He stands, feet braced, not ten feet away at the edge of the wood, staring at… what? What’s he staring at? At… ruins. I inhale sharply. I’ve been so sick I haven’t noticed.
Pell, get it together.
Sorry. Geez. Just puking up a lung.
The shaking continues, intensifying, but Harpoc doesn’t so much as twitch.
I lunge for the next tree trunk, then the next, until I clutch one nearest him and follow his gaze across a field of white foundations to four partially reconstructed buildings. Only two or three partial walls remain of each. Several red columns grace their entrances, and while I’ve never studied King Minos in depth, I recognize the place as belonging to his former palace. The fabled labyrinth, if it ever existed, lays below.
Tourists! They scream and dart here and there seeking safety from the quake.
My chest tightens. Surely Harpoc’s seen them.
The ground gives another good shake clearing any remaining visitors, then stops. Just like that.
I glance about, not sure what to make of the sudden end to the rumbling, not that I’m complaining.
Zephyr screeches and her shadow glides over us. She lands in the empty courtyard and peers about with squinted eyes.
I pray the tourists stay put. We don’t need a repeat of Hal and that sphinx.
“Pell,” Harpoc whispers. He motions me over. “We’re going to lure her into the labyrinth, right to the center, then tripskip out.”
My mouth drops open. I whisper back, “Harpoc, there’s no labyrinth.”
Zephyr struts about the open plaza, she’ll spot us any second.
“Did you happen to notice that earthquake?” He grins.
I furrow my brow. He can’t be serious. No, he couldn’t have. Could he? I give him a long look.
Why doubt now, Pell? Why not go all the way? You know you want to.
Who says I want to? I stop myself. There’s no time for this.
Okay, fine, maybe he did just rebuild the ancient maze. I shake my head. This is crazy. “You realize only Daedalus and King Minos knew the way to the middle?”
A corner of Harpoc’s mouth hitches up. “And me.”
I just laugh. Right, sure, of course he does. Courtesy of his secret magic, he and his wings swirl into and out of existence. He probably knows gobs of languages and can perceive the contents of those scrolls, why the hell would he not know this, too?
Harpoc turns his palm up, asking for my hand. His grin hasn’t died when I place it in his.
Suck it up, Pell, here we go again.
I swallow hard when the surroundings again take shape. We’ve tripskipped the few yards to a doorway leading into one of those partially reconstructed buildings. Five cranberry-colored pillars stand to the right, darkness straight ahead.
He can’t be serious!
Cat and mouse, my eye. My pulse races.
You’re… up. The voice in my head sounds nearly like Johnny Carson, extending that first word.
“Oh, Zephyr,” Harpoc calls in a saccharine voice.
The harpy squawks, eyes trained on us, then flaps her massive wings in a single downbeat, rising. She’s after us in a second.
“Follow me.” Harpoc reaches for my hand and pivots, dragging me with him at a sprint through the doorway, then down a long flight of surprisingly solid wooden stairs. That little ball of light he somehow created in the scroll room appears out of nowhere, brighter this time, thank god. Good thing, too, because it’s pitch-dark down here.
Screeches echo off the stone walls.
“She can’t navigate as quickly in these tight quarters,” Harpoc says, as he turns right at the third hallway that branches off.
“I hope you’re right.” My voice quivers. This maze held the minotaur. Somehow. Surely it’ll hold Zephyr.
Another squawk. This one closer, at least it sounds closer, but then I’m the last in line. What’s that saying, you don’t have to be faster than a bear, just faster than your friend? There’s no way I’ll outrun Harpoc.
My feet fly with Harpoc’s death grip on my hand. I just try to keep them under me. It beats being left behind.
A left, another right, then a left and another left.
Zephyr’s talons scrabble on the hard rock, between ear splitting cries, sending chills up my back. She’s definitely gaining on us.
“Why not tripskip to the middle?” My breathing labors as I try my best to keep up with Harpoc’s longer strides.
“What and lose her?” He isn’t even breathing hard. Showoff.
Another right, then a left, left, and left. I’ve no idea where we are anymore.
“How much farther?” I pant.
A short right, another right, then left, left, left.
I scream when Zephyr screeches, right behind me. Good thing she can’t impale me with her talons while running.
“Almost there!” Harpoc yells over a shoulder.
Better be!
He grabs the next doorframe and drags me into a square room. No more hallway, no more doorways. This is the end of the line.
Zephyr ducks her head under the lintel, then barrels in after us, shrieking. No doubt she thinks she’s finally cornered us.
Darkness swallows me in an instant. I’m never so glad.
Harpoc lands us back in that grove of conifers, and I collapse, chest heaving.
It takes a couple minutes to catch my breath, but once I do I ask, “I didn’t have a chance to talk to her like I did the sphinx, did I need to, to satisfy your secret magic?”
“Do you want to talk to Zephyr?” Harpoc laughs, leaning against a tree beside me. “We can go back.”
I cuff his leg, then rise to sitting. “No, I was just wondering what your magic required.”
He smiles.
I love that look on him.
“Firstly, it’s not my
