Chapter 18 Theo
Theo
Theo looked at the siren lawyer. He was a handsome guy—dark hair, blue eyes, narrow waist—and he was looking Theo over with just as much interest as Theo was examining him with.
“Michael, was it?”
“Only Peter and my mother call me that,” the lawyer said. “Call me Mike, like everyone else does. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Peter this non-grumpy. Ever.”
“Huh?”
Mike waved Theo over to a table in the corner of his office. Files were stacked on it, but Mike piled them all on a chair so the light wood was visible again.
“Well, Peter gets grumpy, and when he gets grumpy, he gets even more intimidating than normal.” The lawyer shrugged. “My fiancé calls him Peter the Terrible, and Peter likes that. How’d you two meet?”
Theo put his bag on the table. “I, uhm… Long story.”
Whatever Peter had said, Theo wasn’t going to go around and tell people they’d met at a brothel where Theo worked.
Or had worked? Everything’s happening so fast. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.
I’d go back to camming, but that would make it even easier for Bernard to find me.
Perhaps I… Maybe I can get work stacking shelves or something.
Mike crossed his arms. “Sorry. I don’t mean to pry, but I’m just so surprised. And curious. It’s not really like Peter to…umm…get close to people, I guess. I’ve never seen him do anything even remotely romantic for anyone. You’re why he’s been working from home though, right?”
Theo shrugged. “I didn’t ask him to or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Mike snorted. “Peter does what Peter wants. And he makes everyone else do what he wants too. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do anything for Peter. He saved my fiancé from drowning, you know. Saved me too, but honestly, I feel like I owe him so much more for keeping Corvin safe.”
Theo heard the words, but he couldn’t immediately reconcile the Peter he knew with the person who’d save people from a watery death. It was even stranger learning that about Peter considering how suspicious Theo had been just a little over a week ago when he’d first laid eyes on the vampire.
I thought he was just like Bernard, in it for blood and violence and power. Maybe not all vampires are like that though.
Theo cleared his throat. “He never said a word.”
Mike clicked a pen on and off. “Yeah… I think he probably enjoyed that whole…adventure more than Corvin and I did. Not to mention telling me he told me so when it came to my own ex.” The siren grinned at Theo. “I mean, you may have a vampire ex, but I can raise you a necromancer douchebag.”
“That sounds… I’m not even sure. I’m still wrapping my brain around male sirens. No offense.”
“It’s fine.” Mike let the pen roll across the table. “Ridiculous myths really are just that. You need a Wi-Fi password or something?” Mike pointed at Theo’s bag.
Theo wasn’t sure whether he would be able to get any work done on his paper, but he might as well try…or find some mindless online game that made sense when everything else didn’t.
“Desperately,” he said.
Theo, rather than blissing out over some brainless browser adventure, went down a rabbit hole about creepypastas, which finally steered him toward reading up on black-eyed children, which was just disturbing.
They were almost as disturbing as the bathroom break during which Mike had insisted on checking the bathroom first, only to then wait outside for Theo to finish.
A little while after that, Mike’s whistle caught Theo’s attention.
“I said, I’m ordering lunch. What do you want?”
“Oh, sorry.” Theo rubbed his eyes. “It’s lunchtime?”
“Yeah. You’ve been staring at that screen for hours now. But I bet you’re not that pale because of too much screen time, but because you’re dating a vampire who drinks your blood every now and then. You should eat, if for no other reason than because I’m hungry and don’t want to have lunch alone.”
“Sure. Whatever is fi—”
A loud bang followed by shouting echoed through the office.
Mike spun toward his own office’s glass door. “What the fuck?”
Mike stood and made for the door. Before he reached it, a child ran past outside.
Is that…a black-eyed child? Theo shivered.
The kid hurled a paint bomb at the glass wall of Mike’s office. It exploded in a riot of red, rivulets running down and puddling on the hallway carpet.
Mike turned to Theo. “Get up, take my hand.”
Theo got to his feet and reached for Mike’s hand without thinking. It was as if a command similar to Peter’s compulsion had taken hold of him.
Mike opened the door, and two more kids—middle graders, it looked like—ran at them, more paint bombs in their hands and ready to hurl. They had a mad sort of glee on their faces, driving home the creepy factor.
