Chapter 24
I’m still worried about Bully.
We didn’t get far with our excavations last night because he was sleeping.
Sleeping!
That’s not the powerhouse-minotaur behavior I’ve grown used to. At least we’re back at work today.
Ludo flings a massive chunk of poured concrete over his shoulder. I dodge getting smashed, then scrabble it further up the tunnel to an area we dug out for debris.
Oh, wait. Concrete and rebar? We must have reached the Tower foundation. Finally.
More cement, stone and struts fly overhead, and me and Bully get in a solid routine for a long time.
How thick are these fucking tower foundations?
As I scrape and shove, I put my mind onto how I’ll get Ludo to open up about whatever’s bothering him. It’s not like we can have a verbal heart-to-heart—or chinwag, as Sparkles so cutely puts it.
Suddenly, the bull freezes—just stands there with one hand on a concrete slab. His breathing is heavy and eyes unfocused.
Minotaur hurts. My hound is equally worried about him.
“Lu?” I move closer, keeping my voice low. “What’s going on? Once we get through the foundation, you’ll be able to see Theo again. Why the stoppage?”
The Bull stares at me for a second then lets out a sound that isn't a growl and isn't a groan. It’s a hollow, desolate huff of air.
He shoulders his way past me and walks down the tunnel. Away from Electus.
What the?
Before he rounds the bend, Ludo looks back at me. Almost like he’s inviting me to join him. Yeah, he definitely wants my company.
I jog to catch him up. He takes me down a section of tunnels I’ve not seen before. Several twists and turns later, we come to a door in the rock wall.
He opens it.
Knock me down with a feather.
This is Bully’s bedroom.
Inside is a mattress and heap of blankets in one corner, a table with a gas hotplate in another. But what really gets my attention are the hundreds of books stacked on shelves made of raw wood.
Ludo leans against the wall and crosses his arms.
I check out his library. History, science, novels, and lots of mythology.
Huh. A bookworm. A very large bookworm.
I see a pad of paper and a pencil on the end of the lowest shelf and swoop them up. Holding the means of communication out to Ludo, I raise an eyebrow. “So, you're going to tell me what’s going on with you?”
He doesn’t move.
I wait.
And wait. Look at me being all patient.
Finally, he lets out another huff, takes the pencil and writes on the paper pad. The bull has surprisingly neat, small handwriting, considering how awkward and huge his hands are.
“No.”
I roll my eyes at his dramatics. “Look, something is obviously wrong. I’m your best friend. Besties share their problems.” I flop down onto his bed, and pat the mattress. “Come on, buddy. Sit.”
Ludo could win a world-championship scowling competition, that’s for sure.
Once again, I practice my little-used art of waiting patiently.
Fucking finally, he sinks down the wall until he’s sitting on the stone floor, still stiff and alert. That’s progress.
I give him an encouraging nod. You can do this, big fella.
He looks warily from me to the paper, then sighing, his body posture changes. His shoulders slump as he lets out a shuddering breath and starts to write.
I lean over so I can immediately read what he’s writing.
“Pink water.”
“The pink lakes Zola talked about?”
“Yes. I remember them also.”
“You’ve been there, when?"
Ludo’s eyes close and the pain that rolls off him is so thick I can almost taste it.
After a couple of beats, he once again starts to write.
“My memory is coming back. I think I was taken from my mother. Locked up in a cold building, near the pink lakes, with other children.”
I move my shoulder so it touches him lightly. He doesn’t flinch away, so I increase the pressure just slightly. Obviously I’d rather go in for a hug, but I’ll do this Ludo-style.
“The building was in a forest. Men would come, take one or two of us away at a time. Some would return. Some would not.”
His head drops for a moment, but then he straightens again and continues.
“They took me. I don’t remember what happened. But when I was returned, I was broken. I remember more of the after. I was given to different men. Men who bought me.”
Fucking hell. I reach out and place my hand on top of his.
He stiffens.
I say the only words that make sense. “We’ll kill them all.”
He pulls his hand away, but doesn’t shift his shoulder from mine.
“So, let’s go finish the tunnel. We're literally five minutes from the finish line. Then we can get starting planning the demise of every single fucker who hurt you.”
Ludo takes the pencil and writes. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” I’m genuinely confused. “Do you sense a ward or something?”
Shaking his head, Ludo starts writing again, the lead scratching angrily against the paper. When he passes the pad to me, my hound howls in dismay.
“I am tainted. What they did to me… what they made me. The Nymph deserves light, not the dirt they left in me.”
I look at the words, then back at his haunted eyes.
You got this, Larsen.
I push a grin onto my face. “First of all, rude,” I say. “You think Sparkles is the kind of girl who is put off by a bit of baggage? Holy Hellhounds, if that was the case, you think she’d be anywhere near Lexi?”
Ludo looks at me, eyes focused but unblinking.
“And secondly, rude again. But this time on Amirene’s behalf. Do you really believe a divine being would pierce you and Sparkles with Cupid’s arrow, if you weren’t the right person for her?”
One of the right people for her I amend in my head.
“We are her warriors, and warriors have scars. Some are visible, some are internal.” For a second I’m really glad Donovan isn’t here, because I’m pretty sure he’d start talking about the internal scars from his appendix operation, and miss the point entirely.
Do love him though.
Bully doesn’t look convinced. Ooh, I’ve just thought of my ace in the hole. “And if you pull away from Theo, you are going to break her heart.”
That gets him writing again.
“But…”
He chews the top of the pencil then continues.
“But I think I was used by the Conclave in their experiments. I don’t know what was done. I don’t know if I’m safe.”
That makes my eyes roll, hard. “Dude, Sparkles is literally filled with sparkles. She can sense dark shit a mile away. Don’t you think we’d all know by now if she found anything evil in you?”
Standing up, I decide action will be the best therapy. “Come on, let’s go take down that last piece of wall.”
He gets to his feet. After a moment he gives me a nod.
Back to work it is.
Fuck, I could be a therapist.