Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II (13 page)

"Something is trapped. But it doesn't feel
normal," I say, my breath ragged.

Bruno's brows raise, and his forehead
creases. He gazes into the darkness.

"Fiona," he asks. "Do you feel anything plant
based? Electrical? Fire?"

Fiona starts to shake her head, and then
pauses. "Fire maybe."

Conor straightens, his arms still supporting
me as he looks at Bruno, his brows furrowed in concentration.
"Pain, hatred, fire . . ." He shakes his head.

Bruno glances at Lyre.

"You don't feel your mother, do you?" he
asks.

Lyre throws him a look.

"Funny, Bruno."

He smiles. "Just thought I'd ask. She covers
all of those descriptions and more, except the fire part."

I stand still, afraid to reach out again and
yet also afraid not to. Pain, hatred, fire . . . .

"I felt the pain in my feet," I say suddenly.
"And my head hurts."

Conor freezes, his eyes shifting to mine.

"Hatred, fire, foot pain, head pain . . ."
Conor mumbles.

He keeps talking to himself, running the
words over and over under his breath. And then unexpectedly, his
eyes go wide as he braces his free hand against the cavern's
wall.

"Oh shit!" Conor swears. "It's Envy!"

Bruno curses.

"Dude! No way!" Gray exclaims, his voice
hoarse.

Their fear swamps me, and I look at
Conor.

"Envy?" I ask, my voice small.

Lyre's face goes pale, and she moves closer
to Bruno.

"He's a Demon," Conor begins.

Fiona's shrill laughter drowns him out. "When
the hell did Envy start working with Enepsigos?" she asks.

Deidra is shaking like a leaf next to me, and
I look down at her as she tugs insistently on the bottom of my
shirt.

"The headless man," she gasps. "Envy's a
headless man."

Even Deidra knows who they're referring to.
I'm still confused.

"A Demon who looks like a headless man?" I
ask.

Deidra nods.

"He strikes people insensible, dumb," Gwenyth
explains somberly.

"And he causes sores on the body,
specifically the feet. He has an affinity for fire," Hesther
adds.

I look toward the dark tunnel. We've
stood there too long, but Enepsigos doesn't seem in a hurry to see
us dead. Maybe her people are enjoying our fear, our elementary
attempts at trying to figure out what to do to stay alive. I have
this sudden, insane image of Disney's
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
, a cartoon headless
horseman holding a carved pumpkin that houses a flickering candle.
Even animated, it's terrible, and I shiver.

"We have an advantage with the fire, right?
Because of Fiona?" I ask.

Bruno looks back at me, his eyes
shadowed.

"Maybe," he whispers.

There's a sound a few feet in front of us,
and we all turn, our eyes wide. Ace nudges me from behind and
images bombard me.

Death . . . fire . . . a child, a hurt child.
A child trapped within his own mind, rocking back and forth.
Burning . . .

There are tears on my face when a leg moves
out of the shadows.

"You fear me," a deep voice says, his
laughter hollow.

Conor stiffens next to me, and Bruno stands
taller. Lyre is stoic, expressionless, but I can feel her fear.
Deidra's anxiety is almost too much next to me but she stands
strong, her small eyes darkening. The twins clasp hands and Fiona
moves closer to Gray whose hood is pulled up, his expression
hidden.

Another leg materializes out of the darkness.
The man is wearing jeans, stonewashed jeans with a hole in the
knee. I prepare myself for the horror, the headless body I'm sure
will follow, but the figure pauses.

"Such power in one group. It's invigorating,"
the voice continues.

Conor takes a small step forward, his hand
falling from mine.

"Are you here to admire us, Envy? Or are you
here to kill us?" Conor asks.

The Demon laughs, and the rest of his body
moves from the shadows. I am prepared for something repulsing, for
a grotesque image. I am not prepared for beauty. The man who moves
toward us isn't headless. He is beautiful, graceful, dangerous. He
is tall, slim, with slanted eyes and long black hair. His eyes are
green, and he moves like a predator, quietly, confidently. And he
is fearless. The emotions emanating from him are
interesting--hatred, curiosity, anticipation.

"A gargoyle," Envy says, his smile wide. He
has full lips and even teeth. "How refreshing. It's been ages since
I've come up against one of your kind."

