At least She Without An Ear had the grace to look guilty. As I bent down to pick her up I heard the now-familiar rumble. Uh-oh.
She Without An Ear freaked, sprang about a foot in the air and leapt backwards. Without thinking, I jumped after her. That was when the wall behind me began to move.
I scooped up the cat and twisted around but it was already too late. I caught a glimpse of Thane’s and Thomas’s shocked faces from beyond the gap and then they were gone.
Where there had been nothing but air there was now nothing but stone, and She Without An Ear and I were alone.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Iraised my voice and shouted with all my might. ‘Thane!’
I heard no answer. I heard nothing beyond She Without An Ear’s soft breath and an odd whisper that filtered through the corridor as if there were a light breeze.
My stomach tightened. I drew closer to the wall and pressed my ear against it, cupping it in order to hear better. It didn’t help: I could hear neither Thane nor Thomas.
I stepped away and considered my options. I could wait for thirty minutes, when presumably the walls would move again, but there was no guarantee that they’d move in my favour – the next wall shift might make matters worse rather than better. And I couldn’t communicate with Thane or Thomas so I didn’t know what they were planning to do. If they didn’t stay in the same spot, any plan of mine to stay put could prove pointless.
Although Thane had the Clouded Map, I still had the chalk and the witchlight. I’d seen enough of the map to have a rough idea of where I was and where I was heading. Theoretically the centre of the maze wasn’t too far away and it made sense that the monster would be there. As long as the stone walls hadn’t shifted too dramatically, I reckoned I could at least get close.
She Without An Ear miaowed plaintively and I hugged her closer to my chest. ‘This is all your fault, you know.’ I returned her to my shoulder with a dire warning about what would happen if she jumped off, then turned to the wall next to me and chalked a message on it. Thane might see it at some point or he might not, but either way I would continue.
I called through the wall one final time in case he could hear me. He was a werewolf; his hearing was far superior to mine. ‘I’ll keep going!’ I yelled. ‘Follow the Clouded Map. If all is well, I’ll meet you at the centre.’ I hesitated, but only for a moment. ‘I love you.’
Then I straightened my shoulders and, with a deep breath, plunged forward.
Although at first itwas eerie to walk through the strange silent maze with only a cat for a company, I quickly got used to it. I was more accustomed to being on my own than having company, and by the time we reached the next turn it felt like I’d put on an old pair of comfortable slippers. Yes, I was worried about Thane and Thomas – mostly about Thane – but I knew he was more than capable of looking after himself. He would trust that I was fine and I would trust him in turn.
I spoke my thoughts aloud to She Without An Ear. ‘If we want to head to the centre of the maze, because that’s where the monster is most likely to be, I think we should go that way.’ I pointed to the turn to the left.
She didn’t respond, either because she agreed with my logic or because she was so ashamed of her earlier behaviour that she’d decided to stay quiet. I strongly suspected the former.
I twisted and ducked my head through the gap. I couldn’t sense anything in the darkness that stretched ahead withlooming ferocity so I shrugged and pushed forward. I’d taken barely five steps when I felt the tickle of cool air on my cheeks and forehead.
I hesitated and tilted my head to listen. Uh-oh; that sounded like breathing, albeit from some distance away. I froze, waiting for the sound of thundering feet to tell me I was under attack but nothing happened. I could still hear the sound, though, and it definitely resembled breathing, albeit breathing from someone or something with a sixty-a-day habit and a desperate need for some magically enhanced Vicks VapoRub.
I squinted in an attempt to pierce the darkness with my pathetic human eyes. When that didn’t work, I reached for another pinch of Wicker light powder, raised my hand to toss it forward to illuminate the area – then lowered my hand again. Hang on. There was a smarter way to do this.
My best chance of success would be to creep up on the bloodthirsty creature. I didn’t want it to know that I was seeking it because I would struggle to win a fight against it at close quarters in such a narrow space. The vampires had failed to bring it down and, despite my many skills, most of the fanged fuckers were far stronger than I would ever be.
I sucked on my bottom lip as I returned the pinch of powder to its bag. There was another way to improve my sight in the dark – and if I became cat my stealthy approach would also have a greater chance of success.
The biggest problem was my bag. Only items that touched my bare skin survived my transformation from human to cat and back again. Even if I strapped my backpack to my bare back, it was too cumbersome and unwieldy to make the magical shift and I’d lose both it and its contents. It was a gamble worth paying, however.
I placed my witchlight on the ground and rummaged through the bag’s contents, extracting only one object that Itucked into the waistband of my trousers. I also tucked the Wicker powder in the cuff of my sleeve; I had no doubt I would need it.
‘Alright,’ I whispered. ‘She Without An Ear? I need you to listen carefully.’ She purred. That was a good start. ‘With your permission and your fur, I’m going to turn cat. I won’t be able to carry you any more. I won’t be able to control you and I won’t be able to stop you running off.’
She purred even more loudly.
‘If you scarper like before,’ I warned, ‘the chances are that I won’t be able to come after you. If those walls shift and you run ahead, you might get lost forever.’
Her rough tongue lapped delicately at the lobe of my ear.
‘I need you to stay by my side unless I tell you otherwise. I can’t fight you as well as this maze and that damned monster. You have to stay with me.’
She miaowed agreement and strangely, despite her recent performances, I believed her. I reached up and nuzzled her. ‘Did you plan for us to get separated from Thane and Thomas?’ I asked quietly. This time she didn’t answer. I sighed. ‘Why? Why do that?’
