by Liz Schulte
“Sure.” I didn’t know what I expected to happen, but there was a nagging feeling that I should at least check.
Frost pulled off her glove and took hold of one of the branches. First the petals fell from the flowers, then the leaves curled and dried until they broke off. As death traveled to the roots, the entire room flickered and faded a little. Instead of a pristine white marble column next to the plant, there was a precarious pile of stones from floor to ceiling. I counted the number of bushes in the room and studied their placement. “It’s all an illusion. The columns, the room, all of it. None of it is actually here.”
She let go of the plant and slipped her glove back on, nodding. As soon as she did, everything went back to how it had been. So the plant could regenerate. Huh.
“Could be,” she said. “What about the ones by the door?”
I smiled. “When we looked in here, we each saw something different on the other side. I imagine they fuel the visions that lure people in, though the subject of mine is still baffling.”
“Maybe we should pull them up? Just to make sure no one else comes in.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Just those two, though. Can I have a piece of your shirt?” I said.
Frost shrugged and tore a chunk off one of her layers, tossed it to me, then headed back to the entrance.
I went to the bush across from the colonnade. Holding my breath, I used my knife to cut off a couple limbs of the plant, then carefully wrapped the pieces in Frost’s shirt and tucked them into my backpack.
I ate three protein bars before Frost came back with the two entrance plants shriveled into clumps in her hands. “Okay, now I’m listening. Tell me about the council.” She tossed the bushes off to the side.
“A while back, I discovered the Abyss isn’t exactly as it seems. Did you ever meet Baker? He was a shifter.”
She nodded. Of course she had. Baker knew absolutely everyone. “I didn’t know him well or anything, but I saw him around.”
“Okay, that doesn’t matter.” Starting at the beginning really wasn’t necessary and we didn’t have time. I didn’t want to be down here forever. “Really, it doesn’t matter how I came to know what I know. Here are the highlights. There’s a group of self-appointed, super-powerful people who actually rule the Abyss. They aren’t widely known, but they covertly manipulate all of us. They are the ones who made the veil between the worlds. They are immortal and scary as hell, but they don’t have the right to make the sort of decisions they make. Like, not that long ago they were worried that the balance had been disrupted in the Abyss. Basically they wanted to hit reset and completely divide us from the human world. Never mind the fact that doing so would abandon God-knows-how-many supernaturals here, as well as potentially eliminate at least half of our population. They couldn’t have cared less…anything to them is justifiable for the sake of what they feel is balance.”
She stared at me like I had lost my mind. It was a lot to take in, especially when you hadn’t lived it. But I wasn’t on drugs and it wasn’t a conspiracy theory. It was actually happening. Frost’s reaction only proved that I needed a lot more evidence before anyone would believe me.
“The problem is everyone is like you. No one knows they exist—or believes in them—so they can’t be stopped. But that’s neither here nor there, because that particular crisis was averted, and now Holden in on the council. If they start talking like that again, at least he can warn us. But that’s where wanting to kill me comes in. They know I know about them, so last month they sent me on a case down in New Orleans. It was supposed to be open and closed, but nothing was as it seemed—just like here. I believe they were doing two things sending me there. They were testing my abilities and they were manipulating the vampires. I barely made it out of that one alive and not cursed. Now they’ve sent me to deal with this shit show—a feat they only managed by threatening my family—and I just so happen to keep seeing visions of my mother, which is weird.” I crossed my arms. “Obviously, I’m not just here to deal with Shezmu. That’s not the way they work. We just have to figure out what they truly want and what they would do with it before they get their hands on whatever it is.”
She pursed her mouth as she huffed out a breath. “Let’s say I believe you, which I’m not sure I do. Do you have any idea how much this sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory? But suspending disbelief for a moment—if they’re that powerful, why send you at all? They could just come here themselves.”
I nodded. “I’ve thought about that. The dragon sent me. I don’t think she can enter the labyrinth without getting trapped in it, like Shezmu or any other monster. Also, a labyrinth isn’t just about strength. My people are trained from childhood on to beat them. I’m a natural choice.”
“But if that’s the case, then this dragon isn’t the one who made the labyrinth. How did Shezmu get trapped inside? How did an entrance to it end up here, and who is leading people to it?”
“Right. That’s where my mother comes in. Shezmu killed my father. Not that my mother loved him or anything quite so weak, but maybe she finally decided to do something about it. Or maybe she trapped him right after he killed my father. I have spent my whole life waiting for Shezmu to pop up again, yet this is the first I’ve heard about him since that day. Which is why everything is so familiar and she is around every corner. This is her creation, which means that as dangerous as I thought it was going to be, it’s so much worse now.” I shook my head. “None of it matters. All that matters is why the council suddenly cares.”
Frost crossed her arms. “Do you think they want him freed and that’s why they’re involved? You know, the balance thing.”
That was possible. Hell, it was probably more than possible. “I was thinking they wanted him out of the way so they could get to the underworld, but with the labyrinth that’s unlikely. Because if I kill him or free him, the labyrinth will vanish. At least, I assume it will, because it was made for him.”
“What’s your plan, then?”
