“There’s no cause for panic yet,” Death agreed, his eyes on me. “Tor’s strong, little bride. He won’t let someone like Cruelty beat him.”
I looked at the map, watching the bracelet spin wildly out of control, unable to find Tor anywhere. “What about Violence?” I choked out, tensing as fists cracked into my ribs, blows hit my chest, my stomach, my arms, his cold voice like a knife to my lungs until I couldn’t breathe.
Pain pulled me into a hug, warm arms tight around me. It didn’t take a genius to guess what I was reliving, but Pain hadbeen there. Had he heard my screams? Did he feel my suffering? Could he feel the echo of my pain even now? “You have to remember that Tor is the embodiment of torment,” he said. “Not only can he endure torment far stronger than the rest of us, heinflictsit.”
“It’s not the first time he’s been hurt,” Miz added in a raw voice, running a hand through his long hair. “Before Nightmare and Ford, the previous Fear went rogue and took Tor and Passion hostage in a power play.”
“What happened?” I breathed, my chest hurting.
“Tor ripped his head off,” Miz answered with pride. “Literally.”
“Yeah, then he kept the body alive to torture for months,” Madde added with an unabashed level of glee. “When he cut it, itjiggled.”
“That’s… a vivid picture,” I said, jumping when the bracelet spun so erratically that it flew out of Misery’s hand and crashed into the roaring fireplace.
“No!” Miz leapt to his feet, dark coils of magic around his hands as he reached for the bracelet. But he froze as it melted into the flames, and stayed there for a long moment, his hands limp at his sides.
“Maybe we can salvage it,” I suggested tentatively, getting to my feet and approaching slowly, the stiff line of Miz’s back a warning, an omen.
“It won’t make a difference,” he replied in a flat voice. “Madde’s probably right. Tor’s gone somewhere we can’t find him.”
“But we will,” I insisted, as if I hadn’t feared that very thing just minutes ago. I couldn’t let Miz sense my doubt, though; his fear carved a wound in my chest and all I wanted was to ease it. “There are other things we can try. Right?”
He was quiet for a long moment, but when I rested my cheek on his back, reaching for the warm rain of his soul, he sighed. “Right.”
I opened my mouth to ask what our next step was, but howling wind picked up outside the house like a sudden scream, hammering the windows until the old glass groaned. Rain followed, then hail cracked into the warped windows.
“Uh, guys,” Pain said with a nervous laugh. “Does that storm feel normal to you?”
“No,” Death replied grimly. “Everyone get behind—”
The window shattered before he could finish.
I locked my arms around Miz and twisted away from the spray of glass, ducking my head as warped, old glass rained around us.
A wall of shadow erupted around us in the next moment. Miseryvibratedwith rage, his eyes blazing like a living fire as he whipped around to unleash more death magic upon the assailant who broke through both the shields and the window. But there was nothing except the wind and hail. I tightened my arms around him, staring at the broken glass.
“Is it… just a storm?” I asked, checking Madde, Pain, and Death were okay. All windblown, all furious, but unharmed.
“No,” Pain disagreed, a hard line to his mouth, tendrils of darkness rippling from him. “Something got through the shield. Not a person, not even a monster. Smaller than that. Rectangular, but flat. Like an—”
“Envelope,” I finished with a gasp as a dark green envelope with blood-red edging sailed across the room and delivered itself to my hand.
The name written in swooshing, cursive gold ink made my stomach plummet, nausea climbing up my throat.
Kitty.
I ripped it open, anger clashing with fear until I shook as badly as Miz. The message within made blood pound in my ears.
One last game. If you win, I’ll give you the mirror and your husband within.
I’ll await you for the new term at Ford School of Cruelty, 8PM sharp tomorrow morning.
Love,
Your Bestie
CHAPTER 10
