Page 73 of Of Monsters and Mazes

“But he built this maze for you.” I protested gently but firmly, and I was thankful for Alessi who had given me the basics. “He trusts you to stay with him in his castle.” I didn’t know much about Rai, but I knew the traces of orange cat hair on his vest weren’t from the worms or the hundred-handed giants, so he must have been living with Jericho. “What would this place even be without your heart, turning these soulless walls into a home.”

Rai stared at me in well-disguised shock, and he said nothing when he at last shook his head. A sense of fear washed through me as he closed his eyes and stole my window to his soul.

“Enough of this nonsense.” Rai scoffed. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, but you clearly don’t understand anything.”

I knew that was a lie. I’d gotten to him, and I could feel it. I just needed to lean into it now.

I scooted one foot, slightly towards the forest, preparing myself to run, while I tried to appear strong and confident. He’d been talking a lot, but he hadn’t killed me yet, so there must have been some reason he was delaying the inevitable. Little thoughts like that were what gave me strength. “You’re wrong. Maybe I haven’t experienced your life, but I can feel your emotions too, remember.” I distracted him by touching my hand to my heart, drawing his eyes away from my subtle shift to a stance that would make it easier to launch for a run.

The corners of his lips twitched like he was fighting a scowl. “Those are your own weak, human feelings. Not mine.”

“I don’t believe that, and neither do you.” I tried to be subtle as I took a single step back. Obviously it was unrealistic to think I could outrun him, but maybe I could leverage the heavy plant cover to hide.

“You think so?” He shifted his weight on his heels, but he didn’t move any closer. I inched another step back. “And yet you’re flight instincts are firing on all cylinders.” My heart froze in my chest when that elicited a wry smile. It was absurd that I thought he wouldn’t notice. “Go on. Try to run. I’ll give you a head start.”

Rai’s laugh was void of amusement. He took one step in my direction, and I dug the balls of my feet into the mud. Though we both knew he had the upper hand in every way, shape, and form, any chance at escape was going to be better than doing nothing, no matter how hopeless.

We stood in stalemate as he lifted his chin, putting me so far below him. There wasn’t a hint of compassion anywhere in his body language.

“You heard me.” He said. “One minute. Choose your hiding place wisely, tribute.”

He shifted a fraction of a millimeter on his heel, and I bolted into the trees like it was a gunshot for the start of a race. I was going to take any advantage I could get, real or imagined or something else entirely. I didn’t know what other choice I had.

All I could hear was the sound of the trees as I tore through the ferns, well off the beaten path. I gripped the marks on my forearms, hoping it might serve as a call for help, and I narrowly missed slipping into the bog in the process. I didn’t know how much time had passed, or when I’d used up my minute, but if he was chasing me, he was damn near silent. I wasn’t bold enough to look back and verify either way.

When my lungs were burning so intensely that not even will power and adrenaline could keep me going, I ducked under a fern in the thickest patch of vegetation, then I darted behind a rock. I got low beneath the shrubbery, and I listened for movement in the distance.

I peeked carefully around the boulder to see if he’d given chase, and I clamped back down when I saw the ferns sway. I held as still as I could, not breathing, and wishing my heart would stop beating for long enough to evade his notice. An eternity passed, and I listened until the ferns were no longer being disturbed.

In mild disbelief that I’d outsmarted him, I loosed a single, silent breath.

The sound of a rattle punctuated a hard, sudden, and violent impact on the back of my skull. That was the last thing I recalled before, in my final moment of consciousness, I’d accepted I was very, very wrong.

Chapter 39

I stood in place for several moments, letting her get as much distance as she could on me. She wouldn’t make it back to Theron or Alessi. I was happy to let her play her best game of hide and seek like she had any hope of evading me.

I should have killed her right then and there, but the frustration she’d been pulsing through my entire nervous system had, perhaps, left me feeling a touch sadistic. I couldn’t bring myself to give her a swift death without looking her in the eye first, no matter how illogical and emotional the reasoning.

I’d earned one last hunt before I took her head off. Devil knows how badly I needed the release.

If I was honest with myself, I might admit that in this singular moment, during this event every year, while everyone was in my Labyrinth, I reveled in being in control for once. If I killed her too quickly, we’d all go back to mundane routine, and I wasn’t ready to give this up yet. The tracking marks were gone, Jericho couldn’t reach her, the other demons were asleep, and it was purely just me, the girl, and the most delicious bout of fight or flight I’d ever felt as it pulsed directly through my adrenaline banks. Her spiking fear tingled through my body, and her desperation was rippling new pleasure down my spine.

I’d been letting my anger get the best of me as of late. This situation with the blood bond had left me feeling trapped in my one and only time of freedom. I deserved to reclaim my birthright in whatever way I deemed fit.

So, I’d let her run, then I’d hunt her down and finish the job just as I should have done in the Senseless Forest.

I was near shaking with her relentless distress, and I readied myself to start the run.

Then her consciousness was gone.

Completely. Fucking. Gone.

A loud rattle echoed off the tree canopies.

My fingers rolled slowly into fists, and I clenched so tightly, my knuckles turned a deadly shade of white.

Oh, no no no no no. Not today.