Page 44 of Of Monsters and Mazes

Jericho snickered, then he pulled back, and gripped my chin to force me to face him again. He had his entire body pressed against mine, and I knew he was reveling in the way my pulse was speeding against his fingertips. It was the one thing I would never be able to control around him.

“Is that what you think I’m afraid of, Theron?”

“No.” I glared down my nose at the asshole like he was below me, even if he was the one who forced my head up in the first place. I knew I was nowhere near his power or influence, but reaffirming that for him was not an option. I lifted the corners of my lips in a mocking grin, wide and with my sharpest fangs on display. “I think you’re afraid that I’m going to be the one who beats you.”

“Cute. But wrong,” Those sparkling green eyes narrowed, and his once rounded pupils closed back into tight slits. “I’m just worried that you’re going to get your heart broken, and I care about you. I’ve never seen you show so much affection towards one of my tributes, and since I’m planning to keep this one, I don’t want it to sting when you see her on her knees for me.” His own twisted smirk crushed mine. I took a full, deep breath, and I held that air in my chest as he danced his fingernails over the front of my jeans, tracing the firm shapes. I couldn’t lie about that either. “After all, with all of your scars…” He climbed upwards, over my belt buckle, then softly along the center of my abdomen. He grazed the contours of each muscle with his fingertips, feeling along the thousand healed cuts he’d given me.

I lost the hold on my breath and forcefully sucked in fresh air again as he settled over the deep gashes that criss-crossed my heart, usually hidden purposefully behind the draping of my scarf. “Who could ever love a man like you? One so weak and fragile, who wastes his time with illusions, because he’s so very terrified of reality.”

He pressed his palm harder against the deep cross, and I bit my lip as pins and needles prickled through my nervous system.

“Let go, Jericho.” My voice was far steadier than I felt.

“So weak. I could kill you so easily.” He dug his fingers into the scars, as if he was threatening to tear my heart from my chest. He roughly scraped along the lines, opening the wound again for the thousandth time. My heartbeat grabbed a few more beats per second. “Maybe I’ll rip out your heart and skewer it on your horn while it’s still attached.” He licked his lips. Another beat. “But then, stabbing you is so much more fun.” He leaned in close and whispered softly in my ear. And another. “Do you need me to cut you again, Theron Darling? Do you need to be reminded why I’m the King of the realm, and you’re simply my fool?” He painted my body with streaks of my own blood as he made his way back down to my belt. “I respected your wish for solitude when I took the crown. I never took advantage of my power over you, and I gave you the most simple task during the games. But maybe that was never what you wanted. Maybe you prefer being put in your place by someone stronger than you, over and over again.” He inched downward, then he gripped me roughly below the belt. I fixated on the way his lips brushed my earlobe, avoiding any acknowledgment of my body’s reactions. “I would be happy to remind you exactly who you’re beholden to, my precious Little Nightmare.”

“Let. Go.” I repeated the demand with forced calm, using every disciplined fiber in my body.

To my surprise, he obliged. He stepped back, and I stayed against the stones, subtly gripping the rough surface for support, while holding a neutral expression in a vice grip. He wouldn’t see me shaken. He never would. Not anymore.

“Let’s try this again then, shall we?” Jericho swept his fingers through his reddish-brown hair, streaking my crimson essence through his locks. “You’re going to rejoin the mangy fox and my tribute. You’re going to set aside whatever grudge is between you and Alessi, you’ll continue to get closer to them both to win their trust, and if she makes it as far as the Red Sector somehow, you’re going to assure that’s as far as she gets within the allotted time. Simple enough?”

“How exactly do you want me to do that? The Cronus own the Orange Sector. You’re going to be carrying her to your bed in pieces if I don’t intervene before then.” Still I kept my voice steady. I shouldn’t have been struggling to remain composed in front of him, but no matter how many thousands of years I’d lived at his mercy, he still got under my skin. From the moment when we were children and he ripped off my right horn to carve out the scar over my heart, to the way he’d kept that horn for our entire childhood, just so he could use me as a sadistic canvas, he’d always known how to assert his power over me. Even once my horn grew back, the threats never stopped. It was a cruel joke that I would be bound to him for eternity.