“Ideally, we leave him inside and disrupt the maze as little as possible. But we have to talk to him. We have to figure out what they want. The answers to those questions aren’t out here. They’re inside with him, and we have to find them. After that, we’ll destroy any access points to keep this particular problem from coming back.”
She nodded. “Won’t that anger the council?”
“I don’t care. It’s the right thing to do. Once the location is secured, we’ll deal with whoever was behind this to begin with.”
“Why haven’t you told people? Why keep this secret? You’re playing their game.”
“Right now, I don’t have a choice. I don’t have proof.”
“Then let’s get you some evidence,” she said. “People should know.”
I nodded. “My thoughts exactly. And if they think anyone is moving against them, they’re perfectly capable of eliminating threats. They have eyes and ears everywhere. Right now, I feel pretty safe, since I have two friends on the council, plus Olivia. That would make killing me pretty high profile.”
She crossed her arms. “But if you die on a mission…”
“It’s just an unfortunate accident.”
“Which is why you didn’t want to tell me.”
“I have to be careful who I share this stuff with. They have eyes everywhere. The council is cunning and I have no doubt they are watching me.”
“Then why tell me now?”
“This is the anteroom for the labyrinth. The same magic that was used to make the maze should apply out here. I don’t think they can penetrate it. As I said, we are between worlds in here. This room is the last layer of protection to keep what’s in there”—I pointed at the stone wall—“from escaping. So long as the labyrinth’s spell isn’t broken, anything trapped inside would instantly die the moment it stepped into this room.”
She glanced back to the wall where I pointed. “If you’re sure about the door, let’s do this. Any idea how we’re going to get She
zmu to talk to us?”
“A couple.” I winked at her. I wanted to kill him so bad I could taste it, but what if I couldn’t? What if he was, in fact, a god and I had to just walk away? Well, then I’d have to use other methods based on what I knew about him, like he was a drinker who loved to celebrate his victories with more than a couple beverages, and I just happened to have a hallucinogenic plant in my backpack.
I pulled out the dead man’s hand and reopened the door, flashing Frost a grin before I stepped through. “There’s no going back from here.”
Chapter 9
The new tunnel wasn’t significantly different from the one we’d come from. It was about the same size and still made of stone, but instead of the rough natural stone of the catacombs, these walls were polished and smooth to the touch. It was lit, though there was no obvious source of light. A massive statue stood sentry on the left side of the doorway. “Stay out of its line of sight,” I told Frost.
The statue was a griffin, with thick legs, a wingspan that was at least ten feet wide, a vicious hooked beak, and talons as big as my forearm.
“Which way do we go?”
“Let’s hope the opposite way of that.” I rolled my shoulders and prepared to connect to the goddess again, and the crumbling sound of stone filled the tunnel. Shit. I looked up and the damn statue had turned its head toward us.
It wasn’t just a statue. It was a gargoyle. Perfect. The massive stone griffin broke free from its perch and stepped into the tunnel. The space was too small for it to spread or use its wings, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous. The walls trembled with each heavy step. “Now would be a good time to run,” I said, turning to Frost. We took off down the hallway, and though the human was much slower than me, I didn’t leave her behind.
The stone cracked and jutted up before us as the griffin picked up speed. Its massive weight made the floor shift and break, which slowed Frost down even more. It was going to catch us at this rate. Frost pitched forward, her helmet smashed into the wall, and she crumbled to the ground, unmoving. Blood trickled out from beneath the helmet. Shit. I grabbed hold of her small waist and hefted her up with one arm, careful not to let her skin touch mine. Bracing her against my hip, I continued to run as fast as I could on the uneven surface, while carrying dead weight. When we made it far enough ahead that the ground was smooth again, I rested Frost on the ground.
I could hear the beast headed our way. I’d never outrun it, not with her. And I didn’t want to know that the stone monster was at my back. I had to stop it. I just needed something to fight it with. Knives and guns were useless against rock. I removed my backpack so I could move easier and dropped it next to Frost, who was still out cold. I walked back down the hallway toward the gargoyle, scanning for anything I could use as a weapon.
The monster was slow and oversized for the area, which bought me some time to think. There were plenty of shards of rock all around. However, even if I could lift one, what were the odds that it would do anything other than break apart against the beast? I shook my head, climbing over the uneven ground. All it would do was slow me down, and right now my only advantage was that I was faster and more agile than the griffin.
When it was within fifteen feet of me, the vibrating ground felt like I was in a major earthquake. Bracing one hand against the wall to steady myself, I waited for the moment to strike. Its yellow eyes burned as it gave a mighty roar and galloped my way. Just when I was almost in its reach, I ran directly at it, tucking in my head. I rolled between its legs and came out on my feet on the other side.
Just to make sure the gargoyle chased me instead of trampling Frost, I grabbed its stone tail with both hands and pulled with all of my strength in the other direction. It slid back a few inches as I yanked, giving my own war cry. My muscles strained, and I put my boot against its ass and gave the tail a mighty pull. It snapped off, crumbling in my hand as I fell backward onto the now gravel floor. The griffin roared.
