Organizing the Orc (Monsters of the Labyrinth #2)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

CLEM.

The sea sparkles and the sun shines out of a perfect blue sky. Lying on a lounger, sipping on a pina colada and wearing my new polka-dot pink bikini, I should be happy.

But all I want to do is cry.

The resort I’m staying at is called Paradise Beach, but the truth is, it’s a fake paradise.

The sea is actually a giant wave pool; the squeaky white sand is trucked in.

The sky is an illuminated backdrop you can never reach.

And it doesn’t matter how hard you swim, the waves will always push you right back to exactly where you started.

Welcome to Sparkle City, with its beach resorts and entertainment, nightclubs and stadiums, the glittering billboards and high-rise buildings promising an endless round of fun.

The whole city, housing fifty thousand of us humans, sits under a huge, sealed dome to avoid the polluted air on Earth.

Air that has been unbreathable since the apocalypse four hundred years ago.

At least, that’s what we’ve all been told. But lately, the story is showing seismic cracks.

And the problem is, I know too much about what’s really going on.

Like, way, waaaay too much.

To get you up to speed, my best friend Samantha Buggins—aka Sammy—ran off with a minotaur three months ago.

Yep, you heard me—a minotaur. And that’s only the tip of the story, because it turns out there’s a whole labyrinth of monsters living under Sparkle City.

They’ve been kept secret from us humans for centuries, toiling away in underground tunnels, mining for our raw materials and manufacturing everything else that we buy.

Oh, and add to that, my brother Jax, who’s one of the few humans that work between Sparkle and the Labyrinth, hasn’t contacted me for weeks. I’m worried sick about what might have happened to him.

All of this crapfest is going through my mind as I try to relax on my vacation. I’d rather not be here, but you don’t get to choose when you take holidays. DeVines department store, where I work, allocates employees’ time off.

I was due to come here with Sammy, but after she got sacked from DeVines by our horrible boss, Marsha Winters, she bumped into Arlo (the minotaur) that very same day in the parking lot. The next thing I knew, she’d got a job as his minder in the Labyrinth.

And then they fell in love.

So that’s why I’m here all on my lonesome feeling kinda sad and anxious. I don’t blame Sammy for leaving, neither of us have had any luck with guys here. Sparkle men are selfish jerks.

Good on her for finding a guy with horns and hooves who worships the ground she walks on.

Only trouble is, she can’t come back and visit me. The authorities know about her liaison with a minotaur, which means it’s too dangerous for her to be seen in Sparkle. And right now, I’m too chicken to go and find her.

I’m trying to push all those thoughts away, and wondering whether to go and float in the water for a while, when I realize there’s a guy standing next to me.

“Hey there, cutie.”

I glance up. He’s wearing mirrored sunglasses. His blond hair is flicked back to show his chiseled features. He smiles, and I’m almost blinded by his white teeth. “Want company?”

I shrug. “Not really.”

“Well, you’ve got it sweetheart.” He slithers down onto the lounger next to me and clicks his fingers at the waiter, who scurries over. He crosses his ankles lazily, orders a Negroni. Doesn’t say please. Doesn’t say thank you.

Black mark.

I like manners. If a guy thanks me for a fuck I might choose to see him again.

Might.

I side-eye him so hard I’m getting eye strain.

His swimming trunks are slung low over ripped tan abs.

And he sure is packing something in there.

His trunks are striped and the stripes bulge.

He’s the sort of mega-watt good looking dude I’ve dated so many times before.

Disastrously, I might add. But… my sex life is a barren desert, has been for months, and at least he’s decent eye candy.

“Darian.” He leans over and extends a hand. Reluctantly, I shake it.

“Clem,” I say, wriggling my hand out of his grip and picking up my pina colada.

That movie star smile flashes again to match his diamond-cut jaw with its perfect smattering of designer stubble. Most women would rate him a 12 out of 10.

