Page 18

Words caught in my throat. Callahan? The richest man in the Hundred Islands? I’d assumed this necklace was a gift from my father for my mother. Why did she have this?

“You must be mistaken.”

I aimed my knee toward his gut, but he slammed his hand down to block.

“I’m not mistaken.”

Leif released me to tug at a chain on his neck, revealing an identical necklace. My head spun while I looked at it. The same unending knot in what I thought was fake gold at the top and bottom, connected by a silver swirl in the center like a hurricane. My necklace felt heavier now, like the importance of it added three pounds.

“Callahan doesn’t give these away freely. I have one as his godson. Unless he has a secret goddaughter I’ve never heard of, you don’t have the right to wear that.”

Fear struck me. Leif was going to take it away.

I needed this. It was the last bit of proof I had to validate my identity when I found my father.

My hand itched for my blade.

“Who else did he give them to?” I asked.

He scoffed.

“Not you, I promise that.”

“Did your father get one?”

I pressed.

“Or Gerald Montclair?”

“My godfather never gave one to Gerald, not after what that man did.”

My lungs tightened. How do I ask questions without appearing too interested? How do I get away alive? How do I move when Leif is looking at me with such intensity, it could light my skin on fire?

I busied my hands with straightening my tunic.

“What Gerald did?”

I finally questioned in as casual a tone as possible.

When I looked up, Leif was eyeing my necklace again. When he lurched, I drew out my dagger and sliced upward with my blade, feeling it connect against his skin. He hissed as he yanked back.

I held the dagger up.

“Touch me again, and I’ll kill you.”

“You’re not a killer,”

he laughed.

Little did he know what this maze had already turned me into.

“If I’m not a killer, you’re not a killer.”

His mouth wilted.

“That wasn’t a senseless kill. That was well-deserved, and everyone in this labyrinth should be grateful for what I’ve done.”

Something heavy sat in his words, something too big for me to understand. He was filled with questions I wanted the answers to.

Rain fell from his hair as he looked down at me.

“I’m not going to kill you, thief. Not unless you give me reason to. Keep lying to me, and I’ll change my mind. I’m asking again—where did you get one of Callahan’s necklaces?”

“Question for a question,”

I said.

“Tell me what Gerald did that angered Callahan.”

“Stole something of his. Now my question. Did you steal this?”

“No. I found it washed up on the shore of Providence. What did Gerald steal?”

“A pony,”

Leif said, and I got the sense that he was lying.

“Why did you enter the labyrinth.”

“To find a bit of magic I can sell back home.”

His mouth peeled back into a smile, as if he knew I was lying too. His dark eyes flicked to the right, then back to me.

“That’s a pretty axe you have. Did you steal that too?”

I opened my mouth to tell him to piss off, when a pattering sound clipped through the trees. Leif’s skin lost all color, and he stepped back as if I were hot coals.

I squinted.

“Is that hoofbeats?”

“Run,”

he muttered.

“No, I like horses. Maybe it’s the pony Gerald stole.”

Leif shoved me.

“This isn’t a joke. Go now.”

Something in his expression stilled me. He wasn’t being kind by wanting to save me from whatever this horse meant. He was saving himself. And the fear on his face burned deep enough for me to find my strength and I ran.

I grabbed my axe, darted several paces away, then dove behind the nearest tree just as the hoofbeats got close enough to break into the clearing.

Leif scowled and turned away, while I realized I’d forgotten to ask about the statue or why it made him cry.

Then the newcomer appeared, and I knew who he was instantly.

A stone god.

The trees bent subtly, as if paying homage to the god’s arrival, their boughs trembling in reverence. His golden hair matched the amber shade of the setting sun and the golden hue of his horse’s mane. His features were flawless—kind and bright—and the iron braces on his arms gleamed like molten gold. With effortless command, he urged his horse forward, its steady whicker carving through the stillness of the forest.

Leif stood before him, his dark hair framing sharp and unyielding eyes. They were contrasts made flesh—Leif, the smoldering tempest, and the god, the blazing sun.

