Page 45 of All Hallows Masque

“Oh, no you don’t,” Cruelty spat, no bubbly tone or crazed friendliness in her voice anymore. I’d thoroughly killed any chance of convincing her we were still besties, but this was Alfie, and I wassoclose now. I stretched out my hand as I stumbled up the last five steps, hardly daring to breathe.

Another pulse of dark, shadowy magic slammed into me, hitting me square in the back, making me miss the next step. I caught myself on the polished banister with a cry as pain sank sharp hooks into my skin.

Come on, faster,I ruthlessly urged myself even if I was terrified and in pain and struggling to stay upright on my shaky legs. I reached my soul out blindly for Madde, for any of my men.You’re a vicious killing machine. You can rip Cruelty to shreds. You killed Poppy and Nightmare; you can do this.

It wasn’t convincing. I craved the voice of my darkness so badly I wanted to cry, but I launched myself off the banister and up the next few steps, trembling when I felt Cruelty’s breath on the back of my neck. Every single hair stood on end, warning fizzling through my skin and nerves until I had to choke back a whimper.

But I was close enough to touch the statue now. I grabbed his arm and wrenched with all my might, and the statue toppled at the same time Cruelty sank her fingers into my hair and yankedme back. Tears stung my eyes, but the crashing, shattering of plaster reached my ears, and I sobbed in relief.

I watched through a veil of tears as Alfie groaned and pushed off the floor, shaking dust from his mousy curls. Faint shadows danced around his shoulders. He took one look at me, at Cruelty dragging me back with her fist in my hair, another latching around my throat as she snarled in rage, and any bit of kindness and care that I’d glimpsed on his face vanished.

He’d always been flirty and friendly, but my heart galloped as he rose slowly, dangerously, to his feet, a lethal calm on his face. Not a bartender at all. A death god, like I suspected, hoped.

Cruelty snorted, pressing her spiked fingernails into my skin, not breaking the surface yet but holding them as a clear threat. Dark, icy magic burned into my skin, an extra level of intimidation, and a cool sweat gathered on my upper lip.

“Let her go,” Alfie said, but less like a plea and more like a steely command. I’d never seen this side of him. It was like watching Madde go from his upbeat, giggly self to the true darkness of insanity, and I couldn’t suppress a shudder.

“You have no power, sweetie,” Cruelty taunted, her voice grating my ears, making my whole body wind up with tension. The back of my neck crawled even as pain pricked the front where her sharp fingernails pressed five points of danger into my pulse. “What are you going to do?”

He had no power? My eyes flew to Alfie, but his attention was locked on Cruelty behind me, absolutely livid, two shadows writhing around his shoulders. Faint, weak shadows. I’d been relying on him having an arsenal of magic—how else were we supposed to get out of here?

Anger and frustration collided in my chest, burning out the fear, and I gritted my teeth at the sudden surge of my jaguar. Oh, she was pissed. Good, that made two of us. I sank into her powerdeep enough to give me strength, to let claws cut lengthen my fingernails.1

I grabbed Cruelty’s wrist with renewed strength, taking immense pleasure in snapping it. Two nails scratched red welts across my neck, but I had enough freedom to throw my head back. And oh fuck, that hurt evenmore.Headbutting was definitely not in my skill set, but at least it got her to stumble down a step.

I threw myself up the last two stairs onto the landing as pain carved a place inside my skull, my head spinning.

“God,” I grunted, my blurry vision landing on Alfie as he reached for me, pulling me beside him. “That was a bad idea.”

“You okay?”

“More or less,” I agreed, blinking my vision clear in time to watch Cruelty—oh. The assortment of people who’d been freed of the statues had followed her up the stairs, but not to help her chase me. The buxom woman had a handful of Cruelty’s brunette hair, and the man with a sum total of three hairs had grabbed the goddess’s arm, wrestling with her. “How the hell are we getting out of here, Alfie?”

“Pain.”

I whipped my head around to stare at his profile.“Pain?”

He nodded, that deadly calm expression on his face.

“Well,” I said, my attention jumping back to Cruelty as two others piled on, dragging her down two steps. “I thought you’d be scarier. Shall we run?”

“I want to fight her.”

“Tough,” I muttered and grabbed his wrist, dragging him into the corridor, following it around where I knew another staircase waited at the end. It came out near the conservatory. “I thought you didn’t have your magic?”

“I don’t,” he sighed, not fighting me as I pushed us faster, racing past doorways that had been all I’d seen for weeks, pastthe entrance to my own bedroom. “Just enough shadows to avoid walking into walls. She’s locked the rest somewhere inside me.”

“Well, that’s positive,” I rasped, my lungs burning as I ran faster, a sense of warning crawling down my back like insects’ legs. Cruelty would break away from the statue victims at some point, and when she did her rage would be unleashed upon the two of us.

“Positive?” Alfie—Pain—demanded, throwing a bewildered look in my direction.

“Better than her … ripping it out of you,” I panted, the staircase coming into view when we whipped around a bend in the hallway. “I’m going to shift the second we’re outside. I have a plan but—” I aimed a wince his way, even though he couldn’t see me. “It probably won’t work.”

“It’s better than my plan.”

“What’s your plan?” I tightened my grip on his wrist as we raced down the staircase, my heart beating so loud I heard it in my ears. His skin was warm under my fingertips, distracting me enough that I nearly missed a step.

“I don’t have one.”

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