Page 38 of All Hallows Masque

That wasn’t Ender’s bad news. The thick mist that stretched between us and the chasm was. It had grown hands, grown arms that reached out as if to deter us from getting closer. I ducked flat to Mort’s back to avoid the grasping hand that blasted fromthe mist to my right, and she let out a sharp cry of alarm. The illusion of Cat was thoroughly gone, but the chasm was here. I refused to get so close only to fail now.

“How do we stop these things?” I demanded as Ender jerked his horse aside, narrowly avoiding a white, clawed hand.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? I never got this close before. Duck!”

I did as he said, throwing myself aside. My heart leapt into my throat when Mort reared with a screech, only the tension in my thighs and my grip on the reins keeping me on her back. I began to slip, the terrifying way I hung to her back making my heart thunder, but then she dropped back to the ground and I encouraged her to run.

She didn’t argue, sensing the threats all around us as she sprinted towards the chasm. I’d never loved this horse more than this moment, with her running headfirst into danger when it mattered most.

“Faster!” Ender yelled, even surlier than normal. He was flat to his horse’s back, dark hair flying back from his face, and so much wrath darkened his expression that it unsettled even me for a moment.

I grabbed a fistful of death magic, relieved I could access it this close to the chasm, and wrapped Mort’s hooves in shadow so she could fly faster, darkness trailing behind us like it had that day we hunted Cat. The day Tor called her our little bride. The day I decided she was mine, for all eternity.

The chasm came closer, that dark slash within twenty feet.

“What happens when we go through?” I shouted to Ender.

“You,” he yelled back.“Yougo through. I can’t.”

“But—”

“No time to argue,” he snapped. “You ride into the darkness and follow your bond out the other side.”

I could do that. I knew if I concentrated enough, I’d feel Cat in my arms again, nestled against me atop Mort.

Sharp fingers raked through my hair and grabbed hold, wrenching on my head so suddenly that I pitched off Mort’s back with a cry.

“Get back up!”Ender roared before I’d even smacked into the fog-wreathed ground.

The impact rattled every one of my bones, the mist not cushioning my fall one bit. I groaned at the flash of pain and the sharp, misty hands that latched around my arm, my legs, my throat.

“For fuck’s sake,” Ender growled, closer, and then his hand was in front of me. I latched onto it like a lifeline, and fought the sudden sea of hands ripping at my clothes, my hair, scratching my face and throat. It took immense effort to jump off the ground. Not even a stream of darkness pushed away Exile’s grip on me. It had me now, and didn’t want to let me go. But the void beckoned, promising relief and love and comfort once more.

“Thanks,” I grunted when I was on my feet, Mort letting out a berating cry as she ran back to me, the shadows trailing from her hooves obscuring the white, clawed hands. The moment she was close enough, I threw myself up onto her back and grabbed the reins tight, pushing her faster and harder than before, until we were both panting.

The void came within ten feet, then five, then three.

“Death,” Ender shouted from behind me, further than I’d expected. I glanced over my shoulder and found him stationary on his horse, watching me. “You’re not the only one who’s gone missing.”

“Who?” I demanded.

But his gaze went to something beyond me, and I looked up in time to see the darkness rush over me and Mort.

In the void, I reached for the memory of Cat and my loves, and followed them like a beacon in the night. I couldn’t look back, even if guilt nagged at me. Even if Ender was once again alone in Exile.

23

Cat

“Why do we have to climb to the top?” I complained, clinging to Madde’s back as he trudged up a dark hill in Death’s domain.

He turned to give me a sulky look. “I promised you the best view in the whole domain, and my lioness gets what she wants.”

I couldn’t remember asking for that, but it didn’t matter. I tightened my arms around him, my thighs on either side of his waist, and tucked my face into his shoulder, pulling his honeyed scent deep into my senses. A weight fell away when it settled, when the bright, larger than life presence of him settled in my soul.

“The view’s pretty enough from here,” I protested, but Madde kept climbing, refusing to let me down even though I could walk. He didn’t stop until we reached the top, and though he should have been out of breath and exhausted, it was excitement on his face as she swung me around to his chest. I squeaked at thesudden motion, clinging to his neck. Madde laughed and kissed me, his hands cupping my ass to keep me from falling. Keeping me safe, the way he said I always kept him safe.

“I thought we were here for the view,” I murmured between kisses, arching against him when he took command of the kiss, making my head spin with greedy, possessive sucks. My lips tingled and I eagerly opened to him, a deep clench in my belly when he immediately took advantage of it to claim me, consume me, own me.

---