Page 67 of Ghosts of Halloween

We freak out together, comparing notes. Each of us has the same awareness branded into our minds—we are here because we swore to protect Harlow, and at some point in the future, her life will be in danger. In this very house. We’re not trapped here because it’s where we died. We’re stuck because this is where we’re supposed to fulfill our vow.

As we slowly come to terms with our freaky reality, I explain what I heard when I lay on the floor, bleeding my guts out after being shot. We’re trapped because of Harlow, yes, but that’s on us. We promised.

But we’re dead because of her, too, and it’s purely her fault.

“Fuck,” Jack groans, his voice as creepy as Caden’s as he paces, his feet an inch above the floor. “I’ll kill that bitch. I’ll fucking kill her the moment she comes here so I can leave this fucking place.”

His fury soothes mine, and I feel myself becoming more smoky, body growing vague, sensations smoother and less immediate.

“No,” Caden says. When I look over, intending to argue with him, the hungry glint in his eye stops me. It’s his turn to become more solid, the smoke fluttering around his edges curling in, until a discolored and half-transparent, but otherwise normal, version of Caden stands before me. “She’s our unfinished business. I say we finish it. On our terms. I’ll take it all out of her body when she comes here. No brakes.”

Jack rounds on him, somehow less smoky than us, his determined expression clear as he scowls at Caden.

“You’re nuts if you think I’ll share.”

“No one wants to fuck your girlfriend,” I cut in mockingly, sending Caden a furious look when it seems like he’s about to fight Jack on this. Caden’smine.I’m not sharing him. “We’ll fucking kill her so we can leave this place. So we can move on. You feel this, don’t you? As long as she’s alive, we’re tied to her. She must be cut loose. That’s how we’ll get free.”

Anger and uncertainty flit over Jack’s face, and Caden gives me a wolfish grin, a bit of color rushing into his form until he looks like a sepia photograph.

“Let’s make a plan, gentlemen,” he says, growing more solid with every word. “We’ll deal with our unfinished business. On our fucking terms.”

The look on his face, that cunning, amused twist of his gorgeous mouth, stabs me like a knife. The pain I feel is overwhelming when I realize that I’ll never get to touch Caden again. I’ll never be able to kiss him. We’ll never cuddle under the covers, pretending nothing exists but us. I’ll never fall asleep soothed by his gentle, caring fingers. He’ll never kiss my knuckles and press me close when no one watches.

We’re dead and bodiless. And after we deal with ourunfinished business… we’ll be gone. Because wherever we go, it will never be back to life. Back to our bodies that fit so perfectly together.

I feel my entire being wavering and growing looser when pathetic misery twists me into pieces.Fuck.I’ll never hold his hand. We’ll never kiss again.

“Silas?” Caden asks, his voice coming from afar. “Fuck, baby. What’s wrong? You’re disappearing.”

I force my pain down, looking up just in time to see Caden crashing into me. I fully expect him to go through me, our bodies flowing past each other like smoke, insubstantial and unable to touch, but that’s not what happens.

I feel phantom fingers pressing to my cheeks. Echoes of Caden’s touch, at once hot and cold, fly over my chin and the back of my head, and then, his transparent mouth crashes into mine, his taste distorted, yet just as I remember it when our tongues meet in a frantic, desperate kiss.

So at least I have this,I think as I let go of everything, getting lost in the sensation of Caden’s spirit pressing into mine.It’s not as good as the real thing. Not even half as good. But I’ll take it.

We kiss until Jack makes a disgruntled noise, and we break apart. Then all three of us glide to the open door to watch as the ambulance and police cars drive away, taking our bodies and leaving our souls behind.

A cold, powerful hunger for Harlow’s blood settles in my stomach as I reach for Caden again, his fingers not as warm as they used to be, his mouth not as soft, his smell not as familiar. Caden’s ghost is a poor substitution for his living body, and I struggle with my grief before it overtakes me. I lost almost everything last night, only echoes of my happiness remaining, and it’s all Harlow’s fault.

She’ll pay for everything I lost because of her.

39

Caden

Jack holds my little bird, partly comforting, partly restraining her, I think. He doesn’t want her to fly off the handle again, and I don’t either. This entire night is already overwhelming. So much rides on what happens—not just our lives, but eternity. I try not to think about the stakes, because it makes my gut clench with unease.

Even so, I cherish the feeling. I’ve been just a wisp of smoke for two years, all sensations just faint, unsatisfying echoes of what they’d been in reality. This night, when we have our bodies back, is a gift.

But that makes it so much harder to stay focused. Even now, my cock twitches when I look at Jack’s tanned hands sliding slowly down Harlow’s back. I fucked Silas and her tonight, and still, it’s not enough. Not after two years of depressing, ghostly existence.

Silas slouches against the wall, his hands in his pockets, one knee bent, his foot pressing to the wall. His dark eyes glitter, reflecting candlelight, and I have an urge to go to him and just hold him or, better yet, let him fuck me into the floor one last time.

God, I’m insatiable today.

Instead, I force my body to cool down and clear my throat, looking at Harlow.

“The promise we made kept us here to save you,” I tell her. “After we died, we woke up with the knowledge that your life would be in danger here,though we didn’t know when. That’s why we couldn’t leave. Not because we died here, but because you would have—if not for us.”

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