Page 36 of Of Monsters and Mazes

Looking classically disinterested, he slid his index finger along his bloodied left horn, then inspected his reddened fingertips. He rolled my bodily fluids between his thumb and forefinger, until crimson filled the grooves of his fingerprints. The bulk of my blood was still dripping through his hair. “I’ve run out of polish. Would you mind sharing some more?” He tilted his head to the side in a taunt. “Or maybe she can help me out.”

Butterfly tensed, and I could practically feel her fear through her body language. My own chest constricted at the sight, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

A lump that formed out of stress and irritation, I mean. Not because of her feelings, since I didn’t care about those. I just knew, as tough as she was, she was way out of her element, and the burden of keeping this mortal alive was still on me.

But rather than step in front of her, I held my ground. I didn’t want to give Rai any more false illusions that I was actively protecting her. Obviously I was here to sabotage her journey, but I was doing it at my own pace by my own judgment. I didn’t need him or Jericho interfering with my plan.

“Last I checked, my orders have never been to kill the tribute. I was specifically instructed to keep her alive and give her to Jericho once she fails, conscious and all tied up in a bow. How I choose to execute that plan is none of your business.” I snapped back. Her eyes glossed at my words, and that uncomfortable irritation in my chest squeezed tighter. “But just like always, you come barging in here like a bull in a fucking house of leaves and screw the whole thing up.”

Though I was the one admonishing him, for some reason, Rai’s gaze was fixated on Butterfly. I watched the way his slitted red eyes crawled down her body, stopping on the scars on her wrists.

Good. I hope he runs home to his dearest Master and tells him what I did.

Only one mark was necessary for the tracking spell. The rest, I still couldn’t fully explain even to myself. But the meaning should have been very well understood, considering Pasiphae and her sire had shared the same pact. I was sure it would thrill Jericho to see his tribute bearing a mate mark with another devil before he’d even placed his own.

Rai snapped his gaze back to mine without a word. Then he… swallowed? There was a nervous gloss to his fake smirk that I couldn’t help but notice. Which was especially strange considering how stoic the Minotaur had always been. If Jericho had managed to bestow any gift upon his protégé, it was in the form of beating the ever-living emotions out of him.

Yet here I was, after several thousand years, watching that mask slip for the first time.

I studied the red-eyed bull, and he nodded ever so subtly, like he was acknowledging my inquiry. Though I wasn’t sure what question he thought I was asking. All I could say for sure was that something was very off about his reaction.

“I see.” He muttered. Butterfly remained silent, but the scrunch to her brow said enough all its own.

Fucking hell. I couldn’t wait to have to explain this whole thing away.

Without another word, Rai extended his left arm in front of him, palm downturned, spiked leather bracelet snug on his wrist, streaks of my blood spider-webbing down his forearm, and his painted red nails on display. He didn’t look at Butterfly again. He kept our eyes squarely locked as he tensed his fingers.

“Don’t.” I slid my foot back a few inches, ready to run.

“Don’t what?” He lifted his chin, and I calculated every movement I was about to perform.

“I’ve got it handled.” I insisted again. I didn’t need this shit right now.

“I know.” He said blandly, a fraction of a second before he closed his hand into a tight fist.

The icicles on the wall started breaking from their eaves and shattering on the icy floor. Then they re-angled, their sharp points directed purposefully at me and Butterfly.

“Stop.” I made one last attempt to get through to him, but I knew he wouldn’t listen. Every muscle in my body was tense and ready.

Stern and emotionless, Rai flipped his palm up right, then thrust two fingers straight up into the air. Monotone, arrogant, and looking down his nose at me, he uttered one small and vicious phrase.

“Run, Dream Weaver.”

In a hasty and desperate swoop, with no time to explain, I grabbed Butterfly by her wrist and started bolting for the Green Sector entrance. Rai wouldn’t give chase. He didn’t need to when he had his connection to the maze to attack us. But I still had to outrun the barrage of daggers if I wanted any chance of keeping her alive. I could take being skewered a thousand times, but she certainly couldn’t.

Icicles shot from the walls of the Labyrinth with piercing speed and force, and the sharp points shattered as they slammed into opposite walls. The corridor became a cacophony of violence, ice shattering on stone, then ricocheting shards that scattered across the frozen ground.

Butterfly ran and stumbled over the slick surface behind me, giving the sharp death trap time to catch up to us. I just kept running. I yanked her along forcefully, nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process. She could barely keep footing at this pace, and she was stumbling and sliding through the twists and turns of the Blue Sector.

After a particularly sharp turn, she tripped under my blistering pace, and I lost my grip for only a second. Just long enough to send her sliding into the chaos.

Fuck fuck fuck—

An ice dagger honed in on her and blasted through the air. The sharp icicle struck her calf and pierced clean through her muscle and bone. Instantly the frozen blade was doused in red, while my lingering body heat melted the shard inside her. Ice turned to water, creating a wide open wound.

She didn’t scream even as she started to hemorrhage from the hole in her leg. The woman was tougher than nails and hell itself. Adrenaline must have completely taken over, as she wasted no time scooting back and trying to get back on her feet to outrun the next barrage.

I’ll admit I was impressed she’d managed to stand at all, let alone run on that leg.