“But they’re going to trample my bestie!” she whined. “This isn’t the game we agreed.”
His head turned slowly toward her; I watched them from the corner of my eye as two Stalkers rushed me. Female, tall, with glossy black hair and remarkably similar features. Did they die during Nightmare’s curse, posthumously reappropriated as Stalkers like Orwell? Or had these been culled on purpose for the cause?
The twins came at me with enough speed and skill that I could tell they trained regularly in martial arts. Great. I had strength and magic on my side, but my fighting skills were all real world, brawling shit, not sleek, defined movements. I’d definitely need to rip some spines out to get out of this. How the mighty had fallen.
I used to think I was invincible. Since I’d become a death god, I was untouchable, unkillable. But since Nightmare, Halloween, and the curse, things had shifted, the ground spinning faster under my feet until I wasn’t sure I could keep up. I didn’t think these Stalkers could kill me, but they could certainly take me down long enough for Violence to finish the job.
I wouldn’t give the wanker’s superiority complex the satisfaction.
“We agreed,” he said to his sister, slow and unbothered, “to do whatever it took.”
“Yeah, but not at Kitty’s expense,” she argued in a hiss. “This isn’t going to summon my prey, it’ll only make him angrier and—”
“Andensurehe arrives,” Violence cut in, the edge of his voice whetted with anger. Clearly, dear darling brother wasn’t used to Cruelty talking back. “This is all going according to plan. You don’t need that girl as a friend when you’ll have plenty of friends in your new life.”
I ducked to avoid the swinging leg of one of the dark-haired twins, and said, “He’s lying, Cruelty. You know he is. You two are thick as thieves; you must be able to tell when he’s being honest. He doesn’t care about you getting a new life.” I thought of what Ford had shown Cat, what the mirror showed me. “He wants control of Death’s domain, and he’ll remove any obstacle in his way.Catis in his way. But so are you if you keep arguing.”
Cruelty scoffed. “My brother would never hurt me.”
I drove my fist into one of the twins’ ribs, guilt twinging through my chest. It never felt right to hit a woman, even if she was trying to murder me. My mum would have had my head for it.
The thought of my mum brought the chessboard’s vision roaring to the surface, and I stumbled enough to be punished with a kick to my knee and punch to my jaw. I didn’t allow a third blow. A fist sailed at my face; I caught it and snapped her wrist.
“Sorry about this,” I said, genuinely remorseful about all the Stalkers slaughtered across this chessboard tonight. But I hardened my will and snapped open her ribs with brute force and a razor-brimmed slash of magic, piercing her heart with enough torment that she immediately began to sob.
She twisted to her sister, possibly for comfort, possibly to fight her. The other twin’s hand came down too quickly for her to deflect the blow, or the magic that shone around it like a dark corona. Violence’s magic, I presumed, the same as that void-sword. The second it cut her sister, the other woman began to wail.
“What a waste,” Violence sighed as she took that dark magic to herself and used its edge to slit her throat, the two sisters tumbling to the lacquered board, blood spilling over the white squares.
“We can plan an even better game,” Cruelty said, her eyes on Cat, and for a split second I thought she genuinely cared.Then in an entitled whine she added, “I don’t wantnewfriends, Violence, I want her.”
“Your new friends will be better,” he disagreed, but even I could tell he was placating you.
Time to use that to my advantage. “Can’t you hear it?” I asked Cruelty. “He doesn’t want you to have a new life. He wants to keep you here. Why would he want a different Cruelty, when he already has one who does what she’s told?”
“No, that’s…” She looked at her brother—truly looked at him—and a frown formed between her brows. “You wouldn’t keep me here where I’m so unhappy.” She reached across the space between their thrones, clasping his hand. “I know you wouldn’t.”
“Of course not.”
Her frown deepened. “You helped me make this game perfect, so we’d lure the old Cruelty in, and he could kill me. You did all this for me, so I can get my happily ever after…”
But she was unsure, and it filled me with satisfaction. So did the way her words began to slur, and she slumped a little heavier in her throne. Took the venom long enough to start working. It would have been immediate with a higher dose, but we couldn’t risk Cruelty noticing.
“What… what did you do to me?” she mumbled, her attention on her brother instead of me.
Great, it had worked. Let the two of them fight it out; I had a family to protect.
Madde stirred as I reached him, and I pulled him to his feet before kneeling beside my wife, brushing a pale strand of hair from her face. Her eyes moved behind her closed lids, but she showed no sign of waking.
“Why would you do this?” Cruelty wailed across the board. “This was supposed to be my chance. I bet you didn’t even send the invitation to the old Cruelty.”
“Oh my god, hi!” Madde shouted, waving his whole arm at something across the board and nearly falling over, the lovable oaf. “Hey, scary lady! Hi!”
Hope rose into my throat and choked off my air. I twisted towards the solid hedge wall Madde waved at, and a groan of relief punched through my chest when I saw the hole blown into the bush and the two people framed by it:
Cat’s dad—which could not be a good omen—and Neglect—who I wanted to scoop up and kiss on her small, scowling face.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Neglect drawled, and attacked.
