Chapter 31
RHI
I love you, Rhi, and I need you here with me.
Nick’s voice envelopes me, wrapping me in a shroud of comfort. It jostles me awake, though I don’t open my eyes. They feel cemented shut, heavy with the weight of tears cried at seeing my daughter coupled with the thought that I might never see her again.
She had assured me I made the right choice, yet doubt still gnaws at my insides.
After all, what if this is all an elaborate trick by the Labyrinth?
What if that child was an illusion meant to trick me into a false sense of security?
What if—I take a rough swallow—me pushing Isadora through that Gate ultimately sent her to her death?
My body trembles as the all-too-familiar feeling of a panic attack takes hold. My breath stalls in my lungs as my heart thunders in my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing my brain to shut off and coax my body into a calmer state.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
Aside from Nick, only one other voice would force me to wrench my eyes open so I can glimpse her as though it might be the last time. Darkness cloaks the walls and floor, and I blink through the blanket of night to allow my eyesight to adjust.
My eyes water with grateful tears as the familiar scent of blossoms envelopes me.
I take in the brilliant shade of aquamarine hair with eyes to match contrasting with her dark olive skin.
Her warm smile lights up every comforting nerve cell in my body.
I stand and throw my arms around her, inhaling deeply.
“Liv.” Her name comes out on a breathy exhale just as her arms come around me. We break apart, her wide, welcoming still stretched across her mouth.
“Wait,” I pause, tilting my head to the side. “Is this a trick of the Labyrinth? Or am I hallucinating?” Another thought skitters across my brain, and my jaw drops in horror. “Oh gods, am I dead?”
Liv throws back her head in laughter. “Oh, Rhi. I’ve missed you.” She pulls me into a hug once more before drawing back. “And none of the above.” She cocks her head to the side, mimicking me. “Nick sent me.”
My thundering heart halts. “What do you mean, he sent you?”
Her smile softens to an almost melancholy curve. “I told you once, I don’t get to cross the River Styx often, but when the Devil himself summons you to protect the woman he loves, who also happens to be my best friend, how could I refuse?”
My own smile fights its way through the tears that have started to uncontrollably fall.
Thank you, I send to him.
There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Surely, you know that by now, he replies, his voice carrying a hint of relief.
I guess it pays to be fucking the Devil.
A throaty chuckle sounds in my head. No, love. It pays to have the Devil so besotted, he would tear apart the Afterlife to bring you someone you love that will guide you home.
Blood heats my cheeks, and Liv raises a brow. “Telepathy, huh?”
“Is that obvious?”
“I can practically see the conversation in your head,” she says with a smirk.
I sigh, wiping the wetness from my face. “So you’re going to get me out of here?”
Liv scrunches her tiny nose. “Ah, well, I’m going to guide you through the rest of the Labyrinth, but there is still one more trial you will have to face on your own before you win this whole damn thing. Think of me as the Virgil to your Dante.”
Laughter falls from my lips as I point a finger at her. “Just like The Odyssey. I CliffNoted that one too.”
Liv rolls her eyes, but a smile still paints her mouth, nonetheless. “Of course, you did.” She tosses a few strands of aquamarine hair over her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you back to Nick before he brings the apocalypse to Earth to get you home.”
My eyes widen. “Can he do that?”
“Do you really want to find out?”
“Point taken.”
I follow Liv as she turns from me, my heart singing despite the fact that I’m still stuck in this godsforsaken Labyrinth. One of the people I love most in the world is with me, and I will cherish every moment I get to spend with her.
“So,” I begin, settling beside her, “ how is…” I trail off, unsure how to finish my sentence. Death? Heaven? The Afterlife?
The corner of her mouth lifts. “It’s fine. Peaceful. But I miss everyone.”
I silently nod, somehow feeling like I’d be prying by asking what it’s like. And if I’m being honest with myself, do I really want to know?
“I’d hoped to be there when Scar and Astrid get married one day. When you and Nick have children,” she continues, voice low and shaky, before she swivels her gaze sideways. “That was her, you know.”
“I know,” I reply softly. “She looked exactly like me, but with his eyes.”
Liv is silent for a moment as a comforting breeze dances across my heated shoulders, bringing with it the scent of salt and sea foam. “I know you’ve seen him too.”
I lick my lips, reaching for my water satchel.
“I did. I saw them both, in Nick’s memories.
