which shows she is a high blood. Only the high blood—descendants of the original monsters of the maze—can change into human form. Or shift features.
She stops before me, her head tilting adorably, that small arm outstretched towards me with a skin of mead. “You should drink.”
“Why?” I rumble.
“You look sad, and whenever they look sad, the drink makes them happy again,” she states matter-of-factly, and thrusts the skin at me again.
A small smile curves my lips as I accept the skin and draw a long drink. “Can I have some?” she inquires, her voice small but strong. She plops herself down next to me, her feet kicking near the fire. She’s unafraid in my presence...not like the others who look at me with fear and pity.
“No,” I tell her, and look at the fire, dismissing her. She shouldn’t be around me. I’m a killer.
“Why?” she questions.
“You’re too young,” I grumble, and she seems to consider the answer before leaning forward.
“I’m thirteen tomorrow,” she whispers, and I suck in a breath.
Thirteen, only three years until she is forced to walk the path...to find her own way in the maze. A barbaric act, but one given to every child of the labyrinth.
“Still too young,” I tell her, and she sighs, the sound older than her time.
“My daddy says the same.” She pouts.
“Where is your dad?” I ask, looking around, but no one pays attention to the child.
“He left me here, said he heard something in there.” She looks at the dark opening of the maze, fear and wonder in her eyes. “That was two weeks ago, I hope he comes back soon. I can never fall asleep at night without him singing to me,” she murmurs in fear.
“The screams?” I query, and she nods solemnly.
“I hear them all the time, they are scary,” she replies sadly.
The screams of the lost souls, the dying. If her father is out there...he’s responsible for the screams in her nightmares...but two rotations. That’s a long time to be gone. Usually they do one sun turn, not two whole rotations. That means he’s overdue to come back to his baby girl. I hope he is okay.
“Will you sing to me?” she whispers. “I-I want to sleep.”
“Child—”
“Please?” she implores, her big eyes pleading with me, leaving me unable to say no.
Sighing, I throw back the skin and drain it before wiping my mouth on my arm. Focusing on the moon, I begin to sing. A tale of a pale goddess, the moon, coming to earth. She walks among us, through the maze, and frees us. Breaks the chains of the monsters and releases us, her heart so big that she loves us all. But she has to go home, she has to leave. She returns to the sky without her monsters.
As my voice croons into the night the girl shifts closer until her head is on my lap, her eyes closed. I don’t move, dare not disturb her as I feel her small body relax. When I look away from her, still singing, I see the others gathered around my fire.
Their voices slowly join in, tales woven together through time. Tales of sorrow, of love, of hope, and pain. A shared destiny, a shared understanding. And here, next to the flames and before the palace of my oppressor, I find my people.
They no longer look at me with fear...but with understanding.
With hope.
I am one of them, a beast of the labyrinth.
I pull back from the memory and look at Dawn. “It was the first time I felt at home. I heard they all died when I escaped, whatever was left of them.”
“Thank you, my bull,” she says, tears in her eyes.
I wipe them away and kiss her softly. I want my life to be like this forever, and I will learn from the past. I won’t let my hate ruin this, and when I look back, I will remember all the good that came with the bad.
Because of her.
Draya, my goddess.
Our saviour.
I made a deal. We all had our time with her today apart from Lucy and Nos. Nos agreed to spend time with her tomorrow, and Lucy... well, who knows about him. So tonight, she is mine. All mine. I pull her closer. Dume dropped her off where I had been waiting, laying in the silk, four-poster bed with candles around the room. I prefer them to real lights, as Griffin called them.
She jumped on the bed and crawled straight into my arms. I turned us and