Chapter 45

I hung back as Butterfly soothed Alessi and Rai while they were both being tortured by the noise of the Red Sector. Ordinarily, unless Jericho selected a serial killer from the human world as tribute—which he'd done once or thrice—this stretch wasn't a problem in and of itself. Humans didn't seem to kill with the same frequency and cultural normality that devils or angels did, and it was a nonissue to walk through a hallway haunted by its victims.

No, the real reason this was typically the most brutal and deadly Sector in the Labyrinth was because this was the point where Jericho unleashed his dog for a hunt. It didn't matter if the tribute had braved and conquered every section without a hitch. This was the end of the line. Rai never, ever failed to catch his prey.

I couldn't say if it was the noise ringing through his head that sent him into such a violent frenzy, or if it was simply the thrill and adrenaline pulsing through his veins from watching the men and women struggle through his challenges, but not one tribute had ever won the game, because not one had ever made it past his charge.

But this time, the monster of the maze was on the tribute's side. Which was completely unheard of, quite frankly. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that all of us were, in one way or another, bonded to Butterfly. For Alessi to encroach on something of mine was expected. But Rai?

I would question whether he was genuinely helping her, but there was nothing fake in the way he looked at her. I don't know what that woman did to win his whole heart, but she had it in her hand, whether she knew it or not.

Why did watching them interact make my chest constrict?

Was this going to be a problem?

It wasn't just his shift in loyalty that was throwing me here. If Rai was on her side, to the point he removed her tracking marks to hide her from Jericho, what did that say about me? Was I the only one who wouldn't betray him?

Or was I the only one who didn't have a choice?

I followed them through the corridors, paying little mind to the bloodied walls. The Red Sector was more of a village than a true maze. Though the homes were conveniently spaced and arranged to mimic the feel of winding corridors, there were abundant short cuts and open rooms if one was feeling claustrophobic.

Butterfly surveyed the area with saucer eyes, before she addressed the three of us. "Do you think any of these homes would have a shower? Maybe a change of clothes?" She asked with hope in every word.

Rai shook a hand through his hair, while his expression was in a permanent wince from the noise of it all. His eyes fell on the vest that he'd given her.

Don't even get me started on how much that was throwing me. Her skirt was barely visible under his oversized clothing, and the fact that he'd dressed her in his leather felt irritatingly possessive. Not to mention the fact that I'd accidentally caught a glimpse of her very missing underwear.

What did she do to win his heart, indeed.

"There's a very strong chance." Alessi motioned to a nearby home with a tip of his chin. "You may have to try a few places before something fits, but you can definitely take a shower. I'd insist on it even."

"Do I smell that bad?"

"Bad? No." Alessi ruffled her hair with a smirk. "Just overwhelmingly of walnuts and pine ."

Her whole body turned red. Rai's did too. She smoothed out her skirt like a nervous tick, and that reaction from both of them cleared up any possible confusion. Not that I had any.

I moistened my lips that had gone completely dry with a slow swipe of my tongue. I couldn't make heads or tails of this reality. One where Alessi fucked a tribute wasn't actually all that rare. But… Rai?

Had Rai ever been with anyone other than Jericho? I was fairly certain the only thing he'd ever shoved in a vagina was his right horn.

And he touched Butterfly .

That blood bond must have been powerful on a damn near legendary level.

What a pain. This meant the onus of following orders was now entirely and only on me.

I recalled the feel of Jericho's fingers digging into my chest, and his fingernails scraping along my sternum, and a shiver ran up my spine.

"I'll help you find something." I heard the words leave my lips before I could rationalize and sort out a better plan. I nodded towards one of the houses where the door was cracked. Butterfly met my gaze with a vibrant smile, and I wished she wouldn't look at me like that. "You're safer with me than these two perverts anyway." I side-eyed both of them, eliciting a laugh from Alessi and a scoff from Rai.

