Chapter 11

Eleven

I keep to the edges of the tunnels and caverns as I make my way through the maze, looking for the exit while doing my best to stay unnoticed by the other competitors I come across. And for the most part it works, which is perfect, because I pass more than one fight along the way. Competitors who haven't been able to locate a coin attack others who have, hoping to steal their bounty.

It turns out Talon was right: being underestimated isn't such a bad thing. Anyone who notices me creeping by immediately dismisses me, which is fine by me. I don't need to be getting into any fights with creatures that have magic.

I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm tired. I just want to find the way out of this abyss and be done with it.

The air around me has warmed considerably, which gives me hope I'm nearing an exit. After a few steps a breeze brushes against my damp skin, carrying the scent of rotting leaves and grass. It's not a particularly pleasant smell, but it's a welcome one.

When I reach a fork in the tunnels, a handful of competitors are in front of me, one of which is a fae holding a ball of faelight in the air in front of them to light the way. I hang back while they argue about which way to go, waiting until they make their decision and clear the area before deciding for myself.

"You look like a drowned rat shifter," a familiar voice says behind me, and my blood runs cold.

I twist to see a single set of glowing eyes in the darkness. Wolf's eyes.

Jules takes several steps forward, her eyes reflecting the faelight behind me as she nears, even as the rest of her is concealed by the darkness. But I'd know her voice and the look in her psychopathic eyes anywhere.

When she materializes in the low light, she looks a little worse for wear, a dirt smudge high on one cheek and a shallow cut on one forearm, but not nearly as bad as I'm sure I do. With my damp and ripped clothes, a messy head full of tangles and bits of sand and dirt, I probably look worse than a rat shifter right now, so I'm not even offended by her comment. It's just truth.

"I didn't think you could get any more pathetic looking, but I guess I was wrong," she sneers, her upper lip curling back in disgust.

Good . Maybe she'll be too grossed out to get close to me and pass right on by.

But I'm not that lucky and Jules stops directly in front of me, only an arm's length away. Without thinking, I move my hand over my pocket where the Chaos coin is nestled, and she doesn't miss the motion. Her eyes spark with interest and my stomach drops.

"What are you protecting in that pocket of yours?" she asks, a sinister smile curling the corners of her lips.

I keep my mouth shut, knowing that any denials that I'm hiding something will make it that much more obvious than I am. Instead I just drop my hand away from my pocket, doing my best not to look guilty.

Jules' gaze runs over me slowly; it feels like slugs passing over my skin.

"Well, well, well. Is it possible you actually snagged a coin? I wouldn't have believed it, but you look like you've had a rough evening. Like you fell into one of the Chaos traps. How fortunate for me."

She reaches forward like she's going to dig through my pocket, and I twist away. Her smile widens and there's a feverish gleam in her eye that reminds me of a rabid dog.

The tunnel starts to dim, and I realize with a sinking feeling that the group I was waiting on to pick a tunnel is finally moving on, taking with them their faelight and possible protection.

A few days ago, all I wanted was to have the opportunity to fight Jules one-on-one, but not like this. Not when I'm already exhausted and stuck in a dark tunnel with a shifter who has excellent night vision and earth powers.

Spinning, I take off toward the fork in the tunnels, veering left without really knowing where I'm going but hoping to see faelight from the group in front of me soon. I need to get away from Jules or else something very bad is going to happen. Her chuckles follow me as I run. I must have picked the wrong tunnel because there's no faelight and the temperature drops.

The tunnel cants to the left, but I don't realize it because the light is so poor, and I clip the wall with my shoulder and stumble. Before I can right myself, a hand dives into my hair. My head gets wrenched back painfully and I fall to the unforgiving ground. Sharp rocks cut into my palms right before I'm jerked to my feet by my hair and then slammed back against the tunnel's arched stone wall hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

"Pathetic as always," Jules says. I can't make out her features in the darkness, but she's close enough that her breath skids across my face.

Coughing, I try to catch my breath as I swing out wildly, but blinded as I am I only barely connect with some soft part of her body. I swing again, aiming for what I think is her face, and my fist slams into something fleshy but hard. I think maybe her cheek, but Jules is a tough wolf shifter, and before I can follow up with an uppercut to her chin she clamps a hand around my throat. I go wild, clawing and punching whatever I can reach.

