Chapter 39

Ithought myself to be desensitized to death. That’s not to say that I’m completely clueless to the Grim Reaper lurking in the shadows, holding a shining scythe and dressed in a dark robe, but I’ve seen too much of it to really give it a second thought.

But that feeling of falling, the weightlessness…

It’s a harsh reminder that death waits around every corner, that no man or woman is able to escape its possessive grip.

No baby, either.

My eyes drift to Nina beside me as we once again continue our trek through the Labyrinth’s tunnels.

I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her and our baby. Kai… He’d have no reason to live anymore. That’s fucked up, but we all know it’s true. He wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet through his brain. And the twins—they’d have each other, but they’d never be right in the head again. Cain would lose himself to the darkness, and this time, he’d take Abel with him. And without Nina, Damien is a kindling doused in gasoline, just waiting for the flame to hit it. Heaven only knows what’d he do, who he’d kill, before death eventually claimed him. And he’d embrace it eagerly, with a wide smile on his face. Rion would destroy the entire fucking world…or himself. I can’t tell you for sure which one. I truly believe that the last strand of his sanity would sever like a cord being cut in two.

And me…

Could I go on without her? Knowing that I’d never see her face again or hear her laugh? Knowing that she’d never smile up at me with those beautiful white eyes? I know I’d never be able to fall in love again, but could I survive it? Could I survive her death?

No. I don’t think I could.

I can’t let her out of my fucking sight.

“When we were down here before,” I begin gruffly, startling her. From the owlish look on her face, I take it she’s been lost in her own head, just as I’ve been. Clearing my throat, I try again. “When we were down here before, when you were kidnapped by Alyssa…well, you saw what we went through.” I frown, remembering the walls of nails and the swinging machetes and all of the other horrors we faced. “What I mean is, we don’t know what to expect. Not really. Since the pathway always changes, we never experienced two of the same traps.”

Fuck, for some reason, I’m trying to justify myself to her. To explain why I almost fucking died and left her.

I think a part of me just needs to remind her that I’ll never purposely leave her, that I’ll fight tooth and nail to remain by her side. If I had fallen into that black pit, I would’ve quite literally clawed my way back to the top.

Nothing can keep me from her and that child.

“I know.” Her smile is soft, tentative, but it illuminates her features like a giant spotlight. My breath hitches at how fucking gorgeous she looks right now. How could I have ever been with other women? They may as well be flashlights next to the brilliance of the sun. “If Logan hadn’t…” She trails off, that smile disappearing from her face as quickly as it appeared.

I begrudgingly glance backwards at the cupid, his eyes trained on the walls as he searches for more hidden traps. I really need to thank the fucker for saving my life. He didn’t have to—we all know that he could’ve let me fall and no one would’ve been the wiser. Yet he risked his own life to save mine. I could’ve just as likely pulled him in after me.

He’s…what? Two hundred pounds soaking wet, if that? It’s a miracle he was able to hold me up for even a split second.

“What’s the plan?” Nina asks abruptly, and I blink at her, my gaze studying her angelic profile with undeterred intensity. “I mean, when we make it out of here. Where will we go?”

“We have a few options,” I confess. “My family is more than willing to hide us for the time being.” I lower my gaze to where my hand interlocks with hers. I love the difference in our skin tone—hers so creamy, it could be a strand of moonlight bottled up. And mine as golden as the sun.

Night and day, side by side.

The smile slips from my face, because truth be told, that story is kind of a fucking tragedy. The moon constantly chases the sun, never able to get a hold of her. It’s a never-ending cycle of unreciprocated love and need. Or maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe the sun and moon actually despise each other and are desperately attempting to escape one another.

Either way, a fucking tragedy.

Kai pauses up ahead, holding up a single fist to instruct us to stop as well. I drop Nina’s hand and wrap my arm around her waist, holding her tightly against me as I survey what’s captured the group’s attention.

Up ahead, the pathway forks in two. One hallway is significantly smaller than the other, appearing as if it’ll barely fit my body through.

It’s also covered in nails. Tiny nails, long ones, rusty ones…but all sharp.

A hallway of sharp fucking nails we’ll need to cross to get through.

