Page 37 of Forever Together

Octavius glared at the rest as they started to grin stupidly at him.

Rune’s smile widened, and he stepped up behind Henry, placing his hands on his shoulders. “Sorry, we couldn’t help but overhear. If it makes you feel better, Henry here has no intention of leaving.”

He blew raspberries at them. “Nonsense, don’t speak for your brother. Also, I’ve taught you all better than this. You were supposed to ignore what you heard!”

Haoran snorted. “You taught us all the things not to do, sire. Don’t lie. Why do you think we get into so much trouble in the first place?”

“Slander! Lies!” Octavius cried.

Haoran, the brat, tattling on him in front of Turney! How could he?!

Henry cleared his throat. “I’m afraid Rune is correct. I have no intention of leaving. I’m quite content where I am.”

Octavius’ eyes widened at that. “YOU DO LOVE ME!” He sniffled, eyes tearing up. “Look, Turney, Henry loves me!”

The zombie chuckled.

Henry sighed. “I’m afraid I do.”

He gasped as something occurred to him. “Just wait until I tell Scarlett! She keeps telling me she doesn’t know how you put up with me! That’ll show her!”

Six of his fledglings burst out into a fit of laughter… Henry let out a deep suffering sound. The same one that Scarlett loved to make when around him. Which was an odd reaction, but oh well! This was a win!

“You’re never going to get away now, Henry,” Turney said with a chuckle.

“But he doesn’t want to!” Octavius cried.

Henry’s brow rose. “I believe you have no room to talk, Octavius’ precious zombie bun.”

The rest began to laugh harder, some falling into each other as they did. Turney let out a sigh that sounded exactly the same as Henry’s just had.

Hmm…the people he cared for were an odd bunch…

As he watched the eight bats singThe Monster Masha cappella style, Turney’s smile was so wide on his face it hurt. The bats were all different kinds, but he wasn’t really sure what type they were, even if they were all adorable. Beside Octavius, there was a large blond bat, a small fuzzball black bat, a medium sized black bat, a smaller brown one, two mirror dark brown ones, and a small fuzzy white-blonde one.

The larger blond bat, that he was pretty sure was the Viking, was horribly off-pitch.

“Stop, stop, STOP!” the small fuzzball of a black bat bellowed, causing the song to stutter to a stop. Turney was going to guess this was Haoran. “Just hum along, Rune. You are ruining the song!”

The large blond bat’s eyes narrowed and he suddenly screamed, “Never!” Then he started to run away singingThe Monster Mash.

Octavius giggled evilly as the small black bat squawked in anger. His lover jumped out of line after Rune and began to sing again, this time off-key.

This started a chain reaction. Five of the other bats took off, caroling along, now all singing out of tune as they ran in circles on the small performance platform.

“You’re all insufferable!” the smaller fuzzy black bat cried as he started to run after them, tossing whatever he could get his claws on.

Turney threw his head back and laughed. Every single one of them was a menace. Oh boy…what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Theo bumpedinto multiple people as he fled the room with Sprinkle clutched in his arms. His breathing was out of control, and his heart was racing, but nothing he did seemed to stop things from worsening. His mind was too chaotic. There were too many noises, too many colors…thoughts.

In the hall, Theo ran aimlessly, people a blur as he passed them. He didn’t stop until the crowd thinned out and completely disappeared.

And when he was, at last alone, he picked a room at random. Staggering inside, his hand hit the wall for support. A light flickered on at that moment. Even if darkness was what he needed, it appeared it was not what he’d get.

Gasping, Theo dropped to his knees, releasing Sprinkle. Theo yanked at the collar of his costume. He couldn’t breathe. It was too much. The world around him was overwhelming in its entirety. And even though his blindness would help, he couldn’t find the control to pull back from his wolf to hide it all, so he found himself stuck with the bombardment. His wolf lashing out at the back of his mind, trying to break free. It was a part of him, yet it ran on pure instinct. His panic had thrown it into trying to defend itself from whatever was attacking them. It just didn’t, or couldn’t, understand that the attack was mental.

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