Four Of A Kind

I stared at the four Valentine sisters crowding my apartment’s tiny entryway, each one looking like they’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine despite the early hour.

“Wait,” I said, processing the garment bags and makeup cases they’d hauled up four flights of stairs. “Why are you guys here? The festival isn’t until next weekend.”

Harlow bounced forward, her twin tails swinging as she pulled out a clipboard. “You promised to help!”

“I promised to show up on the actual day. Not—”

“And we wanted to get your fitting done anyway!” She thrust a sheet of paper at my face. “See? Your name’s right here on the volunteer list!”

I scanned the document. Sure enough, there was my signature. Except I’d never touched this paper in my life.

“I didn’t sign this.”

“Well,” Harlow said, her smile turning sheepish. “I signed it for you. But you agreed to help when I bit your neck, so technically it counts!”

“That’s not how consent works.”

“It is now!” She grabbed my arm and started pulling. “Come on! We have so much to do!”

Vivienne stepped forward, her expression all business despite the fact that she was standing in my apartment. “We’ll have you back by five. Six at the latest.”

“I have—”

“What you have,” Cassidy interrupted, “is a contractual obligation to help with school events. It’s in your employee handbook under Community Participation.”

“There’s no employee handbook.”

“There is now.” She smirked. “I made one last night. Very thorough. Lots of subsections.”

Sabrina finally spoke from her position by the door, her voice quiet. “You’re outnumbered. Accept defeat gracefully.”

I looked between them. Four identical faces. Four different versions of determination.

My phone buzzed. Iris had texted the group chat: “Stop arguing and go already. You’re wasting valuable costume time.”

Traitor.

“Fine,” I said. “But I’m driving myself.”

“Nope!” Harlow linked her arm through mine. “We’re carpooling! It’s eco-friendly and promotes team bonding!”

“I don’t recall agreeing to team bonding.”

“You agreed when you started working for us,” Vivienne said. “The fine print was very clear.”

“There was no fine print.”

“Exactly. That’s what makes it so binding.”

I gave up.

Twenty minutes later, I found myself in the back of Vivienne’s Range Rover, sandwiched between Cassidy and Sabrina while Harlow claimed the passenger seat and controlled the music. Some aggressively cheerful J-pop song blasted through the speakers.

“This is kidnapping,” I said.

“It’s efficient resource allocation,” Vivienne corrected, her eyes on the road. “You were going to drive yourself anyway. This saves gas.”

“And kidnapping,” Cassidy added helpfully.

“That too.”

Harlow twisted around in her seat, grinning. “Aren’t you excited? You’re going to look so good in your costume!”

“I haven’t seen this costume.”

“Because it’s a surprise!”

“I don’t like surprises.”

“You liked the kiss surprise,” Sabrina murmured beside me.

Cassidy’s head whipped toward her. “Which kiss surprise?”

“The one I gave him on the steps.”

Vivienne’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “We agreed not to discuss that.”

“I’m simply stating facts.”

“Your facts are creating problems.”

“Reality often does.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Then twenty. Then gave up and accepted my fate.

The drive to Hartwell took exactly one hour and forty-three minutes because Vivienne refused to exceed the speed limit by even one mile per hour. Felix called twice asking where I was. I told him I’d been abducted by billionaires.

He thought I was joking.

When we finally pulled into the school parking lot, the place was already packed with students hauling decorations and props toward the gymnasium. The theater kids had constructed an elaborate coffin archway. The art club was painting fake tombstones. Someone had brought an actual fog machine the size of a refrigerator.

“This is insane,” I said.

“This is school spirit,” Harlow corrected, already bouncing toward the entrance. “Come on!”

The gymnasium had been transformed into Halloween chaos. Black and purple streamers hung from the rafters. Cardboard haunted houses occupied three corners. The entire volleyball court had been converted into a vampire-themed maid cafe complete with actual tables, chairs, and what looked like a legitimate espresso machine.

Felix spotted me immediately. “Angelo! Where the hell have you been?”

“Kidnapped.”

“By four billionaires. Yeah. Living the dream, buddy.”

Marin appeared from behind a coffin prop, clipboard in hand and cat ears perched on her head. “Isaiah! Perfect timing! Harlow said you’d help with the butler station setup!”

“Did she.”

“And you need to get fitted for your costume!” Marin gestured toward the locker rooms. “Harlow’s already set up a whole dressing area!”

Of course she had.

Harlow grabbed my hand, her purple eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement. “Come on! This is going to be so fun!”

She dragged me toward the women’s locker room while Cassidy and Sabrina followed. Vivienne stayed behind, presumably to manage logistics or avoid being associated with whatever was about to happen.

