Chapter 23
Rule twenty-three: Don’t go back to your toxic ex, no matter how hot the sex was.
B y the time I’ve finished getting dressed, most of the others are already waiting in the courtyard. My fighting leathers are starting to feel like a second skin, though at least now, I don’t need to wonder how everyone here seems to know so much about my time as a Guardian. Cassandra told Arianna everything she could about the secret organization. She only ever kept one secret from Arianna, and that was Leon.
Sin’s eyes meet mine as I make my way down the stone steps, and I ignore the way my breath catches at his intense stare. He has an unnerving habit of making consistent, unbroken eye contact. It’s as if we’re locked in an unspoken war, where he wants to see inside my soul, and I refuse to look away, lest it comes across as submissive. I can try to blame it on not wanting to look like prey, but really, I’m sprinting as far away as possible from the meek person I tried to be for Leon.
Never again.
I will never make myself smaller for those around me. If I’m going to be surrounded by large, powerful people, then I need to become larger and more powerful.
Metaphorically, of course. Everyone here has at least a few inches on me, and Sin is a freaking giant. But I can be smarter.
Sin meets me halfway, stopping me before I reach the others. His eyes sweep over my body, pausing at every dagger I’ve sheathed away as if he’s assuring himself that I haven’t forgotten any. There’s an air of agitation around him, though his tattoos aren’t glowing. A small part of my throat constricts at the realization that Sin doesn’t want me to do this. No one here does. But here they are, supporting my choices.
No one is forcing me to obey them. I try not to focus on how good that feels.
“How is your leg?” he asks quietly so the others don’t overhear.
“Better, thanks. The wrap is helping,” I answer.
His gaze hardens. “If we get there, and the bond pain is so bad that you can’t walk, I’m apparating us back.”
His tone holds a warning to it, one that suggests I not argue with him. I stiffen but nod in agreement.
“I’ll be fine,” I lie through my teeth .
Sin quirks an eyebrow at me. “I can’t enter Council territory without starting a war between our realms. A war we can’t win.”
There’s no malice in his words, just a directness reminding me that once I’m within the Council’s wards, I’m on my own. I nod, ignoring the way my palms are sweating over the anxiety of what I’m about to do.
No one is coming to save me. I’m the rescue party now.
At my understanding, Sin reaches around his neck and pulls off a necklace I hadn’t noticed before. The black string holds a silver pendant of swirling knotwork, similar to the tattoos on his skin, only there’s a snake tangled within the threads. He holds it out to me, and I hesitate. If I’ve learned anything from going through magical items with Magnus, it’s not to trust jewellery.
“It’s safe,” Sin notes after seeing my reluctance. “It’s been mine for a very long time. Arianna may not believe you’re who you say you are. This should help to convince her.”
“Smart,” I answer, taking it from him.
We join the others once I’ve slipped the necklace over my head. Sin stands at attention, his legs braced and arms crossed behind his back. He looks tense. I mimic him while we wait for Morgana to join the group.
After a moment, Sin glances down at me, notices I’m copying him, and rolls his eyes before turning away .
I bite back a grin. Sure, Sin probably thinks I’m an imbecile, but his shoulders relaxed a bit.
I’m a fantastic partner.
Morgana apparates in front of us, and her words pull me out of my self-satisfaction. “We don’t have much time to figure this out. Damien knows the movements of the guards. They’re going to be preoccupied over the next twenty minutes. It’s the shift rotation, and guards will be giving their reports to their superiors. Vivian, do you need to get to a particular part of the maze to get in? Or is that flexible?”
“I can get in at any point. I’ll just need a few minutes at the edge,” I answer.
Morgana nods, handing me a jar of peanut butter. “I don’t even want to know why you need that. Rosie, where can Vivian get the most cover from the surrounding forest while entering the maze?”
Rosie kneels and starts drawing a rough map into the sand. She points at an area in the far back corner of the maze, where the forest reaches the hedges. “This is a good spot. The forest is right on the edge of the Council’s wards. You can apparate almost directly there.”
Morgana looks back at me. “You know this is a trap, and Leon will be waiting for you. Undoubtedly, he’ll be able to track you using your bond. Your best chance is getting in and out of the maze as quickly as possible. Sin must stay on the outside of the Council’s wards. If you’re captured, it would be a declaration of war for us to free you from Council territory.”
Her warning only cements what Sin already told me. Once I’m in the Council wards, I’m on my own .
“I’ll be fine. I can do this,” I answer, hoping the confidence I’m pretending to exude is coming through.
