Chapter 35

Jericho was still the worst person in the world, but I felt oddly tough, filled with the resolve that I could conquer anything the Labyrinth could throw at me, as I opened the door to the Orange Sector. Right on the other side, Alessi and Theron had been waiting for me like dutiful knights outside a Queen's bedchamber, and I felt a little special having their unexplainable devotion.

"Everything okay?" Alessi asked first, and I gave him a nod. Theron said nothing, but he seemed to be analyzing my expression, as if he was verifying I was telling the truth. Though he'd made it very clear we weren't friends using his words, as always, his actions betrayed his claims.

Not wanting to think on that further, I turned my attention to the new challenge before me. The Orange Sector was far removed from the confined and limited Yellow Sector that had only given me one clear path. The whole maze opened up, and the usual tight corridors were replaced by a large space filled by tropical jungle. Instead of walls of orange stone, the path itself was orange, made of colored mud surrounded by dark water swamps and marshes. Reeds and vibrant, matching flowers sprung from the vast wetlands, while the fern leaves were colored with the essence of a beautiful fall day.

I already liked this sector better than the others. The openness was a small comfort for my otherwise constantly peaking anxiety.

I allowed myself a quiet smile before the chirp of nighttime insects and the distant sound of a waterfall immediately had me yawning. The sun never seemed to set here—though in Tartarus' defense, I had no idea how long a day in this realm might be—but that didn't change the fact that I'd been awake for well over thirty hours now by Earth time.

The exhaustion caught up with me like a sledge hammer through a window, and without the whirlwind of stress, pain, adrenaline, fear, and orgasms, I was ready to collapse in the mud.

I glanced up at the clock overhead, where I only had forty-two hours left now. Considering most sectors had been cleared in just over a handful of hours, I was honestly confused by the fact that he'd been so generous with time. He could have rolled the clock down to a handful of hours any time he wanted, but he decided to give me multiple days and plenty of room for error. I'd never been a procrastinator, and that was serving me as well here as it had in the corporate world.

But in that same vein, having nearly two full days still at my disposal gave me more than adequate time to take a rest, which would be wise if I wanted to be half way functional by the time we reached the castle. It would likely only take a small fraction of the clock to clear the last segment with the two very capable men I had helping me. I wouldn't have gotten so far so fast without them, and I was grateful for their continued support.

Admittedly, I hated feeling like I needed a man—let alone more than one—but… it was also nice to feel like I had someone other than myself that I could rely on for once. Too many of my past relationships had put me in the role of the dominant figure, where I was still the one who had to pull up my sleeves and get dirty, hold down the fort, make the big decisions, and keep the relationship afloat. I was putting in the emotional and physical and financial labor, and while I could proudly say I was mostly succeeding, if the amount of my ex's happy, oblivious coasting was a testament to my success, I still wished someone would take care of me for once. Some days, being fiercely independent felt like more of a trauma response than what I actually wanted.

It was like being independent and successful at my job attracted men looking for a mother, and being strong attracted men looking for someone who could be the man they never had in their lives. Anyone else either wanted a girl they could better control, or they were too intimidated to speak to me.

Was it so wrong and disgraceful to want to go home and not have to be alone against the world? To have one, single place in my life where someone else would pick up some of the slack and let me rest? This whole ordeal has just shown me how incredibly tired I'd become of always doing the most. I could live my life single and strong, but maybe it was okay if I wanted a man in my life for more than just sex. Maybe I was allowed to like being taken care of, being saved, and being protected with an equal energy that I gave everything else.

I thought on that for a while, wrestling with the unexplainable sense of shame. This wasn't the time to be weak and needy. Pumpkin was counting on me, and I was the only one who could be his hero. None of this was about my wants and dreams. Not to mention that there was absolutely no reason to be dwelling on what I wanted in a relationship when I was surrounded by immortal demons from hell. That was a struggle for another time, once I survived this and could jot the whole thing down as a strange, confusing chapter in my rear view mirror that I would never speak of again. I already had enough reasons I appeared certifiably insane.

Focus on the task at hand, Sela.

