29. Of Course It Is

A lexander stared into the startling golden eyes, through the lenses of the man’s pitch-black sunglasses. As pretty as they were…he’d much rather see the beautiful, cloudy amber ones staring back at him.

“Why do you have your pretty golden eyes out, Theo? And why didn’t you change them back when you felt yourself slipping?” he asked gently, with a small smile. “I don’t want to sound harsh, but this is not a place where shifting would have ended well.”

While panic no longer radiated off the young werewolf, and his heartbeat was steady and even now, Alexander knew that could change in an instant.

“I-I…” Theo winced. “Saying it’s a long story wouldn’t suffice, would it?”

Alexander chuckled. “No.”

The werewolf sighed. “Figured not.”

Meow!

He blinked, his brow raising as Theo set Octavius’ cat on the table. His smile widened and he reached out, wanting to gently pet her, but Sprinkle scurried back from his hand, hissing. Yep, she was definitely Octavius’ cat…

“Sprinkle!” Theo huffed.

“It’s fine. Now, tell me your long story.”

“Well…it’s more…Octavius’ long story.”

“Of course it is.”

Trouble followed the vampire like no other.

“You see…” Theo started sheepishly, and as he continued, Alexander honestly…couldn’t say what he had expected…but it hadn’t been multiple homicides, murder attempts…and police interrogations.

“It sounds like…quite a mess. I wish…you would have told me sooner.”

“I couldn’t really…because it involved…”

“Octavius?”

“He doesn’t like people in his business,” Theo said hesitantly.

Alexander chuckled as he heard the lie, not that he needed to hear it to know it was one. “No, he doesn’t like me in his business…for good reason. I won’t deny that his dislike of me is warranted. We have a history, and that will always stand between us.”

The male grimaced. “I know…”

His eyes widened at that. “You…know?”

Theo nodded. “Cormac told me a few months back…when I talked about you helping me on Halloween night. He’d been curious as to why I was with you.”

Alexander sighed. It wasn’t as if he hid it…or outright lied…but he hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about the information. Mainly as he…was a coward. Yeah, that pretty much explained his reasons for not mentioning that he was partly to blame for what happened to Theo, and his poor fiancée, Cynthia…

Well…only he knew how much he really was to blame for Dayan… As the memories instantly tried to rise up, Alexander shoved them back down into the pits, where they belonged, as his mask wavered.

“I’m surprised you still talk to me then… Turney does…but…I’m afraid the friendship is unlikely to fully recover.”

But then…he’d lied to him, and had kept lying, because behind the mask he wore, lay a spineless man at heart.

“Alexander…maybe it’s time for you to reach out across the aisle, instead of waiting for them to. It’s a lot, our world, even for those born into it. Turney is a kind and…interesting person, and a very forgiving one. But you did lie to him, and I think it’s about more than just what you were once he found out about paranormals. Unless…the random ‘dudes,’ and California surfer lingo that slips in sometimes when you talk to him are an alternate persona you haven’t told me about.”

He winced. “Ah…that.”

“Yes…the switch up would likely have him questioning some things. As for Octavius…I wouldn’t exactly call him unforgiving, but I feel you will be lucky if he doesn’t end up glitter bombing you at some point.”

Alexander snorted. “That’s a warning if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Mmhmm.” Theo chuckled.

“What about you, Theo…? Do you forgive me?”

The werewolf frowned. “Alexander…I don’t blame you for what happened to me and Cynthia. Just as I don’t blame Octavius. The two monsters I blame are both dead.”

But maybe…you should , the words so easily whispered through his mind.

Shaking the thoughts away, he faked a laugh, forcing a bright smile onto his face, sealing up the cracks that had begun to form in his mask. “Enough about my mess, why don’t I help you find these security cameras, so you can get out of here, hmm?” He quickly added, “And me coming here…it can be our little secret.”

Theo bit his bottom lip, hesitating for a moment, before slowly nodding.

Once they were back in the public area of the hotel, with a heavy feeling of resignation, Turney asked, “What panel, Octavius?”

The vampire, who did not pause in his step at all, glanced over and, without even a hint of remorse, said, “The one on the Wonders and Fallacies of Ducktective Drake Feathering, of course. I need to reign supreme and declare victory, once again!”

“What you need to do is stop harassing Mathew!” he snapped as they left the hotel.

“NEVER!” Octavius hissed thickly. “This is the only way he will learn to keep his hater troll ass off of panels he doesn’t belong on!”

“Will he even be on the panel, after getting kicked out of the one this morning?”

“I’m sure he will!”

Turney sighed, shaking his head, as he let his boyfriend drag him towards the convention center.

Mathew and, interestingly enough, the only woman panelist from the first panel, Jane, were already there when they came in. Mathew’s eyes narrowed angrily at them as they entered, but he said nothing. Jane smiled on seeing them… He figured it meant she was planning to enjoy whatever fight was about to ensue.

