My breaths came in frantic pants as Mathias and I ran down the tunnel. The tunnel split, and I caught a glimpse of another glowing number approaching from the left. I shoved Mathias to the right, knocking my left shoulder against the rocky divider. Ignoring the throbbing pain now shooting through my upper arm and shoulder, I kept running. There was a sound of bodies colliding behind us, but I didn’t dare look back.
The tunnel abruptly emptied into a long hall filled with tables and troughs covered in food. I barely had time to comprehend what I was seeing before the sand just inside the hall flew in the air as a sticky net wrapped around me, yanking me up. I yelped as I grabbed the sticky material, struggling to free my legs. “Mathias! Look out!”
My warning came a second too late as the minotaur slammed into Mathias. I screamed at the bull, trying to distract him to no avail. Wriggling in the net, the sticky material it was made of kept threatening to pin my arms as well as my legs, I twisted until I could pull out the dagger Mathias had given me after our first full day in the labyrinth. The sticky cords of the net almost looked like strands of webbing, catching on the knife and threatening to pull it from my grasp.
The minotaur bellowed when Mathias cut across his torso, leaving a line of red staining the long brown hanks of hair. I finally managed to cut through a cord. Half the net gave away, sending me tumbling upside down with my feet and calves still tangled in the sticky mess. I caught a glimpse of a 9 blazing into view just before a creature charged into the room. My jaw dropped, and I paused midway in my attempt to right myself in favor of staring. The creature was tall, its head nearly even with Mathias’, but that was all that was human about it. The curly hair and thick curly beard were pitch black where they weren’t streaked with silver, and its thick neck was covered in dark hair before connecting with a bull’s body. A pair of black silver tipped wings sprouted below its hump. A lamassu. I hadn’t known any of them survived into the modern age.
His brown eyes studied me for a moment before he charged Mathias. I screamed a warning. All three of them tumbled to the ground. I screamed again. “Stop! We can help each other!”
Something struck me on the back of the head. Then, everything went dark.
* * *
Lauren
I heard arguing first. Accented voices tinged with frustration.
“We should kill them both, especially the male. He is the one who has been killing the others,” pronounced a deep, rumbling voice. The accent sounded . . . Persian.
“The owners like him,” came another voice, not quite as deep but with a more familiar Greek accent. “They returned his weapons on the first day and haven’t separated him from the female. What happens if they object to killing him?”
“If I may have an opinion, I would suggest that not killing us is your best bet for a . . . peaceful solution.”
Mathias. The sound of his polite tone sent a wave of worry through me. I knew that tone, it was the same deceptively polite tone he had used on the dragon prince of Venice, and it usually meant he was about to antagonize a powerful paranormal. In this case, he was likely to antagonize two powerful paranormals, one who already wanted to kill us.
I opened my eyes a slit, peeking through my lashes at my surrounds. I was lying on the sand covered floor. I didn’t seem to be tied up, which was odd. Then, I noticed a pair of crossed legs just across from me. I opened my eyes a tiny bit further and almost indulged in an exasperated sigh when I saw him. Mathias was sitting cross legged with his back against the leg of one of the banquet tables and bronze chains wrapped around his torso, securing his hands behind him. Yet, he was still talking.
“I didn’t realize you gentlemen were friends of the harpies I’d killed. Should I offer an apology?”
I wanted to smack him for saying such a thing. He was distracting them, no doubt. In the worst possible way he could. I could feel someone moving closer to us, a hulking presence that loomed over me, then the Persian accented voice replied, “I do not know what you are, not yet, but I will not hesitate to trample this one if you do not choose your words more carefully.”
Mathias’ face darkened and his eyes grew cold as did his voice as he leaned forward and said, “I already told you, Lamassu. If you touch her, I will rip your beating heart from your chest.”
Yes, that sounded like something he would say. I fought not to react to the gruesome image or the way it made my stomach roil with the threat of nausea. Now was not the time. A hoof almost the size of my head landed just in front of my nose, sending sand flying. I bit my tongue to keep from yelping or flinching away from it. I had to make them think I was still unconscious.
