Page 56 of All Hallows Trick

He stiffened instantly, hands flexing on my back. “He’ll be fine.”

“If I can sense it, you can too.”

“Don’t,” he bit out, his voice as tight as mine. “We’ll figure something out. He’s going to be fine.”

“Yes,” I agreed, and made it into a vow. “He’ll be fine.”

When he drew back, Tor cleared his throat and avoided my stare. It made it easier to take a tiny step to the right and unhook the keys that hung beside the door. A regular lock wouldn’t hold him for long, but I didn’t need long. Pain lanced the fragile organ inside my ribcage but I wouldn’t back down.

“Let’s grab Peach and get back to him,” Tor said gruffly, clearing his throat again. My heart broke a little more when he scrubbed both hands over his face and headed for the stairs. “Miz will feel better when she’s with him.”

He didn’t even notice that I wasn’t beside him, so terrified to lose Misery, so distracted that I was able to slip out the door and he just trudged on towards the stairs. I had to clench my jaw to ward off the emotion that wanted to drown me, but I managed to close the door quietly, get the key in the lock, and twist it.

“Cat?” I heard him call from within. The words were a direct hit to my heart. He wasn’t panicking—yet—but I knew it wouldn’t be long. Tor’s magic would allow him to bypass the doors, but I was already spinning, my shoes hammering the path as I sprinted around the other side of the castle.

I didn’t stop running until Death’s garden came into view, the rows of terracotta planters and fragrant flower boxes on my right, a blooming row of herbs and flowers on my left. It made no sense that something should grow and thrive in the realm of the dead, but I’d never seen anything that summed up Deathquite so perfectly. He was oxygen and sunlight, nourishing and essential. The pain in my chest grew.

He’d forgive me. They’d all forgive me for being so reckless if this saved Misery.

My shoes skidded on the dirt path as I stopped between a lush rose bush and a tree growing white, perfectly circular berries. Ghost fruit. The first time I’d eaten them had been at breakfast with Misery’s arms around me while he bickered with Tor. I choked down the emotion and scanned the garden for Miz’s mystery saviour, my breathing tight at the idea they might never come to meet me.

I should have found a way to lose Tor sooner or at least tried to convince my husbands to let me come alone. The only problem was Madde’s castle was so far from here, I didn’t know the route between them, and I’d had to fight to go to thebathroomalone, let alone across the realm.

But what if the person who wrote the message never came?

I scanned the area, slipping into a shadow between the dark castle wall and a standing planter overflowing rich green climbers.

“There’s no need to hide,” a clear, musical voice said—female. “I’ve cloaked the area. He won’t find you.”

I turned towards the voice with a frown, my shoulders climbing by my ears, a strange mix of disappointment and wariness forming where before there was only determination, fear for Miz and… anticipation. That last emotion made no sense. What was there to anticipate? But I couldn’t deny the crash of emotions in my chest. It felt a lot like disappointment.

The figure walking towards me, lit only by the stars and moon, was definitely a woman. She was around the same height as me but slimmer, and I’d guess in her late twenties. Brunette hair pulled into an elegant updo, her hair half covered by a detailed lace hood draped with an expert hand. A matchingivory dress had been tailored perfectly to her delicate body. She looked like she should be on a runway for couture wedding gowns. She had the face of a model, too, her porcelain skin enviably clear, a gentle flush across her cheeks, nose, and rosebud mouth. I’d never seen this woman in my life.

She came closer, watching me intently, the train of her dress caressing grass and wildflowers. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” she said, meeting my eyes. The look was guileless; there was a tentative kindness to her expression. None of the sadism I saw in Nightmare. And she definitely wasn’t the Stalker, so that was one thing I could stop worrying about.

“Who are you?” I asked, matching her steps until we met, two feet apart in the middle of the garden, surrounded by wild blooms and night flowers that lifted their fragrant faces to the moon. I wasn’t sure if the beautiful scent came from them or from the delicate doll in front of me. She wasn’t what I’d been expecting.

“I don’t remember my name,” she replied with a sad sigh and downcast eyes. “It’s been too long.”

Was she one of Nightmare’s victims, too? Or was she a god like my men? “You said you could save Misery?”

“Yes, poor Misery.” She reached forward and took my hands in hers, startling me before I could avoid the touch. “You must be so worried.”

I nodded, trying to conceal the sheer terror that crushed me at the thought of never seeing him smile or feeling his arms tighten around me in his sleep or hearing his voice ever again. “How can I save him?”

“It’s such a simple thing. Even Death could help you if he knew how to do it. But he doesn’t, you see.” She ran her thumb over my knuckles, smiling down at our hands, and alarm bells began to whisper through me. “My brother and I are the only ones who know how. But I’ll tell you.”

“Please,” I breathed, hope quickening my heart.

“All it will take is a little bargain.”

I yanked my hands out of hers and took a step away, the back of my neck tingling. Of course it required a bargain. “You’re working for Nightmare.”

The woman laughed, the sound musical and sweet. “I’m definitelynot.I have my own agenda and helping you would fall into that.”

“What’s your agenda?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even and failing.

“Oh, Kitty, I can’t tell you that.”

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