Page 56 of The Labyrinth

“Leave.” I stepped to the side, letting the butler scurry past, racing down the steps without a second look back. “Come on.” I pulled on Rissa’s hand, stepping into Neo’s house.

It was decorated similarly to mine as well, cold marbles and minimal furniture. Of course, for being one of my father’s closest friends, it didn’t surprise me.

“Greeves, who was it?” Neo stepped out of a door off to the side, looking entirely too put together for hiding at home. As soon as he saw me, he stumbled. “Tennyson, what are you doing here?”

I smirked, dropping Rissa’s hand to take a step closer. Unlike Doyle, there was no false confidence to be found. Neo was immediately nervous by my presence. As he should have been. He should have been absolutely terrified of me. I was an angel of death, coming to collect my payment. “We have unfinished business, Neo. You see, you wronged both of us when you touched Rissa. That’s a crime I can’t let go unpunished. You put yourfilthy fucking handson her. You really thought you would get away with it?”

“How…how did you know I was home?” Neo stammered, taking a step backward, tripping and catching himself on the doorway. He looked behind him, trying to find an escape. But there was no escape now. His house was as good as a cage, keeping him trapped inside until I was done with him, and he knew it.

I looked over at Rissa, who stood with her arms crossed, watching him carefully. She still had a sprinkle of sugar around her lips, and even though her eyes were filled with fury, her body was unassuming. Too bad for them they didn’t realize what a fighter she was. “Yourfriendtold me where to find you. I didn’t even have to hurt him. All I had to do was threaten pain, and he folded. Told me where you and Mal both were.”

“I…I don’t know where Mal is. But I can give you anything you want. Anything. I have money, lots of it. I’ll leave the Labyrinth, if that’s what you want. I’ll leave. I swear, and you’ll never see me again.” Neo clutched the door frame like it was his savior.

I smiled. I found it funny how different people reacted when death loomed. In my mind, you had two options. You could face it head on, and fight it, or you could throw bribery at it, cowering in its presence. My father’s council was the latter. All of them. When it came down to it, they were more afraid of death than they were of losing themselves. I wondered what about dying made them so fearful. Were they nervous they would have to own up to all of their sins in the afterlife? Face all of their wrongdoings?

If that were the case, if I were them, I’d be afraid to die, too.

But Rissa, on the other hand…they had thrown Rissa to the wolves, and expected her to cower around her death. But she’d straightened her shoulders, and met it head-on. She had owned her power. She wasn’t afraid of death. She was afraid of never trulyliving.

I ran my finger along the glass table next to me, where a row of trinkets lined the edge. I picked up the first one, a statue of a monster holding the sun. I turned it over in my hands.

“Ten, I swear. Anything you want.”

I lobbed the statue overhand, watching it smash above Neo’s head as he shrank away. “I don’t want your money, Neo. I want you to pay with your soul.”

“I don’t know where Mal is!” he shrieked, pressing himself against the wall.

“I don’t care where fucking Mal is,” I snarled. I picked up the next trinket, a looking glass, throwing it toward Neo. This time it smashed closer, hitting inches away from his face. “I want you to understand you messed with the wrong fucking person. I want you to suffer.”

“She was supposed to die! She was supposed to die in the Cage, and you were supposed be banished, and none of this was supposed to fucking happen!” He was sobbing now, a weak sack of a man, a sorry excuse for a being.

“But she’s not fucking dead, is she?” I grabbed the next object on the table and pulled my arm back, ready to throw it at Neo. He cowered away, shrinking inside himself. “She’s not fucking dead because she’s a fucking fighter. And she deserves to be here. You all thought wrong, didn’t you?”

He shook his head, pressing back against the wall. “She’ll never belong here. Never. She can kill as many people as she wants, as brutally as she wants, it doesn’t make a difference. She’ll never be accepted. Never have a place. You’re a fucking fool if you think otherwise. A fool!”

Fuck. I glanced over my shoulder, at Rissa, who was still standing, but was shutting down. Neo’s words had struck her deeply. I lowered my arm, taking the few steps between us with a slowness I didn’t truly feel. I wanted to smash his head in. I wanted to slice him from top to bottom in one fell swoop. I wanted to do these things, but I wouldn’t because he deserved to suffer. The woman standing behind me deserved better for the hardships she had suffered. The statue in my hand was long and thin, an abstract piece of gold. Because why wouldn’t you have a long golden stick on display in your house while the worthless humans outside the gates starved? I twirled it around in my hands, closing the distance between myself and Neo.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t fucking touch me,” he hissed, pushing away from the wall.

“Shh…” I murmured. “Shh. We don’t want to show weakness in front of a human, do we? And a woman, no less.” I snuck another glance at Rissa. She was fading fast, falling back into herself. “Rissa. Stay with me, deliciae.”

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m here.”

“Good girl.” I snapped out my wrist, piercing Neo’s side expertly between two of his ribs. He gasped, with a quiet shriek, like a balloon losing all its air. “I’ve just pierced your lung,” I explained calmly to Neo. “As much as I would like to just kill you quickly, I promised Rissa you would suffer. And we all know I always keep my promises. You won’t die quickly. Your lung will fill up, and you’ll drown in your own blood. Seems fitting, no? Drowning on your own bullshit. You can pull it out, of course, but then you’ll just die quicker. It would probably be awfully painful. Your choice, though.”

“You’re…a…fucking…” Neo’s breathing was heavy, and he stuttered, barely able to get the words out.

“A monster? Yes. I am. But I’m a monster doing the right thing.” I smiled, bending as I picked up a shard of glass. “Rissa, you still with me?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “I’m here.”

“You hear what I said, deliciae? He’s going to drown in his own blood.”

“Good.”

I twirled the sharp bit of glass in my fingers, poking it into the tip of my finger. A tiny drop of blood welled up. Perfect.

Neo couldn’t move, holding his side as if that would stop the plan I had put into motion. Too bad for him. I took my shard of glass, and with an exquisite slowness, dragged it down his forearm. Blood followed my trail, veins opening at my request. “You won’t bleed out from me opening your veins either. It’ll just hurt. It’ll hurt like a bitch. But don’t worry, you’ll be awake and aware while I open all the veins on your arms.”

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