“I’m not going in there,” I said when we reached the door.

“It’s empty,” Harlow promised. “I made sure! Everyone’s working on decorations!”

“That doesn’t make it appropriate.”

“The men’s locker room is being used for storage,” Cassidy said. “So unless you want to change in the janitor’s closet…”

I weighed my options. Both were terrible.

“Five minutes,” I said. “That’s it.”

“Deal!”

The locker room had been converted into what could only be described as a professional costume studio. Harlow had set up portable mirrors, garment racks, and a folding table covered in accessories. The vampire butler costume hung on a mannequin in the corner.

It was… actually kind of impressive.

Black tailcoat with subtle red piping. Crisp white shirt with an elaborate collar. Black slacks that looked tailored. Red vest. Black gloves. And a goddamn cape.

“You made this?” I asked.

“Yep!” Harlow beamed. “Spent like thirty hours on it! The cape alone took twelve!”

“That’s concerning on multiple levels.”

“Try it on! Try it on!”

She thrust the hanger at me, and I had no choice but to retreat behind the privacy curtain they’d set up. Because of course they’d set up a privacy curtain.

The shirt fit perfectly. So did the pants. The vest hugged my torso like it had been made specifically for my measurements.

Which it probably had been, given that Harlow admitted to getting my sizing from Mr. Bellamy.

“How’s it going?” Harlow called.

“Fine.”

“Can we see?”

“No.”

“Please?”

I stepped out from behind the curtain, adjusting the vest’s collar. All three girls went silent.

Harlow’s mouth dropped open. Cassidy’s eyes went wide. Sabrina’s book lowered slightly.

“What?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“You look…” Harlow started.

“Hot,” Cassidy finished.

“Professional,” Vivienne’s voice corrected from the doorway.

I spun around. She’d appeared without making a sound, her expression carefully neutral as she examined me from head to toe.

“The tailoring is excellent,” she said, her voice steady. “Harlow, you’ve outdone yourself.”

“Right?” Harlow bounced. “I knew black would make his shoulders look good!”

“They already look good,” Cassidy muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Vivienne stepped closer, circling me slowly. “The cape is too long. It’ll drag on the floor when he walks.”

“That’s the dramatic effect!”

“The dramatic effect will trip him and create liability issues.” She knelt, examining the hem. “We need to shorten it by three inches.”

“But—”

“Three inches, Harlow. I’m not arguing about this.”

Her hands brushed the fabric near my ankles, and I went very still. She stayed down there longer than necessary, her fingers adjusting the cape with the same focus she brought to everything.

“Stand straighter,” she said.

I obeyed without thinking.

“Better.” She stood, and her face was closer to mine than I’d anticipated. “The collar needs adjustment.”

Before I could respond, she reached up and began fixing something that didn’t need fixing. Her knuckles grazed my neck. The hickey Harlow had left had faded to a greenish yellow, but it was still visible.

Vivienne’s fingers paused there, just for a second.

“This needs concealer,” she said, her voice tight.

“I’ll handle it!” Harlow volunteered, already digging through her makeup bag.

“I’m not wearing makeup.”

“It’s not makeup, it’s color correction,” Harlow corrected. “Totally different.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Is not!”

Cassidy snorted. “Let it go, Angelo. She’s going to win this one.”

I surrendered as Harlow approached with a small tube of something. She dabbed it on my neck with her fingertips, her touch feather-light.

“There!” She stepped back. “Perfect! Now no one will know I bit you!”

“Everyone already knows you bit me.”

“Well, now they won’t see the evidence!”

Sabrina finally closed her book. “The fangs are missing.”

“Oh!” Harlow rushed to the table and retrieved a small plastic case. “Custom ordered! They clip onto your canines and look totally real but won’t actually hurt anyone!”

She opened the case to reveal two unnaturally white plastic fangs.

“I’m not wearing those.”

“You have to! You’re a vampire butler! Vampires have fangs!”

“I draw the line at fangs.”

“But—”

“No fangs, Harlow.”

Her lower lip trembled. “Please? Just for a few hours? I promise they’re comfortable! I tested them myself!”

Cassidy leaned against the lockers. “She’s been practicing her puppy eyes all week for this exact moment.”

“Don’t fall for it,” Vivienne advised. “She’ll take advantage.”

“I will not!” Harlow protested. “I just… really want him to wear the fangs. It completes the look!”

I looked at those wide purple eyes. The slight quiver in her lip. The way her hands clasped together like she was praying.

Damn it.

“Fine,” I said. “But only during the actual cafe hours. Not before or after.”

“Yay!” She threw her arms around my neck, nearly knocking me over. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”