Strangely though, nothing is happening in my lady parts. My pussy is unimpressed, there’s not even a tiny ember glowing in my clit.

“Having a nice time here, sweetheart?”

“Last time I checked I wasn’t your sweetheart.”

“You could be though, if you play your cards right.”

“That’s not on my agenda.” Fucker, I add under my breath. I am going from lukewarm, to ice-cold frigid in a matter of seconds.

“Maybe I can change your mind?” He shifts to face me. I slurp my pina colada loudly through the straw in the hope of putting him off.

“How long are you staying at Paradise?” he asks.

“Two weeks.”

“Me too. Must be fate,” he purrs.

I shudder at the thought of dodging him for days. Okay, it’s time to hightail it out of here. I’m done with guys like this. All hot air and premature ejaculations.

‘Gotta go, I’ve a facial booked,” I lie, slamming down my glass and jumping up.

“It couldn’t make you more beautiful than you already are.”

“Thanks.” I hope my tone conveys my utter contempt.

“See you at the bar later.”

I shrug. “Whatever.” Not if I see you first, I hiss under my breath as I wind the towel round my waist, feeling his mirrored gaze cling to me like sticky tape.

I throw my beach bag over my shoulder and stalk off toward the hotel complex.

A crowd of girls get out of the elevator carrying beach balls and dolphin shaped lilos. They’re all wearing tiny bikinis, all excited to have fun on their vacation.

Giggling, they jostle past me, making me feel old, even though I’m barely twenty-five. I stare at the control panel, forgetting which floor my room is on. Is it the tenth or the eleventh? I pull out my key card and look at it.

Room 1015.

When the elevator pings, I stalk off down the thickly carpeted corridor lined with identical doors, soft music piping out of speakers above my head. Everything is just how you’d expect it to be, but as I walk, I get this prickly feeling on my scalp and the back of my neck. Like I’m not alone.

What if the jerk from the beach is following me? I glance over my shoulder. There’s no-one in sight, the corridor behind me empty.

Relax, Clem.

Even so, the feeling doesn’t go away, and I pick up my pace as I near my room.

As I hold the key card to the pad on the door, I’m certain someone is right behind me. Another quick glance over my shoulder. No-one there. I open the door, slip inside and make to shut it real fast, but something—or someone—is pushing it back.

Panicking, I try to slam the door, and then I see a booted foot on the ground, then another following me into the room—no legs, just boots.

The door slams behind us and I’m marched backward by two floating hands until my calves hit the side of the bed.

I lose my balance and sprawl onto the mattress.

I open my mouth and let out a scream. A familiar voice growls, “Shut it, Clem.”

And suddenly a guy materializes in front of me.

It’s not the jerk from the beach.

It’s another jerk altogether.

My brother, Jax.

“What the fuck, Jax!” I shout at him.

Jax is looking his usual disheveled self.

Tall and lean, with arrowed cheekbones and bright green eyes, a shadow of beard on his jaw.

His wavy dark hair skims the collar of his black t-shirt.

Stovepipe jeans are tucked into his buckled boots, and a ring of fire tattoo on his bicep covers one of his many scars.

And right now, he’s smirking like he thinks he’s real clever.

In his hand he’s gripping a sparkling, twinkling cape, looking for all the world as if he’s just emerged from a magic circus act.

“Is this your idea of a fucking joke?” I scowl as I scramble up to sitting.

“No joke.”

“You were invisible.”

“Yeah, that’s the portal cape. It’s the only way I could get in here without being seen.”

My mouth drops open as the cape in his hand emits a volley of sparks. “Was that the cape Arlo wore when he met Sammy?”

“The very same.”

I frown. “Why didn’t you come through the official portal?”

“And get into a hotel without being noticed? Fat chance.”

He’s got a point. Jax works as a peripheral on the outer edge of our domed city.

He’s one of the humans who bring goods up from the Labyrinth to Sparkle via huge portal elevators with armed guards around them.

