Page 10 of Minding the Minotaur

“Peripheral. One of the workers who transports products from their world into ours.”

Now I’m frowning so hard my forehead hurts. “I thought we brought everything in from the other domes. Ruby Town, Golden Spires…”

Clem snorts. “Nah. That’s a whopping big lie. Every single dome relies on the Labyrinth.”

“TheLabyrinth?”

“Yeah, that’s where the monsters hang out. Vast networks of tunnels beneath the city. Jax said that these tunnels stretch down for thousands of feet and sideways for hundreds of miles. They manufacture pretty much everything down there.”

“Holy shit.” I throw myself back in my chair, raking my hand through my long hair. “I had no idea.”

“No-one does, except the dome authorities and the peripherals. I shouldn’t know either, but Jax had an accident and got pretty messed up. I took him to hospital. At first, he just said he’d got caught in a piece of machinery, but they didn’t look like wounds caused by machinery. I finally forced him to tell me the truth about his job, supervising all the stuff that comes out of the Labyrinth. Dealing with monsters every single day.”

“That’s heavy,” I breathe, but weirdly, I’m not as alarmed as perhaps I should be. “How does he get down there?”

“Through some kind of portal.”

It dawns on me suddenly. “You mean a portal cape?”

“A what?”

“A cape, that’s what the minotaur called it. I saw it on the ground, a big cloak made of some sort of shimmery material.”

“Jax never mentioned a cape. He goes into a contraption in a big metal bunker, and that transports him. Sounds like that cape thing could be an illegal method.”

I hesitate, thinking. “The minotaur—he did seem super anxious about being spotted. He disappeared when somepeople walked past.” I huff wistfully. “I didn’t even get his name.”

“Frankly, that’s a good thing,” Clem says grimly. “If anyone saw one ofthemtalking to you, they’d interrogate you. And that wouldn’t end well.”

“What would they do to him?”

“Make him disappear. Permanently. Maybe you too, for all I know.”

“How?”

“Vaporization, Jax called it, but he wouldn’t tell me more than that.”

I shudder. “That sounds horrible.”

“Yeah. Apparently, the authorities don’t play nice when it comes to monsters escaping.”

Shit. No wonder my minotaur disappeared so fast. I register that I’ve just thought of him asminewith a strange little heart flutter. At the same time, Clem’s startling revelation has given me hope that I might find him again.

“I want to go there,” I blurt.

“Where?”

“The Labyrinth.”

Clem snorts. “That’s a truly fucked idea.”

I have a sudden brain wave. “Maybe Jax could get me a job.”

Clem looks horrified. “You wouldn’t survive for a minute in that environment, Sammy.”

“Jax has.”

“But he’s experienced, and he still got messed up. Between the monsters and the dome authorities, it’s fucking dangerous work. I’m sure he’s had other close shaves he won’t tell me about.” She pauses. “He’s got… he’s got nasty scars all over him, Sammy.”