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His face gets swallowed by his huge smile. “I am good at it, and I don’t even have to try. Why do you like me if I’m scary?”

I lean across the bar and take his face in my hand as I smile back at him. “You don’t scare me, Vero, but it’s your job to scare people.”

He sighs and leans in, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Fine. I will go scare people since it’s my job, but tell Ares he owes me nuggets.”

“Okay.”

Vero jumps from his stool and screams as he looks up to see Cave walking into the bar. Ares has mentioned that he normally doesn’t leave the cornfield unless it’s to eat. Cave looks around, and I wave him over. He is hesitant at first, but then he cautiously moves through the bar and sits on a stool in the corner. Vero skirts along the far side of the bar to get away from him. I really love how scared he is of Cave. Although he is spooky as fuck, I think the Scarecrow is just misunderstood.

“Hi, Cave, is everything okay? Ares will be back in a minute.” He doesn’t say anything, though his eyes meet mine in recognition. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I wear the shape of everything but have no shape of my own. I follow without being invited and leave without being asked. I am closest to you when your back is turned, and I vanish the moment you face me. I have been here longer than you know.”

The blood drains from my face as I open my mouth and snap it shut. The answer is a shadow, but why would he be giving me that riddle? Cave doesn’t wait for me to respond; instead, he gets up, turns, and leaves the bar.

I try to ignore what Cave said and get back to work; maybe a shadow isn’t the answer. I need to think about it again when I’m not distracted. Ares is taking a hell of a lot longer to get back than I expected. All he told me was that Clay needed his help with something and he would return as quickly as he could.

Once the crowd dies down a little, I start cleaning so I don’t have a list as long as my arm when it’s time to close. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I look up, finding the alley is full of people and nothing out of the ordinary. Everything looks normal, and I go back to wiping down the bar.

It’s nothing, Kayla. You are just rattled by Cave. That’s all.

Everything is fine for the next half an hour until I feel it again, but this time my skin crawls. After years of going through what I did, I have learned to listen to my instincts when they scream that something isn’t right. I stand in the doorway and look out into the alley, peering at the people still going in and out of the gift shop. Two men in costumes are standing outside the bar, and someone is leaving the alley, but I can only see their back. I watch as he disappears around the corner.

“What are you looking at?”

The sound that comes out of me is embarrassing. I spin and my elbow connects with something solid. The glass in my hand tips, and cold liquid runs down my wrist and drips to the floor between us. Ares looks at the puddle and then up at me.

“Fucking shit! Do not sneak up on a girl like that.”

Ares just smiles. “I stand by my statement. What were you looking at?”

“Just someone walking out of the alley,” I say. “Cave came in earlier.”

“That’s weird. He normally never comes in once the chases start. He refuses to let his cornfield be empty.”

“He gave me a riddle.”

Ares is quiet for a second. “He’s a weird one, but generally harmless when he is out of the cornfield.”

“He spooked me a little. Why would he leave to deliver me a riddle? It makes no sense.”

“I wouldn’t try to understand him. Sometimes when he comes in, he will talk in riddles, but not all of them make sense.”

We move back into the bar and fall into a rhythm, finally finishing up and then closing down.

“Storage room,” Ares says, throwing me the keys. “An order came in today and I need to log it in before morning or Nixie might have both our heads.”

“That seems a little dramatic since I don’t even work here. She can have your head, though.”

Ares laughs. “Don’t underestimate Nixie before coffee. You have been here a few times now, enough to be considered part of the furniture.”

“Guess I better go get that box then.”

I duck out the back and unlock the storage room, pushing the door open with my shoulder, then feeling around for the light switch. The room is small and has a weird smell, probably from a cleaner they use. I find the delivery on the shelf, and hear Ares come in, the door slamming shut behind him.

“I found the box,” I say, but he doesn’t answer. When I turn around, he is standing right behind me, leaning against the adjacent shelving. “Are you okay?”

He nods as he pushes off the shelving and moves in front of me, his hand gripping my waist. “Fuck it,” he whispers, and walks me backward until my back hits the door.