Morgana nods.
Damien and Magnus squeeze my non-injured shoulder, wishing me luck, and Rosie hugs me.
I turn to Sin, only to find him already watching me.
He offers his hand. “Ready?”
I nod, placing my hand in his. “Ready.”
With that, we apparate from Morgana’s realm.
The moment my feet touch the ground, it feels as though I’ve been hit by a train. My body pitches forward, and Sin grabs me around the waist, steadying me. Only this time, it isn’t the jolt of apparating into a new realm that’s thrown me off balance.
Leon is here, and the bond knows it.
A searing heat scorches through my brain, and a ringing sounds in my ears, so loud I can hardly see straight. I hunch over, hands on my knees, trying to breathe through the pain while Sin holds me.
I didn’t miss this feeling. Not one bit.
The forest around us is silent as I take deep breaths, trying to get myself under control. The pain isn’t lessening, and more frighteningly, I recognize the familiar fog that is starting to form at the edges of my mind. The same fog that robbed me of my thoughts. Abruptly, I stand, ignoring the way my head swims at the movement .
Sin is watching me warily, and I remember the night I drove away from the forsaken with Leon. Back then, I managed to fight the bond for a while by focusing on my rage. “Don’t be nice to me. Anger is the only thing that helps keep the fog away,” I spit through the pain.
Sin nods, immediately understanding. He releases me and backs up a foot, glaring at me. “Hurry your ass up, and get the job done. Otherwise, you’ll be right back to being their whore. Do you want that? Do you want to be a pretty hole with no free will?”
I bristle at his words, my rage burning away at the traces of the fog that still try to creep into my thoughts. “Never. Never again.”
“Our friend is in there, and Fates only know what she’s suffered. Stop acting like a whiny princess and get her out,” Sin orders. The authority in his words matches what I would expect from a warlord conditioned to commanding thousands.
“I’m getting her out,” I answer through gritted teeth and turn without another word, running to the maze that looms not far ahead.
The whole-body pain makes my knees shake, and the burning causes a cold sweat to run down my back. Still, I’m standing, and that’s a step up from what I could do the last time Leon and I were separated in this realm. While I would love to blame that on my memories from Cassandra, a chilling thought makes me reconsider. If the bond is hurting me less, it likely means Leon isn’t as far away this time .
The realization pulls me out of my thoughts, and I run faster toward the maze, grateful for the few days I spent working on my cardio with Damien.
The tall hedges grow closer, and I scan the surrounding forest, trying to find some kind of landmark that will tell me where to exit. It’s a stupid endeavor. I know everything will look the same once I’m in the maze.
This entire mission depends on one thing.
Reaching the wall, I open the jar of peanut butter and hold it over my head. Hopefully, the smell will be strong enough to attract what I’m looking for. I start making kissy sounds like I’m trying to call over a cat.
A minute passes, and nothing happens. More cold sweat drips down my back, and I’m seriously starting to doubt my plan. But then I hear it, a chittering above me. I look up to find a small, green creature. The same kind that Leon used to open the maze last time. It looks at me with wide eyes, and I smile at it.
The little creature looks like the offspring between a garden gnome and a squirrel, and it chitters nervously at me. I try to coax it forward using my best Cinderella voice as I take a small scoop of peanut butter out of the jar and offer it to the creature.
Given it looks like it might be part squirrel, I’ve bet this entire mission on the assumption that it will love peanut butter.
And here I was, thinking I wasn’t much of a gambler.
“Hey, buddy. Do you remember me?” I ask, still maintaining my most non-threatening voice .
I have no idea if this is the same creature Leon tortured last time. If not, hopefully, these little creatures can communicate, and they will know I’m a friend.
The creature climbs down further, sniffing at my fingers. It takes a tentative lick at the peanut butter before gobbling up the rest of my offering.
I grin.
Nailed it.
The little squirrel-gnome creature darts back into the hedges but doesn’t run away. Instead, it stares at me with a renewed interest, like I might hold the most precious thing in its universe. Its little paws are slightly darker than the rest of its green body, and I decide to name it Mittens. It’s less of a mouthful than ‘squirrel-gnome creature.’
“My friend is stuck in the maze. Do you think you could help me get her out? The entire jar is yours if you do,” I add, showing it the rest of the peanut butter.
Mittens eyes me warily, hesitating at my offer, only to dart deeper into the hedges.
My pulse starts to pick up at the panicking realization that I’m out of luck. But then the branches start twisting and coiling away from each other until they reveal an opening large enough for me to get through.
