Chapter 20
Alette
The labyrinth stretches endlessly around us, twisting and turning without mercy. Every path looks the same. Every step feels pointless. Still, we keep moving, as if slowing down might give the labyrinth time to notice us.
I tell myself we’re getting closer to the end.
I have to tell myself that. Because the other possibility—that we’ve been walking in circles, that we’re trapped here forever—is enough to break me.
The hedges seem to rise higher the farther we walk.
Their leaves whisper to one another in low, restless murmurs, a sound that follows us no matter how fast or slow we move.
The shadows from the leaves stretch unnaturally long, reaching across the path like fingers, as if they’re trying to pull us back. Trying to keep us here.
The air feels wrong. Too still. Too heavy.
The labyrinth isn’t just a place. It’s a thing. A living thing that’s waiting for us.
I can feel it in the way no one speaks. In the way our footsteps sound too loud against the earth, like an intrusion. In the way every instinct I have screams that we’ve already crossed some invisible line, and everything around us knows we’re here.
And it’s only a matter of time before it comes for us.
Ahead, a metal tunnel appears, gaping open like a dark, looming throat, threatening to swallow us whole.
My instincts scream at me to hesitate, but what’s the point?
I couldn’t make it back home now, through the twisting paths, no matter how hard I tried.
Ahead is the only way out. Or doubling back to another path that might have something far worse.
I stop, eyeing the tunnel warily, its cold, uninviting surface glinting ominously in the muted light. The others halt beside me, and I sense their tension radiating from them. No one likes this tunnel any more than I do.
“There’s no way around except through it,” I murmur, my voice trembling slightly as I try to muster the confidence I don’t quite feel.
“We should go through it,” Oberon says, taking a small step forward.
“It’s clearly a trap,” Cassius responds, his eyes narrowing as he studies the structure.
“Or it’s nothing,” Sylvian argues.
“Or it’s a trap, but there will be a different kind of trap in the other direction,” Oberon says coldly.
Ashton raises an eyebrow, that infuriating smirk tugging at his lips. “Well, Alette, you’re in charge. What should we do?”
What should we do? My heart hammers as I step forward and squint, trying to look as deeply into the tunnel as I can, but it’s just black.
Oberon appears at my side, and fire leaps into his hand.
We both lean forward, but still, most of the tunnel is in darkness.
Nothing I can see is particularly alarming though.
It’s mostly just unsettling because this tunnel is unexpected, suspicious, appearing like something we conjured out of our thoughts, the next thing the labyrinth might throw at us.
“I think… I think we should go through it,” I reply, trying to sound more confident than I feel.
Oberon looks pleased.
Cassius simply lifts a brow but doesn’t argue.
“Let’s just go quickly,” I say. “In and out.”
“Ashton is good at going in and out quickly,” Sylvian jokes, but I don’t understand.
“Sylvian is just never invited in,” Ashton throws back.
I look at Cassius, confused.
He shrugs. “You can’t take the stable out of the stallion.”
As if that’s helpful.
Nervous, I focus back on the tunnel, taking a deep breath.
We’ll be quick. It’s just a tunnel. Nothing more than that.
With a final glance at the fleeting light of the open air around us, I step forward into the tunnel.
A metallic sound rings through the tunnel as my boot hits the ground.
Withdrawing my dagger, it instantly lights up blue, chasing some of the shadows of the tunnel away.
“Guys…?”
Sylvian slips his hand in mine. “It’s okay. We’re here.”
“You’re not alone. We’re with you,” Cassius says close behind me.
Oberon’s fire is there, just at the edge of my vision. “One foot after the next.”
Somehow, they make me feel better.
As we continue forward, each step resonates in the tight space, the sound echoing ominously as if the walls themselves are closing in around us. But there’s no turning back now. The only way out of this maze is to keep going forward.
I can’t go home until this is done.
Without warning, there’s a grinding noise, a deep rumble that reverberates through the tunnel, making the ground tremble beneath my feet. “What the hell is that?”
“Run! Back the way we came!” Cassius shouts.
We turn and start running. Except, there’s no exit. Nothing except a wall.
“It closed,” I say, my voice several octaves too high.
“Maybe out the other way!”
