Page 13 of All Hallows Masque

Find Death.

Get our wife back.

I squeezed Miz and released Madde. “First off, do you think we can open the doors?”

Madde reached for the handle of the main castle door, and though it was made entirely of white fog, he was able to grab it and push the door open. There was no creak like usual, and it opened eerily smoothly, but I’d take what victories I could get.

“Right. That’s positive, see?” I said, nudging Miz, who’d curled up against me.

“She left because of me, didn’t she? I fucked up.” He took a step back, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Because I bound my magic and it killed me. Because she quite fucking obviously made a deal with Cruelty to save me.”

“And what if she did?” I demanded, gnarly and protective and so fucking relieved he hadn’t died. “So what if sheisgone because she found a way to save you? I’m fucking glad she did. You wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t. But youarehere, and I knowdamn well Cat wouldn’t apologise for that, so don’t you feel bad, either.” I yanked him close and pressed a hard kiss to his forehead. “No self-pity. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Ish,” Madde remarked, taking a hesitant step inside the castle. He bounced on the balls of his feet, and when the castle floor held, a tentative smile crossed his freckled face. “I’m not sure any of us are really alive but—ah, your point stands,” he added when he noticed me glaring at him. “But Tor’s right,” he added to Miz. “Cat wouldn’t regret it for a moment. I’m not surprised she made a deal to save you; she loves so fiercely. My lioness.”

“Come on,” I sighed, guiding Miz inside and so damn relieved to be home even if the familiar walls were made of mist, and the tapestries, portraits, and even the old coat rack were white and spectral. “Madde, have you heard a single word from Cat since we were separated?”

“No.” His lips drew into a deep frown, almost comical. I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. “I can always hear her,always,but now it’s quiet and dull. Not missing because I can still sense her on the other end, but so far away. I don’t like it one bit.” He managed to pout and look murderous at the same time, those blue psychopath eyes flashing.

“Hm.”

His eyes narrowed in my direction as I led him and Miz down the hall towards the living room, depositing Miz on the sofa and giving his shoulders a shove so he stayed put. He scowled up at me, gold eyes promising murder, but I was so used to seeing that expression, it did nothing.

I was more distracted by the solidness of the sofa under him and the fact the mist should have fallen apart under his weight. This was fucking trippy, and I didn’t like it one bit. I might like it a lot more if Death were here.

One problem at a time.

I strode out of the room and towards the stairs in the foyer, my mind filling up with memories of a castle exactly like this made of dark wood and vivid jewel tones. That carpet there was where I dropped to my knees and scrambled Miz’s brain by taking him down my throat. The alcove there was where I had a meltdown when Miz left us to go to Ford the first time, where Death had grabbed me into a fierce hug and refused to let go until I was calm.

Right here, Cat had interrogated us after we chased her in death form on horseback. I remembered the way she glared at us, remembered the way her eyes fluttered at Death’s patient, persistent care. Our girl had been touch starved and needy then, but we filled that void of need. Was she desperate for arms around her now? Was she thinking about us, too? Fuck, I’d do anything to have her peaches and cream scent in my lungs, her solid weight in my arms, her head resting on my shoulder.

I cleared my throat, blinked back the annoying sheen across my eyes, and jogged up the stairs, leaving those memories behind. Others lurked up here, waiting to ambush me. I walked through them as I headed down the hall and into my room.

A lump swelled in my throat, my voice gruff when I grunted. “Fuck.”

Inside my room was no different. How many times had I laid our wife out here and feasted on her glorious tits until she was squirming beneath me, her breath catching in that way I’d become obsessed with? I dragged a hand over my head, bristles of hair stabbing my palm. I hadn’t exactly had time to shave it in the past few days of fucking chaos.

But Miz was alive. He was alive, and Cat was fine, and Death was waiting for us to find him. Nothing else was acceptable. We’d all be back together by tonight. We’d befine.

I found what I was looking for in a small wooden chest on my dresser. It was full of junk and shit I’d collected over the years,everything from tiny potion bottles, undying leaves, a lock of hair from Lanai’s mane, and a small coral-pink shell Pain gave me in exchange for a knife that could open forever-bleeding cuts. I pushed the shell aside, nose wrinkled at the smear of blood on it, and grabbed the chunk of crystal beneath; transparent grey with a coil of living smoke inside. This one I didn’t bargain for; I stole it years ago from a bastard who cheated during a fight in the town square.

On the way back downstairs, I grabbed a gold signet ring from Death’s room. We’d use this to track him, get him back, find Cat, and everything would befine.

“I was starting to think you’d vanished too,” Madde said, jumping to his feet when I raced into the living room, the whole room made of pure white mist. God, this was fucked up. I wanted my home back. “What’s that?”

“Amplifying stone,” I replied, scanning him from head to toe, then giving Miz the same treatment. Fine, both of them werefine.“If your magic is stretched because of distance, this will help. If it’s another reason, fuck that. It’ll work.”

I was done with negativity. Delusion all the way.

Madness snatched the smoky crystal from my hand, folding his freckled hands around it, his head bowed and forehead pressed to the jagged top of the crystal. “Please, please, please,” he whispered, his eyes closing.

I dropped onto the chair arm beside Miz, tangling my fingers in his hair like a teddy bear I’d cling to for comfort.

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