That had to be put up by a friend, rather than a foe—right?
We travel at a fast jog over the uneven stones. Ludo, obviously, is up front, and I’m behind him.
As we move, I’m thinking about time. We’ve only been away for twenty-four hours or so, but as I glance behind me, I see some differences in us. Maximus and Donovan are obviously changed, but more than that, Cosmo and Alexis are taking turns to cast the magic lights.
There is currently no sniping, just forward motion, like a team.
And as for me? My spark is still completely and utterly woken, and I’m apparently filled with a divine essence called Lumina.
At a tunnel split, Ludo scans both passageways, his sharp eyes looking into the gloom.
“Can you sense things down here?” I whisper. “Like you could in the labyrinth?”
—My minotaur is slightly dulled, but is still present. He doesn’t sense any humans or otherwise, yet—
“Gotcha.” I put a hand on his back. “Hey, guys, Ludo doesn’t sense anyone else down here. Let’s keep going.”
Once more, we are running.
Within five minutes, Ludo slows, then raises a hand in a stop motion.
—Person is ahead. I’ll go. I belong down here, none of the rest of you do—
“Someone up ahead,” I say quietly. Alexis instantly extinguishes his light globes. “Ludo’s going to check it out. Please be careful,” I tell Lu.
—I am the guardian of these tunnels. I will see who trespasses—
I press myself back into the dark shadows and wait.
“Good thing our giant has tunnel vision,” Maximus whispers in my ear. “Get it? Tunnel vision.”
Alexis shushes, but Max ignores him. “If he has a nap, do you call that bulldozing?”
“Maximus?”
“Yes, princess?”
“Give it a rest.”
“Sorry, sexy. I know my jokes are terri-bull.”
ARGH!
I’m about to elbow him in the stomach when I freeze.
Footsteps are coming back down the tunnel.
But the rhythm is wrong. I know the careful tread of my Minotaur. This is different. There’s a second set of footsteps accompanying him—loud and unwary.
My stomach drops. Did Ludo get caught? Is he being marched back here at gunpoint?
“He’s not alone,” Alexis hisses, extinguishing the last globe of light. The tunnel plunges into absolute darkness. Max stops joking, his breathing shifting into a low, threatening almost animalistic growl.
“Get behind me,” Donovan whispers, shoving me behind the hard wall of his body. Next to me, Cosmo flexes his hands, like he’s readying to cast.
The footsteps get louder, echoing off the stone walls.
To my panicked ears, it sounds like a struggle is about to break out.
