Page 95 of All Hallows Game

CHAPTER FIFTY

TOR

It took Death and I fighting back to back, sending out a tidal wave of death magic at the exact same moment to take out every one of the creatures. Panting, I leaned on my left leg, my right slashed across the back of my thigh and blazing with insistent pain, another pulse thumping through my head where I knocked it, taken down by a hulking lion of a creature.

“Bind them in ropes,” Death rasped, his back brushing mine with every rapid breath. “We’ll transport them to cells under the castle, then find Cat and Miz.”

I groaned in relief at the thought of us being together again. I needed to lay eyes on Cat, needed to wrangle Miz into a hug and never let go. Worry jabbed my chest from the inside out, but I slashed my hands through the air, summoning ropes of unbreakable darkness to bind the creatures. Experience said they wouldn’t be out for long, and when they came around, we needed to make sure they were enclosed in stone and steel. The dungeons were the best place for them until we figured out what the hell they were, how Nightmare had created them, and just how she planned to use them.

“On three,” Death panted when they were all bound, his back still pressed to mine. “One. Two. Three.”

I grunted at the exertion of transporting so many creatures at once, my bleeding body taking a toll on my power. I’d shredded whole armies with this power; injuries dealt by these things were slow to heal. I should have been healed by now. No, I shouldn't have bled in the first place.

I’d worry about that later. Now, I kept pace with Death, throwing beast after twisted beast into the cells beneath our castle, sweat dripping off the tip of my nose, my skin hot to the touch.

“That’s the last of them,” he said with a raspy sigh when our magic worked in tandem to imprison the last creature, avoiding the sharp edges of their horns.

“Thank fuck,” I groaned, leaning against the brick wall between cells for a moment, trying to catch my breath. “My leg’s fucking killing. How’s your back?”

“Not much better,” he admitted, resting his forehead against mine for a second. “Pain’s probably got a tonic or salve for it. We’ll go see him when we have Miz and Cat back.”

I sucked in a slow breath, straightening from a slouch, and brushed a brief kiss over his mouth before pulling away. “I want Cat and Miz back now. I don’t like them being away from us.” I rubbed my head. “I could track Cat if I had my phone, but I gave it to Miz. How the fuck are we going to find them?”

Death shrugged casually. “There’s a way.”

I narrowed my eyes when he withdrew his own mobile from a pocket of thinning darkness, his weakness evident. “Hey, that’s the same app I’ve got. Whose phone did you put a tracker on?”

A tired laugh puffed from him. “Yours.”

I drew back in surprise, not sure whether to be pissed or touched. I settled on both and gave his shoulder a light punch. “Fine, track my phone you psychopath.”

When the little arrow blinked to life, I accepted his offered hand and magic billowed around us, carrying us back to the dark trees of Ford’s End. He deposited us not far from where we’d fought the monsters. The scent of pine and blood filled my nose, not a hint of Cat’s peaches and cream or Miz’s clean, floral scent.

“This way,” Death said confidently, batting blood soaked braids out of his face. “Your phone’s about twelve minutes away.”

“About twelve, like that’s not incredibly specific,” I quipped, sharper than I meant thanks to the panic closing a swift net around me. “We can make that in five if we run.”

So we ran.

I engulfed us in pools of darkness every few steps, quickening our pace, the marker on Death’s phone fixed in both our sights.

Almost there, almost—

Wood snapped somewhere ahead, close enough to the app’s pin that rage poured into me and I reached for fistfuls of power, ready to kill whatever got in my way.

“Cat!” Misery yelled, his voice echoing through the trees, making my heart falter. He was well enough to shout, and he didn’t sound in immense pain. He was fine. But what about our girl?

Death and I raced across the last bit of distance, breaking out of the treeline around a small, tin-roofed cottage. Light spilled from a single window and a door that had flown off its hinges. One of Nightmare’s creatures had blast through the door, sleek with dark fur over powerful muscle and a rabbit’s face. I assessed the creature, planning where I’d strike.

“Don’t let her escape!” Miz shouted when he spotted us, his voice raw and gold eyes haunted. Blood streaked his chest, dripping from a puncture on his collarbone. “That’s our fucking wife.”

That’s— “What?” I demanded, abandoning all my previous plans. I looked into the creature’s velvety face, her eyes big and shining. “Beautiful, is that you?”

“There’s an antidote,” said a raw, raspy voice, and I flicked a split-second glance at the cottage as a gaunt man stumbled into the woods. Virgil, Cat’s missing brother. He looked like shit. “You need to inject her with this.”

“We’re not injecting her with anything,” Death rumbled, the ground shaking with his rage.

“You don’t understand,” Virgil blurted, staggering forward a step. “This will make her shift back, but she needs the antidote once a week for the rest of her life. Like I do. This is who she is now.”

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