” My thoughts wander to the little boy I’d seen, no older than five or six, with raven-black hair and his father’s smile.
But where his sister was gifted the color of her father’s eyes, our son had a shocking separation of mine: one green and one blue.
“Why did she come to me and not our son?” I ask, not quite sure if I am actually directing the question to Liv or just thinking out loud.
Another hint of smile as Liv keeps her pace steady. “Because daughters know their mother’s hearts as well as their own.”
And just like that, my heart is bursting. I take a swig of water.
“But it wasn’t really her,” I argue, drawing in a sharp breath. “She doesn’t exist yet.” She probably won’t for quite a while.
Liv doesn’t answer, so I sigh and glance up at the onyx, moonless sky.
“Liv, are Nick and I—” I swallow, taking a breath.
“Are we going to get out of here?” There are so many more things I want to ask her, but I feel as though this question umbrellas all of them.
After all, asking if I’ll ever see my parents or the girls again can be confirmed through one simple response to my first question.
“I can’t answer that,” she replies, avoiding my gaze.
My stomach sinks.
Liv stops and turns, placing her hands on my shoulders so I face her. “Rhi, you are undoubtedly the most stubborn, unrelenting, pig-headed—”
“Whoa, wait a second,” I protest, but Liv grins.
“Bravest, selfless, compassionate person I know.”
“That’s better,” I grumble.
“I wholeheartedly believe you will do whatever it takes to get you and Nick out of Hell. Do you?”
I meet her shimmering, aquamarine eyes. Hope is what stares back at me. Of all the things Liv encompasses, hope was always the most abundant.
“Yes,” I answer with complete conviction.
She nods. “Good.” Her hands fall from my shoulders, and we continue walking in companionable silence. I follow each twist and turn she makes around the Labyrinth, putting full faith into her guiding me where I’m supposed to be.
We make small talk here and there, with Liv asking mostly about the girls.
“B and Zo are one sex-starved glare away from fucking each other,” I tell her as she laughs. “If they aren’t already.”
Liv shakes her head slightly, as if to imply it’s already happened. I’m inclined to believe she knows this, just as she knew about my daughter, which reminds me of something else she said.
“So Astrid and Scar are going to get married, huh?”
Liv winces as she takes a right around another corner. “I would say you misheard, but is that hard to believe?”
“Not at all. Now they are only one smoldering stare away from being like me and Nick—” My feet root themselves to the ground. “Oh my gods, Liv—” She stops and arches her brow, her chin over her shoulder. “Astrid and Scar are soulmates, aren’t they?”
That familiar demure smile graces her features, and my heart swells at the non-verbal confirmation. I practically skip back to her side. Beaming, I continue to walk beside her, feeling lighter and more at ease than I have in months.
“I miss the girls,” I admit. “I spent weeks after Nick’s death in solitude, and when they tried to stop me from coming alone, I was less than accommodating.
” Liv glances at me but says nothing. “I just hate to think that was the last time I am ever going to see them, and I was a shell of myself—and a bitch, frankly.”
“Rhi, you know they forgive you. They forgave you the minute you stepped on to that train. We are all well aware of your desire to protect the people you love. While admirable, it also comes out as…monstrous, sometimes.” A wicked grin slants her lips.
“It’s the Cancer in me.”
“I mean, you did eat a person,” she reminds.
“Two, but who’s counting?”
We both burst out laughing. My laughter is freeing, untethering me from the guilt I’ve felt ever since I committed to rescuing Nick and left the girls in the aftermath of my grief.
It is short-lived, however, when Liv slows her steps as we approach the mouth of a cave, engulfed in darkness.
Liv faces me once more, her expression and typically playful eyes somber.
“This is where I leave you. You are the last survivor of the Harrowing. The other contestant has died. Through there,” she gestures toward the unending blackness, “is your only way out of this Labyrinth. I can’t tell you what’s coming, but I can tell you it won’t be easy.
It will likely be your most difficult trial yet, but I know you, Rhi.
You are going to keep your promise to Nick and return to him no matter the cost.”
She pulls me in for a fierce hug, and I grip her tightly, knowing this is likely the last time I will ever see her again.
“I’ve got you, Rhi,” she whispers.
“I know.” A single tear trickles down my cheek. “I’ve got you too.”
We move apart, and I glance towards the mouth of the cave before pressing my lips together in a tight smile. “Thank you for everything.”
