Keepers of the Labyrinth (19 page)

32

H
oratio followed Felice through a very narrow corridor. As the walls seemed to shrink to crush him, his faith in her was waning once again. Why had she chosen to come this way? They had stalked through three different passages. Each time he tried to question her, she lifted her hand as though she were listening to something, but here they were, as far as he could tell, lost again and in a very tight predicament. If it closed off any more, he would have to find another way around.

“Felice, let's stop and take a look at the cartograph,” he said.

Felice extracted herself from the corridor and, he thought, made a show of waiting for him to make his way out.

Sharp stones grasped at his arms as he wound his way from the darkness to a torchlit chamber.

“Don't you hear the screams, 'Ratio?” Felice said, running toward the end of the hall.

Horatio growled, trying to keep the sound of disgust in his throat. She was making things up now, he was sure of it. Yet he followed her still.

They huffed around the corner, and Felice stopped as though getting close to her prey, planting her heel down and then her toes.

“Let's have a look,” Horatio said.

“Shh.” Felice placed a finger to her lips.

“Do not shush me.” Horatio grasped her sleeve at the shoulder and shoved her into the wall. He quickly let go, backing up to the other side of the passage. Counting to ten.

“I think you're getting frustrated,” Felice said. “Ares said that the labyrinth has driven people mad in the past.”

Horatio pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly. His arm brushed the wall behind him and he felt a steady vibration in it. Was it electricity? He turned to it, placing his palm along it.

“What is it?” Felice asked, coming to him. She placed her hands on the wall beside his.

Horatio looked down to the ground. There, a small puddle began to form from a crack in the stone. He traced the wall with his flashlight, seeing a larger pool of water forming just outside a stone door. There, beneath a few hanging roots, was a labrys. He traced the fossilized ax with his fingertips and gasped. The writings of Hexalodorous were right about their depiction of the deadly innovator's door. His whole body surged, wondering if these plants fossilized here were the ones from the history. The ones used as part of the Icarus Folio.

“It's Daedalus' workshop,” he breathed, tracing his fingers along the stone. “And it has been disrupted.”

33

T
he girls climbed the staircase. It began uncluttered, but as they ascended, it became busier until they reached the top and stared into a long, rock-strewn corridor. Tremors gripped the walls again and again, and Lil squinted into the distance as she heard a loud crack and rumble. There were torches in this passageway and they were dim, but bright enough for Lil to see a stone come crashing down fifteen yards ahead. It burst against the opposite wall, shattering and contributing more broken rock to the heavily littered path.

They hadn't walked far before Charlie leaned against the wall. She set her foot down, then gasped, lifting it back up.

“We should stop and take a look,” Lil said, feeling Charlie's trembling arm across her shoulder.

“We can't stop here. We're out in the open,” Charlie protested, her voice breaking.

“Yeah, we're probably much safer if we find another death chamber,” Sydney said, turning toward them. Lil looked up at her, trying to detect her expression in the shadows. But her face was nearly invisible.

“We have few options—”

“We
had
options,” Sydney growled. “Before we stepped foot in here. I haven't seen a single option since then.”

Lil felt her throat tighten. Was Sydney saying this was all her fault? Hadn't she told them she would go it alone? “I said—”

“Let's have a look,” Kat said, her calm voice smoothing the air. “We can discuss this later. When we're out.”

“Yeah, if we get out,” Sydney whispered.

Lil lowered Charlie onto a boulder, trying to stay focused. Kat was right: it wasn't worth arguing about. The only thing that mattered was getting Charlie and the rest of them out alive. Charlie groaned as she adjusted herself on the rock. Her breath quickened, and her chest rose up and down in jolts.

Lil knelt in front of Charlie, lifting the heavy fabric of her pant leg. It was cold on Lil's fingers, and she stifled a gasp as she held the torch down to see. Not only was Charlie's leg twisted at an awkward angle, but the skin was broken and bleeding, the clear bump showing that the bone was attempting to cut through midway up the shin.

Lil looked up at Charlie's face. Her brown hair was drenched and hugging the sides of her forehead. It was sweat, not water, Lil realized. Her eyes were closed. Lil's voice strangled, an overwhelming sense of guilt rising in her. “Charlie,” she whispered, “listen to me. It's going to be okay.” But she wasn't so sure as she watched a bubble of blood rise from Charlie's skin and slide down her leg in a red river.

