Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II (14 page)

Bruno's hands lift, his expression calm. "For
the children," he says.

And then the world goes black.

Chapter 18

Conor

The light that emanates when a full blooded
Demon is destroyed is too bright for mortal eyes. It's a light I
will never get used to seeing. It is triumphant and disappointing.
A full blood Demon does not die. He is merely cast-off, his essence
returned to the Abyss of Hell where he is reincarnated and returned
in a different body, a different kind of Demon.

Emma's head falls limply against my chest,
and I let my body soften, the stone fading away. The images I'd
seen in my head still haunt me, and I look down at Emma's face, my
hand coming to rest against her cheek. I'm not sure how she knew
Envy was the cause of mortal suffering in children, his power used
to strike them insensible. So many children, so many who suffered
from different illnesses, who still suffer. I only wish destroying
him would heal them, but it won't.

"Emma," I whisper.

She doesn't move, her eyes closed. She is
breathing, and the sores on her face and arms are beginning to
heal. I pull her closer, cradling her.

"She drained herself," Bruno says suddenly
from next to me, and I look at him. His eyes meet mine. "We
weakened Envy, but it was Emma's power that ultimately destroyed
him."

"
Our
power," Lyre corrects as she stands carefully, grimacing from
the pain the lingering sores cause. She brushes dirt from her jeans
and yellow tank top, her eyes meeting mine and then moving away.
Her jaw tightens.

Bruno glances between us, his eyes narrowing.
"Our power, Lyre, but Emma gave it to me to destroy Envy. Frankly,
I'm impressed she even did it."

I silently agree. Up until this point, Emma
had been against using her powers to destroy anything.

"She used it when it counted most," I say as
Deidra moves up behind me. The imp's skin seems healed, and she
touches Emma's leg tentatively.

"There will be worse ahead," the imp
predicts, and I look down at her. Envy's words are haunting now.
"
I am nothing compared to the horrors you
have yet to face."

Gray stumbles nearby, Fiona in his arms. She,
like Emma, is out cold but breathing. She'd used her powers to
distract Envy, putting herself in danger to save the group.

I glance around the cavern. Hesther and
Gwenyth are examining each other before finally embracing,
reassured. Ace is on the floor, his body still. He is bound to
Emma, and he is unconscious because she is.

The twins move to Gray, patting Fiona who is
just now beginning to come to. Their relieved smiles touch me in a
way they haven't touched me before. I am seeing the hybrids in a
different light.

Over the past two months, I have convinced
myself I had made the wrong choice, that I have destroyed my own
kind in order to protect the bad guys. But now, I'm not witnessing
evil, I'm witnessing a family, a group of hybrids who have had to
depend on each other, who have had to build a relationship even
with the tension and jealousy between them.

"She's coming to," Lyre says, breaking into
my thoughts, and I glance at her before looking down at Emma. I
have always thought of Lyre as a mistake. Now I suddenly wonder if
part of her hatred is because I've considered her a blight on my
past. Maybe Lyre hadn't been a wise choice, but she wasn't
terrible.

"Ace," Emma groans.

I search her face, peering into her amber
eyes as her lids lift wearily, slowly.

"He's fine," I say. "It's over. For now."

Emma turns her head away, her eyes searching
for the other hybrids, for Ace. Ace is coming to. When she sees
them, she breathes a sigh of relief before struggling weakly.

The struggling hurts me, not physically but
emotionally. The distance between us is my fault. I've let my own
fears, my own insecurities come between us. I care about Emma.
Seeing her now, injured and tired, is eye opening. It opens up
wounds I've tried hiding, wounds I've let fester from killing my
own, wounds from Emma herself, and I'm suddenly bleeding out. I
don't block the emotions, and Emma's head snaps up, her eyes
meeting mine. Words aren't needed, and I'm grateful for that.

"Dude, I knew you had it in you," Gray says
triumphantly, his eyes on Emma, as he moves up next to us.

She breaks eye contact with me and smiles as
her gaze meets Gray's.

"I'm bad, and I'm perfectly good at it," she
jokes feebly.

