Entangled with the Shapeshifter (Halloween Temptation #14)
Chapter 1
The afternoon lull stretched on and on until Kade thought he would rather die than unfold and rehang another costume that someone tried to hide.
This costume wasn't even his best work. It was a zombie bride costume that could be swapped with any zombie bride from a Spirit Halloween, though it wouldn't fool anyone who knew what they were looking for.
The flower pattern of the lace overlay lined up perfectly across the seams, and the silk underneath was real, even if it was low quality.
He added the dress to the growing pile destined for dry cleaning. His fingers worked automatically while his mind wandered to the day when he'd finally earn enough to lock the front door and work by appointment only. Even in October.
The thought sent a warm flutter through his chest. No more last-minute Halloween emergencies. No more dealing with people from the city pawing through his carefully curated displays like they were shopping at a discount bin.
He caught himself straightening the three corsets over and over. He forced his hands to stop.
"Get it together," he muttered, moving to adjust a crooked masquerade mask display. "Just get through today. And now I'm talking to myself."
The bell above the door had been suspiciously quiet for the past twenty minutes. Long enough for boredom to creep in, but not long enough to tackle several months of bookkeeping waiting upstairs in his apartment.
Kade went back to stand behind the counter by the register. Maybe he could manifest a customer if he stood in the right spot. A pair of gladiator sandals were laid neatly where Kade normally stood.
Kade stared at them, that familiar prickle of unease climbing his spine.
All week, small things had been out of place when he opened the shop.
A spool of thread moved from the cutting table to the windowsill.
Fabric samples reorganized by color instead of texture and weight.
His measuring tape coiled neatly beside the register when he distinctly remembered leaving it draped over the dressing room curtain rod.
Maybe the building was haunted. He'd assumed the weird noises were the pipes, but maybe it was something more.
The door chimes made their familiar jangle.
Oh thank god. Please save me from my own thoughts.
"Hi. Welcome to—"
Kade turned toward the noise with a smile that immediately froze on his face. The words got stuck in his throat.
The man who stepped through the doorway was gorgeous.
Dark hair caught the afternoon light, revealing subtle auburn highlights that matched his stubble.
He wore a leather jacket with jeans and moved in them as if he actually owned a bike and wasn't just a fan of the look.
But it was the eyes that stopped his breath entirely—one sky blue, the other brown as rich earth.
Their gazes met across the small shop, and something electric passed between them. Not just attraction—though the stranger was definitely attractive. There was something else there. The way he looked at Kade felt deliberate, intentional.
The man's steps weren't particularly graceful, a little clunky in his black boots, but he glided between the clothing racks with surprising reverence, fingers trailing along fabric edges like he understood their value like Kade did.
"Can I help you find anything specific?" Kade managed. His voice came out rough.
Those mismatched eyes flicked up. They were wide, like he was afraid, but, unlike Kade, this man spoke like he wasn't about to faint. "Just browsing."
The voice matched everything else about him. Smooth with rough edges the drew Kade in, like crystals sewn onto satin. Kade could easily imagine a voice like that saying things that were completely inappropriate for a Tuesday afternoon customer interaction.
Before he could formulate a response that wouldn't sound completely unprofessional, the door chimes announced new arrivals. Two teenagers burst through the entrance in a whirlwind of oversized hoodies.
Kade reluctantly turned from the beautiful man to the two girls.
"You two! I thought I told you to come pick up your costumes weeks ago." Kade fell easily into his professional persona.
"Kade," they whined, holding his name out. "We're so sorry."
Kade shook his head.
"I hope they fit, because we don't have time for tailoring now," he said while tracking the mysterious stranger through the store in his peripheral vision.
The girls told Kade way more than he ever needed to know about the high school gossip while he got their costumes. When he pulled the sparkly pop-star stage costumes out of the garment bags, the girls screamed and gushed. Maybe there were some parts of October work that he liked.
The next two hours blurred together in a parade of last-minute customers, each more frantic than the last. It was like Halloween had snuck up on them and not hanging over their heads for the last eleven months, like it did for Kade.
Through it all, Kade found his attention fractured, part of his focus always drawn back to that stranger with the heterochromia.
He hadn't bought anything, never approached the register, hadn't asked any questions. Just moved through the shop like he belonged there, occasionally catching Kade's eye with looks that felt loaded.
Finally, Kade had looked up and couldn't find the stranger. He'd left as quietly as he'd come in leaving just the lingering scent of cedar and something indefinably wild that clung to the air near the dressing room.and Kade could not let it go.
By the time Kade flipped the door sign to "Closed" and locked the deadbolt, the stranger had vanished as silently as he'd arrived. No purchase, no business card, no name.
Kade stood in the sudden quiet of his empty shop, surrounded by the left over chaos of a busy Halloween day, and realized he was thoroughly haunted by something far more dangerous than restless spirits.
Those mismatched eyes.