Chapter 11
Max, that hulking, demonic dog-thing practically brushes shoulders with the minotaur.
Side by side, the two look like a sick metal album cover.
I would be intimidated, but I’m not, seeing as I can run as fast as a fucking Twilight vamp, plus fire an arrow through the eye of a needle at a hundred yards.
Knowing that Wes probably has these same abilities keeps me sane.
Suddenly, Max freezes, his massive head jerking up like he catches a scent in the air.
“Something there?” Cosmo asks.
“Is it Wes?” I add, heart thudding.
Max lets out this weird, guttural yip, like a monster trying to imitate a chihuahua, and then tears off further into the tunnel.
“There he goes,” mutters Cosmo. “Great idea to let the dog lead."
He's pissed. He hates not being in charge.
Cosmo has always been mega arrogant, and becoming a golden dragon isn’t going to help that. Dude probably thinks he's the king of the universe, but whatever, he's still my brother, and I love the preppy douche. When it’s just me, Wes and Cos, we have the best time.
“Ludo says there is an exit ahead,” Theo chimes in. Her ability to pluck our thoughts from nowhere still sends shivers down my spine.
—Love you, Tee-Tee—
She tightens her arms around my torso and places a kiss against my spine, then gets back to business, all warrior-woman fierce like.
"Get moving,” Alexis commands. “I don’t want Max leaping into something without backup.” The minotaur must disagree because he raises a hand in a very obvious halt gesture.
“What’s wrong?” whispers Theo. I don’t know if she gets an answer, but the next second, the minotaur is striding towards me.
What the fuck?
He grabs my neck, so I swing a punch at his midsection, which is like hitting a wall of granite. Luckily, my centaur hands don’t break easily.
“Ludo?”
My Tee-Tee doesn’t look particularly concerned as the minotaur pulls my head towards his cow mouth. I like her trusting nature, but come on.
“Ohh,” she breathes a beat later. “Ludo picked up a scent. He’s checking yours and says it’s very similar. It must be Wes.”
So much for Maximus and his super nose. “Wes came this way, baby-girl?”
“Yes, and recently. Thank the Gods, we are on the right path,” she confirms.
Wes is close.
The minotaur releases me from his grip and stalks to the front of our party again.
Rounding yet another corner, the air in the tunnel feels fresher, like someone opened a window. Then I notice leaves rustling on the ground beneath our feet. We’re close to being outside.
Unless, that is, we’re in a cosmic terrarium, and the Gods are keeping us like pets. I don’t want to be like a turtle in a tank; tricked into believing I’m living my best life, but really, I’m just entertainment for some dumb kids in a classroom.
Vines and tree roots start sprouting from the tunnel ceiling, making the going slow, so the minotaur starts acting like a living battering ram, clearing a path through the debris. Max follows in second place, then it’s us.
Theo clings to my torso.
“Look, Tee!”
There is a light literally at the end of the tunnel, a blue light glowing through all the foliage. Ludo destroys the final wall of vines, and then, we see it properly. A swirling, shiny vortex, like light coming through sea-glass. It’s got that whole ‘I’m a portal exit here’ vibe going on.
A shimmer-portal? I’m never going to keep things straight unless I name it.
"Shimmer-portal,” I say. Yep, that’s definitely the term. Maybe I should write the Other Realms Dictionary when I get out of here.
“Should we go through it?" Theo asks, her voice is whispery but not nervous.
Slip, slap. The wet, snapping sounds of the minotaur’s transformation echo down the tunnel, then he’s shifted back to human again.
Ludo looks at Theo but doesn't say a word; no change there.
Theo, bless her mind-reading soul, knows what’s up. "Ludo says this is the end of the labyrinth," she announces. "He doesn't know what lies beyond the portal…”
“Shimmer portal.”
Theo pats my chest. “Shimmer portal, but says Wes definitely passed through."
Now Max shifts. "Sweet. Me and bully should go first; we are practically besties now."
I send Theo a message through my mind.—Wanna walk from here, Tee-Tee?—
The shimmer-portal is narrow, so I guess I’ll need to be regular old Donovan to get through.
“Sounds good,” she replies, so I kneel on my forelegs, allowing her to slide easily down onto the ground.
When Theo steps aside, I feel overwhelmed by my love for this woman.
Even though Wes’s absence stabs at my heart constantly, Theo makes it bearable. She’s the woman who found me, not just in the white sand lands when I was alone and desperate, but back at Validus Vale when I was a mindless jock who thought the world would always suck.
My beautiful, delicate girl. Tiny but with the heart of Furiosa—I’ll follow her for the rest of our lives, anywhere she wants to go. And that includes through the shimmer-portal at the far end of the tunnel.