My heart slows, and I step inside, finding the creature clinging to the inside wall of the maze.
“Thank you. We need to hurry, okay? Bad people are going to be coming,” I note, hoping Mittens understands the urgency of our situation .
Mittens lets out a series of nervous squeaks before taking off, racing along the hedge wall. I follow.
The cut on my leg stings, but it’s got nothing on the ringing in my head. Now that I’m not focused on my anger, the fog is back, pressing further into the edges of my mind and threatening to overtake my thoughts.
Follow Mittens. Find Arianna. Get out.
I repeat the steps as a mantra on loop, hoping it will help to keep me on track if the brain fog gets too dense.
We’re deeper into the maze now, and I mentally log every turn we take, hoping my terrible sense of direction won’t get me captured. I may have oversold my ability to navigate the maze to the others. Sure, I’ve come inside and gotten out, but I can’t remember the turns Leon and I made. All my hopes are with Mittens.
It’s a risk, but saving Arianna is worth it.
We make it another few turns before I hear him. Leon’s voice echoes from a distance. “Vivian! I know you’re in here! Stop running!”
There’s a familiar feral possessiveness to his words. My body reacts to hearing him, and a wave of heat hits me again. But it isn’t enough to slow me down. Not when I know what waits for me if I give in.
Not a chance .
I push forward.
Mittens chitters nervously at Leon’s voice, and I whisper, “It’s okay. He’s still far. We can make it.”
We continue, and I notice a bench hidden in an alcove to my left. Chills erupt over my flesh, remembering what Leon and I did there. The bond flares at the memory, and another wave of heat crashes through me. I whimper at the overpowering need that pulses through my veins. My knees go weak, and I stumble but don’t stop running.
Sin hit me with lust when we trained, and I managed to fight him through it. I can fight this.
Leon’s voice echoes out again, only this time it’s closer, “Are you playing hide and seek, Vivian? I warned you. I’ll always find you.”
He must only be a few rows away. The ringing in my head worsens, taking on an even higher, more disorientating pitch.
The bond is not happy with me for running from Leon.
The bond can kiss my ass.
I don’t think about how screwed I am and only run faster. I want to call out to Arianna, but I don’t dare make a sound lest I make it easier for Leon to find me.
More twists and turns, and I’ve completely lost track of where we are going. It’s getting harder to ignore the twisting sensation inside of me, constricting my lungs, insisting that I go to Leon.
“You can run all you want, little mouse, but you know you can’t win this. I can feel you burning for me. You need me.” Leon’s voice is even closer, and I sprint after Mittens. One of my stitches pops, and the pain in my leg is a blissful reprieve from the feeling of my blood turning to magma.
More twists and turns through the maze until, finally, there’s something up ahead, crumpled on the ground. I race towards it .
It’s a person curled into a tight ball. And though they’re facing away, the long silver-blonde hair is a dead giveaway. I screech to a halt when I reach her. “Ari!” I whisper, grabbing at her arm. “Ari, get up! We need to go. We have no time!” I urge, pulling her up.
Arianna turns to me slowly, blinking like she isn’t sure where she is. She looks at me with haunted eyes. “No. No, not again. No more tricks. You’re dead,” she cries, trying to wrench away from me.
She’s deathly pale and so thin I’m worried about pulling her too hard in case I accidentally snap her bones. Instead of trying to force her to follow me, I yank Sin’s necklace from my neck, holding it out to her.
“I’m here, and I’m with them. But unless you get up and start running, we’re both as good as dead,” I plead.
Ari stares hard at the necklace, a spark of recognition passing through her gaze before her eyes snap back to me, clearer than before. “Cassandra?”
“Not quite,” I answer honestly.
“Vivian!” Leon’s voice rings out. It’s way too close for comfort. “You’re trapped in here, little mouse. There’s no escaping our destiny.”
I shudder at the sound.
Mittens must feel the same trepidation because, at the sound, the little creature screeches, dashing into the hedges. My heart sinks as I realize it’s running away.
We’re so screwed.
But rather than dwelling on that little detail, I take Arianna’s hand, and we take off running. I have no idea how to get back to the entrance, so I aim for the opposite direction of the bond’s pull. The action shoots white-hot pain through me, and the fog creeps in a little closer.
I grit my teeth at the pain, focusing on getting Arianna out.
“Who is that?” Arianna asks. Luckily, there’s no panic in her voice, only cold calculation.
I answer through laboured breaths, “He’s not good.”