Jules cusses and tries to stop my attacks, but like a cornered animal I throw everything I have at her, unleashing in an explosion of pent-up anger and frustration. But Jules has magic and night vision and I don't, so she still has the upper hand. Grabbing my arm, she slams it against the wall behind me. The rocks instantly swallow my palm and fingers, tethering me to the tunnel.

I scream in frustration and try to yank away from the wall, but I'm not strong enough to break free from the rocks she reformed around my hand. While I'm distracted trying to free myself, she shoves her hand into my pocket and pulls out the gold Chaos coin.

"No," I yell, trying to snatch it back, but she easily dodges. "That's mine."

"It's mine now." I can't see her in the darkness, but I hear her walking away, chuckling under her breath.

Like a fast-working venom, fear paralyzes me. She's going to leave me alone and trapped down here. There's more at stake here than failing out of the first Chaos trial. No one else has come down this tunnel. I'm all alone.

I tug on my trapped hand, but it doesn't budge. I don't have anything to chisel through solid rock. If I can't free myself, who is going to find me?

"Don't do this, Jules," I call after her retreating footsteps. "I could die down here."

"Here's hoping." Her voice sounds very far away, or maybe that's just my mind playing tricks on me.

For the second time in one evening my life is on the line, but trying to appeal to Jules' compassion is useless. She doesn't have any.

Think, Locklyn, think , I command as I force thoughts of my body rotting and decomposing in this labyrinth from my mind.

My imprisoned hand starts to go numb. I crouch down as far as I can, but with one arm stretched above me and the other reaching down, I can't quite reach the tunnel floor to search for a rock to use to break apart the stone encasing my hand. I strain hard enough that my shoulder could pop out of joint any minute. As much as that would suck, it would give me the couple of extra inches I need to reach the ground, so I don't stop pulling.

When I stop to catch my breath, the air around me has gone eerily still. A sense that I'm not alone crawls over me and I slowly straighten, trying in vain to see something, anything, through the absolute darkness.

Trepidation skates down my spine like bony fingers rubbing over my skin, giving me chills.

Someone's here. I know they are.

"Hello?" I call into the abyss. My voice echoes down the tunnel walls.

I hold my breath, straining my ears to pick up on sound, but it's as silent as a tomb.

"Looks like you could use a hand . . . literally," says a familiar deep voice, and the air I trapped in my lungs comes out in a rush.

"Talon. You scared me half to death," I say, laying a hand over my beating heart.

There's a soft click and then light shines from Talon's hand. I think it's faelight at first, but then realize it's just a small keychain flashlight.

He flashes the light in my direction, and I lift a hand to shield my eyes.

"You do look a little worse for wear, but I wouldn't go as far as to say half dead."

I wait until he points the thin beam of light out of my eyes before answering. "That's just because you don't know the night I've had."

"Need some help?"

"Yes." I'm hoping Talon has earth magic and can easily undo Jules' handiwork, but instead of using powers, he searches the ground until he finds a rock about twice the size of his fist and palms it. I get a little nervous when he lines it up with my trapped hand.

"You're going to crush my hand with that if you're not careful."

Talon's gaze tracks from the wall to my face. "Do you trust me?" he asks, the shadow of a wicked smile curling the corners of my mouth.

"Not really," I say, unsure if that's a lie or not.

He chuckles, unoffended. "Probably smart, but unfortunately for you, you don't really have a choice right now."

He's not wrong. And if it's between a smashed hand and being stuck down here until I die of thirst, some broken bones are the better option.

Taking a deep breath, I look away, fortifying myself. "Okay, just do it."

Talon cracks the rock against the stone wall, and I brace myself, expecting a bolt of pain to hit me, but it doesn't come. Instead I hear the sound of rocks cascading to the ground. It takes a few hits, but finally enough of the tunnel wall is chipped away that I can squeeze my hand out.

My fingers are stiff and cold, but other than that I'm no worse for wear. I clench and unclench my fist, working the blood back into my hand. I don't know how he managed that without hurting me, but I'm glad for it.

"Thank you," I say, looking up at Talon, and he nods.

"We should get going. Time is running out."

"Right. Chaos," I say, a deep melancholy falling over me when I remember Jules stole my hard-earned Chaos coin. The chances of finding another before time runs out are less than zero. It's only the first trial and I've already failed.

Falling into step beside Talon, I heave a defeated sigh as we make our way back up the tunnel to the fork.

"So, the brutish wolf shifter took your Chaos coin?" Talon asks, almost casually.

I glance over at him; the faint light from the mini flashlight illuminates his mouth and part of his cheeks but leaves the rest of his face mostly shadowed.

