35. Balance

T urney could honestly say he was a bit baffled by his current predicament. Really, it was more that they’d made it this far without someone pointing and screaming ‘not human’. Because just five hours ago, he’d had what looked to be at least third, and in some places even forth, degree burns…yet he now sat in borrowed blue scrubs, in a fucking interrogation room, next to Octavius. With his hands, arms, and legs all wrapped up in bandages, one would rightfully think that he should be screaming in pain, but he wasn’t, as the skin underneath had fully healed.

To be honest, he hadn’t felt very human once he’d finished healing. But after downing the entire baggie full of zombie nummies that he kept in his pocket—that had luckily survived the fire—he had stopped eyeing all of the humans who came near him in the hospital like they were his next meal.

Speaking of the place they were no longer at. Who the hell would think two severely burned patients would be able to LEAVE the hospital after mere hours?! It was illogical. Yet, here he was, and no human seemed to want to question either of them. Well, not about that at least. Not that anyone was in the room with them right now…

He eyed Octavius, who looked…both bored and unbelievably angry, in his green scrubs. Though the anger was just in his eyes, as the blank expression on his face showed none of it. Octavius’ hands were fully bandaged. Unlike Turney’s that were just for show, he knew for a fact that the vampire’s hands were still charred… Whether the injuries were still there or not, it was enough to prevent both of them from being fingerprinted.

Turney barely held back his flinch as a vision of the man’s eyes filled with tears, pain, and fear, flashed in his head. The agony in that moment as he stared into Octavius’ eyes, while the man held onto his hands… It…was…

He shuddered. The pain had been…all consuming… It was the first time since Turney’s change that he’d felt true heat. The burning, searing, consuming fire had been too much for him to even scream. All he could do was whimper. It was…the worst pain he had ever felt in his life…

And despite the agony Octavius had to have also felt…the vampire hadn’t cried out. The man had just held on, letting himself be burned, using his own flesh to suffocate the flames as he assured Turney he was there with him…

Mixed in with the other emotions…Turney had seen…remorse in the vampire’s eyes, and regret… Both were probably…for leading them into the building in the first place. That regret and remorse remained still. He’d seen flashes of it underneath the spark of simmering rage as they’d navigated the hospital staff… Well, as Octavius had controlled the staff like puppets…

Turney’s heart kept racing anytime he thought too hard about what had happened. And it had taken him a while to calm down enough to stop shaking…even though once the fire was out…it was…like it had never happened…

“How are…your hands?” Turney asked softly, knowing they likely had people listening in.

Octavius glanced over and sent him a strained smile. “It will be fine. I promise.”

Turney bumped his shoulder against his. “Love you.”

The vampire’s smile became less strained. “Love you… And…Turney…I’m sorry… I never wanted you to experience something like that.”

“Well…”

They both jumped as the door slammed open. Detective Robins stomped over and slapped a baggy with the note inside it onto the table. “You really expect us to believe the story you two are trying to feed us?!”

“Just going straight for the bad cop routine this time, huh?” Octavius drawled, his voice oddly neutral.

“Y-you… WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

“What do you mean?” his boyfriend asked, way too innocently. “It’s just a question.”

Was…Octavius…

“Enough!”

“Enough of what?”

Yep…the vampire was irritating him on purpose…

“WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, YOU FUCK?!” the human roared, practically in Octavius’ face, but the vampire didn’t flinch or react.

Turney, on the other hand, was instantly pissed off at the man daring to talk to him that way. “We aren’t lying, asshole! We asked the owner, Aurelius, if we could meet with the Park Operations and Events Manager. Because whoever is trying to kill my boyfriend, they likely lured him here with the convention.”

“Well, the owner said he didn’t talk to you!”

“Yeah? Well, he’s lying!” Turney said snidely. “You’d think as a cop you’d be able to figure that out. Gee, now it’s up to you to figure out why, isn’t it?”

“Y-You! How do we know that you two didn’t write this yourselves!”

Octavius let out an indignant huff. “That is NOT my handwriting. Or Turney’s, for that matter.”

“Prove it!”

“Our hands are literally burnt…and you want us to write something. Really, Detective?”

Robins chuckled. “So you say.”

Well, apparently there was at least one person who questioned their injuries… Smart of him, yet…annoying.

“It’s fine, Turney. I see no reason why we can’t write, as long as the kind detective provides us with a piece of paper and a pencil,” Octavius said sweetly, saying the word kind just as one would say asshole.

Robins pulled a pencil out of his pocket and tossed it down onto the table, along with a pad of paper.

Turney rolled his eyes as he wrote: I’d like to call my lawyer now. His hand slowed on the last word when he had a realization.

He didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to even let things get this far, with them sitting there isolated, just waiting for other people to decide for them. While Octavius had hurried them along in the hospital, the fact was, that was where they should have remained, as much as it meant keeping up the lie. It would have put them in a more comfortable position with the law… It would have given them more time to clear their names… But he hadn’t thought of any of that. Instead, he had anxiously remained quiet as Octavius did everything…

Turney…hah…Turney wanted to finish…law school… He needed to finish law school, he needed to get his license. Even if defending yourself was always a bad idea, he refused to let himself be this anxious and useless, when he could instead be helping them confidently position themselves to fight back against whatever fate had thrown in their path. This would no doubt happen again, but he’d be damned if he would be this helpless next time.

Taking a deep breath, as the decision solidified in his mind, he set the pencil down on the pad.

Octavius slid both closer, writing something without even looking down, before just tossing the small pad of paper into the detective’s face. Robins snarled as it smacked off him and landed on the table.

“Satisfied?” Octavius asked with a smug smirk.

Turney smiled. He wasn’t sure if it was the detective that Octavius was actually mad at, or…if he was just taking out his anger on him… But well, the guy was an asshole, so like, he couldn’t blame him.

Glaring, Detective Robins slowly looked down and instantly frowned.

At the sound of a bang, they jumped, looking back when the door opened once again. Turney stiffened as the scent of the newcomer sent him so sharply on edge that it took him a moment to realize what he was.

Octavius’ eyes narrowed at the male. The man had thick, short, styled black hair, sharp brown eyes, a pronounced brow, and his skin was a deep, dark-bronze olive tone. While his cheekbones were sharp and high, they hollowed a bit as they came down, and his chin was rounded and dimpled.

His gaze narrowed on the thin line that the man’s lips were pressed into, but as his eyes met the glare aimed his way, Octavius sighed internally. Great…a reaper, just what they fucking needed.

“Detective Robins, out, now!” the mystery prick growled.

“Captain…” Robins rasped.

“OUT!”

The detective stumbled to his feet and fled the room, closing the door behind him.

Slowly, the reaper walked over, taking the seat Robins had just abandoned.

While his stern eyes never left Octavius, the male reached under the table as he snapped, “Get out, and do NOT turn it back on.”

What followed was the sound of two switches being flipped, which Octavius realized meant the man had just turned off the video and audio recorder. Not to mention, warning whoever had been watching to stop and go away.

Leaning back in his chair, Octavius sighed out loud this time. “What do you want?”

“Being nice to the…reaper...would probably be a good idea,” Turney whispered.

He snorted.

“I know who you are,” the reaper drawled slowly.

Octavius’ brow rose. “Oh? Really? Well then, what a shame it is that I don’t know or care who you are.”

The man smirked. “You’re trouble, Octavius… But then I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less than that from Alexander’s pet .”

“Oh, my God, you did not just say that,” Turney groaned.

But Octavius barely heard his zombie as the word pet echoed in his mind. “What did you just call me?” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, as he was filled with both disgust and, well, at this point, anger that burned brighter than a thousand suns.

The reaper chuckled. “Oh, I know all about you and him.”

He let out a humorless laugh of disbelief. “Do you now? Tell me, oh mighty reaper, what do you know?”

“That you are a rule breaker, just as he is. You both flaunt your disregard for the balance that the Gods and Devils have fought so hard to keep. You think you are more than you are.”

Octavius blinked, slowly tilting his head.

What in the ever-loving-acid trip was this man on? Alexander …a rule breaker? Being compared to the man in any way was insulting, but now Octavius was more baffled than pissed off. Which was…killing his murderous rage. It was kind of a letdown after he’d wound himself up… Rude, really.

“First of all, ew. Pet?! Really?! Like, he may have the more than questionable hobby of following me around like a creepy stalker, but never have I ever been his pet .” He grimaced. “Second of all, it's quite frankly rude. Just all of it. And third, it’s not disregard, it’s called not giving a flying rat’s ass about the almighty Gods and Devils’ ‘balance’. Something I’m sure Alexander feels quite differently about than I do…but…I won’t defend him, as I don’t like him.”

“Octavius!” Turney huffed.

“Well, I don’t! You should just be satisfied that I moved him out of the ‘loathe for rest of my life’ section, on my ‘people I don’t like’ list! Which, by the way—” He beamed at the reaper. “—is a list you just earned yourself a spot on. So, why don’t you tell me your name and I can write it down, hmm?”

The reaper’s brow pulled together. “You…” The man's eyes narrowed as he leaned towards him, getting right in his personal bubble… A bubble he rarely cared about, but this was a reaper.

“Oh, what’s that? Turns out I’m not what you imagined in your head? How about that, Turney, reapers are capable of learning. Though they still don’t seem to understand the concept of personal space.

“To clarify, I’m saying I want you out of my bubble, and away from me. Maybe since you know him so well, you and Alexander can work on that together, hmm?” He patted the man hard on the shoulder with his bandaged hands, shoving him back as he did.

The reaper growled threateningly, but didn’t attack, as…he couldn’t. Octavius would’ve had to have broken his ‘rules’ for that. And this man currently had no proof of that.

“Why are you here, Octavius Evander?” the man ground out.

