I could still feel Mathias’ hold on my hand, but he’d stopped pulling. I took a step forward, then another, and then I opened my eyes and blinked. The breath I had been holding left my lungs in a rush. We were standing in a sort of long bubble, the shimmering shadow flowing around us, and I could see Mathias clearly. He was watching me closely. His voice had an echo to it when he spoke. “It’s an echo tunnel. My father told stories of them when our family still lived together.”
Before rogue dragons attacked and pulled him and his brother into their war with the royals. Before he’d been ripped away from his family and his childhood. I swallowed against rising emotions, reminding myself that getting upset about the far past wouldn’t do any of us any good now. I had to stay focused on the present. Looking around, I asked softly with a faint echo of my own, “It is hiding us, isn’t it?”
Mathias smiled. “Clever girl. Yes, echo tunnels have a sort of magic to them that prevents anyone from listening or watching what happens inside. They echo the noise and magic of the outside world while keeping our presence safely cocooned until we exit. There was a rumor that one of them existed in Troy and that’s how some of our people escaped when the paranormals turned on Achilles for his madness.” His smile faded and his expression turned serious as he continued, “Lauren, now is the time to use your Jinn talent. Hide us from our watchers, and I believe it will buy us enough time for me to confirm my theory.”
“What theory?”
“There’s no time to explain. You need to focus on hiding us.”
I swallowed hard, my nerves tingling with the sudden sense of despair. “I . . . I haven’t been able to summon a successful glamour since the dragon broke it on the airship. I’ve been practicing, but nothing happens. What if I can’t do it anymore?”
Mathias moved closer to me, leaning in enough that his breath stirred my hair as he whispered, “Lauren, you cloaked an entire airship and held it until a dragon cheated. You can cloak the two of us. I know you can.” He paused and moved our joined hands to press against my stomach before adding, “And, you have all the more reason to succeed. You already roasted a harpy. This is nothing by comparison.”
Offering a tremulous smile, I tried to believe his words. Right now, though, it was far more difficult to believe that I could tap into whatever talent my father had passed on to me. Much less wield it successfully. My mind offered up the memories of my terror, of the terrible strain from using my talent, of how weak I had felt afterwards. What if the same thing happened again and it harmed my baby?
I swallowed hard trying to control my rapidly increasing heartbeat. I forced myself to focus on the sensation of Mathias holding my hand, of his solid presence in front of me. I had been practicing with my talent but I hadn’t truly been taxing myself with it, stopping when I met failure. Too scared to press forward when I had no one I could ask about the possible outcomes of doing so. Yet, now . . . Now, if I didn’t access my talent and wield it properly, I could guarantee more fights with who knew what else was in this labyrinth. I could guarantee that either Mathias or me would come to harm in one of those fights. What I could not guarantee was protecting my baby. Not if I stayed too afraid to do everything in my power to protect him or her.
For Mathias, for our baby. I gave a little nod, and then closed my eyes. I focused on the need. I needed to protect my husband and my baby. I needed to hide us, to keep us from being detected by anyone at all. I needed more than to have them see someone else when we approached, I needed them to see no one at all. I needed them to look away, to not see us.
There was only one way to test if it had worked, however. I kept my thoughts focused on hiding, on being unseen, as Mathias led me through the rest of the echo tunnel. We emerged into a much wider tunnel, one that was also better lit with braziers and torches in sconces. A glance behind proved we had stepped through another shimmery shadow half hidden behind a rocky outcropping. I didn’t see any numbers though so it seemed this section of tunnel was also unoccupied, at least for the moment.
I didn’t dare let my guard or my concentration down. Gripping Mathias’ hand and keeping my borrowed dagger at the ready in my other hand, I kept thinking on my goal. On the need to stay hidden. We must have walked for a good twenty minutes before I felt beads of sweat rolling down my temples and back. Apparently, I was holding the glamour because I felt the strain. I couldn’t quite sense it, though. Tiny bursts of awareness through my consciousness that pointed to something occasionally happened, but never anything significant or easily pinpointed.