"Thank you." She was always so polite when she wasn't being a sarcastic fireball. I liked both of those sides of her.

She followed me into the house, while the others kept watch. In the backroom, there was a chest of drawers. She ran straight to it and started digging for clothing. Her whole face lit up with the kind of over the top joy that I'd only seen from Alessi when he looked at catnip. She came up with a blue sundress with pink flowers and simple black undergarments that seemed to be sized just right. She held them both in front of her, and looked to me like she was waiting for my approval.

"What do you think? There are a couple other colors in there too if you don't like it." Like there was a color in this world that wouldn't look good on her. Ridiculous.

"If you're trying to give Jericho a heart attack, that's the one." I forced a chuckle in an attempt to play that off as way less real than the words had felt. But my heartbeat had been completely off kilter since I met her, and considering how tightly Jericho and I's souls were linked, there was no reason to think he'd see her any differently. Maybe she'd kill us both.

She hugged the dress to her chest with unreasonable levels of joy, then she looked to the bathroom, and her brilliant blue eyes legitimately sparkled at the sight of a shower.

"How much time do I have?" She asked hopefully.

I looked out the window to verify. "Twenty-four hours."

"Is that enough time to take a ten minute shower and still get through this sector?"

"This sector usually only takes an hour or two tops. The only obstacle we'll encounter here is navigation, since the Minotaur doesn't seem to want you dead." I spoke honestly, but I didn't lead her toward the choice I'd prefer she make right now. She had plenty of time to organically conquer this Labyrinth, but she wouldn't make it if she stopped and gave me this chance to keep her in an isolated environment. If she walked outside right now, I'd fail.

If she stayed, she'd put me in a position that I had to take advantage of.

Trusting me was the biggest mistake she'd ever make. I'd told her as much already, but she didn't want to listen. Now it would be my burden to bear.

"Tell Rai and Alessi to stay outside a bit longer. I promise I'll be quick. "

"Of course."

She rushed into the bathroom, her fresh clothing in hand, and she shut the door behind her. I waited for the sound of the water. A couple minutes passed, and I heard the sound of the steady stream being interrupted by her body entering the bath.

I waited for one, two, three minutes, then I approached the door.

I nudged it open on silent hinges, and I entered the room on untraceable steps. She had soap in her hair and her eyes were closed, and she had absolutely no sense of my approach as she washed blood, gore, mud, and leaves from her hair.

She threw her head back, smiling in perfect ecstasy, as warm water cascaded down the soft curves of her body, and the soap took everything away. That look of perfect satisfaction on her face—of relief, contentment, happiness—I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my life. What was it about seeing her relax and let her guard down that hit me so hard? It was as though her stress was my stress, but her relief was my absolute pleasure.

I took a deep breath, then I stepped into the shower behind her, letting her small body block only a portion of the stream. All I had to do was touch a finger to each of her temples, and I could put her in an unbreakable coma if I so desired. It was easy. I'd done it uncountable times before, to humans, gods, devils, and titans alike.

Butterfly started lathering in conditioner, still so enthralled by her wash that she didn't notice me at all. I lifted my hands slowly.

I placed them on her shoulders, sudden and firm. She jumped as I spun her around to face me. Then I pulled her against my chest, braced the nape of her neck, and took her mouth forcefully and greedily.

The tension in her muscles faded as quickly as it had surged, and I walked her back to the tile wall, still tangled in her lips. That neutral flavor of her tongue and the warm water pouring down our faces was uniquely delicious, while I wanted to live in the aroma of her natural scent mixed with lilac shampoo.

My palm glided easily over her slick, wet body, as I circled her neck, then slipped down to her breasts. Each soft mound fit easily in my hand. She pulled me more tightly against her, digging her fingers into my back, and fitting our bodies together as flush as two perfect puzzle pieces clicking into place. Fully connected, the water steamed around us as our shared heat increased the temperature of the room. My touch dried her soft skin as I continued downward, rounding her hips, and squeezing her firm ass.