“Repeat after me. V. A. C. A. T. I. O. N!” He sang each letter to a made-up tune in his head. “That spells, in case you didn’t realize, vacation. It's not like I’ve said it a thousand times already to your detectives or anything,” he finished snidely.

“I feel like I should be yelling ‘professional’ at you, Octavius…but really, I’m past the point of caring at the moment, since I was literally on fire just a couple of hours ago. So…what do you want, reaper?” Turney sighed. “We haven’t lied since being here, beyond the things we couldn’t possibly reveal to humans.

“We came here for a vacation. Well, no, we've since figured out that Octavius’ phone had been hacked, and we were actually lured here, so someone—I'm guessing the park owner—could kill Octavius. And really, if you’ve been here the entire time, why the hell didn’t you bother to do anything? Isn’t it your job or something?”

The reaper suddenly smiled, his expression turning falsely friendly as he said, “Get out. Your lawyer is no doubt still chomping at the bit, and annoying my people.”

“That’s…all you have to say?” Turney snapped, before scoffing, “So much for balance.”

“Balance must be maintained. Sometimes that means people die in the name of it,” the reaper sneered, saying something that Octavius had already figured out many, many years ago. “Good luck!” The man chuckled as he stood up and left, leaving the door open behind him.

“Wow…” the zombie choked. “What an asshole.”

“That’s…most reapers,” Octavius said as he stood. “Let’s go.”

Turney got up, frowning. “When did you call the lawyer?”

“I didn’t, but I did use your phone to send a text to Scarlett while you were in the bathroom at the hospital.”

“Ah…” The man’s frown deepened. “You know…now that I think about it…it’s a bit odd…that I don’t even have one message from her…”

Octavius grimaced, slightly worried about what that meant.

Turney followed Octavius out of the interrogation room and through the police station, doing his best to ignore the stares as they passed the officers. Detective Robins was outright glaring at them.

He forced a smile as they neared Min-ji’s lawyer, Karis. The brown-haired woman with olive skin nodded as they reached her, before turning away. They followed her out of the Sudsberry Police Station.

After putting a bit of distance between them and the police, Octavius smiled and reached out a hand. “Ahh, Karis, thank you, once again.”

The witch smiled back, but didn’t touch the vampire. “No problem, Octavius. I know you are hurt, so why don’t you save that handshake for some time in the future.”

“Nonsense,” his boyfriend said, even as he retracted his hand.

“How did you get us out?” Turney asked.

She snorted. “Well, when you happen to be publicly fighting in a panel about ducks, it’s a little hard to also then be blamed for murdering some poor woman in a completely different location, at the same time. Surprisingly, they managed to put out the fire before it completely destroyed the body. Time of death is confirmed. Now, I’m going to head back to my hotel. If you need me, you know how to reach me.”

They waved as she left.

“Will you look at that?” Turney laughed in disbelief. “Your obsession put us publicly in the right place at the right time.”

Octavius giggled. “Then you won’t complain if we go to the last one.”

“Octavius, the park owner is trying to kill you!”

“Yes, Turney, I realize that, but it’s one panel! Though,” The vampire frowned, “You know…now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure the man had a strange look in his eyes that first day we arrived here.”

“Do you think you remember meeting him? Before this, that is?”

As it would be questionable to think a stranger was trying to kill Octavius for no reason.

The vampire pursed his lips. “Not that I recall.”

That could mean one of two things… Actually, no, it probably just meant that Octavius had completely forgotten about whatever interaction he’d had with Aurelius before this.

“Why aside… How did he do all this? And…what did you see in that place… You picked me up to run, but how did you know?”

“I don’t know… He seems human, yet…” Octavius shook his head. “As…for the…trap… I’m sorry, Turney. I should have listened.” The vampire cupped his face with one of his bandaged hands. “I never wanted you to ever experience something like that.”

Turney gently rested his hand on top of Octavius’, not wanting to cause him more pain. “I know. And trap aside…you couldn’t have predicted that.”

“I should have gone into ‘super vamp’ mode the moment I stepped inside. If I had, I’d…have realized sooner.”

“Realized what?”

“That it wasn’t just a scent. It was oil—lavender oil. The whole place had been coated; the walls, the floor… It’s highly flammable. The lavender wasn’t just used to cover up the scent of the body, it was used as an accelerant.”

“Well, you still saved my ass from going up like a Roman torch.” He gently turned his face and kissed the man’s bandaged palm. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not…and Aurelius will pay for it,” Octavius growled, his fangs dropping in clear anger.

“Don’t…do anything you’ll regret, Octavius. We’ll deal with him, but…in the right way.”

The man’s expression closed off, and a smile that seemed too fake came across his face. “Of course, Turney! Now…let’s get that bastard!” The vampire spun away, pointing. “Off we go!”

He felt he should call him out… Turney had a feeling…that Octavius had just lied to him, yet…the words didn’t come. Instead, he just slowly said, “Go…where? We don’t have a car…”

Octavius deflated, his arm flopping back to his side.