Page 89 of The HalloQueen

“I post myself less dressed than this on the internet on a daily basis. Don’t be going all caveman on me now.”

He grumbled something in French that I didn’t understand as the doorbell rang and I patted his chest, heading to answer it.

“If you let us stay home I will fuck you all night! Straight into the mattress!” He called after me and I laughed.

“You’ll do that anyway. Come on, we’re living a little.” I opened the door to the most voluptuous and slutty Scooby Doo I’d ever seen, and a perfectly lanky Shaggy.

“Slutty Scooby! I love it!” I grinned and pulled her into a hug, holding her close for a moment longer than usual. After almost losing Thomas, I found myself offering affection more freely to those I cared about. I released her and gave Trae a side hug, “Hey Shaggy.”

Shannon grinned, “Hi Bels, come on, I need to get hammered and celebrate that Jake has two sugar-high kids tonight while I get to go out and enjoy my evening.”

Thomas chuckled, embracing Shannon too, “Did the girls have a good Halloween?”

“Oh yeah, Annie was perfectly at home as a Queen and Emily was a very reasonable Unicorn. Even let Annie pretend to ride her a few times.”

I laughed, imagining Annie, who had always been the bossy one, manipulating her little sister into thinking that was somehow a great idea. “Did they get a lot of candy?”

“Oh yeah, we took them to four different neighborhoods. Jake is in for a terrible weekend.” Trae beamed alongside her, rubbing her arm, “Should we go? Looks like the car is just around the corner.”

We laughed and joked as we headed out onto the street, noting the few straggling kids out after trick-or-treating hours, and proceeded to drink our way through all five witch-themed bars and breweries that Quaker’s Wharf had to offer. After far too much booze, dancing, and laughter, Shannon and Trae disappeared into the night, leaving me and my vamp to wander the streets of the town.

“Thank you for coming out tonight. I know you’re a million years old and cranky, but you’re going to have to start acting like a thirty-year-old.” I wrapped my arm around his waist, leaning into him while I dug through my purse for a concoction that removed hangovers that my Mom had casually slipped me the other day.

“And what do thirty-year-olds do that I don’t?” His dark eyes sparkled like the night sky and had taken my breath away so many times in the past few weeks after I thought I’d never see them shine again.

“They make stupid drunk decisions with their girlfriends.” I grinned up at him and moaned at the touch of his mouth on mine, drawing his tongue into me, playfully teasing each other and stumbling along the sidewalk.

“Ah, you forget,amour, that I can’t get drunk. Only you get to blame your decisions on alcohol consumption.”

I bit my lip and leaned up to grab his face, pulling it back to me and kissing him again before realizing that we had wandered all the way to the graveyard that backed up to a large plot of woods and then the beach beyond.

“So I get to make bad enough decisions for both of us?” I cupped him through his pants and he hissed.

“Annabel, what are you planning my troublesome witch?”

I shrugged, stepping backward away from him, “Just wanting to feel alive.”

He arched his thick brow, “and how do you propose we do thatchérie?”

“Chase me.”

“What?” He laughed like I was kidding, “Come on, let’s go home.”

Shaking my head, I took another step back, “non mon corbeau, you are going to have to catch me if you want me to go home with you.”

“I can see in the dark better than you and the bond will lead me to you anyway, it’s not a fair chase.”

“See how much I care, Frenchie. Sing yourself a pretty song and then come and get me.”

“Annabel, you’re not going to like what happens when I catch you -”

“Says who? Come get me, bird boy!” I squealed, laughing and stumbling through the cemetery gate, weaving my way through the stones as the moon cast ominous shadows behind each one. It had rained that afternoon, like most fall days, and it made the moonlight reflect brightly off the asphalt and rocks, lighting my way enough that I didn’t feel entirely like I was running in the dark, but the shadows did make it feel slightly like I was running in that scene in Snow White where the trees are attacking her. If I wasn’t careful, I would crack my neck. At least I knew he would find me if I hurt myself.

My breaths were coming hard enough that they created puffs of fog in front of me. It had been getting progressively colder and it was obvious that winter was coming. I could only hope that he’d fuck me against a tree or let me be on top so I wouldn’t freeze to death in the wet leaves. He would have to fuck me when he found me - that was the point of the game, right? I reached the trees right as I heard the flap of giant wings behind me and I squealed.

“Shapeshifting is cheating!” I yelled darting deeper into the woods, each stick making horrifically loud snaps as I stepped on them, and they scratched up my calves as I lifted my cheap red velour dress so I wouldn’t trip. A shadow passed overhead and he materialized in front of me.

Thomas stood tall and grinned, “You said no such thing. That wasn’t in the rules.”

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