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At Cia’s insistence, we’re outside looking at the hay maze that’s stretching across the expansive garden.
“I want to see the Wicker Man in the middle. I’ve never seen one before.” Her tone betrays her curiosity, and she eagerly pulls the both of us along. “Come on, it will be fun. I promise.” The husky quality to her tone as she adds the last part has me convinced it’ll be worth it to walk amongst the fucking hay for a bit.
“Why not.” I grin at her, caught up in her enthusiasm. “It might be fun.” I don’t say that I’d be up for anything Liam doesn’t want to do. Especially not when there’s the hint of good times to look forward to.
“Out of my way.” We all turn in unison and watch as Morgana darts past us and into the maze. Her voice sounds different, shriller. I shake my head at her antics.
Liam takes a step to the side so she can run between him and Cia. When her elbow grazes him, he grumbles, “Watch it, Morgana.”
Together, we walk into the labyrinth. Morgana is far ahead of us by now, and Cia laughs excitedly as we turn corner after corner. The further into the maze we make it, the quieter it gets. The noise from the temporary Tournament ground created in the Hatts’ honor, and the Colosseum inspired arena to show the Russo’s mark, is nothing more than background noise.
“Why is there no one else out here?” Liam asks, looking around with a puzzled expression on his face. “From the way Lupa described it, it sounded like it was crowded when she walked through it with Remus.”
I shrug noncommittally. “Who the fuck cares? It’s just a bonus that we’re alone, isn’t it?” I smile hungrily at Cia, and I make a show of letting my eyes take in every inch of her as I lick my lips. “Are you ready to play?” I ask, my voice husky with want.
She shrieks excitedly. Then she lets go of my hand and drags Liam with her. “Count to twenty,” she calls over her shoulder. Just before I close my eyes and start counting, I see them darting right, and I chuckle.
While I count out loud, I send a text to Kai for good measure, just so he knows we might be gone longer than expected. His answer is instantaneous.
Kai: Have fun. When you reach the middle, it’s three left turns, one right, two left, and three right. That will get you back out. Don’t ruin her outfit!
I chuckle at his reply and call out, “Ready or not, here I come.”
By now I’ve lost track of the turns we took before splitting up, but it’s still handy to know our way back out. I know Cia wants to be with all three of us when the fireworks start.
I start racing through the hay, starting by turning right. At the end there are two options, but when I find one of Cia’s shoes I pick the left one. Each time there are two options, an item of clothing shows me the right way.
“Am I getting closer?” I shout, loving the thrill of being on the prowl.
I pull to a stop as this corner also has two options, but there’s no indication of which opening I should pick. I tentatively take a few steps into the left one, but turn back when I don’t spot anything of hers or Liam’s. As I whirl around, there’s a shadow that stops moving as soon as I turn around.
“Cia?” I call, half expecting her to give herself away.
I hear her laughter, but it’s not coming from the shadow I’m watching. “Are you giving up, Gus?” Cia calls from somewhere nearby.
Just as I’m about to reply, her laughter turns into a scream. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Cia?” I shout her name again, my pulse racing and my heartbeat sounds like thunder.
That wasn’t a scream of fright or terror, but rather one of pure unadulterated hatred.
“Get the fuck away from him,” my cousin snarls, but there’s a hint of panic in her voice.
I can’t decide if I should risk us getting even further separated by trying to find her, or find out who’s crouching only a few meters away from me. Whoever it is is hunched against a bale of hay, making it impossible to make out if it’s a man or a woman from this angle.
Turning on my heel, I decide to try my way with the left opening. I only need to make it to the middle, and then I can… can what? Kai’s instructions aren’t to Cia but to the fucking exit. For all I know, she’s in one of the many dead ends.
“Ci—” As the shadow stands up I cut myself off and palm the knife at the small of my back. “Who’s there?”
The shadow takes two steps towards me. “Gus? Is that really you?” I immediately recognize the feminine voice.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Elena?”
Slowly, too slowly, she moves closer, and I take the remaining steps to close the distance between us. Her costume is a perfect replica of Morgana’s Angel of Death outfit, complete with a gold mask.
“Listen to me,” she pleads. “We don’t have long, and I need to speak with you.”
I fold my arms across my chest, unamused by her presence. “We have nothing to talk about. You don’t belong here.”
