Page 15 of Midnight Masquerade

"That is not his name."

"I swear to you, it is," I say, chuckling at her scandalized tone. "And judging by his epitaph, the name fit the man, unicorn."

"What does it say?"

"Damn you to hell."

She giggles softly.

"He was one of the original founders of Midnight Falls, but he was a cranky bastard by all accounts. He hated everyone, and everyone hated him. I'm not entirely sure if the epitaph was his idea or someone else's."

I cross the last few feet of the cemetery and step through the rusty gate on the far side, moving carefully through a copse of trees and into the lot beyond.

The headlights don't penetrate on this side, but an old streetlight shines down on the overgrown lot, enough for her to see what we came to see.

I position her just right and then press my lips to her ear. "You can open your eyes now, unicorn."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," I say, smiling.

She slowly lifts her head, glancing around.

"This is where the mansion was," I murmur, explaining. "The year after I fell, the town council voted to tear it down so no one else got hurt." Aside from an old stone foundation and a pile of rubble, nothing remains of the mansion. But the lot isn't empty. Not exactly.

"Why are there so many Halloween decorations, Drake?" she asks, looking from one display to another. "There have to be hundreds of them."

She's not wrong. Hundreds of the damn things litter the lot. Frankenstein is positioned so he looks like he's banging a masked serial killer from behind near a tree. A murderous, life-sized doll and a dummy in a Ghostface mask are sharing a beer on top of the pile of rubble. A group of zombies are playing soccer with a dead lady's head. Undead bears roast marshmallows on a pile of Halloween inflatables that no longer inflate. It's like every Halloween ghost, goblin, and bad guy decoration in town went rogue and claimed the goddamn lot.

I clear my throat, the tips of my ears burning. "I started stealing them out of yards right after they tore this place down," I confess. "But I didn't have anything to do with the damn things, so I just brought them here and dropped them off."

She turns to look up at me with wide eyes. "Youstoleall of these?"

"Not exactly," I mutter. "At first, I stole them out of the yards of the kids who bullied me. It was some petty revenge, I guess. I don't fucking know. But now, I just add one or two to the collection every year for the hell of it. The rest just kind of fucking show up." I run a hand down the back of my neck. "I don't know who else is stealing them and bringing them out here."

She covers her mouth with her hand, staring at me. And then a peal of laughter rings out around us. "Oh my gosh, Drake. You started a theft tradition! This whole place is a shrine to your thievery."

"I know! It's fucking awful," I groan, cringing. "I'm a goddamn criminal billionaire, unicorn. I started a theft revolution."

Another bright peal of laughter bursts from her lips, and fuck. I love that sounds so goddamn much.

I tangle my hand in her hair, dragging her mouth down to mine. Her laughter bleeds to a little whimper as I devour her lips, greedy and desperate.

She tastes so fucking good. I could kiss her like this all night and never grow tired of it. I want her taste branded on my senses. I want every damn second with her imprinted in my memory.

And I want her wrapped around my cock so badly it's ridiculous.

"Reach into my pocket, Madeline."

"Are you trying to get me to touch your dick again?"

"Only all night," I growl. "Reach into my pocket."

She shifts in my arms, reaching down to slip her hand into my pocket. The back of her knuckles grazes my erection before her fingers close around the tiny decoration I stole for her.

"Drake." She wrenches her mouth from mine, staring up at me with wide eyes as she drags her hand from my pocket. "Is this what I think it is?"

"It is." I grin at her. "I stole it before you decided to grab my cock. Figured if they bothered you so much, I'd at least get rid of one of them for you."

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