were very good about sensing when other vampires were in the area. Winter could feel when his brothers were near, but when it came to other bloodsuckers, they had to be within a few yards of him. Not very helpful. He’d always wondered if the ghosts interfered with that sense.
Reaching across, Winter placed his hand on Fox’s tense shoulder and squeezed, drawing the man’s wary gaze to him. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. This won’t take long, and then we’ll go back to my place.”
Fox drew in a deep breath and nodded a couple of times, though the stiffness didn’t leave his shoulders. Winter couldn’t blame him for his nervousness. His every step for over a week now had been hounded by vampires. He couldn’t possibly feel safe when the sun was down.
They both unfastened their seat belts and climbed out of the SUV. Winter grabbed the sling bag he typically carried on his covert missions from the back seat as well as a long length of rope. Fox groaned at the sight of it.
“When this is all over, I swear I’m going to be in therapy for months to get over my twitch whenever I see fucking rope,” he grumbled.
“No one is getting tied up this time, I swear,” Winter said.
Fox nodded, seeming to breathe a little easier. “It’s a sad day when I can’t even make a kinky rope joke.”
“I have faith that you have plenty of other kinky jokes stored up.”
“Oh, ha. Aren’t you just a witty bastard? What’s the plan so we can get somewhere safe again?”
Winter led the way to one of the winding sidewalks that were part of the walking trails through the parks. Massive trees dotted the park while lamps rose up at regular intervals to beat back the darkness. There were cute metal benches here and there, but the park was empty except for them.
“I want to measure the distance of the Fox Effect as well as its ability to block out the voices. I also want to know if it changes when you use magic,” Winter explained.
Fox skipped a couple of steps so he was ahead of Winter, tilting his head a little to the side as he smiled at last. “The Fox Effect?”
“I thought it was a good name. You got a better one?” Winter asked, hating the faint heat growing in his cheeks.
“No! I like it. I’m glad you didn’t make it sound like a disease.”
Winter snorted and stopped by the first bench that was under one of the lamps. “You just stand here. I need to slip away to check to make sure ghosts are actually near.”
“You mean go into the dead world. Can I go? Please. The last time we were kind of running for our lives. Didn’t really get to enjoy it.”
Winter had zero defense against Fox’s wide, hopeful eyes and childlike wonder. How was he supposed to say no to that? Changing the rope he carried to his left hand, he extended his right to Fox. The young man squeaked and pumped his right fist into the air while grabbing Winter’s hand with his left. He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as Winter tapped his powers and parted the veil.
As they stepped inside, Fox tightened his grip on Winter’s hand, moving close enough to press their arms together. There was only a small shift in his vision as the world around them seemed to take on a new glow. Winter smiled to see all the ghosts filling the park like it was a sunny summer afternoon. There was a jogger heading toward them and a couple sitting on the grass not too far away like they were having a picnic. A few more were strolling through, and another appeared to be taking a shower. He could never quite understand why some appeared to be well aware of their surroundings while others were not, as if they’d been picked up and moved from wherever they’d died, then remained trapped in their last moment of life.
“This is so cool,” Fox said in excited but hushed tones as if he were trying not to draw their attention. “Is this what the world looks like for you when I’m not around?”
Winter’s heart sped up a little as bubbles of joy popped in his chest. He’d never been able to talk about his ability with anyone, never shared it quite like this. He’d brought Bel into it once, but it was better