The siren whistled, and the children stopped moving, lowered their arms, then sagged to the ground and went to sleep right there on the floor of the law office.
“Whoa. You did that?” Theo asked.
“Yup.” Mike ran a hand down the front of his suit as if to check he was still looking good while handling a crisis. “You could say crowd control is my thing. Come on, I can hear more of them.”
Theo found himself holding Mike’s hand and just walking along with the siren as he whistled and hummed and sang children to sleep all over the office.
Several splotches of red paint now adorned the walls, making it look less like a law firm and more like an art exhibit turned paintball battleground.
Mike made his way to the break room. There, another lawyer stood frozen over by the coffee maker, coffee in hand and clothes stained red by the bomb a pigtailed teenage delinquent had thrown at her.
“What the hell?” Theo didn’t know how to read the scene. The girl’s eyes were glassy, and she was shaking all over. Mike sang her to sleep with a few soft notes.
The paint-streaked lawyer put her coffee down and turned toward him.
She pushed her hair back behind her shoulder. “Thanks. Damn pre-pubescent shits. Can’t get them to do anything without their hormones being all over the place.”
A paint-free Peter burst into the break room. “Theodore!” He reached for Theo, wrapping him in his arms before looking at the other lawyer. “Oh, Dina. The children got you. We’ll pay for dry cleaning.”
The lawyer’s face reddened, complementing the paint stains on her clothes. “They’re too young to react much to a succubus’s charm, sir. I apologize. I won’t let it happen again.”
Theo perked up and tried to turn, despite Peter’s arms still being around him. “You’re a succubus?”
“She is,” Peter said. “Dina, please collect the small humans, contact their parents, and hand them off to them. We are not a day care.”
Dina picked up her coffee. “Of course. Should I collect their contact information for a damages claim?”
Peter nodded. “Sure, why not. You may handle all of that. Should be a fun project. Good learning opportunity.”
The lawyer, despite her ruined suit, seemed to like that idea. Theo wasn’t sure whether she was excited about the learning opportunity or the damages claim. She took the pigtailed girl by the wrist and left the three of them alone in the break room.
Mike turned to Peter. “You want me to ask them why they were here?”
Peter let go of Theo but kept his hand on Theo’s back. Peter’s presence was comforting, and something Theo hadn’t been aware he’d missed. Wait, that can’t be right. It’s only been a few hours, and it’s not like I can’t exist without him. I’m just being emotional.
Peter shook his head. “I compelled one of the miscreants already. They were recruited online to play a prank, flash mob style. From the description they gave me, it was one very frustrated vampire who sent them here.”
The blood drained out of Theo’s face. “Bernard sent kids after me? Children? How did he even know we were here?”
Peter shrugged. “At this point, I’m expecting him to follow us almost constantly, and I did leave him my card, if you recall.”
Theo did recall. He remembered that day all too well—leaving the library after what had started out as a more or less normal day. And then he was there, looking at me as if he owns me.
Theo wanted to throw up. He felt dizzy. A little over a week ago, his life had been well-ordered, and he’d found a clear trajectory for it and started it along that trajectory. Now?
Theo leaned against Peter’s side. “I’m sorry this is happening, I—”
“Not another word of this, Theodore. May I kiss you?”
Theo glanced at Mike and opened his mouth to say no, but Mike was smiling, all but giving Theo a thumbs-up.
Theo nodded, and Peter wasted no time. He wrapped Theo in another hug, pulling him close as if he wanted to crush him, crumble him to dust. He’s just holding me tightly though. He’s…he’s gentle. I like this.
Theo was almost dizzy by the time Peter broke the kiss, his arm around Theo’s middle and turned back to Mike. “I was about to send the gargoyles home. Will you help Theodore get his bag while I do? I believe we are quite done here for the day.”
“Sure.” Mike winked at Theo. “We should really get together for lunch sometime though. Or dinner. You guys do dinner? With a movie or a game and food on the side for those of us who don’t eat people?” He looked back and forth between Peter and Theo.
“Michael, do not be vulgar,” Peter said. “I drink people. Theodore?”
“What? Oh.” Theo’s head was reeling. He knew this was one of those invitations couples got, something that happened when you settled down with someone and shared friends. It doesn’t feel like me. But both Mike and Peter were looking at him expectantly. “Sure,” Theo said. “Sounds good.”