Gray laughs, and it temporarily breaks the
tension.

"Cheat! Rihanna said that first," Gray points
out.

Emma shrugs weakly as Fiona tries sitting up
in Gray's arms.

"No, the songwriters said it first. Rihanna
sang it, Emma copied it."

Gray groans."Taking literal to a whole new
level, are we, Fi? Point is, she's a cheat."

Emma inhales, her eyes closing, and I know
she's taking strength from the light-hearted moment. A grin plays
at the corners of her lips.

"A cheat maybe, but I make it sound
cooler."

Lyre rolls her eyes.

"In your opinion only," she says, breaking
into the conversation smoothly. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that song
is referring to sex."

Bruno grins. "You trying to say you like
chains with your good time, Em?"

Emma's face goes red.

"That is so totally inappropriate."

I'm fighting hard not to smile.

"I don't know," Gwenyth says seductively as
she and her sister join the group. "It kinda sounds fun."

Hesther giggles as Fiona throws her hands up
into the air.

"Oh, my God! Seriously! And this is the group
our king has chosen to save our race from annihilation?"

"It could be worse," I mumble. "Marcas could
have summoned Superman."

"And you have a problem with Superman?" Gray
asks.

I snort.

"Have you seen the old movies, the comic
renditions? Manly went out the window when they put the curl on his
forehead."

Gray stiffens.

"You're just jealous because you're not
faster than a speeding bullet."

I grin, the smile wide.

"You're wrong, Dude. I'm way faster than
that."

"Ugh!" Fiona groans.

She is fighting Gray's hold, her strength
returning, and she punches him lightly in the chest.

"Superman aside, I'm alright now, you skinny
scarecrow. You can put me down," she complains.

Gray grins and drops her. She lands
indelicately on her rear, and I wince because I know stone can't be
comfortable against her healing backside.

"Damn you," Fiona cries out.

Gray shrugs.

"Call me a skinny scarecrow again, Princess,
and see what I do."

"Want us to choke him?" Hesther asks,
winking.

I lower Emma carefully, letting her test her
strength before finally letting go. She leans on me a moment, and I
revel in the nearness. I can't help but wonder if I've lost her, if
I've opened up doors for someone else to get close to her. Bruno,
maybe? She and I hadn't known each other long enough at the
Acropolis to create an inseparable bond, but I find myself wanting
to try and create one now.

"Everyone okay?" Bruno asks.

The mood sobers again, and the hybrids nod.
Emma lifts the front of her shirt and drops it carefully when she
sees no more sores. The healing has been fast with Envy's lingering
power shattered.

"Just so you know, that hurt like hell," Gray
mutters.

No one disagrees.

"We need to go on as quickly as we can.
Something tells me the longer we stay here, the more Enepsigos will
send our way," Bruno says.

Again, no one argues, and the group rallies.
Emma moves to Ace, checking him over quickly, her hands running
over his rubbery skin before nodding at Bruno.

"Let's move," Bruno says, and we step toward
the darkness.

Emma is next to me again, Ace awake but
sluggish behind her. We walk side by side, each hybrid close enough
their shoulders touch. I'm not sure it's a good idea to walk as a
group, but it reduces the fear, makes them feel stronger.

"Do you sense anything?" Bruno asks Emma.

Emma's brows furrow in concentration. After a
moment, she shakes her head. Bruno glances down the line.

"Anyone else?"

The silence is answer enough. I'm standing on
the edge of the group, and I let my hand slide along the cavern's
wall, the stone cool and comforting beneath my palm. The energy
that seeps into my skin is biting. There's pain in the stone but
nothing definitive.

"I think I might hate her," Emma says
suddenly.

Deidra looks up.

"Hate who?" she asks.

Emma's gaze stays forward, her eyes on the
darkness before us. The tunnel bends continuously, and it feels
like we are walking in circles.

"Enepsigos," Emma answers, her voice low.

Lyre grunts indelicately.

"You don't even know her."

Emma doesn't answer. She walks slightly
hunched, her shoulders drooping. Her weariness is obvious, her fear
taking a back seat to the feat her birth mother seems set on making
the hybrids accomplish.