She pulled away from our kiss just to catch her breath. Then she spread her fingers over my chest and explored the shapes of my body, memorizing every line in my muscles like she'd be punished if she forgot a single curve or angle.

"Is this the part where you betray me?" Butterfly whispered softly against my lips, taking another kiss without waiting for the answer.

"Would you ever forgive me if it was?"

She nibbled at my lip, avoiding the question, and I obliged her by slipping my tongue into her mouth, avoiding the admission. She sucked on me to keep me there, and I stroked the top of her tongue as I slipped back out .

"You're still my friend." She said, as she snaked her hands down to the sharp v of my abdomen, stopping at the waistline of my jeans. "Whatever happens next, I know that much is true." She kept our gazes locked as she undid my belt buckle. "I wouldn't have made it this far at all if not for you. So if you have to serve Jericho, even now, after everything you've done for me…" Next she released the button of my fly and dragged down the zipper. "Then all I ask is that you don't abandon me. If I end up a slave or a captive, please don't leave me behind."

"Never." I said the word without thinking, and I couldn't explain where it came from. It felt automatic, like the only way I could respond to her when she asked me something like that. I didn't know if I was lying to her. I didn't want to lie to her.

No, I knew that was true.

I kissed her again, only to have her sink away, dropping slowly to the floor until her knees were flush with the tile. Steam continued to swirl around us as she freed me from my jeans and took my cock in her hand. She squeezed me with rough pressure, as if noting exactly how fucking hard she had me, then with the most mischievous glint in her perfect blue eyes, she pressed her lips to the head of my cock.

She opened just enough to take in half the tip, and she lingered there, drawing shapes with her tongue, as if testing how I'd react. The visual alone nearly had me on the verge, but every teasing circle was delicious torture.

She took me in another inch, completely engulfing the end point, where she fluttered small, teasing licks on the underside of my dick. Every touch was brilliant pleasure all the way up my spine, and it wasn't long before I was the one needing support. I braced myself with my forearm on the shower wall, and I watched this gorgeous woman taking me in her mouth.

She drew me in deeper, until she was cradling me in the full length of her folded tongue, and I was bottoming out on the back of her throat. She pulled back as she gagged, then gathered her composure and sank onto me again. If I had any sanity left, that simple move robbed me of it.

Butterfly pulsed slowly, always stopping only half way down my shaft. She couldn't take all of me into her throat, and I didn't expect her to. But the way she compensated with her fist around my cock, pumping in time with the bobbing of her head, I didn't fucking need her to, either.

"F-fuck, Sela." Words had failed me, when they never failed me before. She was just a tribute. She was no one and she was nothing. She was…

She sucked hard, like she was trying to drain my life force through my balls, while still pumping me with her hand, and I needed another arm against the wall to keep myself upright.

The shape of the pressure changed as a slight smile teased those lips while still so beautifully wrapped around me. This devilish woman was about to bring me to my knees, and I didn't care about dignity if it meant she wouldn't stop.

I'd get on my knees for her any day.

Because she wasn't nothing. She never had been.

Maybe the reason my own marks had appeared on her skin was because she was never supposed to be just another passing mortal in a mindless game .

I dragged my fingers down the tile and pressed my forehead into the wall. My whole body tensed, my mind went blank, and I was teetering on the edge of release. She used the tip of her tongue to create a line of pressure on the bottom of my cock, while she continued to slide up and down my length. I barely knew who I was or why I was here anymore. There, again, was that racing heartbeat that I felt too often around her. I was spiraling, dying, losing my mind until I couldn't take it anymore.

I fisted her hair and pulled out of her mouth. She let go and allowed me to lift her back to her feet.

I couldn't help myself anymore. I claimed her mouth, melting on the flavor of her mixed with my pre-cum, before I flipped her around, kicked her legs apart, and grabbed her hips. I needed to be inside her. I need to fill her in this real, physical world, just to show her how different I was from her silly dreams.

