Page 64 of The Unseelie Wish
He felt it there, like a tick crawling on him. A presence that should not be there. And a presence that had been there for some time. He turned to Bayodan, teeth bared. “What have you done?”
Bayodan furrowed his brow in confusion. “I do not know of what you speak, my King. What is happening?”
Valroy growled, an unnatural sound that belied his true nature. Everything clicked into place. “Puck.”
Heads would roll for this.
Heads he would sever personally.
With a roar of rage, he disappeared in a swirl of power.
His Maze was under attack.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“What the fuck is that thing?” Alex screamed as she jumped behind Izael. The monster that lumbered out of the woods was something out of a fevered nightmare. It lumbered on six legs, standing some ten or twelve feet tall. And it was composed entirely of bones. Corpses of humans, of animals, of things she couldn’t identify, all merged into one horrifying monstrosity.
“We mean you no harm!” the monster whined, its voice the combination of dozens all speaking at once. “We simply wish to be friends. We can help you.”
Izael hissed at the creature. “Begone, Nameless. Before I make you my lunch.”
The creature shrank away like a scared dog. “Human, we can guide you. We can aid your quest. Simply name us, and we shall serve you.”
“Fuck, no!” Alex stayed behind Izael, peering around the duke’s arm to stare wide-eyed at the thing. “Go away!”
“She is too smart for your tricks. Leave now.” Izael held out his hand toward the thing. “Or I will reduce you to slivers and specks of bone before I devour what’s left.”
The monster whined again, letting out a plaintive wail before retreating into the darkness.
Izael sniffed dismissively. “Nameless. Annoying things. To give it an identity is to join it.”
“Eewwuh.” She cringed at the thought of getting rolled up into it. “That’s terrible.”
He shrugged. “Honestly? There are far, far worse ways to go. Especially here in the Maze. We should keep going. We likely don’t have much time left.”
They had been walking for half an hour or so. But they were making progress. The instrument that sounded like a pipe organ if it were made from the structure of the deepest cave was growing louder. But whether they’d make it in time, she didn’t know.
She doubted it.
But there was still a tiny bit of hope. The smallest amount, but it was there. Taking Izael’s hand, she led him deeper into the woods, following the source of the sound.
When they left the thickness of the trees to step into a clearing, she froze. The trees had suddenly given way to ruins. An ancient stone structure that reminded her somehow of Stonehenge, if it had been trying to build walls. Crude, barely carved stones were stacked in whatever order had made sense at the time with no mortar to join them. Moss and vines covered their surfaces as nature worked to reclaim the structure.
“This is it. The center of the Maze.” Izael let out a breath of relief. “You’ve done it—we’re close, now!” He laughed. “I would fuck you right here and now, but we don’t have time. Later. Later, I will definitely fuck you for this.”
“Thanks?” She took a step inside the structure. It stretched off in both directions. It was a Maze within a Maze. Great.
But that wasn’t the only reason she felt her heart sink.
They weren’t alone.
“Uh oh.” For a moment, she was terrified the figure in front of them would be Valroy—that the jig would already be up, and they’d be splattered all over the grass a few seconds later.
In some ways, who was there to greet them was worse.
It was Anfar, leaning against one of the stone structures, his arms crossed. He had been waiting for them.
“Hello, Father.” Izael sneered. “Come to wish us well? Help us on our way?”