Page 5 of The Labyrinth

I shook my head, smirking. “Let’s see what you’ve got then. I’ll tell you what. If you survive more than five minutes, I’ll let the rest of your family live.”

To my shock, he didn’t back down. This family was full of surprises. I wasn’t sure I liked any of them.

“Bear!” Rissa snapped. “Don’t. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“He is accusing us of something we didn’t do. I can’t let him dishonor our family like that. We don’t have much, but we do have honor. I won’t let a monster’s lie disgrace us.” Bear pressed his lips into a tight line, accepting his fate. He was willing to die for his family, but unfortunately his confidence was ill-put. Oh well. It was of no consequence to me. If he wanted to die for what he believed was right, who was I to tell him otherwise?

“He isn’t lying.” Rissa’s quiet voice pulled my gaze away from Bear. I watched as she scooped the child up and placed her on the bed, reaching between them for a satchel I hadn’t noticed before. Carefully she pulled out my silver ring, holding it out in her hands like one would offer a sacrifice.

A gasp echoed behind me, one of her brothers realizing what she had done, but otherwise there was silence. The room was quiet as a grave—which it almost had been. But even as she offered me her prize, her gaze didn’t change. She looked at me with a challenge in her eyes. I wanted nothing more than to accept the bait.

But not yet. There would be ample time later. I crossed the room, snatching my ring out of her hands, and slipping it back onto my finger with a quiet sigh. I felt whole once more, my mother’s talisman safely returned home, and out of the hands of humans who couldn’t possibly understand the importance of such treasure.

I was close to Rissa now, close enough to make out the smattering of freckles that stretched across her nose. From a distance, they had been hidden by the dust, but now, from this close, I could nearly make out each individual spot. I found myself captivated by these freckles, wanting to spend a moment tracing them, outlining each one, trailing my finger from one to the next. I wondered if I could make constellations out of them, the history of the stars written on the planes of Rissa’s skin.

I shook my head. What the fuck was I thinking? I didn’t want to touch this girl like that. Use her? Of course. Break her? Absolutely. But spend time analyzing her face? No. That wasn’t me.

The child cowered, and scooted up the bed until she was safely encircled in Rissa’s arms once more. Rissa met my eyes, staring at me as if she could see all the thoughts that had just raced through my mind, my secrets bared to her expectant gaze. “You got what you came for. You can leave now.”

As if it were that simple. As if the transaction were that easy. I laughed, looking down at Rissa who sat in front of me. If I was lucky, she would be in this exact position soon enough, just with my cock in her mouth. I held her gaze, staring into those eyes that held no mercy. “No, Rissa. You see, you took something from me. And for that, there’s a payment.”

“What kind of payment?” Bear asked.

I didn’t turn away from Rissa to answer him. I already knew he wouldn’t be the one coming with me. I knew the one who would be paying the price the moment I walked into their tiny shack. “One of you will come with me to the camps. If you come peacefully, the rest of you will be allowed to continue your lives. If you don’t…”

“I didn’t know it was an object of such importance! If I had, I would’ve never touched it, I sw—”

“Don’t lie to me,” I murmured. “I have no patience for liars. You knew the perimeter rules and you chose to ignore them. You saw the signs. Then you used up your free pass by lying to me about other people living here. So let’s try this again, shall we?” I took a deep breath, watching the world swirl behind her eyes. Her mother remained silent, and even her brothers were quiet behind us, waiting for whatever would happen next. “You took something of value that belonged to me. For that, you need to pay a price. The price will be one of your lives. One of you will come to the camps inside the Labyrinth where you will spend the rest of your days working for those inside the walls. Now, I do not care which one of you comes with me, but I do care that it’s decided quickly.”

“It doesn’t matter which one of us you take,” Rissa snarled, a ferocity I hadn’t been expecting exploding out of her. “Take one of us, and we’re all dead anyway.”

I shrugged, reaching out for Ettie, cradled in her arms. “I’ll take this one then, seeing as it's no difference to you.”

It was a cold move, and I knew it, but I needed to call her bluff. “No!” Rissa screamed, getting to her feet. “You willnotlay a hand on her. I’ll go with you, but I need your word the rest of my family will go unharmed.”

I fought the urge to smirk, knowing I had gotten what I wanted. “You have my word.”

“Rissa, you can’t do this.” For the first time, her mother spoke up, shaking her head. “You can’t go with him. To the camps? Who knows what will happen to you there?”

Rissa turned to look at her mother. “And what do you suggest? Let him take Ettie?”

“No. He can take me.”

Sacrifice was a strange human concept I didn’t really understand, but I understood enough to know that this touched Rissa deeply. She gathered her mother’s hands into her lap. “You can’t. Ettie needs her mother. She needs you. And none of the boys can go, because without their wages, you won’t have enough to eat. It has to be me.”

Rissa embraced her mother, and squeezed Ettie tightly, before getting to her feet. I didn’t miss the unshed tears pooling in her eyes as she looked up at me, fearless as ever. “When do we leave?”

“Immediately. I need to get you to the camps before nightfall.”

“Rissa! You can’t go!” Ettie shot to her feet, sobbing wildly. “You can’t leave!”

Rissa knelt and wrapped her arms around her crying sister. “Hush, Ettie. We need to be strong. I promise you’ll see me again.” A big promise she likely wouldn’t keep. But the way Rissa looked up at me from over her sister’s shoulder silenced me. “I need you to promise me you’ll be a big girl and help mother. You’ll eat your porridge, and get to school on time, okay?”

Ettie sniffled, and Rissa wiped her eyes with the ragged ends of her sleeve. “I promise,” she whispered.

Rissa rose, and without looking back made her way to the door. I followed, watching her interactions with a curiosity I couldn’t explain. Bear was the first to embrace her, squeezing her tight. “Are you sure about this?” he muttered, looking up at me.

She nodded. “It has to be done. Watch out for them, okay?”

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