Page 12 of Phantom’s Mate

Something twisted inside Nick.

Hey, Brock said to him, speaking mind-to-mind the way Nick had. You okay?

I’m fine. I just have some ghostly shit going on.

Brock gazed at him speculatively, but he didn’t press it. Okay. You hanging out for the barbecue?

Maybe. He knew Brock wanted him to—Brock felt as left out as he did with everyone paired off. But he didn’t know if he was in the mood.

Titan came up, carrying Mari, her arms linked behind his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. “Hi, Nick,” she said. “Did you see my epic debut as a bowling ball?”

Mari knew some sign language, and she was in the process of teaching it to him and the others. He signed,

She giggled. “Roly-poly for the win!” She held up her hand and he high-fived her, putting some mental juice into it so she could feel it.

Titan frowned, looking at him. Are you okay? he mouthed.

Seriously? Why was everyone asking that? Did he have a sign on his forehead or something?

he signed, using extra emphasis.

“If you say so. Barbecue and football?”

Nick shrugged.

“Brandon!” Brock called. “Convince Nick to stay for the barbecue.”

Brandon and Kitty detached themselves from the crowd. Kitty and some of the others had never been able to see him before, but whatever the panther god had done to allow him to be human, also made him visible to the entire crew. “Come on,” she coaxed. “You know you want to.”

“Yeah, come on,” Brandon said. He cocked his head, eyes narrowing as he looked at Nick. “Dude. Are you—”

Nick lost it. he signed as big as he could. Then he stomped off across the parking area, heading up the hill towards Titan’s cabin.

Chapter 7

Nick threaded his way through the stone sculptures that dotted Titan’s yard. Half of them were demons the big guy had carved during his dark period, and which Mari had adorned with colored Christmas lights and Santa hats.

Now that Titan was in love, his sculptures were less terrifying. Nick noted that he’d added a small birdbath held up by a panda, and an impish goblin.

It seemed as if his friend had finally laid his demons to rest.

Nick ignored the giant rubber porch duck dressed as a Christmas tree, and sat down on the porch swing, doing some serious brooding and possibly a little sulking. That got old pretty fast, so he began amusing himself by levitating small stones out of the yard and juggling them in intricate patterns with his mind.

He should probably go back down and hang with the crew, but he somehow couldn’t bring himself to. He still felt… fuck. He didn’t know what he felt. He wasn’t used to having all these feelings. When he was alive, he’d managed to block most of them out. Focus on whatever mission he was on.

After a while, Titan came up the hill and climbed the porch steps, leaning his hips against the railing opposite Nick.

“So,” Titan said in his low, soothing voice. “How you doing?”

Nick signed.

A small smile lifted the corner of Titan’s mouth. “So, everything’s fine, I take it?”

Titan slipped partway into the spirit world—one of his special powers as a former shaman of his clan. When he was there, he and Nick could talk normally.

Concentrating on his spinning stones, Nick said, “When did you all turn from predator shifters into a fucking therapy group?”

“When we bonded. And got mates.”