Page 50

Gavin

The rain had finally stopped. But darkness was still my friend. I stacked another log onto the fire, stoking the flames to keep it from dying out, then returned to Marin.

She nestled closer, pressing her warm body into mine, still asleep. As if she knew I'd keep her safe. It was an instinct I prayed she’d never lose.

Her breath was soft against my throat, a steady rhythm that threatened to undo me. But what else was new? Everything she did threatened to do that.

I wrapped my arm around her, afraid that if I didn’t hold tight enough, she’d disappear.

She almost had.

Just hours ago, she’d stopped breathing, dark magic trying to keep her from finding the shard. If we hadn’t walked through the bog, if I hadn’t thought of the steam…

I couldn’t go there.

My mind simply refused to imagine anything that wasn’t Marin healthy, in my arms— mine.

And I’d tried to stay calm. She needed that from me. But I would never forget the way my hands shook as I placed the water over the fire and waited.

The wait .

It was chilling. A darkness I hadn’t felt since she slipped through my fingers and fell into the sea. But even then, brutal as it was, it had been quick. A moment of shock leaving me dazed.

This was slow.

Pure torture.

This time, I had to watch. Hear her breath fade to nothing. Count every second, knowing that she was the only thing that mattered to me, and I might not win.

I never wanted to be that helpless again.

But Marin had fought, like she had before, like she always did, impressing me around every corner. I hadn’t expected that story when I asked her to tell me one. But she gave it to me anyway. Every word, every wound she endured. And I needed to hear it.

Along with those words she repeated. Again and again. Because I made her. Because some part of me still couldn't believe she truly meant them. That she wanted me the same way I wanted her.

Marin stirred and nuzzled her face into my throat, her lips sharing a sleepy murmur against my skin. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, burying my fingers in her silken hair, and breathed her in.

“Good morning,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering open.

“It’s still dark.”

“That’s even better.” Marin frowned faintly, like she'd surprised herself. “Huh, didn't think I'd ever say that about the dark. Not after Saltgrave.”

Her voice softened. “Figures, though. You steal everything else, why not my fear too?”

I went still for a breath, gutted in all the right ways. A thief through and through, if it meant stealing the dark.

Her fingers raked over the thick stubble covering my jaw. I kissed her knuckles when they reached my lips.

“I should shave it off.”

She didn't pull away. As if she liked the rough edges. The wreckage. The darker parts of me born from wanting her.

“Don’t you dare. Mysterious, brooding Gavin is my favorite.”

“All of my sides are pretty great. Especially my back—”

Her eyes flared. “Don’t finish that sentence!”

I grinned. “I’m nothing if not accommodating. Besides…” Tilting her chin up to mine, I brushed my mouth over hers. “I’d rather kiss you instead.”

When one of her breathy moans hit my ears, I pulled her closer—rougher than I meant to. And gods, I was gifted with a sharper whimper of need.

That sound. I wasn’t going to be able to start or end my day without it. I wasn’t even sure how I’d lasted this long.

I pressed my mouth to her throat as if I could taste it and let a helpless smile slip against her skin.

She shivered, a soft exhale escaping her lips.

“Good news,” she murmured, sliding her mouth across my jaw. “I thought of a way to lighten my pack. We clearly only need one bedroll now.”

“Proving, as always, that you’re the brains of our operation, and I’m just the brawn.”

“You’re a little more than that.” She winked. “You also provide the coin.”

I tickled her ribs, and she laughed, wriggling against me. My hands found her face again, cupping her cheeks as I kissed her, letting that laugh echo inside me .

I am so in love with her.

That thought wasn’t new. But saying it out loud? Terrifying.

When was the right time? What if, even after everything, I was just a fool, standing on a cliff with a stolen house?

But still…

Lost treasure is only lost until it’s found. And mine was right here.

“Marin—”

“Yes?” She whispered it. Breathless. Like she was already waiting.

