The next thing I knew, a breeze tickled my face and my eyes jerked open. I had fallen asleep. At first my surroundings were confusing, unfamiliar. I gasped in fear, anxiety building. But then it came back to me and my breath settled.
I quickly assessed, my eyes darting to every corner, and found no signs of danger. Leo remained sleeping next to me. Shaking my head, I stood up, trying to dust off the sleepiness that fogged my brain.
I paced the tiny court around the tree, anxiety rising in me again. Both passageways seemed about equal. The first seemed to take a sharp turn after a few steps. The second seemed to go straight for about fifty yards before coming to a stop. No doubt there were further passageways hidden within its sides. I debated entering, but I dared not leave Leo here alone.
I took a large breath of relief. It was just stones and vines, nothing dangerous to worry about yet. I stepped back and turned around.
Alder was leaning against the tree, staring at me through amused eyes. He was now wearing a white long sleeve shirt opened in a V, sleeves rolled up, with those delicious leather pants. It made my heart skip a beat. His brown hair shifted with tan amber hues. The gold in his green eyes seemed to swim in the moonlight. His skin was… glowing. He shone like the sky had earlier, like the stars above were shining now. It was captivating. I wanted to run my hands against his skin, to touch that warm glow.
I scowled at him, trying to hide my awe, but internally a thrill went through me. I felt that tether again, pulling me to him, but I had to resist.
“So, what do you think? Is this what you were expecting?” he smiled, his beautiful face beaming at me. The glow around him turned a brilliant blue.
I walked forward towards him cautiously. “What is this place? This isn’t what we were told? Is this place truly dangerous at all?”
His eyes twinkled as he answered. “Looks can be deceiving. I wouldn’t go far without your dagger,” he smiled, but then his face dropped as he spoke in a hushed tone. “I told you to come alone. If you wanted a puppy to follow you through this place, you only had to ask me.”
His eyes narrowed as he spoke. I noticed some of the glow had faded and turned a light green. I wondered again why he cared. Was he jealous? A shiver went down my spine at the thought as my core budded with heat.
“Leo is not a puppy, he is here to help me,” I said defensively.
“Is he here to help you, Val, or is he here to help himself?” Alder countered. I considered Leo’s devotion, his drive to have a life with me despite my hesitations…
“Maybe you would know if you cared to meet him instead of just sneaking around with me.”
“But sneaking around with you is just so much… fun…” he grinned.
I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t care to meet him, he’s nothing to me.”
“He’s my friend.”
“Yes, a friend,” he said knowingly. “A friend who let you sleep outside and starve to death for thirteen years. I can’t say I think too highly of him.”
“He tried his best to help me.”
“Did he? Did he really?”
“What are you? Who are you?” I asked him, shifting the conversation away from Leo. He had a point, but I didn’t feel like diving into that tonight. His face turned dark and serious, sadness crossing it.
“I can’t answer that, not yet,” he said, and I could feel the sincerity in his voice, an apology of sorts.
“Can you actually read my mind? Are you the tug I have been feeling?”
His face stayed low as he looked at me through dark eyes, the glow around him turning a dark silver, “I can’t answer that either, I’m sorry.”
“Well, what the hell can you tell me?” I said, holding back the urge to throw something at him. He smirked, light coming back to his face. He pushed off from the tree and walked close to me, his face inches from mine. The pull between us tugged at my heart. My core wound up in anticipation. His lips were level with my eyes, soft and luscious. His emerald eyes gazed into mine, flickering between them and my lips.
“Soon, very soon, you will ask me to touch you again.”
His eyes sparked in flirtation. I pretended to scoff as heat flickered in me with desire.
This fucking guy will be the death of me.
He winked at me and in an instant disappeared. The tension dropped and left me feeling empty, unfulfilled. I let out a loud sigh of frustration. Keeping my distance was not going to work out, it was only a matter of time.
I thought of how he disappeared. He must be a warlock. There was no other explanation. Did he work for the Labyrinth King, or was he sent by my parents? Or was he sent by someone or something else entirely?
More frustration rose inside as I thought of the lack of answers, the continued teasing, the lack of release in my tightened core.
The next time I saw him, I was going to either throw my dagger at him or throw myself at him.
Chapter 10
The rest of the night was uneventful. Leo took over watch shortly after Alder disappeared and I got a measly two hours of restful sleep. We were up and ready to start our journey as the sun was rising. My joints ached and were stiff, fatigue blanketing my brain until I thought of what further unknown waited ahead for us. Then fear shot through my veins, waking me up and pushing away all other emotions.
When Leo looked at me this morning I felt a shift, as if the oceans of secrets I kept from him grew by another thousand feet. I knew it came from what Alder had said last night. I thought of him and how he made me feel despite Leo, the pleasure I got from our flirting game, and the tension between us. Guilt hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. How many more things could I hide from him before he noticed?
Leo packed his knapsack, his strong hands rolling back up the bedroll and carefully putting it back in its place. I swallowed down my shame.
