CHAPTER TEN
VESPER
The Black Scarab sprinted toward me and lowered its shoulder like it wanted to ram into me like a player in a sports game. If that happened, I wouldn’t be getting back up again anytime soon.
I dove to the side. My left shoulder slammed into a flagstone, and pain exploded in the joint. I grunted at the hard, bruising impact, but I forced myself to scramble back up and onto my feet.
The Black Scarab raced past me and plowed into one of the topiary trees.
Branches snapped, and leaves twirled through the air like gray-green snowflakes.
The machine jerked back, but it had plunged into the very center of the tree, and it was caught like a butterfly in a net.
Hope sparked in my heart, but the Scarab jerked back again, and several branches cracked away.
I had a minute, maybe less, before the machine freed itself.
I could leave the Temperate garden biodome and sprint down a path, but I couldn’t outrun the Scarab. I also didn’t know what traps I might trip along the way or how many more Scarabs might be lurking in the maze.
Once again, I was stuck in the middle of an OBO—a situation where I had only bad options.
My chest tightened with worry, but running away wasn’t a viable plan, and I needed to take the Scarab down here and now. Then I could deal with whatever—or whoever—else might be targeting me.
But how could I defeat an armored machine? My stormsword was still in the locker room, and the chunk of rock I’d used to disable the camera had shattered to shards when it hit the ground.
My gaze flicked from one thing to another, even as my mind churned, searching for something, anything, I could use as a weapon. The topiary trees and hedges were no help. Neither were the marble statues . . .
My seer magic surged, and a flare of silver caught my eye.
I spun in that direction, and my gaze landed on the mermaid statue in the center of the biodome.
Why would my magic point out the statue?
I could sense Kyrion’s telekinesis much more easily than before, but the psionic dampeners were still active, and the white fog hadn’t completely dissipated from my mind.
I might have been able to toss the rock to take down the camera, but I couldn’t access enough of Kyrion’s power to throw the large, heavy mermaid statue at the Scarab.
Wait. Maybe I didn’t have to use the whole statue. My eyes narrowed, and I focused on the trident the mermaid was clutching. Unlike the rest of the smooth white marble statue, the trident was made of metal and featured three long, pointed ends that reminded me of the tines on a fork.
My heart rose with hope, but it quickly sank right back down again.
The mermaid was gripping the trident, and there was no way I could pry her stone fingers off the hilt with my own strength.
I might have been able to do it with Kyrion’s telekinesis, but it would have taken an enormous amount of magic, and I didn’t want to risk draining off too much of his power, especially since I didn’t know what enemies he might be battling.
More branches cracked, and the Scarab finally extricated itself from the topiary tree.
The machine crashed around, splintering the heavy branches underfoot.
My eyes narrowed again, and my mind whirred, calculating distances and angles.
I couldn’t wrest the trident out of the mermaid’s stone grip, but maybe the Scarab could.
“Hey, you!” I yelled. “Circuits for brains! Come and get me!”
I waved my hand and moved to the right, putting myself between the Scarab and the mermaid statue. The Scarab spun around, and its green eyes brightened, as though whoever was controlling the machine was determined to finally latch onto me.
“Hey!” I yelled again. “You want me? Then come and get me!”
The Scarab’s eyes brightened even more, and the machine rushed forward. I braced myself and waited for the Scarab to come closer.
At the last instant, right before the machine would have slammed into me, I lunged to the side.
The Scarab crashed directly into the mermaid, and the statue shattered on impact.
Chunks of white marble sailed through the air like misshapen snowballs, as did the trident, which chimed against the ground like a tuning fork.
While the Scarab careened to a halt, I darted forward and snatched up the trident. It was made of solid silver and even heavier and sturdier than I’d expected. Even better, each of the three large prongs ended in a razor-sharp point.
Clank. Clank-clank. Clank.
The Scarab whirled around and charged in my direction. My eyes narrowed, and I once again calculated distances and angles. The Scarab rushed forward and stretched its arm out toward me . . .
I spun to the side and stabbed out with the trident.
My aim was true, and I drove the three prongs deep into the machine’s left knee before ripping them right back out.
The Scarab tripped and went down in a heap, tumbling end over end, cracking flagstones and sending up sprays of stone shrapnel in its wake.