"You finally called me by my name." She said with a grin. I was ripped form my fog of lust and need by that single realization.

That hadn't been an accident. She wasn't a nameless butterfly in the collection after all. She was Sela.

"Did you like that one?" I placed her hands on the wall, pinning and securing her there, completely covering her knuckles with my palms. "Because I have so many more names I want to call you right now."

"I might need to see the list before I give it my final approval." She said as she looked back over her shoulder. The clever minx stood on her toes to better line up our hips, just knowing she was going to drive me insane. I couldn't help myself. I sank in the tip with the most extreme discipline I'd ever forced myself to endure.

I was hopeless with her.

I left her hands on the tile, then took a very firm hold of her hips. I dipped in deeper, until she'd taken me to the midway point. She was so wet and ready for me, she slid onto my cock easily and smoothly. She bit her lip as her body reshaped to my design.

"I was thinking names like," I thrust in the rest of the way, hard, sudden, and with enough force to shove her into the wall. "Friend." She gasped at the intrusion, while clawing at the wall for purchase. "Love." I pulled out and thrust in again, reveling in the way her expression relaxed with her quiet moans. She bowed her back and reached over her shoulders, so she could tangle her fingers in my hair. I shifted to holding her against me, one hand flat on her stomach, the other squeezing her breast. I couldn't hold back anymore. Every part of me needed to be part of her. I started moving, giving in, and giving up on whatever resistance I had left in me. When her inner walls were pulsing around me, squeezing me with her pleasure, I knew I was completely ensnared.

"But most of all, my beautiful butterfly," I whispered in her ear, unapologetic and possessive. "I'm going to call you ‘ mine .'"

She released my horns as I filled her pussy, and she supported herself entirely by leaning back into my chest. She slowly dropped her hands back down to her sides, and I cocooned my arms around her, squeezing her like she'd disappear if I let go.

We both breathed in time, ragged and unpredictable, yet impossibly in sync. I kissed her shoulder with the softest feather touch, then ran my hands back up her body, enjoying every smooth inch along the way ,

I rounded her shoulders. I danced my fingertips up the delicate lines of her neck, and over her jawline.

Then I touched a single finger to each of her temples.

Sela's body went limp under the paralysis of a dream, and I caught her before she could fall.

I held her against my chest, while the nightmares of my doing took her mind. Her body shook, so I cradled her more tightly.

Now she was in a Labyrinth of her own designs. An inescapable maze of her pain, her fears, her memories, traumas, shame, and doubts. Her heartbeat sped, even in rest, at a speed terrifyingly in tune with my own.

So many of my past victims had always pictured horror in the form of blood and gore. Their minds constructed simple violence, murder, dismemberment, and monsters under their beds. But for those of us who didn't fear death, true horror was the living pain of knowing this tragedy had no end.

Hot water continued to pour down on us, continuing to create a fog of pure steam as it came in contact with my skin. I placed a palm on her bare chest and felt that sprinting pulse more fully. At the same time, a warm and unfamiliar fluid dribbled down my cheek. I swiped my fingers across it, then examined the glisten on my fingertips. Another drop painted my other cheek, and a stinging sensation burned in my eyes.

Tears? Was I crying?

No, that was impossible. When was the last time I cried? I couldn't recall. Not over a tribute. I'd never cried over a human.

The maze had felt far longer than usual this year. I must have simply been that exhausted.

I sank her deeper into unconsciousness, until her body stopped stirring in my arms. Every now and again, she would twitch or her nose would scrunch, as though she was trying to physically rebel against her mind's prison, but she would never win that battle.

I breathed slowly, until I calmed my heart rate and eased the constricting in my chest.

"You're looking rather somber, Theron." Jericho appeared in the room with his arms crossed, leaning against the far wall. I was thankful for the shower that hid any hint of the regret in my eyes.

