Page 1 of Trick Knot Treat

Chapter 1

Khione

The calls of the gulls are too hard to resist. I gather my hair up onto my head, set my paintbrush down and walk out onto the porch. Answering the summons of the gorgeous sunset is easy; ignoring my loneliness is much harder. Work can wait, the rocks aren’t going anywhere. The door creaks behind me as it finally shuts, but it’s the only break in the monotonous serenity of Sunshine Cove. The sky is streaked with orange and reds, it’s not summer yet, but we can all feel it coming.

The heat that will bake the earth is shimmering like a whisper in the sun’s rays. The world is getting warmer, the blue skies are constant, the nights are full of stars. There’s no need for jackets or jeans, just a long shirt over a singlet and shorts.

Spring is a welcome distraction from the winter that is leaving us. It’s the breeding season where birds of all sorts have eggs or offspring, the male koalas let out hideously terrifying barks at night. Snakes are spotted entwined together and given wide berth, but the sheep have babies, and the cattle, the roos have joeys at foot, and there are flowers dancing among the thick grasses that turned from yellow to green over the winter.

And to add to all that excitement, we have Halloween, not that they normally celebrate it here in Sunshine Cove, but Lorelei and the Pack Makers have changed all that. For the first time in Sunshine Cove’s history, Halloween will not just be celebrated but become the focal point for the newest pack-making event.

“Trick Knot Treat is the reason I have been holed up in my rented house for days, painting pumpkins and skulls on rocks the size of golf balls. I am sorry for letting you down. We can play later, though?”

The seagull fluffs its feathers.

I’m so distracted I almost miss the tiny gift left on the porch steps. I crouch down and pick it up.

It’s a couple of pink roses tied with a blue ribbon.

“This is so sweet,” I coo.

The seagull shrieks back.

“You know, my brain and everything my dad drummed into me says that I’m crazy, but I love these presents. There’s something nice about getting a gift from a complete stranger, even if it could very well be Mr Grandsman, who lives down the road and ambles past with a heartbroken expression and his advanced age, don’t you think?” I pause for a reaction. Nothing. “Pfft, what would you know?”

The gull cocks its head to the side. I don’t know for certain, but I think this is the Sully. The infamous seagull that has become a pack making sensation.

“Dad would kill me if he heard me. He is all about strangers being dangers. Very overprotective. But,” I pause to giggle. “The thought is both terrifying and exhilarating. Like I have a secret. Something special just for me. I’ll remember the feeling forever, of waking up and finding a paintbrush or a chocolate. He left a coffee once. He’s a gentleman stalker.”

The bird gives me a look that clearly says I’m crazy.

“You can’t judge me, you keep stalking me, too. Though I think the two of you are the only ones who see through my disguise.”

I bring the flowers inside and set them on my desk, right next to the last stone that needs to be painted. This one is about the size of a chicken’s egg, but flat. I’ve painted it black and then, with the tiniest of paintbrushes, brought a jack-o'-lantern to life on it. It’s creepy and cute and one of a set of four.

I don’t place the orders, nor do I know who is going to get them, but Lorelei assures me that it’s all worked out ahead of time. The matches are matched already.

“Did you really help pick the matches?” I look over my shoulder at the bird that has followed me into my home.

Lorelei said they actually took the chart down to the beach and showed the seagull to get approval. It all sounds a bit wishy washy to me.

The gull picks its ass with its beak.

“You are such a charmer.” I sigh heavily, wishing that strange and horrible feeling of being outside looking in would go away. “Don’t be ridiculous, Khione, you just wish it was you receiving one of those stones.”

Which is ridiculous because I’m lucky to even have this job. Lorelei Sol doesn’t even remember my name. She keeps calling me Kylie or some other K name depending on the day. I’m not sure anyone else in Sunshine Cove has even noticed that I exist, with one exception who should be here, very shortly. I speak and people walk past me.

“I am a ghost,” I tell the bird. “It’s just everywhere else, I’m the center of attention, people always see me. Except here, where I want them to.”

I shrug out of my jacket and sit on my stool, bending close over the stone, until I’m happy that every single stroke is perfect. Only then do I set it aside and stretch, cracking my knuckles.

Sully is gone, and it’s full dark now.

There’s a knock at my front door that I have been expecting for hours, so I don’t rush to turn, instead, I listen as he comes stomping in.

Zaire is huge. Tall and wide with mouthwatering muscles and a scowl that terrifies small children. He is my only friend in this town.

“Zaire Bear.”