Everyone in Wick gets their costumes here. They always have the weirdest and most unique stuff, some of it woven with a little magic. The problem is that the store is a lot like a costume trunk at a kid’s party: you never know what you’re going to find, and it might not always be complete.

“Both,” I reply as I clamber out of the car to join him. “It started out as a masquerade, because all that matters on Samhain is that your face is hidden to ward off the evil spirits. But when we started drawing a bunch of tourists, my family opened it up to costumes, too, since most Americans celebrate Halloween, not Samhain.”

“So I can just get a mask, then?” Colin says hopefully. Max is still balanced effortlessly on his shoulders, and Colin hardly seems to notice, as if the cat has been there all his life.

I feign a pout. “I have to go as a black cat—the most cliché costume ever—and you get away with a mask? I don’t think so.”

I stare him down, but when Max uses my own tactic against me, blinking his big round eyes with as much adorableness as he can muster, I break.

“Don’t you help him out of this!” I say. He sticks his tongue out at me and I’m forced to turn around to hide my laughter. “Come on, Rose is already inside.”

A bell rings overhead when we enter. The shop is narrow but deep, and every inch is as cluttered as the front. Rose is nowhere to be seen, already hidden behind the layers of clothing and masks. This won’t be the first time I’ve had to track her down in a store.

Colin stands rigid by the front door, his arms crossed, making a point not to look at anything. I hold up a feathery blue mask with tiny crystals embedded in it. “You can pick out your costume, or I can,” I tell him with a grin.

He lets out an overly dramatic sigh and starts inspecting the costumes. He returns a few minutes later with a very fake-looking suit stained with even faker blood.

I raise an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to be?”

“A mortician.”

I eye his all-black clothing. “You don’t need a costume for that.”

One corner of his lips twitches, as if he’s fighting a smile, and he disappears into the clutter again. While he’s gone, I find a long black tail that I can pin onto the back of my pants. Now all I need is a mask.

I collect a couple of costumes for Colin to try on, though I don’t really expect him to. To my delight, he accepts them grudgingly and disappears into the changing room. I sit down in a chair outside, Max resting on the arm of it.