We kept walking as the tunnel merged into a columned room. We hadn’t even reached the halfway point, however, when I spied two 9s emerging from another tunnel that emptied into the room. I caught a glimpse of a woman in black jeans and shirt before she moved into a patch of light. My jaw dropped as I realized her hair wasn’t a messy afro. It wasn’t even hair. There were snakes forming a wriggling halo around her head. Patches of white and tan scales covered the sides of her throat. A gorgon.
Mathias was already pulling me to the left, putting a column between us and the gorgon before she turned toward us. My mind stuttered. I knew gorgons still existed, but they weren’t supposed to be outside their colonies. Their deadly gazes were much too dangerous for interaction with the world at large, and the Medusa who led them was not a fan of the larger paranormal community. Everyone knew she could be almost as unfriendly as the queen of the Lamia.
I felt my concentration slipping and hurried to latch onto the need for hiding, for being unseen. I had to keep the glamour up. We wouldn’t be able to beat a gorgon by ourselves. It would be suicide.
I heard something shuffling toward us and instinctively closed my eyes. Then, I felt hot breath against my hand. The gorgon had been taller than me, not shorter. I opened one eye to peek and nearly bit my own tongue in shock. This was actually worse.
A hellhound was sniffing toward us. Its shoulders were about even with my waist and its twin heads were lowered as it sniffed. It seemed to be a mix of the two hellhound strains, however, with a stocky body and shaggy coat of matted black hair, but one head was blockier with square jaws and floppy triangular ears while the other had narrow jaws and erect ears. Both heads shared the distinct trait of glowing red eyes. And, their attention was fixed on me.
Stay hidden, stay hidden, stay hidden. My frantic thoughts pounded the rhythmic phrase into me. Sweat trickled down my back and I fought against the urge to squeak or gasp when the hellhound shoved its two heads closer, noisily snuffling. Could it smell us?
I wanted to be hidden from all senses. I needed to be hidden from all senses.
The hellhound’s heads pulled back and then tilted in opposite directions. A woman’s soft call came from the other side of the column. The gorgon . . . she was working with the hellhound, controlling it perhaps. The hellhound’s blockier head stared at me for another long moment before the other head yipped as the gorgon called again. Then the hellhound bounded off, tail wagging, as though it were no different from any normal dog.
I heard the yips again and then they faded. Had they gone? I didn’t know, and I couldn’t get my body to move so I could look.
Mathias stretched around the column and then eased back, never releasing my hand. He nodded to me. “They’re gone.”
I couldn’t hold the glamour a moment longer. I felt a sudden ease of pressure, and then my legs gave out. I dropped to my knees before Mathias could catch me. He sank into a crouch beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder. I pushed my hair out of my face with trembling hands, then wiped the sweat from my brow. Mathias didn’t say anything as he pulled a water bottle out of my satchel and handed it to me.
“Are you all right?”
My hands were still shaking as I lowered the water bottle, my thirst only partially slaked. “I think so. But, I can’t hold the glamour for long.”
“You managed nearly a half hour this time,” he responded quietly. “Just need some more practice, love.”
I t
ook another sip of water, wishing I could believe it was so simple. I caught a glimpse of the gold fox head tattooed on my wrist before it spiraled beneath my jacket. No, nothing in my life was ever that simple and especially not since Mathias came into it. Licking my lips, I couldn’t help murmuring, “I thought most hellhounds didn’t come with multiple heads. Too many people getting ideas of grandeur and naming them Cerberus.”
Mathias chuckled low and soft. “You want to tell the gorgon she’s suffering delusions of grandeur.”
“No, thank you.” I glanced around the room and then returned my water to the satchel. “We should keep moving. They might come back.”
Mathias ran a hand over his face before he got to his feet and helped me to mine. “Right then, let’s carry on with our little holiday.”