Liv nods, smiling back, and I walk towards the giant mouth of the cave, the entrance seemingly encased in nothing but inky blackness.
I’m only two steps from entering when Liv calls out my name, and I turn toward her voice.
“I told you once to look for me here.” She places her palm over the left side of her chest. “But when all seems lost, don’t forget to look for them too.”
Them? My mouth parts to reply, but in between one heartbeat and the next, Liv is gone.
Tired of crying, I bite down on my tongue, the welcome taste of copper spilling into my mouth. I grit my teeth and draw my shoulders back as I finally enter the cave.
Even with the blood of a Titan and monstrous abilities, my eyes have a hard time adjusting to this oppressive darkness.
One blink, and my eyes are that of Scylla, which immediately allows my vision to penetrate this blanket of black.
The cave itself is nothing out of the ordinary, with small stalagmites flanking the rocky walls and dripping from the ceiling.
I move through cautiously, my surroundings eerily quiet, as though whatever lurks in this cave is so lethal, it has repelled any other sinister creature.
The steady thrum of my pulse is my only company, and I’m well aware of the soft inhale and exhale of my own breath.
I’m reminded of traveling through Nyx’s cave, and gods, what I would do to have Nick by my side.
I’m right here, he sends to me. I’m always with you.
I smile at his voice, a resurgence of courage rocketing through my blood. This is it. The last fucking trial. I get through this, and I get to return to him, just as I promised.
The air thins and turns frigid the deeper I move through the cave. Odd, considering the gleaming rays of orange I can make out about one hundred yards ahead. If that’s fire, it’s the largest one I’ve ever seen, one that emits no warmth.
As I get closer, however, the gleam scintillates, and I realize it is no fire. It’s not even light. It’s something shimmering, its shine so brilliant, I fight the urge to shield my eyes.
A little closer, and I stand before an enormous cavern. Indeed, there are torches along the walls, but not large enough to emit the blinding, beaconing light I’d seen as I approached. That light emanates from the last thing I expected to see.
Gold.
Mounds upon mounds of glittering gold coins. Wide-eyed, I step into the cavern, finding gems sprinkled among the mounds of gold like sparkling confetti. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires. Other objects such as small chests and scepters decorate the mountains of gold.
“Holy shit,” I breathe. This cavern is worth a fucking fortune.
But what is it even doing here?
I step around the golden mounds with trepidation, careful not to touch anything. Between watching Indiana Jones and The Mummy, only a fool would touch any piece of gold just laid out for them on a silver platter.
Winding my way through the room, I make it about halfway before I notice what appears to be a shimmering, oval curtain with the backdrop of a palace. My heart speeds up as I recognize the spires and limestone exterior of that palace.
That’s my fucking way out.
It takes all my self-control not to just sprint through the room and disturb the piles of treasure sitting like sentries ready to strike upon a simple touch. So, I move slowly, my heart gathering speed the closer I make it to this portal, the closer I am to my escape.
The closer I am to him.
With less than ten feet to go, it happens.
I’m too sure of my victory, too confident in my steps.
I don’t notice a long rod beneath my feet until I trip over it and nearly face plant into one of the few mounds of gold left.
Coins rain down to the ground beneath my palms as my body shakes the foundation of the golden hill.
I wince then peer upward, waiting for something of epic proportions to happen.
The ground to shake. The earth to cave in on itself. But nothing does.
Blowing out a breath, I right myself, but an odd gem within the center of the mound catches my eye. It’s an unsettling color, an eerie, sickly yellow, and quite large. It’s much larger than a gem, and—
I stifle a scream as a scaly, black lid closes over the yellow orb. Now, the ground does shake as the mound grows higher, more coins and gems raining down. I backtrack, moving away from the portal, from my only escape as a creature from my worst nightmares reveals itself.
More mounds dissipate as it shakes its long black tail, its spiked tip just as gruesome as I remember it.
The creature rises before me, a sheen of revenge in its three terrifying eyes, the center an icy blue.
My scream catches in my throat as it opens its wide mouth in a deadly roar, revealing rows upon rows of crude, monstrous fangs.
I blink rapidly, begging for this to be a dream, but there is no mistaking that it is him, the monster who devoured innocent young women and took my best friend from me.
Nick’s uncle.
The Prince of Hell.
Leviathan