chapter thirty-seven

"It's her fault for wanting to be so reckless!" Zared growled as he paced around the hidden cave. "She should know better than to want to go prancing through Underworth. There's a reason mortals fear it!"

The labyrinth seemed to be blinking at him, the natural glow fading in and out like it was punctuating his anger... or arguing against him.

"Don't tell me I'm wrong!" he snapped at the walls. "We both know how horrid that kingdom looks from the portal, plus it opens right at the edge of the pit. What if she fell in? What if her life was drained before she could make it past the border?"

The maze walls continued to flash at him. It was starting to get annoying at this rate...

"I don't care if you're angry at me. I won't let her do it." Zared sank into one of the stone chairs, crossing his arms as he looked at the floor to try to get a break from the flashing glow. "She already sacrificed her life once for her father she shouldn't have to do it again for me. I know she said she wanted to..."

His chest tightened. He didn't want to believe that was true. Did Thea truly want to marry his brother? Did she prefer the comfort of a man who could actually hold her without risking tearing her flesh with a handful of claws? He wondered if she'd even admit it if it was true...

"She said she doesn't like him," Zared reasoned with himself, looking down at his sharp talons. "So why is she so determined to get back to him? If it's truly for my sake, then I just can't let her do it... I can't see her unhappy after all she's done."

He pressed a palm to his furry forehead, letting out a long sigh as he clacked his hooves on the floor. He'd never had a prisoner get into his head the way Thea did. Was it because she wasn't really a criminal? Or because she was kind to him?

Or because she was just herself?

His blood burned as he thought about her tender hands dressing his wound, carefully tending to him as if he was made of glass, despite being built from the sturdiest magic. She'd never treated him like a monster unless he acted like one, and he'd definitely acted like one earlier...

"I'm the jerk, aren't I?" Zared looked up at the ceiling, and the cavern continued to flicker, growing faster like a pulsing heart. "I'm guessing that's a yes."

Zared groaned, then looked down at the cup that still held the lukewarm cup of unfinished tea he'd made. He may have made the tea, but it was Thea who made him believe he could. He had all the pieces and ingredients to put it together, but on his own, he was never enough. He still needed Thea. Not just for making tea, but for unwinding the curse that he had given up on until she arrived. If Thea thought going to Underworth was the way to set him free...

"I need to talk to her again," Zared groaned. "And... apologize. She might be right about the portal, even if I don't like it."

He stood from his seat, his head starting to ache from the flashing in the cave. Why was it still going crazy when he was done arguing with it? Maybe the ring would be more helpful.

"Take me back to her," he told the ring. It only took a second for the magic to come to life, guiding him out of the hidden cavern and into the tunnels. He followed the ring's direction as closely as he could, but for whatever reason the labyrinth kept blocking his paths.

The ring wanted him to go left, but rocks blocked the tunnel, then it wanted him to go straight, but a rosebush had climbed too tall to pass through.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked the walls. "I'm trying to get back to Thea. Where are you taking me?"

The labyrinth had stopped flashing, filling the tunnels with an eerie glow that sent a rush of nerves through Zared's chest. He walked faster. He wasn't sure why, but something felt off. He looked down at the ring, feeling the gold burn around his finger as he begged it to take him to the thing he wanted most.

Thea. Where is Thea?

He started to run. Something wasn't right. Why was the tunnel not responding to him? Why was the ring struggling to take him to what he wanted?

"Thea!" he called, his heart racing as he darted around the next corner, his hooves clacking with a deafening echo. "Thea—"

His voice snagged in the back of his throat as his eyes went wider than one of King Hayden's portals.

"No..."

Lying in the middle of the path was the enchanted rose, coated in blood. He picked up the rose and immediately felt his entire body crush in on itself. Thea had been holding the rose when she left... What happened!?

"Take me to Thea!" he shouted into the labyrinth, demanding both the maze and the ring to guide him. " Now ! "

The maze didn't resist after that. It illuminated the same tunnels the ring pointed him toward, and cut every corner possible. For whatever reason, the labyrinth wanted him to find the rose first. Was it because it didn't want him to lose the key?

Blast the key, where is Thea!?

He ran around another corner, feeling his entire body go cold as he spotted the limp body lying beside a bed of roses. Thea's face was turned away from him, but he could already see the blood trickling from the back of her head.

"Thea!" He rushed to her side, kneeling into the dirt and scooping her into his arms as he searched for any signs of life. "Thea, wake up! What happened? Tell me who did this to you!"

He felt he already knew, but he needed to know more. He needed to hear her voice, needed to see her eyes open. She couldn't die... not here, not ever.

He placed his claw under her nose, checking for the steam of breath.

She's still breathing.

Her injury was bad, and there was no telling what a blow to the head like that could do to her, but Zared wasn't going to sit around, waiting to find out. He scooped her into his arms, holding her close to his chest to warm her as best as he could. He dropped the rose onto her lap, the bloodstained flower blending in with her newly-stained dress.

"You're going to be all right," he whispered, nuzzling his chin against her head as he pulled her close. "Just don't leave me. I can't go back to being alone."

"Hey, look, The beast found our rose!" The gravelly voice of Thea's attacker scraped through Zared's mind like claws against flesh. "Why don't you hand it over before you end up like your little friend there?"

They did this...

Zared placed Thea back on the ground, his heart tearing away with her as he pulled away. He made sure to be gentle with her head. "This will be quick, I promise," he whispered to her motionless form. "Then you'll be safe."

"Safe?" the leader scoffed, his every word twisting the tension in Zared's chest tighter, until he was ready to unleash his full fury. "No one is safe down here, beasty. Not even you. Now hand over the rose before—"

He fell quiet. The only sound being the thud of his body as it smacked against the stone floor.