“Madde!”Cat screamed, horror filling her beautiful face for a second before wrath darkened it and pure rage lit a fire in her eyes. There she was: the murderess I fell in love with. She flexed her hands and claws slashed the air, sharp enough to gut a man. Another giggle escaped me even as the gargoyle carried me higher, until I’d definitely break my ankle if I fell.
“Hey!” I snapped when the other two gargoyles dove at the ground, at my lioness. “That’s my wife, you dicks. If you hurt her—”
My scream cut me off as the gargoyle carrying me exploded in a shower of dust and stone, and I fell like a shooting star.
It happened so fast I could only fling a hasty net of shadow to catch me, the trees and buildings blurring as the ground rose up to shatter all my bones. Would Cat still love me if I didn’t have any bones?
Light burst around me. Actually, there’d been a light when the gargoyle exploded, too. I would have thought that was weird, but I was too busy crashing down to the ground, breaking my legs, my neck—huh.I crashed into a squishy bed, all my bones staying in one piece, which was nice. That ghostly glow had stretched across my net, cushioning the blow, but it melted through the gaps in my magic as I stared in surprise.
“Madde,” Cat gasped, her hands going to my chest as I slid down to the grass, landing on my feet. Quite impressively, I thought, given the whole gargoyle flight thing. “Are you okay?”
I cupped her face with both hands, leaning forward to kiss her hair. She always smelled like peaches and cream, as if the curse had amplified her natural scent, and I was addicted to the scent. “I’m fine. What’s the glowy magic? Is it yours?”
“I thought it was yours.” Her brow furrowed, but she kept a sharp eye on our surroundings. Right, there were two more gargoyles to evade.
“Nope. I’m all shadows and madness,” I told her, kissing her perfect lips because I couldn’t resist, then assessing the others.
Pain and Death were wrestling with a gargoyle they’d got on the ground, but it was bucking, fighting to get free. And Misery— “Uh,” I said. “Where’s Snarky McSnarkypants?”
Cat spun, a sharp breath leaving her. Trees hung over the edge of the strip of grass behind Lawrence Hall; I searched their branches, just in case the gargoyles had dropped him in the trees.1
“Oh,” I said, spotting that ethereal white glow near the damned hedge. Something wasoffwith that high, grassy wall, but I couldn’t focus on that now. “This way, my lioness,” I said and took off running after the glow. If it saved me from the gargoyles, maybe it would save Miz too.
A rending of stone behind us suggested Death and Pain had dealt with that gargoyle, but I kept my eyes narrowed on that glow, with my wife running at my side. She looked so beautiful with her hair dancing in the wind, flowing behind her as we ran, a perfect blend of white and silver and baby pink. Cold had bitten at her cheeks and nose until they were rosy. That bitch wind. Biting Cat wasmyjob.
“Miz!” Cat shouted when the blinding glow finally faded, exposing Misery splayed in the grass just before that fucking hedge. I hesitated long enough for Cat to kneel beside him, for him to groan that he was fine, just bruised his ass and his ego,2, then I approached the hedge that had nagged at me since we got here.
Magic wreathed my hand in darkness, and I punched through tangled branches and bushy leaves—
A charge of magic zapped me back and I shook my hand out with a hiss. “Motherducker.”
“You mean motherfucker,” Misery said, getting to his feet and brushing grass off his pants.
“I mean what I said,” I insisted, indignant.
Death and Pain ran into view, a little scuffed and dishevelled but otherwise fine. I beamed. Ha! The gargoyles failed in their dastardly plan.
Cat’s hellish harem one. Cruelty’s losers zero.
CHAPTER 23
CAT
Whatever that glowing magic was—whether spectral or another god helping us—it bought us enough time to get to Misery’s mausoleum and safely ensconce ourselves inside. It was hard to get my head in the game; to remember this was about brewing a potion to get past that shield and finally reach Tor. Most of my mind was stuck on the feeling of seeing Madde dragged into the air by that gargoyle.
Keeping an eye on Madde and Miz, checking they were as uninjured as they said they were, I sat cross-legged on the mausoleum floor. The five of us formed a circle in whatever space remained beside Miz’s empty tomb, and I ended up with Miz on one side and Death on my other. I kept an eye on the latter too, after his heart stopped only twenty-four hours ago.
“I’m fine,” he murmured, either sensing my worry or just knowing me well enough to read my expression. His knuckles skimmed my cheek before he caught my chin and brought mymouth to his. The kiss reached through every shield I had, every defence, every wall, and touched the aching knot in my chest.
“This will work, won’t it?” I whispered, choking down the lump in my throat.
“It will work,” he replied, kissing the furrow between my brows. “We’ll bring Tor home.”
“Right then.” Madde rubbed his hands together, and whispered the word, “Whoosh!”
When he pulled his fingers apart, flame trickled from each one like a cat’s cradle. It wasn’t black like his magic, but a deep crimson, the red of dried bloodstains.
“Jesus,” Miz breathed, wide-eyed as he watched Madde shape the threads of flame into a ball, sitting it in the middle of our circle. “How the fuck are you doing that?”