Looking around at the gang, everyone is staring at the swirling portal, half-mesmerized.
“I'm drawn to it, like at Validus Vale,” Theo says. “But I’m more in control here. It feels right. It feels good.” She turns to face me. “And Wes is through there. I can feel him.”
That’s good enough for me. I trust my baby-girl to the ends of the earth, or wherever this place may be.
Pushing past Max, the professor, and the white-haired dude, I whisper, “Keep her safe.”
Then, without waiting another moment, I step into the light.
◆◆◆
A wide, blue sky stretches above me. Gods, it looks good—just as good as the grass beneath my feet. The warm air and sunshine on my skin feel like a cuddle. After years of endless white and dust, all the colors make me want to cry.
I take a step, everything spins for a moment, then settles. “WES!”
Where is he? “WESSS!”
I scan the landscape. It’s beautiful but a little washed out. Overexposed? Is that the word? Wes would know the right word for it; he’s the artist. The thought makes my chest ache. “WES!” I yell again, louder this time.
A rush of air behind me announces the arrival of the rest of our gang. Tee-Tee immediately hurries up to me, and I steady her in my arms. “Wes?” she gasps.
“Not yet,” I tell her, scanning the horizon. Where are you, Wes?
Max pushes past us both. “What the? We landed in the shire?”
I get what he means.
“I feel like Alice stepping into Wonderland,” Theo says, on a completely different movie trip. I kiss the top of her head, and my lips tingle.
“Theo!” The Feniks guy is staring at us, wide-eyed. Well, probably staring at Theo, not me.
“What the fuck?” Cosmo growls.
OK, they are both staring at Theo. That’s when I look down and notice a subtle halo of shiny pastel colors surrounding my girl.
“Holy glow-up!” says Max, swiping a hand across his shorn hair.
Tee-Tee steps out of my arms, turns a full circle, then brings a hand up in front of her face. “Oh,” she breathes, slowly rotating it. “I…oh-oh.”
Oh-oh, indeed. Theo has always been beautiful, but now I can hardly comprehend her gorgeousness. She’s radiating an array of colors that I bet don’t even exist in our, like, real world. The aura shines like mother-of-pearl on acid. Wes is going to lose his mind!
“Fuck, baby,” I growl out as a new sensation builds inside me. Fuck, the need to take her, right here on the grass, impregnate her with my seed is almost overwhelming. And pretty weird considering I’ve never wanted kids.
Ludo is inching closer, and his hand hovers tentatively an inch from her hair.
Just touch her, bro, she won’t mind. I’ve got the feeling that she’d actually like it—a lot.
The professor/not professor has his mouth hanging open, and Max is practically drooling. Looking around the glade, it’s like we men are fucking worthless tramps in the presence of a goddess.
Should I be dropping to my knees right now?
Yes please. I want to drop to my knees and bury my face in her pussy, worship at the altar of her clit. Fuck, now I can’t control my boner.
“What is happening?” she whispers. She trails her fingers through the air, causing a shimmy of sparkles to appear. “What am I?”
No one has any answers. This whole experience is like when I did too much MDMA.
“Someone who obviously belongs here,” The professor says. Yeah, I think he’s barking up the right tree.
“I belong here?” Theo repeats, then turns to face the landscape. “I belong here.” This time, she says it as a statement, and so she should. It's obvious, even to a dunce like me, that Tee-Tee and this weird land are connected.
“If I belong here, I should know where to find Wes, right?” she says, biting her lip nervously.
I snuggle up behind her, crouching slightly so I can talk into her ear. “Follow your instincts, Tee-Tee, and we’ll follow you.”
She does a little butt wiggle against my crotch. Oh, Gods. It’s subtle, but it makes my need nearly literally explode. When she steps forward, out of my embrace, I’m equal parts relieved and devastated.
“This way.” Theo points down the hillside. “I don’t know if it will lead us to Wes, but I do know this is the way to go.”
“I can’t believe your instinct would lead us to anything untoward,” Alexis says, rubbing his chin. “Show us the way, pulu.”
I’m glad she and the professor are taking charge; I’m too mind-blown to do anything. Four years, or maybe five or three years alone, and now this?
Does this realm have tequila? That would be great.
“Let’s go,” Tee-Tee says, jutting out her sweet, determined chin. The action makes the aura of mint-green and lavender sparkles around her. There’s no way any of us are going to do anything but follow whatever our glitter-queen wants, so off we head.
We walk down the dale (first time I’ve ever been somewhere that could be called a dale), taking turns calling out for Wes.
“WES!” I bellow again, scanning the treeline.
Suddenly, my heart stops.