Chapter 10 A Restrained Kiss
“Who is that?” Oberon demands, his hand in mine as he slings his bow over his shoulder.
“Prince Zaries’ best friend!” I shout over my shoulder. “Malachi—he wants me dead!
Running along the walls of the maze is treacherous, but from here, I can see the layout. All around us is the clanging of metal and blazing of war magic. The screaming goes on and on like one solid sound that never ends, fractured only by monstrous flashes of lightning. The maze is an enormous circle, spiraling towards the center where a light glows brightly. It flickers like flames, undaunted by the rain, but it’s too blue to be fire.
“We have to jump!” I tell Oberon, seconds before I release his hand and leap over the chasm from one wall to the other.
Below me, I briefly glimpse a carpet of red-spotted mushrooms in a white haze of fog. There are bodies in the slow-moving mist, but I can’t tell how many. Each time a fat droplet of rain hits the ground, a puff of poison spores rises. When I land on the other wall, I steady myself on the slick stones, then pull a handkerchief from my belt and tie it around my face. Waiting for Oberon, I count the hands I see reaching helplessly in their air. At least ten challengers have fallen here.
“He’s closing in!” Oberon lands beside me. He puts himself between me and the approaching threat. “What did you do to piss him off? It looks like he’s not even bothering looking for the scales!”
“I may have stuck a needle in his eye,” I shout, trying to tug his bow off his shoulder. “Give me this!”
He sheds his bow and hands me an arrow. I notch it and point it at Malachi’s other eye in warning.
“How do you think you’d fare blind, Malachi?” I call out.
The oaf only grins wider, running faster toward me. I release my arrow the moment his feet leave the wall, but he jerks to the side and it slices through his ear instead of his eye. He roars in pain, missing the landing but grabbing the vines before his head has fallen low enough to breathe in the spores.
“You missed!” Malachi snarls, rain saturating the bandage over his eye.
“Don’t look down,” I say with a smile. I hand Oberon back his bow and turn on my heel to get as much space between us and Malachi as possible. If he manages to get up, I’ll never be safe.
“We should get down,” Oberon calls over the echoing screams. “He’ll be able to see us wherever we go up here!”
“Where do you suggest? The mushroom pits or the electrified puddles?” I bark a laugh, smiling over my shoulder at my old friend. Seeing him is like being home again, although he never should have been here. Now there are two men I have to make sure survive this maze.
Two men and Sylvain, wherever she is. If she’s even alive.
Two walls over, go down in the third path. Now!
Fuck, the voice! I shake my head, stopping in my tracks. My eyes scan the top of the maze. Two walls which way? He’s not being clear.
Should I even listen to him?
On your right, go now! There’s no time!
“Follow me!” I tell Oberon, leaping over another path and landing on the next wall.
Oberon and I were trained to trust each other, so he follows me without question. When we drop down onto the third path, I take a deep breath of relief. There’s nothing here, no puddle or vines or even a minotaur.
Back against the wall! Now!
Lightning cracks just as my back hits the wall, tugging Oberon with me. His body covers mine protectively as Malachi jumps over. Then stops.
The vines move, crawling over our bodies and pulling us in. I try to scream as sinuous green wraps around my legs, my arms, and my torso, but Oberon covers my mouth. Leaves flutter over my face, leaving the barest gap as we watch Malachi. He knows we’re near, but he can't see us. The vines have swallowed us.
Malachi throws his head back and roars his frustration at the slate sky. Gripping his blades, he continues. As soon as he’s out of sight, the vines part again and release us.
“What the fuck?” I murmur.
“The gods are with us,” Oberon whispers as his hands cup my face.
I look up slowly, blinking in confusion as his lips come down and brush my forehead.
“Oberon?” My voice quakes. This has never been part of our relationship.
His body’s shaking, his muscles bulging in his arms as he fights the urge to lower his mouth to mine. “I’ve missed you so much,” he chokes.
My breath freezes. My heart shudders against too-tight ribs. Oberon’s never looked at me like that before…
“The fuck is this?”
Oberon jumps back, pulling a dagger out of his belt at the sound of Zaries’ voice.
I press my back into the wall again, willing the vines to swallow me, anything but to witness these two fight.
“Back away, princeling!” Oberon warns, spinning his dagger with a flourish.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing to Anara?” Zaries demands, his eyes twitching as he takes position to fight. His dual swords glisten in the lightning above as water streams over the harsh planes of his face.
“I’m here to take her home,” Oberon says, grabbing me from the wall and tucking me under his arm. “Where she belongs.”
“Anara isn’t going anywhere!” Zaries hisses, fire in his eyes like nothing I’ve seen before.
“Then take her from me, my prince!” Oberon grins down at me and spins me away, pushing me two feet behind him. “Run!” he mouths.
I stand there, numb, watching the two men I care most about in this world aiming weapons at each other.
Run! Now!
Spurned on by the voice, my feet move without my consent. Tears sting in my eyes as my body propels itself away from the battle about to happen. How can I leave them? How can I let them fight?
Yet my body is no longer mine to command. It no longer listens to the desperate need to stay and fight.
I scream as rocks crash behind me, jumping away from the rubble just in time to watch a man fly through the wall with minotaur horns rammed through his chest. The man spits blood, blue eyes glued on me. He reaches out, but there's only one choice. Keep running, never stop running.