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“You like it,” she challenged.
“Maybe,” Ghost agreed.
Hammer laughed. “She has you trained.”
Ghost turned. “Keep talking.”
Angel grabbed both of them. “No fighting.”
Hammer looked at her. “Who said anything about fighting?” The look he gave Ghost promised trouble of an entirely different kind, and Angel's pulse jumped.
“Lock still good?” she asked.
Ghost checked it. “Yep.”
“Excellent.” Hammer kissed her again. What followed was hot, messy, breathless, and theirs—full of whispered promises, possessive touches, laughter they tried and failed to keep quiet, and the kind of intimacy Angel had once believed she could never trust again.
There was no fear in it, no goodbye waiting at the end, and no one-night rule. When the three of them finally collapsed together on the office couch, Angel was tucked between them, breathless and flushed, her head on Hammer's chest while Ghost's arm wrapped securely around her waist. For several minutes, nobody spoke. Then, music changed outside, and Someone cheered.
Angel smiled. “We're missing the party.”
Hammer kissed the top of her head. “Worth it.”
Ghost pulled her closer. “Definitely.”
A fist suddenly pounded against the office door. “YOU ASSHOLES BETTER NOT BE ON MY DESK!”
Angel buried her face against Hammer and laughed. Ghost shouted, “Go away, Monster!”
“THAT IS NOT AN ANSWER!” Monster shouted. Hammer was laughing too hard to speak. Angel looked toward her halo lying beside the desk. Her wings were somewhere near Ghost's boots. One of Hammer's devil horns had somehow ended up beneath the chair. She should've been embarrassed, but she wasn't. She was happy—completely, ridiculously happy.
Another bang hit the door. “And somebody better find my fucking stapler, because I know that one of you assholes took it!”
Ghost looked at Angel. “Still want to stay?”
She smiled. “Ask me next Halloween.”
Hammer tightened his arm around her. “Planning that far ahead?”
Angel looked at both of them. “Yes.” The answer came easily because she finally understood something her father had tried to teach her all those years ago. Family wasn't always blood, home wasn't always a place, and love wasn't safe. It was messy, terrifying, and sometimes painful, but the right people made it worth the risk. Angel had spent seven years running from monsters. In the end, she'd fallen in love with two of them, and she wasn't running ever again.
The End
I hope you loved Jackhammer, Ghost, and Angel’s story! Now, buckle up and get ready for another Toxic Monster (31 Days of Trick-or-Treat Collab), coming in October 2027 from K.L. Ramsey! Here’s a sneak peek at Monster Mayhem.
DELANEY
Delaney Cross had been walking for eleven minutes when headlights appeared behind her.
She stumbled off the pavement and pressed one hand against her aching ribs. Every breath hurt. Every step sent pain shooting through her left ankle, but she forced herself to keep moving.
The road stretched ahead of her in a ribbon of darkness, surrounded by thick woods and forgotten farmland. There were no houses, no streetlights, and nothing except bare branches clawing at the cloudy October sky.
Normally, Delaney loved this time of year. She loved carved pumpkins, haunted hayrides, and horror movies that made her check behind the shower curtain before bed. Tonight, the darkness wasn’t exciting. It was hunting her.
She glanced over her shoulder as the headlights disappeared around a curve, leaving the road black again. Relief threatened to weaken her knees, but she refused to stop. She had to keep going because it could be them.
The car she’d stolen had died a quarter mile behind her, coughing smoke before the engine finally gave out. She’d taken the keys and thrown them into the woods, hoping it might slow her captors down if they found it. But she knew that it wouldn’t stop them, because nothing would. They had money, weapons, and men who knew how to track frightened women who ran without shoes, phones, or any idea where they were.