Charlie's arm went out to the wall, and she leaned her forehead into her torn shirtsleeve.

“Don't touch it,” Charlie said. “Please. It hurts.”

“We have to stop the bleeding,” Lil said.

The sound of fabric tearing echoed nearby, and Lil looked over to see Kat pulling three bands of fabric from the bottom of her cardi-wrap.

“Good thinking,” Lil said, taking the bands. “Can you hold the torch?”

Kat nodded, accepting it. She stepped close.

Lil took the first band, letting the others drop into her lap, and squeezed the water from it. “Charlie, listen to me,” she said. “This is going to hurt, but it has to be bandaged to stop the bleeding and give your bone support.”

Charlie's chest rose and she breathed more rapidly, but she nodded.

The fabric was damp in Lil's hand and she squeezed it again, trying to get all the water out.

“She's going to need antiseptic,” Sydney whispered from behind them. “There is no way that water is clean. This is not good.”

Charlie's brow furrowed and she glared at both of them. “Just hurry up and do it if you are going to do it,” she said through clenched teeth.

“We'll do this,” Lil said, “and then we're going to get out of here and get you some antiseptic. Get you to the doctor.” Lil folded the fabric into a square and aimed for the center of the shinbone. As soon as the fabric made contact, Charlie stifled a cry, balling her hands into fists. She jerked against the wall. Tears sprang out of her eyes and slid down her cheeks, but she didn't pull away as Lil used the second band of fabric, winding it from the top of the patch toward the bottom. Then she took the third and went from the bottom of the patch toward the top.

Charlie trembled, her eyes blinking rapidly, and Lil lowered her pant leg, hoping that it would at least be slightly more comfortable. Charlie's eyes fixed over Lil's shoulder, and she froze.

“You're all right,” Lil said, watching her. “Listen, I know this isn't going to be easy.”

Charlie reached out, pressing her hand hard over Lil's mouth. Her eyes fell to Kat, who was staring in the same direction.

“We have to move,” Sydney whispered from the shadows, her voice barely audible.

Lil turned and looked over her shoulder, back toward the Daedalus chamber. Back the way they'd just come. Please, let it be water, Lil thought, but she saw the faint glimmer of a stark light, rapidly expanding.

34

L
il positioned herself back under Charlie's arm. “Move, move, move,” she said as she turned to Kat. “You and Sydney run up ahead.”

Kat shook her head as Lil teetered onto a rock, grounding her feet, wiggling her toes in the ends of her sneakers.

“Just go. Leave me behind,” Charlie said, veering off to the side, but Lil held her close.

“We're not leaving anyone here.” She clamped her arm around Charlie's waist.

“Let's go,” Sydney said to Kat. “We'll find the next chamber.”

“We'll meet you there,” Kat said, looking back at Lil and Charlie.

They turned toward the passageway, and Lil watched as they picked their way over the stones. The mountain rumbled around them, and another cracking sound met her ears.

“Be careful of the rocks!” Lil hissed as one cascaded downward.

Kat and Sydney linked arms, and Lil watched as they made headway, the torch dwindling to a small ball in the distance. Lil tried to relax her muscles. Just like running the ropes course, she told herself. Muscle over mind. Instinct over thought. A rock shifted underfoot as she moved forward, helping Charlie hop onto the next boulder.

“Okay, we'll keep quiet and move as quickly as you can,” Lil said, concentrating on landing her feet. Charlie gasped as her foot dragged across the top of a rock. Just aim for the light, Lil thought, eyeing the next torch. Lil turned back toward the doorway. For a moment it was dark, and then the white light appeared again. Blinking and bouncing. A flash, matching the beat of her heart.

“When they appear,” Charlie grunted, “you leave me behind. Run for it.”

“You know what I think?” Lil said, jumping off a boulder and swinging Charlie down next to her. “I think you've read too many books with noble heroes.”

She felt Charlie laugh as they moved forward.

