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Struggling to shake the wolf off my leg, I spotted Edith and Ferrier up ahead. Edith stood in front of Ferrier, whose back was against the wall. She too held a small blade in her hand as the uninjured dog ran straight for them.
I pictured a cage around them, protecting them. I should have put the cage around the dog instead—should have learned more magic!—because as soon as the bars appeared around my friends, the creature leaped up the iron bars, teeth bared as it dropped down onto Edith’s shoulders.
I curled into myself as the wolf standing over me placed a paw on my shoulder and crushed me to the ground. Its bite stung, but less than it should have.
I kicked at its underbelly, my foot connecting with soft flesh. It huffed and backed off, giving me a moment to flash another thought toward Edith and Ferrier. I pictured them on the other side of the massive stone walls, something the dogs couldn’t scale, and then the wolf was upon me again.
I rolled to avoid its next bite. Its snout snapped at empty air, but two other wolves quickly joined the attack.
The animals converged on me. I hoped my magic had worked and Edith and Ferrier were safe, but I couldn’t hone in on their magic when my mind was preoccupied with the wolves. I envisioned a dagger, quickly realizing, with a stab of foolishness, that I should have imagined something that would incapacitate all the animals at once. But I had no more time. Fangs snapped at me from all around.
I jabbed the knife and missed. Teeth broke into my skin and blood poured out, but I barely noticed.
Reason gave way to whatever madness lay beneath it and I screamed.
Maybe it was anger or maybe I’d finally let go of my reason, but I lifted my arms, slashed them outward, and shouted, “Enough!”
At once, all six monsters were thrown back as silvery mist blasted away from me in a circular wave. The wolves crumbled to the ground, dissolving into the earth the same way the minotaur had, leaving nothing behind but tiny wisps of ash.
Ash.
A brief thought tortured my mind as I imagined the boy I’d kissed floating away in the breeze like those miserable creatures.
Chest heaving, I stood, frozen to the spot with my arms outstretched. The mist jittered and buzzed, as if frantic, even angry, at my victory. It rushed back toward me, washing my skin in an unsettling chill.
Footsteps crunching leaves.
A shadowy figure.
I wasn’t ready for another monster.
My mind reeled. My eyes flickered madly at the swirling mist, hunting for a pattern, a warning that might show me where the threat was. It licked and danced and seemed to point toward the approaching figure.
Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Vera.” My hands dropped to my sides as Ash stepped into view, the mist a silent vortex around him.
16
The wall behind me trembled, causing the ground to shake. The sounds of stones grinding and scraping against each other obscured all other sounds. I couldn’t tear my eyes from Ash or miss the way the mist licked at his sides and his hair, as if warning me about him.
“Vera?” Edith called after the walls stopped changing.
The trees stilled. At once, the silvery-blue mist whirling in the air paused, as if the entire Labyrinth were holding its breath. Ash eyed me up and down, then darted past me toward Ferrier and Edith. I whirled around and followed him.
Ash paused before reaching them, his hands tense at his sides.
Edith was standing over Ferrier’s body, breathing in ragged gulps. Ferrier twitched in little movements, but her eyes remained vacant.
“No. No.” Edith lifted a hand as Ash took a step toward her. “Don’t come near her.”
“She’s not too far gone. I can heal her,” Ash replied, to my surprise.
Edith’s mouth parted, and her trembling stopped. Before she could respond, he had stepped forward and was kneeling in the leaves.
Chewing my lower lip, I watched him. The pattern in the mist was undeniable now. It blinked around Ash like a thousand tiny candles, dancing and cavorting in little eddies that all pointed to him.
Ferrier moaned and rolled to her side. Edith dropped to her knees beside her sister.
