breathe, but his body didn’t seem to want to cooperate. He should change his sight back… Theo knew he should… He was close… The change was so close, his skin was itching as hair threatened to sprout from it.

He clenched his phone, and as his head swayed, his wolf’s pacing worsened.

Weak… He was so weak. All he had to do was look for some damn cameras, and he couldn’t even do that. Had he really become so pathetic that he couldn’t even do this much?!

When hands landed on his shoulders, Theo stiffened. The animalistic growl that had started to slip from his lips was cut off as he tilted his head up and met Alexander’s gaze. Staring into the man’s deep-brown eyes sent a wave of calm through his body.

“You are going to be fine, Theo,” Alexander said smoothly.

Latching onto the man’s right hand, he took a deep breath.

“That’s it, keep breathing.”