Page 113 of Monster Mania

Monster had outdone himself again. Monster's Madhouse looked like Halloween had thrown up across every available surface. Fake spiderwebs covered the ceiling. Orange and purple lights flashed behind the bar. Fog rolled across the floor. Bats hung from fishing line. Plastic rats were scattered across tables. Someone had built a coffin beside the pool table.

And Larry—“Oh, my God.” Angel stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Larry sat on a throne—a fucking throne. He wore a crown and had a red velvet cape hung from his shoulders. Someone had put a plastic goblet in his hand and hung a sign around his neck.

KING OF THE MADHOUSE

Angel laughed. Monster appeared beside him, dressed as Dracula. “Don't.”

She looked at him. Don't what?”

“Don’t mock Larry,” Monster warned.

“I'm not mocking him,” Angel insisted.

“You're laughing at him,” Monster said.

“Because you built your plastic skeleton a throne,” she said.

“I didn't build it.” Angel stared, and Monster sighed. “I had it built. Blitz and Drifter did most of it.”

“That is worse,” Angel said. Blitz was his wife. He and Drifter shared her the way that Ghost and Hammer shared Angel. It was nice to have another woman to talk to about the life that they had both chosen to be a part of, because two men were a handful to put up with.

Ghost walked past. “I've been telling him that.”

Monster pointed at Ghost. “What the fuck are you supposed to be?”

“Dead inside,” Ghost grumbled.

Angel nearly choked, and Monster stared and then nodded. “Actually, I'll allow it.”

Ghost looked smug, and then Angel saw Hammer. She forgot what she'd been about to say. He stood near the bar wearing black jeans, boots, and a leather vest that covered a black shirt. But that wasn't what got her. It was the horns he had on his head. He wore black devil horns, and as soon as she saw them, Angel burst out laughing.

Hammer turned, and his gaze found her. His eyes slowly traveled from her boots to her halo. “Fuck.”

Monster looked between them. “Oh, this is perfect.”

Hammer walked over to her, and Angel touched one of his horns. “Really?” she asked.

He shrugged. “You're an angel.”

“A fallen angel,” she corrected.

“Still counts,” he said. Ghost joined them. “His idea was worse.”

Angel looked at Hammer. “What was it?”

“Stripper,” Hammer said.

She laughed. “For Halloween?” she asked.

“Ghost said it wasn't a costume because apparently that's my natural state,” Hammer said. Angel shook her head as she looked at her men. She still wasn't used to thinking those words, and maybe she never would be.

Hammer wrapped an arm around her. “You look fucking gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Ghost muttered, “I told her everybody would stare.” Hammer looked around, and several men immediately found something else to look at.

Angel laughed. “You two are ridiculous.”