Page 118 of Vipers and Vendettas

How many times have I missed something important because of my own hubris? Maybe its chaotic movements aren’t random at all. Maybe it’s trying to tell me something.

I find myself tearing open the nearest of the French doors and running out into the snow, texting the rest of the clan as I go. I realize with rising alarm that I can’t feel Jules at all. It's as if she’s suddenly not here. I demon-up and sprint across the garden, and that’s when I hear the maze. It’s in distress, and it’s whispering for help.

The entrance half-forms as I get closer. The hellhound is whining. Its maw is dripping with blood, and it smells unmistakably fae.

I snarl as I enter and feel the wrongness in the air. Something has been done to corrupt the labyrinth itself. I hear it trying to speak to me, but what little is coming through doesn’t make any sense.

Where is Jules?

I hear someone behind me, and I turn with a snarl, but it’s just Iron. He grimaces as he steps through the hole in the hedge.

‘Where is she?’

‘I don’t know,’ I growl.

The hound lands in front of us and begins to run down the path, baying.

‘Come on!’ I say low, running after it.

Iron follows me, and I see the brothers and Daemon have arrived and are bringing up the rear.

‘Where’s Axel?’ I ask.

‘He was coming up here last I saw,’ Jayce says, ‘but he may have gone back to the house. I don’t know.’

‘Fuck!’ I snarl. ‘Where’s Tabitha? If someone had come into the property, she would have felt it and alerted us.’

‘She’s off today.’

‘Someone call her and get her here!’ I let out a sound of frustration.

Somehow, despite the extra protections, the maze was still vulnerable to attack. I told Jules it was safe. I let out another loud growl, this one of anguish. I should have sealed this fucking place. She never should have been in here.

I see the hound leap over the high bushes in front of us.

‘Head for the fountain,’ I order. ‘That’s the direction the beast is heading in, and it’s always been the weakest point. If someone was able to get into the maze, that’s where they’d appear.’

Luckily, the hedges don’t move as we make our way down the paths.

In the center, the first thing I notice is the mangled and bloody body of a fae soldier.

Shit!

The killer hound, who must have taken him down, paces in front of the fountain. There’s no sign of Jules anywhere.

‘Axel!’ Jayce yells, running to the other side of the font and kneeling in the grass.

‘Is he alive?’ I hear myself asking, blood roaring in my ears.

I couldn’t protect her. I can’t protect my clan.

Jayce examines him. ‘I can’t tell. He’s been hit with some conjure that I can’t–Iron, help me!’

Iron is already moving, and I look around the clearing. At first, I see nothing, but then I hear a cough. A figure appears next to the fountain. He’s sitting up, leaning against the side. Blood is on his shirt from puncture marks. Looks like the hound got him as well.

Good boy.

‘Robertson!’ I snarl, lunging for him.