Ghosts of Halloween Past (Sequel to Blind Devotion)
A Shifter Chronicles Story, Sequel to Blind Devotion
Wolf shifter Sheriff Jack Ulger and cougar shifter Travis Kuger protect the shifters and their human allies living in Haven, Montana. They have known each other for almost two decades but weren’t always friends. One Halloween night, as teenagers, that changed when Travis saved them both from an abandoned mill and the ghosts haunting it.
Years later, it’s Halloween again, and Travis never shared the ghostly experience with anyone, least of all the skeptic Jack. But he soon regrets the omission when Jack becomes trapped in the same abandoned mill while trying to find two lost kids. Jack must now protect the children, fight off a spiritual attack, and find a way to freedom. Travis knows something is wrong and enlists the help of their friends, and he can only hope they’ll be in time to save Jack from the dark entities.
Jack and Travis feature in Healing Minds, Hearts and Minds, Red Sun, and Blood of the Whirlwind.
EXCERPT
He strode confidently with his cane, counting the steps, but then he heard the pounding of boots and didn’t need to smell the follower to know who it was.
“Dammit, Jack! Get the hell away from me.”
“Whether you like it or not, you’re not staying in that death trap alone.”
“And your father?”
There was a significant pause. “Let’s just make sure he doesn’t find out.”
Travis felt a pang of grief spike through him. He wished he still had a father to be mildly afraid of. For that matter, he wanted his mother and siblings back. He wanted his family here, with him, not dead, not with the image of their dead eyes seared into his retinas. Their lifeless corpses were the last things he’d seen.
Travis shuddered. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, ruthlessly pushing back the dark emotions. When there was a light brush of a hand on his arm—Jack’s hand—he jerked away with a scowl and took a step to the side. Jack didn’t close the distance Travis had created, but he did match Travis’s stride. When they reached the mill, Jack did most of the fiddling with the wooden boards and planks to find an opening.
“I’m going to get flogged for this,” he murmured under his breath.
Travis felt a laugh bubble in his chest but suppressed it. Laughing would only encourage him.
When they were finally inside, Travis sniffed. Then sneezed. The air was horribly dusty and thick. He felt it press against him, a nearly suffocating cloud. The mill had been boarded up nice and tight for a decade. The floorboards creaked under their feet as they walked, and a shiver went up Travis’s spine.
He could have sworn they were being watched—in fact, that they were being hunted. The feeling intensified as they crept deeper into the mill, but he said nothing. He stayed close to Jack this time only because, even with his cane, he feared tripping or running into anything. Some of the machinery in here, he knew, could be sharp.
Jack halted and Travis bumped into him, stopping as well.
“What is it?” Travis whispered.
“The floors. I’m not too wild about the floors. Don’t you feel the sag—”
There was a snap, a groan, and then the floor under their feet broke, tumbling them into the unknown.
