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“Stop trying to steal my girl,” Slade warns him, bending down to Emma’s height. “I say we make this a race to see who can get to the middle the fastest. The winners get hot chocolate and popcorn. Now, as my girl, you can ride on my shoulders and lead the way if you want, and—”
Emma is already raising her arms to be picked up before he can finish, making us all laugh.
“Well, now, that’s not fair. Okay, who here wants to be my teammate?” Jagger calls out. That’s when I realize there are a bunch of children and their caregivers and parents watching us with smiles on their faces. A little boy in a wheelchair, who is a new addition, so I don’t know his name yet, raises his hand.
“Yes, score!” Jagger calls out before running over to him. He has a quick word with the man with him, who I’m guessing is his dad, before they both lift the boy between them and move him onto Jagger’s back.
“You good, little man?” Jagger asks.
“Yes. Let’s kick some butt,” the kid replies.
All the other guys decide they need buddies now too, so I walk over to Salem and link my arm through hers. “What would you say if I told you I knew where there was a shortcut?” I murmur into her ear.
She looks at me and laughs. “I say, lead the way, teammate.”
We sneak toward the opening of the maze, fog rolling out at our feet from the fog machines inside. Just before we enter, Salem yells, “You snooze, you lose.” And giggles before grabbing my hand and dragging me inside.
We both run, laughing, ignoring the yells of cheaters and the pounding of feet.
“Wait, this way.” I pull her in a different direction than she’s pulling me. “I’m supposed to be leading you.”
“Shit, I know. I panicked,” she admits, making us both dissolve into giggles again.
We move through the maze, managing to only bump into Greg before we run away, screaming with laughter when he tries to follow us.
“Here,” I whisper when I find the section I’m looking for. I point to a hidden opening. It’s really only big enough for children, meaning we’ll have to crawl through.
“I knew I should have gone with the sexy ninja costume,” Salem complains as she tries to wiggle through before backing up. “Help me get this off. It will be a heck of a lot easier to get through without it on.”
She raises her arms as I pull the costume off over her head, both of us huffing and puffing by the time we’re done.
“Shove it through with you, or they’ll find the door.”
“Oh, right. Good point.”
She manages to wiggle through with ease now, and I pass the costume to her before crawling through myself. We both sprawl on the ground for a second as the fog floats around us, catching our breath, before I turn my head and point toward the pavilion in the center of the maze, more fog pouring from the fake cauldron in the middle.
“We did it,” Salem giggles, climbing to her feet and doing a victory dance. Now it’s my turn to laugh as I watch her, feeling a little disgusted with myself that the pregnant woman has more energy than me.
With a grunt, I roll over and push up to my hands and knees, making yet another promise to myself to get fit.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone had beaten us here.”
I lift my head at the sound of Salem’s voice, wondering who the heck beat us, when I notice the pavilion is lit up with fairy lights. A wave of nausea rushes over me as I stare at Salem, the lights flickering across her skin as she addresses the figure clad all in black in front of her. And I realize my vision is coming to life.
Everything plays out in slow motion as the person grabs Salem and they begin to struggle. I get to my feet just as Salem knees the guy. He lets her go, doubling over in pain, and she balls her hand into a fist and punches him.
I’m running to Salem before I register it. “Salem. Run!” I yell, and she turns her head to look at me, and I watch in horror as the guy pulls a sword from a sheath at their back because what I thought was a costume sword is actually a very real samurai sword.
The sword is already on its way down by the time I make it to Salem and push her out of the way. Blistering pain explodes across my chest and stomach as I drop to the ground. Salem screams, her terror piercing the night sky like the blade had pierced my skin.
“Salem!” I hear someone roar, too far away to help.
“Fuck,” the person snarls.
I sense him move, so I kick out and knock them off his feet, sending shards of pain into my lungs and stealing my breath. The night is filled with screams and tears.
As my vision fades, all I can see are the twinkling lights. It seems wrong to have something so pretty here during something so ugly.