The chains rattled as Mathias lurched forward only to stop short. They must have secured him directly to the stone banquet table. Probably a good thing as a new lethality entered his icy tone. “Lamassu, leave her alone. If you harm her, I won’t be stopped until I end the existence of every creature in this godforsaken place, and I will make certain that I save you for last so you know everything and every life I claim is your fault. Understand me?”
The lamassu slammed the hoof down again, sending stinging pellets of sand against my face as I squeezed my eyes shut. Then a new voice entered the conversation, feminine but with an odd almost clicking or was it sighing quality. “Did we not agree to leave these two alone?”
The minotaur was the one who answered with a hint of petulance in his voice. “They trespassed into our territory, and the male has been on a killing spree.”
“Asterius, he has killed to defend his mate. Is it different from how you behaved when you first came here before they sold your mate away from the labyrinth?”
The lamassu’s rumbling protest sounded even deeper when he stood over my head. “You’ve no cause to interfere now. We should kill them both and have done with this mess.”
“Asterius is correct, though,” the female murmured with the same sighing tone as before, “those who watch have been rewarding them. Killing them would likely be a mistake if we were to do so ourselves.”
I kept my eyes closed as I focused on a new need. I needed them to believe I was lying still and unconscious. I needed them to think I was incapacitated and in no way a threat to them. I needed an illusion while hiding my true movements. This time I had the faintest sense of . . . something changing. I carefully rolled to my right. No exclamations came from the voices around me. They were too transfixed on their argument with each other. I opened my eyes the tiniest sliver again and almost jolted at the sight of myself lying with my head turned away from me and toward Mathias.
This was . . . weird, definitely weird. I was still under the lamassu, however. Carefully wiggling around until I could roll out from under him, I tried to keep my breathing and movements to a minimum. The minotaur, Asterius, was standing on the opposite side of the lamassu from me as he argued with the lamassu and . . . My breath caught as I realized the female’s voice was coming from above us. Looking up, a shudder ran through me as my gaze caught on a large black body with eight legs and a woman’s torso emerging from the front where a multi-eyed head would have been under normal circumstances. Her torso was covered in thick black plates instead of skin until it reached her collar bones. There it changed to olive toned skin a few shades darker than my own. Her eyes were dark, but seemed too large for her narrow face, and her dark hair hung in an intricate braid that swung in the air as she skittered down a long sticky thread. A 9 blazed bright and terrifying above her as her long crooked legs spun out the web while the front stretched down toward us.
My skin crawled and the need to remain hidden surged with new strength. I could still see my . . . decoy lying on the ground. Moving toward the banquet table, I tried to focus on holding the illusion and glamour while also searching for the keys to Mathias’ chains. My gaze caught on them as the Arachne spoke again, a certain click underlying her sighing words this time. “Elizaveta warned us of their coming, but Pascal did not react to their presence until well after they had crossed paths. These
two are not like the others who’ve been sent to kill as many of our numbers as they can before we stop them. I do not think the owners know their true nature. Would you kill someone who might be as trapped as we are, Cyrus?”
The lamassu snorted, stamping his hoof dangerously close to my illusion’s face as his tail whipped against his haunches. “We all kill in this miserable place, Arachne.”
My heart stuttered a little. Surely he didn’t mean that she was the Arachne, the first of the spidery paranormal race. She couldn’t be that old, could she? Even the Fae and dragons were not so long lived as to stretch all the way back to the ancient days when all paranormals lived openly beside the norms. That was . . . impossible.
I caught a glimpse of a key lying among the platters of food on the table just to the right of where Mathias had been secured. Swallowing hard, I carefully edged toward it. Arachne gave a clicking laugh that made my hair stand on end before she sighed, “We may all have killed but our reasoning makes the difference, does it not?”
Mathias suddenly spoke up. “Let us go and perhaps we can make an arrangement.”
“You have nothing of value to offer,” Cyrus retorted coldly. “Why should we make any sort of arrangement with you?”
