Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II (17 page)

The wolf bares his teeth before sitting back
and lifting his two front paws off of the ground. The cavern is
suddenly full of swirling wind, lashing at us as it surrounds the
beast, and then the wolf is gone, replaced by a tall brown-haired
man, his red eyes prominent in his tanned face. He wears a white
dress shirt tucked into a pair of black trousers. He bows, the move
both condescending and reverent. He is a contradiction.

"The Marquis Amon, at your service. Your
friend. Your enemy," he says before disappearing abruptly. Only his
voice remains in the cavern, a haunting, lilting sound.

"Heads up," it warns.

Chapter 21

Emma

There is no time to think about the wolf's
assessment, this mysterious Marquis of Hell, as we all look up just
in time to see the spiked gate that falls from the air above
us.

Conor and Bruno begin shoving us forward,
their movements a blur as we are slung to the floor. The gate slams
down, smoothly blending with the stone and barely missing us. The
edge of Conor's jeans are caught by the iron, but he rips it easily
and backs away.

"What the hell was that? A distraction so
some iron spikes could kill us?" Bruno shouts, his anger at the
wolf obvious.

No one answers him. There's a warning instead
from Deidra whose eyes are on the cavern ceiling, her eyes wide. No
one hesitates, and we move as Gray drags Gwenyth with him. Another
gate falls where we stood only seconds before.

We are all staring upward now, and we dive as
another gate moves downward. I tug on Ace, pulling his large head
along behind me. He's slower than the average Demon, and I'm
worried the gates will catch him. He takes up too much space.

"
Come on,
Boy!"
I urge as another gate falls, narrowly missing
Ace's tail. I can feel the breeze the pointed, iron bars make on my
face as they slide into the stone.

"He's slowing you down, Emma!" Fiona cries
out, but I stay with Ace anyway.

Conor drops behind and places a hand on Ace's
head. I expect the drex to shake him off, but he doesn't. He snorts
instead, his eyes rolling as yet another gate falls and nicks his
skin.

"Em, they're coming faster," Conor says
urgently.

I am practically dragging Ace now. He's too
heavy and large for me to have much of an impact, but I pull
anyway. I send pleading messages to Ace, my mind a whir of
dangerous images. The drex roars and picks up the pace, and I
stumble as I keep my hand on his head. Conor runs alongside us.

Another gate falls.

Ace roars, and then pauses.

I stop.
"Come
on, Boy!!! Please move!"

Ace slings his head back and forth, the
whites of his eyes obvious, and I realize the gate has landed on
his tail, effectively pinning him to the cavern floor.

I scream even as Conor tugs on my arm.

"Emma!"

I know what he's asking me to do, but I pull
away.

"No!"

Ace is a nuisance to the rest of the group. I
know that, but to me he's become a support, a loyal friend. It's my
fault he's here. I brought him.

I wrap my arms around Ace's neck.

"Pull away, Boy! Pull away!"

The drex tugs, but the meatiest part of his
tail is caught and it's useless.

"Emma!" Conor shouts, but I don't hear him.
His words are faint, like echoes in my ears. I have a brief moment
of clarity where I wonder if this is what Gwenyth feels like, like
she's in a bubble, her surroundings muted. There is only me and
Ace.

I lean down and kiss his rubbery head, tears
falling over my cheeks. I know he can't get loose, and my heart
breaks.

"It's going to be
okay,"
I tell him.

The words calm him, but I know he realizes
it's not alright by the way his eyes move. The pain must be
unbearable. I send calming thoughts his way, and he relaxes.

Distantly, I hear a gate whooshing downward,
but I don't move. A body slams against me, pinning me to the side
of the cavern wall, his body in front of mine. His hand grips my
chin, forcing it against his chest.

"Don't look," Conor says, his eyes on
mine.

But I already know what he's trying to hide.
The shock of Ace's death is startling. I have never been bound to
anything before Ace. I hadn't realized how connected the two of us
really were until a small part of my brain suddenly seems to black
out almost as if I were holding a candle and someone asked me to
douse the flame. Nothing. A strange, gaping hole, and I inhale
sharply.

I can't breathe.