As Turney took his seat in the front row yet again, at another panel that he’d possibly get thrown out of…he couldn’t help but wonder how a show about a talking detective duck could create this much drama.

Surprisingly, as Turney glanced around, he found that he recognized a few people from the other panels.

Stacy was there…but then, she had been at all of the others too. He smiled hesitantly as she waved, before quickly looking away. He wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was still friendly as hell towards them, after the crazy antics she had witnessed from his boyfriend.

The crowd, who had been quietly talking, went silent as a man standing off to the left cleared his throat into the microphone. “Welcome to the Wonders and Fallacies of Ducktective Drake Feathering. My name is Anthony Hotch, and I’m here to make sure the panel goes off without a hitch, and stays on time.”

The man then proceeded to do the same thing that had happened in all of the panels so far…which was have the panelists introduce themselves.

“Now then, let’s get this thing started! This panel will be more of a back and forth, not a debate, though they may try to disprove what each other says. Audience members are welcome to raise their hands and join in, or add things as they go along. But please, don’t shout out what you want to say. Raise your hand, and I will come to you with my mic. Understood?”

The crowd collectively said, “Yes.”

“Right, let’s start this on a positive note! Jane, go ahead. Then feel free to go back and forth.”

Jane smiled. “Going with the most obvious wonder first, Drake’s ability to talk.”

“Not super impressive, considering he isn’t the only animal that can,” Mathew said snidely. “But sticking along the lines of mediocracy, his clothing choices are dated and questionable, to say the least.”

He sighed when Octavius’ hand shot up.

As Anthony approached with the mic, Turney could feel all of the eyes in the room zeroing in on them, just waiting with bated breath for the chaos to begin…again…

Turney felt…a headache coming on…

Octavius practically skipped out of the convention center. “Well, wasn’t that fun?!”

Mathew hadn’t gotten kicked out again, but the human had been angry by the time the panel ended, and he was clearly the loser… So…Octavius would say he had accomplished what he set out to do!

Turney snorted. “Fun, for who?”

Pouting, Octavius stuck his tongue out. “Spoil sport.”

The zombie just rolled his eyes. “How about we get back to the fact that, you know, someone is trying to kill you?”

Octavius huffed. “Fine!” He was about to pull out his phone when he remembered that it was off…and the reason why it was. “Give me your phone.”

Turney sighed again and pulled his phone from his pocket, placing it into his outstretched hand. Smiling, he flipped it open, and after unlocking it with the pattern the man had set, he went to the text messages. Grimacing at seeing Alexander’s name listed right below his, he forced himself to not type something petty to the man, and instead, he created a new group chat, adding Min-ji, Scarlett, and Theo.

TURNEY

We have a potential meeting with the Park Operations and Events Manager later. We didn’t pick up any lies from the park owner. What have you found and where are you? – Octavius

SCARLETT

Two cameras outside the archery, and two inside, from what I could hear. Not much of a barrier to get in, to be honest, we could easily avoid them. As for where we are, Min-ji and I are currently at the hotel spa.

Octavius rolled his eyes. A whole amusement and water park, and they went to the spa?! How boring.

THEO

Found three cameras around first restaurant. Closed but set reopen in a month. The police released the scene. Second restaurant, too many police to get close. I’m back at hotel. In room. Have headache.

Based on the few missing words in the text, Octavius was going to bet that the man had changed his eyes back to normal. The werewolf’s speech to text program on his phone sometimes missed words.

TURNEY

Turney and I will take a look around the water park. We can decide tonight if we want to check the crime scenes out, or risk meeting with the Project Manager first, as they could be the one behind this. Until then, rest and relax, everyone. – Octavius

Smiling, he handed the phone back to Turney. The zombie quickly read through the texts. “So you didn’t hear any lies either?”

“Nope…it all sounded true to my ears. So, he is either telling the truth, or is an incredibly good liar… Or something magical is going on.”

“Is it possible for a human to conceal their lies so well that it would fool someone of your age?”

“I mean…it’s rare…” Octavius drawled. “But not unheard of.”

“I see. Let’s head to the water park, I guess.” Turney started to put his phone away, but paused when it buzzed. Flipping it back open, the zombie’s expression went from curious to eye twitchingly baffled… Or irritated? One of those.

“What is it?”

Snapping his phone shut and pocketing it, Turney eyed him with a frown. “Cormac got back to me with the list of spyware and trackers that are currently installed on your phone, with instructions to keep it turned off until he can get his hands on it.”

Octavius stared sheepishly as he slowly said, “I…see.”

“You are so banned from emails, for the foreseeable future.” Turney shook his head and started walking past him.

Eyeing the man’s back, he pouted. “I didn’t mean to!”

“BANNED!” Turney snapped, with his back still to him as he continued to walk away.

He stomped his foot and let out a whine, before rushing after the zombie.