"Her nightmares aren't my idea of fun." I mumbled, intentionally loud enough for him to hear. He approached and placed a hand on my shoulder, and I stiffened involuntarily.

"Aren't they though?" He dropped to a squat besides us, and he stared into her resting face. "I've never known you to turn away from a little violence and bloodletting." The Devil King squeezed gently, as if he was trying to comfort me, and I hated that he saw me as needing it. "You've done good. I'll take her from here. The game was fun this year, but she's gotten much too close to succeeding for my liking. Not to mention she has much more support than any tribute should."

I nodded idly, then I handed her off to the King. The water continued to run, while I stayed on the ground for an extended moment. I didn't deserve her anyway. Jericho was right. Even Rai was more trustworthy than I was .

He lifted her into his arms, still wet. Still dripping with traces of her and traces of me. I swallowed with the unrealistic hope that he wouldn't notice, but who was I trying to kid.

"So what happens now?" I asked, void of emotion. it was unlikely that he'd kill her. He didn't actually have to wait out the clock if he didn't want to either. Everything in Tartarus was Jericho's toy, from the land to the sky to the devils themselves. He could do anything he wanted.

"Do you really care?" He tilted his head in my direction, a sly grin on his lips.

"Of course not." I rebuked the implication. "It's just been a strange year, so I figured I'd ask."

"Strange, indeed." Jericho chuckled, his emerald eyes sparkling as he nestled her more firmly in his arms. "Next, I suppose we see how she handles crushing defeat." Jericho looked up as if he was picturing the possibilities. "But I have to say, I really never expected my Minotaur to go off the rails like that. I still don't know what compelled Rai to remove her tracking marks, but he didn't seem terribly keen on explaining, so I activated his paralysis collar and sent him back to the beginning of the maze." Jericho paced over to the mirror and fixed his hair, while keeping her cradled. "Alessi is… well, still the Teumessian Fox. He's around here somewhere, still as uncatchable as ever, if you want to go play with your blight of a companion." He furrowed his brow. "While I could break my own rules and banish the Twilight Clock, I'd like for her to see herself lose in real time. If I cheat, I have a feeling I'll never hear the end of it, and she'll always feel like she had the upper hand until then."

"So you're really planning to keep her?" I met his gaze, wanting to see the honesty or the lie.

Jericho just retained that smile. "After the stunts the rest of you have pulled this year, I would be a fool to give her up." He shifted his attention to Sela, who he gazed upon with unexpected fondness. "It's about time I take a new queen anyway. Pasiphae's memory doesn't deserve a place in my throne room anymore."

I was damn near speechless from that confession. But I didn't let Jericho see that fact. "So what do you want me to do?"

"You've done everything I've asked of you, my sweet nightmare." His gaze remained on Sela. "You can do whatever you'd like from here."

"Anything?"

"Anything." The word was a release on my heart, and I felt a sense of freedom wash over me for the first time since the game had begun.

"What are you going to do with her until the time is up?"

"I'm going to get her dressed and wait until she wakes up, first of all." He squeezed her into his chest. She didn't so much as stir. I'd sunk her deep into the hallucination. "Then I'll leave her in the Senseless Forest, where she can flail about, cursing my name, until the alarm bells ring."

Jericho gave me one last nod before he added, the moment before they vanished into one of his portals, "You'll thank me for this one day, I promise."

I got to my feet, and I turned off the water. Sweat drenched my platinum hair, and it clung to my forehead and my black horns. I rung out the water that had made it to my scarf, then I concentrated the heat in my blood until any remaining moisture burned off, and I was dry again.

I caught a glimpse of my bare chest in the bathroom mirror for long enough to take in the view of my scars. Most prominent was always the cross that cut deeply over my heart, and the divots that extended my smile. I'd avoided mirrors for ages, and I usually liked it that way. I was a flawed and mangled demon compared to Butterfly. I was broken, hideous, and unlovable.

