Ghost (The Halloween Boys #1) (93)
I swallowed at the edge in his tone.
Wolfgang spoke up. “The curse may have heightened our bloodlust, or maybe it comes with what we are, but we have to kill. It’s like a compulsion. Over the years, we’ve honed it into killing people who deserve it. When we do, Ghost takes it from there and their souls suffer forever.”
“That’s why you guys were interested in me. You wanted to kill my stepdad.”
Wolf answered, “True, we were excited to find such a worthy kill. But it’s not why we stuck around. We don’t mingle with the target’s victims. Well, we didn’t until you.”
Ames took my chin in his hand, urging me to face him. I did, looking up at him through his legs. “Remember that fight we had? You said I only wanted you because I thought you needed saving. Saving, rescuing, isn’t a need I have. I don’t like you because you need saving. I’ve killed hundreds of scumbags like your stepdad, and I never once felt like saying so much as a word to their victim. But for some reason, I can’t stay away from you. I want to breathe you in and let you live in my lungs and carry you everywhere I go, Blythe.”
“At the end of the night, I don’t give a shit about them. It’s about me, and yeah, I like it. It’s about getting my death fix. Curbing my bloodlust in some tangible way. You need to understand, all I want and crave and need in this world is death. And you.”
My heart fluttered and sank, and so many different feelings at once flowed through me.
“Are you all afraid? Afraid the Devil might come back and I don’t know, want or take you?”
Wolfgang snorted. “Let him. Fucking coward hasn’t faced us once in two hundred years. He’s either forgotten us or he’s waiting, keeping us in his back pocket until he wants to cash in on our abilities. But it doesn’t matter. We picked up a Devil of our own: Judas. He’s a part of our crew. You’ll meet him soon.”
“I get to meet the Devil soon? Great . . .”
Ames chuckled. “There are several Devils. They like for the world to think there’s only one, though.”
Onyx slapped his hands on his thighs. “Well, that was cheerful. I’m ordering a pizza. Blythe, rematch in Super Smash Brothers?”
I quirked a grin. “You’re on.” My lip burned I had to bite it so hard to keep from peppering him with questions. What’s the etiquette for inquiring about someone’s immortal history? A dragon and a vampire . . . How did that happen? So many questions. But I’d gotten enough answers for now.
I sat cross-legged on a worn Persian rug between a demon, a dragon vampire hybrid, and a werewolf . . . playing old video games.
It was shocking and unbelievable. I still marveled at what I’d seen each of them do. The story of how they came to be would perplex me and unravel through my mind in quiet moments. But one thing that was more surprising than anything was how they were still such guys. Like any other band of brothers, they drank beers, played video games, and made inappropriate jokes. They may have been paranormal, and they may have done terrible things, but somehow, I’d never felt more myself around any group of people. They felt familiar and safe.
The Halloween Boys were becoming more than friends.
They were becoming my home.
CHAPTER 34
Blythe
HIS TRICK, HER TREAT
There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch.
Robert Brault
“We have a surprise for you.” Ames leaned against the railing of the church stairs. The crisp October wind ruffled the black waves of his hair. He embodied smoke and darkness even in human form. It was still hard to reconcile the two because right now, he looked like a devastatingly handsome man in a leather jacket with a hungry blue gaze. The atmosphere matched his demeanor. A cloudy, gray gloom dimmed around us, causing the pavement covered in yellow leaves to look like it was glowing—our own yellow brick road under a spooky, chilly sky.
I’d just showered and come down the winding staircase to meet the guys outside. We’d spent the week in a strangely normal routine. I’d get breakfast with everyone at the diner, laughing while Onyx and Wolfgang play-flirted with Doris. Ames would have a casual arm wrapped around me, stroking my shoulder with his thumb as I ate and watched their antics. Then we’d all go to work. Yesenia had begged me not to quit the shop and not to be scared off by the elder witches of The Moon Halo Coven. I liked my new friend a lot but wasn’t eager to run into her grandmother, or the other crones, anytime soon. She promised she’d have them steer clear of the shop and give me space, while also trying to convince me to move back in. I hadn’t closed the door on that possibility. I did like living above the shop better than the creaky, cold attic of Lamb’s Blood Church. But the church attic had my demon . . . and my demon did that thing with his tongue.
After work we’d have dinner with Wolfgang at Fenrir, eating around the fire while kids played. I’d listen intently to any stories The Halloween Boys would share—stories about growing up together, about the many times they’d graduated high school before moving on to collecting careers and . . . targets. Apparently, Wolfgang had a collection of every article ever written about them, and the serial killer names they’d taken on over the years. I saw them more as vigilantes. Though, their definition of who should die was a bit gray at times. After dinner, Ames and I would go home and run into the difficulty of my human body needing sleep and his seemingly only needing me. It was a great problem to have. I’d never known sex could be so fun, and freeing, and intense. And on the nights I didn’t go home with Ames . . . I went to Hallows with Ghost. He didn’t want to be in demon form at the festival. He said the sight of him would stir up too much for too many festivalgoers. So, I’d dance and visit my friends. I’d listen to Captain Vex and the pirates tell stories, or I’d visit the birds in their treehouse. Raven stuck to being a bird, perching on the tree outside Lamb’s Blood and keeping watch. I opened the window in the mornings, and he’d fly in for his breakfast and bowl of water.