The other one is significantly larger, easily able to fit two people shoulder to shoulder, but a green goo is dripping from the walls. I can’t quite tell what the substance is, but even more covers the flooring. The entire air is contaminated with a lime-green mist that takes up every inch of airspace.

“Well this is like my fifth family reunion all over again,” the crazy shifter exclaims, clapping his hands together.

Cain’s eyes narrow as he steps in front of Kai, surveying first the hallway of nails and then the one of green goo.

“Which one are we going through, boss man?” Abel tries to smile, but it wobbles when his gaze flickers to Nina. He’s scared, but the asshole will never show it. No, he’ll remain the flippant, debonair flirt until his last fucking moment. But at the same time, I can tell his lighthearted tone has a calming effect on Nina. The iron grip she has on my hand loosens slightly as her shoulders relax with her next exhale.

Over her head, I give Abel a pointed look and nod almost imperceptibly. Easily reading my unspoken message, Abel sidles up to Nina and rests his elbow on her shoulder.

“Would you like to be nailed, Bambi?” he questions, his voice oozing sexual innuendo. She scoffs, but there’s a tiny glimmer in her eyes that wasn’t there prior.

“You’re ridiculous.” She giggles, and I swear all six of us—seven, if you include that fucker Logan—breathe easier at the sound.

“Don’t you mean ri-dick-ulous,” Abel stresses, grinning. “And I’m talking about my dick, if you didn’t gather that already. Once we get out of this place, I’m gonna dick you real hard on an actual comfy bed. You hear me?”

“Oh my god!” Her cheeks flame, but I know we have her distracted. For now, at least.

As Abel describes to Nina in explicit, R-rated detail all the things he plans to do to her to celebrate our escape, Kai nods at Cain.

The sex demon takes a shuddering breath, his shoulders so taut they reach his ears, and moves towards the hallway lathered in the disgusting green goo. He squeezes his eyes shut, reaches towards the nearest glob hanging from the ceiling like a demented icicle, and touches the tip of his bare fingers against it.

And immediately screams in utter agony, his face creasing with pain.

“Fuck! Oh shit! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“Cain!”

Nina starts running towards him, but he holds up the hand that isn’t covered in the green go and shouts, “Stay back!”

I band my arm around her waist and hold her against me, even as she struggles.

“What the fuck happened?” Abel’s face is pale as he hurries towards his brother, eyeing the green goo like you would a rabid dog, one that’s foaming at the mouth in its attempt to get to you.

“It feels like it’s eating away my skin!” Cain bellows through gritted teeth.

“Oh God.” Nina finally stops struggling and rests against me, her breathing uneven. “We should just go back. We should just?—”

“We can’t.” Damien strolls towards Cain with that ineffably calm stare of his, flipping a dagger over and over again in his hand. But even with his feigned nonchalance, I can see how stressed he is. There’s a tightness around both of his eyes that belies his easygoing disposition. “There’s no way we’ll be able to find our way back now.” He physically forces Abel aside, removes his suit coat, and then rips off the sleeve of his white dress shirt. With slow, careful movements, he begins to wipe away the goo on Cain’s hand, ignoring the way the sex demon hisses and grunts in pain.

“Can’t you, like, sense other people?” Nina demands, turning to focus on Logan. The cupid has been uncharacteristically quiet since we first entered the tunnels, almost subdued. Violet shadows line both of his eyes as he lifts his head to stare at her.

“Normally, I can. But for some reason, the power of the Labyrinth is—” He hesitates, glancing warily from Nina’s face to mine. “It’s fucking with my cupid magic.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Rion sneers, for once sounding completely coherent…and pissed as fuck. He unleashes the hurricane force of his stare on Logan. “Wasn’t that the whole reason we took you with us? To use your powers? To sense other inmates and guards?”

“How was I supposed to know that my powers wouldn’t work?” Logan’s hands ball into fists, and I can’t help but grin. Apparently, the little church boy has more fight in him than I initially expected.

Kai’s voice is curt when he speaks next, his nostrils flaring. “Logan’s right. I’m even having trouble accessing my dragon.”

“My magic is…weak at the moment,” Damien declares, though reluctantly, as if it pains him to confess that he isn’t almighty at the moment.

We all turn towards Nina, who, up to now, has been silent. As if she can feel the combined weight of our stares, she shifts in my arms.

