Page 12 of The Labyrinth

I was quiet as I wiggled my way up the bed, crawling under Clara’s soft bedding. It was the most incredible thing I had felt in my life. But I wanted to laugh at the idea of Ten being desperate to fuck me. He seemed like he couldn’t get far enough away from me once that cell door closed. A sudden thought blasted through my brain, an idea that twisted and turned in my mind until I couldn’t think of anything else. Ten might not have been desperate to fuck me, but maybe hewasdesperate to fuck other women.

I wasn’t sure how the revelation made me feel. I didn’t want him.Or did I?

What was it swirling through my veins? Disdain, or desire?

He had kidnapped me, tossed me in a breeding camp. But, my family would also be paid for my time here.He had ripped me away from the only life I had ever known.But, if I played my cards right like Clara, it might be the best life I had ever known. Fuck, I was all mixed up. And my brain was so goddamnloud. I needed to turn it off. There was only one way to do that.

“HasTeneverbredyou?” I breathed out, my words jumbling together before I could stop them from escaping.

Clara laughed next to me. “Whoa. Slow down, and try again. What’s on your mind?”

I took a deep breath, and tried to convince myself that asking her didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean I wanted him.But I might.“Has Ten ever bred you?”

She flipped on her side, propping herself up on a hand, her hair tumbling over her shoulder. It was so shiny. What would it be like to have clean hair? I couldn’t remember the last time I had bothered filling our tin bathtub. Maybe I could ask her in the morning where I could bathe. I watched as something flickered across her face, something I wasn’t sure I liked. “No. He hasn’t. Would it bother you if he had?”

“No!” I snapped. Too quickly. Too harshly. And she knew it.

“There’s no judgment here. I promise.” She tilted her head, running her tongue across her lips. “It’s a curiosity thing, you know? Something different. And like I said, some of them are better fucks than I’ve ever had with a human. There’s nothing to be ashamed about if you’ve thought about it.”

The way she spoke made me suspicious she was leaving something out. “Have you…have you ever thought about one of them like that?”

Clara chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Like I said. No judgment. The only advice I can give you is to not get attached. Having crushes is fine. Wanting them to fuck you, whatever. But they don’t keep you. They never do. So expecting them to sweep you away from here and keep you all to themselves…it’s a pipe dream.”

I was quiet, not knowing how to respond. Why would I ever want them to keep me to themselves? It sounded like even more of an imprisonment than being in here. But Clara had been here longer, and knew more than I did. I had to let it go.

“We should get some sleep. I’ll show you where everything is in the morning, and before you know it, you’ll officially be one of us.” She rolled over, and turned down the lamp that sat on the small table.

I knew what she meant without saying it. Before I knew it, I’d be fucked by a monster. I couldn’t help the small bloom of hope in my chest, that Ten would be the one to come for me. At least I knew him, right? Better the devil you knew than the devil you didn’t. That’s what I tried to convince myself of. That was the only reason he was on my mind, his rich purple skin filling my brain, and his broad shoulders searing an image on the backs of my eyes.

It wasn’t dark, but it was dark enough to sleep. Through the bars, I could see the flickers of lamps from other cells, and from the lamps on the hallway walls. I had a feeling this place didn’t ever really sleep.

I lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, next to me Clara’s breathing turned into soft snores. And still, I was awake. I knew I needed to escape. I couldn’t live my entire life here, content like Clara. I also refused to be one of the brainless women who haunted the entrance. So my only option left was escape. The problem was, I wasn’t sure I could get out of here without fucking at least one of them.

Maybe I just needed to resign myself, learn all I could, and use the opportunity to get the hell out of here.Was sleeping with a monster really such a bad thing? I groaned and flopped over to my side, uneasy with so much space in the bed. Where was Ettie pinned to my side? My mother, curled up in a ball? My heart ached and I missed them. I even missed the boys. But they were miles away, and I was here in a soft bed, preparing myself to be fucked by a monster. While I was upset, I couldn’t work myself up to be entirely devastated by the idea.

I wasn’t sure what tomorrow would hold, but I was certain of one thing. My curiosity about how to both fuck a monster and escape from one might just get me killed.

Chapter6

Ten

Ididn’t know what was wrong with me. But as Griffin talked, blabbing on and on about the other women in the camps, all I could think about was fuckingRissa.

Rissa with eyes as green as the grass she had so carefully stepped on, a smile spreading across her face. Rissa who was unafraid of me, even as I had shaken the walls of her shack, and nearly choked her to the point of passing out. Rissa who was so curious, wanting to know myname. I had kidnapped her, and she wanted to know my name.

I wanted to know more about what made her tick. I wanted to peel back her skin, layer by layer, until I discovered the jewels that lay beneath her skin. I wantedher. And these feelings, this unbidden, unwanted desperation, was downright dangerous.

We didn’t keep humans here just because wewantedthem. They had purposes. What I told Rissa was the truth. Our female population was low. Once we realized our DNA could mix with the humans, it seemed to be a simple fix to keep our numbers up. The women and men in the camps were there to be bred, or just fucked, depending on your mood and tastes.

Those who didn’t end up in the camps had other roles. The fighters ended up in the Cage, where the city’s bloodlust was satisfied. Cleaners and cooks took care of our households, the human families passed down through generations, serving us decade after decade. There were no humans who existed simply because we wanted them to.

Taking Rissa out of the camps would mean exactly what it shouldn’t. That I wanted her just because I could have her. It could only end in one of two ways. First, she would get sent to the Cage and die while everyone watched. Or I would be killed, my kind waiting for me to slip up even the smallest amount so they could punish me for being soft. A failure of a leader, not fit to be among the elite. I couldn’t let either of those things happen.

Not like Rissa would ever want to bekeptby me. She was better than that.Not like it mattered, I’d have her anyways. It wouldn’t stop me from taking her, from controlling her sweet, strong mind. From pushing her to her limits, to making her scream my name, begging me for more.

“Are you even fucking listening to me?” Griffin moaned.

I snapped out of my reverie, imagining Rissa tied to the posts of my bed, her curves on display for me, and me alone.

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