Page 83 of Marked By Shadows

“Not at all,” I said. “Influencing is a very visual persona created for a certain group. Everyone has different tastes. Even if someone follows sexy cosplay, which is what Freya and Byrony did, technically I did as well, though it’s not likely their fans would go from them to me. Because I’m male. There might be some crossover, but my target was mostly gay men. Their targets are straight men and women who are into lifestyle stuff, hair, make-up, etcetera.”

“Men don’t follow other men for lifestyle stuff?”

I laughed. “Men follow sex. The only thing I offered, other than pretty pictures, was the occasional tutorial on costume creation. And that stuff never got interest like my sexy cosplay videos did.” Or the porn. It was one of the reasons I didn’t want back into that market. I wanted my existence to be about more than just sex.

“Do the women ever see themselves as competition?” Alex said. “Since they are sort of in the same market?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never seen it within the group. Everyone’s been pretty helpful to each other. I always thought we had the mindset that growing the community was better than narrowing it. Though I know Byrony butted heads with a lot of people for stealing ideas. I think if she’d asked and been more open about sharing, it probably wouldn’t have been an issue.”

“Did Sarah or Amanda take ideas?” Manning asked.

“Not that I know of, but again, I didn’t know them well.”

He sighed.

“I’m sorry. I wish I knew more. I’ve sort of been outside the group for a while.”

“We will find something,” Manning stated. “These people trip up eventually, miss a clue somewhere, a link they forget. Whether it’s your friend or not, I advise you both to be careful. You might not be the normal target, as the victims so far seem to be women, but sometimes when these people are cornered, their regular rational flies out the window for self-preservation.”

“We understand. We’ll keep an eye out. Thank you, Detective,” Alex said, offering the man his hand for a handshake. Manning took it and let Alex see him out.

I stood in the small living area of the cabin feeling a jumble of emotion and numb all at once. Alex wrapped his arms around me. “It’s gonna be okay,” he said.

“It’s not Freya,” I said.

“I know she’s your friend…”

“But not really. I’m not any closer to her than I am to the rest of them.” I stepped out of his embrace and threw my hands up in the air in frustration, even taking a moment to tug at my hair. “Because I’m broken and don’t let anyone close to me.”

“You’re not any more broken than the rest of us,” Alex said. “It’s okay to be upset when something you thought was right is wrong.”

“I’m not going to just accuse her. He said they didn’t have any proof and she has an alibi.” Why I needed Freya to be innocent, I didn’t really understand. Maybe it was because once upon a time she’d been the first to see potential in me? She hadn’t brushed me off as some annoying kid from a faraway land wanting to escape his strict parents. “I wouldn’t be who I am now without her,” I said finally.

“Maybe,” Alex agreed. “But she was only a point on the path. You’ve had a lot of other points, people, friends, events, that got you here.” He rubbed my back which helped me focus on my breathing. “You are who you are meant to be right now, and I think that’s pretty great. Regardless of how you got here.”

I turned to stare up into his face and had to sigh. He was that sort of male pretty I never knew I wanted until him, but those eyes were magnetic. Deep wells of emotion, drawing me in,seeingme, and still liking what he saw. I could list a hundred things about him that made me want him. Some stupid, small and silly, others intense and odd, like his ability to see things others didn’t, even if that meant the paranormal. The more I learned about him, the more I liked.

“More than a spark,” I said as I touched his cheek.

“Yes,” Alex agreed. “So stay with me, yeah?”

“Planning on it.”

“Good, let’s go get breakfast and try to pretend things are normal.”

“I’m not hungry,” I said, feeling almost sick at the thought of eating.

“We’ll just get some fruit or something.”

“Might be eating with a serial killer,” I grumbled.

“Maybe. Either way, stay close to me. If things get weird, we’ll find another hotel.”

“Weird how? We sort of thrive on weird.” I let Alex tug me out the door and toward the main house, hoping for a chance to get our instructions for the later show, a banana, and get the hell out of there.

“Good question. Weirder than usual.”

I sighed and clung to him. It was too early in the morning, and I hadn’t had nearly enough coffee to deal with this sort of drama.