“We've got to go faster,” Lil hissed. Her foot caught on a root as they met the shadows. Her arm ached from Charlie's weight. Her legs grew wobbly as she tried to balance on each stepping-stone.

“Stay close to the wall,” Lil said. “Stick to the shadows.” She moved to the right, pushing Charlie to the stone. Charlie rested a hand on it and hopped as fast as she could over the rough terrain. They passed under a torch, and Lil held her breath until they reached the dark stretch between the last torch and the next one. She slowed, unable to see the ground in front of her as they exited the pool of light, but soon the edges of the rocks were visible, and Lil aimed for their flat tops. Just like the balance beam, only more options, she told herself. Less of a need to land one foot directly in front of the other. Just keep moving. Keep moving. Keep alive. Keep moving. Keep alive.

“It's easy,” Lil said, more to herself than to anyone else. Charlie swooped against her arm—up and down with each breath, with each hop. Rhythm.

Lil aimed for the next patch of torchlight. But suddenly it melted into a stark white puddle, pushing their shadows long and dark in front of them. Lil blinked hard as her eyes tried to adjust to the difference.

A voice echoed from behind them.

“There! Fe, look.”

“We're dead,” Charlie said as they dove under another torch.

“Shh,” Lil whispered as she picked up the pace.

She didn't need to look. They were coming. The beam of light flicked toward them. How far ahead were Kat and Sydney now?

“Just—” Charlie started.

“Just keep looking forward,” Lil grunted, feeling the sweat drip down her sides. The light of the flashlight had consumed them now. This is good, Lil thought. She could use the extra light to their advantage. She trained her eyes. Saw each footfall. Each toehold. The nooks of each stone, clear to her like a blessed path leading them on. Jump, step, hop, climb. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Her muscles moved without her. She liked that feeling. That feeling past total exertion, where you become light as air. Her sneakers barely kissed the stones as she carried over them. Charlie held fast on her shoulder, her weight becoming nothing, as if they were as buoyant as water.

“Give up,” the woman said, her voice just behind them.

Lil's stomach twisted as she heard metal click, the crisp sound of a firearm being cocked.

“We are dead. We are dead,” Charlie said, hopping faster.

“Don't shoot, Fe,” a voice huffed. “You'll loose an avalanche on us.”

Lil's lungs expanded as if filled with new life. The man was right. They could all be crushed if she discharged the weapon. The rocks were precarious enough already. Now, if only she and Charlie could outstrip them. She pictured herself at ten years old, running up Snake's Vein behind her mother. Momentum. Ignore everything else. She reached up, cleared sweat from her eyes. As they hit the corner, she looked over her shoulder. All she could see was the flashlight beam just a few yards away. It sent a series of mini explosions into her vision, and she immediately regretted it as her feet caught between two rocks. She began to tumble forward.

Charlie gasped, her fist tightening on Lil's shirt. They were falling
.

The deafening sound of a crashing wave met her ears. But there was no ocean, not here. Lil's body shot forward as a shadow appeared from above. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Not Charlie's—a second one. It yanked her back as the crashing sound got louder. Rocks rained down, but something bigger was coming, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Lil's hand slipped from Charlie's waist. She fought to keep upright. Charlie was slipping away. A rock exploded just past her shoulder blade, sending huge chunks of stone shrapnel into her side and back.

The second hand released Lil. She toppled over Charlie, rocks grinding into rock. Lil clutched the disk to her side as she tumbled forward.

A gasp met her ears and then a voice, coming from the other side of the pile of rocks that was now right behind her.

“Fe!” the voice said.

Lil fought the knot that appeared in her stomach. Forced her lungs to breathe. She stumbled to her feet. A rock slid from her shoulders and crashed to the floor at the base of the pile. She yanked Charlie to standing. The rock slide had saved them.

“Mon
dieu!”
Charlie gasped, her voice high and tight.

“We're not stopping here,” Lil said through gritted teeth.

They surged ahead again. Lil aimed for the shadows, knowing it wouldn't do much to protect them, but she had to try. A door creaked. A hand grasped her neck. She pulled against it. It twisted her shirt, tightening it fast against her windpipe. Another hand grabbed her arm. She struggled, but her efforts were futile. She tumbled toward the grasping hands, blindly falling toward the wall.