Page 7 of The Labyrinth

He dropped his hand and turned away from me, looking to the fading afternoon, the oranges and reds that streaked across the sky. It was beautiful, if you had time to admire it. I usually didn’t. I dropped to my knees, gasping in the hot, sticky air as if it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted. I had pushed my limits too far, and had been way too close to passing out. But what he said…it couldn’t be true.

“My…family? They get…money?” I gasped, letting the sand beneath my knees support me as I wrapped my head around the concept.

“You will be compensated for your time in the camps. Of course, you will have no ability to spend this payment, so we relocate the funds back to the next of kin. In this case, it would be your mother.”

His back was still turned to me, muscles stretched across his broad shoulders, visible even through the thin cotton clothes he wore. I so badly wanted to stand on my tiptoes and force him to look me in the eyes and tell me this was the truth. I needed it to be the truth. “Do you…swear?”

Finally, he turned around to look at me, a world of stars still twinkling in his cool, dark eyes. “I told you before. I do not approve of lying. That includes for myself as well. If I say it, it’s the truth. Your family will be compensated for your time in the camps. Therefore, I would think it would be in your best interest to stay alive. Don’t you?”

I took a deep breath. I had a choice? I could trust what he was saying and pass my time in the camps, hop my family was paid for my time doing God knows what. Or I could fight back, in which case I would likely be killed, and there would not even be a chance of my family receiving any payment.Ever. My decision was easy. “Yes.”

“Good. Now rise. You don’t want to be on the streets of the Labyrinth after nightfall.” He still stared at me, looking at me as if I were a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out.

“What’s on the streets after dark?” I couldn’t help but ask as I rose, brushing my knees off. My lungs were cooperating again after the lack of air, but I still couldn’t forget the image of his hand in comparison to my head, ready to kill me over a single word.

“Bad people,” he muttered, passing me to take the lead as we walked.

I followed him, knowing now I had no other choice. “Bad, as in worse than you?”

He laughed, a sound that held little humor. “The things that prowl the streets at night would make me look like a dream, deliciae.” The soft vowels rolled off his tongue in a way that made my core tighten. I wondered what the word meant, so delicate in his harsh mouth.

“Mmm…” I mumbled some incoherent mess, not really believing the creature leading me to my imprisonment could bebetterthan whatever I’d meet after dark. Call me a skeptic, but I struggled to wrap my head around the concept.

We walked in silence for several minutes, me keeping my eyes on his broad shoulders. There was no point in running away. He was stronger than I was, quicker, and all around the better predator. I wouldn’t stand a chance. And if what he was saying was true…what was a little hard work if it meant my family got money—real money? Maybe this was how they kept all their humans docile. Offer them the ability to feed their starving families, just by giving up their freedom. I had a feeling it was a deal most in my village would gladly take. Years of hungry bellies and weak bones left a lot of us desperate for any kind of change. Only one thing bothered me now.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Does it matter?”

I shrugged, picking up my pace to walk in time with his long strides. Now that I knew he had no intention of killing me, and my family wouldhopefullybe provided for, my curiosity surged. Who else could say they had been this close to a monster and lived to tell the tale? “Don’t you want to know my name?”

“No. Your name doesn’t matter in the camps.” He kept his head forward, to where the gates of the city loomed, drawing nearer.

He was an absolute dick. But I wasn’t supposed to call him a monster, so what was left? “So am I just supposed to call you ‘jerk,’ then? Seeing as I’m not allowed to say the other word…”

That got his attention. He snapped his head around to glare at me, his black eyes pulsing with annoyance. “Do I have any hope in you dropping this?”

“No. You kidnapped me. The least you could offer me is your name. Unless you want me to call you mo—”

“For fuck’s sake,” he snapped, whirling around, hands clenched in tight fists at his side. He wanted to choke me again. I could see it clear as day, the desire to reach out and wrap his massive hands around my throat. Every line in his body spelled it out for me. This time, though, I didn’t think he would stop. No, this time, he would squeeze until my body went limp in his arms. Something stopped him from acting on his urges, though. Something I couldn’t understand for the life of me. “Ten.”

I was confused. “Are you counting down?”

He gritted his teeth together, closing his eyes in annoyance. The urge to snap his hands out again filtered through his body as I watched. It was a curious thing, being able to read someone’s body like a map. But his emotions stretched across his skin like a tight-fitting shirt, readily available for any who cared to look. “My name is Ten.”

“Ten. How weird.” I ran my tongue across my dry lips, tasting the dirt that lingered there. “Is that a normal name for…your kind?” I stopped myself from saying anything I would have regretted.

“No,” Ten grumbled. “Is it normal for your kind to be this annoying?”

I rolled my eyes. “It wouldn’t be necessary to be thisannoyingas you put it, if you hadn’t just ripped me from my home without even telling me your name. And in case you were wondering, my name is Rissa.”

“I already know what your name is. And again, it doesn’t matter.” He turned and walked again, so I followed suit.

“Are you like my owner now?” I didn’t know how the camps worked. The people who entered the walls of the Labyrinth didn’t come back out. There was no standard for me to reference. There was just Ten and whatever he deigned to give me. I looked up at him as we walked, trying to keep my mind off the gates drawing closer and closer by the minute.

Ten sighed, a muscle twitching in his neck. I wasn’t sure he realized he had quite as many tells as he did, but maybe it wasn’t as much of an issue inside the Labyrinth. Maybe inside the gates, they didn’t care if they gave themselves away because they were all strong enough to fight. Outside, in the dirt, all we had was our word, and we were careful to not give any of it away. “Technically you are my human, yes. But inside the camps you will do as anyone says,notjust me.”

“Do I call you by your name then? Or like, Mr. Ten?” The muscle in his neck ticked again. I was pushing my luck, and I knew it. But something in me wanted to see him snap. I wanted to see how far he would go, or even if I could push him enough that he’d letmego. Then again, did I really want to go back? Going with Ten meant an opportunity, no matter how small, that my family might be better taken care of than they were right now.

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