Page 1 of Unhallowed Murder (A Paranormal Halloween #2)
Chapter One
Josef looked in the mirror and shook his head. How had he let Kendra and Fawn talk him into this? Dress slacks, no shirt, and these insane plastic fangs. Was this really how society expected a modern-day vampire to dress? At least the historical vampires were clothed respectably.
He heard the laughter of old friends on his way down the staircase and smiled despite himself.
Abbott with Spence, Kendra with Eric, and he and Fawn weren’t an item, but it was nice neither would feel like a fifth wheel.
He loved seeing the light in Kendra’s eyes once again — Eric had given her a reason to find joy in life, and while Abbott hadn’t needed a reason, he, too, was much happier with Spence by his side.
Josef didn’t need a partner to give him purpose.
His job was to keep his coterie, his family, safe.
He was head of security, and while the buck might stop with Abbott, Josef ran their security team of werewolves and tech geeks.
The tech geeks were a new addition, but Josef had learned to roll with society’s changes over the millennia he’d lived.
He hugged Kendra, Fawn, and Spencer, shook Eric’s hand, and gave Abbott a small bow — enough to show respect to the Master Vampire without being over the top. Josef grew up in the military and appreciated knowing the chain of command. Such things were important.
Abbott and Spencer were dressed as vampires from the twelfth century, with Abbott as high royalty, and Spencer as a young man. Their scent clearly told him Spencer likely wore a plug and some kind of chastity device so the young wolf couldn’t touch himself or get hard.
Kendra and Eric were dressed as if from the fourteenth century — Kendra as a queen and Eric as her loyal knight. Josef was aware the two often switched up their power exchange relationship, which meant Kendra would likely be in charge when they enjoyed themselves in private later.
Fawn’s outrageous ball gown made her look like a Disney princess, complete with tiny waist and too-perfect hair. She’d gone so far as to add extra red on her lips, dripping down as if she were a messy eater. Delicate little Fawn never made a mess with her meals.
And Josef had at least managed to be a modern-day vampire. They’d wanted him to dress in a roman general’s attire, which was fitting, but he had no desire to go back to that time. The shoes are so much more comfortable in this century.
“Are we ready, then?” Abbott asked, his hand on Spence’s back.
“We can all fit in my Q7,” said Josef. “We should take it instead of the limo, so we don’t draw so much attention.” At Abbott’s nod, Josef stepped back to allow Abbott and Spence to exit the room first.
As with all holidays, Halloween had drastically changed over the centuries. Josef tended to be cynical about these made-up social constructs, but he’d agreed to take his shirt off and spend the evening with the other leaders of his coterie. His family.
They started at a Haunted Hill not too far from the coterie house, and then drove north of the city to a Haunted Corn Maze. They’d do Dread Hollow later, and the haunted show inside the Ruby Falls caverns last.
Josef smelled a dead body on the walk from parking lot to corn maze, but barely gave it a second thought. From the smell, the person had died the night before, but he didn’t recognize the human’s scent so it wasn’t his concern. They were there to have fun.