Despite all appearances, Jericho was unnaturally powerful, and he’d earned his place as king. While my powers manifested in the form of mental manipulation and heat, his portals paired with his physical strength were an impossible combination to take in a fight. I could respect that power even if I hated him for it.

Though if he thought I would do anything so vicious to Butterfly, he was sorely mistaken. No one deserved the life I’d lived. Jericho had Rai to command if he really wanted more senseless brutality.

“You’re the Dream Weaver. I don’t need you to maul her.” He rolled his eyes, like he’d read the recollection of all the trauma he’d put in mine. “Show her an image that will paralyze her. Sink into her brain, find her worst fears, her darkest fantasies, and her most painful insecurities, and show her those images over, and over, and over again, until she loses some of that overbearing will she keeps flaunting.” A smile graced his lips, and he might have looked harmless if he was anyone other than the Devil King. “And if that’s not enough to break her—which, honestly, it might not be—show her some of your memories. I know I’ve given you some fun ones, and that should play at her heartstrings. With the way she dotes on that cat of hers, she’s obviously got a soft spot for useless, defenseless little things.”

“Yes sir.” I said under my breath, barely audibly, hoping that would be enough to get him to leave me alone.

Jericho nodded. “I knew I could count on you.”

“Until the end of time, Jericho.” My enthusiasm was hollow, and I didn’t bother to hide that fact.

It didn’t matter how I framed the statement anyway. He knew those words were true.

With that, he vanished as quickly as he’d appeared. And also with that, I let myself collapse onto the ground in a low, deep squat. I focused on slowing my breathing until my heart rate followed suit. I pressed my hand to my scars, and I held the reopened wound until my chest burned and blood stopped dripping down my wrist.

Our relationship had always been complicated, but it had changed shape once he’d taken the crown. We were born on the same day, we grew up in the same environment, and we stood side by side in the war against the heavens. His sadism was the opposite side of the coin to my masochism, and in that sense, we had always been a fated pair. I was loyal because I had no other choice, while he abused his power because he had no equal. Not in this world or any other.

But still, my obligation to him didn’t make me want to return to Butterfly’s side. If anything, it was a reminder that I should stay as far away from her as possible. So long as she was with Alessi, she was safe, whereas I couldn’t make the same guarantee with myself. I shouldn’t have to intervene to protect her from the Labyrinth’s pitfalls so long as she had him, and I likely wouldn’t have to make any effort to delay her, considering how lazy and disinterested in punctuality the fox so often was. If she made it to the Red Sector, and her success was imminent, only then would I step in.

Which was fine. I’d just be showing her a dream. I wouldn’t hurt her. I could do that.

But what conjuring could possibly be worse than the last image I’d shown her? Did I really want to make that kind of deep dive into her psyche? Admittedly, I wasn’t sure which scenario I was more afraid of—Jericho punishing me, or having to experience the visceral darkness of dream weaving inside Sela. Neither felt like a win.

I wasn’t sure what would feel like a win at this point though. If I slowed her down long enough as ordered, she would lose the game and he would take her as his toy for the rest of time. Wasn’t that more terrifying than both of the previous scenarios? Butterfly was human. She couldn’t survive Jericho’s bedchamber. I barely could, for that matter. The fact that Rai had for so long was one of the seven wonders of Hell. What was the point of delaying her just so she could die a more painful and humiliating death? If anything, it would be a mercy if I made her nightmare a reality, rather than letting her reality become a nightmare.

And yet, as I stared back at the green walls of this near halfway point, where Alessi and Butterfly were now bonding as they continued on without me, I already knew I was pathetic enough that I would go through with his orders anyway.

I slipped my fingers beneath my scarf and traced the scar on my chest like a prayer.

I couldn’t deny I was protecting her beyond my duty, and something about that had been twisting my stomach in a way I hadn’t experienced since the war. The last time I’d lost myself in the quiet little moments of emotion, it was when I was coiled up with the spy who didn’t belong here. The fox who I fell for and betrayed just as quickly.

I didn’t want to think any further on what that feeling meant in regards to either one of them.

Jericho was right. He always was. Who could possibly hold any affection towards a fucked up mess like me?