“I’m listening,” Mr. Yeti grumbled, and I couldn’t help rubbing my hands together in glee.
Oh, yeah. It was all coming together.
Norman
I couldn’t believe that worked. My son of bitch twin did it. I didn’t know how Freddy convinced the Yeti to help us, but he agreed in the end. We now had the pastries all arranged, even though the witches kept giving us looks that said mortals were crazy, and luckily, most of the town had agreed to meet at the theater tonight for the celebration.
Frosty the Yeti mumbled and grouched about why we wanted small ice chips falling from the theater walkway above the stage, but he said he could do it. We were going to have snowflakes in this world that never saw any real snow. That was all that mattered to me—Toby getting a white, winter wonderland for Christmas.
“I think October is in the wrong business, the girl should be a private investigator instead of a necromancer. Why can’t we lose her tail?” Freddy was being shifty as hell as he kept glancing back, Toby hiding and ducking behind buildings each time he turned his head.
It didn’t help that his eyes kept flashing yellow and his body twitched like he needed to shift. He always got that way around her. The need to protect her, snuggle her, and mark her as his was such a wolf thing, and I knew he couldn’t help it. My gums constantly ached around her ever since my transformation. Hell, I had to keep stopping in the middle of Main Street, trying to convince myself not to march right over to her and sweep her up in my arms, exposing her obvious hiding spots. Luckily, I resisted the urge. It was hard, but I was in control…somewhat.
“I’ll call Michael, see if he can distract her while we’re in the Hangry Forest.” I was already pulling out one of the compact mirrors Fe given us, still getting used to using the word ‘device’ instead of ‘cell phone.’ I guessed it was kind of like facetiming, so not too different.
“Does whatever you need have anything to do with a beautiful, redheaded goddess?” Micheal answered with a knowing smirk, his familiar python snake wrapped around his neck in a tight grip as he started jogging.
“Just get your ass over here, edge of the Hangry Forest. Come up with a way to lead her away from here,” I whispered with an eye roll.
“I think I can distract her with something. She was looking a little…frustrated this morning.” Micheal’s eyes started to bleed black as his dark magic took over, the veins around his eyes like black spiderwebs, just as the image of him cut off from the compact.
Freddy and I stopped at the edge of the forest on the other side of the town, impatiently waiting for Micheal to swoop October away so we could go cut down a Christmas tree. My twin was pacing back and forth as I leaned against a rotting tree, watching him freak out. His fur kept popping up and then receding, his eyes turning yellow like the full moon each time he glanced into the quiet, dark forest. I mean, I wasn’t happy to go in there, where Jessica’s whole family of spiders lived, but it got the job done. Freddy would just have to get over it and face his fear of the creepy, eight-legged, beady eyed spiders.
“Can’t we just send Jessica in to get the damn tree?” Freddy asked in a slightly higher pitched voice before clearing his throat. “Not like I’m afraid or anything.” His shoulders dropped, and he raised his chin. Freddy was a big guy, but I knew he was terrified.
My tough twin let out a girlish shriek when Jessica appeared out of nowhere and landed on his shoulder. It only set off the little spider, and she started screaming along with Freddy, even though she didn’t know why.
“Why are we screaming?!” She drew in a breath and opened her fanged mouth to continue screaming, but I cut her off before she could.
“He thought he saw a…ghost, but false alarm.” It was the first thing that came to mind to save my brother's manly pride as he tried to catch his breath from his bent position.
“I don’t blame you, Freddy. Whatever you do, don’t go into the light,” Jessica said in all seriousness as she patted his back with a furry leg, causing him to shudder.
I held out the palm of my hand with another eye roll and watched as Jessica crouched low before springing in the air to land on my outstretched hand. Placing her on my shoulder, I glanced towards the shop buildings a mile back across the field that connected to the forest. Thank the pumpkin for my vampire sight. These suckers could see in the dark and a few miles out like my own personal binoculars. I could see Micheal from here walking backwards, leading October away by the hand with a promise in his eyes. Lucky fucker.
