Page 11 of The Labyrinth

“Watch yourself,” Griffin warned, but even that was a halfhearted threat.

Clara focused her attention back on me. “What’s your name?”

“Rissa,” I offered. I had resigned myself to the fact I would have to play along, for a little while at least, if I had any hopes of getting out of here.

Griffin unlocked the cage, and without much ceremony, shoved me inside. Oddly enough, the loss of Ten was palpable. Even though he was dangerous, and violence seeped out of his every pore, I felt safe around him. I looked up at him, staring into those deep galaxies of eyes, and saw him returning my gaze with a strange expression on his face. “I’ll be back once you’re briefed,” Ten said.

I twisted my lips. I could’ve sworn something in his body called to me. Something in his blood whispered a challenge and a craving alike. But maybe I was just imagining things, and this was the end of whatever had passed between us. At the end of the day, he was a kidnapper, and I was his captive. There were other labels, too. Thief and victim. Monster and human. Nothing more.

As Griffin locked me inside, Ten’s hand wrapped around the bar, his knuckles fading to the palest of lilacs as he squeezed the metal so hard it squeaked. What wasn’t he saying? What was he keeping inside, secret from the rest? I wanted to dissect his brain and see what he hid on the inside, because I had a feeling that vivid purple skin hid a whole host of secrets.

Finally, Ten spoke. “While you’re here, you’ll be shared, but you’re still my property. That means your actions reflect on me. Don’t disappoint me. Don’t make me punish you. I promise I will enjoy that all too much, and you will not.”

Punish me?The image of his hand around my throat flashed through my brain. I was curious about Ten, more curious than I ever had been about something before, about the creature who seemed conflicted about the darkness radiating from his flesh.I wasn’t sure I would regret being punished if it meant he would put his hands on me again…

My eyes widened, and I could’ve sworn Ten smirked as if he could read my thoughts. Or maybe my face was just that transparent.

Clara tugged my hand, pulling me away from the bars and Ten’s quiet smirk. “Come on. I’ll give you the lowdown before they give you your first shift.”

As I turned away, I didn’t miss the sudden thunderous gaze that passed over Ten’s face. I half expected him to say something to me, but he was silent and left without another word. Griffin trailed behind, with one last glance over his shoulder, leaving me and Clara in her cell.

She dropped my hand and flopped onto the bed with an ease I envied. She seemed so at peace with herself, despite her circumstances, despite the fact she was in a goddamn cell. I hoped one day I would find that kind of contentment in my life too. “So,” she began, a sly smile crossing her face. “What landed you here?”

I shifted from foot to foot. “Does there need to be a reason?”

Clara rolled her full bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ve been here for five years. Ten doesn’t bring in nearly as many women as the others do. It had to be something serious to land you in here.”

Not as many…so still some. There were others like me who he brought in from the villages surrounding the Labyrinth. Maybe I was completely misreading the way he looked at me. Maybe I was just a foolish girl, caught up in the curiosity of a monster in my life. “Five years?”

She nodded, and must have noticed my face because she immediately gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s not as bad as it seems, really. It’s not a terrible life to lead. They give us everything we need, and some of them are downright nice. It could definitely be worse. I have more food than when I was out in the villages, for sure. A better bed. Hell, sometimes they even turn the showers on for us.”

Showers?I was so confused, about multiple things. I held my hand up in front of my face, trying to process. “So you’re saying you really don’t mind being…bredby them? No offense, but are you insane?”

Clara laughed, a full sound that filled the cell and echoed down the halls. I could understand why men would like her. She was soalive. But giving herself up tothem? Creatures who weren’t human? How could she do that with a smile on her face? “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Seriously. Quite a few of them knock any human guy I’ve had out of the water. Some of their cocks are bar—”

I slapped my hands over my ears. “Nope. No. Not happening. I do not want to hear whatever words were going to come out of your mouth.” I was horrified, imagining the size of the monsters clawing at Clara, at all the women in the camps, pumping them full of their seed, desperate to fill them with their child. I looked up at a smirking Clara. “I don’t even understand how a half-human would be better for their war anyway.”

“Half-humans look mostly human, even though they have the strength of ten men. Unless you look closely, or you’re one of the rare ones who takes after daddy, to the naked eye you’ll seem human. And humans aren’t exactly a threat to the monsters.” She whispered this last word and looked around as if Ten and Griffin were going to pop their heads around the corner. “Sorry. Some of them are really sensitive about the word.”

“I’ve noticed.” I crossed the small distance between us and sat down on Clara’s bed, pulling my knees up to my chest. “What do they want to be called then?”

She shrugged. “I’m too afraid to ask the ones that don’t like it. Not everyone here is nice. You’ll learn. Some like to talk, and bring you presents. And some…don’t.” She looked away from me now, tugging her silky robe tighter around her body.

“The women I passed coming in here. In the smaller cells. They didn’t have all this nice stuff you do, and they looked…” I couldn’t put a word to what they looked like. Soulless, maybe. Empty.

Clara nodded like she already knew, frowning again. “They’re ones who got on the wrong side of a breeder. Said the wrong thing. Fought back a little too hard. They like it when you fight, you know, but not too much. Or the ones who couldn’t handle being here. Lost their minds.” She was quiet for a moment, and I didn’t push her. I could only imagine the horrors she had seen being locked up in here for so long, despite her insistence that it wasn’tthatbad. Better than the villages or not, it was still a loss of freedom. Captivity would weigh even on the strongest of minds after a while. Added to this the fact they were expected to carry and birth these children…my mind couldn’t even wrap around it.

“What keeps you going?” I whispered. “What makes all of this okay?”

She met my gaze, her bright blue eyes staring back at me. They were clear, cloudless, like she had long ago resigned herself to the life she led. “When you don’t have a choice, you have to make it feel like you do. If I tell myself I chose this life enough times, maybe one day I’ll actually believe it.”

“And if you get pregnant?” I knew I shouldn’t have been asking such questions of someone I barely knew. But we were in this together now, Clara and I, and something in the energy between us told me she didn’t mind.

“Then I get pregnant. And I love my baby with every ounce of my being, in hopes he turns out to be one of the good ones. That’s all we can do in this life, right? Make sure the next generation is better than we were. Leave a legacy that will make an impact. And hope like hell it changes the world the next time around.” She fluffed her pillow and pointed to the space next to her in the large bed. “You can sleep there tonight. They’ll probably get you your own cell tomorrow.”

Clara’s bed was bigger than the bed I shared with my mom and Ettie, a luxury I wouldn’t have imagined only a day ago—even if I was in captivity. “Thanks. When will they, uh…”

“Breed you?” Clara’s smile was wry. “You don’t have to be self-conscious here. Believe me, we’ve seen—and heard—it all. You’ll get used to it. And to answer your question, tomorrow night, most likely. Unless the one who brought you in here was desperate for a turn, they usually give the new girls a day to learn the ropes.”

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