Page 6
Phoe - A month later
With a smirk, I narrowed my eyes at Drake, and he met my gaze warily as I leaned on my palms on his table over him.
“Phoe, I can’t simply order the Unwanted Bastards to come to a cookout,” he said.
“If you don’t, darling, the plans I’ve made shall be focused on Rage. So, sweetheart, pick.”
Drake paled. He knew exactly what I was capable of around Halloween. The few times I’d done it elsewhere, he’d been so relieved. He held my gaze as he decided.
“Fine! I’ll get the Unwanted Bastards here one way or another.” Drake leaned forward until we were almost nose-to-nose. “But I warn you, Phoe, if you aim Halloween at us—”
“Why do you think I want the Unwanted Bastards out of Merritt?”
Drake seemed relieved; he’d realised I was aiming my Halloween energy at someone else. In fact, I was rather insulted because Drake looked downright gleeful.
I tapped my nails on his desk and held Drake’s gaze. “Make the call, Drake,” I threatened, then straightened, smiled at him, and walked out, sashaying my hips.
As I left, I heard Drake mutter, “Thank God it’s not us this year.”
After closing Drake’s office door, I pulled out my phone and texted Nanci. With Nanci on my side, the Unwanted Bastards would leave Merritt for as long as I needed.
I entered my office at the clubhouse and said to Emily, “Halloween is on.”
Nanci
It was so annoying. Phoe point-blank refused to share any details with me. All Phoe had mentioned was that I deserved some Halloween surprises too. Surely that counted as bullying? After all, Merritt was my town. Nobody could claim I wasn’t being generous by allowing Phoe to run riot with it. I had to admit this could be quite fun. I would get to experience the event alongside the rest of the club.
With that in mind, I headed inside to convince Inglorious that it was necessary to accept Drake’s invitation to Rage MC. That meant the town would be empty when Phoe arrived to do what she needed. Which still made me wonder exactly what Phoe had planned. The annoying woman was keeping her cards close to her chest.
Inglorious had shared stories about some of Phoe’s earlier hijinks. Instead of scaring me, as I think he meant, it had the opposite effect. With a whole town to play with, Phoe’s imagination was free to run riot. And I couldn’t wait.
Demon - Three days after Rage MC get-together.
I followed Asgard as we jogged down Main St toward the theatre. Towards us, Bow jogged on the left, and Nightmare on the right. The rest of the club either worked out at the gym or didn’t bother because their job was physical. As we approached the grand old building, Asgard and I paused with a look of surprise on our faces. Well, at least mine had one.
Standing directly in front of the theatre was a guy about five-foot-six. He was stocky, slightly hunched, and wore an old white shirt and brown trousers. Over it all, he wore leather chaps, a gun belt wrapped around his waist, an old leather waistcoat, and a hat. A pipe hung from his mouth, and shaggy hair and scruffy beard framed his face. What paused Asgard and me in our tracks was that we could see right through him.
Bow noticed our expressions and stopped, turning toward what we were looking at. He gaped, then frowned. Nightmare stopped jogging and stared at the three of us.
“What?” he demanded, thinking we were staring at him.
Asgard raised his hand and pointed behind Mare. Mare turned around and stepped back, tripping over his feet and falling off the wooden walkway onto his ass.
“Nope, not possible,” Mare stated from where he landed.
“Howdy,” the figure said. Then he lifted a finger to his hat, tipped it, and faded.
“Nobody told me the town was haunted,” Mare accused.
“Because no ghost has appeared while we’ve lived here,” Chill said, appearing from the clubhouse. “What are you idiots talking about now?”
“We’ve got a ghost,” Asgard sing-songed.
Chill looked at Asgard in disbelief. “How much did you drink last night?”
“Nothing—you know I didn’t,” Asgard answered.
Bow stepped forward and scratched his chin. “Chill, we all saw the same thing.”