My pulse slammed in my throat, my grip tightening in her hair. Which probably wasn’t helping. But I couldn’t let go. If I let go, I might lose my nerve.

This was absurd!

I was Gavin Blackwood.

Thieves ran the other way when they saw me coming. Bog monsters, well, let’s not go there, I almost had that one. I’d survived quicksand, swing blades, and cave collapses.

I was a legend. And yet.

“You need to know—” My chest squeezed tight. This was years in the making, after botching it so epically that night in the market. It had to be right. It had to be perfect.

“How much…”

You’re ruining it! Again. Blowing it worse than the market.

The look in her eyes softened.

This was it.

This was…

Her gaze snapped past me, blue eyes widening like she'd seen a ghost. No… worse.

“Snake… Gavin. Snake! ”

Marin was gone. She rolled out of my arms like the bedroll was on fire. One second I was about to confess, the next I was serpent-blocked.

I just—stared.

One second from baring my soul. Then the snake hissed. And gods… that thing was big.

I rolled out of the bed after her, scrambling for my clothes. Marin was ahead of me, hopping on one foot to put on her leggings.

“Kill it. Do your thing. We made a deal.”

She stuffed her feet into her boots, didn’t tie them, and searched for something to ward it off. A strangled laugh burst from her lips as she picked up the pot.

“What are you going to do with that? Boil it?” I tugged on my shirt and reached for my pack, drawing out my climbing gloves.

Marin blinked. Looked at the pot. “No! I’ll smack it. Don’t question my logic. I’m the brains, remember?”

The first weak rays of sunlight speared through the window, enough to confirm we were only dealing with one Serpent of Sabotage.

“Did I ever tell you about my stint as a snake charmer?” I asked, putting on the gloves and making a slow, stealthy approach.

“No. Were you any good at it?”

“The best. The first rule of snake charming: be more charming than the snake. Done and done.”

Marin snorted. “We’re going to die from snake bites.”

“No, we won’t. But here’s the plan. I’m going to grab the snake when you distract it. Just bang the pot.”

“Easy enough. ”

“Okay…on the count of—”

Marin banged the pot.

“Geez, Mare. Wait for the count.”

I lunged, grabbing the snake by the back of the head. It writhed, furious, but I kept my grip and strode toward the door, then flung it into the woods. I dusted off my hands and closed the door.

“All right, I guess we’re ready to handle whatever evil creature lurks in the maze now, too.”

The confession would have to wait. There’s no way a snake was stealing my thunder.

My lips curved into a rueful smirk. “Let's head out. And don’t forget your pot.”

***

Two hundred stone steps later, we reached the entrance to the maze. A statue guarded the opening, perched atop a scarred pillar. The weathered creature was covered in moss and vines, its clawed hands gripping the ledge.

The massive labyrinth sprawled before us, swirling with silver mist. A second statue stood farther in, half-hidden by the fog, crouched low on a rocky outcropping, its wings spread as if in mid-flight.

More crumbling ledges jutted between the towering tree branches, creating a broken and uneven floor. Thick, knotted vines littered with needle-like thorns wove through the rocky pillars. The wind whistled through the leaves, making the branches creak and groan. The sound was ghostlike and eerie .

“We’ll need to go slow and watch our footing. This floor doesn’t look solid,” I said, testing a gnarled branch with my weight. It bowed slightly but held.

Marin removed a small jar from her pack and pried the lid open. “We can use the paint to mark our path, so we know if we get turned around. It’s hard to see in this mist.” She peered upward into the tangled trees that blocked most of the sunlight.

“All right. Step where I step, and stay close.”

Stones crumbled from the ledge as I moved forward. We navigated the first few turns carefully, the path narrow and unstable. Marin mapped our way, swiping paint along the stone in red streaks.

Something rustled overhead.

Marin grabbed my sleeve. “What are those?” She pointed to small, black shapes hanging like fruit from the branches.

“I don’t know. Pods, maybe?”

One of them swayed, then twitched. A moment later, it unfurled a pair of thin, leathery wings.

