by JA Wren
Answers weren’t worth her life, were they?
That howl suggested dogs or maybe wolves. Coyotes were definitely a possibility. She’d never been scared of dogs, loved them even, but that howl. Something about it cut through any bravado she might’ve had. Sliced away her confidence.
Or maybe the Winged-woman had done that when she stabbed her with a marble feather.
Asher tugged her around a bend in the path, then stopped abruptly. “Fuck.”
Another wall blocked their path, this one made of rocks and jagged stone, solid and definitely not opaque enough to see through like the first one they’d encountered.
The wail sliced the air again.
Louder.
Closer.
And distinctly behind them now.
“We don’t have time to figure out how to send this thing crashing down,” Asher mumbled, gaze darting over his shoulder, then staring up. Not at the wall, but into the black void above them. Like he was contemplating what might greet them beyond the inky abyss.
“We gotta climb,” Rayna said, following his line of sight but focusing on the wall. The rocks were jagged enough they could probably get a decent grip and footholds. Not ideal, but it wasn’t like they had many other options. At least none that would be fast enough.
“You were just stabbed.”
“I feel fine.” Mostly. Sort of. If she didn’t think about it too hard. “And I’d rather take my chances with this thing than whatever made that howl.”
As though she conjured it, the bay came again. So much closer.
Asher shook his head. “I’m not making you scale a wall right after what you’ve been through.”
“What other choice do we have?”
He glanced away, refusing to meet her eyes as he clenched his teeth, jaw working overtime. “There’s another option, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Does it beat getting eaten by beasts, or falling to a splattery, gruesome death because I can’t climb very well?”
He growled, guttural and even more terrifying than the cry from whatever was out there hunting them. “I’d never let you fall.”
She shivered, so much sincerity in those few words.
Something caught her eye, springing down from the black ceiling and landing on top of them. It snarled and snapped a massive set of jaws. Asher tried to shield her, twisting awkwardly so she was hidden behind him.
Rayna’s eyes collided with the beast’s. A pair of crimson irises, glowing brighter than molten lava. Its body was that of a giant wolf, but so much bigger, its fur ghostly white, like freshly fallen snow. It bared razor sharp teeth, almost sinking them into Asher’s arm when he fended the beast off.
She told herself it was okay. This was a trial, they said, so surely that meant they weren’t in real danger. Right? If they were in life-threatening situations, Giant-guy would’ve warned them. Made them sign some waiver so they didn’t get sued or some shit.
Of course that only mattered if they were alive enough to sue. Not like Rayna’s mother would care enough to even look for her if she disappeared, let alone file a lawsuit. Maybe Kally, but she was broke and lawyers cost a damn fortune.
A whine echoed through the labyrinth and the beast clawing at Asher broke off to answer in its own earsplitting yowl. Rayna acted on instinct, punching her clenched fist into the wolf’s nose. That was supposed to work on sharks, right? Maybe it did the trick with monstrous wolves, too.
The beast yelped and jerked back, shaking its head.
Asher cursed but used the short reprieve to edge her as far behind him as their tether allowed. Probably to stop her from trying to punch the wolf again. Then he drew the fiery sword while more flames licked up his arm and curled around his shoulders, spreading down his other arm. He crouched, planting his feet as the wolf-like beast stalked him with murder in its glowing eyes.
Shit. She’d pissed it off.
Its jaw dripped with drool when it snarled. Now that she could see it more clearly, she swore it was partly made of ice. Shards protruded from its back and each paw, and thick clusters surrounded its eyes, intensifying the eerie red glow.
The ground vibrated, shaking little rocks against the cobblestone path.
“That can’t be good,” Rayna mumbled, fearing more frosty wolves were about to join them.
Asher’s body grew hotter, the flames dancing around him expanding to blanket his back. Rayna was careful to keep her distance, not wanting to singe her skin or char her clothes. They were already stained with her blood, but at least they still covered her. Burn holes? That wouldn’t do. Nor was she willing to add scorched skin to her list of injuries for the day.
