Page 59 of All Hallows Masque

“But he’s cute, and my lioness would like him,” Madde protested. “He’s not a duck but—oh! Do you think they have ducks here? We could bring one home for her.”

“No, we couldn’t,” I argued. “I already tried that and Death said no.”

“So did I,” Tor agreed with a sharp grin. “Shall we stop fucking about and go get our wife?”

“She can’t be too far from—”

A bolt of pain crashed through my middle, making my bones grate against each other, piercing my organs with sharp, spiking agony. Instead of weakening my knees, this time my body reacted with a violent shift, and I groaned as skin sloughed off my bones, shadows wrapped around me, and a hood covered my face in its entirety.

Fucking great, now I was in death form, too. On the plus side, I waspowerful.

“It’s getting worse,” Death said through gritted teeth. I became aware all at once that he was still weakened, still drained by the domain decaying. I began to speak, to warn him to stay behind, but he was already running, and the time for speaking was over.

I sank deep into my power, sending feelers across the grounds of what appeared to be a castle or manor house. Alert for pockets of misery, for anything I could grab onto to fill myself with power. Or if they were especially miserable, I could take control of them. In theory. I hadn’t done it in years, but for Cat I would try.

The other half of my consciousness was in my body, carving through the air above the heads of Death and Tor as they burst through a break in the dense treeline into a vast garden full of long grass whipping in a heavy wind. Magic clung to the grass, to the air, to the house that lurked at the back of the garden.

“Guys,” Tor said with sharp urgency. “Is it just me or are those plant things moving?”

“They’re called topiaries, you uneducated swine,” Wrath huffed, giving him a scornful look that fell from her face when the plant pruned into the shape of a statuesque woman with towering hair pulled her roots from the ground and began to walk towards us. “And holy shitballs, you’re right, they’re coming towards us!”

“You’re a death god,” Neglect barked. “Be dignified.”

“We’ll distract them,” Hunger suggested, his quiet voice as low as thunder, sending a shiver over every one of my bones. He gave Death and Tor a look, then glanced at me and—Madde was already racing ahead.

“Give me back my lioness!” he screamed, and hurled himself at the plant woman.

“He’s gonna get himself killed,” Tor growled and raced after him.

“I’ll keep him alive,” I said, surprised by the rattling, husky quality of my voice. It had been years since I’d heard it, since I’d fully shifted. “You find Cat, and eviscerate whoever’s hurting her.”

Tor’s stare lingered on me for a moment before he nodded.

“Be safe,” Death said like a warning.

“If you get hurt, I will punch you so hard in the dick you won’t feel it for days,” Tor snarled, and then he and Death peeled off from our group, skirting the edge of the house. Passion and Neglect followed, keeping an eye out for attacks.

I watched until they vanished from sight, and then I faced the garden, jolting at the sight of three other topiaries unrooting themselves from the ground, bodies covered in cropped leaves, arms lifting, stretching, reaching.

“Madness!” I yelled in a voice like shattering bones, and surged after the brave, love-blind fool.

37

Tor

“This is fucking creepy,” I muttered to Death, our steps soundless as we crept down a hallway wallpapered in dark blue damask that seemed to absorb all light. Eerie music spilled from somewhere deeper in the house, and every so often there were shattered statues of people on the floor. Even with all that, it was a relief to see something colourful, not opaque white fog.

“Careful,” I snapped, grabbing Death when he made to walk through the broken plaster. I dug my fingers into his bicep, the look I levelled him with dark and furious. Any normal person would have snapped back at me, and met my anger with flint-sharp temper, but Death was Death so he sighed and squeezed my hand, letting his eyes linger on mine a little longer.

“I’m fine,” he said gently.

I scoffed, releasing him and stalking ahead through the blue corridor. Behind us, Neglect and Passion bickered about howbest to attack Cruelty; it was like a mole getting into a fight with a great Dane. Humour tried for form in me, but was snuffed out by the growing sense that everything was about to go to shit. Death was by my side where he ought to be, but Miz was in the garden with Madde, both of them out of sight, and knowing Cat was here being tortured was like claws dragging down my soul, leaving visible marks.

“Tor,” Death said seriously, waiting until I scowled at him. “I’m fine. I mean it.”

Sure, iffinemeant weakened by those white, clawing hands in Exile. Like he hadn’talreadybeen weak because of the domain fading evenbeforehe went to Exile. Whatever the fuck Exile even was.

“Can we leave the romantic melodrama for another day?” Neglect drawled from behind us. And several feet lower. I gave her an arch look over my shoulder.1 I made sure to pause at an intersection and crouched so Neglect saw every damn second of the middle finger I extended.

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