Page 34 of All Hallows Game

“Gods,” he exhaled against my lips, touching me with a desperation that mirrored mine.

I ended up pressed up against the tomb and wasn’t sure how I’d got there, or how my hands were under Miz’s shirt. I took advantage of their position, pulling it over his head and discarding it without caring where it ended up, sending my own soaked shirt in a similar direction.

The haven of skin to skin was enough to make me groan and arch up into him, and Miz’s hot breath caressed my lips as his breathing turned ragged.

“You are everything,” he panted, his hands remembering my body with the same eagerness that mine covered his with frantic touches. “The stars, the sun, the moon, the entire universe. My universe.”

A tear rolled down my cheek, covering my lips with salt as I kissed him again, harder, breathless. He deepened the kiss and his taste was like coming home, like sunshine after weeks of rain.

“I missed you so much,” I said between kisses, holding him so tightly that my fingers dimpled his skin. “Don’t leave again.”

“Even if I leave,” he whispered, “I’ll always come back. And Cat, I—fuck, we can’t do this.”

My heart cracked down the middle, my bottom lip dangerously weak as he pulled back. His hands left my body, cold rushing into the places we’d touched as he stepped back, but he soothed the sting of rejection with the gentle stroke of his knuckle down my jaw.

“It’s not safe,” he said, the pain and loathing returning to his eyes, clouding the beautiful gold. “Nightmare can take over my mind at any time and I—I can’t trust myself.”

He whispered the last part, as if the admission cost him.

Unwilling to let go, I left a featherlight kiss on his cheek. I had no words of comfort, no reassurance. I opened my mouth and nothing came out.

“I could kill you,” he said miserably, putting more space between us, walking backwards to the door I’d heaved open. Sound and smells and sensations returned, and I jumped at the furious hammering of the rain on the roof, the chill that now sank into my bones, the scent of lilacs and snow fading.

“Don’t go,” I whispered, pleading with my eyes. I knew his answer, saw the guilt and apology on his face.

“If I stay, I’ll kill you.” His mouth curved in a sad smile. “Remember what I said. If I have to go, I’ll always come back. For as long as you want me, I’m yours.”

I lurched forward when he slipped around the door, my stomach tight, chest aching. In the second it took me to rush through the opening, Miz was gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY

CAT

There was no dignity in the way I woke up the next morning, my head pounding thanks to the bottle of tequila Honey and I split last night, my face covered in dried drool, and the shirt Miz left behind in the mausoleum stuck to my body. Night sweats were fucking awful.

I groaned, shuffling out of bed and gathering clean clothes, a shower on my mind, and for a second, I forgot my best friend was dead and my brother was Nightmare’s captive. For a second all I thought about was the way Death had covered my body with his, looking at me like I was the only person in the whole world, and the way Misery’s voice had rasped when he called me his everything, his universe.

“Ugh,” I groaned when I saw the sticky notes Honey had stuck on my TV last night, hastily pulling them down and glad none of the gods had decided to show up unannounced. Fuchsia notes with bold permanent marker winked at me.

HOT GOD GUYS (first note)

CAT WANTS YOUR (second note)

MASSIVE DINGDONGS (third note.)

She’d had to write the first note three times because she kept writing HOTDOG GUYS, and I kept snorting tequila.

“Oh,” I muttered, “that’s why my nose burns.”

A smile tugged at my cheeks until I saw the half-eaten packet of popcorn on my floor, and everything rushed back with the force of a storm. Popcorn was Byron’s favourite.

My eyes welled with tears, any amusement I’d had withering as I stared at that bag of popcorn. It would never have been half-eaten if By was here. He’d have devoured it before Honey or I could get a single piece.

I sank to my knees and clutched the bag to my chest as the tears finally burst free.

“You should be here,” I choked out. “You should be here, By.”

No matter what he’d done, he was my best friend. I wasn’t sure I forgave him, and I knew that made me a hypocrite, but I missed him. I missed him more with every day, until it was a tangle of thorns in my chest, gouging my heart deeper every time the sun rose on another day without him.

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