Ghost (The Halloween Boys #1) (24)

We stopped outside the fire, catching the attention of several couples and a few ladies who eyed me with curiosity. I replied, “Oh, um . . . I’m vegan, actually.”

I swore even the fire stopped crackling and the crickets stopped chirping. Everyone’s eyes were wide. I could see Wolf’s panic as he tried to sort through what to feed me. It was then I laughed. “I’m kidding. I love meat, and food, any food.”

The crowd around us roared to life as women covered their mouths in laughter and a few men clapped. “You got yourself a good one there, son,” an older man said, walking past and hitting Wolf on the arm.

Wolf tousled my hair a bit before letting go. “I’m going to have to watch out for you, Blythe. You’re trouble, I can feel it,” he said before retreating in the direction of the men at the barbecues. He returned, passing me both a kabob of steak and chicken and a long stick with two hotdogs speared at the end. We stepped closer to the fire, and I nibbled my chicken while roasting my hotdogs. The community joked and laughed as if they’d all been friends, or I guess family, forever. The men served the women their food, chased children, and cleared plates as the women talked around the flames. Wolf looked right at home in the blaze of the inferno’s heat. I kept catching his glance when he didn’t think I was looking. I wondered what he was thinking. I wondered what his long hair felt like between my fingers . . .

I thought he was wrong about something, however.

I wasn’t trouble.

But he most certainly was.





The blaze from the bonfire wasn’t the only thing keeping me warm in Fenrir Point. I listened as a young woman shared funny anecdotes about tiny-house and communal living. I heard as the men set about their weekend chore schedules. Each person looked different, from skin colors, to hair, to a spectrum of gender identities, yet everyone here worked and lived in loving harmony. I’d never seen anything quite like it. It was if they were from a different world. A better world. After my second mouthwatering kabob, Wolf nudged me with his thick, tattooed elbow. “Whatcha thinking about?”

My lip quirked in a grin. “I’m thinking you have a very special home. I’m thinking I’m a little jealous.” I sighed.

“What was your home like?” he asked gently. I watched idly as a little girl ran across the tree line, trailing a long pink ribbon behind her.

“Tumultuous. It was that even before my mother met . . . him. And just got worse after. She died, and I couldn’t get away from him fast enough. If only I hadn’t done what I did—”

“What did you do?”

Bad things . . . but let’s stick with— “Got him sent to prison.”

Wolf leaned back on the log, eyebrows raised. “No shit? That’s badass. Don’t regret that for a fucking second.” He reached up a palm and I giggled, tapping him with a weak high five.

“Yeah, well, a lot of good it did me. Now I’m running from a psychopath, no family, no friends, no roots.”

He leaned on his knees. “I wouldn’t say that. I know we’ve only just met, but I think we’re friends. Or we could be, if you want?”

His simple sincerity was like a glass of sweet tea on a summer’s day. I nodded genuinely. “I’d like that very much.”

Swatting me lightly on the shoulder, he beamed. “Then it’s settled, bestie. Fenrir accepts all peoples. You’ll notice the men do the cooking, cleaning, and kid chasing. The women here are our alph—” He cleared his throat. “Leaders.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. I scanned the property again, seeing clearly what he was saying. The women were calm, strong, happy. They were dispersed within the groups, but what Wolfgang was saying was evident. The men were scrubbing the grills clean, braiding little girls’ hair, and otherwise working within the community. I liked the idea of a woman-run space. No wonder it felt so safe and peaceful here.

With that, he stood, gesturing for me to follow. I tossed my stick into the fire and stepped clumsily over the log that looked like a twig beneath Wolf. We stopped outside the tiny house I’d napped in, and I looked up at him, puzzled. “Here, your new home.”

It took me a moment to register what he was saying. “Wolfgang, no, I can’t live here.”

“Why not? I’ve already talked it over with the Fenrir Elders. Everyone’s cool with it. We’ve got snacks, laughs, everything here is free, and everyone is kind. We all help each other—”

I put a hand on his bicep, surprised at the jolt I felt from the contact. He seemed to notice too, his gray eyes swirling with some emotion I couldn’t place. I quickly retracted my palm. “That’s very generous, and everyone here seems wonderful. But I couldn’t risk putting anyone else in danger. There are so many of you . . . At least in my basement apartment, there’s only the Moores upstairs, and even that I feel guilty about. There are children here. What if he came . . . ?”

“If your stepfather tried to come here, he’d be dead before his feet crossed the threshold. There is no safer place for you, Blythe.”

I swayed, taken aback at his tone. “You all look after each other, I know, but even if you have some sort of security set-up, my stepfather is . . . crafty. He’ll find a way to get to me. He always does.”

Wolf snorted, crossing his thick, bronze arms. “I’ll give you some time to think about it. But trust me when I say, we’ve got security down to a science here.”