Page 70 of Real Fake Hauntings

“You aren’t with the shifters?” I asked, confused. As far as I knew, the pack’s shifters were really into their Halloween preparations for Garreth the Hound.

“We are shifters, boss,” Alex said jovially.

I pointed at him with mock severity. “Don’t make me curse you. The pack’s shifters.”

He laughed as Natalia crossed her arms, her expression growing thunderous. “They’re idiots.”

Remembering what I knew about the shifter teens, I wasn’t about to dispute that. “I see.”

“They wouldn’t let me play Garreth,” she spat out.

I winced. “Boys’ club, huh?”

“They’re such sexists! It’s not like anyone’s going to go around checking our private parts.”

“You are absolutely right,” I said. “Why shouldn’t anyone get to play Garreth?”

“Exactly,” she exclaimed. “Alex said I could help out, and you’d let me play Garreth.”

I looked at Ian, searching for advice, but he put up his hands and said, “Your tour, boss.”

“We broke the shifts into three,” Shane said. “We’ll howl at certain spots during each tour and make an appearance at the end between two graves.”

Alex and Natalia nodded.

“Yeah, boss,” Alex said. “It’s all taken care of.”

“You okay with this?” I asked of Key.

She also nodded, reluctant to speak up. As if realizing what she was doing, she cleared her throat and straightened her spine. “It’s all good, boss.”

“Hope. The name is Hope.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Shane drawled.

“I’m going to take care of the tickets when I’m not on my Garreth shift,” Natalia said proudly. “I’m good with money. I worked at one of the pack stores this summer.”

“No fangs, no claws,” I warned her. “If we get drunks trying to sneak in or steal something, you call for reinforcements.”

Her gaze shifted sideways. “Sure thing, boss.”

Oh, boy.

Alex grinned. “No worries. We got it covered.”

I wondered if they had stolen some freezing or memory potions from someone in case there was trouble.

Better not to ask.

“What about your friend?” I asked Alex.

“We have Allan hiding and ready to scare people,” he said. “We got Rachel too. She’s going to play the scary murdered lady from the Three Sisters since Jim gave the role to someone else this year.”

“That asshole,” came a faint shout from farther inside the cemetery.

Shane showed me a small microphone clipped to his jacket. “We got comms going.”

“Excellent.” Rubbing my hands, I smiled at the group. “Let’s get this started, then.”

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