At least the glowing string binding them had enough slack she could stay at a relatively safe distance from the fire surrounding Asher.
Her necklace sparked, sending little lightning bolts from the crystal. Like Tink was trying to get out but couldn’t. Had the giant trapped her in there after the first trial to prevent her from interfering?
Rayna was kind of glad because Frosty the Wolf would take one bite and the Wisp would be gone.
More wolves crept from the darkened path, emerging from the shadows. Their glowing eyes announced their arrival even before their huge, white and ice bodies came into view. Too many. Asher wouldn’t be able to fend them all off on his own. Not while tethered to Rayna.
And punching their noses was definitely not a wise battle strategy. That trick might have worked once, probably because it was the last thing Frosty expected. But she wouldn’t be so lucky again.
Asher’s body went rigid anyway, poised to fight his way out of there. She had to help. Do something—anything. Maybe she could find a way to bring the wall down, the same way she’d—maybe?—melted the first and then turned Marble-man to dust.
The tiny lightning bolts in her necklace were cracking to her right. She followed a wayward spark as it drifted off, heading for the edge of the wall, toward another series of symbols that bore a slight resemblance to those in the grid on the first wall.
Was Tink showing her the way out of this?
The flame sigil that melted the wall of ice called to her, demanding she reach out and touch it. Rayna stretched, pulling as far as she dared, until the tips of her fingers did that electric thing again.
It arched out from the tips of her fingers and made contact with the symbol.
The ground cracked, the earth opening up in jagged paths, steam billowing out. Fire erupted from the fissures, blazing high like a fiery water fountain. At least it cut off most of the wolves from advancing. All but Frosty—the biggest—were trapped behind the flames.
“Rayna, what the fuck are you doing?” Asher yelled, dodging a sheet of fire as it blasted up from a huge crack in the ground.
“Trying to help.” She gritted her teeth, focused on the grid of crazy symbols.
“Forget that. It’ll take—” He was cut off when the static in her fingers touched another sigil and thunder rumbled above.
“Shit.” She wanted the wall gone, not to change the weather.
“Rayna—”
“I can do it. Just shut up and let me think.”
Another rumble of thunder—no. A growl. Frosty. The huge wolf was attacking, trying to take large bites out of Asher.
Hurry, Knox!
In her haste, her fingers brushed the sigil beside the other and lightning crackled through the black ceiling, lighting it up for a brief flash. Long enough, Rayna caught a hint of clear blue sky beyond the dark ink. “How was that—?”
“Rayna, focus.” Asher bellowed. “The wolves. Do you want to get eaten?”
She waved a hand over her shoulder, but then glanced back and saw him literally holding Frosty’s huge jaw between his hands, preventing the razor-like teeth from sinking into her nearby arm.
“Oh my God.”
She blocked everything else out, determined to work through the damn sigils. There had to be an answer there somewhere. A way to bring the wall down and giv
e them a path to safety. Her necklace glowed brighter. And she swore the little sparks danced in the direction of one simple, unassuming symbol.
Tink had to be trying to help, same way she had with the first trial.
Following a spark, Rayna let her fingers brush near the sigil.
“Wait, don’t—”
Asher’s words were cut off by the wall tumbling down, the rocks falling in a landslide that carried them along with it, jagged stone abrading her exposed skin. But that was the least of their problems. The wall might not be blocking their path anymore. However, the wolf-beasts were rising from the rubble, snarling at them as they advanced, apparently unfazed by the crashing wall.
Rayna edged back on her butt, hands scraping over rocks and probably leaving trails of blood. She’d definitely failed this test. Why had she listened to the Wisp? Asher warned her they were fickle. Untrustworthy.
And now Tink had led her to their death.
“Bad Wisp.”
The crystal pendant stopped glowing, Tink dormant again.
