Chapter 22
My nymph tells me she tried to save the other twin, the one called Wes, but he was too lost for her to reach.
She’ll keep trying.
I do not like it.
Not at all.
Yes, she has all the beasts at her side; the gryphon, the hound, the horse and the dragon—but they didn’t protect her last time.
How can I trust them now?
And I am hidden down here. Away.
Too far.
There are only twenty-seven days until once again innocents, including my nymph, will be used as battery storage for the dark poisonous energy.
So I plan.
They will never take her.
I will spirit her away through my labyrinth first, but to do so, I must dig.
Yes.
My minotaur agrees.
I’d go as far to say he’s frustrated that I’ve only just come to this realization.
Dig.
The tunnels beneath the academy spread widely, but there is no connection between their sprawling network and Electus Tower.
The tower which is now my nymph’s home.
So I will construct a tunnel.
We will construct a tunnel.
Remembering that I am supposed to be part of a team, I allow the other men to know my plan.
The hellhound wants to help.
He awaits me in the basement under the laundry facility.
“Lu! My man!” He grips my shoulders as I appear, pulling me into a hug.
I’ve learned not to fight this. I stand rigid until he releases me again then pierce him with a stare. His eyes meet mine and he winks. For a moment, I wonder how it would feel to have his eyeball speared by one of my horns, but then I shrug and move back in to the tunnels
He follows, still talking. “Kinda like Animal Crackers, but more brutal, you know?”
No. I don’t.
An ancient magic fills my bones as I walk through the stagnant air.
I have not been able to shift in the Earth realm, but I feel the Minotaur is just below the surface. Maybe today.
I can’t tell if the dog-boy behind is experiencing the same thing as I, but if he cannot shift, at least he has human strength.
After several more turns I raise my hand and signal a stop. The foundation of Electus tower is in front of us.
Through seventy feet of basalt mixed with clay.
“Whatcha thinking, Bully?”
I study the rocks.
“We going to Andy Dufresne our way in?” the hound asks. “Because we’ll need something more pokey than a rock hammer, though if a sexy poster of Sparkle Princess was on the other side, that would be a great motivator.”
It’s like he’s speaking in another language.
Tilting my head from one side to the other, my neck cracks. No more pointless talking, we need to begin this task.
Stretching my arm, I realize my limb is no longer human.
In place of skin is thick, pale hide, and my hands are now vast. Each digit ends with a curved flint-gray claw.
I’ve half-shifted—without even being aware.
Dig.
Yes. Thank you, minotaur. This will make this task much easier.
“Whoa!” Maximus shakes his hands in front of my face. “How’d you do that?”
I turn my back on him and lay my claws against the surface.
They easily tear through the rock .
I carve out a huge mass of detritus, and without looking, fling it over my shoulder and up the tunnel. I repeat this action many, many times.
As I work, the pull of my claws against the basalt becomes a heartbeat. It’s ancient labor, which our kind has performed since the first labyrinth was carved into the bones of the earth.
But as the smell of wet clay and old minerals fills my nostrils, something else fills my mind.
Pink water.
The phrase given to the Bloomhowers by the girl.
Pink water.
The words ripple the depths of my consciousness.
The Minotaur inside me stirs, low and uneasy.
What is it?
I freeze, a massive slab still gripped in my claws.
A flat endless stretch of water, as pink as the candy I’m only rarely allowed. Why is that image in my brain?
I see it through dirty glass. A small blurred snapshot as a vehicle moves at speed.
With me inside. I’m cold and afraid.
Someone is crying. “I want my mommy.”
I too want my mother. Where is she?
It’s so cold.
The pink water is still there. It seems to stretch into the horizon.
“Quiet!” An angry voice silences the murmurs of all the children in the van. “Whiny brats. Don’t get paid enough for this shit.”
My mother says she doesn’t get paid enough. That’s why candy is such a seldom treat. I’d forgo all the sweets in the world to be back with her. I don’t like these rough, angry men. Where are they taking us?
"You okay, Bully?" Maximus’s voice interrupts the memory. "You’ve been on pause for like ten minutes now.”
The images flicker away, the last thing I remember is the van taking a track that led away from the pink water and into the forest beside it.
"Lu?" The hound is closer now, and rests his hand on my shoulder. I look down and see my claws have retracted.
My human fingers are caked in red clay.
“Hey, big guy. You’re shaking like you’re on your twentieth espresso. What’s going on?”
I turn to look at him. The hound-boy goes quiet.
What does he see in my face?
“Let’s give it a rest for tonight. We’ve done good, must be halfway there already. What do you say?”
If I could, I’d say we have to dig faster. Keep going until our claws bleed.
I shrug, but Maximus doesn’t take his hand off me.
—Lu? What’s going on? Max is worried about you—
Ah. He was talking to my nymph.
—Lu?—
Even words in my mind are difficult to form right now, but I do my best.
—The passage…not complete yet—
—That’s OK. We didn’t expect you guys to be able to do it in one day. Max has to return to Electus anyway—
—I will continue—
—No. Ludo, seriously. No. Go and rest—
—I am not able to see you until the tunnel is finished—
I need to be close to her.
I feel unmoored.
—We’ll see each other soon. Hopefully tomorrow. Are you…OK? What’s going on?—
How do I explain?
I’ve no experience of ‘sharing’. I look down at my muddy hands again. The hellhound was not exaggerating, they shake like a man with palsy.
I am not myself right now.
—As you wish, Nymph. I will go and rest—
—I love you—
—I also love you—