Page 94 of All Hallows Game

The cottage rose out of the darkness like it had been cut from a cloth of night, amber light spilling from a single window to light my way as I raced closer. I knew this building—it had been a barn all those years ago, a shelter for the cows that had roamed the farmland. The woods had escaped their boundaries over centuries, the memory of Rosalind refusing to be contained to a few hectares.

A sad smile tugged at my lips. I didn’t know if she hated me or forgave me at the end. I hope she knew it was never my choice. It wasn’t your choice, and it wasn’t your fault. I wondered if Rosalind would feel the same about her own death. Her murder.

Light fell on me as I approached the solid block of stone that formed a front step. The cottage had no markers, no number or name, only a smear of red paint on the dark door, like a burning sun or crimson flower. It was half open, left to swing on its hinges like someone had forgotten to close it. Had Cat been running when she fled here? Had it risen from the darkness to offer shelter? Had it—

There was blood on the lintel.

No. Not my Cat.

I slammed the door open, bursting into a small antechamber. Four smears of blood marred the pale walls in the distinct shape of fingers dragging along stone. I forgot how to breathe. My girl was injured. She’d run here for safety because she was bleeding and she needed us.

The room beyond it offered a glimpse of a heavy wooden table littered with scientific paraphernalia, bookshelves holding ominous jars, and the metallic scent of more blood. It coagulated on the floor by the entryway but led no further into the building. Shit, if Cat had already fled, how would I find her?

No, the GPS led here. She was here.

“Cat?” I shouted, crossing the room in a rush—and freezing when a furious snarl answered me, throaty and deep and clearly the cry of another monster.

Fuck, there were even more of them.

I settled into that frozen calm again, raising my sword in front of myself as I left the first room and burst into a nightmare lit in shades of poisonous green. A haggard man was backed into a corner, a metal gurney shoved painfully into his stomach and his hands up in front of himself to ward off the massive teeth of a six-foot-tall beast.

It was like a panther on steroids, with fur of midnight black, huge paws that spread wide on the floor, claws flashing free. But when it whipped around to face me, it was a sleek rabbit’s face that stared at me, not a jaguar’s. Eyes like boba pearls, luminous with fear, tracked me as I took quick, efficient steps across the room, sidestepping a table that had fallen onto its side, spilling books and chunks of marble that might resemble people.

“Don’t!” the haggard man pleaded, his voice strong but withered. He was covered in layers of grime, his clothes equally dirty, shredded in places. “Don’t attack her, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

I raised my sword higher nonetheless. These monsters were everywhere, a scourge on Ford’s End. They were Nightmare’s puppets. The world wouldn’t miss them, if they could even be killed.

“Please,” the man blurted, trying to push the table aside, to free himself as I stalked closer. There was something familiar about him, scratching at the back of my mind, but I was too focused on fighting, surviving, and finding my girl, that the thought couldn’t form. “I’ll give you anything, I’ll do whatever Nightmare wants next, just don’t hurt her. Please.”

I froze at that name, spiders of ice crawling down my spine. “You think I work for her.”

Bright eyes flickered with confusion. “Why else would you be here?”

A muscle feathered in my jaw. I didn’t take my eyes off the animal sizing me up, searching for weaknesses to attack. “I’m looking for my wife.”

“Your wife,” the man breathed, something like horror beneath the grime on his face. “God.” He managed to shove the table aside with a burst of strength, but it clearly cost him; he doubled over, hands on his knees. I saw blood on his clothes, on his skin. Maybe it wasn’t Cat’s blood in the entrance. Maybe she was safe, unhurt. “Your Elaina’s husband?”

I tilted my head, assessing the man and the monster. I’d missed the black, velvety rabbit's ears before; they’d been flattened to the creature’s head, but slowly they rose as it watched me, flexing its claws on the stone floor.

“I don’t know Elaina. I’m here for Cat.”

The man blinked—and blinked. “You’re… what?” He sidestepped the creature, keeping his spine pressed to the stone wall, breathing heavily. “She got married? When? No, fuck, that’s not important. Stay where you are, don’t move a muscle or she’ll attack.”

I shifted my grip on the sword, pausing at his words. She got married? When? He knew my girl. Was he a past lover, a friend, or a—

“Shit,” I hissed, expelling a hard breath. “You’re the brother she was searching for. You’re Virgil.”

His eyes shuttered, hiding emotion he didn’t want me to see. “Yeah, I’m Virgil.” His voice was scratchy and raw. He stiffened when I shifted forward a step. “Don’t fucking touch her.”

“She’ll kill us both if I let her,” I pointed out.

His eyes sharpened, jaw clenching. “She’s my sister. She’s your wife, apparently. This subject is Cat.”

I froze, all the strength going from my arms as I stared at the jaguar, as I met those black boba eyes, and my heart crumpled in my chest. My beautiful girl, my universe. What did she do to you?

I let the sword clatter to the floor, a weight descending on my chest.

Cat chose that moment to pounce, bunny teeth bared and her claws out. I didn’t move out of the way of her attack.

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