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Edith waved a hand like this idea was trivial and leaned forward. “For all I know, you’re a new kind of monster meant to look like a newcomer.” I scoffed, but she continued, “But the monsters don’t let me in like that. I’ve yet to feel the consciousness of a monster here. It’s almost like…almost like they aren’t even real.” Her voice faded a little, and her expression slackened, but only for a heartbeat. Then she jabbed her thumb at Ash. “It seems he doesn’t want me to see what’s in your head.”
I lifted a brow at Ash, but he’d turned away. She doesn’t know. I considered spilling his secret right then and there, but it would do me no favors. He could likely eliminate us with magic long before he needed his bow and arrows or his knife. And besides, I was so hungry I could eat a whole chicken, so I stepped toward Edith, stomach growling.
“You said you have food?”
“Ah, not here.” She lifted a warning hand. “The others might be hungry too, and I don’t have enough food for all of them.”
My eyes flitted between the trees and my heart rate doubled.
“You won’t see them. After a few weeks in this place, you learn to move without sound, to breathe without moving, to listen like a rabbit.” She waved me forward. “Can you walk?”
I glanced at my feet, where dirt and a little bit of dried blood stuck to the skin between my toes. “I…I’m fine.”
Her brows lifted, and Ash shook his head.
“I walked barefoot at home a lot.” It was true, but it also sounded less strange than telling her I could shut off my ability to feel pain.
“Okay, then,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “You’ve got a lot to learn, and the Labyrinth always punishes you after it provides.”
“The well warned of a price to pay,” I replied, pulse quickening in anticipation.
“That’s right.”
A shadow moved in the trees, and I sucked in a breath. Edith turned and waved me to follow, but Ash merely stared out over folded arms at the misty forest, a warden observing his charges.
“Why are you offering me food, but not them?” I asked as I hurried after Edith, careful to avoid rocks and roots on the ground.
She chuckled. “You haven’t tried to kill me yet. They all have.” She snapped fierce eyes back at me. “And besides that, I was sent to fetch you.”
“By who?”
Edith lifted her pale brows. “You’ll see.”
I swallowed. I had no reason to trust her—or whoever sent her to fetch me—but my reason was frayed at the edges, and the empty ache in my stomach drove me to follow her through the swirling mist.
I had hoped Ash would stay behind now that I’d found Edith. But he slipped silently after us, catching up in a matter of steps.
“You said you would leave me with Edith,” I reminded him, careful to keep my voice low.
“I’ll leave you at the fort, not before.” As he walked, he nocked an arrow, keeping the bow low beside him.
“Fort?”
He didn't answer.
This place was not the maze I’d expected. It was a mental game, its rules built by magic. Nothing was trustworthy, not even the kind woman leading me through the woods or the man following close behind me. They might help today, but tomorrow, I wouldn’t trust them. I would eat, then I would get back to searching for a way out.
“How many others are there?” I asked as I picked my way through thorny vines.
Edith glanced over her shoulder at me. “Twelve, by my last count, but you make thirteen. Although, by now, I’m sure Benny and Rita have…well, I’m sure they couldn’t tell you their names if you were to run into them.” Her voice thickened with sadness.
“Have they gone mad?”
She nodded, her lips pressed in a thin line. “They’re what we call the Nameless now. The Nameless are almost as great a threat to you as the monsters themselves.”
“Are there a lot of Nameless here?”
Edith stopped and turned to fully face me. “Hundreds.”
