CHAPTER 164

The others bade him farewell as he picked up the backpack he had prepared for this trip. When he made it down the hill to the gate, Beth was waiting to see him off.

"Good luck," she told him. "Sorry I couldn't find out more about the geas, or your contract with the queen."

He smiled. "Learning about Samhain was more than enough. I'm leaving you in charge. Make sure Tink brushes her teeth, and no parties. It is Halloween, after all."

She laughed. "Do you suppose we should let her go trick or treating? She could pass for a kid in a costume."

"If you can get her to actually wear underwear, then maybe." He looked up the hill at Tink, who was busy with a giant spool of electrical cable. She was almost done rewiring the house, but the large industrial spool of wire she had ordered by accident had been way more than she needed. She was using it as a spare table now, and he couldn't help noticing that she kept it pretty far from the edge of the roof. "But I did see the giant bag of candy hidden in the back of the pantry. I assume you bought it?"

Beth smiled. "Like you said, It is Halloween. I don't expect anyone to come to the door, but you never know. When I was a kid, this neighborhood always had the best candy, and some years, a few kids would be brave enough to ring the bell. Maybe this year, someone will answer."

Mike nodded, wondering if Beth would wear a costume. Would it be something cute? Maybe something simple, like cat ears and a tail? Would that piss Kisa off?

"Guess I'm headed out." He didn't know whether to hug her or shake her hand, and the moment was quickly becoming awkward. She seemed so distant recently, and that insecure part of him kept crying out that she saw him as a failure.

It really shouldn't matter, but he couldn't shake the idea that she might not value his company. Maybe it was just that she was happy enough with Asterion and Sulyvahn, but it wasn't something he could just come out and ask her.

He offered her a slight wave and unlocked the gate, then stepped through. Once on the other side, he passed the key back through and watched Beth lock the gate.

"You sure about this?" she asked.

He nodded. "I don't want anything coming out while I'm gone. Besides, if everything goes well, Cecilia will bring me back the regular way. If not..." he shrugged. "Try not to let the next disaster get you down if you fuck it up. Gotta keep trying and all that."

"Is that another one of your boy scout mottos?"

"Uh...no. Just good advice is all. Gotta go. Got a date with a banshee." He turned away from her and walked into the woods. Once the mist gobbled up the gate behind him, he put his fingers into his mouth and blew a loud whistle.

"Date with a banshee, really?" Lily stepped around a nearby tree. "Shit, watching you two is like watching shitty prime-time TV."

Mike startled, then put a hand to his chest and let out a breath. "Really? From behind a tree?"

"Trick or treat, Romeo." She moved next to him and put her hand over his. "That was the trick. The treat is that I'm coming with you on your little trip. Just to the gate, anyway."

"I thought you couldn't?"

She shrugged. "I changed my mind. My presence might attract demons, but I'm also going to be riding with you on the back of Cerberus. Even if they show up, they'll hightail it out of there. Besides, I figured we could chat."

"About?"

Lily transformed into Beth, then pressed herself against him. "So, Mr. Radley, do you wanna fuck or what?"

Mike's stomach dropped, and he turned around to make sure that the gate was still a good distance behind them. What if Beth heard? "What are you doing?" he asked in a hushed town.

Lily was herself again, and she rolled her eyes. "Please. Watching you two pine over each other is giving me blue balls. Let's talk about us, instead." A grin appeared on her face, but then faltered when a giant shadow manifested in the mist.

Cerberus had arrived.

"Hello," Mike said, stopping to scratch each head. Cerberus soaked up the attention, but threw Lily a trio of dirty looks.

"Play nice," he warned her, eliciting a whimper from one of the heads.

"Someone is learning," Lily muttered behind him, but he ignored her.

"Let's hunt for some wayward spirits," he said, then pulled himself up by Cerberus' shaggy mane until he sat behind their shoulders. He stuck a hand out for Lily, then hauled her up to sit behind him.

Cerberus wandered into the woods, leaving the mortal realm far behind. They were on the prowl, which meant Cerberus would stop on occasion to sniff the ground, then change directions. Lily's hands were tight on Mike's belly as they moved through the mists of the Underworld, and he was suddenly very aware of how her hands kept sliding lower toward his crotch.

"So how long do we do this?" she asked. "Seems kind of like we're walking around with your dick in our hands."

Not yet, he thought to himself, thinking of her slender fingers. "Samhain is supposed to start at sundown, and I figured if we left a little bit early, it would increase our odds of seeing the spirits as they come through. Honestly, I don't know what to expect, but—"

A ball of light formed in the mist off to their left and then rocketed past, blipping out of existence just past his shoulder. Cerberus lifted their heads and sniffed, then turned toward where the ball had come from.

"Was that a spirit?" he asked.

"Fairly certain it was fae. The boundary's thin, but the fae are more powerful. Any spirits hanging about likely won't come out until tomorrow." She leaned forward over his shoulder to reveal that her face was now painted in black and white, making it look like a skull. "Dia de los Muertos, mi rey."

He understood the first part. "Day of the dead. It's tomorrow."