“I feel perfectly fine,” she confesses, shrugging her tiny shoulders. “But I haven’t tried to do anything too extreme.”

“It’s the power of the Labyrinth,” Damien explains coldly, finally removing the ripped cloth from Cain’s hand. I make a face when I see the condition of his skin—dark red interspersed with light pink and white, all of it appearing sticky and bloody.

The goo burnt his skin away.

“At least, that’s my theory,” Damien continues as he waits for Abel to grab gauze from his backpack, and I can tell he’s struggling to keep his expression placid. “Probably another way to keep us contained down here. The farther we get into the Labyrinth, the weaker we become. Some of us, like me, Kai, and Nina, are stronger than others. Our powers will take longer to dissipate entirely.” He says that all impassively, not an ounce of inflection in his tone. He could’ve been talking about the weather instead of something as fucking terrifying as losing our powers.

“It’s a pretty shitty theory,” Abel murmurs, his green eyes wide with fear.

Fear that he quickly tries to mask, however, when he turns to face Nina.

“So I suppose we’re going through the hall of nails,” Rion interjects, beaming. Crazy fucking psycho. “Did I ever tell you the story about my twelfth birthday party? My momma decided to organize a birthday party with the theme of pain. Did you ever attend a party with that theme? God, I remember it like it was yesterday. We put a bullseye on my younger cousin and made him run around the backyard while the rest of us lined up with crossbows?—”

“I will push you into the nails if you don’t stop talking,” Damien deadpans.

Rion’s grin simply widens. “Are you trying to top me, my sexy bitch mage? Because I’ll have you know…I am so fucking down for that.”

I swear, Damien’s eye twitches as if he’s imagining all of the things he could do to Rion with the blade in his hand.

Kai’s voice breaks through the bickering like a bomb detonating. It’s not that he speaks the loudest of us all—that would definitely be Rion or Abel—but more that we turn towards him for leadership. Even Damien, though he’ll never admit it. Since Kai first arrived in the prison many, many years ago, he innately commanded the respect and attention of every inmate in the Labyrinth. He became the king through bloodshed, but he kept hold of the crown through loyalty.

“We need to discuss options,” Kai continues, staring intently at Nina in my arms. “How we’re?—”

“I have an idea,” I interrupt, smoothing my hand over her stomach. I swear I feel a baby bump. My heart swells at the thought, even as I brace myself for what I’m about to do.

Before anyone can stop me or protest—not that anyone would when it comes to Nina’s safety—I have her nestled in my arms and I’m running as fast as I fucking can through the hall of nails.

They dig into my skin, eliciting gasp after gasp of pain, and I feel blood trickle from the various wounds.

But I don’t stop.

I keep my body hunched over Nina’s, protecting her from any of the wayward nails.

What feels like hours later, but I know is only a minute or so, we reach the other side of the hall, and I collapse on the ground, bringing Nina with me.

She’s as white as a sheet, her hand shaking as it travels across my body, coming away red with blood. One glance down my nose confirms that I’m riddled with tiny marks. They’re fucking everywhere.

“Oh, Bron.” She places a hand to her mouth in horror, blinking away tears, before she seems to gather herself.

She continues to shake as she unzips my backpack, grabs a medical kit we put together, and begins to dab at my bloody cuts with rubbing alcohol.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she snaps, her patience finally wearing thin. “Why do you guys always feel the need to?—”

“Because you’re the most important thing that matters to us,” I say, cutting her off, meeting her fierce stare with one of my own. I’m not gonna lie—despite the pain I’m in, my cock hardens in my pants. There’s something so fucking sexy about my girl standing up for herself and putting us in our place.

Are we overprotective assholes?

Most definitely.

Are we going to change anytime soon?

No way in hell.

No one should be surprised at this point.

She lifts her hands to explore the masculine planes of my face, using both of her thumbs to trace the curve of my lower lip. My tongue follows the motion, and I swear her body gives an involuntary shudder.

Damien and Rion are the only two not yelping in pain as they run through the hall, bleeding from the wounds scattered all over their bodies. The former keeps an apathetic mask plastered on his face, while the latter cackles maniacally. Nina tends to everyone’s injures, and though her face is pale and her hands shake, she scolds each and every one of us for taking stupid risks.

But hey. We never claimed not to coddle her, and we sure as fuck aren’t going to stop now.