Page 149 of Monsters in Love

Drawing in another deep breath, she turned her head just enough to notice that torches were lit, their golden-red illumination bouncing on the walls, pushing back the darkness, illuminating small patches of worn gray stone lined with vines and foliage from the darkest black to pale silver. There was little actual green to be seen. What little there was possessed a grayish tint and seemed to grow exclusively closer to the vents cut into the stone above.

Frowning, she turned her attention to the black fur that brushed her nose. Although the fur on its chest was like velvet, she noted that it was longer and thicker around the powerful shoulders and neck. A long, thin braid swayed across one pectoral just inches from her face. Bound with red thread that contained a single blue bead, it was an element that was almost human compared to the dark fur that boasted even darker splattered patches that she suspected were the source of the bitter blood perfuming the immediate air around her face.

Vicky braced her hand against the thick muscle of his chest and attempted to push back to get a look at exactly what sort of creature held her. His reaction was lightning quick, his clawed hand burrowing into her hair as he crushed her more firmly against his chest, holding her in place.

“Not yet,” he rasped.

She shivered at the dark rumble of his voice and twisted subtly in his grasp. The heart beneath her ear and palm began to thump. Unsure of the reason for his quickening pulse, she froze, her breaths coming out in tiny little nervous pants.

The hand in her hair gently stroked, the claws lightly scraping her scalp in what could only be interpreted as a soothing gesture.

“Be at ease, little female. No harm will come to you as long as you obey the rules.”

She shook her head, the fur buffing her cheek as tears of fear sprung to her eyes. “I don’t understand. What rules? Why can’t you just let me go. Please”

“I cannot,” he grumbled unhappily. “I have been held within here long enough to know now that the labyrinth never again releases its prey.” He huffed and at the edge of her vision just above her, the corded muscle of his thick neck taut beneath the dense fur as he seemed to turn his head one way and then the other.

A labyrinth? Vicky drew her hand across his chest and tucked it between them to finger the coin around her neck.

“B…but a labyrinth is just a stone prison,” she whispered.

“Perhaps that is how it began, but it has not been that for as long as I’ve known it. It was old even when I was dropped within, with a reputation of its own.”

The clomp of his feet on the stone lent a more ominous backdrop to his words. She cringed into him, uncertain if she wanted to know and have her hopes of escape burst, but he continued to speak, the rasp of his deep voice amplified by the walls surrounding them.

“It was said to be a path to the underworld. It is possible that there are corridors that extend into the lower world, but I refuse to search them out. I’ve made my refuge and survived here when I was disposed of here to die. The labyrinth nurtured me, but it never released me. Nor has it ever released anyone but one, and he had assistance from my sister. Her powerful magic that allowed her to travel the labyrinth unharmed, influenced it to release him. If only she would have done me that kindness in his stead.”

The last was said with such bitter quietness that Vicky might have missed it if she weren’t pressed against his chest, the rumble of his words distinct against her ear.

Moved by the pain buried beneath those words, her lips parted with the intent of asking him why his sister had not released him, but he drew in a ragged breath and began to speak again.

“The rules are simple. Never run. I will hunt that which runs, and there are other things that dwell here now that will do the same. Never struggle. That which struggles to escape is prey. I am bringing you to a safe place. None of the creatures of the labyrinth can enter my abode. Never leave the safety of the abode. No matter what you hear or see, to leave it is to court death within the labyrinth. The labyrinth yearns for blood…but it will not have yours.”

She shivered against him, the tremor running through her with more strength than previously as she embraced the true horror of the situation. She was trapped inside like a hapless bug lured by the sweet sap of a carnivorous plant only to be caught within and consumed.

Helplessly caught, Vicky went limp against him, her body trembling every so often with shock, reminding her that she was still alive. The creature-hugged her tighter, a rumble echoing up from his chest as he continued to lightly scrape her scalp with his claws, as if he were attempting to soothe her. She was felt too numb to be comforted. All she could do was stare blankly at the rush of light from the torches on the wall and the light stirring of the fur on his arms as he walked.

It was only at length that she noticed when he began to slow. He hunched over her as he ducked through a series of narrow entrances, his body shifting awkwardly to slide through the barriers that felt as if he were moving through an invisible membranous substance. There was a sensation of wetness and an electric tingle that ran through her that made her skin prickle, her fingers scratching at his chest at the disconcerting feeling that made her stomach twist with nausea.

Then it was over.

She was immediately bathed in a comfortable warmth, a soft gurgle of water somewhere in the near distance. The source of the warmth, from what she could see, was a long basin that ran along one wall that was filled with fire. She stared at the fire, watching the shadows shifting around it as it danced when suddenly she was lifted away and set on her feet.

Caught off-guard, Vicky stumbled a step, her head whipping around as she took in her surroundings. An enormous platform bed dominated one part of the room covered with thick furs, and an archaic-looking stone stove was set up in one corner next to a cooking spit, glowing with the hot coals that were visible within it. There were a few small tunnels that led off from another wall, one of which she suspected was the source of the water that she heard. Although gloomy and primitive, it had a reassuring peacefulness to it as if it were undisturbed by whatever things hunted outside those walls.

That didn’t necessarily mean that she was safe. There was still the elephant in the room… or rather her captor monster.

Vicky began to turn toward him just as he took a heavy step back from her.

“Do not be afraid,” he whispered.

Swallowing back her nerves, she resolutely turned his way, her eyes traveling his length as he slowly came into view.

Eyes widening, her breath stuttered as her heart leapt into her throat. A clammy chill fell over her as her eyes roved over him in horror.

The massive chest that had cradled her almost appeared carved from stone, as were the hard abs that descended down toward a tapered vee disappearing beneath a swath of fabric belted around his hips, leaving bare the side of one powerfully muscled thigh and calf. From there, though, the leg twisted back into a thick hock from which descended the rest of a noticeably bovine leg that ended in a hoof.

What the hell?

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