Page 143 of Dancing for the Minotaur

The phone buzzed again from where she had wedged it into the cup holder, and she knew she couldn’t ignore it any more. She snatched it up without checking the screen and pressed it to her ear while still steering with one hand.

“I’m coming as fast as I can, Orlov,” she blurted. Her voice sounded wild and breathless even to her own ears. “Please, don’t hurt them! I’ll give you anything you want. I mean it—anything. Just please⁠—”

“Terra, it is me, Taurex.”

The deep, familiar voice surprised her so much she nearly drove into the curb. Terra’s foot jerked away from the accelerator as she stared through the windshield.

“Taurex?” she whispered.

“Yes, lovely one.”

For several seconds Terra couldn’t seem to breathe. Then she said,

“Taurex, I can’t talk right now. Orlov took them—he took Cody and Lisa! I have to get to them. I have to⁠—”

“I know he took them,” Taurex said calmly. “But I have retrieved them. You do not need to worry about your children. I have them both safe in my apartment.”

Terra’s vision blurred so suddenly that she had to blink hard to clear it.

“What?” she gasped.

“They are safe,” Taurex repeated.

She shook her head, unable to make the words fit inside her brain.

“No. Wait. What do you mean you have them? How did you—where—Taurex, are you sure?”

“I am certain,” he said firmly.

“Are they hurt?” Terra demanded, her voice rising. “Did he hurt them? Are they bleeding? Did anybody touch them? Oh my God, Taurex, please tell me⁠—”

“They are not injured,” he told her firmly. “They were frightened, and their wrists were bound, but I have examined them and I see no sign that anyone harmed them physically. They are with me now and they are safe.”

Terra made a strange sound that was half sob and half gasp.

“I need to hear them,” she begged. “Please—let me hear their voices!”

“You shall.” Taurex’s voice softened. “Children, come speak to your mother.”

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line.

“Mommy?” a familiar voice said.

Terra burst into tears.

“Lisa?” she managed to gasp.

“Mommy, where are you?” Lisa’s little voice sounded shaky but unmistakably alive. “The bad men took us, but the Bull-man saved us. He put all the bad men to sleep.”

Terra laughed and sobbed at the same time, tears spilling down her cheeks so rapidly that she could barely see the road.

“Oh, baby. Oh my God, baby, are you okay? Did anybody hurt you?”

“No,” Lisa said. “They scared me, though.”

Terra sniffed, trying to get hold of herself.

“I know, sweetheart. I know.”