"I don't think she is doing this to punish
anyone," I say carefully.

I'm not sure Emma even sees this as
punishment, but I keep hearing Alessandro's voice in my head, the
same voice telling me hybrids have to prove their strength to be
respected, and I wonder if that's what Enepsigos is doing. Testing
their strength. Their world is a harsh world, harsher even than my
own. There is no loyalty, no real leadership. There is only chaos.
Chaos is how Lucifer prefers to rule. I hope Marcas will be
different. I hope his rule will change things.

"Who knows why she's doing it," Fiona says,
her voice laced with irritation.

Lyre laughs harshly.

"Who said
she's
even the one doing anything? This may be
her labyrinth, but it was our 'supposed' hybrid king who sent us in
here."

Bruno pauses, and we all stop with him.

"You don't trust him?" Bruno asks her.

Lyre's eyes meet his.

"Do you?"

She looks around the group.

"I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm not even
saying he is evil or that he's a liar. But, honestly, did we really
ask enough questions? Why do this for someone we don't know?"

I lean against the wall, my eyes on the
hybrids. This isn't my discussion, it is theirs, and as much as I
want to defend Marcas, I know they need this.

"You wait until now to question all of this?"
Fiona asks dryly.

Lyre shrugs.

"When is a better time, Fi?"

Fiona gives her an "are you kidding me"
look.

"How about
before
we entered the labyrinth?"

Lyre throws her hands up.

"Look, I'm not saying this is wrong,
okay."

"No," Emma says suddenly. "But you're right,
Lyre."

Lyre turns to her, startled. Emma doesn't
flinch.

"We didn't ask enough questions, but these
are Demons we are dealing with. Even Marcas is a half-Demon. Is
there really any point in asking questions? No Demon can be fully
trusted. All we can do is lean on our own instincts. The hybrid
king is offering us peace."

Gray pushes back his hood, his arms
crossing.

"And death," he says.

Emma doesn't argue.

"And death," she agrees. "But freedom is a
fight. In a way, he's asked us to join this fight. The end result
is worth the risk."

"Even if the risk means we have trusted
someone who only wants us dead, not free?" one of the Garner twins
asks.

It's Bruno who answers.

"Even then," he says. "We're dead anyway,
aren't we? You saw Envy. You saw his strength. No matter the
protection Alessandro is willing to give, do you really think he
can keep us safe from any of the powerful Demons who want us dead
because of our parents? Do you think he could keep us safe from
Lucifer himself?"

The question hangs in the damp, suffocating
air. I step away from the wall.

"You can trust him," I say.
"Trust
me
on this. Would I be
risking my life here with you if I didn't believe Marcas was the
real deal. I was there when he won his war with
Lucifer."

Lyre's jaw tightens, but she finally nods
before beginning to move forward again. We all follow. There are no
more doubts, no more questions. The fight with Envy has shaken up
the hybrids. The dark and the pain are making them ask
questions.

"I'm scared," Deidra says, and this time,
even Lyre doesn't call her a coward.

Emma stumbles a little on the uneven
ground, and I reach for her. She shies away, but I help her anyway.
I care about her, but even
I
know now is not the time to pursue a romance. Maybe when this
is over, we can start over, build a foundation on the shaky start
we got at the Acropolis.

Emma stumbles again followed by Hesther
farther down the line.

"You okay?" I ask.

Emma looks up nervously before glancing at
her feet.

"Something isn't right," she says.

When Gray stumbles, I stiffen. There is a
rumbling sound within the walls of the cavern. No one else seems to
hear it, and I reach out and touch the cave wall. What it tells me
is horrifying, and I am too late to stop it.

"Run!" I yell just as the cavern ceiling
behind us collapses.

Chapter 19

Emma

Chaos . . . rumbling, roaring, insane chaos .
. . pain. Silence.

I am on the floor of the labyrinth, my cheek
against cold stone. There is dust in the air, and I cough, my mind
trying to wrap itself around my current predicament. I'm not dead,
but I hurt, and when I try to sit up, I realize there is no room to
do anything other than lay.