Page 31 of Minding the Minotaur (Monsters of the Labyrinth #1)

S AMMY

Clem brought some clothes in to the hospital last night, so I’m dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee, my hair tied back in a ponytail, all ready to leave the hospital, when Dr Petronis walks in.

I look at him optimistically. Today, I am determined, is the day I get out of here, hightail it to the Periphery, and take the next portal bridging back to the Labyrinth. With or without Jax’s help.

“We have your test results back, Sammy,” Dr Petronis says.

“And?”

“They are interesting. Extremely interesting.”

I grimace. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“On the contrary. You appear to be in excellent health.” I raise quizzical eyebrows, hoping desperately that he’ll tell me more. He doesn’t.

“Does that mean I can go home, then?” I persist .

“Not yet.” Dr Petronis looks around the sterile room, at the small holdall containing my few belongings sitting next to me, the bed made up. “I’m glad to see you’re dressed and ready though. We’re transferring you to a different facility.”

My head jerks. “W-what? Where?”

“A state-of-the-art medical clinic on the other side of the city.”

“I thought this was the only hospital in Sparkle?”

He smiles. “The only one for the general public, yes. But this is different.”

I can feel my heart pounding. “Different in what way?”

“It’s for complex cases.” His eyes glint ice blue. He doesn’t seem so friendly or kind now. Fingers of fear spidey walk around my scalp, down my spine.

“You just said I was in excellent health.”

“You are, but we still need to monitor you.”

“For what?”

“There’s absolutely nothing to worry about, Samantha,” he says smoothly. “I will be accompanying you to the new facility, and I promise you will get exemplary care.”

I press on, desperate to know what’s happening. “How long for?”

“I can’t answer that.”

My rising panic makes me dig my heels in.

Hard. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me the results of my bloods.

And I warn you, I can and will scream. Very loudly.

And I will kick and I will bite. Remember, I’ve been working on the Periphery and it’s wild out there.

I don’t care what happens, Dr Petronis. I’ll have no qualms being an embarrassment and shouting about how terribly you’re treating me here. ”

He laughs. “We wouldn’t want that, Samantha.

” He’s still smiling, but I sense the menace in his words.

“Someone might get hurt.” He means me, of course.

But I also sense he doesn’t want word to get out about me.

Which it would if I made a fuss in public.

“Very well. Sit down, then, there’s a good girl. ”

I hate his patronizing tone, I hate everything about him suddenly. But I perch stiffly on the bed, take hold of my little bag and wrap my arms around it, as if somehow it can shield me from the news I know I don’t want to hear.

“Tell me what my blood results show,” I grit out.

Dr Petronis stands nonchalantly by the window, the panorama of Sparkle City’s towers and spires silhouetted behind him.

“You’re pregnant, Samantha.”

My head reels as I try to take in Dr Petronis’s words.

Pregnant.

With Arlo’s baby.

Oh gods!

The elevated enzymes they found in my bloods are because I’m pregnant! It makes total sense, it’s the very same enzymes they’ve been farming from Arlo’s sperm to increase human fertility.

Fuck, fuckity FUCK. This sure makes me a person of real interest.

What if they link those enzymes to Arlo? What if they already have?

A human falling pregnant to a minotaur. Naturally. This could spell all kinds of trouble I can’t even begin to comprehend. For the monsters. For me. For Arlo. For the tiny baby growing inside me.

“That’s not possible,” I falter, knowing that at all costs I have to cover up the truth.

“I’m sorry, Samantha. It must be shocking to learn that such a heinous thing has happened to you—it’s something we intend to investigate thoroughly. How, and to whom. Or what .”

It’s a horrible derogatory insinuation, of course, but hardly surprising, knowing the contempt humans view monsters with. Dr Petronis has proven himself just another cold-hearted human bigot.

Although I’m dazed, I at least know to keep my mouth buttoned tight. Whatever happens, I will never tell him the true story.

I remain silent as I’m escorted out of Sparkle General by two orderlies—AKA guards. I know by the way they hover around me, ready to grab me if I try to abscond, that this is no voluntary journey.

I remain silent when Dr Petronis open the doors of a black limo waiting outside, but when he goes to help me into the car, I only just stop myself from shouting that I’m pregnant, not sick.

But I don’t. I return his tight smile, pretending that I’m totally cool with the fact that they are taking me to an undisclosed destination to do further tests on me. A human guinea pig, at their mercy.

