Page 33 of The Labyrinth

“Bedroom! Now!” I called. “There’s a fourth one escaping!”

Griffin and two of his men raced off to the bedroom, two of them being more than enough to deal with the third Raven. I heard his neck snap as I faced my opponent again. He looked at me with a sneer, cracking his knuckles. I really didn’t have time for this. There was another one escaping who might actually give me information. With a wild cry, I sprinted across the room, driving my makeshift spear directly into the big guy’s heart. He looked down with a disappointed groan before sinking to his knees. I gave him one solid kick to the head as he collapsed, before leaving him to bleed out onto the wooden floor.

I followed Griffin and his men into the bedroom, where all three were standing around. “What the fuck are you waiting for? Go after him!” I roared.

“We can’t!” Griffin snapped. “The bridge won’t hold more than one person!”

I pushed past them all to the balcony. “Don’t be fucking ridiculous.”

The other guy was almost across when I reached the wobbling platform. I took a step up, putting one foot onto the ragtag bridge. The first creak was almost immediate, and when I put my other foot onto it, a splintering crack split through the night air. The Raven looked back at me nervously. I looked down. It wasn’t a far fall, but it was still high enough to kill you. And if I was dead, there would be no one to protect Rissa. Another footstep, and the bridge started to give way in the middle. Griffin pulled me back, yanking me back onto the balcony just as the bridge split in two, shattering where my feet had just been. The Raven made a wild leap, clinging to the balcony on the other side, but pulled himself up to the roof of the short building.

Fuck. I was livid. Not only had a potential source of information escaped, but now a threat to Rissa still existed in my world. My home.Fuck.

Griffin turned away from me, muttering something about what a fucking idiot I was, but I stayed on the balcony, watching the escapee run. I hoped he could run fast, because I was going to get him if it was the last thing I did. I gripped the railing, listening to it creak beneath my grip.

“Ten!” Griffin’s call had me whipping my head around, and I caught the young guy rushing me at the last second. I crouched, and he didn’t have time to course-correct before he sprinted right over my shoulder. I stood up, and he smoothly flew over the balcony with a wild scream, his fall ending with a crunch as he hit the pavement.

I leaned over the railing, looking at his crumpled body. It was a shame, really. He seemed so young. “I thought you said there were only three. That was five, including the one that got away.”

“We said wethoughtthere were three. And then you stormed into here like you had a personal vendetta against them,” Griffin grumbled.

I turned away from the balcony with one last glance at the body below. Maybe I hadn’t needed to be so vicious against these Ravens. But fuck if it didn’t get my blood pumping in the most incredible way. The only time I had ever felt better than this was being inside Rissa’s tight pussy.

“Do one last sweep of the apartment,” I ordered Griffin and his men.

They took off, leaving me alone in the bedroom. I peered out the doors onto the balcony. I could see the one young one that had gotten away at the edge of the next apartment. One Raven wasn’t going to be our downfall. In fact, I hoped he went home and told them all that we were waiting for them. Because we were. I wished I could’ve sent one of Griffin’s men after them, but with the bridge broken from this balcony, there was no way we’d be able to catch up on the streets. I’d send Griffin’s men out afterward, to see if there were any trails they could track down.

I studied the room I was in. An old bedroom by the looks of it. One that hadn’t been occupied in years. Something silvery caught my eye. There was a closet, still stuffed with clothes. Clothes that looked like they would fit Rissa. A young female monster, or a pet someone didn’t want living in their home must have lived here before. I pawed through the hangers of dresses and shirts, clothing that would look so much better on her than my oversized shirts. In the next room over I heard Griffin snap something to one of his men, and I knew I needed to be quick. I needed to figure out how to get these home without Griffin questioning it.

At the bottom of the closet was a backpack, dusty and worn. But it would do the trick. I unzipped the large pouch, stuffing as much of the clothing in as I could. I could already imagine Rissa wearing the clothes, the lines of her body that would be emphasized. Would she be grateful for them? Would she smile? I hoped so.

“Ten?” Griffin called.

“Uh…yes!” I zipped up the backpack, struggling frantically with the last inch until the zipper cooperated. “All set. You guys good to go?”

I poked out of the closet. Griffin stood in the doorway and nodded. “The entire floor is clear. I already sent my men out to follow the one who got away. Hopefully that gets us closer.” He nodded to my hands. “What’s that?”

“Oh, uh.” I looked down at the backpack in my hands, willing my brain to work. “It was full of paperwork. I grabbed it in case any of it was left from the Ravens. Thought it might be useful.”

Griffin’s expression told me he didn’t believe me at all. But who was he to call me out on anything? “Okay. Well. Let’s go then.”

I followed him out the door, the backpack safely strapped to me, my treasures for Rissa stowed inside. I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. Rissa was turning me into a stranger. A stranger who lied, whose mind was constantly on something else. I was an outsider in my own body, an alien willing to do whatever it took to keep Rissa safe. And the worst part was that I didn’t mind this new person I was becoming.

Chapter15

Rissa

Istared at the door after Ten left, words lost. How dare he. How fuckingdarehe? When I heard the front door slam shut, I snuck a peek out the window to see him leaving with Griffin, while I was here. Stuck. Trapped. Locked in.Fuck this shit. Who did he think he was, locking me in here?

I already knew the answer to my own question, though. He thought he was my Master. He thought he owned me. Controlled me. Could do what he wanted to me. And maybe he could. I had let him hurt me. I had let him taint a sacred space with our fucking. Maybe he did own me.

Except he didn’t want tojustown me. He wanted to possess me, totally and completely. But I wasn’t about to let that happen if I was going to be stuck inside all the time. I stomped over to my bed, still fuming. Right now it seemed like a terrible thing as I sat trapped inside my luxurious jail cell. It was a pretty prison. A comfortable place for him to keep me locked inside, and look upon when it pleased him.

The ceiling’s swirled plaster resembled clouds in the dim light. Maybe I had hoped for too much, in the church. Maybe I had expected things to be different between us, a sense of trust constructed that we could lean on. But Ten locking me in spoke volumes about what he thought of me. I was nothing but a possession to him.

Well, fuck him.

I rolled myself back up in my blanket, annoyed that the sheets smelled like Ten. He smelled like smoke and rain, a funny contrast. One consumed. One saved. When I thought about it, maybe it was fitting for him. Because in all honesty, I couldn’t figure out if Ten was trying to help me or hurt me. Maybe both.

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