Page 10 of All Hallows Masque

God, that was depressing. In the absence of misery, madness, and torment, more cruelty would fill the void. We didn’t need more cruelty in the world, but I couldn’t say that to her. “What happens if balance isn’t restored? The realm will be lost forever?”

“Oh, the domain’s already gone.” She waved a hand. “It started fading the moment Nightmare cursed you, but your absence was the real death knell. I sensed it roll in, that awful white fog. I had such a lovely home in the domain, and the fog swallowed it whole. All my rose bushes and rhododendrons disappeared overnight.”

She looked pensive for a moment. Did she really care more about some flowers than the other gods?

“What do you mean the domain’s alreadygone.Where did it go? And how do I get there with the gates turned to fog?”

Cruelty sighed, giving me a disappointed stare. “I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with the gates. Look at this house—lookat the garden, the conservatory! We have everything we could ever need here.”

Except for my husbands. But I got the sense I’d pushed her far enough today and … wait. “What do you mean my absence is the reason the domain fell?”

“When you pretended to only want Death.” Cruelty took my empty plate and placed it in the sink, along with her coffee cup. I wondered if I’d earn her wrath for asking to use the coffee machine, too. God knew I could use caffeine this morning. I must have looked a little too longingly, because Cruelty laughed and grabbed a deep green mug from the shelf above her head, feeding another pod into the machine. “That was my idea at first, but Nightmare was especially talented in torturing you. She made it a thousand times worse than I ever would have. I just wanted her to lock Virgil up somewhere to use against you. It was her idea to make him a subject.”

I sucked on a tooth so I didn’t snap at her.Be friendly, be friendly.“The domain’s been falling all that time?” Shit, that was weeks ago. “How?”

“You were cursed to be their wife, Kitty. There’s a bond there between you and the godsandthe domain. When you left… Well, death godscan’tleave. It’s all in the intention, you see. Little visits to other places are fine, as long as you’re planning to go back. You never planned to return, so it all fell apart. Shame, really. They were really pretty rhododendrons. Speaking of gardens!” She handed me the coffee and gave me an excited grin. “Drink up, because I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Her last surprise got my hopes up, then crushed my heart. I glanced at the lime tulips in front of me.

Dread condensed in my stomach at the thought of more surprises.

6

Cat

The garden in front of Darkmore was made up of pretty lawns and low-slung hedges, but this sprawling garden behind the manor was like a sculpture park, made ominous by the heavy clouds and charcoal sky above us.

Topiaries wereeverywhere.Theylined the winding path into the long grasses, standing like sentries along the back of the house. They were dotted around the flower beds and stood among the vegetable patches like scarecrows, some posed with their arms out to ward off the birds. The bushes had been sculpted into people in so many different types—tall and short, stork-like and curvaceous, graceful and caught in the act of tumbling over. Each one was a work of art, so detailed I knew a master gardener must be responsible. Cruelty probably had them locked up somewhere, threatening to kill their family unless they cut up more trees into art.

“Where’s the surprise?” I asked hesitantly, eyeing the spaces between topiaries for creatures leaping out to attack me, or maybe there’d be another emotionally torturous present like the tulip. Maybe she’d haunt me with the voices of my mates and call it a gift to hear them speak again. God, I’d do anything to hear them again.

What did it mean for the domain to fall, for the gates to vanish? I didn’t believe a single thing Cruelty said, except when she said it started falling when I rejected Tor and Miz. For some reason, I believed that. I’d sown seeds of weakness that night, distraught by Byron’s death. The gate collapsing was my fault. So how did I fix it?

Cruelty wouldn’t give me a straight answer, but that wouldn’t stop me pushing. Later. Right now, I was more concerned her little surprise might bite my head off.

The goddess skipped onto a paved square and spun in a circle, her arms out, lace dress twirling. “Look at all this space. Acres and acres!”

Uh. Had she got me the deed to the house or…

“Lots of space for shifting,” she added with a wink, her hood fluttering as she continued to pirouette, spinning around and around like a jewellery box ballerina. I was surprised she didn’t hum a creepy, off-key tune to complete the illusion. Thunder rumbled in the distance through, suitably ominous. A shiver went down my spine. I rubbed my arms to chase away the chill, wishing I’d taken Cruelty up on borrowing a coat. I didn’t want anything that belonged to her, but catching a cold or hypothermia would hardly help me get back to the domain and my husbands.

“Shifting,” I echoed, looking from the madwoman to the garden around us and the acres of grassy land beyond that. It all sloped down towards the edge of a cliff, which dropped dramatically towards what sounded like water—rough, violentwater by the noise of the crashing waves. “You want me to shift into my jaguar? Why?”

“Why?” Cruelty echoed with a laugh that seemed to crackle through the air, or maybe that was the lightning building. “To help you, silly. You can’t become a fearsome jaguar warrioress if you never practise.” She waited until I looked at her to clap her hands together and say, “We’re going to train together!”

“I…” Dread mounted, crushing my chest.

“I know you don’t like your jaguar very much, which I think is foolish, but it was never meant to be a curse. It was always a gift of strength and power. If you hadn’t absorbed that serum, you’d have no magic at all, no jaguar. But with it you’redeadly. Just like me.”

The warmth of her smile was more genuine that anything Nightmare had pretended. I tried so damn hard to force my lips into a smile, but I was nowhere near as good a liar as the goddess of nightmares. At least Cruelty wasn’t training me up to use as a weapon. This was about her loneliness, and wanting a friend.

“No need for jitters,” she said, coming closer and taking my hands before I could even think to evade her touch. I forced myself to hold on.

Friendly, be friendly. Be the best friend she’s ever had, and then stab her so hard in the back that she’ll never walk again.

Just like she did by pretending to be Honey when my best friend was already dead. Grief grabbed my throat and choked off my air supply. I was holding hands with her killer.

“Deep breath in,” Cruelty urged, “and you’ll be just fine. My mother used to tell me that. Well, before my father crushed her skull against the garden wall.”

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