he spotted Sloane, exposing a set of steep stairs leading down.
Connor greeted him without a pause, heading down the stairs, the rest of us following, my bare feet slapping against the cool cement steps. I flinched as the door slammed behind me, the sound of my fate, my heart thumping in my throat.
When we got to the bottom of the dark space, the temperature was chilly, the air musty, feeling like a cellar.
My gaze absorbed the low cave ceiling and arched passages. It was dark, dank, and windowless with various rooms and spaces everywhere. The suffocation of being trapped underground burrowed into my lungs, causing them to move in and out frantically. We passed fountains and statues, and one gated space painted with the gruesome image of a man on the back wall.
Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula.
“This is the Labyrinth?” It was something you heard about, our elders telling stories of its existence, but to my generation, it had become a story. History said it had been used for various things throughout the years, even to imprison the man whose picture hung on the wall. However, before our country was divided, at constant war between humans and fae, it was a cheesy tourist attraction.
The fae squad led me down more stairs hidden in a cove, away from the tourist area, going deeper into the Labyrinth. In the darkness, my lungs tightened, my pulse racing.
More soldiers greeted us at the bottom, where another gate was erected, blocking off what appeared to be a pitch-black tunnel. “Need entry through. Dropping off prisoner 85221.”
“Yes, sir.” A young woman bowed her head at Sloane. Pulling on gloves, she unlocked the gate—a sign the bars were made out of pure iron. Most fae species had a weakness, not that we had figured them all out, but to Fairies, one was pure iron.
I didn’t think it was a coincidence the weakness for the highest ruling class of fae was widely known. It wasn’t just humans who didn’t like the fae pyramid and wouldn’t mind seeing the fay topple from the peak.
The gate clanked and cracked open, jolting me back to my current situation, dipping my knees. Sloane gripped me harder, yanking me through. Fire-bulbs dotted the walls; motion sensors ignited the path a few yards in front of us as we continued to move. The gate slammed behind us, and my heart jumped into my throat.
Nothing about this made sense. “I don’t understand. I thought we were going to the prison.” I looked over at Vale.
“We are.” A cruel grin parted his mouth, showing off his white teeth. “Just a little farther.”
“What?” I gulped. We were right below the castle grounds, not where the infamous and terrifying legend of the Halalhaz should be. Istvan was convinced it was in the Zugliget area, near the Tündér Mountain quarry, which made sense. Out far enough from the city, but still close, with minimal population in the area. It was an ideal place for a prison.
Predictable.
We were idiots. What better place to hide your captives than in plain sight? We never even contemplated it was in the city. So many of our fighters, taken by fae, had been closer than we thought. Cruelly close. To be right under your army’s nose and know no one would ever find you.
My teeth sawed into my bottom lip. I would not cry. I would not show emotion.
The tunnel went on for what seemed like hours, zigzagging deeper, going up, going down, other tunnels splintering off. Sloane didn’t hesitate on his path while my brain locked on each change. Finally, we went up steep stairs, circling up until my thighs burned, reaching a small arched door at the top.
Sloane shoved at it, the door squeaking open. Vale rammed my head down, pushing me through the exit, stepping us out onto pavement into the cooling evening. Unlit and quiet. No guards keeping watch here.
I twisted my head, staring up at a statue I had looked at from across the river through binoculars. The Citadella on Gellért Hill. Different from what was taught in human school, the fae claimed this statue of a lady holding a feather secretly represented the hiding fae, a sign that their power would prevail once again.
We entered the area behind the statue and went through more carved arches.
Where everything changed.
Vines and weeds grew up the walls and hung overhead resembling a hidden garden. The pristine paths crumbled and broke under my bare feet. I was overcome by the sensation that we had