Page 91 of Of Monsters and Mazes

“What?” Rai stared at me, his red irises centered in his widened eyes, and his slitted pupils so dilated, they were nearly round.

“I said I have to do this alone.” I repeated as I started towards the stairs, trying to swallow down the honest fear in my heart. I had to do this. There wasn’t any other choice. I’d leaned on them for the entire maze, from the moment Jericho caught me on the cliff, to Rai giving me his blood as an antidote, to Theron getting me through half the sectors, to Alessi helping me through the others. I’d relied on everyone but myself until now, and that wasn’t how I functioned. If I won the game at the end, it wouldn’t be my win. The rules had always been that I was the one who had to face him. “It’s okay. I’m not scared. I’ve got this.”

Half way to the first step, a hand gripped my wrist and yanked me backwards.

“The fuck you do.” Theron growled. He held my hand at eye level, like he needed that small barrier between our gazes. The look in his eyes was familiar yet impossible at the same time.

Because the look in his eyes was… fear.

I opened my mouth, but it took several moments before anything came out. I stood, arrested by his lightning blue eyes, and I searched for an argument. “You know he won’t let anyone else through. It has to be me, and only me, Theron.” My voice was barely a whisper.

He tightened his grip. The subtle shake he transferred between us said more than any words or longing look could.

“I won’t allow it.” He shook his head. “We can protect you. If something were to happen… If he—” killed you. He cut himself off, but I knew how that sentence ended. Theron took a deep breath and started again. “You’re not facing that monster alone when you have me here, Sela.”

“When you have us here.” Alessi corrected, stepping forward next.

“If I didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be here.” Rai added, his head low, but his tone resolute.

I swallowed, my eyes still locked with Theron’s. I was about to argue in protest, but he spoke first. “I’m your friend, remember?” He inhaled then exhaled. “More than a friend.” He placed his hand on my cheek, and he drew a line beneath my eye with his thumb. “Let me be there for you.”

We stood in stalemate, and I was at a total loss as to what to say. I wanted him to be there. I wanted to know everything that statement entailed.

But right now… I couldn’t.

I pulled away and took a step back. Theron loosened his grip. He dropped his arm in defeat.

“You’re right.” I took another step back, closer to the stairs. “But you are coming with me.” I held up my wrist, showing off Theron’s marks and Alessi’s fox tail, both tangled together on my skin. “I have Rai’s blood and both of you embedded in my skin. You’ll all still be with me, even if it looks like I’m alone in that room. If this is a trap, then I don’t want to show him how much ammo I brought.” The corners of my lips climbed slowly. “That’s the only way to beat him at his own game. So… please.”

Rai nodded. Alessi did, too. Theron threaded his fingers through his platinum hair and pushed the strands back between his horns. He didn’t meet my eyes.

But as I inched back towards the stairs, the clock overhead ticking away, he held his position. Maybe that was the only way he could let himself say yes to letting me go on without him.

I took that as his blessing, then I stepped into the spiral stairway towards the throne room. I climbed the steps to the tune of the ticking clock, knowing I didn’t have any more time to waste. I started to ascend faster, then I started to run, not caring if my steps were too loud or might alert Jericho to my presence.

It was time to face the king.

The stairs led me to a large stone hallway, with intricate paintings and some of the most exquisitely crafted crown molding I’d ever seen. I couldn’t fault Jericho on his attention to detail.

Stop losing focus. My anxiety and stress levels had reached critical levels, and I was looking and thinking about anything and everything but what I should have been. I knew I made the right choice by going on alone, but that didn’t stop my heart from racing and my adrenaline from exploding through my entire body like fireworks.

I rounded a bend, and immediately caught sight of a golden-framed obsidian door with an intricate pattern of emerald accents that towered over the rest. It was at least as big as Jericho’s ego, and I felt confident in my path as I shoved my way into a massive room.

On the far wall, a projection displayed a montage of my journey, from the Violet Sector to the hundred-armed monster, to my entanglements with Alessi in Yellow, to the Orange Sector, where Rai had removed my tracking marks in my sleep.

And opposite the screen was a throne built from bones, horns, blades, jewels… and angel wings.

Atop that seat, Jericho, his devilish royal highness, relaxed in casual comfort with Pumpkin happily rolled up in a ball on his lap.

The audacity of that cat never ceased to amaze me.

The clock ticked on the ceiling, eternally threatening.

“Five minutes to spare. You really took your time, Fraulein.” He tilted his head to the side with an eerily innocent smile. “And you’re still wearing your dress. Or what’s left of it.” Half his grin took on a more mischievous smirk. “It looks lovely on you, by the way. It also looks lovely when torn off of you.” He broke eye contact to lift Pumpkin from his lap, then placed him over his shoulder like he was holding a baby. He continued to pet my cat, while the bastard purred and rubbed his face on Jericho’s face.

“What difference does it make. I made it in the time you gave me. I won. Now give him back.” I stood with my hands on my hips and irritation in every word. I didn’t know which of these demon-eyed creatures I was more mad at right now.

“Did you?” His grin lit up his face. “Yet you appear to be way over there, and your kitten is way over here.” He continued mocking me by skritching Pumpkin under his chin.