“Hey, you,” I whispered when I spotted Peach in one of the higher sections, her beady eyes dark as she watched me fumble with the catch on the door before I got it open. “Remember me? I held out my fist for her to sniff, not really knowing the social etiquette of prairie dogs. I did know holding out my fingers was a sure way to get bitten by any creature, hence the fist.
She shuffled closer, watching me suspiciously, but there was no way she was an ordinary animal, living in Death’s domain, so she was a smart girl.
“Miz needs you,” I whispered, meeting her curious gaze. “I don’t mind you taking a little nibble, but can you avoid ripping my hand open long enough for me to carry you to him?”
Behind me, Tor murmured to Misery in low, soothing tones that worked on my own panic even if I couldn’t hear the exact words. I took a moment to fill my lungs, to shake off the remnants of terror that I’d lost Miz forever, that I’d never be able to tell him what really happened that day on the moors.
I took a leap of faith and held out my hand for Peach to crawl onto, which she didn’t, and then I bit my lip as I closed my hand lightly around her middle, surprised by how light she was, how soft her fur was.
I left the door hanging open—who knew how quickly I’d have to return her if this turned into a bloodbath. But she just peered around the room as I carried her and made a soft sound when she spotted Misery.
“Peach?” Miz sobbed, lifting his head from where he rested it against Tor’s chest.
“I thought you might need her,” I explained, the back of my neck burning until I saw his face collapse as he nodded. I’d done something right; I hadn’t fucked up. “Here,” I murmured, placing her in his hands and startling when she let out a piercing wahoo! Miz laughed abruptly, either at Peach or my expression, and held the wriggling creature close to his chest.
“Thank you. For getting Peach, and for staying.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I informed him, climbing back onto the bed and snuggling close, my thigh pressed to Tor’s, my head resting on Miz’s shoulder.
Movement caught my eye and I startled at the sight of Death stalking across the room, blood dripping from his hands, his face, his clothes. My heart nearly tore out of my chest; I lurched forward.
“Not mine,” he assured us quickly, closing the distance between us. “It’s not mine. And I’ll replace your sheets, Miz, but right now I just need to—”
He crawled onto the bed with us instead of finishing, his whole body trembling, slicked with blood. The metallic scent of it filled my nose and burned out the lingering reek of death. Although … that miasma had begun to fade when Miz woke up. I prayed that meant he was healing.
Death’s head rested over Miz’s heart, one of his hands fastening around mine, one gripping Tor’s wrist. “I just need this,” he rasped.
Because I wasn’t looking at any of them, I was brave enough to whisper, “I love you. All of you.”
Tor startled. “But I thought—”
I shook my head, my eyes burning. “Don’t ask me to explain any of what I said before. Just—know I mean it now. I love you.”
It was such a relief to say it, to tell all of them how I really felt instead of following a script set in front of me by a psychopath holding my brother captive. Tears flowed hot down my face. I held tight to Death’s hand, wrapping my other around Misery’s arm, my breath hitching in a dangerous way that heralded sobs when Tor pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“I love you, too,” he said quietly, a roughness to his voice. “Even if you bastards scare the shit out of me with so much death-defying shit.”
“Shit twice in one sentence,” Miz drawled. “You’re losing your creative touch.”
Death made my heart jump with a kiss to my cheek, then to my lips, capturing me in a slow, deep kiss that made the tears flow harder, hotter. I buried my face in Miz’s shoulder when Death released me, drawing Miz into a kiss every bit as loving, and then taking Tor’s mouth with just as much passion.
“My loves,” he murmured, looking at all of us. “It’s the greatest honour of my existence to love and be loved by you. Even if, like Tor said, you scare the shit out of me with death-defying shit.”
“Death-defying horseshit,” Tor amended airily. “I can be creative.”
“It still has shit in it,” I pointed out, earning myself a nip of teeth on my ear that only made me smile.
Miz reached up to pat Tor’s shoulder. “You can do better.”
Tor laughed loudly, a startled bark of noise that made Peach protest equally noisily. Miz was right; she really didn’t like Torment. I tucked a smile into the curve of Miz’s shoulder, feeling a weight leave my soul. I couldn’t tell them about Nightmare’s threat or her holding Virgil captive, but this felt like a step out of the dark, back into the glow of their affection.
“Sleep, loves,” Death said gently, kissing each of us. “Miz needs the sleep to recover.”
“I can go,” I said in a small, reluctant voice.
“You’ll stay right the fuck there,” Tor grumbled, his hand finding my hip and pressing me against him and Miz. “No fucking leaving.”
No fucking leaving sounded perfect.