Chapter 23 Peter
Peter
Peter had work to do. There were papers he needed to prepare, and there were always emails to wade through or forward to Michael. But he couldn’t bring himself to leave Theo in bed alone, his chest rising and falling slowly, sleep having sucked him in.
The fact that Theo had picked Peter to sleep on was a strange, unknown bliss, even if it was possible—likely, even—that Theo was going to drool some sooner or later.
It’s odd. I don’t even mind the drool. Am I…looking forward to it?
Lying there, Peter considered what it would take to make days like these the norm, to encourage Theodore to ride his cock daily, then get him to snuggle up like he was doing now, using Peter in whatever way he saw fit.
Yet, those things would have to wait another day or so. Peter held Theo close as the day waned and the light shifted to bronze, then rose gold. He ran his fingers through Theo’s ruffled black hair, caressed his back.
“Wake up, Theodore,” Peter whispered. “You slept the day away.”
Theo stirred, blinked his eyes open, then stretched like a cat. “What time is it?”
“Almost time to head out.”
“Huh?”
“To the park, to see about Bernard,” he said as Theo rubbed sleep from his eyes.
“Oh. Fuck.” Theo rolled off him and lay on his back. “Guess I better shower then.”
Strictly speaking, there was enough time to do that, yet Peter said, “Save it for after. We should get going.” That way he can smell you, dearest, can smell me on you.
With any luck, that would infuriate the other vampire, getting him to act even more stupidly than he was already acting. Perhaps he would be stupid enough to grant Peter a little bit of satisfaction in the causing-injury-before-death department. I can but hope.
“All right.” Theo looked over at him. “Should I… What do you wear when you go to murder your ex in the park?”
Peter considered that. “I like black because of the stains. I won’t let him near you, but just in case, pick something you won’t miss too much.”
Theo frowned. “You get that that was a rhetorical question, right? I didn’t really expect you to answer it, and definitely not as if you’ve done this before.”
Sex with Theodore had clearly impacted Peter’s ability to read the room. “I’ve never gone to murder—” Peter thought for a second. “—someone born only last century in the park.”
Theo narrowed his eyes. “First time for everything?”
“Indeed.” Peter bent over Theo to kiss him sweetly. “First time for everything.”
“I’ll go clean up real quick and see if I have a black tee somewhere.”
“Take one of mine.”
Peter got out of bed and headed over to his walk-in closet. He grabbed one of his charcoal T-shirts and tossed it to Theo.
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure, dearest.”
Peter went to get dressed himself. He opted for a fine cotton shirt in all black, and dark gray slacks, rolling the sleeves of the shirt up to just below his elbows. He also decided to wear a belt, because those could be handy if one needed a ligature on short notice.
Theo walked out of the bathroom not long after, and seeing him wear something of Peter’s started a warm boil of unfamiliar emotions deep in Peter’s chest.
He’s beautiful. Precious and beautiful. And mine.
“Ready?” Peter asked, smoothing a hand over his shirt.
“No. But we can leave.”
“Fair enough. Let’s do this fast then.”
“Off to murder a man in the park.” Theo shook his head as if to dispel the presumed madness of that concept.
Peter smiled his megawatt smile and held out his hand for Theo to take. It amazed him how easily the other man’s fingers fit between his.
“Your smile’s still creepy.”
“Why, thank you, Theodore. A balm to my ego.”
Theo snorted. “Weirdo.”
Peter thought that was likely praise as well. He decided to take it as such.
New Elvenswood’s Centennial Park was a manmade creation stuffed with plant life. Hills and artificial lakes created a landscape crisscrossed by footpaths and broken up by a playground for small New Elvenswooders and picnic areas for those that ate food.
The park wasn’t small. Peter had the suspicion that either the witches or the elves or both had had a hand in setting aside such a generous allotment to become an area in which one could get lost for several hours at a time.
Centennial Park was also a place for artists to showcase their work, and currently, light installations kept the darkness at bay in various corners of the park.
The exhibition wasn’t limited to just the park though.
The sculptures had their own spots all over the city, and the whole thing came with an event calendar that had influenced Peter’s decision to try to deal with Bernard tonight.
As they made their way to the park a little after sunset, a drone firework display was scheduled right outside the folklore museum, and the way it had been advertised, it was sure to draw a lot of people who might have otherwise sought out the park.
