Page 8 of Minding the Minotaur (Monsters of the Labyrinth #1)

S AMMY

I barely slept last night.

And when I did, my dreams were filled with handsome minotaurs wearing capes, rescuing me from hideous beasts chasing me through dark tunnels. Every beast had the face of my ex-boss, Marsha Winters.

I hadn’t even got to the good bit—what happened after the minotaur rescued me—when I woke to find myself completely tangled in my sheets.

I gave up trying to chase sleep well before it was light, got up, made myself a cup of tea and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wrote a letter to my parents.

Dear Mom and Dad,

If you read anything about me losing my job at DeVines in the paper, don’t panic, it’s all sorted. I have a better job for the next few weeks, very good pay, but I may not be able to contact you.

Please don’t worry. I am safe .

Love

Sammy

The pink and mauve of dawn streaks the heavens as I walk down the stairs and place the letter in the postbox outside. Today the air smells of honeysuckle, which indicates that it’s a Friday, in June (it’s a different scent depending on which day of the week it is, and which month).

At this time of year, “the sun” is adjusted to rise five minutes earlier each day.

Already the birds are flying around, chirping happily.

All the birds here nowadays are bred with very short wingspans, which means they can’t fly too high.

When I was a little girl, too many birds hit the roof of the dome, and they were falling on folks’ heads, which didn’t go well with the Sparkle vibe.

I remember the shock of one landing right in front of me as a kid.

I picked the poor little thing up, and tears filled my eyes as it lay, soft and lifeless, in my palm.

I couldn’t understand why a bad thing like that could possibly happen in a place dedicated to happiness.

But now I can.

I’m fast learning that there are shadows lurking behind the glitter and glitz of Sparkle City.

There’s an awful punishment called vaporization that clearly isn’t okay to even mention out loud.

There are twilight places where people live and work.

And there’s a huge underwork network of tunnels where monsters are kept in captivity, slaving away to produce everything we Sparklians take for granted.

And somehow, the dome authorities are covering it all up.

The Labyrinth may be a dark place full of monsters, but right now it feels like a safer option than staying in the city where I grew up.

When I’m finally dressed and packed (including a lacy bra and panties, and my prettiest summer frock, for some unfathomable reason…), I go down the six flights of stairs and call a cab.

“Where to?” the driver asks as I get in .

“The Periphery, please.” His head swivels and he stares at me like I’m bonkers.

“Meter stops working at the Crossroads,” he finally grunts.

“Then take me to the Crossroads,” I reply, hoping I can find my way from there with the map Clem has drawn me.

When he drops me off on the edge of the swirling mist, I take out the little map. It’s not easy, because none of the streets here have names.

My resolve stutters a little as the cab does a U-turn and drives off.

But I start walking through the dense air, and soon I see the shapes of the apartments we visited yesterday, overshadowed by the looming dome wall.

As I get closer, a few people scurry out of the apartment blocks and walk, huddled into their anoraks, toward what looks like an army barracks in the distance.

I remember Clem’s story of collecting a badly injured Jax from near some place full of armed guards, and wonder if that’s where it was. My heart raps against my ribs, but I tighten my grip on my holdall and take a deep breath.

I’m not going to be deterred from my quest to find the minotaur. My chance meeting with him has lodged in my heart, and I can’t let it go. I know he wasn’t the kind of monster who would harm me. I just know it.

With that thought, I lift my chin and march toward Jax’s apartment block.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in the uniform of dark blue slacks, a white shirt and a button-up jacket that Jax thrust at me as soon as he opened the door.

When I walk back into the kitchen, he hands me an envelope.

“What’s this?” I ask, frowning .

“Your official pass. Open it.”

I do. There’s a flat square badge with a pin on the back. On the front is the worst photo of me that I’ve ever seen.

“Where’d you get this shot?” I ask, horrified.

“From Clem. Said she took it at a club when you were half cut. I’ve doctored it to make you look respectable.”

“I look like shit,” I grumble. I’m sporting the boss-eyed look I get when I’m plastered. But he’s erased my long hair and shoved a cap on my head, so I look like a felon. Next to the photo are the letters PSP in big letters. Under that, the words: Human. Female.

“What’s PSP stand for?”

“Peripheral Service Provider. You can’t go into the Labyrinth without one of these. Lucky for you, I’m an expert at counterfeiting. Makes me a bit of coin on the side.” Jax shrugs, and drags on his cigarette.

“Ready?” He cocks a dark eyebrow at me.

“Ready,” I reply, trying to straighten my spine without pushing my chest out. My buttons will pop if I do. I yank my ponytail tighter, then put on the cap Jax hands me and pull it down over my eyes. But as I pick up my small bag of belongings, my smile wobbles a little, and my hands shake.

Jax cocks an eyebrow. “Nervous?”

“A little.”

He grins as he stubs out his cigarette. “Shoulders back, Blondie. Fake it until you make it. Let’s go.”

