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It took some creative flapping of my wings, bracing my foot on the opposite wall, but I threw my entire body into widening the crack. My tender head pounded as pressure built in my skull, but I didn't stop until there was a big enough space for me to squeeze through.
I clutched my head, groaning, but I didn't trust the wall to stay open so I flattened my wings against me and shimmied into the gap. Fuck, the Labyrinth walls was thicker than I'd been expecting. They were a whole foot wide; no wonder it had taken so much work to open them.
"Almost," I panted, my head pounding, disorienting me. Cronus had really done a number on my head this time. Damage echoed through my entire skull, throbbing through my face and body as I dragged myself through the tight gap.
The loud, echoing grate of stone on stone made my heart skip.
"No."
He wouldn't…
Cronus wanted me alive; he'd proven that by not killing me when he had the chance. Then again, he'd almost crushed me to get my magic to spark. Who's to say he wouldn't murder me just to see what my curse marks did?
I frantically pulled myself through the opening, but it was so tight I had to take tiny shuffling steps, and my nightmare was confirmed when I felt the wall shift at my back, pressing me into the opposite wall until my ribs burst with pain.
A sob broke from my lips, helplessness and rage making me shaky as I scrambled to escape the walls. I couldn't move fast enough, couldn't get far enough, and my wings dragged on either side of me. Another sob crashed up my throat, tears burning my eyes as the walls pressed all the air out of my lungs.
I was going to die. Here, alone, murdered by a titan with a remote controlled maze.
I threw all my weight to my right. If I couldn't shuffle out of the maze, I could at least fall out. Maybe I'd only lose a leg or a wing. The thought was horrifying, but if it kept me alive, I'd do it.
I tipped, fresh air hitting my tongue, but the walls groaned and shifted, squashing me on two sides and—I was stuck. I couldn't even fall my way out of this thing.
Oh, gods. This is it, isn’t it?
Everything I'd survived, and this was how I died. I wanted to go with my mates all around me, peaceful in bed in a hundred years' time.
I tried to throw myself to freedom one last time, heaving my body a few millimetres along, my hand shooting free. I flailed it around, desperate for something to grip onto to drag myself free.
My heart stopped when a cool, rough palm met my own. I sobbed so hard my throat hurt. Fingers wrapped viciously tight, wrenching me sideways an inch, and then two, and then—
I fell free as two big hands thrust the walls further apart to let me out. I slammed into a chest, my body jolting and head lolling on my neck so suddenly that I went dizzy. My head hurt so much, my wings throbbing and chest aching, but cool air caressed my face and I wasfree.
I couldn't catch a breath, couldn't control my body as I started shaking. Arms snapped around me, dragging me away as the walls grated and groaned behind me. No, wait, that groaning was familiar. My heart leapt, tears blistering my eyes.Em.Emlyn was here. I was—I was safe.
"He's dead," a low, furious voice hissed in my ear, arms too tight around my bruised ribs. "He's fuckingdeadfor this."
I startled, realising in a rush who clutched me so tightly it hurt. Wynvail. He was the one holding me like he'd been terrified to lose me.
"Hales," Emlyn rumbled, his voice reaching into my chest and soothing my panic like magic. "Talk to me, Haley, tell me you're okay."
"I'm okay," I replied, my voice smaller than intended. I turned my head, inhaling sharply at the pain in my neck, and met his eyes. I slumped, my strength replaced by relief when our eyes locked. "I'm okay now."
"Give her to me," Emlyn growled at Wynvail when he released the Labyrinth walls, his nostrils flaring. It was rare to see Em so worked up, but he had that murder look on his face that told me Wynvail's days were numbered. I was surprised he was still alive. Probably only because he was my mate and it might hurt me.
Wynvail didn't acknowledge that Emlyn had spoken, his arms banded like iron around me and his chest rising and falling fast. Rage and panic filled my chest—both his emotions. I was too weak to know what my own feelings were doing.
"Let go," I rasped, pushing on his bare stomach and surprised all over again at the solid muscle and abs there. "I want to hug Em."
"There's a minor issue with that, honey," Wynvail replied, his voice calm and smooth now, masking the rage in his soul. "The thought of letting go of you is intolerable."
"Em, don't," I warned on instinct. I couldn't feel his soul like Wynvail's, but I knew him as well as I knew myself. And when I sought him with my stare again, he was much closer than before, his blue eyes fiery and mouth set. His hands were raised. One move from ripping Wynvail’s arms off his body, and only stayed by my voice.
"Your ears are bleeding," Emlyn told me, his voice gravelly and deep. "We need to find Harvey; I'm worried about you, Hales. You keep bleeding, and that can't be good."
"There could be lasting damage," Wynvail agreed, clutching me tighter.
I gasped out a cry when his arms pressed on my ribs, and the sound started him away from me. Livid silver eyes scanned me, noting the scrapes from the walls and the way I held my wing awkwardly to my side.