A tired smile curled my lips even as I shook my head at him. “If this is a holiday, dear, then I want a refund.”
“What, gorgons and hellhounds with too many heads not to your liking?”
“Not particularly, no.”
He chuckled again as he wrapped his free arm around my waist. “You don’t appreciate the exotic.”
“I have you. I don’t feel I need anything more exotic than that, especially not on a constant basis.” I kept a smile fixed in place even though it was hard to do so and still walk in a straight line. The glamour had taken more out of me than I had anticipated, possibly because I tried to block the hellhound’s noses and ears in addition to sight. I still couldn’t quite believe that I had succeeded in doing so. Now that use of talent was threatening to send me back to the floor. I didn’t say anything to Mathias. We couldn’t linger in the room any longer, after all, and who knew how long it would take us to find a safe place to rest. I just had to press on and keep going.
* * *
Mathias
Lauren was on the verge of collapsing. I could feel it in the way she leaned more and more heavily into my side with every step. She hadn’t said another word since we escaped the room where we ran into the gorgon and hellhound. I was fairly certain it was due to the fact that she didn’t have energy to spare.
I felt her stumble and tightened my hold around her. The knife I’d given her dropped from her loosened grip to settle in the sand beneath our feet. I paused, leaning my sword against the tunnel wall, before crouching down to retrieve the knife. Slipping it inside my sleeve once more, I swiveled so my back was facing Lauren. “Climb on.”
“What?”
“Climb on. And don’t dally, we’ve hardly the whole day to wait.”
“Mathias, I . . .”
“Don’t argue, Lauren.” I glanced over my shoulder at her and would’ve laughed at the way she worried at her bottom lip. “Come on now, you are tired and we can’t rest yet. So, up you get.”
She hesitated a moment longer and then slowly nodded. It took a little bit of maneuvering. However, Lauren was a small woman, slender and barely topping five feet, so I was able to get her settled on my back. When I groaned dramatically as I got to my feet, she pinched my ear. I chuckled. “Ow, be gentle, woman. I’m easily scarred.”
“Liar,” came her muffled mutter. “Don’t forget your sword.”
“Never. I’m rather fond of it you know.” I fetched my sword and held it with ease. The lighting was better the deeper we headed into the labyrinth. I could see reliefs painted on the walls and in increasing places dried blood. Mostly, at the crossroads.
Lauren moaned under her breath and buried her nose in the crook of my neck. I patted her knee with my free hand. “I think I found something interesting. A pattern in any case. There are labrys carved in certain stones and on certain walls.”
“There are what?”
“Labrys. Double headed axe blades. The Minoans used them to denote sacred and protected places, to ward off evil.” I paused, but Lauren didn’t say anything. She did tighten her grip around my chest. “In any case, I’ve been following them. They’re taking us deeper into the labyrinth.”
“How delightful.”
I smiled at the amount of sarcasm in those two little words. “Yes, well, if we want to find a way out of the labyrinth, we need to find its heart first.”
“That’s your plan?”
I paused, considering, then nodded. “Yes. Unless you have a better one you’d like to share with the rest of the class.”
“Not dying is my main plan.”
“Then, we are on the same page. Excellent.”
I could feel her sigh that time. “Mathias, we’ve run into harpies, gorgons, and hellhounds who aren’t supposed to exist anymore. What do you think we’ll find in the heart of the labyrinth?”
“I am hoping for a door.”
“Mathias.”
I patted her knee again, hoping she wouldn’t squirm or try to get down. We were making much better progress now. “I know, sorry. I am hoping for a door, possibly with a nice map painted on the wall showing the way back to civilization. On the other hand, given the small sampling of the labyrinth’s denizens we’ve already witnessed, it does seem likely that we will find a rare monstrosity before we can get through this hypothetical door.”
“That concerns me.”
