Her nose brushed mine. “I want to kill anyone for trying to take you away from me.”

I reached my hands around her ass, feeling the strap of blades around her leg, and lifted her into my arms. “If I ever leave you, it’s because I’m dead.”

I sank my mouth into hers, proving the only assurance she’d ever need, and I’d do it a hundred times a day for the rest of my life if she needed.

She’d never had shit she had to worry about losing in life, and I was going to break my back to give her everything.

God, she was amazing.

I unzipped my pants, took myself out, and fit myself inside of her, thrusting up into her right there in the dark stairwell.

“Ah,” she groaned, holding on for dear life. “I love you, Kai.”

“I love you too,” I breathed out across her mouth. “I can’t stop. I don’t want to ever stop.”

I pumped up into her hard and fast, frenzied, as I buried my face in her neck and she hugged me.

I registered a screech or something somewhere in the distance, and then howls from downstairs.

“Kai,” she moaned, riding me back. “I think I hear screaming.”

Who cares? I didn’t care. The whole house could be on fire right now, and I wouldn’t care.

I stared into her eyes. A truck would have to drag me off you.

Well, this is new.

A black fucking horse trotted into the ballroom, a masked rider in a cape looming over us as the music halted, the dancing stopped, and everyone moved back, giving him ample room.

I grabbed Octavia, pulling her with me. “Come here.”

A few screams hit the air, while others gasped and laughed at the display.

What the hell was this? I mean, I didn’t pay attention to details, but I would’ve remembered Michael and Rika mentioning a massive mammal riding into their house as part of the festivities.

Frickin’ Athos. This reeked of Edgar Allan Poe.

The rider wore a skull mask, and I boosted Tavi up into my arms, watching her watch him, her eyes bright with excitement.

The horse stopped, everyone quieting and waiting with bated breath, and the cool air he brought with him chilled my skin.

“The phantom watches from box five,” he boomed, his voice echoing. “You will see him, though he be not alive.”

Octavia didn’t move a muscle, everyone around using their phones to film his message.

“Bring me his mask by the bonfire’s light!” he shouted, spinning in a circle to reach everyone’s ears. “Your treasure awaits you before the end of Fire Night.”

And then, he shot off, leaving the room, the horse’s hooves clacking against the marble floor. After a moment, we heard the quick gallops as he rode away into the night.

I chuckled, looking up at Octavia’s face, who was still in awe. These kids were going to have a rude awakening when they got into the world and realized there was no place like Thunder Bay.

But that was okay. If I had it my way, they’d never have to find out how much the rest of the world sucked compared to home.

“Box five?” someone said. “So, the theater, then?”

People moved, chatter overtaking the room as the younger set started to leave, gathering their coats and deciphering his clues for the treasure hunt.

“Maybe plot five?” another person added. “In the cemetery? The riddle said the phantom wasn’t alive, so...”

“Could it be a grave?” another woman chimed in.

“But he’s ‘watching’,” another one argued, replaying the message on his phone. “A statue? Situated from a vantage point, maybe?”

Guests filtered out of the room, the younger ones dashing into the night to try to be the first to win the million dollars in trust they could either use for college or—since many already had college paid for—they could access it when they graduated, most of whom would use it to travel, invest, or start their own business.

About half the guests remained, the music, dancing, and conversations starting again as I set Octavia down and held her hands, swaying with her.

“Why can’t I go tonight?” she asked.

“Because our family is hosting the hunt.” I looked down at her as she stepped onto my shoes and let me lead. “It wouldn’t be fair if we won it, right?”

“It’s not fair anyway.”

Are you pouting?

I stared down, amused. “On your birthday, do you get presents or give them?” When she didn’t answer, I answered for her. “It’s the same difference. The hunt is a present to the town from us. There are other treasures for you out there.”

I looked over, seeing Christiane stumble as she tried to dance with her husband, Matthew, his pathetic demeanor as superbly fantastic as his son’s dumb attitude. I mean, what was she thinking, marrying him? He barely had the courage to manage a sentence. He was quiet. She was quiet. That house must be a party every day. How did they decide when to have sex? Through text?

And then an image of them having sex invaded my brain, and I bit back the snarl before it escaped.

“Where are they?” I heard Octavia ask.

I blinked, turning back to her. “Where’s what?”

“My treasures.”

“You have to find them,” I told her. “And fight for them. Nothing is given.”

Her lips twisted to the side, and I almost laughed. I wanted her to dream, but this was where dreams were dangerous. Nothing ever happened how you wanted it to. It was going to be harder than she thought, and she would fail many times before she won. That was what she didn’t know yet.

It wasn’t the fight that got you. It was the lure that you could always quit.

She could use some practice.

I stopped dancing and dug into my breast pocket, handing her the parchment I’d cooked up. “I had a feeling you’d be sulking.”

She took the folded paper and opened it up, her black fingernail polish chipped as she took in my present for her.

She gasped. “A treasure map!”

I pointed up. “It’s somewhere in this house. Above us.”

She darted her eyes around the room, finally tipping her head back and gazing up to the railing of the dark gallery on the second floor.

“Can I have help?” she asked me.

We couldn’t see anyone, but we knew who was up there, and I knew whom she was referring to.

I nodded. “Mmm, go ahead.”

I’d put some words on the map she might need help reading anyway.

She started to run away, but she bumped right into someone, and I moved to catch her, but he was way ahead of me. He grabbed her shoulders and set her right again before standing up straight.

I looked up, seeing a man in a full white mask and a cloak step back, look at her, and then take a dramatic bow.

“M’lady,” he said.

“Sorry,” she chirped.

And then she ran away, heading for the stairs to fetch her cousin. I chuckled, nodding at the man as he passed, and thankful my kid was tough but also polite.

I looked back at him, noticing the cloak. A little overdressed, but okay.

I glanced upstairs, seeing a shadow pass the ceiling as Tavi ran for Madden.

He always hid during functions like this. Kai tried to explain he was uncomfortable in social situations, but I think it was a courtesy on Mads’s part. Guests were uncomfortable when he was around.