Chapter 33

"Looks like you've made a new friend, Butterfly." I rode the partition to the floor as the walls dropped and the passage opened, rewarding them for their completion of the task. I only had to take in the scene for two seconds before I understood the entire thing more than I wanted to.

The nails, the reference to the little game of dominance Alessi and I had been playing for a lifetime written across the wall, and the way the Teumessian Fox knew touching her marks and embedding in his own would make it impossible for me to stay away.

One clock for their joining.

One to draw me out.

And once again, I was aiding her path forward by showing up. If I hadn't, not only would she have wasted two full hours, but she would have been returned to the beginning of the Labyrinth as punishment. I couldn't say if I'd just failed a test of my discipline, where I was supposed to resist rushing to her side, or if it was a test of my resolve, where the king wanted to see me present to make a conscious, face-to-face decision to ruin her, lest my loyalty remain in question.

I took the bait, and now the latter was my only option.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this accursed place?

"Not even a hello for your old friend?" Alessi attempted to get my attention, but I ignored him, as I would be doing for the remainder of this journey. A trek that I was now gathering would be a group effort.

Fuck my life.

Instead, I walked right past him and crouched down in front of Butterfly, who was staring vacantly into my eyes as though she was looking at a ghost. An etching of Alessi's fox tail was branded on her arm, expertly coiled around the marks I'd left—close, but never overlapping. I could have done without the implication and symbolism of that .

Fuck.

My.

FUCKING .

Life.

I placed a hand on her cheek, which was flush and warm and lightly damp from tears. I could smell him on her and in her, and I didn't want to acknowledge the way her lips were just a touch puffy from his classically bruising kisses. Alessi couldn't be gentle if he tried, and I highly doubted that Butterfly inspired him to try. They'd mixed blood, saliva, and… everything, and the worst part was that I had to lie to myself to find it repulsive.

It was a fight to keep from giving into the foolish desire in the back of my mind to taste the traces of him that still lingered on her. Those taunting thoughts that wanted to know that combined flavor, like I was someone who cared about either one of them.

I balled one hand in a fist to squeeze sanity through my brain, while the other hand remained gentle and comforting as she let the weight of her head rest in my open palm.

Why did it seem like my presence soothed her? She should hate me. Marks and all, I'd never done anything to merit this kind of trust and fondness. I'd placed a tracking mark on her for Jericho, I'd placed my own marks on her by accident, but they'd only added to her grief as they made her a target for men like Alessi. Testament to that mistake was the way he hadn't hesitated to ravish her against the wall under the thin guise of a game.

Nailing their arms together so he could assure I felt the maximum extent of our nervous system connection was an unreasonable crime against an innocent bystander. I was the biggest problem in her life, yet her vacant eyes looked at me like I was salvation in a storm, when they should be trembling at the treacherous, ruthless hurricane before her.

"Can you stand?" I whispered softly, hoping I wouldn't disrupt her any further.

She nodded, still in that daze. I rose to my feet slow and controlled, matching the speed of her movements, but also letting her do the work of lifting and steadying herself. I kept my hand on her cheek in quiet support as I guided her upright. She was still resting her face in my palm when she straightened her posture to stand fully erect.

"Did you miss me?" I teased. The smile was an accident, but it better softened the question.

"No." She returned my expression, and if she'd said anything else, I would have really been worried. "But I think it'll be easier having you back."

I rolled my eyes in playful mockery, let her go, then stepped back. I reassured her with a friendly nod, then, in one smooth motion, I tightened my fist, and I swung around directly in line with Alessi's face. His hair wafted with the displaced air as he juked back without so much as a split second of hesitation, and my right hook narrowly missed his nose.

"You think you can just mark a tribute that I placed under my protection?" I growled, all of my calm having fully exited the conversation.

"Your protection?" Alessi scoffed as I swung on him again. As always, he dodged with hair trigger reflexes and impossible swiftness. The legends always said the Teumessian Fox couldn't be caught, and I would be the first to verify that fact for the record if anyone ever asked. "What protection have you been providing exactly, Theron? I haven't seen you for several hours."

"I got here in time for you to pass the trial, didn't I?" Though not my intent, for better or for worse, I had aided in this whole debacle now.

"Is that why you sprinted over here so quickly?" His grin was filled with the purest amusement. He knew exactly what he'd done. "Because you felt the ‘trial' was in need of ‘ completion .' "

"Very funny." Another swing and a miss. Alessi was an exhausting person. "I didn't realize you were that desperate for my attention."

"Yes you did." No shame. "And you know I'll continue to attempt to get your attention for the rest of our existence, and you'll continue to pretend you don't want to give it to me far beyond your death. It's the circle of stubbornness."