Our group turns, but then the entire tunnel starts shaking. Harder. Faster. Before I know it, the sides start to close in. I take a few steps toward the other end of the tunnel, but my feet… they sloosh.
“Is that water?” I ask, voice shaking. “Why is there water?”
“Fuck!” Oberon shouts.
Without a word, we rush to the other side of the tunnel, but unsurprisingly, it’s closed too. We start to beat our hands against the metal walls, but nothing gives.
“What is this?” I cry, even though a picture is beginning to form in my mind. A picture of us drowning in this metal coffin.
Cassius steps forward, no doubt on his face. “I’ll do what I can with the water, but freezing it won’t help and moving it won’t help for long. Eventually this space will fill up. We have to find a way out of here.” His hand rises to summon the power of water as if he can curb the rising tide.
Which, he can’t. If the tunnel keeps filling up with water, there’s nothing he can do to stop it.
Water pours through dozens of tiny holes near the floor. It comes fast. Too fast. It’s cold as death as it slams into my boots and climbs higher without mercy.
My breath catches. There’s no stopping it.
Within seconds, it reaches our calves, the icy current dragging at my legs as if it’s already trying to pull me under. The sound is deafening in the narrow metal tunnel. Roaring, relentless, filling every inch of space and thought.
I tighten my grip on my dagger and raise it higher. Its blade burns with pale, steady light, the magic inside it flaring in answer to my fear. The glow trembles across the metal walls, reflecting in broken flashes across rising water and steel.
Oberon’s fire continues to burn in his own hand beside me, his flames blazing hot and wild, casting violent shadows that twist and distort the tunnel around us.
The light reveals everything. The water climbing higher. The walls closing in. And the kings. For the first time since I met them, there is no calm control. No confidence. Only tension carved into their faces, their bodies coiled and ready, searching desperately for a way out that may not exist.
The water keeps rising, and the labyrinth doesn’t care if we drown.
“How do we get out of here?” I ask, my voice shaking.
Everyone continues pounding on the walls, the sounds of metal clanging against flesh echoing in the confined space, but it’s no use. The water’s rising too fast, and the walls, the tunnel itself, feel like it’s closing in on us, suffocating us.
Is this really how it ends?
Cassius, Sylvian, and Ashton slowly stop pounding on the walls, seeming to realize the same thing as me, that that’s not going to help us escape, but if anything, Oberon pounds harder and harder.
He moves from one side of the tunnel to the other, almost in a panic, pounding until I’m sure his hands are bleeding.
“Oberon,” I whisper. I’m scared, but he’s not accomplishing anything.
He keeps pounding more and more frantically.
“Oberon!” I say again, my own fear somehow less than the fear radiating off of him.
Not sure what else to do, I grab Oberon by the face and turn him to face me. “Oberon?”
His eyes are wild. His terror is impossible to hide.
“I hate small spaces,” he whispers, and there’s desperation in his voice.
The sight of him, usually so fierce and commanding, sends a pang of empathy through me. “Oberon? I’m here. You’re not alone.”
A shudder rolls through his body. But his only response is to close his eyes. He’s visibly struggling as he lowers his forehead to touch mine.
My fingers caress his jaw. “It’s going to be okay,” I say softly, even though I’m not sure I believe it.
“I don’t—” His words cut off, and he suddenly seems to lose his composure completely. “I can’t—”
Continuing to stroke his jaw, our foreheads touching, I try to send him calming energy, even though I don’t feel it. In response, he reaches out and grips my arms, pulling me even closer.
“I have to find a way out of this. I have to get us out of this.”
“We’ll figure something out,” I reassure, even though I can feel the water continuing to rise, now at my hips.
Oberon suddenly pulls back, his voice wild with desperation. “I can turn the water into steam.”
Flames leap into both of his hands, and he faces them down into the water. Steam instantly begins to rise, filling the air. It’s shockingly hot against the freezing water. I cough, the air suddenly thicker.
“Oberon!” Cassius shouts. “Stop! You’ll make it worse!”
But he’s not listening. His focus is entirely on the fire, on the steam.
On stopping the rising water. The air grows thicker, the steam filling the tunnel, choking the air with its damp heaviness.
I struggle to breathe, my lungs constricting as the steam fills the narrow space, cutting off what little air remains.