A wolf growled and took a sudden leap right at her.
She was done for. Those sharp teeth would sink into her flesh like a mouthful of daggers and rip her apart. Rayna flinched, raising her arm like that might shield her. Part of her hoped her weird quirks would save her, turn the wolves to piles of blackened ash even as she expected the searing agony of tearing flesh.
But one second she was squinting against the horror, and the next she was flooded with warmth.
When she peeked through her lashes, flames engulfed her, surrounding her in every direction. She screamed, expecting them to burn her to a crisp, reduce her skin to flaky black ash. But an arm wedged around her, tightening as she was lifted, not just to her feet but higher, her body growing weightless as she ascended. Suddenly airborne.
“I’ve got you,” Asher murmured in her ear. “Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine.”
The flames burst out either side of her and for a heart-stopping second she thought they might’ve come from her. That it had been flames turning her sheets to a blackened mess all along, frying her houseplants to a crisp, and—
But no. It was the man holding her to his hard body, the fire taking shape into an unbelievable set of wings sprouting from his back. Her eyes widened, not really believing what was clear as day in front of her.
Don’t look down.
Don’t look down.
Don’t look—
She risked a quick glance down, the wolves snarling and snapping at each other below.
Down. Oh, God. So far down.
“Rayna!” Asher growled, just enough to get her attention. “Look up.”
Look up.
Look up.
Look up.
It would help if she hadn’t caught sight of how far up they were. How tiny the beasts now looked all the way beneath them. Even as she repeated the mantra in her head, she couldn’t stop herself from peering down again. Asher flew them higher still, until Rayna could see all the curving turns of the maze below.
Until the entire expanse of the circular labyrinth looked like a photo of a crop circle snapped by a satellite. She swore there was a building in the center of it all. Something that stood out with the bushy hedges surrounding it. But she couldn’t be sure from such a distance. Everything was shrinking as Asher kept flying higher.
The flames around them blazed hotter. Brighter. Bigger and wider, extending far beside them. Asher finally stopped when clouds began to distort the image of the ground below. “You okay?” he whispered into her ear.
She couldn’t answer, her breathing strained, either from the altitude or the days’ events. Probably both. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. In slow motion, she felt her body slackening and knew she was about to pass out.
Her last thought was at least she hadn’t been ripped apart by those wolves.
Ten
Rayna woke to the most incredible warmth. Soothing. Comforting. It wrapped around her and she wanted to snuggle deeper, sink into the heat and let it envelop her. Consume her until there was nothing left.
“Come back to me, love.”
She frowned at the rough voice invading her happy place. It sounded familiar, like climbing into a pair of well-worn jeans.
“Rayna?” it whispered. So close. So full of heartache. “Please. I can’t lose you again.”
As much as she wanted to stay in the warm darkness, live there for the rest of eternity, she couldn’t say no to that plea. She waded through the inky blackness clouding her head and finally peeled her eyes open.
A dark chocolate gaze was the first thing she saw, inches away from her face and blocking out the rest of the world. Asher beamed at her, that gorgeous almost-dimple crinkling his cheek. “There you are.”
He brushed a hand over her hair, thumb tracing the side of her face with delicious heat, reminiscent of the warmth she’d left behind. Bright light blazed around him, a near-blinding glow—no, flames.
Fire surrounded them, but it didn’t burn either of them, didn’t even singe their hair or clothing.
“How?” she rasped.
His face pinched. “I’ll explain later, but right now, let’s make sure you’re okay, huh?”
Only then did she realize she was lying with her back on the ground, spongey grass meeting her fingers when she spread them out. Asher held her, his arms circling her, shielding her even as she lay sprawled on the ground. “Where are we?”
The labyrinth path had been stone, so no way were they still inside the hedge maze. And no sign of snarling wolves, so that was a plus. She glanced down and her crystal necklace glimmered deep red, Tink poking her little flame-like head out a second later. The Wisp drifted up to her face, then perched on the tip of her nose.
