Page 23 of Minding the Minotaur

They are so unlike the folks in Sparkle, where everyone gossips and laughs in the cafes, it’s hard not to stare. I must have slowed right down again, because Jax literally takes hold of my arm and yanks me along with him.

“C’mon, the next bridging is in five minutes.”

“Bridging?”

“The word for portal travel.”

“I thought we went down, like in an elevator.”

Jax shakes his head. “It’s not a simple trip underground. But unless you’re a metaphysics nerd, you won’t get it. Let’s just say it will wobble you around a bit.”

“Right.” I gulp. “Will it affect my long-term health?”

Jax laughs. “Nah, I do it every day and look at me.”

It’s tempting to say he looks like shit, but I don’t. His gaunt cheekbones and the dark shadows under his eyes are probably because of his lifestyle choices. Nothing to do with portal travel. Besides, with my proclivity for peanut butter and jelly, who am I to talk?

We walk out from the last rows of containers to see towers at all four corners of the concrete bunker ahead, each with a guard holding a gun trained on the opening. To the left and to the right, as far as the eye can see, are equivalent bunkers, all with towers around them. All, no doubt, with masked humans holding guns.

Shit, this is heavy.

At first, we are the only two who enter the huge metal-encased container.

“Where is everyone?” I whisper.

“There’s only a handful of humans that work in theLabyrinth. Most are employed above ground,” Jax mutters back.

That doesn’t make me feel any better.

Finally, a couple of workers join us. They look pale and underfed, like Jax. They’re carrying cleaning equipment.

Jax growls a greeting. “Zac, Simon, how’s things?”

“Eh, you know. Same old, same old.” One of them shrugs. “Least our bi-annual break is coming up.”

“One more week of this shit, then three days off,” the other says, showing a row of broken teeth as he grins. I’m shocked—everyone in Sparkle gets free dental care. Not in the Periphery, by the looks of things.

“Where are you off to?” Jax continues.

“We scored a pass to the Lake Holiday Village. Bit of sun, bit of fishing, should be good.”

I know the Lake Holiday Village. It’s one of the older, more run-down resorts in Sparkle. These two obviously think it’s nirvana.

“Cool,” Jax says.

The guys strap in. Jax tells me how to criss-cross the harness over my chest. It reminds me of a fairground ride I went on once in Park Central that made me feel utterly sick. I never went on it again.

And then he sits down opposite me, belts up, and presses the red button next to his right ear, and immediately it’s like a hundred juddering shockwaves zap through my body. It’s not painful, more like someone has reached into me and is wobbling all my organs around with a great big hand at something like the speed of light.

My face feels like Jello. My vision goes haywire, and I see a dozen rotating Jax’s, like I’m looking into a kaleidoscope.

And then—bu-bump. Almost as soon as it’s started, it’s over. All that’s left is a high-pitched ringing in my ears.

Followed by three sharp beeps.

“You can unharness,” Jax says. Thankfully, I’m only seeing one of him now.

I nod. My hair follicles feel weird, like someone has tugged my hair really hard. My eyelashes, too. My lips tingle and my nose drips. Jax hands me a tissue, and I notice everyone is wiping their noses.