“Well, it would make things somewhat less messy if I didn’t have to kill all three of you,” Mathias stated as easily as if he had been asked a question about the weather. “If you agree to let us go, well then I would be more than happy to lend you my, shall we say, expertise in getting out of these sort of prisons.”
“You’ve escaped a labyrinth before,” the minotaur asked, skepticism coating every word.
“Not a labyrinth per se,” Mathias murmured with false humility. I grabbed the key as he continued, “However, I am rather experienced in escaping tight spots including a few rogue dragons. As well as some of the dragon princes who objected to my presence in their territory because they are rather tetchy about things such as assassinations and interloping.”
“Lies,” hissed the lamassu as his wings flared. “All lies.”
“Now there’s no call to be rude,” Mathias replied smoothly. Then, his gaze strayed to the lamassu’s feet. I caught the tightening of his jaw, but he continued as though nothing had caught his attention. “I feel I’ve made you a rather reasonable offer. Let us go, and we can help each other. Work out a bargain, so to speak.”
I crouched next to him as I searched for the lock. As I shifted to peer at his chains, he suddenly leaned forward, allowing me to glimpse the thick lock positioned directly below his bound wrists. I didn’t hesitate another moment, reaching to insert the key into the keyhole. I twisted it to the right, but nothing happened. Just as I turned it to the left, the lamassu suddenly snorted. “Where is the female?”
The lock clicked, and I managed to pull it from the chains just as two hairy legs reached down to catch me. Mathias surged to his feet with a shout only to be pounced on by the lamassu. The Arachne ignored the commotion as she continued to lift me into the air so my feet dangled in the empty space above the table. The glamour and illusion must have failed when I was trying to free Mathias, although I suspected the glamour hiding me had failed last.
Bile rose in my throat as the Arachne shifted me so I was being held in front of her face. Her wide inhuman eyes studied me, filmy inner eyelids blinking sideways across her pupils. “How unusual. I haven’t seen your power before . . . and I have walked this earth an age.” She touched her fingers to my cheek, and I barely kept from flinching at their papery feel. “You carry such a strange power, a mixture of something I haven’t felt . . . What are you?”
“Don’t tell her anything,” Mathias shouted. He grunted as the lamassu increased the pressure on his chest.
I glanced from him back into the Arachne’s inhuman gaze. “I am a Spotter.”
“Spotters cannot use glamours,” she murmured with a whispery sigh. “I have met a Spotter once before, a very long time ago. Either you are lying or you attempt to hide the rest of your truth. I would suggest lying to be a rather unhealthy habit for you to indulge.”
Swallowing hard, I glanced up at her number. It was flickering, the edges of the 9 blurring faintly as a second number threatened to join the first. Dangerous. An unhealthy habit, indeed. “I have a little Jinn talent.”
The Arachne’s papery fingers slid to my chin, tipping it up as she stared into my face. “Jinn. Yes, I sense it now. How . . . unusual. Yet you hide more than that, do you not?”
I stared at her, and then one of her legs tapped against my stomach. I could feel the color draining from my face, but I couldn’t bring myself to reveal that precious secret. Not when the lamassu and minotaur still carried the air of creatures who wouldn’t hesitate to kill. Instead, I offered a different secret. Raising my right arm as high as I could with one of her legs pinning my upper arm to my side, I murmured, “You should listen to him. He does know how to wriggle out of quite a few tight places. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.”
The Arachne made the clicking noise again and then she abandoned holding my chin in favor of tugging at my jacket sleeve. Her sigh shook her entire body and caused me to bounce in the air as she stared at the fox headed spiral tattoo covering my forearm and wrist. “I remember this mark too. A Myrmidon’s bride.”
“Yes,” I murmured.
“Impossible,” the lamassu bellowed. “The Myrmidons were wiped out.”
“Not all of us,” Mathias grunted. “And, I could say the same about the lamassu.”
“Release him, Cyrus,” the Arachne sighed. “I still hold his bride, and you already removed his weapons from this chamber.”
