Page 32 of All Hallows Trick

“Where does it hurt?” Tor demanded, squeezing his shoulders.

“Just my ribs. It’s a stitch, stop overreacting you madman.”

“No, that’s me,” Madde said, but without the giddy way he usually spoke. “Madde. And a man.”

I searched Miz’s face. “Look me in the eye and say it’s just muscle strain.”

Miz’s eyes gentled into liquid gold. “It’s just muscle strain. We need to keep moving; our quarry is getting away.”

I chewed my lip. He was right and I hated it. “As soon as we get home, you’re having a hot bath and you’re letting us pamper you. Donotargue with me, on pain of death,” I warned when he began to speak.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said instead, his eyes still soft. He kissed me, far too quickly to soothe the panic gripping my chest, and began walking again, slower. I watched him like a hawk but he moved normally, the pain passed. I had to focus on this woman in red, not just for me but for Virgil. He needed the antidotes as much as I did.

Maybe the woman could engineer a permanent antidote. Maybe she could cure us.

I ran faster, pushing my body to its limits, the woods whipping past me in a blur of dark green and black, the skyblotted out by their branches. The fresh, comforting scent of trees and living things filled my lungs, but out here that comfort was a lie. I remembered the sharp scent of chemicals, the putrid, haunting smell of the cells at the end of the tunnel. That was the truth of Ford, not this calm, quiet woodland around me.

I skidded to a stop, kicking up dirt, when the small building came into view. My heart tripped faster at the sight of it, the back of my neck tingling, my hackles rising. A low, threatening sound formed in my throat; I cut it off before it could linger, but the reminder was there. I wasn’t the same person I’d been when Phil dragged me into this shack. It had been twenty-four hours but everything had changed. I had changed.

“The door’s open,” Madde pointed out, nudging me with his shoulder. “Want me to check it out lioness?”

If I was really a lioness I would have scoffed and taken the first steps inside the innocuous looking cottage. I’d been here just hours ago. Ghosts tangled in my head, the memory of Phil’s terrified voice, of hitting her over the head with the test tube rack, of finding Virgil in the tunnels, then being attacked by Elaina. My stomach wrapped and coiled and cinched until I felt sick, my hands shaking at my sides.

Fingers slid into mine, dry and warm and soft, squeezing with reassurance. I lifted my stare from the muddy ground to Misery, a lump in my throat.

“What if I can’t go inside?” I asked, my voice too quiet, too weak. Tor squeezed my shoulder as he moved past, following Madde inside. I couldn’t make my legs work, couldn’t pick up my feet.

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” Miz promised, a fire of protectiveness in his voice. I knew the feeling; I felt it towards him, too. “You never have to step foot inside this placeeveragain.”

“They kept Virgil here for weeks. My experiences are nothing compared to that. I should be able to go inside. I was herefour hours ago.”But I stared at the old walls, the lovely door, the cute chimney and I felt sick.

“You knew we were alone an hour ago.” Miz pulled me close, tucking my head under his chin. “Now it’s different.”

I wanted to stay in his arms forever, but I detangled myself, and forced a step, then two.

“You don’t have to do this. You just nagged me for pushing myself and needing rest. Do I need to nag you about the same?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, taking the distraction, desperate for it. The weight of golden eyes on mine settled the ragged panic in my chest but fear still whipped around like a live wire out of control. “I did not nag.”

“You did, and it was very sweet. It made me feel loved.”

“Miz,” I sighed, squeezing his hand. “You are loved. And you’re right, I’ll take care of myself later. But now… I don’t know if I can do this but Ihave to.”

“We’ve got her!” Tor called from inside, his voice close enough to tell me they were in the first room the hallway led to. Not the tunnels, not the cells. Okay. I could do that. It was one short hallway. Easy.

I shut out Phil’s voice in my memory, shut out the roar of Elaina in her subject form, shut out the tremor of my own voice when I spoke. I took one step, and another, and another. Right foot on the front step. Left foot on the second step. Right, inside. Another step. Another—

My gasp was loud, bouncing off the stone walls when I saw who Tor and Madde were wrestling with, glimpses visible through the doorway at the end. I stepped forward in a daze this time, confused and hurt, shaking my head as I tried to make sense of it. There was no way this was Nightmare’s genius scientist; she must have come out here looking for me andHoney. Maybe she’d noticed us missing after Byron’s memorial. That made sense; she was always looking out for me.

She caught sight of me and stopped struggling, her eyes gentle behind bright red glasses, her smile genuine and deep. Professor Poppy, or Carmilla as she’d told me to call her. The black poppy she always wore was pinned to the lapel of her peach blazer, more familiar than most things at Ford.

My shoulders slumped, a sick sort of relief filling my chest even as guilt tangled through me. I was glad we hadn’t found Nightmare’s scientist, glad it was only Poppy. Deep down, I hadn’t wanted to face the woman whose serum made me into a monster.

“Were you looking for me and Honey?” I asked, relaxing.

“Just you,” she replied with that warm smile. “Look at you, my beautiful creature, my darling child.”

I jerked to a stop, flinched. Everything inside me ground to a halt, scrambling to understand. “What…?”

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