“Thanks for your help, babe. I don’t know why you always make me be the bad guy,” Chander said as he glanced up at Alaric with a disgruntled expression.
“I don’t know why you feel a need to complain; you had everything in hand. Bax is leaving the candy here and will have to be content with fancy apples.”
“The point is, we’re supposed to be in this together.”
“I could not say anything, as I agreed that the candy appeared quite tasty.”
“Sentinels,” Chander muttered as he dragged Alaric to the register while Brynnius followed them.
Chapter 4
Using his dagger, Skeleton Lord Cassius Daray cut carefully in as circular a fashion as he could manage on the top of his pumpkin around the stem. He’d planned on finding the biggest gourd in the patch, but the white one glimmering in the sun between all his orange pals had spoken to Cassius. Without a single regret in the change of plans, Cassius still had every intention of winning the carving contest his family was currently undertaking. While Cassius hadn’t wanted to do one of the fancy kits, he’d surrendered when an elf design caught his eye.
A white pumpkin was the perfect way to showcase the magnificent elf who, along with his mate, ruled the Council of Sorcery and Shifters. Cassius hoped His Majesty, Emperor Ellery Draconis, would be pleased by the likeness, and he redoubled his efforts to do the best job he possibly could in carving. Once he completed the loop, Cassius applied some of his abundant strength to lift the lid. It popped out of the pumpkin with a weird, wet sound, and Cassius peered into a cavern full of seeds.
“Arvandus, what is this shit?”
“How do you think Brynn makes us pumpkin pies? It comes from the inside of a pumpkin. Scoop that shit out, and you can do your design.”
“Save everything. Or at the very least, the seeds, please,” Brynnius pleaded.
Cassius would never let him down, so he took the spoon from Victor, who was hovering close, trying to ensure they didn’t make too much of a mess—even though he’d lined the entire kitchen, it appeared, with newspaper. The cat shifter hadn’t picked a single gourd that was large enough to cut into, so he had markers and other art supplies at the ready to decorate them.
“This is quite disgusting,” Alaric intoned as he too was scooping out his pumpkin’s innards.
“Arvandus and Albrecht failed to mention this step,” Ducarius stated.
“Because it is a minor issue and only takes a few minutes,” Albrecht defended.
“Besides, we’ve carved ours for years. You should’ve seen us doing this,” Arvandus pointed out.
Cassius figured he must not have paid attention, but it certainly wasn’t that big of a deal. He got the seeds and other stringy stuff into the giant bowl Victor set out. Then he went to the sink and cleaned up the yuck left behind on his pretty pumpkin.
“Make sure it’s completely dry before you tape on your design,” Arvandus instructed.
“Cass didn’t get a kit. He’s a renegade like most of us,” Baxter snarked.
“I did buy one,” Cassius revealed. “I wasn’t going to, but the design matches my pumpkin, so I did.”
“All the more incentive for me to get the win,” Baxter remarked.
“I wish you luck,” Alaric intoned.
“Who is even judging this shit?” Chander asked as dark magic swirled over the face of his gourd.
“I volunteer Arvandus and myself. We are experienced, so we should not participate in the contest,” Albrecht stated.
“I’m cool with that,” Arvandus told his other half with a smile.
“The Arch Lich is disqualified,” Baxter said.
Alaric’s brow ventured north. “Excuse me?”
“Look. He’s already done. Once again he’s cheated at something.”
Cassius glanced at Chander’s pumpkin, which had started life as orange but was now a matte black and had a winged demonic form on its face. It was stunning, and Cassius wished he had magic to do the same level of mastery with his elf.
“That’s so fucking cool,” Arvandus enthused. “But we’re going to have to disqualify you for using magic.”
