"We're here," Rafael said.
"And you understand the terms?" Aeacus asked. "Once you're bound and descend, there's no extraction. No rescue. Only one pair may exit the labyrinth, but it's entirely possible all four contestants may die. You'll find no easy victory here."
I swallowed the acid crawling up my throat. "We understand."
"Good." She turned and walked toward the far side of the garden where another door waited, this one built into the stone wall and covered in moss. "Follow me."
Aeacus stopped at the door and pulled it open. Stone steps led down into the cold darkness.
"The binding chamber is at the bottom," Aeacus said. "The chains are already prepared. Once they're locked, the door to the Labyrinth will open."
She started down the stairs without waiting for a response. Rhadamanthys followed, his footsteps echoing off stone. We descended into the dark with our hands still joined, leaving the sunlight and orange trees behind. The stairs spiraled down and down, deep into the earth. The air grew heavy with the scent of packed earth and stone.
Aeacus struck a light and held it to a torch. Her footsteps echoed as she carried the torch to an iron bracket and slid it into place.
The chamber at the bottom was circular and cold, with walls made of stone. Across the chamber, a heavy wooden door waited.
Aeacus moved to a wooden table in the center. Two short wooden clubs lay on the surface. Beside them sat two canteens and a folded map of the labyrinth.
She picked up a set of manacles connected by a chain. "Left ankle to right ankle."
My stomach dropped. The chains in her hands were roughly three feet long, enough to stay connected, but not enough to give us much freedom.
Rafael stepped forward and held out his right ankle.
I offered my left.
The brass cuff locked around my ankle with a metallic click. The chain between us clinked as Rafael shifted his weight, testing it. His jaw clenched.
Rhadamanthys handed us each a bludgeon. The wood was smooth and worn, as if it'd been handled thousands of times before.
Rafael tucked the map into his jacket pocket, and we each took a canteen.
Aeacus moved to the reinforced door and pulled a lever set into the wall. Metal groaned deep in the stone, and the iron bands on the door drew back.
The door swung open.
Cold air rushed past us, carrying the smell of earth and copper. The space beyond was pitch black, and every instinct I had screamed that I should turn around and run the other way.
"Constantine has already entered," Aeacus said. "You have until dawn. If you fail to find the exit and to defeat Judge Minos before then, the exit will be closed to you forever."
We moved toward the door. The ankle chain forced us into rhythm whether we wanted it or not. Then we stepped through, and the darkness swallowed us whole. The door groaned shut behind us, and the lock engaged with a final clink.
The darkness was absolute, pressing against me like a living thing, so thick it had weight. The silence was so oppressive that the only sound was my own breathing.
Constantine was somewhere in this maze with his eagle. That bird could probably see just fine in the dark. Meanwhile, we couldn't even read the map, which was the one advantage we had.
"Lorenzo." Rafael's grip tightened. "The rosary. Florica's rosary."
My brain stuttered. "What?"
"She showed me. There's a mechanism." Fabric rustled as Rafael dug into his pocket. "Hold on."
The mechanism clicked. I flinched back as flames shot out of the damn thing. Rafael's face appeared in the flickering light, his remaining eye reflecting the fire.
"Oh thank fuck," I breathed.
The light didn't reach far, maybe ten feet in any direction before the darkness swallowed it, but it was enough to see the tunnel stretching ahead of us, stone walls pressing close on either side.