"How did you know?" I ask, a note of suspicion creeping into my voice. Had Talon been hiding in the shadows the whole time? Could he have stopped Jules' attack but chose not to?

His eyes glow silver, reminding me of the way Jules' eyes reflect light in the darkness, but not quite the same. "I overheard her bragging to someone about it."

Right. That makes sense. "That sounds like her," I admit, my shoulders sagging.

"Where did you find a coin?" he asks.

"The first cavern after the tunnels. The one with the shallow pool and the water monster."

He tilts his head, but I can't see his face clearly enough to read his expression.

"How did you manage that?"

I shrug even though he probably can't see the motion. "There was a device camouflaged as a stick in the cavern. When I put it in the water, it kept the beast at bay. I think through some sort of vibration, or maybe even a high-pitched sound I couldn't hear. I waded into the pool and got it." It was an oversimplification of what really happened, but I didn't feel the need to tell Talon I'd almost been eaten alive.

"Brave," he says, and I scoff. "Seriously. Once I saw that a Leviathan was guarding that coin, I passed right on by." Leviathan? Is that what that monster was? I make a mental note to look it up later. "It takes intelligence to find a workaround like that."

Or just dumb luck. But I find I like Talon's compliments, so I don't contradict him.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. That coin is long gone. I guess Becks was right. I shouldn't have bothered entering at all. All I got for it were some near-death experiences."

We reach the fork in the tunnels, and I turn to go down the right one, but when Talon doesn't follow I stop and turn back toward him. The flashlight is pointed right at me, but he angles it down when I lift a hand to shade my eyes.

"Let's go," I say, but Talon just stands there, staring at me.

He stays silent long enough that I start to shift under his regard. Finally, he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. He takes my hand, and a zing of awareness travels up my arm. Flipping my hand over, he presses something into my palm. I look down and gasp.

A Chaos coin.

"I can't take this," I say, and try to give it back to him.

What are you doing? my mind screams at me. Of course you can take it. Close your fingers around that treasure and run for the exit.

"Don't worry about it," he says, and then puts his hands in his pockets and something jingles. I don't miss that it sounds like loose coins knocking against each other.

My eyes widen. "You have more than one coin?"

From the sounds of it, he has several.

He shoots me a sly smile. "The less coins available, the less competitors going through to the next round."

He's right, but my mind is spinning on the fact he was able to collect multiple coins. I almost died getting just one, and from what I could tell going through the tunnels and passing other competitors is that none of the coins were just lying there, waiting for someone to pick up. You had to work for them.

I look back at Talon with new eyes. Who is he?

"Why are you giving this to me?"

He's silent for a moment before answering. "You earned your coin. No one should take that away from you."

Talon's explanation is simple, but it resonates with me.

I close my hand around the coin, fresh hope swelling in my chest. "Let's get out of here."

Talon nods in the direction of the tunnel. "You go. I'll be there in a second."

"But time's running out. You said so yourself."

"Don't worry about it. There's just something else I have to do. I'll be right behind you."

I don't understand what he could possibly still need to do, maybe he's going to collect more coins, but I get distracted when I hear voices coming from behind Talon. I don't want another run-in with any other competitor if I can help it.

"Take this." Talon holds the small flashlight out for me.

"Don't you need it?" I ask, but still take the small light.

"Naw. Don't worry about me. I can see pretty well in the dark," he says even as he's backing up into the shadows. "See you out there."

The voices are getting louder, and so with a last look in Talon's direction, I take off. The flashlight is a huge help. It allows me to run through the tunnel, which slopes up until it ends in a large cavern. Moonlight shines down through an opening in the cavern's ceiling and a small handful of competitors are scaling the wall to reach the hole. It looks like a fairly easy climb, which may be the only easy part of this whole exhausting and terrifying night.

Rushing to the wall, I start to climb. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. Voices filter through along with the moonlight, and it's clear there's a celebration going on somewhere up on solid ground above.

Even though the climb isn't difficult, my muscles shake from fatigue and adrenaline, making it harder than it should be. Rather than looking up to track how much farther I have, I keep my eyes on the wall right above me and search for the next handhold until I reach the opening. Before I heave myself up and through it, I have to deposit my Chaos coin into a carved slot on the wall. After, I hear my name being announced above, letting everyone know I've passed the first trial. A cheer sounds, but I'm hardly paying attention as I muscle my way out of the cavern and collapse on the ground.