Page 67 of Phantom’s Mate

“They’re panthers,” Brock said. “Isn’t it kind of the same thing?”

Brandon and Nick gave him the finger simultaneously.

Damien asked, “Why is he tormenting both of you?”

Lila answered, “He probably couldn’t tell which one of them was being the smartass.”

Remy nodded. “As usual, I have to share the blame for my brother’s big mouth.”

Colt threw a Christmas bow at him. “Oh, like you’ve never done anything we both got blamed for?”

Britt looked around the room in satisfaction, watching Brandon kissing Kitty and sticking the bow from his present in her hair, before opening the box to find a t-shirt with a sailing ship hitting a rock, which read, I Run a Tight Shipwreck.

Even DB had presents, to his obvious surprise. A t-shirt from his favorite metal band, and a laser-tag vest and gun so he could play with the crew. Nick and Britt had gotten him a new soccer ball.

He grinned at them. “So I can kick your ass at soccer some more?” he said to Nick.

Nick grinned back. “You wish, dragon punk.”

The last present to be opened was a large flat one. Kitty handed it to Brandon, and then put her fingers in her mouth and whistled for silence. “This is for the whole crew,” she said, “so the alpha has to open it.”

Inside was a large framed photo of all the guys in their Christmas thongs, holding drinks. At the end of the line was Nick—glowy and semi-transparent, but he was there, wearing his panther thong.

“It’s for the wall in the game room,” Kitty said.

Britt put her hand to her mouth, feeling her eyes get misty. Nick leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you,” he murmured in her ear.

She kissed him back, knowing what it meant to him to feel like part of the crew.

Then Kitty turned to Nick and Brittany. “We got y’all a present, too. Everyone chipped in. It’s upstairs.”

Mystified, they followed Kitty and Brandon up to the fourth floor, which was still under construction. One of the small attic rooms had been finished out, and furnished with a couple of couches and end tables, a flatscreen TV, a music system, bookshelves, and a table with a laptop on it.

“This is for you,” Kitty said, ushering them inside. “We want you to really feel like you’re part of the crew, so we thought you two should have a place of your own, here in the house. We know you can work electronics with your woo-woo powers, so you can watch movies or listen to music. But there’s enough room so you can invite other people in to hang out with you.”

Brittany was stunned, and Nick looked exactly like she felt.

Titan said, “The books are from me and Mari.” Brittany had already lifted one off the shelf with her mind and was paging through it. “We left room so you can pick out more for yourselves.”

“We’ll get you whatever you want,” Mari added. “Just let us know.”

“Or you can order stuff on Amazon.” Kitty indicated the computer, and added wickedly, “I’ve already set up an account with Brandon’s credit card.”

Brandon just shook his head. “I can see I’ll need to get more PI jobs.”

Nick pushed the remote button with his mind, and the TV came on. “Hey, Britt, we have Netflix!”

She dropped the book on the couch. “Get. Out. Movies?”

She ran over and flung her ghostly arms around Kitty, and then around Brandon. “I’m officially hugging everyone,” she called to the group crowding the hall.

“This is… unbelievable,” Nick was saying, shaking his head. “I never—we never expected anything like this.”

Brandon said, “I’m sure you probably have someplace you go to in the spirit world to fuck each other’s brains out, but everyone else has their own retreat here. You don’t deserve any less just because you’re dead.”

Nick had to laugh. “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

Brandon rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Don’t say anything. You know I can’t handle all that mushy shit.”