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Chapter 18

Marius

T he minotaur launched itself at Marius, who shook himself and began to run.

A minotaur? Even more than sirens, he’d thought minotaurs were a thing of imagination. At least the bottom half was human. Surely he, a full Fae, could outrun it. But what then? Keep running until it tired, go for a kill? But how long would that leave Tahlia beneath the labyrinth? He had to get to her. This place was making it incredibly difficult to remain logical. None of this seemed real.

He longed for his dragon and his whip as well, but as he had known for quite a while now, longing didn’t kill the pirate or monster or minotaur.

Action did.

With the grunting bull creature not five steps behind him, he turned sharply and made to speed past it and run in the opposite direction. If anything, he had to keep his hold on where Tahlia had fallen. They had to have passed it. Why hadn’t either of them fallen through?

Roaring, the mythical beast gave chase and Marius kept a keen eye on the path.

But the hole wasn’t there. All the stones were smooth, unmarred and unbroken, as if Tahlia and her drop had all been in his imagination.

He whirled and kicked toward the minotaur’s chest. His boot made contact and the creature howled, dropped back, and made to lunge, but Marius was faster. Marius drove his blade into the bull-headed thing’s eye. Hot blood gushed over his hand, but the minotaur shook and pierced Marius’s shoulder with the tip of a horn. Pain spread out in a web over Marius and he grunted, angry. He tore the knife from the minotaur’s eye and jammed it into the beast’s neck.

The minotaur disappeared.

What in the name of all the gods?