But as we drive, my anger bubbles like a volcano inside me. Because this bastard sitting next to me has just robbed me of the joy of finding out I’m carrying Arlo’s baby.

And I will never, ever forgive him for that.

As the car glides through central Sparkle, my chest is so tight it’s hard to breathe.

Past DeVines we go, all glitzy and shining bright.

Past Central Starlight Tower, even more ostentatious with its marbled entrance and the jewels in the signage.

This is where the all-powerful DeVines run their many enterprises from.

We whizz past Gemstone Plaza, and the entertainment arena, until we reach the commercial area, where the buildings rise sharply toward the fake blue sky.

Things happen here behind closed doors that no ordinary Sparkle resident would know anything about.

Except now I do, and these buildings, which I used to take for granted, suddenly take on a sinister patina.

When the car draws to a halt, I peer out, and barely stifle a gasp.

The blue reflective modern glass is the very same building that caught my eye from the hospital’s roof garden yesterday.

There’s a huge entryway, a revolving door and above it, a neon blue double helix with a serpent’s head atop it.

And suddenly, I know why it’s so familiar. It’s almost identical in design to the clinic on level one. And the double helix with the serpent’s head was above the door there too.

Realization glides like ice over my scalp.

This place is linked to the clinic where I so happily helped Arlo produce sperm for humans. Thinking it was all fine and dandy.

But it’s not fine. It’s not fucking fine at all.

“What is this place?” I try to sound calm as I turn to Dr Petronis.

“DV Medical and Biotech Research,” he responds.

Research?

“You will be housed here while we monitor your wellbeing.” He’s not smiling, or pleasant now. His face is all hard angles.

I debate making a run for it as the doors swing open, but when I see big, uniformed personnel with bulked up shoulders moving in our direction, my heart drops.

If I ran, how far would I get? Even if I could make it out of the building, no way could I get to the Periphery without being hunted down and captured.

I have to face the bitter truth.

I am a prisoner.

I bite back caustic tears, my hands clammy as I’m escorted to the elevator.

We go up twenty-two floors, then I’m led along a corridor, our feet making no sound on the plush blue carpet.

I’m escorted into a room, beautifully decorated, with dusky blue walls.

It’s like a hotel suite. Pictures of Sparkle adorn the walls.

Paradise Beach. The lake. The pavilion atop Heaven Hill. Lies. All lies .

Dr Petronis saunters over to a sofa by the window and sits down. I remain standing, bolt upright.

“Sit.” He motions to an easy chair. I perch stiffly on the edge.

A nurse brings a pillow and puts it solicitously behind my back. A young man carrying a tray of food and drinks asks me politely if I’d like anything.

I shake my head mutely.

Soft music is piped through the speakers. Far from putting me at ease, the calm, clinical efficiency of the place, the smiling staff, the perfect surroundings terrify me.

I’ve just spent weeks holed up with huge monsters who make me feel one hundred percent safer than these humans.

Dr Petronis takes a cup of coffee and a frosted cupcake from the young man’s tray.

He leans back nonchalantly on the sofa. “Our CEO will be here to see you shortly, Samantha. They want to welcome you to DV Research.”

He sips his coffee, then takes a bite of his cake.

Nausea rises up my throat, but I swallow hard and ask, “What happens after that?”

Dr Petronis’s eyes are like ice picks in the snow. “You’ll find out.”

From along the corridor, I hear voices getting closer, then Dr Petronis stands, puts his cup on a side table, and pulls at his jacket, smooths down his salt and pepper hair.

The door swings open.

“Ma’am,” he says.

My heart stops dead for a moment.

Marsha Winters, my nemesis, and the CEO of DeVines, sashays into the room.

Seems like she is also the CEO of DV Research.

She’s wearing a red suit, her black hair pinned up. Her winged black and gold glasses sparkle as if attempting to outdo the towers and turrets of the city. She glances at me with a nasty twist to her mouth and acknowledges Dr Petronis with a nod.

Behind her shuffle a bunch of men and women in gray suits. Following them are what look like a couple of scientists, wearing white coats and clutching notepads and pens.

The young man who handed out refreshments now rushes forward and places a chair in the center of the room.

Marsha floats down onto it. Her gaze pierces me, hard as cold steel.

“Ah, Samantha Buggins.” Her lips pull tight across her teeth in a parody of a smile.

“I always thought you were dispensable. One of those nondescript humans that Sparkle could do without. But your recent little escapade has changed my mind. You might prove useful after all.”