There is a crushing weight on my chest. I
wheeze even as Conor lifts me before moving again. Another gate
falls. Voices yell. The other hybrids, but I barely recognize them.
They are simply background noise.

"Emma, breathe!"

Conor is shaking me now, but I barely feel
it. There are black circles dancing in front of my eyes, and I am
blessedly lightheaded.

"Emma! Dammit!" Conor yells. "Do any of you
know anything about bonds?"

I feel nothing, even as another pair of hands
settle against my face.

"Breathe, Emma. Let him go. His spirit needs
to go."

It's Gwenyth's voice. She is choked up, the
words broken up by sobs, and I know my tears are soaking her hands.
She leans in close as I fight to breathe.

"Twin Demons are born naturally bonded. It is
simply a matter of letting the ones you love go."

A sob escapes me as I feel a heaviness I
wasn't aware of begin to lift from my chest. Ace's spirit.

My eyes meet Gwenyth's, and I'm suddenly
aware of how strong she really is. She may appear shell shocked,
her grief a stark image of despair, but she had been strong enough
to let go of her sister. The rest of us had not known their bond
was as deep as she's claiming it was now.

"Breathe, Emma," she says, and I draw in a
deep breath, my hand coming to rest against hers. She smiles
gently, her eyes sad and dead.

"We've gotta try," I manage, my voice
strained from the grief that grips it. I still struggle somewhat to
breathe, but the effort is from sorrow not from Ace's spirit.

Gwenyth moves away, her body edging along the
cavern wall as she holds onto the stone for support. She is
replaced by Conor. He touches my face, my arms, my waist. It seems
to reassure him.

"Can you stand?" he asks.

I nod because I'm not sure I can speak.

He braces me with his arms as I push myself
off of the floor, his body strategically placed between me and the
fallen gates beyond.

"Seeing makes it worse," he whispers, and I
wonder about the deaths he's seen, the emotional trauma he's had to
endure in the past.

"We need to move."

I nod again, trying unsuccessfully to hide
the sob that escapes, choking me.

Conor wraps his arms around me briefly, his
chin on top of my head.

"We'll make it right," he says fiercely.
"They didn't die for nothing."

I have to believe him because not believing
him hurts too much, and I let my hand find his as we move apart. I
grip it, and he squeezes hard, his jaw tightening with emotion.

"We'll make it right," I repeat.

The rest of the hybrids are silent, their
eyes respectfully on the tunnel ahead. Or maybe the sight of the
drex is even more tragic than I dare imagine. Tears burn my eyelids
as Conor urges me forward. The labyrinth is nothing more than a
gaping black mouth devouring everything about us that makes us
strong. How much more can we bear to lose?

Chapter 22

Conor

I don't release Emma's hand as we move. It's
a comforting weight in my palm. She's grieving. I can feel it even
without the power to sense emotion, and it hurts me. I'd never been
a fan of the drex, but Emma's love for it was unconditional despite
its Demonic history, despite the fact that it fed off flesh.
Albeit, animal flesh once it was bound to Emma.

"This must end eventually," Bruno says, his
voice low, even.

We are all worn out now, emotionally
stretched to our limits. I think at some point we have all faced
death, but for some of these hybrids, this is the closest death has
come to effecting them personally.

Gwenyth is still frozen in her own grieving
world. Letting Hesther go had taken all the strength she had left.
Fiona, Deidra, and Lyre are silent, their faces drawn. Bruno and
Gray are both stoic, but I know they maintain their calm for the
sake of the group. I have mastered calm in unspeakable situations.
I've seen and caused too many deaths.

"It's not a maze," Gray says. "So we just
keep walking."

Bruno looks over at the rest of the
hybrids.

"I know we're past the point of wanting to
try, but do any of you sense anything?"

The hybrids slow, and I know they are using
whatever abilities they have to search the darkness ahead. I reach
out and let my free hand slide against the stone. The rock is
quieter the further we go, almost as if it's pain has lessened. I
think back on the biting sensation I'd felt earlier, and I know it
was the gates.

"I don't want to keep going," Deidra says
shortly.

She stops walking and we stop with her. The
imp looks so very young in the dim light, her eyes wide and scared
as she peers up at us.