Peter nodded, satisfied. “Once we have the ex situation sorted, naturally. You know how annoying those can get, Michael.”
Mike nodded. “Do I ever. Not that you need to keep bringing it up, by the way.”
“One must always learn from history, Michael. Theodore, I will see you in a moment.”
Theo nodded, and Mike marched him back to his office, where Theo’s laptop was still showing an article about black-eyed children. Theo closed it and shoved the device into his bag.
Mike picked up his phone from his desk and came over. “Let’s exchange numbers. In case you ever need anything.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
It was awkward adding Mike to his list of contacts. Theo didn’t have a lot of people in there yet, because the semester hadn’t started, and because he hadn’t had the bandwidth to socialize much.
I had so many friends’ numbers on my old phone. Then Bernard broke it. I don’t even remember why he was angry that day.
Not two minutes after Theo had texted Mike, Peter stuck his head around the door.
“Theodore, ready to go?”
Theo put his phone in his bag and nodded. “Sure. Uh, thanks, Mike. Sorry about lunch.”
The siren lawyer smiled at him. “Pleasure to have you, and we’ll definitely catch up. Bye, Peter.”
“My best to Corvin, Michael.”
Peter held the door for Theo. As Theo walked out past him, he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious with Peter’s attention on him. They headed down the hallway side by side, Peter matching Theo’s stride.
Exhaustion hit Theo once the elevator doors closed, and he might have fallen asleep on the drive back to Peter’s place if it hadn’t been for what Peter had said about Bernard watching them.
“You think he’s following us now?” Theo asked, scanning pedestrians as they stopped at a red light.
“Probably. Or he asked someone to do so for him.”
Theo looked over at the vampire, who sat there behind the wheel, cool as a handsome, platinum blond cucumber. “Why aren’t you worried about that?”
Peter glanced over as he sped the car back up.
“Because I’m waiting for him to actually make his move, but I’m beginning to think he might need more encouragement to do that.
He enjoys this psychological warfare a bit too much in my opinion, and he is getting too creative with it.
It’s like he has no hobbies. Hobbies are ever so important. ”
“What does that mean?”
“Hobbies distract us from this, our mortal coil.”
Theo groaned. “Not that. Plus, you’re not really mortal.”
“Fair enough. I’ll tell you while you eat, Theodore. You shouldn’t miss too many meals. That kind of stress cannot be healthy.”
Theo wasn’t having any of that. “You’ll fucking tell me now, or I swear I’m getting out of this car. Think what that would do to my health.”
“I compelled you, and you can’t,” Peter said.
“Oh, fuck you, Peter. Just tell me.”
Peter sighed. “Very well. I wanted to talk to you about whether you could see yourself being bait. Just temporarily, of course—no one should be bait for prolonged periods. I would be there, and you wouldn’t be in danger, however, I understand that witnessing violence is quite unpleasant for some people.
If you don’t feel up to it, I’ll work out something else. ”
Theo balled his fists. “I’ll do it.”
Peter looked over at him. “You didn’t even wait to hear the specifics.”
Theo shook his head. “Don’t care. I want this over. I don’t want you hurt, and I want you to promise me that you’ll run if…if—”
Peter reached over and linked his fingers with Theo’s. Their hands fit perfectly. “I’d never leave you, Theodore. I give you my word.”
“No. I’m not fucking around, Peter. This isn’t some stupid romance, and I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re trying to be chivalrous or something. Don’t give me that evasive shit. You promise me that you will keep yourself safe first. Promise me.”
Peter looked at him for so long that Theo was about to tell him to watch the goddamn road, but Peter didn’t seem to have issues with the multitasking.
“I promise you, Theodore, but after this, you will never ask me to leave you alone in the face of danger ever again. Can you promise me that in turn?”
A week ago, Theo wouldn’t have wasted a thought on a stupid hypothetical like that. He’d have told Peter to go fuck himself. Today, his response was vastly different. “Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Best hope you never die, my precious one,” Peter said. “I’d have to venture to the underworld and bargain with Hel to return you to me.”
For some reason Theo couldn’t name, those words made his heart beat faster.