At first, I thought the lamassu refused to obey but then he grunted. His beard swaying as he curtly bowed his head before he stepped back, freeing Mathias. He scrambled to his feet, but didn’t try to lunge for me as I gave my head a little shake. Turning back to the Arachne, I suppressed a flinch when I found her face only inches from mine. Her inner eyelids blinked across her too large eyes. Finding my voice, I stated quietly, “You know what we are now. You have clearly been watching us fight too so you should know that we haven’t actively sought anyone out or hunted them. When deaths occurred it was only to defend ourselves, and only when we were forced into the fights. We haven’t attempted to confront anyone so we could escape. That is how your comrades captured us in the first place. We were trying to escape them instead of fighting.”
“A game or cowardice,” the lamassu rumbled.
“Neither,” I said firmly without looking away from the Arachne. “All we want is to get out of here. You must feel the same.”
“What of it?” the minotaur demanded. “You are trapped here, same as us.”
“If we worked together,” I started slowly and then the words came faster as I warmed to the idea, “we could find a way to defeat not only this labyrinth, but the Minos Guild itself. We could escape, take down the guild, and prevent this place from ever being used again.”
“Lauren, watch your promises,” came Mathias’ quiet warning.
The lamassu snorted noisily. “The Myrmidon speaks sense for once. The Minos Guild is not a single man. It is filled with paranormals who think nothing of using other species for their own entertainment and profit. The guild is like a hydra. Cut off a few heads and more will spring into place to make it stronger and more formidable. There is nothing we can do to stop it.”
“Aren’t hydras vulnerable to heart strikes,” I countered quietly, still keeping my gaze on the Arachne. Her thin lips were pursed and her inner eyelids blinked across her eyes as she listened. “We could manage such a strike if we work together. Mathias and I were captured while we were hunting for an important and powerful artifact. If they took that from us, they could have taken others. Perhaps even ones that we could wield against them and turn the tide in our favor.”
“She is speaking nonsense,” the lamassu rumbled once more.
The Arachne raised her hand, and he went silent. “The guild
enjoys collecting artifacts of power almost as much as it enjoys collecting paranormals. And, they further enjoy placing those artifacts just beyond our reach.”
I studied her gaze for a long moment. I couldn’t read her expression, though. “What do you mean?”
She let out a clicking sigh. “They take the items of power and place them in a vault in the heart of this labyrinth. If we could access them, perhaps we would be able to indulge in our greatest fantasy and escape the jaws of the labyrinth.”
“So what stops you,” Mathias demanded. “There’s a catch isn’t there?”
“A chimera,” she corrected. “A very old and very powerful chimera that serves only the Minos Guild. A few of our number attempted to negotiate with her in the past.”
“What happened to them?” I asked, even though I had the sinking feeling I already knew.
“She devoured them all.” The Arachne gave me a long look as she sighed, “Perhaps with your mix of Jinn talent and his raw power, you could breach the vault. If such a thing were to happen, it would then make an attempt at escape something a bit more practical than a mere suicide run.”
“And, if we fail?” I asked quietly.
The Arachne shrugged. “If you fail . . . Well, you will be dead and beyond the cares of the labyrinth.”
“A generous offer,” Mathias grumbled.
She glanced at him. “You asked for a bargain.”
“I was hoping for something a bit less herculean in scale.”
She gave a whispery click, and I realized she was laughing. Then, she lowered me so I stood next to Mathias. “You are a Myrmidon. Heracles was kin to you, was he not? Which makes this a task all the more suited to your . . . talent. And, your mate’s talent could come in handy as well.”
I swayed when she abruptly released me, and Mathias grabbed my arm to steady me. Latching onto his arm, I met his concerned gaze. He didn’t want to face a chimera, not with me there. However, we didn’t have much of a choice if we wanted to escape the labyrinth. We would need help to do so relatively unscathed. Wrapping my hand around his forearm, I squeezed tightly in an attempt to reassure him. The concern remained in his blue green gaze, then his mouth firmed into a determined line and he gave the slightest nod.
Quests by Numbers (Rogue Spotter Book 5) Page 10