Marin jerked backward, her boot catching on a brittle branch. It cracked beneath her. Her mouth opened in a sharp yelp, but I lunged, catching her around the waist just as the branch snapped and tumbled into the pit below.

The sound of it faded into silence. My grip tightened around Marin, my pulse hammering in my throat from the near miss.

“Thanks, Gav,” she said with an embarrassed wince, flicking a glance between me and the hole she’d nearly fallen through.

“Those are bats,” she muttered. “You know I hate bats.”

“They won’t bother us as long as we leave them alone.”

Marin shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. It’s been a pleasure, Gav, but this is where we part ways. I’ll live out my last few days by the pool at the inn.”

I chuckled under my breath and gave her waist a firm squeeze. “I'm not letting you get away that easily. We’ll just sneak past them.”

Marin sighed, eyeing the bats warily. “Fine, but if my death is bat-related, I will haunt you.”

“I should hope so.”

With a grumpy snarl, Marin swiped a line of red paint across the rock near another statue, this one peering up at the bats as if it, too, had doubts about the dangling creatures.

“See? This guy gets it. He doesn’t like bats either,” she grumbled, brushing her fingers over its coarse stone claws before crouching low under the tree branches to crawl past.

“If they try to swarm, swing your pot at them.”

Marin whipped around, leveling me with a sharp glare.

“Never mind,” I said smoothly. “That look should take care of them.”

I schooled my features to keep from smiling.

Marin Nichols, she can take on a bog monster, but not a bat.

We wound through the maze’s twists and turns for nearly an hour before we spotted the first set of bones. They were scattered in a loose pile, the skull half-buried behind the gnarled roots of a vine. A cracked gargoyle lay toppled nearby, its wings broken like the bones near our feet.

“A weary traveler?” Marin joked, stepping lightly onto a thin rocky foothold.

“Probably. Thankfully, I’m not tired at all. How about you?”

“Me? No. I had the best sleep of my life.” She winked, and I shook my head.

“First, you flirt with me outside the wall, now inside the maze. In front of a stranger.” I tilted my head toward the bones.

Marin laughed and punched me softly in the arm. “Have some respect for the dead. This place is probably cursed, and the last thing I need is another one of those.”

She paused to sip from her flask, then bent to right the toppled gargoyle, as if it were a monument for the poor soul trapped inside the maze for eternity.

We kept moving, walking deeper into the mist. The path narrowed further, forcing us into a single file. A heavy scent of damp stone and rotting wood hung in the air.

Then, up ahead, a streak of red paint.

I slowed, signaling Marin. She followed my gaze and let out a curse.

“We’re walking in circles.”

I ran a hand down my face. “Yeah.”

Marin exhaled through her nose and tapped her boot against the ground.

She studied one of the pillars that stretched past the treetops, disappearing behind the foliage.

Vines coiled around its surface. A second pillar stood on the other side, shorter, with another statue perched at its peak, wings folded tight.

She cocked her head, chewing the corner of her lip.

I knew that look.

“Marin…” I said slowly.

Rolling her shoulders, she yanked on a ropy vine, testing its strength.

“I have an idea. We need a better view, or we’ll be stuck in this maze all day and probably end up like our friend back there.”

“Those vines won’t hold you.”

“They will. But you'll catch me if I fall, partner.” She flashed me a quick grin before pulling herself up.

I braced myself beneath her, ready in case the vines broke or she lost her grip. The mist swirled around her as she climbed, swallowing her whole before she vanished past the leafy canopy.

The back of my neck prickled. I went still, instinct telling me something in the air felt off, like we were being watched.

“What do you see?” I called up to her.

No answer.

A whisper of movement sliced through the mist, distant but close enough to set every nerve on edge. I pivoted, tracking the sound. Another low rustle shook the leaves. Closer this time. Then came the faint scrape of talons against stone.

We weren’t being watched. We were being hunted.

I unsheathed my cutlass and faced the mist. “Marin! Get down here. We need to move. Now!”