Page 20 of All Hallows Trick (Sick and Twisted #3)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CAT

A fter everything that had happened today, I needed a few minutes of normalcy, so I curled up on the window seat in one of Madde’s many sitting rooms—I had a feeling this one was a salon —and called Honey.

It took a full minute for her to answer, but just the sight of her familiar face breaking into a smile eased a weight from my chest, my shoulders slumping as an answering smile pulled at my cheeks. “Tell me everything is normal there, and nothing at all supernatural is happening.”

“Everything is normal, and nothing at all supernatural is happening.”

I gave her a look heavy on cynicism.

“Seriously,” she insisted. “It’s all been strangely… normal. I mean, as normal as Ford ever is. Lessons feel weird after everything that happened, but Alastor’s helping me catch up.”

I carefully controlled my reaction to that name, keeping the smile on my face even if it felt frozen. “And nothing… nightmarish?”

“No. I keep waiting for something to happen, but maybe she’s not paying attention to the school anymore? The most exciting thing that happened was Chanel Borghese-Smith got a Birkin bag airdropped from a helicopter because packages keep going missing in the ocean.”

“The enchantment’s still around the island,” I mused, not sure what to do with the relief filling my chest. Ford was normal. Nightmare was leaving them alone. Honey was safe. “What about her followers? Have you seen Phil?”

“No.” Honey leaned closer to the screen, her eyes bright with excitement. “There’s a buttload of rumours flying around. Some people think she ran away with one of the professors because they’re in an illicit love affair.”

“I wish,” I muttered. Instead, Phil had vanished because she was found out as one of Nightmare’s little minions. After she hit me over the head, of course. And left me to the mercy of the mysterious he. Was it the same person I’d seen watching Madde and I? The Stalker? I was just lucky he never showed up that day. “Honey, you haven’t seen a guy in a long coat and a black top hat, right?”

“Uh, no. Should I have?”

“No,” I breathed, the relief hitting harder this time. So, the Stalker was only in this domain. “Just a ghost I’ve seen here a few times,” I explained. Well, lied. I didn’t want Honey to worry if she was safe; I had my death gods to protect me but she was all alone. Four death gods. That thought sent a giddy rush through my belly. “And what about Justin? Is he still bothering you?”

The look on Honey’s voice was blank, no recognition there. “I’ve seen him around, but we haven’t spoken. We’re not exactly friends.”

No, but there was that time I saw them arguing in the car park. He’d definitely been intimidating her, and Honey had been afraid.

“Honey, you’d tell me if there was anything going on, right?” I asked, aware I was being hypocritical when I was keeping secrets from her. But they were white lies, meant to keep her mind from overloading on fear. I was worried she was already wrecked with anxiety, hiding it from me. “If he’s bullying you, tell me. I’ll deal with him.”

“You or your three husbands?” she teased.

I glanced away and said, “Four.”

“Four? Four?” she shrieked.

“Four,” I confirmed.

“Right. Come get me, we need to talk about this in person.” She was already moving, a whirlwind in her room as she threw things into a bag. “I’m staying there tonight and you’re telling me everything.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Everything,” she insisted, and ended the call.

Shaking my head, smiling, I left to find someone to take me to Ford to pick up my best friend.

Honey snorted, watching as Virgil cast us dirty looks as he walked through the kitchen to the fridge. He’d had a sour look on his face for the last hour, and I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or duck my head as my cheeks inflamed. Apparently, he’d been on his way upstairs when Tor very forcefully halted him because Madde and I were, uh, busy. Virgil was now scandalised by the thought of his little sister having sex. I was scandalised that my big brother knew I was having sex. Honey was thrilled.

“Something bothering you, Virgil?” she asked, scooping more ice cream from the pint we were sharing.

“The entire conversation you were having before I walked into the room,” he replied sulkily, grabbing a beer and making a beeline for the door.

“It’s a communal area,” she pointed out, her amusement making her eyes sparkle, hiding any anxiety I’d glimpsed earlier on the phone. “It’s not our fault you eavesdropped.”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. I scanned his face for any true anger but only found discomfort and fond irritation. He shot me a narrow-eyed look. “Close the door in future.”

My face burned, but that didn’t stop me laughing when Honey snickered.

“Here,” she said, pushing the ice cream towards me. “Eat this and tell me everything. The last time I was here, you weren’t even together. How did you go from that to Madness and you fucking like rabbits.”

“We weren’t fucking like rabbits,” I said with an eye roll. At her expectant look, I groaned and added, “But we did end up on the floor. And against the wall.”

“I knew it!” She beamed. “I knew there was tension between you.”

I scooped up more ice cream, unable to keep the smile off my face. “He’s…” My darkness. But that would be hard to explain without telling her I’d killed someone. “He understands me.”

She waggled her eyebrows. “Deeply understands you…?”

I covered my face with my hands, still smiling. “Honey!”

She stayed silent, using it as a weapon.

“Yes,” I admitted in a whisper. “Very deeply.”

“Ha!” she crowed in victory, nudging my shoulder. “Don’t be shy. How deep are we talking?”

I dropped my hands with smirk. “I didn’t stop to find a tape measure. We were in the heat of the moment.”

She pointed her spoon at me. “Definitely in heat if you went from the floor to the wall.”

“And then to a different wall,” I added, giggling at the look on her face.

“And then a different wall?” she asked with glee.

“No, just the two. Well, I suppose we started against the wall, so…”

“Three walls!”

I laughed, feeling a welcome release of the dark cloud that had followed me around since this morning. All my stress could wait until tomorrow; right now, I was spending time with my best friend and forgetting about all my worries.

Although my bladder was determined to ruin that. Probably because of the prosecco bottle we’d put away before we got out the ice cream.

“Ugh, I need to pee.”

“Cat!” Honey gasped. “You’re supposed to say I need to use the ladies’ room. Or as my grandmama says: the lavatory.”

“Oh, apologies, ma’am. Please excuse me, I must use the lavatory most urgently.” I dropped a curtsey.

Honey giggle-snorted. “Return post haste.”

I laughed and left her at the kitchen island, skipping up the stairs to the bathroom on the first floor. Why Madde didn’t have a downstairs bathroom, I would never know. But I paused when I saw a red envelope had been pinned to door to my bedroom.

CAT , it said in sweeping cursive.

Giddiness made my stomach swoop as I pulled out the pin. Was it from Madde, or one of the others? A smile pulled at my lips as I cracked the silver wax seal on the back and pulled out the thick letter paper.

The smile dropped from my face instantly. It wasn’t a love note. The message was written in a dark, rusty ink that reminded me of dried blood. It even smelled coppery like blood. I read the words three times, my heart clattering against my ribs.

Your husband is dying, but I can save him. Meet me at Death’s garden. Tomorrow. 8PM.