Chapter 27 Star
My head cocks to the side as I stare at the woman who just floated down from the starry sky. “I know you,” I say.
Even though I don’t know her and I didn’t plan on saying that, once the words are out, I know them to be true. “I know you,” I repeat.
She smiles at me. It’s a smile that lands somewhere between creepy and scary.
But it’s Aric who speaks next. “Nyx,” he growls.
It’s a serious growl and looking over at him, still breathing heavy and covered in blood from the fight, I find him almost unrecognizable. “What the hell are you doing here?”
In the few moments that have passes since the Minotaur’s death and the appearance of Nyx, apparently, both Declan and Quaid have found their way over to me. They stand on either side of my shoulders, a little bit in front, as if to protect me.
As if Nyx is a threat.
While the woman does seem familiar, I don’t actually know who she is. Obviously, some kind of goddess, but I was never a particularly good history student so what she represents to Aric and our current circumstances, I have no clue.
Nyx is not looking at Aric though, she’s got her gaze locked on me. Again, her smile is off-putting, but I can’t quite explain why.
I’m just about to start asking questions, when the ground beneath our feet begins to rumble.
“What the hell is that?” Quaid asks, looking down at the ground, then up at the ceiling.
“The Labyrinth,” Aric says, still growling as he directs a glaring gaze at the goddess.
He steps towards the guys and me, cutting in front of us as if he’s taken on the role of ultimate protector, and begins to circle her.
“This time it was real, wasn’t it?” Aric asks. “The Minotaur is really dead.”
“And thus,” Nyx says, tipping her head up in a gesture of authority and relaxing her shoulders to fold her hands in front of her long, flowing black gown. “It must crumble. The game has been won.”
“By us!” Declan shouts.
Nyx finally directs her attention to someone other than Aric and me and looks over at him. “That’s correct, son of Hermes. You all won. Which is why I’m here. Would you like to claim your prize?”
“What prize?” Quaid asks. After getting to know him in some very stressful situations, I’ve gotten the impression that Quaid is not a ‘riddles’ guy. He likes straightforward, logical conversations, so his impatient side is showing. “And what do you have to do with it?”
Slowly her gaze finds his, and at the same time, her arms rise up, her finger stretched out, pointing behind him. Which is behind me, so we all turn and look at the portal.
“Paradise!” I say. “We can go now!”
“Not so fast, little Starling,” Nyx says. And again, that creepy smile appears on her face. “You can’t pass through as you are.”
“Here it comes,” Aric sighs, rolling his eyes. “The catch.” He makes air quotes with his fingers for those words.
“Indeed, son of Ares, there is a catch when it comes to portal magic. Especially when the objective is…” She trains her gaze right on me. “Paradise.”
“All right, let’s just get to the point here, can we?” Quaid says, ever the pragmatist. “There’s something happening to the maze and I don’t like it.”
As if on cue, again the ground rumbles deep beneath our feet. But this time, a crack appears in the stone floor. Not a big one, only about an inch wide, but what the hell? What is happening?
“Fine,” Nyx says, shrugging up one shoulder. Obviously untroubled by the shifting earth. “The doors to Paradise are open, but not permeable. Look, see for yourself.”
Since the room is circular and there are portal archways around the perimeter, we all find one to study without moving. They are not a clear and open doorway to indicate that we can walk through them, but they are more transparent than they were when we first arrived.
The death of the Minotaur had some effect on their permeability, but didn’t open them completely.
“If you want to go to Paradise, you must give up all your godly gifts,” Nyx says.
“What’s that mean?” Declan asks. But he’s not looking at Nyx, he’s looking at Quaid. And I find it interesting that the trust between us has developed to such a stage where Quaid is the one we turn to for facts. He’s our fountain of logic, I guess.
Quaid is shaking his head. “If you’re telling me that I have to give up my glasses to walk through that door to Paradise—”
“What?” Nyx cuts him off. “You don’t think it’s a fair trade?” She points to me. “Star isn’t worth the price of your rental tech?”
This is a biting insult. By highlighting the fact that his godly gift is borrowed, she basically just called him Mr. Nobody. And Quaid is smart and astute enough to understand this, and for a few moments, he is at a loss for words.
Nyx directs her attention to Aric. “And what about you? Do you feel the silly belt buckle is worth more than a lifetime in Paradise with a woman you could love? A woman who would love you back?” Her eyes dart to meet mine.
