The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (24 page)

“What’s he going to do to her?” Beau couldn’t help the feeling of fear that crept through him for the girl.

“It sounds like he’s already caught her. She’s still alive, but for how long, I dunno.”

He barely liked his student, but the thought of the governor enacting martial law on the girl pissed him off. “Let’s go. That bastard needs to be taken out.”

Ariadne frowned. “Killing is for the wicked. There has to be another way to make him pay.”

Beau started. “He deserves — ”

“I’ll figure out somethin’, but it ain’t gonna be pretty.” Tammy interrupted. “There ain’t no reason for ya to get your hands dirty, Beau. You’re a good man.”

There was a clatter of stones and they all stopped and stared out through the hole in the wall. No one was there, but Beau’s heart raced. They needed to get moving.

“My goddess,” Ariadne said with a bow of the head. “Is there a way that you can go to Kaden? We need him to be taken care of and you need to stay protected.”

The goddess looked down the maze and nodded. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

Epione’s iridescent blue body began to fade. Before Beau could take a shocked breath, she and the staff she had been holding disappeared.

“Let’s go.” Beau walked to the wall and stuffed the knife back in the sheath.

His muscles strained as he pulled his body out of the belly of the underworld. He extended his hand to help Ariadne to her feet as she stepped out of the darkness.

Tammy smiled and without a sound, shifted back into her gray cat form and jumped out of the hole. She looked back at them before she made her way to the edge of the pit, jumped up and out, and disappeared into the evening light.

There was a keen of laughter that echoed down to them from the parking lot.

Great. We can catch them unprepared.
Beau smiled. He balled his hands into fists and the excitement surprised him. He hadn’t been in a real fight in a long time.

Ariadne stood up. “Wait here,” she ordered in a whisper.

Every cell in his body wanted to follow her, but he nodded.

She climbed up the edge of the pit and out into the night. The moonlight made her appear as a silhouette in the night as the crunch of her footsteps moved away from him.

“Hey, Kat. What’re you doing here?” He heard Ariadne ask. “Who’re your friends?”

His heart thrashed in his chest. It felt so wrong to hide away and let her face the dangerous situation without him.

He looked over the edge of the pit. Ariadne was standing next to Kat and Stavros, beside Stavros’ black town car. A thickset man with beady eyes and a wide nose stood next to Governor Kakos, who kept glancing frantically around as if he wished for an escape. Kat must have convinced him that what she wanted was right. But now faced with the situation, the governor looked out of place as he pulled at his necktie and shifted his feet.

Across the parking lot to the left were the four men from the Mouse Hole standing in a tight circle. A man with a black eye patch stared at Ariadne and then motioned to the other men in the group. They looked as if they were about to pounce.

He jumped over the edge of the pit and raced toward Ariadne, blade in hand.

The man with the wide nose smirked at him.

“Hey, doc.” The man with the eye patch flashed a vicious smile.

Ariadne turned toward him, a frown on her face.

“Hey,” he said, with a faked shortness of breath. He motioned to Ariadne. “Why didn’t you wait for me? I thought I saw the staff back there.”

Kat’s eyes brightened. “You didn’t find the staff?”

Ariadne flashed him a smile and then turned back to Kat. “No, I’m afraid not. You don’t know where we could find it, do you?”

Kat looked at Stavros, and then at the group of men. Guilt flashed over her face. “I’m not going to tell you. You have no business being down there. And you had no business going against the sisterhood.” Kat’s hands pulled into tight fists.

“We found out about what you did, Kat … Epione came to us. You broke the staff and have been lying to cover up your mistake. Your lie will be exposed.”

Ariadne smiled viciously. “The sisters will come to know you as a fraud.”

Kat hissed. “From the moment you opened your smart little mouth, you guaranteed I would have a mutiny.” Kat motioned toward the group of nasty-looking men. “And unlike you, I came prepared for a fight.”

“I have no intention of telling the world about the Labyrinth or the staff,” Ariadne said, her voice strong.

Kat glared. “I don’t believe you, or your little boy toy.”

Stavros backed up against the town car. “I never wanted things to go like this … ”

“Shush, Stav,” Kat said, as she brushed her fingertip seductively over the governor’s lips.

Kat turned to the group of men and snapped her fingers. “Boys! Do your bidding!”