If Rayna squinted, she could make out the tiniest body—arms and legs, a rounded belly—but Tink’s fiery head dwarfed the rest of her. She folded her miniscule legs on top of Rayna’s nose and crossed her arms, pouting with her chin angled up.
Was she—“Are you angry with me?”
The Wisp nodded, a barely perceptible jerk of her head.
Rayna felt nuts talking to an itty-bitty flame sitting on her nose, but, “Uh, why? You’re the one who got us into trouble back there.”
Tink let out a long-suffering sigh, then zipped from her nose, disappearing into the fire still raging around them. Whether she was joining the flames, or stepping through them like a regular doorway, Rayna had no clue. It made sense they wouldn’t hurt the Wisp since she was already a fiery little creature. She doubted she was as impervious to the fire as Tink.
And yet she didn’t even feel a hint of stinging skin anywhere.
“Um, Asher?”
“Yes?” he said distractedly, his gaze roaming over her face, while his hand continued to stroke her hair.
“Why aren’t we burning to cinders?”
He flinched, hand stilling in her hair. “Complicated.”
There was that excuse again. One she was growing tired of. She opened her mouth, ready to tell him exactly that and demand the truth. Now. Finally. But a throat cleared—or at least that’s what it sounded like through the crackling flames—and Asher sat up, taking her with him.
Vertigo swam through her and she clutched her aching head between her palms. Who knew if it was blood loss or the trip up into literal thin air that made her brain hazy?
Probably both.
She was a mess.
Her once-white dress stained deep red, dried so dark it looked black. And the scorch mark where she’d been stabbed and Asher…did something. She was still fuzzy about exactly how he’d cauterized the bleeding hole in her belly. But the burned dress proved fire had been involved. Not to mention the blackened skin around her wound.
Rayna glanced at the white bandage Asher had coiled around her wrist, wondering if the same black skin hid underneath his torn shirt.
So many questions. Would she ever get the answers she wanted?
Before s
he could try to get her feet under her, Asher swept his arms around her—back and knees—and rose, holding her tight to his chest. She had the weird impulse to twine her hands around his neck and press her face into the curve of his shoulder, but she was too busy trying to decide if she should be offended.
Sure, she’d had a rough day. But she’d always taken care of herself. God knew no one else ever had.
Well, except for Kally. But even with her best friend right next door, Rayna had fended for herself when her mother was too wasted to give a damn. She refused to play the helpless, fragile snowflake who needed a big man to protect her.
An inner part of her whispered that it was nice to be cared for. Even just a little. And accepting help after the day she’d had didn’t make her a damsel.
Didn’t make her weak.
That’s not what your mother says, now is it?
She groaned, wishing she could put those thoughts in a jar and ship them off to the other side of the world. Antarctica, maybe.
“I can walk just fine, you know?” Her voice came out harsher than she meant thanks to the unwelcome memory of mother dearest.
Asher didn’t respond, instead clutching her closer to him as the flames slowly receded, revealing a beautiful, lush garden. Shrubs of vivid green circled them, and flowers in every possible color edged the garden beds. While the sun shone brightly from above, illuminating everything in a soft, ambient glow, the Wisp-lantern flowers dotted the garden, glowing with the same rainbow of color.
It was the most magical sight Rayna had ever seen.
A huge tree hedge curled behind them, so tall she had to strain her neck to see the top, where she swore it greeted the clouds. She guessed it had to be the labyrinth. A set of intricate wrought iron gates stood closed at the entrance. Or exit. Maybe they’d somehow reached the end of the maze.
“Miss Knox?” a feminine voice said.
Rayna snapped her head around, taking in the small group of people staring at her and Asher. Beyond them, more tall trees lined a massive stone wall covered in ivy with another wrought iron gate, currently closed. The very tips of dark charcoal Gothic spires poked above the treetops.