Page 49 of All Hallows Trick

“Pure insanity,” Madde breathed, his voice bedroom-soft and aching with tenderness. “Nothing should feel that good. It’s an impossibility.”

“Too many… big words,” I groaned, not caring to move even though we were on the floor. When his fingers travelled up my back, deliciously slow, then tangled in my hair, palm cupping the back of my head, I was content to stay there forever.

“No one else is allowed to have you while you’re wearing this,” he said, a little rumble in his voice as his other hand smoothed fleece down my back, traveling lower to squeeze myass like he couldn’t help himself. I clenched, just once, but the answering jolt of his length made me gasp.

“Madde,” I protested lazily when he stood, keeping me wrapped around him.

“I think I’ll have you one more time. Or three.”

“Three? Are you insane?” I groaned.

“Darling, what’s my name?” he laughed, his slow steps stroking him along swollen, sensitive muscles, in and out, in and out. I dug my fingernails into his skin, blinking my eyes open.

“Love,” I answered.

I wasn’t expecting the low, throaty noise he made in response. He moved so suddenly that air tugged at my hoodie, then my back was against the wall. He gripped my ass in both hands and drove into me hard, taking back control from me in a way that gave me shivers. We didn’t even make it out of the hallway.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CAT

After everything that had happened today, I needed a few minutes of normalcy, so I curled up on the window seat in one of Madde’s many sitting rooms—I had a feeling this one was asalon—and called Honey.

It took a full minute for her to answer, but just the sight of her familiar face breaking into a smile eased a weight from my chest, my shoulders slumping as an answering smile pulled at my cheeks. “Tell me everything is normal there, and nothing at all supernatural is happening.”

“Everything is normal, and nothing at all supernatural is happening.”

I gave her a look heavy on cynicism.

“Seriously,” she insisted. “It’s all been strangely… normal. I mean, as normal as Ford ever is. Lessons feel weird after everything that happened, but Alastor’s helping me catch up.”

I carefully controlled my reaction to that name, keeping the smile on my face even if it felt frozen. “And nothing… nightmarish?”

“No. I keep waiting for something to happen, but maybe she’s not paying attention to the school anymore? The most exciting thing that happened was Chanel Borghese-Smith got a Birkin bag airdropped from a helicopter because packages keep going missing in the ocean.”

“The enchantment’s still around the island,” I mused, not sure what to do with the relief filling my chest. Ford was normal. Nightmare was leaving them alone. Honey was safe. “What about her followers? Have you seen Phil?”

“No.” Honey leaned closer to the screen, her eyes bright with excitement. “There’s a buttload of rumours flying around. Some people think she ran away with one of the professors because they’re in an illicit love affair.”

“I wish,” I muttered. Instead, Phil had vanished because she was found out as one of Nightmare’s little minions. After she hit me over the head, of course. And left me to the mercy of the mysterioushe.Was it the same person I’d seen watching Madde and I? The Stalker? I was just lucky he never showed up that day. “Honey, you haven’t seen a guy in a long coat and a black top hat, right?”

“Uh, no. Should I have?”

“No,” I breathed, the relief hitting harder this time. So, the Stalker was only in this domain. “Just a ghost I’ve seen here a few times,” I explained. Well,lied.I didn’t want Honey to worry if she was safe; I had my death gods to protect me but she was all alone.Fourdeath gods. That thought sent a giddy rush through my belly. “And what about Justin? Is he still bothering you?”

The look on Honey’s voice was blank, no recognition there. “I’ve seen him around, but we haven’t spoken. We’re not exactly friends.”

No, but there was that time I saw them arguing in the car park. He’d definitely been intimidating her, and Honey had been afraid.

“Honey, you’d tell me if there was anything going on, right?” I asked, aware I was being hypocritical when I was keeping secrets from her. But they were white lies, meant to keep her mind from overloading on fear. I was worried she was already wrecked with anxiety, hiding it from me. “If he’s bullying you, tell me. I’ll deal with him.”

“You or your three husbands?” she teased.

I glanced away and said, “Four.”

“Four?Four?”she shrieked.

“Four,” I confirmed.

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