There was the crunch of feet on the gravel and Beau turned as the rats moved into an attack position around him.

“Son of a bitch,” Beau muttered.

“Ah, he must remember his little ‘asshole’ comment,” the wide-nosed man said with a dangerous laugh.

“Take care of him.” Kat pointed at Beau.

The man with the wide nose began to shrink and the rest of the men across the lot followed his lead until there were only heaps of clothing left on the ground. Through the neck hole of the leader’s shirt, a fat gray rat at least three times the size of a normal rat poked its head out. The oversized rat had a wide nose and red-rimmed eyes.

“What the hell?” Beau said to no one.

The beady eyes of the rats were trained on him and he readied himself for a fight.

Kat eyed Ariadne with a predatory glare. “You went against
me
and you took a human down into the Labyrinth. You exposed us all. You must pay.”

“I have no desire for money or power,” Ariadne countered. “This isn’t about that. Is your ego really that sensitive that you can’t just admit that you aren’t who you have claimed to be?”

Kat hissed. “Shut up. You’re not to be trusted.”

“You lied to me … and to the sisterhood. They need to know who you really are. You’ve been pretending to be the savior of the staff from the very beginning. You have deceived all of us. You’re the one who isn’t to be trusted.”

Kat’s face reddened with anger.

“Aria, sweet — ”

Before Stavros could finish whatever he had tried to say, Kat pounced and landed on top of Ariadne and grabbed her hair. “You had no right going into the Labyrinth!”

Ariadne thrashed beneath Kat’s grip. With a ferocious kick, she flipped Kat on her back and clasped her throat.

Beau chased after her, the knife still in his hand. The squeal of rats pierced the air. “Stop, Ariadne!”

But she didn’t look back as her fist raised and she brought it down upon Kat’s wide-eyed face.

Before he could reach her, the women were entangled in a mess of fists. The thug stepped between the women and Beau, carefully avoiding the extended knife. “You need to let them handle this,” he grumbled.

“Get out of my way.” Beau tried to push past the stout man, to no avail.

Kat yelped as Ariadne landed another punch.

He turned as the squeal and scratching sound of the rats grew louder. There was a tug on the leg of his pants as the beady-eyed rat ascended upward. He kicked and tried to fling the rat, but instead the monster’s teeth pierced through the fabric of his jeans and deep into the flesh of his shin. The beast shook Beau and its razor-like teeth shredded his skin.

Beau fell to the ground, his shoulder taking the brunt of his fall. He slammed the knife down. The blade sank deep. A blood-curdling squeal pierced the air. He plunged the blade in again and the squeal turned into a strange gurgle. The pressure released on his shin and the beast fell to the ground.

Before he could recover, the other giant rats were upon him. One tore at his arm, another at his already mangled leg. The third launched through the air, straight at his throat. He tried to roll, but the rat on his leg stopped him with its heavy cat-sized body.

Blindly he thrust the dagger upward, hoping it would find its mark. Ariadne’s scream rattled the air as the dagger skewered the rat’s underbelly. The rat squealed and struggled around the blade. The rats on his leg and arm stopped as the skewered rat’s eyes went dark. They released his flesh and darted into the shadows with a furious scratching noise.

He threw the dead rat off himself. A cat yowled and hissed and the scratch of the rat’s nails stopped.

“Ariadne?” He forced his mutilated body to stand.

“Beau! Help me!” she cried, but the sound was muffled.

Across the parking lot, the thug, the governor, and Kat attempted to load her thrashing body into the trunk of Kat’s car. Ariadne’s legs flailed and whipped around as she struggled.

He ran as fast as his legs would allow.

Kat looked shocked and surprised as the governor dropped Ariadne’s legs and ducked behind the other side of the town car.

The eye-patch-wearing thug turned as Beau’s punch connected with the side of his temple. The man crumpled to the ground.

“Ariadne,” Beau said between ragged breaths. “I’m here. Kat, drop her!”

There was the hiss and screech of a cat, and Stavros screamed.

Beau looked over just as Tammy, in her cat form, climbed up Stavros’ body. Stavros tried to grab at the cat, but she held on and before he could get hold of her, she landed a vicious bite to his hand. Then another.

“Aggh!” Stavros screamed.

Tammy jumped down as Stavros sank to the ground. He tried to speak, but no sounds escaped him.

