Page 89 of Minding the Minotaur

I snarl and growl and curse and writhe, but already I can see a nurse advancing with a huge hypodermic needle.

The guards pin me down, pulling my hands behind my back as I struggle like a wild animal, and then there’s a sudden blinding flash of light, and the two guards are yanked off me by a pair of huge hands that appear to be floating in space.

Splayed out on the floor, limbs akimbo, my despair suddenly gives way to joy as I recognize those hands.

They belong to my beloved Arlo.

His huge body is hidden by the portal cape, but his beautiful face floats above me, dark eyes blazing, horns gleaming white. He lets out a bellow of rage, and the next moment, I’m scooped off the floor and into his invisible arms.

CHAPTER 28

ARLO

There’s the feeling of my skin being plastered to my skull as the cape transports us, and I hold on to Sammy for dear life as the full force of crossing into the Labyrinth bears down us. We tumble and twist and judder, and finally land with a jarring bump on a hard surface.

There’s talking and laughter all around us.

Where the fuck are we?

Sammy groans, and I quickly pull the cape off us both so I can check that she’s okay.

She tumbles off me and onto a flagstone floor.

I look around, blinking, as multiple sets of species, seated at tables with checked tablecloths, survey us with curiosity. My stomach rumbles at the delectable smell of fried chicken. Fuck me, we’ve landed in Digger’s Diner.

Someone is already helping Sammy to her feet. It’s Kazmo. She stumbles and slumps onto a chair as Diggerhimself comes trotting toward us, concern written all over his shaggy goat face.

Now Brody is peering at me. “Fucking great. Broadcast to everyone that you stole the cape, why don’t you?” he grumbles. I can barely grunt in response as I do my best to struggle up. I have to check on Sammy.

I manage to drag my body over to her chair.

“Babe, are you okay?” I murmur, gently loosening her clothing so she can breathe better.

“Oh Arlo!” She bursts into tears and flings her arms around my neck. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“You thought I’d leave you up there?”

“I—I hoped you’d come, but I didn’t know. How did you know where to go?”

I look at the cape spread out on the flagstone floor. “Maybe it knew where it was going after all—though it still dropped me in a dumpster,” I say ruefully. “Then I saw you get out of the car and followed you, got there as they tried to sedate you, just in time it seems.”

Looking up at Brody standing next to us, I say, “Hope lending me the cape didn’t drop you in it.”

Brody pulls a face. “The things you do for your mates,” he grumbles.

I thank him, then turn back to my girl and we kiss, slow and gentle. She tastes so sweet and delicious, it’s like offering a drink to a guy who’s been dying of thirst. She must feel the same, because we seem incapable of stopping, even in public. In the end, the cries of “Get a room, will you?” make me draw reluctantly away from her.

“Are you hungry?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “My tummy is a bit upset.”

“That’ll be from the portal travel.”

My stomach obligingly lets out a loud grumble, and Sammy smiles. “If you need to eat, that’s fine, but I won’t just yet.”

Something about the green tinge to her face makes me think it’s more than just the portal travel.

“Babe, are you sick? Did they harm you?”