“Me too,” I murmured ruefully. I turned into an alcove marked by a labrys carving and then stopped. The alcove was shallow, just big enough for two people, but it was also hidden from easy view of the tunnel.
Lauren eased off my back and immediately sank to the ground. I settled next to her and said quietly, “Get some rest now, love. I’ll keep watch. You need to be fresh for whatever we run into next.”
* * *
Chapter Nine
Lauren
We spent days wandering the labyrinth. At least four or five that I was certain of, maybe even six. So far we had managed to avoid fights with any of the most dangerous paranormals, the gorgons and hellhounds and something else, a 9 we had never seen up close. But, the harpies and Therian shifters in the labyrinth always seemed to catch us at crossroads or in rooms where there was no easy way out. When we ran into them under those circumstances and there was a fight, if Mathias killed them, some sort of . . . reward would appear. Usually packages of food or water bottles, once a bundle of bandages after he was scratched up by a lion shifter, and also a blanket. We hid in dead end alcoves to rest and to eat after Mathias tasted everything.
The food was normally dried fruit and meat, occasionally with day old rolls of bread. Not always appealing, but at least I didn’t need to worry that it would be something I couldn’t eat safely. Any nutrition was better than starving.
On the fifth or sixth day, we were deeper in the labyrinth’s warrens than we had ever made it before without being forced to backtrack to avoid the gorgons and hellhounds. So far, no one had attacked us. A nice reprieve that I certainly didn’t trust as far as I could throw a hellhound.
Mathias hummed to himself as we reached another conveniently empty crossroad. Then he murmured in a low tone, “You know we might have found what we’re looking for before now if you were a Seeker. It would be faster in any case.”
I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous nonchalance he had layered his words in, even going so far as to rock back on his heels. “And, I’d wonder if perhaps you’d have an easier time breaking out of here if you were a dragon shifter. Breathing fire could have come in handy several times now.”
He chuckled. “Oh, it’s like that?”
“You may have started, dear, but I just finished it,” I retorted even as I struggled to hide my smile. “And, since you are not so useful as being able to breathe fire, shouldn’t you be focused on keeping your sword sharp?”
“My sword is always sharp,” he countered with a smirk. “And, if you are so wise and all knowing, maybe you should pick our next route.”
“I will.” I contemplated our three choices and then pointed to the right. “We’ll go that way and then turn left at the next crossroads.”
“That’s two choices.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. �
��I picked our next route.”
“That’s cheating.”
“And you’re being petty, dear.” I shoved his arm lightly. “Come on. I’ll let you decide on the two turns after these.”
“I really feel like I should get the choice of route for the rest of the day,” he muttered as he started walking.
I laughed softly, not able to help it at the sight of his smirk. “Now, you’re being petty and ridiculous. Grow up.”
“No, I’m going to the second star to the right after we get out of here.”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t resist teasing a little further. “You realize that the Lost Boys have an age limit, yes?”
“What of it?”
“You may act like a five year old all the time, but you passed your expiration date several decades ago.”
Mathias shot me an aghast look, pressing his free hand against his chest. “I haven’t reached my expiration date, you cruel woman. You’re in league with those squirmy pirates, aren’t you?”
I laughed before muffling the sound by slapping a hand across my mouth. Once I had the laughter under control, I pretended to be disgruntled. “Yes, you’ve finally caught on to my darkest secret. Fear me.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He ducked his head down to whisper in my ear, “Fear you? Never. Adore you? Forever and a day.”
I smiled, but any hope of keeping the lighthearted joke between us faded as a thundering bellow came from behind. I glanced over my shoulder in time to see an 8 blazing bright as its owner charged toward us. I caught a glimpse of horns and a shaggy bull’s head before Mathias yanked my arm, pulling me into a run.
The minotaur bellowed again, closer this time. I sprinted faster. The minotaur probably wasn’t the scariest creature caught in this maze. I still didn’t want to get into a fight with one.
Quests by Numbers (Rogue Spotter Book 5) Page 9