“You boys ready? I can’t wait for you to meet my family!” Jessica did a little happy dance on my shoulder and pointed to the trail that led into the forest with no moonlight.
“Can’t wait,” Freddy said dryly.
I glanced one more time over my shoulder with a sigh. I wished I was on distract October duty. I wasn’t pouting one bit because I couldn’t finish what I’d started this morning.
Okay, I was pouting.
Chapter 3
October
I was jealous.
It slammed into me in waves as I followed the twins to the outskirts of Midnight Hollow. Just the thought of them flirting with someone else caused my heart to crumble. I mean, I couldn’t be sure if what I saw could be considered flirting, but after the wolves hounded me, blocking me in the alleyway from following Norman and Freddy into Frosty’s and then again near Toil and Trouble Tea Shop, it had looked like they were flirting with the girl behind the counter… They’d been smiling and laughing like they had some sort of inside joke.
Maybe I was just ready for the ball to drop, used to having my heart broken, but I was just going to have to give the guys the benefit of the doubt. Our love was strong. It was just plain strange watching them move from shop to shop as they talked to people and then quickly left without purchasing anything. I raised my eyebrows when I saw them waiting by the trail that led into the Hangry Forest. Freddy would never go in there, the guy was terrified of spiders, and Jessica’s whole family lived in there.
What the hell was going on?
I freaking hated secrets with a burning passion. Was I going to be that girlfriend who followed her boyfriends into a dark, scary infested forest full of spiders just to see if they might possibly be meeting someone…like a female someone?
You bet your ass I was. Until someone grabbed me from behind.
“Where do you think you're going, my little freak?” a cool, deep voice whispered in my ear, causing pleasant shivers to slither down my spine.
He slid his strong arms around my waist, the palms of his hands spread out and making small, soothing circles on my skin between my jeans and shirt that rode up a little bit. My eyes glazed over at the small touch, my heart racing, and I tried to concentrate. But with how turned on I was from this morning with Norman’s lips on me and now Micheal’s innocent but erotic hold…it was pure torture.
“I’m just…uh…exploring the town,” I said, biting my bottom lip as I spun around to face him. His fingertips slid around to my back with the movement, never leaving my skin.
“Exploring the town, huh? The dumpsters and the cornfields pique your interest these days? Find anything fascinating to look at?” He chuckled, a grin sliding across his handsome face.
The moonlight shone from above, making his bright, silver hair stand out, the blue of his deep ocean eyes darkening as he stared down at me. I then noticed he was shirtless, his lean but tight his muscles on display, his python familiar embedded into his torso and wrapped around half of his waist like a tattoo, which I found sexy as hell. I couldn’t have looked away from him if I tried. There was just something about Micheal that always drew my attention to him, the dark energy that came off him, sinister almost but warm too. I loved this possessive asshole, but I did wonder if he was in on all the secrets too.
“So interesting, but nothing to see here, so I’m just gonna head back to the aunties’ house.” I cleared my throat and went to step around him to hide my pain and humiliation. I hated getting caugh
t. Was this how Maddie felt in the library?
One second, I was walking down the alleyway towards the bustling streets, and the next, I was shoved up against the brick wall with a gentle but firm hand around my throat. Deep, enchanting blue eyes stared down at me with a frown as his head tilted to the side, studying me. He never scared me when he got this way, it just caused desire to flood through me. He was a dangerous warlock and his power was growing by the day, but he didn’t scare me. Not like Ichabod had scared me. I knew Michael would never do anything to cause me harm…so instead, it just made me want to jump his bones.
“What’s wrong? Are…are you crying?!” he asked, suddenly panicked. The guy couldn’t handle tears, didn’t know how to deal with it when I cried, so he usually went out of his way to get me anything I needed. I didn’t cry very often, so I assumed it freaked them all out when it happened.
“No.” My voice wobbled, and I cursed myself when my lip trembled. I didn’t even know why I was crying. Maybe I was scared that all of this was just going to go poof and evaporate into thin air. That I’d be fucking alone again once they got sick of me.