The second the machine slid to a halt, I darted forward and raised the trident again.
First, I stabbed the prongs into the machine’s right knee, tearing through its armor, along with the wires underneath.
The Scarab tried to stand, but its crippled knees wouldn’t support the rest of its heavy weight, and it toppled down and landed on its back.
The Scarab swiped a hand at me, but I ignored the awkward lurch and rammed the trident into the machine’s right elbow, then its left elbow.
With four quick strikes, I’d essentially turned the deadly machine into a black bug lying on its shell, fruitlessly kicking its ruined arms and legs in the air.
Once I was certain the Scarab couldn’t get back up, I leaned over the machine, raised the trident high, and stabbed it into the center of the Scarab’s breastplate.
The prongs didn’t penetrate as deeply as I’d hoped, so I wrenched the trident back and forth in short, violent motions.
Several satisfying snaps, cracks, and pop-pop-pops rang out as the prongs tore through the machine’s innards.
After several vicious twists, I yanked the trident free. The Scarab’s arms and legs fell limply to its sides, and not so much as a single mechanical finger twitched. I had disabled the awful machine.
I stepped forward and bent down so that I was staring into the Scarab’s eyes, which were still glowing a bright, vivid green. Just like with the overhead camera, I got the sense of someone looking at me through the lenses. My skin crawled with a mixture of anger and revulsion.
“I don’t know who you are or what you want, but we’re playing my game now,” I snarled. “And you’re going to lose a lot more than just this blasted machine.”
The Scarab’s eyes widened, almost as if whoever was on the other side of the lenses was gaping in shock. I raised the trident high and buried the prongs in the Scarab’s right eye.
Pewp!
A strange electronic wail erupted from the machine, almost as if it was begging for mercy, and its entire body shuddered, as though I had just struck the most vital part of it.
The green lights flickered, dimmed, and died in its eyes, and the Scarab sagged against the ground.
I yanked the trident free, raised a shaking hand, and wiped the sweat off my forehead.
A flare of light caught my eye. I tensed and straightened up.
For a moment, I thought my magic was pointing out another object or enemy, but this time, the light was coming from the holocuff clamped around my wrist. The device was showing my rapid heart rate, and I was willing to bet it was still transmitting my hologram to the control room, along with my location in the maze.
I crouched down, set the trident aside, and grabbed a chunk of the mermaid statue. Then I smashed the jagged stone onto the holoscreen embedded in the silver cuff.
Crack!
The screen shattered, but I kept going, hammering at the surrounding metal again and again.
Crack!
I finally hit the locking mechanism, and the cuff popped open and dropped from my wrist. Disgust curled through me, and I stood up and kicked it away.
“Try tracking me now,” I snarled.
I plucked the trident off the ground and once again considered my options. I could move deeper into the maze and try to find Kyrion, or I could go back the way I’d come and try to figure out what was going on in the facility.
Kyrion? Kyrion!
I called out, but he didn’t answer me, and I didn’t get the sense I was any closer to him. Frustration and worry pounded through my body in equal measure, but I forced myself to think coldly and logically.
As much as I wanted to find Kyrion, I was closer to the maze exit than I was to him. Plus, I didn’t know how many more Scarabs or other enemies might be between us. The smartest course of action was to backtrack and get out of the maze.
I hesitated, torn about leaving Kyrion behind, but the rogue Arrow could take care of himself.
Right now, I needed to figure out exactly who and what we were up against. I also needed to learn what had happened to Siya and Asterin.
My friends would never unleash a real Black Scarab on me, not even in a training exercise.
Every instinct I had was screaming that someone else was controlling the maze, which meant Siya and Asterin were in just as much danger as Kyrion and I were in.
I stared at the path that led out of the far side of the biodome and deeper into the maze. I’m coming back for you, Kyr, just as soon as I can.
There was no response, and I had no idea if he’d heard my whispered words or teasing nickname. But just making the promise sent fresh purpose, strength, and determination flowing through me. It was time to get out of this blasted maze and find out who was really pulling the strings around here.
My hand clenched around the hilt of the silver trident, and I twirled the weapon around into an attack position. Then I stepped over the lifeless shell of the Black Scarab, left the garden biodome behind, and went back the way I’d come.