I had let him come along on this trip, and yet had hid so much of myself from him. I had let him come, and yet hadn’t even told him about Alder’s reoccurrence or the tugs. And worst yet, I had allowed him to leave his life behind, even though I knew it wouldn’t make a difference. Even if we found a life here, how could I ever be with him now that I’d tasted the connection between Alder and I? I was using him, and when he realized, he would never forgive me.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.
“Terrible. You?”
“My back aches, I don’t know how you’ve been sleeping on the ground for all these years.”
“You get used to it,” I lied.
He shook his head and took a bite of an apple.
But, he had also made the decision to come, knowing my reservations. He knew I had made him no promises. Was he really here for me or was he here for himself, as Alder said? Did he think he could make me happy, or did he only want to make himself happy? Was he just running from the reality of losing his dad? Was I an enabler for bad decisions?
That sinking feeling hit my chest. He had always been open with me. He kept no secrets from me. I felt the sadness and knew I didn’t deserve him, didn’t deserve his devotion and loyalty. The thought of hurting him further scared me, but I pushed down my fear and set my eyes forward to the two openings. I needed more time to think it through before telling him. Before deciding what to tell him.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” he said, sounding optimistic.
I nodded but stayed still, waiting for the tug. I kept standing… staring… waiting… but no tug came. Leo looked at me curiously, wondering what I was doing.
“Um, just pick one?” he said encouragingly.
Yes, just pick one. I said internally, waiting for a response from Alder or whatever was controlling the tugs. But none came. Red crept up my chest in embarrassment as Leo watched me.
Fine, I can do this on my own. I said, hoping he or it could hear me.
“Right,” I said, though not as confidently as I had hoped. I stepped forward into the right passage. It stretched straight for several yards. I took another step,
Leo right behind me. My hand remained on the hilt of my dagger as we tiptoed. There was no harm in being overcautious.
Suddenly a flash of white bounded around a corner hidden in the wall’s side. It barreled towards us.
I realized it was a… dog. A large snow white fluffy dog with a smiling face. It was about fifty pounds. It stopped right in front of us and sat down, its smiling face staring up at us with dark black eyes as its pink tongue lolled out the side of its mouth.
Alder, I thought with a smile, you think you are so funny. I reached down to pet the dog and noticed it had a leather collar on with engraved words that read “Jinx”.
“I think we found a friend,” I said to Leo, smiling. He scowled at the dog.
“Don’t show it attention, we don’t know where it came from, it could be a trick.” Leo said, pushing the dog away with his foot. Jinx looked at his foot and turned her head to the side in curiosity. Then she looked back up at me with that same smile.
I couldn’t tell him the truth, especially considering the puppy was… well, a jab at him. There would be just too much to explain and now wasn’t the time.
The dog kept smiling at me and I silently laughed again at Alder’s twisted sense of humor. My heart fluttered at the thought. This must be a way to help me. Plus, she was so cute.
“Look at her, she’s harmless! She will probably run off eventually, anyway.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Ok Jinx, where should we go?” I asked the dog while scratching the scruff of her neck. She turned and strode off the way she came. I made an after you gesture to Leo, and he began following the dog with a huff. Behind him, I smiled and felt a breeze tickle my cheek.
We turned the corner further into the maze, following Jinx as she trotted along.
We followed her for a few hours, turning this way and that, when she finally stopped. Her ears perked up, and her body changed into a defensive position as a whimper left her snout. A noise rustled around the nearby corner.
Leo grabbed a long knife he had stowed on his hip. Pulling out my dagger, I flattened against the labyrinth wall.
Suddenly shrieks erupted around us, and small winged creatures flooded over us. I raised my arms over my face in a protective stance. Their scratches sliced my arms, their wings tangled in my hair. Leo shouted something while Jinx alternated between barking and whining.
I peeked out from behind my hands, looking for a way out. I saw the winged creatures now. They were dark violet, covered in scales of a snake, their sharp faces twisted into a murderous rage with blood-red eyes. Long tails stretched behind them with sharp spikes extending in all directions.
Blood dripped down my arms from the scratches. I slashed wildly through the air with my dagger, hitting random flying bodies as they shrieked louder.
I shouted for Leo, “RUN!” he was barely visible through the mass of flapping wings, but it appeared he too was hacking through the air, hitting some of the creatures.
Moving as fast as possible, I pushed myself through the winged bodies. I reached for him and he grabbed my elbow. We ran together, fighting against the creatures with feral slashes.
We rounded two corners, and then the floor gave way, his grip slipping from me.
I landed hard on a wet, mushy bed of mud. My wrists ached, having took most of the impact. Dirt covered my body as I looked up. I had fallen in a hole, probably ten feet deep. The creatures were still circling and shrieking in the sky above the hole. There were only glimpses of Leo fighting them off. I did not scream for him, terrified the creatures would sense me down here and I would be trapped, a meal for them to devour.
But then they stilled. The wave of creatures shifted directions and flew off.
I waited a few minutes to be sure they were gone, then shouted out for Leo. But he did not answer.
I searched for a way out of the hole. The walls were also made of thick mud, slick and sticky. There was no way to grip the sides, no foothold for me to use. My hands dug into the mush, but slipped against it. There was no way out.
Anxiety pushed up through my chest and clasped down on my throat. I tried to control my breathing, but my throat felt tight. It was suffocating.