“Baby girl, don’t cry…anything but the tears. What do you need? What can I do to make it better?” he asked, dragging a hand through his soft silvery hair.
“I don’t know,” I said, biting my lip. I looked up into his eyes and felt so guilty as I said, “Just tell me…are we good?” I had to glance away, hating myself for even bothering or worrying.
“October, look at me,” he said, tipping my chin up with his index finger until my gaze met his. “We’re good. Better than good. Never doubt that. I fucking love you, you know that right?” His voice got deeper, and he stroked my cheekbone with his thumb as he stared down at me.
“I love you too. I love all of you guys. I’m just being stupid,” I mumbled.
“You’re not stupid. Give it time, baby. We have all the time in the world to show you how much you're needed and loved.”
He didn’t give me a chance to reply. In the dark part of the alley with my back pressed against the cold brick and his warm body heating me from head to toe, he kissed me like the world was ending. Soft, plump lips slid over mine, dragging across slowly before biting down gently until my mouth parted with a gasp.
“What do you need?” He growled low in his throat, sucking my bottom lip with a sharp tug, and then let go to look me in the eyes.
His pupils overtook the blue of his gaze, black veins spreading across from the crease of his eyes. Words were beyond me as a tugging sensation pulled low in my stomach and traveled down in a wet heat to the one place I needed him to touch me.
Grabbing his index finger while not looking away from his darkening gaze, I brought the digit to my parted mouth and sucked his finger in gently with a swirl of my tongue. His groan made me almost combust in need, so like the good girl I was, I released his finger with a pop and grinned wickedly as I brought his hand to slide under my skirt.
“Touch me, Michael,” I whispered desperately.
He stared down at me with a raised pale eyebrow, his hand climbing higher but not touching where I needed it most. He glided his fingers at the edge of my panties but paused, waiting for something. The kinky fucker.
“Please, sir.” I bit my bottom lip in sweet agony as he slowly grinned.
Fingers slid past the material, swiping it to the side and skimming over my lower, wet lips. I was a hot panting mess under his skilled, controlled fingertips.
“Always so fucking wet for me, October. Any man or monster could die happily right here, right now. You own me, baby girl. Fuck…I’m going to make you feel good,” he promised, and boy did he follow through.
Two calloused fingers slid into my pussy without warning, curling in that spot that had white spots dancing in my vision. My moan echoed down the alley, and he only started pumping his fingers faster, in and out, his thumb circling so slowly over my clit that he had me standing on my toes.
“You're really worked up, aren’t you? You're going to come soon… So close,” he growled, bringing me closer and closer to the edge of no return…until his fucking compact mirror started ringing in his pocket. Well, it wasn’t so much a ringing as it was a series of magical pulses that couldn’t be ignored if you tried. It wouldn’t stop, and my sigh of frustration echoed as he cursed under his breath and released me from his hold that felt so good. Why did this keep happening to me?
“What?” he bit out and closed his eyes on whoever was on the other line. Was it a girl? I’d kill her…or cut off her boobs and hot glue them to her forehead. I was a little bloodthirsty when it came to my guys. Shit, I needed to stop with the crazy before I accidentally spoke it out loud.
“Yeah, I’m on my way.” He hung up before I could hear whoever was on the other line and kissed my forehead tenderly, my own lids sliding shut under the pressure of his soft lips.
“To be continued. Something important came up, so I'll see you later, baby,” he whispered in my ear, and I knew when I opened my eyes, he’d be gone. I was once again abandoned before he could finish the job. What did a girl have to do around here to get some dick?!
“Stupid…dumb…asshole…buttface…losers,” I grumbeld to myself as I wandered aimlessly around the greenhouse. I was fuming and frustrated as hell. My skin still tingled from the feel of Michael’s expert fingers, but my lady bits weren’t happy in the slightest.
