Chapter 32
Cat
Until I was certain I hadn’t hallucinated that dream, I decided to keep it to myself.
If it was real, I felt bad for the woman and her niece, at the mercy of Violence, but it was the feeling of the cold mahogany box in my hands that stayed with me.
And the certainty that there was a precious heart inside.
She conveniently left out whose heart it was, I couldn’t help but notice.
Ghosts were never truly helpful, only vague enough to drive me to madness and—I frowned at my own train of thought, absently gripping Fuzzball’s reins tighter when she climbed up a steep hill.
Had I met many ghosts before? I closed my eyes for a moment, mentally probing the black hole in an attempt to force its secrets to life.
But no visions rose, not even a sensation or feeling.
Fine, I growled at that dark wall within me. Be stubborn.
I will, its silence seemed to reply. Thanks.
I gnashed my teeth, eyes opened again on the hilly landscape around us, all but the longest grasses choked in fog.
We’d visited three summoning circles so far, all to the same result as the one near Hunger’s estate.
Each one was shattered in some way, as if destructive magic had been shot through it, making it useless.
As if Violence knew what we needed. I chewed my bottom lip.
“Miz,” I said, glancing across at my husband as Verbena picked a careful path over the hill’s crest.
His faraway gaze focused, finding me. “Yes, my universe?”
“Doesn’t it seem strange that Violence was at the mine, and now every summoning stone we visit, he’s got there first to wreck it?”
Miz’s gold eyes sharpened. “Yes, it does. How did we not notice that yesterday? And he’d already got to the Wake, because his spirits were defending it.”
“He must have thought they’d be enough to deter us.”
“Or he couldn’t gain access himself. It’s Passion’s tower, and that man is very particular about who can visit his residences.”
“Is Passion powerful enough to beat Violence’s magic?” I asked, reassessing the giant, quiet man.
“Not in a one-on-one battle, but he’ll feed magic into his shields every day, and not even Violence can stand against a pool of power of that size.”
I nodded. Gazed around at the landscape as we descended into a valley I recognised from our first day of travelling. Stroked the tangled from Fuzzball’s mane. Avoided voicing my suspicions until I could find no further distractions.
“I think Violence has a copy of my list. How else would he know exactly where we’re going to be.”
Misery sighed. “I think you’re right.”
And if Violence knew what we were going to do before we did it, he could sabotage everything. There’d be no summoning stone, no power restored to Death, nothing except a harrowing reign of violence.
“There’s one stone he doesn’t know about,” Death said, earning my full attention—and everyone else’s. “No one does, in fact. It’s a failsafe, in case all the others deteriorate and there’s nothing to call spirits into the domain.”
“We need to get to the failsafe stone now,” I said, hope joining the dread weighing my heart. “Before Violence discovers it. Where is it?”
“My castle,” Death replied, with a sad smile. “We need to go home.”