There was a whimper above me, I looked up to see Jinx staring down at me. She made a digging motion with her paws, as if she was trying to help by digging me out. Her fur was still white except for the mud on her paws. Miraculously, there was no sign of blood or injuries on her.
“Jinx, where is Leo, is he up there? Is he ok?” I asked the dog, as if she could answer. She turned her head and looked behind her, then she walked away from the hole.
I leaned against the mud wall. Focus on the mud. Dark mud, slippery and cold. It felt squishy and gathered under my fingernails. It smelled of deep earth. Worms slid through it. Their wriggling bodies forced their way against the dense soil. The anxiety sunk back down, loosening its grip around my throat.
Scratches covered my arms, the blood still dripping. There were a few on my legs as well, and one on my scalp. Blood oozed down my forehead, splattering onto my green shirt. I took in a breath and tried to steady myself.
“Val? Are you down there?” I heard. Leo’s head popped over the entry of the hole, Jinx peering over with him.
“Yes, I’m here! The walls are slick mud, I can’t climb out.” My heart leapt in my chest. He was ok. I was ok. He would get me out of this hole.
“Hold on, I’m going to make a rope,” he said. I slunk back against the wall again, content to rest and wait. I looked at the worms as my thoughts slowed. What were those things? Certainly not normal bats or any creature I had ever heard of…
Several minutes passed before Leo returned, tossing down to me a long multicolor vine. I sent up a blessing to the sky before grabbing it and using it to pull myself up. I was immediately thankful for my training exercises and long hours in the fields, grateful for the upper body strength to actually pull myself up this slick rope. My feet pushed against the soft mud as I hoisted myself higher and higher.
I reached the top and threw my arms over the lip of the hole, dragging myself over and onto the flat land. Finally, I turned over and laid flat on my back, taking in several deep breaths and staring at the soft sky.
My heart calmed, and I sat up to look at my trap. The hole had been right in the middle of the trail, a snare for an unsuspecting traveler. Who had dug it? What or who were they trying to catch?
I gulped. If I had been alone, that could have been the end of it all. A wave of nausea hit me. I did not want to rely on Leo. I did not want to rely on anyone. Yet here I was, relying on Alder for information, relying on Leo for this journey. I wanted to be strong, to be independent, to have complete control over my future. It hurt to admit that I needed others, needed these two men.
A warm tongue against my arm pulled me from my thoughts, Jinx was licking at my wounds. I went to push her off until I noticed…. the wounds were healing. Where she licked the mangled wounds turned to intact flesh. I tried not to be completely grossed out as she licked both arms, the few scrapes on my leg, and then my forehead. It was a gift, no matter how weird. I smiled at her while rubbing her head.
“Thank you.” I whispered to her. She put her weight against me in a sort of dog hug. I felt warm and safe with her near.
I looked up at Leo. His wounds had been healed by her as well.
“Still think we don’t need her?”
He raised his eyebrows, as if conveying mistrust still.
She sat and smiled, proud of herself for helping. Thank you, Alder, I thought, just in case he could hear me. Jinx gave me another wet kiss on my cheek in response.
I stood and surveyed the surroundings as I collected my thoughts, replaying what had just happened. It had started out so peacefully. The maze had seemed mostly empty. But then the Labyrinth had gone from docile to deadly in mere seconds. Fear tried to wrap around me again, but I forced it down. I knew the truth of this place now, and I had to be on my guard at all times.
Chapter 11
Leo walked over to me as I continued gathering my thoughts, gathering my courage. I turned to look at him as he reached out a hand towards me. There was pain behind his eyes.
“I thought for a second there I had lost you,” he said, his words strained and his eyes tearing up. He brushed a finger against my cheek.
The words triggered a cascade of emotions within me. His fear of losing me was as real as I had thought. It would crush him when he learned the truth about me. That I wasn’t the innocent sweet Val he thought I was. That I was a survivor. That not only could I do anything to survive, but that I would. I did. And I was using him. Using him to help me through the Labyrinth when all I could think about was Alder instead.
I was selfish.
The guilt piled up inside, forcing its way up through me. A sour taste formed in the back of my throat. I had to tell him something, show him at least one part of me. I couldn’t keep it all a secret anymore. Just to have one truth out would help. Just one.
He knew about my dagger, but did not know the extent to which I’d trained. He knew about my thievery, but didn’t realize how stealthy I could be when I wanted to. He most certainly did NOT know about my nights at the taverns, the things I did to not starve to death. The things I did to just survive while he slept on his soft bed in a warm house.
I had kept those things from him for so long. Lying straight to his face. My only friend in this world. But now I looked at him and realized I couldn’t keep hiding myself from him. Just one, I thought.
“Leo, I need to show you something,” I said, brushing off his hand from my face and turning around. He raised a brow and watched me as I grabbed my dagger. I looked down at the blade, the mirror of its sharp metal revealing my dirt covered face. The dagger’s golden handle was shaped into a snake with emeralds for eyes staring back at me, the gold worn from years of handling. I turned and faced a vine-covered wall about forty yards away, a turn in the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth King (The Labyrinth Series Book 1) Page 6