The moon undulated on the surface to the beat of the warbled tune, light shattered by shadows moving above me. Alienesque sounds sang along. It was a hauntingly beautiful ode, saluting my attempt at freedom. Darkness ringed the fringes of my vision as whatever sang my funeral song swam over me, its slick skin brushing against my own. An overwhelming sense of peace came from the slow thuds of my heart. This was a much better way to die than being eaten by a sand dragon. When the whale turned around and opened its mouth, I welcomed my fate. I was propelled inside by the eager water and slammed into a wall as the waves crashed and spread over the bricks around me.
I laid in the puddle. Every breath wheezed this high-pitched whistle as I coughed. My lungs worked overtime to expel the salt water while my body convulsed and thawed in the humid corridor.
Wait. That was two corners I visited. Is this what Astaroth was looking for when we searched? Was the realm guiding me to each one?
“You’ve proven your point.”
I squeezed my eyes shut when his voice pounded in my head.
“And I have proven mine.”
What point is that? I thought.
He ignored my question. “Stay put!”
The pendant pulsed in warning. I rolled to my stomach and pushed onto my hands and knees like a baby giraffe. Every bone ached, my eyeballs burned as they darted around looking for him, and I could barely breathe. I wanted more than anything to lie down. If I did, he would find me. I wasn’t ready to give up.
Unsteady, I stood up and leaned against the wall. My thighs twitched and spasmed while I clung to the vines for support. They wriggled in my grasp, reminding me of the day they held me captive against these very walls while Astaroth filled my body and made me quiver.
“I will do it again.”
He would not. My will to escape would vanish beneath his touch. The only freedom I’d find would be in his bed, traveling the galaxies in his lust-filled gaze. “Get out of my goddamn head!”
Thunder rolled overhead. Startled, I plastered my back to the wall as lightning splintered the sky. The giant bloodsuckles stretched up as the first raindrops fell.
“That’s never happened before.”
His precious labyrinth was falling apart. I had to keep going so I wasn’t trapped here when it imploded. A sharp pain shot through my ankle when I stepped forward. It was swollen and turning shades of purple and black. My fingertips weren’t much better, but I couldn’t feel them, and I didn’t have to walk on those.
It was a last-ditch effort, but I was willing to try. “I wish I could heal faster.”
Tingles traveled over my skin as another round of lightning zipped through the sky. My fingertips hurt as the feeling and warmth came back. I smiled when the deep purple skin faded, and my nails returned to their natural pinkish hue. Suddenly, the bone in my ankle cracked as it reset. I tried to cover my mouth to muffle the scream, but the crack of thunder hid my pain-filled mewls. A moment later, the throbbing eased. I tested my weight on it. It was sensitive, but I could walk.
I looked down the darkened corridor ahead. The next corner was close. I could hear the tune in the distance. Favoring my tender ankle as it healed, I gently wove in and out of the doorways, feeling my way through the darkness and allowing the bright flashes of lightning to reveal the paths.
“Calista!”
I whipped around to his booming voice. He wasn’t far behind, and I was almost there.
“I don’t know how you’re doing this, but I’ll figure it out.”
I refused to feed him a morsel of information and cleared my mind of everything by humming along with the realm. Astaroth’s presence weighed on me as he pressed further and probed deeper into my mind, triggering memories I didn’t want to relive. One memory in particular caught my full attention.
I floated gleefully in the air while Astaroth directed my flight from the ground with a stick taller than he was. A twig snapped, and his head jerked in that unnatural way. I followed his gaze as Grandma raced into the clearing, terror and disbelief etched on her face. I screeched as the force holding me up disappeared and fell, arms and legs windmilling to right myself. Pain tore through my back as the stick pierced me. Shocked, I looked down at the wood protruding from my chest. Blood glazed the bark and seeped around the edges of the hole. When I looked up, I was no longer standing. Grandma hovered over me, her tears dripping onto my face. She screamed at Astaroth, shoving him away when he knelt beside me, but I couldn’t make out their exchange. I coughed to clear my throat, to ask what was happening and to tell her to be nice, but all I did was gargle. Astaroth reappeared. His little hand glowed as it covered my chest, and his eyes twinkled with those bright stars I loved. There, faintly playing in the background and getting farther away, was the song.
My finger found the thin scar near my sternum. I never could remember how I got it and assumed it was due to some childhood mishap. The more I thought about it, the sicker I got. I didn’t remember ever being ill. Accidents that should have injured me barely left a scratch. Luck played no role in my life, and the pendant wasn’t the only cause for all my fortunes and misfortunes. Astaroth didn’t just heal me. He changed me.
The pressure became too intense. I held my head as I hobbled quicker until I ran. The rain fell heavier in blinding sheets, deafening any noise in the labyrinth, but it did little to assuagethe haunting whispers of love, devotion, and sacrifice. What did he know of sacrifice? What did he know of any of it?
“I know more than you ever will,” he shouted.
I gasped when the lightning revealed Astaroth running down the path behind me. He didn’t see me yet, but he could sense me as he looked around. Patting the wall, I found an opening and took it.
Water began to flood the corridors under the deluge of rain. I trudged through, thankful for the noise disguising my sloshing steps and praying there were none of those creepy-ass mermaids swimming around me. The song played loudly nearby. I just had to make it a few more yards.
Something grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. Astaroth stared down at me, his eyes wildly searching mine. Rain dripped from his nose and lashes and plastered his hair to his face.
I jerked my arm, but he refused to let go. “Release me!”
“Never.”
All the pent-up anger had a target now. I went on the attack, punching and kicking as I screamed at him to let me go.
He pulled me in close and lowered his face to mine. “I will not allow you to kill yourself!”
“But it’s okay if you do!” I yelled back over the pounding water.
I took his moment of stunned silence and punched him in the dick. His eyes widened and he let go when I jerked my arm with all my strength to free my wrist. I tumbled backward. Straight into the next corner.
