7. Isabella

My brain feels fuzzy as I slowly wake up. For a moment, I wonder why my bed is so big and so soft.

I'm used to dank cots with barely enough space to park your ass in.

Asterion. It hits me in an instant.

His scent still lingers around me. I roll over and stretch. Stars, yesterday was… amazing. My body is still sore, but it was more than worth it.

I'm not sure I even want to leave this place anymore. Why live as kings on Celestia Prime when I can live as a queen right here?

Sure, there's the small matter of getting my little sister here, but we should be able to hop right over to pick her up.

If the Guild doesn't catch us, that is.

I can still feel the Minotaur's hot breath on my skin. Those strong, rough hands of him pawing at me, holding onto my hips as buries himself deep inside of me…

A knock on the door pulls my mind out of the gutter.

"Who is it?"

Emma sticks her head into the room. "The pope, who else? You awake?"

"Give a moment," I say as I throw the covers away and swing my legs over the side. My feet don't even touch the ground.

I take a moment to stretch and then throw my white dress on. I then open the door for Emma.

She walks into the room and hands me a cup of coffee. I gratefully accept it and sip from the warm, caffeinated goodness.

"Where's Asterion?"

"No idea."

"How'd you get this coffee then?" I ask.

"I just shouted into the void and a drone brought it to me. That's how things seem to work here."

"Really? Let me try. Ahem. Pancakes! House? Anyone? Bring me pancakes, please!"

Silence.

"I don't think it worked."

"Give it a second," Emma says.

Sure enough, a minute later a little drone came buzzing into the room with a plate stacked full of pancakes.

"Amazing," I laugh as I accept the plate and dig right in. They're damn good, too. "This place is amazing."

"Yeah," Emma admits. "I heard. From the other side of the freaking city."

She wiggles her eyebrows, and heat rises to my cheeks. "Well, you told me to distract him… so that's what I did."

"And you did a great job, Isa. He had no idea I was gone, and you're not going to believe what I found."

"What?"

Emma gets up and paces around the room. She always does this when she's nervous.

"There's plenty of treasure in the city. Gold, jewels, the works. But I also found something else. Something… crazy."

"What? Come on, tell me. You're making me anxious, Em."

She stops pacing and kneels in front of me.

"You're not going to like, Isa."

"What? Try me."

She takes a deep breath. "This is going to sound crazy, but… there are skeletons everywhere."

"What? Skeletons? What do you mean?"

"Dead bodies. You know, skeletons! Minotaur ones. Every building in this freaking city looks spotless, and the streets are clean, but when I checked inside those buildings there were skeletons everywhere. Hundreds, if not thousands of them. Something happened here, Isabella. Something bad. And Asterion doesn't want us to know."

This is crazy. Asterion has been nothing but kind to us both… although yes, he hasn't been exactly forthcoming with information.

"Perhaps there's an explanation for this," I say, biting my bottom lip. "I mean, we knew this was going to be an ancient ruin, right?"

"Yeah, but ancient ruins usually don't have running water, singing birds, and a Minotaur wandering around. I have a bad feeling about this, and my gut is always right. I saw we grab all the gold we can and just hightail it out of here, right now."

"Okay," I stammer. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Emma says. "Pack your things. I'll wait for you downstairs."

As Emma leaves, I start furiously stuffing my belongings back into my satchel. When I grab my tablet, I see that it lights up with several new, unread messages.

All of them from Darius Blackthorn.

I glance at the first one.

IF YOU DON'T PAY… YOUR SISTER IS IN TROUBLE.

Shit. Shit shit shit. How did he figure that out? I thought I kept Eden a secret.

Everything is all going to hell. Last night, I thought I had found paradise, but I seem to have woken up in hell.

My fingers tremble as I open up the other messages.

Crap. He's not playing.

He's sent me photographs of the private boarding school I've sent my sister to.

EITHER YOU PAY ME OR SHE DOES.

My blood runs cold. ‘Paying' a man like Blackthorn means… nothing good. Nothing I would want my little sister anywhere near.

With trembling hands, I type a hurried message back.

Will pay soon.

Found big treasure.

Give me a couple of days.

I promise.

Before I've even finished typing, my tablet lights up. He's video-calling me. Darius Blackthorn is the last person I want to video-call, but when my little sister's life is on the line, I'll do anything.

I answer the call.

Darius Blackthorn sits behind his large desk. The collar of his expensive, black, tailor-made suit is wide open. He's got a sharp jaw, and his face is framed by a long, red beard and a mop of dark hair.

His eyes look at me, and even through the camera I can feel their icy glare.

This is a man who will stop at nothing.

When he speaks, his voice is low and threatening.

"Your debt grows by the day, Starlight. If you don't come through soon, I'll put that little sister of yours to work. Eden, right? I think she can make me a pretty penny."

"Now listen here, you fucking bastard. You put one hand on Eden and I'm going to chop it off and force-feed it to you," I suddenly roar.

Threaten my little sister and you're dead.

I'm usually quiet and introverted, but when it comes to Eden I can be an angry mamma-bear.

Blackthorn just smirks. "There's the Starlight I know. That little quiet wannabe-archeologist act never worked on me. Now, are you going to pay me, or is Eden? It's your call."

Fuck.

I want to rip his throat out, but we're a galaxy apart. I need to keep my little sister safe. That"s all that matters.

"Like I said, I found some treasure. I'm on my way home, right now. You'll get your money."

"And I'm supposed to believe you? Come now. You've tried that story before, Starlight."

"I'm fucking serious, Darius. Look. Look where I am."

I hold up my tablet and show him the room. I even crack open a window to give him a shot of the city.

The thug doesn't seem impressed.

"So? You conned your way into some pleasure-resort? Is that supposed to tell me something, besides that you're a liar and a thief?"

"No, this is the freaking Minotaur capital. Minos! This place is stuffed to the gills with ancient treasure, and there's a real-life Minotaur as well! Look, there he is right now!"

I turn the camera towards Asterion, who is walking through the central square. His hulking figure casts a large shadow, and I can hear his hooves thud through the open window.

"Hmpf. A trick of the light," Darius growls. "You better not be lying again, Starlight, or Eden will pay for it."

"I'm not, I swear," I say, panic gripping my throat.

I know deep down I shouldn't be telling him all this, but I have to protect Eden, at all costs. My little sister is the most important thing in the world to me.

"Fine. Send me your coordinates, and I'll swing by."

"This will settle my debt, right?" I say as I type in the coordinates of the lost Minotaur city into the tablet. "This more than covers it."

Darius receives my message and grins devilishly. "We'll see, Starlight, We'll see."

The message cuts out and I stare into the black mirror.

Fuck.

What did I just do?