“One down,”

the god said, nodding to the twisted, broken body at the base of the sculpture.

Leif afforded it a passing glance.

“Thanks to you.”

“Good of you to remember that.”

The god flashed a smile as radiant and unshakable as the dawn.

I tried to read the relationship between them. They worked together, but a tightness to Leif’s tone hinted at distrust. Or was that disdain? It was hard to guess without knowing either of them, like putting together a puzzle I’d never seen before. I tried to pick up pieces along the way.

Leif kept a hand on the pommel of his sword.

“Did you need something Dimitri?”

The man, Dimitri, looked down upon him.

“You know what I need. I need you to win. Instead, you’re treating the labyrinth like it’s your personal revenge for what happened eight years ago.”

Leif’s shoulders stiffened.

“You’re one to talk about revenge.”

The laugh Dimitri made wasn’t humorous.

“There are two others who were there that night,”

Leif went on.

“Help me track them down, then point me toward the end. This labyrinth is your home. You could lead me directly to the center if you desired.”

The Stone God circled Leif on his horse. I pressed myself against the tree when his body faced mine, only peeking back when I heard him speak.

“The other gods don’t like when I interfere that much. You must win on your own. But I will help you with the remaining two offenders if you keep your word.”

“I’ll keep my word.”

Leif planted himself in one spot while Dimitri moved, the light casting hard lines across the severe cuts of his face. He’d swept all emotion out of his tone, leaving behind something dry and bitter.

Meanwhile, Dimitri spoke like a hungry wolf—one who would just as easily bite Leif as he would bargain with him.

“You’re sure? He’s your godfather. How do I know you’ll—”

“I said I’ll keep it,”

Leif snapped.

Dimitri regarded him anew.

“Very well. Remember what you stand to gain from this labyrinth. You stand to gain—or lose—the world.”

“I remember. I won’t let you down.”

Dimitri pulled the reins, urging his horse away.

“Take the path laden with blue,”

he said. Then, as soon as Dimitri had come, he took off again, trotting his way through the labyrinth.

Leif waited before turning to me.

His quiet demeanor melted back to the roughness he’d shown before. He was a cavern of depths I wished to unravel. The boy who shed a tear before the statue. The one covered in blood. The one who made himself small before a god. The one who looked at me like I were fire and he was the wind I needed to breathe.

He veered away, taking the wind with him.

“I don’t have time to deal with you,”

he said as if he’d lost all interest in me in the span of that conversation.

“Just stay out of my way.”

An ache curled into my chest that I was so easily forgettable. That was what I had to be—quiet and small until the day my father revealed me as his heir. Keep my head down so we stay safe. Wait for him to make his move.

I’d been quiet for so long, I forgot what it felt like to scream.

Stifling my voice might be wise, but it hurt nonetheless. I watched Leif adjust the fit of his black jacket, then check the sun’s position before aiming himself. To my dismay, he aimed east.

I spoke before he could leave.

“Has no one told you not to make deals with the stone gods? It never ends well.”

Leif chuckled.

“Where did you hear that, a book?”

I kept my mouth shut.

“That’s how a weak person thinks. Trust me, if you see a stone god, you should make a deal with them. The labyrinth rewards those brave enough to take control of their destiny, not the cowardly who hide from anything that might be frightening.”

I sensed him leaving again, so I turned away as well. I wielded my axe like a walking stick, driving it into the ground as I backed from Leif, up the hill toward the abandoned manor. When I glanced back, he walked the other way.

Dusk spilled its warm light over the sprawling labyrinth, while I tucked away everything I’d learned from Leif into the back of my mind to mull over later. It would have to wait. Clark stood at the doorstep of the manor, staring into the forest as if he was debating shouting my name.

I waved before he could, and his body relaxed.

“Where were you?” he asked.

“Searching for food. I found nothing. You?”

“I didn’t find food but—”

He stepped away from the door, just in time for a teenage boy with a head full of blonde hair and a thin smile to pop out.

Clark shrugged.

“I found allies.”