VEE

I walk into the room and collide with a zombie.

“Holy crap, that's realistic!” I say and reach out to touch Joss's face. “Or did you fight with Ewan, and he infected you with an unfortunate skin condition?”

Joss' pale painted mouth pulls into a grin, and he pokes at the latex on his face. “Damn, you recognised me.”

“Well, I have seen you in the mornings, Joss. You don't look much different.” I laugh as he gasps in mock disgust and slaps my ass.

“You look...” Joss trails off then steps back and nods in my direction. “What are you wearing?”

I brush the skirts on the black and red dress, where the chiffon petticoat reaches my knees. Joss trails his gaze from my heavily made-up face to where my breasts swell above the laced black bodice adorned with red hearts.

“I'm the Queen of Hearts.” He blinks. “Alice in Wonderland?”

“You have a lot of this on show.” Joss gestures at his chest. “We have a job to do tonight, and that's going to be bloody distracting.”

I debated whether to buy the costume, unsure if the guys would understand the irony, but I had to choose something I'd be less recognisable wearing. The red wig and heavy black and red makeup should also help distract partygoers from the real me. Creating my outfit wasn't on my agenda, and I found this little last-minute choice at the shops. As soon as I saw this costume, I had to buy it. Not only because I'm queen of a certain number of hearts, but because I fell down a rabbit hole as strange as Alice's.

I look down at the hearts sewn into the dress top. “A lot of hearts on show?” I ask and pull an innocent face.

“Yeah, that's totally what I meant.” He shakes his head and continues to study me, and I self-consciously pull at the stripy black and white knee socks. “You don't look very...you.”

“Mission accomplished,” I say and grin.

Joss's costume disguises his face, and the contact lenses change his distinctive green eyes to yellow. With his ripped clothes and peeling latex wounds, Joss is every inch a zombie. I hope he doesn't scare the kids.

“I can't believe I'm on fucking babysitting duties,” grumbles Xander as he steps into the kitchen, dressed in jeans and a dark grey shirt.

“Vee, do you—” He stalls as he takes in my appearance. His eyes darken as he flicks a quicker look than Joss’s, but I heat beneath his scrutiny. Joss joked, but Xander's intensity worries me. Was this dress a bad idea?

“Want a drink anybody?” he continues and switches his attention to the fridge.

“What are you supposed to be dressed as?” I ask. “You don't look any different.”

“I'm one of the Four Horsemen,” he says with snark. When I pull a face, he adds, “I haven't changed yet.”

“We need to be at Portia's by six pm,” Joss reminds him. “It's five.”

“There's not enough beer in the world for this,” Xander mutters and crosses to the fridge. “Joss? Beer?”

“I'll ruin my make-up.” He puckers his pale-painted mouth. “Oh, okay, you twisted my arm.”

I decline. He tosses a bottle to Joss, and they crack open a couple of beers. Joss sits on the table, his tattered trousers ripping further.

Babysitting duties. I smile to myself at Xander's complaint, but his constant need to keep Portia onside means she hands him tasks like this. If he refuses, she moves onto jokes about cementing their unity by taking him to bed instead. If he didn't show how much Portia's political power bothered him, she'd use it on him less. Because Xander can't tell if she's joking, he complies with the lesser requests.

Such as supervising her five-year-old daughter's Halloween party.

“I bought you a costume, Xander.”

Joss points at a white bag lying across the kitchen table. “I knew you wouldn't bother, so I decided to help out.”

Xander swigs from his bottle before setting it down and peering into the bag. His brows tug together as he grabs the bottom and tips the contents on the table. I burst into laughter before I can stop myself, and Xander holds up a pair of pink fairy wings.

“There's a wand too.” Joss takes hold and waves. The plastic stick chimes a magical sound. “You could cast a spell on Portia.”

I wait for Xander to retort, but he fights a smile as he shoves the wings at Joss. “Not my style.”

“Aww, so does that mean you won't wear the pink tutu either?”

Joss winks at me when Xander isn't looking, and I mouth 'don't'.

“No. As I said, I have something of my own picked out,” he retorts.

I take the wand from Joss. “I'll take this. Kailey will like to play with it.”

Ewan wanders in, and I'm impressed he made as much effort as Joss. He's dressed as Frankenstein in a dark suit and green make-up, and his bulk adds an extra layer of reality. Is this a plan by the guys? Scare the kids and need to leave?

I ruffle his hair. “Your scruffiness came in handy.”

Ewan repeats the other guy's silent appraisal of my costume. “Fuck, you look hot Vee.”

“Don't hide what you think, huh, Ewan?” says Xander with a laugh.

Ewan's black lips spread into a grin. “Couldn't help myself.”

“Is Heath almost ready?” asks Joss.

“Dunno. An evening with shrieking, sugar-fuelled kids. Fun. Fun.” Ewan takes a beer too. “Here's a plan. I wait outside Portia's house, in case anybody approaches, and you can keep an eye on events inside.”

Xander snorts. “No way. I’ll wait outside; I’m not supervising the brats.”

“Xander!” I hit his hand with the wand, and it tinkles, the star on the end flashes as it lands on him. He scowls and rubs his hand. “Don't call her a brat. Kailey is a nice kid.”

He drains his bottle and blows air into his cheeks. “Compared to her sister. Let's get this over with. I'll change now.”

I bite my lip in amusement as he walks towards the stairs. I swear the guys would rather spend a night hunting monsters than the horrific prospect of a room filled with children.