(Best kept secret ever—most folks in Sparkle haven’t even heard of the Periphery, unless, like me, they have a relative who’s been sent there for breaking the rules.)

Peripherals aren’t allowed in the center of Sparkle, and since everyone carries ID, Jax wouldn’t have got into the resort without being questioned.

“You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe,” I hiss at him.

“It’s not safe for you either,” he growls. “I’ve come to rescue you.”

“W-wha—?”

“I’m taking you to the Labyrinth.”

I bounce off the bed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He glances over his shoulder at the door. “Not the right moment to explain.”

“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me what this is all about.”

“Fuck, Clem. Just trust me for once, will you?” Jax growls.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you! You’re always so secretive, why should I?” Hands on my hips, I try to outstare him. “Just tell me the truth—are you working for the monsters?”

Jax’s jaw tightens as we glare at each other.

Truth is, my brother is a wild card. An enigma.

When our mom disappeared fifteen years ago, Jax turned from a happy-go-lucky thirteen-year-old into a seriously troubled teen.

After he was caught drilling holes in the dome’s wall (he told me afterward he thought mom might have escaped to Earth, which was crazy—she would never be able to breathe the air out there), he got sent to a remand school and later, to work as a peripheral.

Three years ago he got badly bitten and clawed by monsters. That’s when I found out about the Labyrinth. I had to take him to hospital in Sparkle and pretend he’d had a car accident.

I sensed back then he was a monster sympathizer, despite the fact they’d nearly killed him.

“Well.” I glare harder. “Are you? Working for them?”

Finally, Jax breaks the silence. “Yeah. Kind of.”

“I knew it,” I crow. “You’re a double agent.”

“Zip it, Clem,” he hisses. “The guy chatting you up on the beach back there isn’t called Darian. His real name’s Paul Brant. He’s shadowing you, and any minute now he’ll be knocking on this door.”

My mouth falls open. “He’s just a Sparkle jerk.”

“I promise you he’s not. Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

“I can’t just disappear, Jax. I’ve got a job, an apartment, commitments.”

“I’ve got a much better job for you down there.”

“What kind of job?”

“Admin. For the sheriff.”

“What! And you want me to go like this?” I glance down at my bikini clad body.

He rolls his eyes. “Okay, grab some clothes, but be quick.”

I dash over to my closet and start rifling through garments when there’s a loud rap at the door.

“Clem Summers. Open up.”

It sounds like jerk guy, but his tone sure has changed.

“See? I told you,” Jax hisses at me.

The banging on the door gets more insistent.

“We gotta get out of here. No time for clothes.” Jax strides over and in seconds he’s flung the cloak around both of our shoulders. Then his arms circle me in a bear hug.

“Hold on,” he whispers close to my ear, “This is going to feel weird as fuck.”

There’s a loud whoosh in my ears. A crazy cacophony of sounds and pressure bearing down on every part of my body. With Jax’s arms still around me, we tumble. My face turns to jelly, and my insides feel like they’re being pulled apart and put back someplace else.

And then we hit a hard surface. I let out a grunt. Jax has let go of me and I have no idea where I am. All I know is the ground is cold stone, and every bit of me feels like it’s been fed through a paper shredder.

Finally, I manage to open my eyes. I register light. Not the bright fake sunshine of Paradise Beach, more like the gentle flickering of lanterns.

I blink, disoriented. Somewhere, I hear Jax groaning, “Shit. That was a rough ride.”

“What the fuck!” growls a deep, gruff voice.

I squint upward.

There’s a big shadowy blob towering over me.

Gradually, I manage to focus my gaze.

And focus some more.

It’s not a blob. It’s a huge green monster with massive shoulders.

Two red eyes stare down at me. A square green jaw juts into my face, and bushy eyebrows beetle down over those glowing ember eyes. But what holds my terrified gaze in thrall are the two gleaming white tusks at either corner of the monster’s mouth.

Oh shit, I think it’s going to eat me.