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“Fucking fairy creature that has no right being in a labyrinth in Saori Sang,” she spat back immediately, struggling to get to her feet and giving Kingston a ball-busting glare when he tried to help. “I heard it before I saw it on watch last night, but even then, there wasn’t enough time to get away. I need to see that damn book.”
I unstrapped it from the pack she’d brought into the maze and handed it to her, giving Kingston a good side-eye while Blaise thumbed through the pages.
“That one, maybe?” she pointed at an ugly son of a bitch, drawn in dark greens and browns. Probably blended right into the shadowy scenery. Its wings were leathery and tipped with claws. “Yeah. Midnight vaderine. I’ve never heard of it, but that picture looks dead on accurate. Pretty sure it killed me, no lie.” Blaise raised a serious expression to meet mine, her hand drifting to her throat before she caught the movement and tucked her hand under her leg.
Before I could scoff or come up with another explanation, she continued, “I remember the mist. It was like... like a different dimension. Mostly dark, but not like night. Not here in the labyrinth. Not anywhere. My grandparents were there, in the distance. My little sister, too. She died four years ago. I don’t understand why the mist took me, then spit me back out.”
Blaise’s voice trailed away, and neither Kingston nor I spoke for a long moment.
Then she snapped theBook of Faunashut and stuffed it back in her pack.
“Well, either you’re the luckiest fucking competitor out here, the mist has other plans for you, or all of this is part of the game,” Kingston finally said.
“Part of the game?” I asked, frowning as I entertained the possibility.
I didn’t think Blaise was destined to become Queen, so I didn’t know what other plans the mist could have. And there wasn’t much luck for anyone in this place.
Blaise nodded slowly. “I think the mist has capabilities we know nothing about. I’m sure as shit not going to test it again, but I think it can choose to spit vampires back out, just as easily as it chooses to dissolve them. No idea about wolves,” she added, snickering at me.
“What about the vampires already in the mist?” Kingston said, and I could tell he was thinking about Ren. Which led me to think about Nicolas.
Of course, there was probably a difference between someone killed in the Trials and someone killed by Merden, not to mention how long Nic had been in the mist. But if there was any possibility...
“Fuck, we need to tell Kana about this,” I said, wishing like hell that we weren’t separated from her.
I’d been wishing that ever since the moment Blaise knocked on the bedroom door after that mind-blowing round of fucking and bloodletting that had somehow happened between the three of us.
“If Kas would practice his mindspeak like I told him to, we could,” Blaise said, and I narrowed my eyes at Kingston. He just sighed and rolled his eyes back at her.
“You know I suck at that. I’ve never been able to push thoughts more than a dozen feet away,” he said to me.
“Because you never shared blood with anyone,” Blaise said, sounding like they’d had this argument before.
“Well, I don’t know much about it, but if you can reach her, then fucking practice,” I growled. Fuck, mindspeak would make everything so much easier, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.
“Fine. But let’s get moving. I mean, if you’re up for it,” Kingston added to Blaise after snapping at me. She flipped him a pair of middle fingers.
“I’m better than you even half-dead.”
“Yeah? I’m not the one who got dragged into the mist by a vaderine.”
They bickered back and forth as I strode on ahead, checking every corner carefully and watching my steps.
It was a desolate place, mostly rocks and dirt with almost no plants at all. We’d already encountered a couple dozen deadly creatures in the few days we’d been here, from tiny spiders and snakes to the huge lilac osos. Quite a few useful or harmless ones too, but I only paid attention to those if I wanted meat.
As I pushed us deeper into the labyrinth, Blaise kept track of our progress by drawing in the book. Our map covered a good portion of the blank pages already, and we’d still seen no sign of the other teams.
Wait... I stopped so suddenly that Blaise bumped into my back, cursing until I held up a closed fist for silence.
There was something up ahead behind some larger rocks in the path - big enough to worry about. And fucking rank.
My nose wrinkled against the stench. It was foul, and not like anything I’d smelled in Saori Sang.
I stepped silently forward, Blaise and Kingston right behind me and just as stealthy. At least I wasn’t teamed up with idiots, I’d give them that.
A scattering of pebbles, then a flash of greenish gray. A growl that sent a shiver down my spine and lifted the hairs on my neck, nearly calling out my ice wolf shift.
“Easy, wolf,” Kingston breathed, edging around me. “We need to identify it before you get your teeth bloody.”
