Justin squinted at him. “Accidental?”
Gary smiled. “Yes. He was accidentally trampled to death. Quite tragic.”
“Trampled.”
“Oh yes. That… team… of horses just came out of nowhere.”
“And you just happened to know that how?”
Gary shrugged. “You know? I can’t quite remember.”
“So bloodthirsty,” I whispered.
“Right,” Justin said slowly. “And your horn?”
“Gone. Either stolen or he sold it, or—”
“So then what was the point of that entire production you just put on?” Vadoma asked.
“Bitch, I did it because I wanted to,” Gary snapped at her. “Gods.”
“Yeah, bitch,” Tiggy said. “You be trippin’.”
Vadoma wasn’t pleased at that.
“And that’s the only lead you had?” Justin asked, sounding aggrieved.
“We’ve been looking for years,” I told him. “Every bit of information we had was checked and double-checked, but every time we thought we were close, it turned out to be just another dead end. And unless anything happened while I was gone, that’s still the case.”
Gary shook his head. “Nothing. There hasn’t been time to look anywhere else.” He sniffled. “And we asked my parents, but they were too busy getting laid with strangers to give a damn about me—”
“That’s not true,” Terry said. “Gary, they—” He sighed. “Why do you think they joined the swingers tour right after you told them?”
“Because they didn’t want to think about my pain and instead wanted to focus on object insertion?”
“No, you idiot. They joined because they figured it was the best way to travel and search for your horn.”
Gary gaped at him. “Mom and Dad went searching for my horn under the guise of having partner-swapping sex?”
Terry nodded. “They used the tour to track down leads. Especially since they would be dealing with… less reputable creatures.”
“But—but they never told me.”
“They didn’t want to get your hopes up in case nothing came of it.”
“That’s true love,” Dad said. “I don’t know that we’d do the same for Sam if he lost his horn.”
I glared at him. “I’m your son—oh. Right. I don’t have a horn. Still. Rude.”
Gary sighed. “For all we know, it’s not even in Verania anymore—”
“It is,” Terry said quietly.
We all turned slowly to look at him.
“What was that?” Kevin asked.
Terry shuffled his front legs nervously. “It’s still in Verania. Or at least it was.”