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Catalina chuckled. “Still calling him that, are you?”
“Well, he attacked Bubbles, so what else should I call him?” Octavius grumbled.
“Technically, devils aren’t evil,” she pointed out.
He snorted. “They are neutral, but you know damn well they like leaning more towards evil than good.”
“True,” she agreed with a giggle, before letting out a soft sigh and saying, “That being said, Iamsorry…and if you can find it in yourself to forgive me…could we please start over? Be friends? I miss my friend. I miss you, Octavius.”
Octavius’ eyes teared up, his bottom lip wobbling as finally the memories of the good times, before that fight, came flooding back. Them running around scaring villagers with fake ghosts… Making up monster rumors and spreading them about to see if they’d be believed or not… That time they slowly drove an asshole human insane by placing sticky spells that randomly whispered nonsense at all hours all around them… They had done so many amazing and fun things together!
“I didn’t just love Bubbles… I loved you, too,” he rasped, before crying and flinging himself at her. “I miss my friend too!”
She hugged back, laughing joyfully. Their hug was slightly awkward due to his headpiece.
As they pulled back, they were both smiling now. But then her smile suddenly brightened.
“Oh, I have a surprise for you!” Catalina said as she pulled her phone from a pocket in her ankle length ringmaster jacket. She tapped away before turning it around to show him a picture.
He stared, eyes slowly widening as he realized what she was showing him. It was a picture of a porcupine pufferfish…except this one was oddly colored. The majority of it was a bright turquoise, with darker blue markings on its head, and golden spots. It was a baby, he could tell…and it had a small smile on its face.
“What…?” he asked, confused…but with a bit of hope.
“This is Bubby, your new baby fae porcupine pufferfish,” Catalina said with a smile, before quickly adding, “If you want him, that is.”
“I WANT HIM!” Octavius screamed, excitement roaring inside him.
“Wait, what?!” Turney cried.
He completely ignored his zombie bunny. Because he had too many questions. Also, he didn’t know what Turney was getting hyped up about. It was Octavius’ fish.
“Wait.” He frowned. “Fae? But they don’t make fae fish!”
“They didn’t. But the Goddess of fae creatures has recently decided to create, and allow the creation of a few specific breeds. I learned of this news through my work with the reapers. And after putting some feelers out, and cashing in some favors, I managed to secure this little guy, just for you. He should be arriving in the States a month from now, so you can have him shortly after that. I know he can’t replace Bubbles, but maybe he can make his own space in your heart?”
“YES, YES!” He threw himself at her again. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Catalina laughed, arms coming around him again. Her smell filled his nose, and he felt like something broken inside him had been fixed. Like he had finally gained back something he had lost.
* * *
Turney eyed Octaviusas they continued through the halls back to the party. The vampire’s gaze was glued to his phone—more specifically a picture of his new fish, Bubby.
“What about Sprinkle? She is a cat, in case you forgot?” he pressed.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want Octavius to have Bubby, but he could see all the issues it could lead to. Sprinkle was adorable and listened well. But she was also still a cat, not to mention a very smart one. And one they spoiled and didn’t often say no to… Turney wasn’t sure how she would react to a fish in the house. Though he supposed…Octavius may put Bubby at Scarlett’s for now, since that is where they were currently living.
Octavius snapped his phone shut, slipping it into a pocket that was impressively hidden in one of the flaps of his leather skirt. The vampire eyed Turney, expression calculating. “No worries, Sprinkle won’t bother another fae pet. If Bubby had been a normal fish…she probably would have tried to eat him. But since he is not, she won’t. It has something to do with the code in their DNA.”
“Their DNA?”
“Remember how the shop was?”
“The shop?” He frowned, thinking back.
“It was all open. The predators were not separate from what would be considered their prey. Remember?”
The vampire was right, they hadn’t been, had they? Turney found it odd how he hadn’t questioned that at the time. Then again, he had been focused on not looking, and then on Sprinkle, because she had been cute. After that there was the whole Octavius signing a contract without looking, on top of the enormous price for one tiny kitten.