Pulling one of my daggers from my thigh, I thrust it into Arianna’s hand without breaking our stride. “If I try to go to him, you need to kill me.”
There’s no way I’m going back to having my thoughts controlled. I refuse.
Arianna looks at me like I’ve just grown a second head. “What! No, Cassandra, I –”
“Promise me! I can’t go back,” I urge, looking at her for a second before looking back down the maze corridor.
Arianna must recognize the haunted expression in my eyes because she mutters, “Fine.”
My legs are cramping from all the running, and I know I don’t have much strength left. Running blindly isn’t going to help us, but we don’t have many other options to choose from.
We careen around another turn, and my heart soars when I see something familiar.
The bench.
The fog has its claws in my mind, but I push against it. I could cry from relief, since I think I know the directions back to where I entered. I run faster, and Arianna keeps up, though we both breathe hard .
“I’m not sure how much farther I can go,” Arianna warns.
“We’re close,” I answer, trying to save my breath.
Leon calls out again, and I bite back a whimper at how close he sounds, “Run all you want, little mouse. But the second I catch you, I will love watching you come undone for me. I’m going to fuck that pretty pussy until you remember where you belong.”
My knees buckle at his words, the heat jolting through me like I’ve been hit by lightning. The moment my steps slow, the fog pushes further into my mind. The ringing grows impossibly louder as I use the last vestiges of my free will to push against it.
As my body starts to crash towards the ground, Arianna catches my arm, stopping me. She’s looking at me in horror now, and I vaguely feel my nose starting to bleed. I frown at the offending red liquid, confusion beginning to take hold of me, as I question what I’m doing here and why I’m not with Leon.
There’s something I’m supposed to do.
Looking back at Arianna, I notice the little squirrel-gnome creature on one of the hedges chittering at us.
Of course . I promised something for Mittens.
Reaching into a small pouch, I pull out the peanut butter, open the jar, and toss it at the bushes where the little creature just jumped.
The hedges start to get closer, and I frown at my legs, wondering how I’m moving when they feel like cement blocks. There’s a tugging at my arm, and I realize Arianna is pulling me. Her mouth is moving, but I can’t hear her. There’s only the ringing in my head .
My gaze skips over to Mittens again, and my eyes widen as I watch the hedges not far from us start to pull open. The forest lies directly beyond them.
The sight is enough to push back the fog for a few more moments. The opening can’t be more than ten feet away.
Arianna pulls at me, and I take a shaky step forward.
We’re so close.
But then my eyes catch on something else.
This corridor is long, skirting the edge of the forest. And there, at the other end, I see him.
Leon has found me.
He storms towards us, and his expression turns from smug to unadulterated rage when he notices the hole in the hedge.
Time stills.
I turn to Arianna. “Kill me. Kill me and run, now.”
She slaps me instead. “Move it!” she yells, yanking at my arm.
The sting helps clear my head, and I start moving towards the exit.
Leon starts running. “Vivian! Don’t you fucking dare leave! You belong to me!” he yells out.
My body fights to go to him. It’s as if every atom in me is reaching for him. It’s almost as though he’s magnetized, and I’m helpless to his pull.
I start running.
My last conscious thought is that Leon was right. There is no fighting this. The bond is too strong.
The fog swallows me whole .
We’re reaching the hole now, and I start to rush past it, running to Leon.
I’m shoved to the side instead.
Arianna tackles me through the maze exit and yells at Mittens, “Close it, close it now!”
The wall starts closing, and I scramble up, trying to push around Arianna, desperate to go back. Only a foot left, and Leon is there, at the gap.
My body starts to convulse, the bond refusing to let me escape him a second time.
“Vivian!” he roars. But it’s too late. The vines of the hedge maze knit together, locking him in. As he disappears, all sound of him is gone.
It feels like the blood in my veins is boiling me alive, and all I know is Leon will fix the pain.
I finally manage to push past Arianna, and race to the maze wall. But before I can throw myself at the razor-sharp thorns, her arm comes around my neck, pulling me back into a chokehold. Her arms may look brittle and weak, but she’s stronger than she looks.
I scratch at her, trying to escape. She chokes me harder, and I start to see stars.
Sin’s voice echoes from the forest not far back, “We’re out of time! Move it!”
Arianna looks at Sin and then turns back to me.
“Sorry about this,” she whispers.
Shouts start in the distance. The guards know something is happening.
She lets me go, spinning me to face her. I only have a second to take a breath before she swings her arm back and punches me in the temple.
Everything goes dark.