Page 90 of Minding the Minotaur

“No, not sick, just—” Something in her expression gives me pause.

It seems everyone else is pausing too—the whole cafe goes quiet.

“I’ll tell you later,” she says, glancing around.

My eyes search her pale face and worry clouds my mind. What if I’ve brought her back while she’s still suffering residual Earth sickness? What if she can’t get well here? “You’re okay… aren’t you?”

She dimples, and a little color suffuses her cheeks. “I’m really and truly okay, Arlo.”

A breath huffs from my lungs. “Tell me I did the right thing, bringing you back?”

“Arlo, how can you ever doubt that?” The love in her blue eyes reassures me. “They were holding me against my will. From the moment I woke up from that coma, all I wanted was to get back to you, to be in the Labyrinth. This is where I belong, Arlo.” She looks around at Silas and Kazmo and Brody. “Here with you, and the rest of the monsters. This is my home now.”

I hear a collective sigh from the assembled monsters. Glancing up, I see that they’re all a bit misty-eyed. We monsters don’t get paid many compliments, and certainly not by humans.

I wrap her in a gentle hug, kiss her softly on the lips, gaze into her beautiful eyes. “Then let’s go home,” I say quietly.

And she nods.

Standing up, I feel so much stronger. Maybe knowing that Sammy is here and okay has restored my strength. I take the cape off the floor and try to hand it to Brody, but he refuses to take it. “I don’t want anything to do with that bloody thinguntil you’ve cleared this up with Otis. And told him you handcuffed me to get it.”

“You escaped, though?”

“Yeah, like you said, it was easy in my bear form.” He grins, and I give him a playful cuff over the ear. Brody cuffs me back.

Kazmo offers us a lift in his ute, and I gratefully accept. Any other time I’d stroll hand in hand with Sammy, showing her more of the sights of the Labyrinth. But today is not that day, though I hope those days will happen for us soon.

I’m not on house arrest anymore, and Sammy is… home. I draw in a sharp breath. It feels right to think that. Like she said, the Labyrinth is where she belongs, where she is loved.

When Kazmo leaves us at the front door, I carry Sammy inside and gently place her on the sofa in the snug. “Now, you really must eat.”

“I guess…” She frowns.

“I’ll get Tippy, and you can ask her for something that you fancy.”

When Tippy comes in, she suggests, “How about a healing smoothie?”

Sammy gags. “No—sorry Tippy, it’s not that your smoothies aren’t lovely, it’s just?—”

“No offence taken.” Tippy smiles and proceeds to go through a list of things involving lots of vegetables, which all sound very unappetizing. Finally, Tippy says, “I’ve just made a fresh loaf of sourdough.”

Sammy’s eyes light up. “Have you got a jar of peanut butter by any chance? And jelly?”

Tippy smirks. “I may have a secret stash.”

“Yes please!” Sammy slumps back on the sofa with a sigh as Tippy trots off to the kitchen.

I sit down next to my beloved, take her hand and kiss each one of her fingertips.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” She sighs.

“You don’t get rid of me that easily.”

She snuggles against my chest. “That building they took me to had the same insignia as the clinic here. The serpent.”

“Yes, I realized that. What was that place?”

“It’s called DV Medical and Biotech Research. It was horrible.”