Conor doesn't flinch. I feel no fear from
him. I wonder if he is blocking or if he honestly hates the Demon
too much to be afraid. Conor smiles.

"Feel lucky then you are alive," Conor says
evenly.

Envy eyes Conor, his smirking expression
frozen. The smile is disconcerting, and I think of the images I saw
from Ace. A rocking child.

"You don't want to threaten me, Gargoyle. I
am simply a guide. I am nothing compared to the horrors you have
yet to face."

Envy's words relieve some of the tension
among the group, but the anxiety is still there. No one trusts
him.

"A guide?" Bruno asks.

Envy's gaze moves to Bruno."Son of Tephras.
Interesting. I will say this. You are much more handsome than your
father."

Bruno remains still, but I feel his
repulsion, and I shudder. Envy's eyes move to me.

"You, however, look nothing like your
mother," Envy says, his eyes leaving me to scan the rest of the
group. "I'm here to guide you through the Labyrinth. If you
survive, then I'm here to kill you."

His words are not at all comforting.

"And we're supposed to trust you?" Conor
asks.

Ace nudges me again, and the images return.
There are crying children now among the rocking ones, their eyes
blank. My head snaps up.

"You," I whisper hoarsely.

Envy's eyes narrow, his green irises almost
neon as he looks at me. I'm too engulfed by images to care. One
desperate, sad picture after another. Children. Children in
wheelchairs, mouths open, unseeing. I'm not sure if Ace has a
history with the Demon before us or if he knows more than I've
given him credit for.

"So many children," I murmur.

I can feel Conor's eyes on my face. I can
even feel the other hybrids watching me, their emotions swirling
chaotically. Fascination mixed with fear.

"
Children
," I spit.

Envy chuckles.

"Ah, you may not look like your mother, but
you share her gifts."

He steps closer and Conor and Bruno both move
to block him. I step to the side, my eyes meeting Envy's. I am
disgusted, my stomach tied up in knots. I had spent most of my life
inside of hospitals. So many children on Earth. Blank eyes.
Retardation, mental instability . . . all because of him.

"Why children?" I ask.

I know the hybrids have no idea what I'm
talking about, but the pain is too fresh to ignore, the images too
clear.

Conor edges toward me, his eyes on the Demon.
Envy's eyes stay locked on mine.

"Because, Emma dear, it feels good to be so
low, to destroy something so innocent."

Envy's words pierce my heart. I don't have
time to wonder at his knowing my name. I want only to destroy him.
Conor is touching me now, and I know that I am shaking, my hands
trembling against my sides. It's like being back in the S.O.S.
dining room again, and I know the grief, the pain is too much. I
look at Conor from the corner of my eye. He'd told me he would be
there as I learned control. Now is the time to prove it.

I concentrate on Conor's hand, emotions
sliding down my body and into his. The images are almost disabling.
I know he sees them too when he inhales, his blue eyes bright. His
gaze moves to Envy, and I see the hate there, the murder. Envy sees
it too.

"So you want to kill me now?" Envy asks us,
his eyes moving between us.

"Children," I say dully, reaching out with my
mind to Bruno, Lyre, the twins, Deidra, Gray, and Fiona. I let the
images move to them, through them.

Deidra cries out, and I feel the hatred that
suddenly swells among the group.

"Children," Fiona says, her gaze on me.

The twins clench their fists, and I see
Envy's eyes widen a moment before he grins. I have no doubt Hesther
and Gwenyth want to choke the Demon. I have no doubt they have
tried to do just that.

"You won't guide us," Bruno says coldly. "We
can do this alone."

Envy laughs. "Such courage hatred creates.
Killing me will mean nothing. There will always be another Demon
there to pick up where I left off."

Conor clenches his fist, the palm on my arm
almost painful. He seems to realize this, and he lets go, his eyes
narrowed.

"And still it would be one less Demon like
you," he says.

Envy lifts his arms, his hands open as if he
is celebrating, exalting in some sort of achievement. I should be
afraid, his movements terrifying, but I see only the images of
those children, the children of the world whose minds have been
destroyed or trapped within their bodies. I want him dead.