Another big yawn had my eyes drooping, reminding me once more how badly I needed to get some sleep. Maybe Jericho had given me so much time to allot for the fact that I was human and needed rest. It would be no use arriving at the castle as a total hot mess, ready to collapse from exhaustion. What good would I be to anyone then?

But… was this a safe place to do that? I didn't know Orange from Yellow from Green from Blue from anything else. All I knew for sure was that it wasn't cold and the walls weren't going to eat me, but otherwise absolutely anything could be hiding in that darkness.

Even the most innocuous things felt threatening in this maze. Could I trust the plants? Would the trees steal my senses again? Were the ferns laced with poison? Could the humidity melt my skin? Was there a monster hiding in that swamp? Who fucking knows. This was a magic world of endless possibilities, after all. It could suck in ways I could never begin to imagine.

Which was saying something since, personally, I saw myself as a pretty imaginative person. I'd come up with the entire Den of Death IP, and people still wrote fan fiction about that fucked up world some ten years later. I was pretty proud of that, actually.

Although the thought that I'd spurred on young women's love affairs with toxic, monstrous men maybe didn't feel like the badge of honor it once was, considering my current lot in life. Fucking zombies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland still seemed more functional than anything I was dealing with though.

I glanced waywardly at my red haired companion, who could manifest a large fluffy tail and the cutest ears, while still having a sharp jaw line and an attractive, rugged masculinity. He sported a personality that could turn from sweet to savage on a dime, steeped in motivations that no one knew or understood.

I then glanced at Theron, who was covered in deep scars, had a skull adorned with devil horns, and introduced himself by nailing my ankles to a board in a room full of rotting corpses.

We won't even start on Jericho, who brought me here in the first place, because I couldn't resist his demeaning and arrogant pickup lines.

I even thought on the fact that a hulking demon with one hundred hands and, consequently, five-hundred skilled fingers, made me come all over his arm, because I was so sexually frustrated that my pussy was fluttering every time anyone gave it attention.

I thought long and hard about how I came to be such a mess in life, and I apologized internally to my mother who truly tried to do right by me. I could have been well adjusted. I could have been one of those girls who dated the sweet cinnamon roll of a man who worshipped the ground I walked on, like I was his manic pixie dream girl, while he was my stable, confidence building cheerleader.

Maybe Rai was like that. I didn't know much about the Minotaur yet. Sure, he'd skewered me with icicles a few times on first meeting, but maybe he was just protecting his maze. I couldn't pass judgment on a puppy just because he barked when he found an intruder in his home. There was hope for me yet.

How the mighty have fallen.

"Are you coming?" Alessi interrupted my incredibly disturbing inner monologues, and I was thankful for that perfect, beautiful purr of a voice he had. I'd like to say I was mature enough to answer that question without first thinking about the fact that he knew damn well when I was coming, considering the sheer number of times he'd made me do so in last sector. But I wasn't. I would never be that mature. I hadn't been in my twenties, I still wasn't in my thirties, and I wouldn't be in my forties, fifties, sixties, or nineties.

Fortunately, I was currently professional and put together enough to not say that out loud, and instead I followed with, "I actually wanted to ask if this might be a safe enough space to get some rest."

Alessi frowned then looked to Theron like he was going to give me a better answer.

"In the Orange Sector?" Alessi paused for an extended moment, and I wondered what kind of memories he might be reliving. "We'd have to sleep in shifts, but this is likely the safest place to attempt such a thing, really."

"Shifts?" I scanned the densely vegetated pathways for some hint as to what might dwell in the darkness.

"Yes, shifts." Theron walked past Alessi and started gathering firewood. "The sun will be setting soon anyway, so rest isn't a bad idea. It'll be better to navigate this sector in daylight."

I frowned at the non-explanation, then stared up at the ticking clock in the orange sky again. I'd have to take his word for it that it was going to get dark soon. The atmosphere had seemingly turned a slightly deeper shade of red if I squinted hard enough.

"What's the gimmick of the Orange Sector?" I asked next, specifically turning to Alessi. Considering he didn't seem particularly aligned with Jericho, maybe he'd actually tell me. I'd given up on asking Theron questions at this point.

