CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Calista
“This is… different.” Fog plumed with every dithering word after we exited the portal into the southern corner. Snow drifts piled along the bare walls and walkway, leaving a few bricks uncovered. “Has this always been this way?”
I pulled my arms inside my t-shirt and hugged myself to keep warm. I’d never felt arctic winds, but I bet they seeped through clothes straight into your bones like these. My joints screamed from the aching cold, and even my goosebumps had goosebumps. The pinpricks felt like cactus needles pushing through my skin.
“No,” Astaroth raised his voice to be heard over the wind.
As much as I wanted distance after last night’s encounter, I remained on his heels as we walked the narrowed path and usedhim as a shield to buffet the gale-like gusts. Strands of hair blew loose from my scrunchie and whipped at my cheeks. I hooked the neck of my shirt over my nose to protect my chapping face and blew into my hands. We were not dressed for this climate. The weather didn’t seem to bother Astaroth, but it tore through me and took my breath away.
“What are we looking for anyway?”
“I have not a clue.”
I peeked around his lean form and regretted it instantly. My foot slipped on a patch of black ice. With my arms tucked into my shirt I couldn’t keep balanced and did a slippery dance to remain upright. Astaroth swooped me up before I could hit the ground.
Cradled in his arms, he looked down at me, but there was no trace of his emotions coming through. They disappeared yesterday, not long after I saw him in the courtyard. After days of being connected, his absence left a hole in me I couldn’t fill. Being without him was as bad as being with him. It was tearing me in two. Apparently, it was doing the same to him. I was too much for him, just as he was too much for me. He had me all confused, and I didn’t know what to do with it yet.
He pulled me tighter and tucked my head beneath his chin. “You’re shivering.”
I burrowed against him, burying my face into the crook of his neck. His scent invaded my senses. The haunting feeling of his hands groping me made heat coil in my belly and ebb through my body. The tips of his fingers dug a little deeper as I rubbed my cold nose against the side of his throat. He hummed in contentment, and I stopped.
Astaroth’s grip loosened when we reached the corner. He set me on my feet but wrapped himself around me to block the wind. Snow accumulated in the corner halfway up the wall. If there was anything there, we would have to dig through theicy snow to find it. My fingers hurt thinking about it. I leaned forward and peered down the connecting corridor. Everything was the same, but further down it looked like the snow thinned out.
A gust whipped through, kicking up loose snow, and Astaroth turned his back to it to protect me.
“Maybe we should check out the other corners. If we find something there, we’ll know what to look for here and can return better prepared.”
He nodded and blipped us to the next corner. My stomach spun from the movement. It was like having my own amusement park ride. The muggy air was so thick I could cut it with a knife, but at least I wasn’t freezing anymore. I slid my arms through the sleeves of my shirt and rubbed them to get the goosebumps to go away while I thawed. Where the last corner was frigid and uninhabitable, this corner was tropical and teaming with life. Tiny creatures crawled and hopped about, and I heard the buzzing of the first insects I’d ever heard in the labyrinth. The vines even appeared lusher and livelier, with more vibrant, colorful blooms. This corner was beautiful. I also feared it was deadly.
I stood still as Astaroth moved forward with purpose. He did a doubletake when he realized I wasn’t following. “What’s wrong?”
“At home, we learned that all the pretty things in the rain forest and jungles are poisonous. Are these things going to kill me?”
He cocked his head at a weird angle. “Not that we have experienced.”
Trepidation filled me with every tiptoed step toward Astaroth. He seemed amused by it and even laughed when I rushed the final steps to his side.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think my untimely demise is funny but keep laughing.”
I bumped him with my shoulder when I passed, and his laugh became throatier. “You’re stitched to my life source now, Calista. It would take more than a sting or bite to take you down.”
My bravado faltered. I didn’t think about that. We hadn’t discussed the ways my life would change yet. Was I still human, albeit with an infinite lifespan? Would I become fae? Did he even know, or was he playing all this by ear?
His warm breath caressed the shell of my ear. “I could carry you again if it makes you feel safer.”
I fought the urge to shiver and told myself it was the remaining cold leaching out of me. “You just want another excuse to touch me.”
“Always.” His lips brushed my ear, and I swear I could feel his hands where they roamed last night. Next thing I knew, he was in front of me with a knowing curl on those delicious lips. “It will be night soon. Keep up.”
Astaroth took two steps backward, spun around, and strutted down the pathway. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. It took me a moment before I realized I was following him as if he were the Pied Piper. As intangible as it was, I could sense the string that bound us together. It tugged at me, reeling me in to be near him. But I couldn’t reconcile the many different faces Astaroth wore, and that kept me at bay. I shook myself out of it and started paying attention to my surroundings. The ones that could potentially kill me.
Dense foliage covered the length of the wall. Every time a leaf quivered, I went on the defensive, tensing to move in a split second. The plants thinned out the closer I got to Astaroth, leaving only vines thicker than others found through the labyrinth. I kept my eye on them while they slithered along the wall, as if they followed us, too. One reached out, and I slowed to watch it.
The tip of the vine wiggled, reminding me of a childlike wave. I looked back at Astaroth who made it farther with his long strides. I waved back, then smiled, feeling foolish. It couldn’t see me, could it? The vine stretched within a foot of me and wiggled happily. Not as nervous as I was, I stepped forward and stroked it. It nestled against my hand like the ones at the castle garden.
“I gotta go.” It drooped. “But I’ll come back and say goodbye.”
