Page 43 of All Hallows Fate

“Yeah, pink ones.”

Virgil’s laugh was sudden and loud. “Of course the first thing you’d remember about him is feathers, sequins, and glitter. He’s a flamboyant, unapologetic gay. Unlike me,” he muttered. “I never even came out to anyone. Pretended to be straight, got a girlfriend, the whole fucking nine yards.” He kicked at the grass.

“Did I… know?” I probed carefully.

“No one knew. Do you know what’s ridiculous? I thought it was this huge, scary thing that would derail my entire life, mess up every plan I’d ever had and every goal everyone else had for me. And when I was locked in that mould-infested cell with a serum coursing through my veins, changing me at a cellular level, I realised it didn’t even matter. Who cares if I marry a woman, or a man, or never marry at all? Who cares if I graduate into a well-paid position, or fuck up all my coursework? I’m a monster. None of that shit matters.”

I balled my hand and drove it into his shoulder.

“Ow, Prickly, what the fuck?”

“You’re not a monster. That psycho scientist who experimented on all of you, she’s the monster.”

Virgil stared at me for a beat, and then a grin filled his face, making him look younger. No, making him look his age, I realised. He was only a few years older than me, not the decade I’d assumed when I first saw him in human form.

“Are you sure you don’t remember?” he asked. “That’s exactly what you said to me before.”

The words warmed my chest, soothed the spiky loss I’d felt since I woke up in that empty place with no memories of myself, only a name gifted to me by a friend I could no longer remember. It was nice to think I had something in common with the woman I’d been before.

I began to tell him that, but a searing pain raked across my chest and I gasped, clutching at the area.

“Cat?” Virgil grabbed my shoulder. “What is it?”

I stumbled to my feet, dizzy with distress, my gaze flying straight across the garden to Pain. When his knees buckled and he hit the ground, I took off running, dizziness be damned.

28

Cat

“It’s falling apart,” Tor barked just as I reached them, my teeth gritted against the swirl of dizziness. “We can’t hold it like this, we need more magic.”

“Use mine,” I volunteered, breathless as I knelt beside Pain, catching his face in both hands and searching his eyes. They were hazy, dull with pain, and a past knowledge whispered that being the personification of pain didn’t make him immune to physical hurt.

I kissed the space between his brows and rose, feeling a little clearer. “I have all this magic,” I said, meeting Tor’s eyes, then Miz’s and Death’s. “Let me help.”

Tor groaned. “You can give fucking sips of magic, you hear me? No more. Nothing substantial. At the first sign of weakness, you stop. Understood?”

“So bossy,” I sighed, and yelped when he grabbed my chin, his expression unyielding.

“I understand.”

“Good girl.” He kissed my temple and released me. “See where the shield’s turning ragged? Pour your magic—slowly, carefully—into the gaps. Remember what I said, sips only.”

It hit me like a bright star to the chest. Tor’s glaring and growling and orders were all signs of love. Before I could question it, I threw my arms around him and squeezed tight.

“Okay. Sips only.”

“Same applies to you, Mr Self-Sacrificing,” Tor said, an eyebrow raised at Death.

“I’m fine,” Death bit out, a honed edge in his voice that hadn’t been there yesterday. “Worry about yourself.”

I got the sense Tor would have crossed his arms over his chest if his hands weren’t occupied pouring magic into the shield to keep Violence out. Because the last thing we needed was Violence getting even more power, and if he turned these creatures against us, it would be disastrous.

I stepped up between Tor and Miz and cupped an inner hand into my pool of death magic, pulling enough out that darkness filled my palms. I wasted no time urging it into the shield, right where it had worn apart like Tor said.

Repair, I commanded the power. Strengthen the shield, and burn the shit out of Violence if he tries to get in.

Vengeful and hungry, my magic leapt to obey with an eagerness for Violence’s suffering that made me smile.