Page 22 of All Hallows Game

“Stay here,” I said firmly, yanking on our joined hands until Miz stopped walking. “I’ll clear the lake.”

“I’m fine—”

I shut him up with a kiss.

“Fine as hell? I agree. Stay here, I won’t be long.”

“Tor,” he protested, but the fact he leaned against a tall tree and didn’t follow me spoke volumes. He struggled with the trauma of what happened at Ford every day, but being near the lake made it a thousand times worse, and I wasn’t about to let misery overwhelm him. I didn’t give a shit if that was his name; I’d minimise his unhappiness as much as was within my power.

“Hey, asshole,” I said when I reached the bank of the lake. I gave it my middle finger, as if the lake itself had done anything wrong. No, this was all Nightmare. Everything bad revolved around her.

I’d reached the other side and found nothing more than a rabbit scurrying from the underbrush when a low, mournful howl snapped my head up. That sure as shit wasn’t a rabbit. A wolf maybe? Did Ford’s End even have wolves on this shit stain of an island?

I froze in place, listening, the only noise the hushed whisper of the wind through the leaves and the panicked rush of the rabbit running in the opposite direction.

When the howl came again, much, much fucking closer, my stomach flipped. Whatever that was, animal or monster, it was loud, and unsettlingly close to the other side of the lake.

“Miz,” I breathed, a surge of wrathful protectiveness filling my chest, swelling my heart against my ribs. A low, threatening sound rattled the back of my throat.

I grabbed a fistful of magic and jumped into the darkness that streaked the air, landing on the other side of the lake. Shadows scattered behind me as I stormed through the woods to the place I left Miz, my dead heart skipping when I found the tree he’d leaned against and no sign of Miz.

“Misery?” I yelled, unable to hide the panic in my voice. My ears began to ring.

Cat found her grief counsellor cut to shreds with fucking bites taken out of her. I hadn’t seen the state of her, but I could smell the blood that still saturated the park, and I knew it had been a deadly amount. The idea of the same creature attacking Miz made me vibrate with rage.

I crouched, inspecting the footprints he’d left, the thump of my heart loud in my ears as I surveyed their trail—leading deeper into the woods. There were no paw prints but that didn’t mean the beast hadn’t got Miz. It didn’t mean he wasn’t being mauled to death. He was vulnerable, his self-preservation at an all-time low thanks to Nightmare screwing with his head.

I got back to my feet in a rush, turning towards the trail—and staggered when a pale figure collided with me. The second the scent of lilacs and snow hit my senses, I snapped my arms closed around Miz and held on so tight his ribs must have curved.

“Where the fuck were you?”

“I thought I could track the monster and kill it before it could hurt anyone else Cat loves.”

Oh, Misery.

“But I didn’t even get a glimpse of it before it vanished,” he added sourly.

I sighed, brushing messy white strands from his face. “You don’t have to make amends, and you certainly don’t have to do it by risking your damn life. You heard Cat—she doesn’t blame you, she knows it was all her.”

“Cat can’t have meant that.”

“She did. She doesn’t say empty words, and we both know it. Promise me—no more going off alone, confronting dangerous animals.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” I kissed him again, lingering this time. “Now, let's go find that damned animal together. When it’s dead, we can watch animal videos, or you can fuck me to death—dealer’s choice.”

Miz groaned, following me away from the lake. “Why do I even like you?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CAT

Inearly caved three times during the night, my finger hovering over Tor’s number to confess everything. But whenever my conviction wavered, I looked at the other phone and reminded myself why I needed to keep it secret. When I woke up, groggy and with a pounding head thanks to hours of broken sleep, I snapped a quick copy of the Virgil photo so I had it on my phone and quickly got dressed.

I didn’t know which room belonged to Justin Merchant, but I did know he could be relied upon to visit the breakfast hall for a double espresso and crushed avocado sourdough toast at seven a.m. sharp. I made sure to be there for six forty-five, gratefully clutching a cup of tea between shaky hands.

Justin Merchant was a six-foot-something white guy with perpetually messy black hair, observant green eyes, and clothes that looked slouchy and second hand because they were designed to look that way. I didn’t know much about him other than his parents were renowned surgeons, and his sister was a pharmacist in Dubai. Mostly because the girl who lost her Dior bracelet very loudly said I wish my sister worked in Dubai while cosying up to him a few weeks ago. I could guess how much pressure he was under to follow in his family’s footsteps; that was no doubt why he broke Duncan’s nose and started the rumour that he summoned Nightmare.

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