Tammy shifted out of her cat form and looked down at the man. “That’s for Angelica. You’re one lucky bastard Ariadne still cares about ya, she’s the only reason you ain’t dead.” Tammy kicked the man. “And don’t ya dare do nothing to that Vickie girl. Ya deserved what ya had coming to ya.”

Stavros put his hands to his throat and he nodded. His head dropped to the ground and his eyes rolled back in his head, but Beau felt no pity.

“Get off of me!” Ariadne jerked out of Kat’s hands.

“I didn’t want to do this,” Kat hissed. She reached into the open trunk and pulled out a shed snakeskin. “I was just hoping to talk some sense into you.”

“You bitch!” Ariadne grabbed after the skin.

Kat stared at him. “Beau, did Ariadne ever tell you what happens when a shed is destroyed?” Her smile was dangerous. “It’s almost like a voodoo doll. One little tear … ” Kat pinched the skin with her fingers.

“Stop!” Ariadne yelled. “Don’t you dare.” Ariadne stood still and stared at the skin. “How did you get my shed?”

“I’ve been your leader for how long? And you think that I don’t know you hide your sheds in the temple?”

“Give me the shed. Or I
will
kill you,” Ariadne said in a deadly voice.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Kat attempted to stare her down, but Ariadne didn’t waver.

“Beau, hand me the dagger.” Ariadne didn’t break her gaze, but opened her hand.

“Stop.” He stepped in between the women, careful not to turn his back to either. “You are sisters. It doesn’t have to be this way. Kat, give me the shed.” He held out his hand.

“No,” Kat growled.

He lifted the blade to her face. “If you don’t give me the shed, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Didn’t she tell you? You can’t kill us.” Kat snickered.

He lifted the blade higher and pushed it to her throat. “This is Tammy’s poisoned dagger, from the temple, or weren’t you aware?”

Kat’s eyes widened. “You took him to the temple?”

Ariadne smiled. “I trust him.”

“But … what? How could you?” Kat stammered.

“I’m done being held back by my past.” Ariadne stepped toward Kat and pulled the shed skin from the woman’s hand. “Now you can come help me move our kind into the future, or you can go hide away.”

Ariadne carefully folded the skin and stuffed it into her pocket. “Frankly, I don’t care what you do, but if you come with us I’ll treat you better than you have treated me. To start with, I won’t tell anyone about your little mishap with the staff.”

“You won’t?” Kat stared at her.

“I promise. Besides, Epione has repaired it.”

Kat looked stunned.

“We are going to the hospital. If you attempt to stop us, I’ll expose what you’ve done and all that you have done to hide the truth from us.” Ariadne paused, as if to let her words sink in. “Now, do you wish to join us?”

Kat nodded faintly. “Are you taking over the sisterhood?”

“You can help lead the ceremonies, but there will be no defined leader. I want us to work together without the restraints of hierarchy,” Ariadne said. “We are sisters, equal and united. We must learn to trust each other again.”

Kat looked over to Beau.

Ariadne followed her gaze. “And you’ll have to trust Beau. He’ll keep his promises. I know it. Not all men are like Stavros and Theseus. Some men are good, they mean what they say.”

Kat stepped back, away from the blade at her throat. “Fine. When he goes against us, it’s your responsibility.”

“Do I need to remind you that you’ll no longer threaten me?”

Beau lifted the blade as an evil reminder of what was at stake.

“Fine. We’re equal.” Kat said begrudgingly.

“Can I trust you? Or does Beau need to take care of you?” Ariadne motioned to the knife in his raised hands.

Kat looked down at the silver blade, then up at him. “I won’t stop you.”

“Good.” Ariadne turned to Beau.

She reached over to him, putting her hand on his arm. He could feel the warmth of her skin against his and a strange calming energy flowed through her touch. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

Ariadne gently put her hands next to his on the dagger and pulled. His fingers uncurled from the hilt and let her slip the dagger from his grip.

“Kat, you need to take care of the rats. We don’t need a crime scene at Dr. Morris’ site.” Ariadne looked over at him. “He needs to have time to fill it in.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in. Could he fill in the site? Hide the Labyrinth? Act as if he’d never found this place? There was fear and questions in Aura’s eyes. He gave a tiny nod. He had promised her he would tell no one. Family and love was going to come first.