It's when Deidra screams that I notice the
pain. I look down, my eyes on my shirt. The black cotton tee I have
on looks no different than it had before, but it's when I lift the
hem of my shirt that I see the sores. Sores on my stomach, open
sores that feel raw and uncomfortable. Pain shoots from my stomach
into my body, and I realize the sores are spreading.

"Shit," Gray breathes, and I notice him
kneeling, one knee against the ground, sores on his hands. His
sweatshirt hides the other sores I know are there.

Conor is mostly stone next to me, and I
realize the sores cannot touch his skin. He eyes Envy.

"You think pain makes them hate you any
less?" Conor asks.

Bruno growls, his hand lifting, and I feel
the power before Envy even hits the wall. Lyre is kneeling now too,
her beautiful face marred by wounds, and she practically hisses as
her hand lifts, flame shooting forth.

Envy snarls, deflecting the flame before
rocketing off of the wall. The Demon is angry, the anger so strong,
it is like a blanket over the room. When he suddenly transforms, I
am not prepared for his abrupt, horrifying appearance. The headless
man. The beautiful Envy is gone, replaced by a monster, muscular
legs encased in black leather, a honed, built body, with no head.
There's no blood, no gaping or hanging flesh. There is only no
head.

I look away, my eyes landing on Gwenyth
Garner next to me. It's then I realize I'm on my knees as well, the
sores I feel on my feet too painful to stand.

Gwenyth's eyes meet mine.

"Children," she whispers, her voice laced
with pain.

Hesther repeats the word, and our gazes
meet. Their fists are clenched, and I absorb the hate they feel.
Hatred. Such hatred. Luther's voice is suddenly in my head.
"
You may hate the idea of feeding off
emotions, but you really don't have much choice. It's the power you
were born with. Embrace it."

A tear slips down my cheek.
Children.
I won't use anger or hatred
to destroy most, but I will use it to destroy itself. Envy is
nothing but anger and hatred. Him, I want to kill.

Conor calls out to the stone in the cavern,
and it opens up, pulling Envy into its hard embrace.

The Demon laughs, the sound odd coming from a
headless man. "Stone is nothing to me, Gargoyle. Stone I can
destroy."

I know what Envy intends to do before he does
it, and I cry out.

"Turn, Conor. Turn!"

The rock entrapping Envy explodes, and I
cover my head, my gaze searching. Conor is on the ground now, his
body no longer stone, and I know he's turned in time.

I exhale, my relief mixing with the anger and
hatred I'd absorbed from the twins. I can feel electricity lifting
the hairs on my arms, and I know Fiona has crawled toward the
Demon. Her eyes are red.

"Fiona," I whisper hoarsely.

I think there are sores in my throat now, in
my mouth. It hurts to speak, to swallow. My chest burns, and
breathing in air feels like breathing in fire.

Fiona looks back at me, and I see her hatred,
her anger, and I absorb it too. I crawl toward Bruno. He is on his
knees near Lyre, and I reach out to him. My hand is red, the sores
on it oozing blood.

Bruno's shirt is suddenly in my palms, and I
feel him inhale as my fingers rub against his raw skin. I don't
apologize because there is no time. I absorb his anger instead, his
pain, his hatred, and I push all of it back into him. My anger, my
pain, my hatred. I add the other hybrids' emotions to mine, pushing
it into him, and I hope he knows what I want him to do with it.

The sudden power makes Bruno raise his head,
and I let my hand drop, my body too drained to do anything more
than lay still. There's a hand on my waist now. It's painful, and I
look up to see Conor kneeling over me. Most of him is stone again,
and he lifts me carefully into his embrace, moving backward as
Bruno raises his hands.

"Hold on," Conor whispers.

There's no time to take cover, and we all
cower as Bruno shoves the power I've given him toward Envy. The
Demon is distracted by Fiona, laughing as he uses her electricity
against her. She slumps just as Envy stops laughing. If he had a
head or eyes, I imagine they would have widened now. Instead, his
headless form falls against the cavern's crumbling stone wall.

Bruno stands, the sores' effect lessening as
Envy weakens. Bruno looks back at me, and I close my eyes before
absorbing as much power and emotion as I can from the room around
me. I push them toward Bruno, and I open my eyes just in time to
see his eyes darken as he nods at me. He walks away then,
approaching Envy where he leans against the wall.