"You're looking at it." Alessi twitched partially shifted ears as he nodded toward the dense trees with orange leaves. I'd noticed he shifted from fully human to fox-eared whenever he looked mildly distressed, and that was telling all its own. I wondered what he looked like when fully transformed, and what kind of event would trigger such a thing.

"I don't understand." I said as I stared into the wilderness.

"Wild, untamed jungle, and everything that comes with it." Theron chimed in. "Some quick ground rules. Do not drink the water. Do not wander anywhere at all without us. And if you hear a rattle: scream as loud and as shrill as you can." He dropped another pile of wood in a small clearing on the outskirts of the sector. "Other than that, this is a perfectly safe place to sleep. "

Theron began breaking leaves off ferns and setting them in a rectangular pile. He took surprising care to tear away hard stems and place all of the leaves evenly and orderly. Next, he grabbed some more ferns and started weaving them together like he was making a primitive blanket from scratch.

Wait…

"Are… are you making me a bed?" I blinked in confusion.

"You said you were tired, didn't you? What else would I be doing?" He raised a brow at me, like it was in any way expected for him to be turning some random palm fronds into a full blown comforter set.

"That's so sweet." I said on accident. It must have been the changing hue of the setting Tartarus sun, because a shade of pink colored Theron's otherwise pale face.

"I'm the Dream Weaver. Quality sleep is important to me." He muttered under his breath, still meticulously weaving my blanket.

"You could just cuddle with her and keep her warm with that devilish body heat of yours, you know." Alessi's grin was purely catlike, and that soft pink on Theron's face turned red. I glanced up at the sky that was still a shade of orange. I didn't say anything.

Theron refused to say anything either, much to Alessi's amusement. He simply finished the blanket, then started shaping a pillow.

In the meantime, Alessi crouched down to start building a fire, with a song in his movements, and oddly in sync with Theron. They seemed to work so well together, if they could just get past their petty squabbles. Their connection to each other was far deeper than it could ever be for me.

I shook my head to dismiss the ridiculous thought. By no stretch was I expecting them to see me as anything more than an entertaining way to pass the time. I was one of so many tributes that they played with every single year—and have for hundreds, if not thousands of years. I wasn't special. In so many ways, I'd spent my entire life trying to convince other people that I truly wasn't any different than any other woman in the world. Anyone with a heart or desire could do what I do.

That was what breaking the glass ceiling was all about to me. Normalizing women in positions that the most mediocre men have laid exclusive claim to since the dawn of modern society. And to call myself this special, unique, extraordinary person would imply it wasn't obtainable to anyone else. I wanted to open doors for more women, not be part of an exclusive club.

Funny.

In a boardroom of men, I came out swinging, ready to prove my worth to anyone who dared question it. In my love life, I was scared to be seen as too much, too masculine, and too intimidating. Where was the balance? How could there ever be one?

I ran a hand through my messy hair, and I did away with the hair tie that wasn't helping anything anymore. My gaze drifted to the water. A bath would have been wonderful, but I wasn't about to ignore Theron's only ground rules. So instead, I finger brushed and attempted to braid the rats nest of my hair. I really did need to get some sleep .

"Who's taking first shift?" I asked as I took a seat on the bed Theron had so expertly crafted. It was the only bed he'd made. Maybe they didn't need sleep.

"I will." Theron volunteered before Alessi could get out the words. "You two should both get a little rest after the last sector. As the master of dreams, I only sleep as a hobby. I don't actually need it at any point."

"Fair enough." Alessi nodded to him. "You guard the camp. I'll guard the sleeping area." He sat by the bed, while I settled into the surprisingly pleasant blanket situation. Theron was impressively crafty. Despite being woven entirely of stringy fronds, the blanket wasn't remotely scratchy. The man was an artist.

"You can trust him." Theron assured me, before he sat beside the fire pit and lit the logs with a concentration of his power.

Alessi's expression was distant, but I could tell those words had hit something in his mind. He stared idly at the white haired devil for several moments, before he reached back and placed a hand on my shoulder.

I was already rapidly falling out of consciousness, and my body welcomed the much needed rest. The last thing I heard before I gave myself to my dreams was a simple and honest:

"You can trust him, too, Bijou."