We walk out of his apartment, and along the wide, straight road toward the squat buildings surrounded by barbed wire.

The dome wall to our right and the muted light makes it all feel eerie and surreal.

The bright light in the center of Sparkle barely gets a look-in here, no doubt unable to cut through the thick fog at the Crossroads.

I do my best to put a confident swagger in my step, to match the way Jax walks with a loping, easy gait. And then I trip, windmilling forward, and Jax catches my arm. “Meant to say, watch out for potholes.”

“Don’t they repair the roads here?” I ask.

He gives me a funny look. “That’s a joke, right?”

Finally, we draw up at a sentry post, the barbed wire reaching up on either side of us like an angry briar bush, and a cacophony of dog barking starts up.

Beyond are containers piled high, and behind them, warehouses.

I want to ask Jax if this stuff has all come from the Labyrinth, but I’m too intimidated to even speak as a guy in uniform with a gun holster at his belt checks my ID.

“Newby peripheral,” Jax drawls. “Training on level one.”

The guy chuckles as he looks me up and down. “First time down there?”

I nod. He leers at my chest. “You’re mincemeat, sweetheart.”

“Not before I mince them,” I respond, trying to look tough, and Jax mutters in my ear, “Salute.”

I copy Jax as he spades his forehead with his hand.

The guy salutes back, his mean little eyes still fixed on my tits. Urgh.

We move on, past a demountable full of guards, all smoking and playing cards. Jax is clearly not the only one around here with a nicotine habit. Guess there’s not much else to do in this godforsaken place.

Luckily, the guards don’t look up, so I avoid another dozen leery eyes on my chest.

I wonder if the monsters in the Labyrinth will stare at my tits.

I remember one that did, and I remember that I didn’t object to him ogling my chest. Not.

One. Bit. A little frisson fills my belly.

That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? (Well, apart from the fact I’m jobless.) And if I do get to meet the minotaur again, hey, if he wants to stare at my tits… and more…

Be honest, you’d let him.

My breath hitches just remembering his big meaty hands on my body, imagining how gently they’d unbutton my blouse…

Jax is walking faster now, so I shake off my fantasy and scurry after him, past the rows of containers and trucks being loaded by humans in uniforms like mine. They barely glance at us, just keep on working, their faces devoid of expression.

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 the Labyrinth. 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.

This is so bizarre.

We stand up, and my legs respond like overcooked noodles.

“Is that the g-force?” I ask Jax, and realize my voice is super squeaky, like I’ve been sucking on helium.

“Who knows what fucking force it is. And don’t worry, you’ll stop sounding funny soon,” he tells me. Sure enough, his voice gets lower with each word, and he walks out a lot more steadily than I do. Guess he’s used to this.

We’re in what seems like a waiting room now. It’s completely metal—metal floor, metal walls, metal door—but with what looks like squishy rubber all around the rims. The guys start cleaning the room, sweeping and wiping down the walls and floor.

“Contamination check,” Jax explains.

“Contamination with what?” I ask, eyes widening.

“Pests, diseases. Whatever. Sparkle authorities worry about germs. You never know what viruses there may be in the lower zones. Some of the monsters down there are completely mangy and feral. They’ll happily rip your flesh off if you go too close, so why not give us one of their bugs as well?

” He smirks, like he really couldn’t care less.

“Shit,” I mutter. Fear, which has been remarkably absent until now, grips me.

Is my trip going to be worth the risk? I have no way of knowing if I will ever meet the minotaur again.

I know zilch about this Labyrinth place.

I’m going in like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter.

Why did I think for a second that taking a job here, sight unseen, was a good idea ?

I pivot on my heels, ready to hightail it back inside the portal, but Jax grabs me by the back of my jacket.

“Not so fast,” he growls.

“Maybe I didn’t think this through.” My voice is a pathetic whine.

“Too bad. You can’t go back,” Jax says. “Your insides will melt.”

“Melt! I thought you said there were no ill-effects?”

“There aren’t, as long as you only portal travel once every eight hours. That’s all the body can cope with.”

I stare at the huge metal door ahead, the blood pounding at my temples.

“The only way out is through that door. Unless you wanna stay here disinfecting the fucking rim, eh Zac?” Jax winks at one of the cleaners.

“You don’t want to.” The guy called Zac grimaces. “Boring as batshit. And there’s always a chance you could get sucked out through a gap in the edging.” He points to the rubber seams all around the roof and floor. “And then you’ll pass out, and a real bad monster could get you.”

I have no idea if this is a joke. I take a wobbly breath and try to calm my tripping pulse. Beyond that door is a whole society of monsters.

We owe them the very shirts on our backs. And yet they are imprisoned down here.

They must really, really hate humans. And I’m just about to enter their world.

As the doors slide open, I squeeze my eyes tight shut.

When I open them, my jaw drops.

There’s a big green monster staring at me out of ferocious red eyes.

I hear Jax chuckle. “Good day, Sheriff,” he says. “Let me introduce Samantha Buggins.”