I scrambled back to my feet, positive I had its attention now. I sprinted toward the door. If we were going to survive this, I really only had one hope. Without a rocket launcher, dynamite, or possibly a pickax, I couldn’t physically best the gargoyle. I could, however, outsmart it. The lever on the door to the anteroom was easier to find from this side. All I had to do was get the thing to come through, then make it back inside before I was locked out.
The griffin had gotten turned around and was racing toward me like I was lunch. “Come and get me, you pebble,” I shouted, standing just on the other side of the doorway.
The gargoyle picked up momentum as it stormed down the tunnel, with roar after roar. Just as it reached me, I hit the lever and dove through the small opening. It smashed against the door frame as it tried to take the corner without slowing, but it never hesitated to come through—then again, gargoyles probably didn’t think much beyond kill. It flew into the room, finally able to stretch out its wings, nearly decapitating me with them. It took out the front four pillars before exploding, raining down bits of rock all over the room.
There was a groan unlike anything I had ever heard. The ceiling cracked, and there was a single moment of silence before the sky began to fall. I dove back into the tunnel as the chamber collapsed on the remains of the gargoyle. The stone door rolled shut.
With my back pressed to the wall opposite the door, I coughed and choked on the dust. It looked like we were going to have to find a new way out of this maze, unless we wanted to dig our way out. I made my way back to Frost. “Hey, Elsa.” I nudged her with my boot, smiling at my own joke. “You slept through the fight. Get up.”
Frost groaned, pressed a hand to the lump on her head, and then studied the blood on her palm. “What happened?
“Your clumsy human legs betrayed you,” I said. “Oh, and that’s two that you owe me now.”
She gave me a confused look.
“You fell. Good thing you had a helmet. Could have been much worse. You should consider wearing one all the time. Maybe a pretty pink bike helmet.”
She pushed herself up to sitting and closed her eyes with a moan. “It’s not a helmet. It’s a headlamp.” She flattened her hand on the floor, steadying herself. “I need a moment. I think I’m going to be sick.”
That was fine. I had to figure out which way we were going now that the gargoyle was out of the equation. I tried to take a deep breath and relax my mind, but there was too much energy bubbling up inside of me from the fight. I’d bested the gargoyle by myself. It was as exhilarating as catching my first bounty had been. I loved to win.
Okay, focus.
I drew in a deep breath through my nose, but there was no tingling. There was nothing. In fact, I had never felt so disconnected. Damn it. I shook out my arms and stretched my neck. Cleared my mind. Nope, not a damn thing.
“I don’t have a sense of which way to go, but let’s stay the course rather than going back. Worse comes to worst, we’ll just turn around.”
Frost slowly stood up. “I feel like I was trampled by a herd of horses.”
I grabbed my backpack and we trudged ahead. I hung back, letting Frost set the pace, since she was the one with a possible concussion. Had I been able to touch her, I could have helped speed her healing, but the necromancer thing really was a pain in the ass. She still seemed a little wobbly, and the already-black-and-blue knot on her head looked painful next to the trickle of dried blood.
Walking in silence, I focused on the road ahead. Any manner of creature could be waiting around the corner. Between Frost and me, we’d be able to handle most things, so long as it wasn’t another gargoyle. There’d definitely be a Minotaur somewhere in here. If we were lucky, we’d miss it. And, of course, there was still Shezmu to contend with. I didn’t know if he was confined to one area, or if he roamed the hallways. If the latter, it wasn’t going to be easy to find him.
“If your mom is doing this, maybe that’s why the council sent you. Rather than them dealing with your mother, they could send you an
d it would not only distract you from trying to take them down, it would also expose your weaknesses. After all, she is family.”
My mother didn’t tend to ruffle important feathers. Really what she did was nearly hide our people from the rest of the world, to the point that a lot of the Abyss wasn’t even sure if we still existed until I rejoined the rest of civilization. But I guessed Frost’s suggestion was possible. At this point, anything was. Thinking about it was driving me insane.
“If that is the case, what’s your plan to deal with her? I mean, she is your mom, so obviously we aren’t going to kill her. Are you going to talk to her? Listen to her side of things?”
“We will do what we have to do to stop her. Whatever that may be,” I said without hesitation, and I meant it. I loved my family, but my mother had gone too far too many times. If she was here, it couldn’t be ignored. She would have to be dealt with—all the more reason to keep Frost with me. “Just because she’s related doesn’t give her a pass to kill people. Then again, even if they sent me here to distract me with my family, that wouldn’t explain why she was drawing humans to Shezmu. I just can’t see her doing that. It wouldn’t be worth the effort.”
Frost’s silence was heavy.
“Damn it, just speak.”
She sighed. “You may not have always liked her, you may not have always agreed with her, but she’s still your mother, and mothers just want what’s best for their daughters.”
My eyebrows squished together. What the hell was she talking about? She knew this from experience, did she? I managed to hold my temper, realizing I was frustrated with the situation, not with Frost in particular. It was nice she was trying to defend my mother. “And hell is still hot. We’ll worry about it when the time comes. Right now, I just want to focus so we aren’t caught off guard.”
“I’d take any mother, even a bad one, over never knowing mine.” I shot her a look and she held up her gloved hands. “Okay, okay, I’m done.”