Alessi spun around behind me and got me in a headlock. With a single motion, he swept the back of my knees with his shin, took me to the floor, and pinned me to the ground.

I reached back and managed to place a palm on each of his temples. It was only for a split second, but it was still long enough to shoot a nightmare scenario straight through his brain. It was never hard to guess his worst fears, so I didn't need much time to paint him a proper hell scape. The image of the magic hound who always caught his prey chasing the fox who couldn't be caught—a traumatic chapter I knew he didn't like to talk about to this very day—was a winner every single time.

His grip loosed as the dream took hold, and I squirmed out of his headlock. He blinked his warm amber eyes rapidly until he reoriented himself to reality.

"Too far." He shook his head with a disapproving purse of his lips. "You're lucky I don't have that power, or you'd be living in a hell even more personal than this one."

I snorted at that. "What would you even show me?"

"Commitment." Alessi said with a roll of his eyes, and I was not amused. "Something you can't even do for a girl who you literally marked. But I'm sure you were busy making backend deals with your king again."

I glared at him, not wanting to have to justify myself for the thousandth time. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

He threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. Perhaps I don't."

Say what now?

"Wait, since when are you reasonable?" I was probably supposed to be thrilled he was listening for once, but instead I was too dumbfounded to wrap my head around it.

"Since I've come to accept that there's a lot more going on in that warped head of yours than I realized." He rubbed at his still healing arm, where he was still plucking out nails, and pinholes leaked fresh blood down to his claws. He nodded subtly towards the scattered, blood drenched pile of metal spikes on the floor, the red streaks all over the wall, and the now very traumatized tribute.

I didn't know how to tell him that the whole "nailing her to things" fiasco was, legitimately, not my fault.

But blame the Dream Weaver why don't you. He's an easy target. Let's all just pretend Butterfly is a sweet little damsel in distress who dreams of flowers instead of violent hate fucking.

Though if that was what it took to actually get him to back off… still worth it. String me up on the cross and stake me, Daddy. I let that mocking thought traipse through my head, just like I let too many other things set up shop in there lately. I envied those who were the sons of livestock and didn't have to suffer through cerebral meltdowns .

With a huff and a sigh, I extended my hand to the red haired man with those eternally enchanting and evil amber eyes, and I determined I'd deal with his transgressions later. I wanted to get this Butterfly debacle over with, and it wouldn't do me any good to stay at odds with him, considering neither of us were going anywhere else from here. "Truce?"

He eyed me suspiciously, but didn't meet my handshake just yet.

" Temporary truce." I tried next, and that got him to extend a hand. He took my palm and gave it a hard shake.

"Very temporary." He smirked in a way that used to melt my already high temperature heart.

"I'll be breaking it as soon as possible." I confirmed with a second shake like it was an entirely new bargain.

"I wouldn't dream of anything less."

With a deal sparked between us, I turned my attention back to Butterfly, who was still looking rather dumbstruck. She seemed wobbly and tired and unstable.

"For the devil's sake, how many times did you make her…" I made an exploding motion with my hand, and Alessi laughed.

"On this challenge, or the last three?"

I gave him full and unimpressed side-eye for that. I knew full well how tongue in cheek that question actually was, because he knew full well that I'd felt every goddamn one while he had his hands on my marks. "You nearly knocked me off the top of the wall with that last one. Those marks are directly connected to my nervous system, in case you forgot."

"Nearly? I'll try harder next time." The fox shrugged, and we were right back to how we always were. I hated how easily he always sucked me into his rhythm.

His talents only spurred my resentment.

"Hey, hey, hey," I snapped my fingers in front of Butterfly's face in quick succession. She blinked and shook her head as she joined us in the present.

"So, did we win? Are we done?" She asked so innocently, slowly regaining her wits about her. She had quite a lot of wit to gather, so I wouldn't blame her for needing extra time.

"We all won, in my opinion." Alessi winked, and I glared at him again. "Now who wants to go play in the Orange Sector? I hear it's only gotten more awful in the last century, and I've been wanting to confirm that for myself."

Butterfly stared down the gradient that turned gold to copper until it culminated in a bright orange door.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she relaxed under my natural warmth. I could feel the way my heart beat picked up a few extra beats for only a second, and I wondered if she truly would give me a heart attack one of these days.

"Lead the way, Butterfly." I said with a tip of my chin.

She stayed in my hold for a couple more seconds, then she nodded and headed for the door.

Alessi and I exchanged looks, and I was quick to break eye contact, not comfortable with whatever conclusion he might be coming to. Whatever he thought I was doing with Butterfly, he was wrong. And whatever he thought I was doing with him, he was dead wrong.

Just two sectors to go. This was going to be a long, long Labyrinth.