"We have to, Dee," Emma says gently, her
voice so hoarse and strained I know she wants to cry, but fights
it. "We're trapped now. There's no turning back."

The imp shudders. "There's something
terrifying ahead," she mutters.

Bruno kneels in front of her.

"What are you sensing?"

His words are gentle, and I realize as he
looks fondly at the dark-skinned girl that the other hybrids are
starting to see the imp in a different light, a more affectionate
light. Maybe it was her fearless duck into the fallen stone to go
after Hesther, but I honestly think it's more than that. I think
they feel her loyalty, sense her desire to belong. Maybe once it
would have put them off, but now belonging and loyalty mean
everything.

Deidra's eyes go wide.

"Something fast, deep . . . " she says.
"Something imps fear."

Fiona kneels next to Bruno.

"What do imps, fear?" she asks.

Deidra doesn't get a chance to answer before
my head suddenly snaps up, my eyes on the tunnel.

"Water," I say.

Bruno looks up.

"What?"

"Water," I repeat. "And lots of it."

Bruno stands.

"What do you mean water? Here? In the
labyrinth?"

Even from far away, I can hear the roar, feel
the water in my bones.

"Grab a hold of each other," I order.

Deidra squeaks.

"I can't swim," she says frantically.

Emma grabs one of Deidra's hands and Fiona
moves to take the other one.

"Is it deep?" Gray asks, and I nod.

I pause suddenly, turning on my feet to face
the path we'd just left. I can feel the water now as if it's inside
my body running through my veins, and I stiffen.

"It's coming from the way we came."

"That's impossible!" Lyre says.

I shrug, my eyes meeting hers.

"Maybe, but it's water, Lyre. I know water.
"

She doesn't argue with me. She simply nods,
and I find myself surprised by her sudden subdued nature. It hits
me that she hasn't argued, hollered, or snorted since our run in
with the wolf. My apology is a weight between us. Accepting it is
up to her.

"Hold hands and keep walking," I order. "If
it's coming, it's coming. Maybe we can ride it farther into the
labyrinth."

"Easy for you to say, Gargoyle." Bruno
grumbles. "You can hold your breath for hours."

The hybrids are stiff, fearful, but they move
forward. There is a crashing roar from behind us, and we start to
run. Deidra is crying.

"I won't let you go," I hear Emma tell
her.

"Neither one of us will," Fiona promises.

The words are enough to calm the imp, but I
still hear her hiccup.

"Deep breaths!" I yell. "It's here."

Those are my last words before the wave
hits.

Chapter 23

Emma

I am cold.

I can't breathe.

I am scared.

I have been here before, in this muted, wet
world. Its darkness is confining, murky, suffocating. My hand
tightens on Deidra's and Conor's, and I try to open my eyes.

There is no sting when my lids slide open,
just pressure from the water, and I know this water is fresh, salt
free.

I look toward Conor, and breathing, though
difficult, seems less important suddenly as I watch him. He is home
in the water, his eyes open with no misgiving, his body strong,
buoyed by the water's force. He even breathes in the waves, and I
watch in awe as he uses his body to propel the hybrids forward. But
even with his strength, the water is a force to be reckoned with,
and I see him use his hands to keep us from hitting the wall. On my
other side, Deidra is beginning to struggle, and I panic as I hold
her more firmly.

Even further down, Gray, who is on the
farthest side of the hybrids, hits the cavern wall hard, his head
slammed against it. I know he blacks out when I see his body
slacken, but Gwenyth squeezes hard, her hand keeping him tied to
the group, her face determined.

I cry out under the water, my eyes on Gray
and Deidra. Conor's hand squeezes mine, and I know he's heard me. I
wonder suddenly if gargoyles can hear under water, and I make the
last minute decision to waste precious air.

"We can't last!" I mouth into the wave.

Other than the feel of my lips moving, and
the feel of cool water entering my mouth, I hear nothing, but Conor
jerks, and I know I've succeeded. The move was a foolhardy one. I
have no more air left, and my chest burns with the effort not to
breathe. Is it better to let my lungs stay empty in death or suck
in the water and die filled full of fluid?