Page 55 of All Hallows Trick

“What happened to the first man? The sailor? Where did he go?” I asked, taking careful steps up the road, casting a quick glance to make sure we weren’t surrounded.

“Nothing happened for a few hours, then he just… faded away.”

“Like the realm’s fading,” I murmured, my chest tight. “Maybe whatever’s doing this to the spirits is the same reason streets keep decaying and disappearing. Maybe it’s all connected.”

“I don’t doubt it is. Move faster.”

The spirits were getting nearer, almost like they were herding us… Cold shot like ice down my back, making me shudder. Was it a coincidence these ghosts were guiding us towards the castle at the same time I had a meeting with a mysterious letter writer?

“Could a death god do this?” I asked, a little breathless. “Could they do this to a ghost?”

“Fuck knows. I’ve never seen anything like this before this week, so I have no damn clue. I wouldn’t know where to start trying to kill a ghost.”

“During your fights, you’ve never… killed anyone?”

“I’ve knocked the head off a cocky bastard before, but he just set it back on straight and kept punching me. I don’t think this is us, Cat. I think it’s Poppy and Nightmare.”

“And the Stalker,” I said, a sharp twist in my stomach. We hadn’t seen him for days, and we’d never seen him up close. He could have been anyone. He could have been the one who wrote the note. But if that was the case, he’d offered to help. I bit my lip, torn with indecision. But it kept coming back to four words.Your husband is dying.I knew it was true; I’d watched Miz weaken, and I didn’t want to admit that I sensed the death gathering around him but… I did. I felt it growing every day.

I’m jumping to conclusions. Even if I’m meeting the Stalker, there’s nothing to say he’s the one who’s going around killing ghosts. Or maybe he has a good reason for killing ghosts or—

I cut off that spiral with a vicious mental slash, not wanting my panic to reach Madde. I needed to stay calm, in control, and to get help from the person who left the note. From Pain or the Stalker or whoever it was—it didn’t matter. If they could save Misery, I’d accept whatever help they offered.

“They’re not attacking, see,” Tor said. The relief in his voice told me he’d been less confident in that than he’d seemed. “They just want to be seen before they fade away.”

Or whoever killed them wanted them to be seen. I kept that thought to myself, my shoulders tightening when I glanced up and saw Death’s castle blotting out the moonlight. We were here.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CAT

We let ourselves in a side gate and followed the dark castle walls around to the front entrance. Tor’s eyes were sharp on our surroundings, scanning for more threats. The spirits didn’t follow us beyond the gate. Their job was done, I knew, but I didn’t voice that theory. Even if unease closed around my chest and quickened my breathing.

I needed a plan. I needed a way to escape Tor because there was no way in hell he’d let me go meet an unknown person alone. And while the message didn’t say to come alone, it was heavily implied. I couldn’t risk Pain or the Stalker or whoever the fuck else seeing Tor and fleeing. We needed their help.Mizneeded their help. Quickly.

How much longer did he have? Days? Hours?

“Come on,” Tor said gently, reading my stress. “We’ll make this quick.”

Guilt twisted my gut until I felt physically sick, but I followed Tor up the wide stone stairs where I’d slaughtered Poppy’sghost, where there were still bloodstains where my men fought the creatures. What happened to them after the fight? They’d retreated and limped away but… what about after, when they shifted back? Poppy was gone. Had Nightmare found them, or had they escaped? Part of me hoped they had. The rest of me knew having them loose in Ford’s End spelled murder for the inhabitants.

I couldn’t think about that now, couldn’t wonder what would have become of me if I hadn’t had my brother and Honey and my husbands to guide me through the aftermath of shifting.

At least I was breathing, and alive, and not currently covered in fur with blood dripping from my fangs. I was alive. Miz dying put a lot into perspective, made me face facts that hurt. It could have been a lot worse than becoming a hybrid human-animal.

I swallowed the lump in my throat when the front door creaked open, the familiar noise arrowing into my chest. How many times had I heard that sound and knew it meant a homecoming? How many times had that squeak meant Tor had returned, or Death was back after going to inspect something in the neighbouring towns?

A tight pain formed in my chest as I followed Tor into the hallway, the scent of firewood and cloves hitting me so hard that my eyes stung.

“We’ll get back here,” Tor said gently, resting his hand on my shoulder, his thumb stroking over my coat.

“I know,” I replied, my voice croaky with emotion. “I just miss when things were… easier. Happier.”

Tor sighed and pulled me into a hug there in the foyer, and my heart twisted up so painfully that a tear escaped. I wanted to blurt out the real reason we were here, but I couldn’t risk it. Miz needed me not to screw this up, so I would lie to Tor, keep this secret, and hope he forgave me. God, what would I do if he didn’t?

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised, so determined there wasn’t room to doubt him.

But still I asked, “And Miz? Is he going to be okay?”

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