Page 235 of The Mortal Trials

When he gasps, there’s nothing monstrous about the sound. It’s wholly mortal.

His beastly legs buckle. Daedalus crashes to the ground onto his side, sending a tremor through the entire maze. Was this how it felt when his ancestor’s son fell to the earth? Did it quake then, too? Feeling the strike, but also marking the moment.

The Daedalus of legend never flew too close to the sun like his boy Icarus. He understood the sun’s power and was too smart to be so foolish. The Daedalus I knew shared his heart, mind, and magic. But he wasn’t wise or wary enough to keep his distance from me.

“We have to go!” Elias shouts.

Now that Daedalus is down, now that he’s dead, the race back to our portals and to the arena to finish this trial is on. Torsten calls to his group to run, but none of them know which entrance leads back to their portal.

One pulls the glowing strand from their pocket. They didn’t use it.

They start down one, then stop to argue. Hazi is adamant it’s not the right path. Kallik insists it is. The two men shout at one another until Torsten stalks down one to check.

August plants a foot on Daedalus’s back and pulls my spear free. Blood coats the sharp tip. He holds it out for me to take, but I can’t. I shake my head.

“I’ve got it,” he assures me. “Let’s go!” he shouts to our allies, pointing to the wrong opening in the maze.

“That’s not it!” I yell. “It’s here.”

I point to the C I scored into the wall.

C. For Carina.

Niall peeks around the corner and waves for us to hurry. We overtake him, sprinting over the golden thread, slipping on slick stone when we take turn after turn, until we find Koda, safe and standing in front of the activated portal.

Ulani and Vailea leap into the gold. Elias and Niall help Koda through. August clasps my hand and we jump back to the arena together. We land in the thick sand of the colosseum in the middle of four portals.

The crowd goes feral, cheering, waving flags, pumping fists. They stomp their feet so hard I feel the reverberation in my chest.

The other groups – we beat them.

Our group won. But gods, what we lost in that maze.

I raise my arms and clutch the sides of my head, trying to process what just happened. I turn a circle, the weight of the trial making every step heavier than the last. Sobs try to claw their way out from the very core of me.

Panic and regret swell and build into a tidal wave. I deserve to drown in them.

What have I done?

I killed him.

I killed Daedalus.

“Hands on your knees. Pretend you’re out of breath,” August says as he stands beside me and beams a smile at the mortal audience as he waves to them. “Don’t let them see you break.”

I’m not pretending. I do as August says and try my best not to vomit.

August stays with me. He pats my back like an ally would while I crumble.

Ares allowed Daedalus to visit. He let him deliver the prosthesis to me so I could continue in the trials. Then threw the man into the dark and made him a beast!

Had the craftsman’s family been searching for him, only to find him broadcast as a monster? Did they watch what I did to him?

“I killed him,” I choke.

August shakes his head. “You had no choice.”

“There’s always a choice! I killed him.” This time when I say it, I can barely contain the panic.