He’d run out of there like a bat out of hell, once again coming up with yet another stupid excuse. After what I’d seen going on at the edge of the forest in the distance, I knew something completely weird was up. They were obviously keeping something from me, and I needed to figure out what it was. A part of me didn’t want to know. I was so tired of disappointment that I didn't think I could honestly handle any more of it at this point, especially if they were getting tired of me already…or maybe bored. I was currently on my seventh lap of the greenhouse. I’d been coming here over the last month a lot just to think and get some time to myself.
I hadn’t seen much of Jessica today either, and I was getting kind of lonely. Honestly, I thought a part of what was getting me down was missing Maddie so much. Usually, I’d have her here to vent to or to distract me. Around this time of year back in the mortal world, Maddie would have been tagging along with me and my parents to go pick out the perfect Christmas tree, or binge watching all of those old Christmas specials on TV. It might’ve seemed like little dumb, unimportant things in the grand scheme of it, but with everyone slowly disappearing, those were the only things I had left to hold onto.
I gave up on moping around and decided it was time to talk to the aunties. They’d been busy over the last few days, and most of us had avoided the kitchen altogether. Pip had spent the last four days concocting something miserable in that cauldron of hers, saying she was prepping for some kind of bake sale the other witches were putting on, but I really hoped not. She’d kill off half the town if she served the poison she made. But I needed to brave the kitchen, because I needed to focus on something other than stalking my boyfriends…for now at least.
Smoke was wafting into the entryway as I shut the front door behind me. I immediately gagged on it. My eyes stung as the smell of feet and possibly a dead animal filled the halls of the Hallowell manor. From the other room, I could already hear shouting. Auntie Fe was screaming something unintelligible to the background music of pots and pans clanging together. I ran towards the sound and the undulating black smoke, eyes widening as I beheld the chaotic scene.
Laughter bubbled in my chest, and I had to slap a palm over my mouth as I saw Pip standing on the top of the kitchen island, waving around a broom as a little creature bounced from surface to surface. It was the size of a potato, with green skin and little warts all over it. Beady little black eyes were wide as it hopped away from Pip’s swinging broom. All the while, Fe was waving one of her dish towels at a smoking cauldron on the stovetop. It was bubbling over with something that looked like brownish grey sludge one might m
istake for swamp goo. I already felt my stomach churning.
“Well don’t just stand there, help me!” Pip shouted, wide eyes beckoning me over. Her red hair was a halo of crazy curls, and her face was utterly covered in flour and goo.
Still laughing, I ran over to the cabinet, grabbed a massive jar, and popped open the lid. The smoke was filling the kitchen now, making it hard to see, so before I helped Pip, I threw one of the windows open to give us a little bit of fresh air. Without another thought, I hopped up on the countertop, joining Pip and narrowly avoiding a swinging broomstick. I ducked, nearly falling on my ass, but steadied myself last minute. Suddenly, the little green thing landed in front of me after the end of the broom smacked it right out of the air.
“Get it, get it, get it!” Pip squealed, and I moved immediately.
Grasping the end of the jar, I tipped it upside down and slammed it down on top of the spooky little thing, effectively trapping in under the glass. It banged against it with its meaty little fists, and the small squeals emanating from its gaping mouth sounded like a frightened pig. I screwed up my nose and dragged it along the countertop, and when it reached the edge, I snapped the lid shut before the beastie could jump out.
“Great pumpkin, I’ve been trying to catch him for hours,” Pip said with a sigh, dropping the broom on the ground and sitting down in a huff, still on top of the counter with me.
“What the hell is this thing?” I asked, my breathing ragged as the green monster thrashed against the glass. I held it tight so it couldn’t knock it over and free itself. I looked back up at Pip. “Please tell me you weren’t trying to cook it.” The thought made me want to vomit.
Pip laughed and waved me away. So did Fe, who'd gotten the smoke under control now and was trying to wick away the spilled goo by mumbling some kind of cleaning spell under her breath. “Heavens no, dear. This right here’s a garden gnome. Pesky little buggers. Just ran out of repellent too. Might ask the boys if they’ll stop by the shops for me.”
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