“I intend to,” I said in a rasp, shoving through my weakness and exhaustion, using my rage as crutches to hold me up, my revenge as fuel to keep me moving.
Darya winked out of sight, and the hallway fell into a dark red gloom. I lingered a moment, processing everything that had happened in the mirror room, this corridor, and the fairy forest, then I shoved it all into an iron chest and made sure it was locked up with three padlocks. One for my tortured past. One for my painful present. One for the future that I would rip from the hands of cruel gods and make my own. A future of peace, and love, and redemption. But most importantly—vengeance against those who’d wronged me.
I stepped through the door onto the board, stepped back into my body, and felt the ground shift under me, the world tilting, fate blurring.
Neglect was here. She stormed onto the chessboard with murderous intent written all over her, and at her side was the last person I’d ever dreamed of being part of this world. My father.
And as Cruelty rushed onto the black and white squares of the board, glee brightening her face, I knew why fate had shifted and stretched taut. I felt it, down to my bones.
Someone was about to die.
CHAPTER 45
CAT
Asolid dome of dark smoke slammed down around me, and arms dragged me against a hard chest, Tor’s scent overwhelming my emotions until my eyes burned. Madde’s arms were around me in the next second, and Death’s voice like warm honey dripped across my senses.
“Madde, help Miz. Tor, you and I need to get Cat to the gates and out of this place.”
What happened to Miz? I lifted my head off Tor’s chest, scanning the board, the sheer number of fallen pieces and Stalkers around me hitting me like a jolt to the heart. Was my Misery among them? I searched for long white hair, for golden eyes, for his familiar body, but it wasn’t until I looked across to where the thrones sat that I found him. And Pain.
My upper lip curled back, my jaguar slipping out. “They took my Pain.”
“We’re getting him back,” Tor promised, quickly kissing me before he and Death attempted to guide me across the board. Further from Miz and Pain. Like hell.
“I won’t leave anyone behind again,” I said in a cold, steely voice, meeting Tor’s gaze. We left him behind in Darkmore. I refused to do it again.
I took a step, glaring through the film of shadow at where Violence sat in his dark throne, biting back the instinctual terror the sight of him sparked. Rage won its battle against fear, and when I flicked my hands, claws punched through my nail beds, sharp enough to gouge his face apart. To makehimexperience agony this time.
Before I could get there, a whirlwind of magic blasted across the gameboard and slammed into Cruelty, taking her down before she’d made a single step across the black and white pieces. Shit.
“I’ll help Neglect,” I said, releasing Tor and taking a step back. “Get my dad out of here. Please.”
Tor’s exhaled sigh was more of a growl. “Beautiful, I’m not—”
“Thank you,” I said, and leapt into the air, plunging into the part of myself where my jaguar lived. When I landed, it was on huge, padded paws, with my claws flexing. A roar detonated in my throat, obliterating all other sounds as I bounded into a run, fleeing the protection of the shield and determined to save everyone I loved,
I would not lose anyone else. I would not add another voice to the ghosts haunting me.
I looked across the chessboard, across the bodies piled up on its squares, and locked eyes with my dad. “I’m sorry,” I croaked, not knowing if he could even hear me. “I understand if you hate me.”
It took physical effort to turn away. A deep pull of air filled my chest with the scent of rugged greenery, coppery blood, anda rotting tang of death. And the sweet, sickly perfume I’d come to associate with Cruelty. I let it guide me in another lunge, knocking her aside as she turned towards my dad. I didn’t care if he used to be Cruelty, I wouldn’t let this one harm him.
But I’d been looking in the wrong direction; while I focused on Cruelty, a fresh swarm of Stalkers poured across the other side of the board and surrounded him.
“Try it,” Neglect said with a sharp smile, driving her foot into the ground. A mushroom cloud of magic erupted, not black but spectral silver, and Cruelty wavered where she stood, a sob crawling up her throat thatalmostmade me feel bad for her.
It engulfed Violence’s throne, swallowing the sight of him and giving me an extra shot of bravery. I paused beside Miz, nudging his leg with my head as he fought the dark film around where Pain knelt, his brow to the floor. Careful not to touch it, I noticed, or it would stop his heart like it did Death’s.
If he was still dancing around the shield, he hadn’t found a way through, but my power could harm a death god, and if I could do that, maybe I could rip a hole in their magic. But to do that, I’d have to give myself over to my beastly side, and I hadn’t fully surrendered to it in… weeks. The taste of flesh and raw meat filled my mouth, but I shook it off. I wouldn’t kill anyone, wouldn’t eat anyone. It was just a ward.
“Cat—” Miz began when I lunged forward, driving my claws into the dark film, raking them across its surface and fighting a shiver at howcoldit was. Memories punched into me, reminding me of every second I’d spent in Violence’s room in Darkmore, screams cut from my lungs, suffering written on every part of me until I could never erase its stain. But Miz called my name again, his voice echoing through the chamber of memories, and I ripped myself free with a snarl that echoed, soared, filled the world.
My mind muddied, thoughts hard to grasp as my jaguar surged, a being of rage and hunger and retribution. I was distantly aware of gnashing my teeth into the dark shield next, ripped my canines through its surface, surprised to find the smoky surface was slimy and bitter. My jaguar bit down, shook her dark head, and ripped a hole in the shield.
Victory surged in my blood for one single moment, then the screaming slammed into my senses. They drowned out all other sounds, scraped along my nerves until they frayed, pierced my heart until it ached, bled. The dead, the spirits of everyone killed at Ford—I could hear them. Wailing, screaming, roaring. Not only devastated, butmurderous.
I couldn’t see them, but I heard every scream, sensed their icy presence all around me, even as Miz’s hand settled on my back, warmth casting rays into me.
