Page 127 of Trick Knot Treat

I turn and find the black dress that is little more than a scrap of material that will hug me from my breasts to just below my cheeks. But Sofia holds out a pair of black cat ears and a long, fluffy tail.

“Oh, yes,” I sing and take it all, going behind the curtains to get dressed. When I come out, she helps me with my makeup, then secures the mask.

“Ready for this?”

“More than ready.”

“Good.”

I look in the mirror and smile, this is more like it. I bite my crimson lip and then laugh.

When I walk out, the skeletons send us down Main Street to stand near the café, waiting in a line for our lovers to come.

“This date is going to be the absolute and ultimate test,” the witch, who is one of the Pack Makers, says into the microphone.

I frown, confused.

“Your pack is going to come in, and they are going to try to identify you by scent. If that fails, they can ask you to say one sentence that does not identify you, and finally, they can ask you one question. Simple, right? Wrong! This is not going to be easy.”

The crowds have thinned, mainly because they’ve been moved so they are watching from the sides. But without all the people, I can see all the hand-carved pumpkins glowing with firelight. There are skeletons dancing. Little ghouls hanging on lines of fairy lights. It’s orange and black themed with streamers and beautiful paintings etched onto the glass of all the stores.

Cobwebs hold gold spiders. Everyone is dressed up. It’s incredible.

“Bring in the matches!”

They come in, and with a groaned laugh, I find that they are all dressed up, too, and mixed up by the looks because I can’t tell if Zaire, Clint, Felix, or Jace are even there.

Nerves hit me. Will they recognise me?

“Line up and take a walk. If you find your match, step out of line in front of them and claim them,” the witch cackles.

“WAIT!” Sofia calls out and then laughs. It’s a diabolical laugh. “You didn’t think we’d make it that easy for you?”

A hose turns on, and we’re all doused in scent neutralizer.

My hopes of an easy win disappear.

“Hey, Trick Knot Treat matches? Go for it. Find your happy ever after.”

I grumble under my breath.

They walk past, and I think I recognise Clint, but only because he’s so determinedly avoiding my gaze. No, he will see me, and it will all be okay. It’s going to work out.

Except, Clint has been gone. Oh, he’s been present, but he’s taken an emotional step back from me.

They all do a lap, and only a couple of people have stepped out of line. No one in front of me. I’m disappointed but not overly.

“Okay. Now, we want to hear you speak. We’re going to give you famous lines from the scariest books of all time. All the people who stepped out of line, you can’t move now. You have to stay where you are.”

Down the line, one by one, we say a sentence.

“Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken.”

I repeat the words and two step out of line and come and stand in front of me. I am one hundred percent sure I recognise Felix, dressed as a skeleton, and Zaire with a purge mask on and wearing flannel, but I just smile and look down at my hands, watching the guys through my lashes.

They finally get to the other end.

There are only a dozen or so people still left in the line.