Page 13 of All Hallows Trick

His mouth curved, gold eyes flicking down to me with dangerous heat. “I’m aware.”

If he wasn’t bothered by the mix of Death’s cum and mine dripping down his skin, I wouldn’t be embarrassed by it. I just kissed the side of his throat where a curl of ink rendered words in a language I didn’t speak, and wrapped my arms around his neck when he carried me into the adjoined bathroom and turned on the shower.

I revelled in his touch and attention as he walked me under the spray and tenderly cleaned me of sweat and other fluids. The heat in his eyes was banked but fiery enough that I was aware of it the entire time he touched me. I expected him to strip off his soaked pants and plunge his cock into me when I was clean, and get me dirty all over again, but he rinsed the shampoo from my hair, lovingly massaging my favourite leave-in conditioner into the strands2 then carried me out of the steam.

“Miz…?”

My stomach swooped when his eyes lifted to me, something I both recognised and didn’t in those bright eyes. The smile that lifted the edges of his mouth was dangerous.

“I have a gift for you. Well.” He paused, trailing his eyes from my face all the way down my body. “Punishment is a more accurate word.”

My heart clanged against my ribs, a flash of panic spearing me. “Punishment?”

His hand wrapped around my throat, pulling me against his half-naked body for a deep, claiming kiss. His other hand stroked down my back, reassuring me he wasn’ttrulyangry with me.

“I know you’ve been a good girl lately.” Another kiss, this one softer. “But I haven’t forgotten that you lied to me, little bride. You said you didn’t want me and Tor, and I never made you pay for it.”

His next kiss was deep and growling. I surged up onto my tiptoes, hands tangled in his wet hair, my clit throbbing back to life at the wet, animalistic way he kissed me.

“Here.” He released me, smiling at my pout, and retrieved a box from a flicker of darkness. “I want you to wear this until I tell you to take it off. Well, until I tell you to take itout.”

A hot rush moved down my body, followed by a chill of goosebumps. I had an inkling of what I’d find even before I lifted the lid and saw the pink vibrator.

“Um. This is remote controlled.”

“Yes, it is,” he confirmed with vicious enjoyment. His smile was evil. “And only I can control it.”

A nervous flutter went through my belly. Miz kissed the tip of my nose and headed for the door, not caring his trousers were soaked. My heart beat faster as I eyed the vibrator, and I knew he was going to torture me until I couldn’t take any more.

CHAPTER FIVE

CAT

My eyes were still gritty and sore, my head pounding, and while an orgasm might have mellowed my mood, it was only temporary. I was starving and groggy from broken, shitty sleep, and memories of last night took up most of the space in my head. I flexed my hands, but there was no hint of the claws I saw on the rooftop, not even a papercut visible to show where they’d appeared. But I knew I didn’t imagine them. I had claws, and Madde said my eyes turned black.

I didn’t know what that made me.

The stress returned in full force now, especially when I couldn’t find Tor in any of the rooms on this floor.

Voices floated up to me as I ventured towards the stairs, the décor vibrant and very Madde. I didn’t know much about the death god, but I learned more about him with every piece of art I passed—people in varying states of undress lounging on sofas, riding penny farthings, and sunbathing. Every tapestry—men riding into battle wearing clown costumes, others showing sombre scenes of death stitched in bright rainbow threads. There was a jade vase carved all over with kittens, a terracotta plate with a side-profile of Madness himself, and seventeen miniature hedgehogs each displaying a different martial art move. I counted them—seventeen.

The man was insane, but that shouldn’t have surprised me. Although of all the death gods I’d met, he embodied his name the most.

The voices got louder when I descended the staircase Madde carried me up last night, and now that I could hear them clearer, they were very obviously in the middle of an argument. Death’s voice was the loudest, followed by Misery’s whip-sharp tone, and the thought of them arguing with each other made my stomach sink until I realised it was Madde they were shouting at.

That wasn’t much better. My chest clamped up, and I didn’t want to examine the tightness too closely when Madness was a stranger I shouldn’t have cared about one bit.

The trouble was hewasn’ta stranger. Even if I only met him yesterday, he’d been with me for years. It was strange, and more than a little unsettling, that some man I’d never met had been watching me, listening in on my thoughts, encouraging my violent tendencies but … A year ago, I would have been horrified. Maybe even six months ago I would have snapped at him to stay the hell away from me and keep out of my head. But after everything that had happened with Nightmare, with the deaths and the curse … I was tired, and afraid, and the thought of never actually being alone during that time was more comforting than it should have been.

For better or worse, my darkness had a face and a voice. And that voice was currently arguing with my husbands.

I sighed, trailing my fingers over the spotless cherry wood bannister.1 At the bottom of the staircase, I followed the voicesthrough the sitting room where we met the doctor last night into a large kitchen bathed in sunlight. Suncatchers reflected prisms of rainbow light across white cabinets, rose quartz counters, and the kitchen island where my men stood, shoulders bristling and arms crossed. Madness lounged on a stool across from them in a loose burgundy blouse, tight leather trousers, and fishnet gloves, his feet kicked up on the island. His blue eyes were smoky with makeup, his expression utterly unbothered.

“If you think I’m going to—” Death began in a low growl, his warm caramel voice roughened with uncommon anger.

At the sight of me, the argument ground to a halt, and four sets of eyes swung to me. Not three.Four.I paused in the doorway to let them look at me, sensing their heightened stress and knowing they needed to reassure themselves I was fine, but the second my eyes locked with rich, latte brown I launched across the glossy white floor, not stopping until my arms were around Tor.

“You’re awake,” I gasped, trying not to squeeze him too tightly, conscious of every place he’d been hurt. Every placeI’dhurt him. The scent of him slammed into me, amber and sandalwood filling my lungs. His heat bled into my body, a reassurance so violent that it hit me like a punch. I wanted to squeeze him and draw him into me and never let go. But I forced myself to pull back, swallowing as I looked into his eyes. “I’m so, so sorry.”

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