And yet, Butterfly showed me those little, quiet affections time and again. She saw this image every time she looked at me. She laughed, smiled, and even blushed when I'd make comments that riled her up. Why would she do that? What was she seeing that I didn't?

I idly traced the mark over my heart with my index finger.

Would she still look at me the same if she knew what this really meant?

I closed my eyes, not wanting to stare at the face of her betrayer anymore. Then I felt a sudden, tight, and familiar embrace squeezing me around my shoulders. My nostrils filled with lilacs as I reopened my eyes to meet the warm amber of Alessi's staring back at me through the mirror.

The fox nuzzled into my neck. His gaze dropped to my scar. The one he'd seen too many times, yet I was always too ashamed to explain. I'd kept so many secrets from him. Maybe he never had been the problem.

Alessi frowned but didn't comment. He just stroked my collarbone with his partially shifted claws, cutting deeper on every pass.

"You chose him again, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

I said nothing.

"You always will, won't you." Still not a question.

I remained quiet.

"You have to, don't you."

I closed my eyes, stealing his window to my soul. Though he'd already parsed his answer. Maybe if I just told him everything, we could fix what never had to be broken. If Sela had taught me one, single thing, it was the value in facing life head on, no matter how impossible the odds and terrifying the potential outcomes.

"When two devils are born on the same plane at the same time, their souls and fates are inextricably linked." I grabbed Alessi's hand and moved it down to my chest. I guided his touch, tracing the cross. "When we were kids, Jericho used my own horn to cut these scars into my body. But this one across my chest was from a time he'd dug deep enough to reach my heart."

Alessi nodded, the slight surprise in his eyes feeling vindicating as he was finally allowed to understand. "He didn't kill you?"

"No. He just opened the pathway he needed." I swallowed, but I wasn't going to let myself back down now. "That day, he took a piece of my heart, and he consumed it. Then he took a piece of his own heart, held me down, and when I refused to open up, he sliced open my mouth and forced me to devour a piece of him, too."

"What?" Alessi looked positively stunned .

"That's how a devil seals a bond of fate." I'd struggled so much to voice that until now, but maybe it was about time I took a lesson from Butterfly, the ridiculous woman who, good or bad, didn't know how to filter her words. "And when one of those devils fights his way onto the throne and officially ascends as King, this is a bond that can never be betrayed."

Alessi flattened his hand against my chest, and he closed his eyes for several long moments. He paused there, as if all he wanted to do was sync with my heartbeat.

"I see." He said at last. "So is this how the game ends? Is this how it will always end?"

With a slow, deep breath, I met his gaze through the mirror. The corners of my lips lifted, and my deep scars created a truly wicked smile.

"No." I shook my head, enjoying this rare feeling of freedom. "I fulfilled my only duty. I can do anything I want now."

"Oh?" Alessi lifted a brow in confusion. "And what exactly is that?"

I turned my head to face his, and I nudged the tip of his nose with mine. He followed my lead, tilting back just enough to let me brush his lips. He said nothing. Just accepted that sentiment, and I hoped he understood that this simple, chaste, easy kiss meant more to me than a thousand nights in his bed even had.

"I'm going to be selfish." I whispered between increasingly probing contact. "Let's go get Sela and help her through the Labyrinth. We can deal with the consequences during next year's games, but for now, I'm a free devil."

Alessi's grip on me tensed the second before he fisted my hair and took my mouth with every bit of unrestrained passion in his soul. He forced his tongue between my lips, and he walked me back into the shower. When I hit the wall, he completely cocooned me in his body. Fuck did I miss that feeling. Of him. Of us. Of how we fit together. He didn't pull away until we were both panting and starved for air.

"One more time, into the abyss. Can I count on you?" He purred with a sharp smirk.

I whispered back, slow and resolute. "Until the end of time."