Still, some might come to see the light installations in the park after, so we should get this over and done with as soon as possible. The bother.
On the drive there, Theo remained quiet, though his fidgeting betrayed him.
“You don’t have to worry.” Peter reached over to keep him from scratching his cuticles bloody. “This will all be over soon.”
Theo snorted. “That’s not ominous at all.”
“It’s not. Just a fact.”
When they parked in a near-empty lot, the sky had lost that pastel gradient and was well on its way to the color of dark blue ink, dissolving and shifting to pure black dusted with starlight.
“What if he doesn’t show?” Theo asked as Peter took his hand on the way down a winding path.
Peter had felt the pricking of eyes on him when they’d gotten into the car, so he wasn’t concerned.
“He’ll show. You don’t have to worry about that.”
On their right, a set of illuminated sculptures created a beach scene. There was a glowing palm tree, a set of shimmering waves, and a lit-up deck chair. The light was all white rather than multicolored, but Peter could see why this made a nice, touristy photo spot.
Their path wound onward around one of the artificial lakes, which featured another installation where plastic orbs were filled with blue and white lights.
There were dozens of them, each a bit larger than a basketball, and they were piled along the shore and between a few rocks like the spawn of a massive amphibian.
Some of the orbs had been positioned to look as if they were floating out across the lake.
Peter liked this one far better than the beach scene, and from the way he craned his neck, so did Theo.
“What’s with all the lights?”
“Light sculptures. It’s basically a path of light all over the city that you can spend a night following. Didn’t you hear about it?”
Theo looked up at Peter, his black hair shimmering in the faint glow. “There’s always something going on in this city, and I don’t have the luxury of following all of it. Besides, I work nights,” he added, looking at the ground.
“Theodore. Worked?”
Theo took a deep breath. “Worked.”
He said it quietly, the word colored with disbelief. I’ll accept this as an offering.
Before Peter could say anything else, the scent of an unfamiliar vampire tickled his nose. Instead of speaking, he squeezed Theo’s hand, hard.
“Isn’t this just like in a real fairy tale?” said the douchebag vampire, Bernard, having done a poor job of sneaking up on them through the shadows. He stood just off the path, behind them on Peter’s side.
Theo froze. Peter saw fear grapple with Theo’s spirit and bring it down. No, not if I have any say in the matter.
Peter turned to face Bernard.
“I believe I told you to leave my client alone.”
Peter could see why Theo had been so afraid that Bernard might prevail in a physical altercation. He had unimpressive brown hair, but he had a bouncer’s intimidating physique—meaty arms, meaty legs, and likely a meaty head where brain cells should have thrived.
“Client?” Bernard cackled. “Smells more like you’re his client. He’s a good lay, isn’t he? Did he give you a discount?”
Peter extricated his hand from Theo’s, even if Theo was holding on to Peter with a death grip.
“Bernard, was it?” Peter walked toward the other vampire. Theo gasped behind him, a strangled, desperate noise. “I do believe we have some common ground.”
Bernard grinned and showed some teeth. Unseemly. Vile.
“You realize you broke my arm when you stole my property from me. This better be some pretty great common ground.” He shrugged.
“Then again, we can work out a payment plan.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and jerked his chin toward Theo.
“You’ve sampled the goods, and no hard feelings about that.
It’s not like I can control myself when I see a nice piece of ass like that.
But Theo here still belongs to me, and if you want to keep stuffing—”
Bless Bernard’s heart, but his blabbering had exceeded the limits of Peter’s patience, and the sharp right hook Peter delivered at top speed put the vampire right on his ass and on the ground. Theo squealed, but he was too scared for the noise to have any volume.
“Oh, oops.” Peter shook out his hand. “Involuntary muscle spasm. I’m ever so sorry.”
Damnation. Why did I not bring a knife? I need one for the blood eagle…or do I?
Bernard pulled his face out of the grass.
“Motherfucker. I’ll make you sorry for—”
Peter stepped forward, raised his leg, and kicked. It wasn’t his strong suit, and he knew it. He still got a few of Bernard’s ribs to crack with a satisfying crunch though, and that felt nice. Makes the blood eagle a definite maybe if I can get Theodore on board.
This time, when Bernard lifted his head up off the grass, he was chuckling wetly.
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Bernard, despite being a meaty little fuck, still had some decent speed. Instead of running to attack, he ran for the nearest trees, and the cawing of birds two seconds later told Peter just why that was.