The shrill sound of a fire alarm pierced the air and hundreds of interestingly dressed people rushed for any and all exits.
Chapter Six
Max fled the balcony area and the lovely Ruby Hart, wishing there wasn’t something wrong with him. Why was he compelled to tell her he loved her? Was it true? He didn’t even know her. And to tell her he thought she’d look good without her costume was beyond the pale. Why would he admit that? A spell cast by a couple of tipsy witches, ending with the magical words ofpoofandshazam, had to be the reason, right?
Perhaps those two drunken women trulyhadput spells on him. Until now, he hadn’t been sure he even believed in supernatural powers, but his mouth certainly wasn’t his own tonight, especially not when he stood next to Ruby. The next question circling around in his head was how long the spells would last.
It would be a huge problem if the spells turned out to be permanent. He needed to hide his true identity, and he couldn’t very well do that if he was compelled to tell the truth to anyone who asked. He didn’t want anyone to know who he really was. It was perhaps foolish, since every Alpha he knew in town didn’t judge him for his past. Still, it was a hard habit to break. Trust didn’t come easily to him anymore.
In the elegant bathroom, staring at his disconcerted reflection, Max even tried washing his mouth out, swishing water around and spitting it into the sink. He eyed the soap dispenser, then decided that was going too far. He’d go home and try toothpaste first.
He’d almost given himself a headache trying to look into Ruby’s mind. He thought he saw the brief image of the five letters on his finger, but told himself he was imagining things. She didn’t know who he was. She wasn’t an Alpha about to ridicule him for the bad luck incident that had changed his life.
He should go out and look for those two women who’d claimed to put the spells on him and make them remove what they’d done. But the words he’d have to say to them stuck in his mind. What if they hadn’t done anything? What if he had some other affliction? He’d sound like a crazy man. He’d be kicked out of the party. Max didnotneed that sort of negative publicity here in the town where he so desperately wanted to start over.
A sound from one of the stalls startled him, because he’d thought he had the bathroom to himself.
A funny-looking, skinny little man dressed in a bright green tuxedo and a green sparkly top hat stepped from the last stall at the end of the row. The intricately carved wooden door banged against the far wall, making a loud racket. A strand of red hair stuck out from beneath the wig the man wore under his top hat. He stomped out of the stall with a fierce expression, glared at Max as if he’d done something horrible, and left the bathroom like a bright green sprinter.
Too bad, so sad. This bathroom was for everyone…well, all the men anyway.
Max shook his head and took one last look at his reflection. Seeing nothing different, he also exited the room. Part of him wanted to find Ruby and try one last time to explain what he suspected had happened with the drunk older women putting spells on him, only to repeat the words in his head and decide he needed some distance. He hoped the enchantment or whatever was wrong with him would wear off soon. Maybe it only worked while he attended this party. Maybe he just needed to get some sleep. Maybe he’d be back to normal tomorrow.
With that thought in mind, he left the gorgeous, palatial, elegant home of Elenora Ellingham and headed toward his much smaller place near the center of town.
He’d gotten a truly amazing deal on his new apartment, an updated loft arrangement with tall ceilings and everything sort of in one room, although a black metal spiral staircase wound up to a loft space where he slept. He had the penthouse apartment on the fourth floor only a couple of blocks from where he worked on Main Street.
There were only eight apartments in his four-story building, two on each floor. The previous tenant had left in a hurry without paying the rent he owed and abandoned lots of stuff. Max had cleaned the place out, using a large container of cleaning stuff that smelled like lemons with a picture of a smiling bald guy on the bottle. It worked great. He kept quite a few worthy furniture pieces, random pictures he liked and such. The smaller portion of the previous owner’s stuff that he didn’t keep went in the trash. There was no elevator, so he got lots of exercise going up and down the central staircase in his building. A bonus, as he saw it.
The one oddity about living in the building was he’d never seen any of the other tenants. His Realtor, Pandora, told him the only apartment available was the top floor, so that meant the building was fully rented once he moved in. But he hadn’t met a single other apartment dweller. Not on the central staircase, not in the large foyer, not in the mail area right behind ground-floor steps.
Perhaps they were all Supes of one species or another and used their magical abilities to transport themselves about town and also to gather their mail. Either way, he didn’t know a single soul he lived with in this building. He never saw anyone, so, in a way, it was like having the huge building to himself. That was fine with him.
Max changed from his costume into comfortable clothes, thinking about Ruby and what would happen if the spell or his affliction never wore off. What if he had to tell herthe truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truthforever? He’d heard that phrase on an Earth television show. Would she give him a chance? Would she run when she found out about his past? Should he go find her and proactively tell her the truth about his regretful history and everything? Would she be interested? Maybe not. He didn’t ever want to see her beautiful face contorted into disdain for his previous life problems. That might be the end of him.
He’d come to Earth to forget all aboutthe incidentand start anew. If he couldn’t stop himself from telling Ruby the absolute truth, one day he’d spillallof his secrets. That wouldn’t do.
Where would he go next? Some other colony planet? No. Earth was the nicest of all the colony planets and he wasn’t about to ruin a perfectly good life here by opening his mouth to tell the truth. Even if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He would have been interested even without the spell. Right?
Max didn’t know how long he meandered around his apartment, trying to come up with a good plan to see Ruby again and talk to her without shooting the absolute truth out of his mouth like lightning strikes out of an angry storm cloud.
The buzzer rang, indicating someone wanted to come up. Who could that be at this hour? Glancing at the wall clock, another gift from the previous owner, he realized it wasn’t as late as he thought. The charity ball was likely still going on and would be for a while.
“Who is it?” Max said into the speaker.
“This is Hank Merrow, the Sheriff of Nocturne Falls.”
The sudden sinking feeling in his belly took him back to the night the Guardsmen on Alpha-Prime had come to his home to arrest him.
Without pushing the button to release the security door downstairs so the Sheriff could come up, Max asked, “What can I do to help you?”
“I need to ask you a few questions, Mr. Vander. Could you release the door?”
Max had a really bad feeling. “Questions? Regarding what?” Was he about to be subjected to police scrutiny for any and all crimes in town? Was he to be blamed for something he hadn’t done, just like back at home?
“Are you going to buzz me in or do I need to make this a more official visit?”
