Page 27 of The Queen of Nightmares

“That’s what she said,” Barrel snickered, letting out an oof when Doc elbowed him in the ribs. “Hey, man. Watch the goods. I’ve got a date later with a hot brunette,” he said as he massaged the area.

“Yeah?” Shock asked with a grin. “Is her name Palm-ela?”

We all laughed as Barrel smirked. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. No need for self-love when the ladies crave all this.” He gestured down his body before making a crude gesture at his crotch. I groaned as he laughed uproariously.

“What are you? Twelve?”

He winked at me with a smirk. “I haven’t measured, but I have it on good authority that…”

“Shut the fuck up, Barrel. My woman doesn’t need to know how tiny your cock is,” Jack growled, cutting off Barrel before he could go into any kind of detail.

“Anyway,” Kara spoke up, putting an end to the jokes. “Over there is where they have pumpkin carving during fall. It’s obviously too cold for that, so they have cookie decorating instead.” She pointed to a smaller tent, which had a few children laughing as they used giant bags of colorful frosting to draw on some rather large cookies. I couldn’t tell the shapes from where we were standing, but it was a fair assumption that they were probably pumpkins.

“That building is where all the locals can sell homemade goods like pies or preserves. One of the farms even has honey for sale.”

“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had honey that wasn’t in a little plastic bear.” I was impressed and excited to explore. I could also see a small play area for the kids and couldn’t wait to bring my own child once they were old enough to enjoy it.

Jack draped his arm over my shoulders as I sipped at my rapidly cooling cider. “We’ll get some honey before we go home.”

I beamed up at him. “Yay!” My stomach did a twist when he smirked down at me and gave me a wink. God, he was just so handsome.

Kara chucked her empty cup in the closest trash can and then rubbed her gloved hands together. “Okay, there obviously isn’t nearly as much to do since it’s now winter and absolutely fucking cold, but I’m sure we’ll be ready to call it a day by the time we make it through the maze. I can’t wait for you to see all the spooky Christmas decorations inside. It’s great! There will be bloody toys and Santa with an axe.” She turned to me. “Are you ready?”

I gulped down the last of my apple cider, letting Jack take the paper cup from me before I could throw it away for myself. “Yep! I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“We go together.” Jack’s deep, gravelly tone was firm. “You stay with me at all times.”

“Of course I will.” I agreed quickly. I had made a promise, and I trusted his judgment. I already felt terrible that I had pushed to be here when he didn’t think it was a good idea. Just the thought of why had me looking around nervously. Dr. Stein could be anywhere between here and California. He already knew where the town was. His only issues were traveling while trying to stay off the radar of law enforcement and his mobility. I hoped his knees were giving him hell.

Kara’s expression hardened at Jack’s words, and I grimaced. I really didn’t want her to think that all he did was make demands of me. I knew that’s what she had mostly seen of our relationship, and it made it hard to convince her he wasn’t overbearing. Or an abuser. I left his side to take her arm with mine this time. I leaned closer so I could whisper low enough that only she could hear.

“He’s really worried about my safety right now, that’s all.”

She tugged me forward and started walking toward the entrance to the maze. I glanced behind me to see Jack scowling at where Kara and I were connected. I gave him a quick smile, but it didn’t seem to pacify him any. I knew he’d prefer it if I were next to him instead, but he could compromise just a little. He could protect just as well from five feet away as he could two.

We passed empty stands on our way to the maze, and I wondered what was usually there. I was excited to come back next year when everything was set up. I could imagine face painting for the kids, or vendor stalls, selling Halloween or pumpkin themed items. I only hoped all the threats were gone by then. I ran my fingers over the slight swell of my belly and smiled. Next Halloween, Jack and I would have a baby to bring.

ChapterTwenty

THE QUEEN OF NIGHTMARES

We stepped up to the entrance to the maze and waited while Jack paid for everyone to enter. I held out my hand for a bright orange pumpkin shaped stamp. I was going to wait for the guys to get their stamps, too, but Kara immediately started pulling me through the first row of corn stalks. I looked back to make sure Jack stayed in sight.

“Relax. Geez, we are only a fucking foot away.” Kara’s annoyed tone took me aback. I hadn’t expected her to still be so irritated with Jack after I told her how worried he was.

“Kara, I told you. Jack’s worried about my safety. There’s a lot going on right now that you don’t know about. He just doesn’t want anything to happen to me. Especially after what happened a couple of months ago.”

She blew out a heavy breath, then turned her head to glance at me quickly with a forced smile before looking back at the path in front of us. “I get it. But don’t you think he goes too far? I mean, look how controlling he is.”

I was already shaking my head before she finished speaking. “No. He doesn’t control me, Kara. I swear he doesn’t. He just… I don’t know. It’s a scary time right now. I think he feels like everything is out of his control. He can’t stop the threats and is worried that I could be attacked at any time.”

Kara stiffened, her whole body turning rigid at my words. I hurried to reassure her. “You aren’t in danger by being around me, I promise. Besides, Jack made sure the whole place was as secure as possible before he let me come.”

Alright, my last words probably played right into her concerns, but I didn’t care. I trusted Jack. That was all that mattered. I looked back again and realized I could barely see the top of Jack’s head. He was going to start getting pissed if I didn’t slow down to let him catch up. Right on cue, I heard him call out, telling me to stop.

I turned to Kara to let her know we needed to slow down, but the words froze, my throat constricting until there was nothing but a strangled sound. Kara’s free hand that wasn’t looped through my arm had a gun pointed right at my side. Her now gloveless hand had a firm hold on the trigger. Flashbacks of the last time I was threatened with a gun had my vision going spotty, and I swayed on my feet at the sudden lightheadedness.

“Call out to him. Tell him you’re fine, or I’ll shoot him.” This wasn’t the Kara I knew and had come to care about. Her eyes were cold as they focused on me, and I knew then that she wasn’t bluffing.

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