“A woman who could give you a family? The family you’ve always craved but were never offered by a god who saw you as something to be cultivated, instead of loved? ”
“Who are you?” I blurt. “And why do we care what you think about any of this?”
“I’m the goddess of the night, Pleiades Eight, that’s who I am. You live in my womb.” She points up at the night sky above her head. It’s still twirling, the stars leaving a circular white trail that indicates the passing of time.
I point up as well. “That’s my power. I saw it. I’m the one who makes the time pass. I’m the one who puts the cosmos on the right track. Because I’m the one who can make the Pleiades the center of the universe.”
For a moment, I think I see surprise on her face. But she quickly hides it before speaking. “You’ve figured it out then.”
“I saw it in the dream. I spin things. And this is how time passes.”
“Do you know why the Pleiades aren’t the center of the universe?
Did your little dream tell you that?” It didn’t.
But she knew this before she asked the question because she doesn’t wait for an answer.
“It’s because of me. Everything that has happened to you since you were twelve was because of me. ”
“You?” I say, shocked by her words. “Why? Why did you interfere in my life like that?”
“Not just yours,” Aric says. “She did the same thing to me.”
Nyx shoots him a smarmy look. “Oh, please. Let’s be real now. It wasn’t me who put you here, Aric. It was your father, Ares.”
But Aric isn’t looking at her. He’s looking at me. “She’s my stepmom.”
“Whoa,” Declan chuckles. “I had no idea.”
“No one knows,” Aric says, looking back at Nyx now. “She wanted it that way because—”
“Because I was protecting my daughter,” Nyx hisses.
“Please tell me that’s not me,” I say. Feeling ill.
“It’s not you,” Quaid says. “Her daughter is Eris.”
Which makes Declan cackle. “That makes sense, That bitch is nothing but discord and strife. Like literally,” he says, his voice playful. “She’s the fuckin’ goddess of discord and strife.”
“Hmmm,” I hum. “I see. But what does any of this have to do with me?”
“Excellent question,” Aric says. “What is your part in this game?”
But before Nyx can answer, the floor below our feet begins to roll. Like it’s made of water instead of stone. And I find myself putting my arms out like a surfer, trying to ride it.
“Whatever it is you’re doing,” Aric yells, “stop it right now! We’re not gonna be hurried into a decision because you’re playing magic tricks on us.”
Again, Nyx does not look concerned about the state of the rolling floor.
She lifts her chin as if to imply messing around with the power of earthquakes is beneath her.
“This isn’t me, you stupid child. This is the death of the Labyrinth.
You’ve killed the Minotaur in his lair, stepson.
The game is over and you have won.” She pans her hands wide to indicate the room. “Your prize is an open portal.”
“Obviously,” Quaid hisses. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
“Like how to get through them,” Declan adds.
“I already did,” Nyx sneers. “Give me your godly possessions and the doors will open. Each one will allow one soul to pass through. Plenty of doors here for the four of you.”
“And you?” I ask. “Are you coming with us?”
She places a hand on her heart. “While I would love to remain your guardian for all of time, little Star, I’m afraid I must take my leave of you at this point.
You see, in order for you to pass through, you must give your station of Pleiades Eight back to me.
I am the womb of the sky, after all. And as thus, I have to remain behind to keep the stars shining. ”
Then she looks at Aric. “What you need to give up is that stupid belt buckle. And the knife, of course.”
Her gaze finds Quaid. “And, as discussed—your glasses.”
“What about me?” Declan asks. “I mean…” He kinda scoffs here. “I don’t have any godly possessions.”
Nyx laughs. “Of course you do! You’re the son Hermes!”
“You mean his ears?” I ask. “What the actual fuck! He’s not cutting off his ears and handing them to you!”
As if in protest against my declaration, the ground rumbles so loud, and with such power, that all four of us go tilting sideways. I actually fall over—only Aric’s quick grip on my arms prevents me from smashing into the stone floor!
“Well, I’m sure Declan won’t mind staying behind,” Nyx says. “But the rest of you had better get a move on because the Labyrinth is failing fast.”
I look over at Declan, my heart suddenly hurting at the thought of leaving him behind. “No,” I whisper. I don’t want to say that because it implies that I’m OK with this witch of a goddess taking his power in the form of his cute little winged ears, but I can’t help it.
I can’t imagine a future, in Paradise or otherwise, where Declan isn’t there with us.
He’s mine.
Declan lets out a breath, his eyes locked on me. “Before you ditch that knife, Aric, put it to use one more time.”
Quaid lets out a breath. “Wow.”