Page 5 of All Hallows Game

“Nightmare manipulated your emotions, and the curse was only lifted weeks ago. Plus, you’re grieving—”

I whipped my head around to glare at him. “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed.” But it wasn’t grief making my stomach roil; it was rejection and hurt and a different sort of loss. “Be honest, Death.” I looked him in the eye, even if looking at his handsome face physically hurt, even if those storm-grey eyes made me want to cry. “You’re not avoiding me because I’m grieving; you don’t want me anymore.”

“That’s not true,” he argued instantly, but this was a path we’d walked more than once these few weeks and its tread was familiar. Today I was ground down so low I finally said what we’d both been dancing around.

“It is true. You’re right, we were cursed—I was only your bride because Nightmare fucked with us both. None of it was real, right?”

His throat rose and fell. Devastation shone in his eyes. His fingers tightened around mine. “It was real.”

“Until she dropped the curse,” I said bitterly, dragging my stare away before I wounded myself on those soulful eyes. “And you realised your feelings were all because of her.”

“That’s not—”

“You forget that I know you,” I said with a twisted laugh. “I know you’re good, and you care fiercely about people, and you always try to do the right thing. Which is why you’re here, isn’t it? It’s why you won’t kiss me. You’re not here because you still want me; you’re here because you see it as your duty.”

“It is my duty. I’m not going to abandon you,” he began, but that was all the confirmation I needed. I tore my hand from his and shoved down the pain that tangled in my chest. I’d wanted to feel something; guess I got my wish.

“It might not have been real for you, but it was real for me,” I snapped, stalking away. “My feelings are real.”

I was glad he didn’t follow.

CHAPTER FOUR

CAT

Iflicked the tears off my cheeks, cursing myself for wanting to feel something. Now all I could feel was the crushing weight on my chest, pain splintering through the fragile organ that hunched behind my ribcage. I wanted to undo everything that happened three weeks ago. If Nightmare had the power to lock down Ford’s End so no one could get in or out, maybe magic could turn back time. My throat tightened at the thought of having Byron back, hearing him bicker with Honey, and complain grumpily about a lack of coffee or having to scale multiple flights of stairs to get to Circulation and Breathing class. I’d give anything just to listen to him whine about how much he hated shopping.

Remembering his scowl when Honey and I dragged him shopping before we came to Ford made me smile for a split second until I looked up and realised the path had snaked around Guinevere Ford’s elaborate mausoleum and brought me to the austere resting place of Caishen Malevollus.

I swallowed hard, wrapping my arms around myself. A fine layer of snow had settled on the mausoleum’s roof, drifting into the black dahlias carved around the sealed stone door. I kept my distance but traced the angular shapes of the mausoleum with my eyes, always returning to the name.

Cai, take the knife and kill Byron.

A shiver went down my spine that had nothing to do with the snow. Nightmare had been controlling Misery for years—hundreds and hundreds of years. I pressed my hands to my thighs as a tremor moved through them. The date on Caishen Malevollus’s tomb said 1476—that was a lot of hundreds.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” I whispered, the cold spreading through me.

I’d touched Miz. There was no way his body was inside this mausoleum, and yet… I had no doubt a part of him had died here. Or maybe I was just in denial, and becoming a death god gave him form, but his body laid beyond this solid door.

Or was Misery already dead and a death god when he came here the first time, when Nightmare took control of him, possessing him like a parasite?

Parasite was a good word for that bitch. A worm that invaded good people and made them commit unspeakable acts.

I’m hurt, my terror. That’s how you think of me?

I staggered back a step, clutching my head as her voice speared my skull. It didn’t even hurt, but the shock of hearing her, the sudden violence of her sultry voice in my mind, was as bad as any stabbing ache.

Where’s Virgil? I demanded. Is he okay?

In perfect condition, I promise you. Would you like to see him?

Yes! I agreed immediately, the circle of mausoleums fading as I focused on the voice in my head. Reality hit a moment later, and I held myself tighter as I asked, What’s the catch?

Only a little task, she replied. Haven’t you missed our fun little quests?

The last fun little quest led Darya to her death, made me a killer, and gave Nightmare untold power over me.

I’m not killing anyone for you, I protested warily, jumping when something brushed my knuckles. My eyes focused back on the real world and I expelled a ragged breath when I realised it was only fluffy flakes of snow brushing the backs of my fingers.

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