I can feel the heat rising, can sense the claustrophobia increasing, the sensation of everything closing in on me so intense that I clench the bright dagger so hard that my hand hurts.
“Oberon, please!” I scream, my voice ringing with desperation as I reach for him, the panic surging through me like wildfire.
I pull him toward me, forcing him to stop the fire coming from his hands, then I wrap my arms around him as we both cough, gasping for air. “Stop. Please. You’re not helping.”
He’s silent for a moment, his body trembling against mine, and I can feel his fear mingling with my own. I hold him tighter, trying to steady his breathing, but it’s hard to keep the fear at bay when I can hardly breathe myself.
Only my dagger lights the tunnel, the oppressive heat dissipating slightly.
The water has reached our waists, and the air is still thick with moisture, but at least we’re not suffocating anymore.
I look up at the heavens, sending a prayer to the gods for help.
I’ve never prayed to them much, but if there’s a time to do it, it’s now.
When I open my eyes once more, I notice a faint light from the corner of my eye, a glimmer peeking through the gloom.
There’s something, something at the top of the tunnel, barely noticeable, but I can see a small shape, like a keyhole. It’s not much. But it’s something. A chance. And the shape… it’s not quite circular… it’s…
“Pick me up,” I say, reaching out and grabbing Ashton’s sleeve. “Someone, pick me up.”
Ashton hesitates, his brows furrowing in confusion, but then he lifts me onto his shoulders, which shifts the light from the blade in my hand higher.
For a second I’m shocked by how strong he is.
He tosses me on his shoulder like nothing at all, but then I refocus on the key hole.
This thing, it could be a way out, or it could be nothing.
Either way, I’m running out of time to figure it out.
Lifting my blade, I illuminate the hole.
With my other hand, I take my finger and touch the strange shape, following the sharp curves of the little hole.
The idea I’d had continues to form in my mind.
It’s a strange idea that’s probably completely crazy, but I decide to hell with it, that I’ve got nothing to lose.
I slip the dagger into the slit inch by inch, expecting it to catch, expecting it not to work, but the dagger slides into the hole like it was made for it.
Heart racing, I turn the blade carefully, feeling just a bit of resistance, but it turns all the way around.
There’s suddenly a click, and I hear something begin to move in the wall around me.
The ends of the tunnel begin to open, slowly at first, then faster, like the jaws of some great beast releasing its catch. The water pours out, draining down into the ground, and the walls slowly shift back until everything is back to normal.
“We’re free,” I say, pulling my blade out of the key hole.
Ashton helps me off of his shoulders and spins me in his arms. “You did it! You clever little human.”
“Let’s congratulate her out of the tunnel,” Cassius suggests, and I can’t argue with that.
We all pour out of our metal coffin, ignoring the wet earth all around it. Everyone is smiling and clapping each other on the shoulder, but Oberon looks like he’s sagging in relief. The poor guy.
I touch his arm. “Are you okay?”
His gaze finds mine, and there’s that glimmer of openness from him again. “Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You’re only human, or, er, fae, after all.”
He leans over me, his eyes intense. “You really don’t care if I’m not made of stone, do you?”
“If anyone thinks a man should be made of stone, they’re not very bright,” I tell him quietly.
Oberon keeps staring at me as Sylvian pulls me into a hug that seems to surround me. It reminds me of being attacked by a very friendly, very affectionate dog that has no idea just how big it is. He starts kissing me all over my head, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Stop, Sylvian!”
“Have you had enough?” he jokes, continuing to kiss me.
I look up at him to tell him exactly that when one of his kisses lands on my lips. I freeze, shocked, and his eyes widen as they land on me.
He pulls back and clears his throat. “Sorry about that.”
“Of course,” I say, tucking my hair behind my ear.
After an awkward moment, Cassius suggests, “Should we keep going? We’re going to have to make our camp for the night soon, and I don’t want to be anywhere near this thing when we do.”
We all agree and start walking, but I can feel their gazes on me.
I wonder what they’re thinking about their chosen human.
I try to guess, but I can’t even imagine.
At the very least though, wondering what they think of me is far more pleasant than thinking about what the labyrinth has in store for us next, so I indulge myself, for just a little while.
I’m surprised when my thoughts keep coming back to the two men I’ve kissed recently.
Two men. After a lifetime with no men in my life.
It’s weird.