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He chuckled. “That’s exactly why I can’t let you go. You see, your fitful magic is causing me problems, and as you apparently have no control over it, I will just have to teach you how to use it.” He rubbed his hands over his beard. “For my own peace of mind.”
“You don’t deserve peace of mind!”
He recoiled in mock offense. “You do realize that if I go mad, every spell my mind sustains will also break.”
A shudder raced across my cold skin. “You control the monsters?”
His lips turned down. “No. They are controlled by locked spells that no longer need my energy to sustain them. They feed on fear, and I can’t stop them. But I can distract them, redirect them, and occasionally kill them with weapons. I can’t, however, break through the locked spells around them.” He stared at me for a long moment. “Your magic is breaking the spells I have in place here to keep people safe.”
I threw my hands up. “Wait. You’re telling me you keep people safe here? You made the monsters. You’re the reason we’re all here!”
To my surprise, his chin fell and he let out a long breath. “Anything else?”
I blinked at him.
“You must learn to control your magic, Miss Rivers. If you do not, then I can’t help you or anyone else tossed in here. You are woefully untrained, and the longer you remain that way, the greater the danger for everyone in this prison.”
He waited for me to speak, not moving any closer or reaching for any arrows.
Mist licked at my arms and cheeks. I shivered from the cold, despite the fact that it was summer outside the Labyrinth. In here, even the seasons didn’t obey the rules.
“I won’t let you teach me. You’re…” I couldn’t willingly follow this man. He’d fought the king for the throne all those years ago and gobbled up other people’s magic all because he wanted power. He was wicked and vile.
But he hadn’t killed me when he had the chance.
He lifted both his hands, palms toward me. “Listen, I understand you don’t trust me. At least let me take you to someone else who can teach you how to control your magic. Will you do that or will you keep gawking at me?”
I opened my mouth, shut it, then opened it again. “I’m a quarter mage. I can’t learn how to control my magic.”
He chuckled, but it sounded more annoyed than amused. “You’re wrong. Magic like that is not from a quarter mage, no matter what you might think. Now, please, let’s go. Your magic is starting to get out of hand again.”
His words hit me like I’d been slapped. Magic like that. All around, the mist swarmed in increasingly agitated spirals, as if sensing the rising tension.
“How do I know you won’t kill me on the way?” I asked. “Edith told me the Labyrinth always lies. If you’re the keeper of this place, perhaps you’re lying too.”
He knelt and placed one hand on the ground, as if petting a dog. “Sage advice, but I’m the one who told her that. It’s to Edith that I plan to take you. She can teach you what you refuse to learn from me. The Labyrinth senses that your magic is tampering with it. And I’ve seen what the Labyrinth does to mages who attract its attention.”
“You mean your attention.”
He stood and stormed forward, his eyes flashing. “Think what you want about me. But a wall is about to shoot up on the other side of this creek, and we’ll be forced to walk a day out of the way if we don’t move right now.”
As his words ended, I felt the ground tremble.
He tugged my arm forward, and I didn’t think, I just ran, leaving both slippers behind.
We splashed through the creek, and I lost my footing on the other side. The ground was shaking in earnest now, and I couldn’t get my balance. Ash scooped me up with one arm and hauled me up the small, steep bank. With a shove, he pushed me forward so hard that we fell and rolled on the ground right as a stone wall burst from the forest floor. My dress snagged on the rising stones, tearing a little.
I lay on the ground, breathing in ragged gulps, as dirt and leaves rained down over me.
Ash hopped up beside me, then extended his hand toward me. “We’ll need to hurry. The Labyrinth doesn’t like it when I help people, and it’s trying to cut me off from you. We shouldn’t wait around.”
I stared at it, thinking of the memory of the blood on his hand, of the stories I’d heard in class of the atrocities his magic had committed.
“Like it or not, I’m your best bet right now,” he added. “And besides, I know where all the monsters are at all times. And there’s one headed this way.”
I slapped my hand into his, and he pulled me up. For a second, I stood chest to chest with him. Then together, we turned and ran.
As we ran, my bare feet, softened from the water, stepped on what felt like every upturned walnut shell and broken twig. I stopped to examine a small puncture wound from a jagged sapling half-buried with leaves when I heard laughter.
