Page 85 of Of Monsters and Mazes

“You’re looking rather somber, Theron.” Jericho appeared in the room with his arms crossed, leaning against the far wall. I was thankful for the shower that hid any hint of the regret in my eyes.

“Her nightmares aren’t my idea of fun.” I mumbled, intentionally loud enough for him to hear. He approached and placed a hand on my shoulder, and I stiffened involuntarily.

“Aren’t they though?” He dropped to a squat besides us, and he stared into her resting face. “I’ve never known you to turn away from a little violence and bloodletting.” The Devil King squeezed gently, as if he was trying to comfort me, and I hated that he saw me as needing it. “You’ve done good. I’ll take her from here. The game was fun this year, but she’s gotten much too close to succeeding for my liking. Not to mention she has much more support than any tribute should.”

I nodded idly, then I handed her off to the King. The water continued to run, while I stayed on the ground for an extended moment. I didn’t deserve her anyway. Jericho was right. Even Rai was more trustworthy than I was.

He lifted her into his arms, still wet. Still dripping with traces of her and traces of me. I swallowed with the unrealistic hope that he wouldn’t notice, but who was I trying to kid.

“So what happens now?” I asked, void of emotion. it was unlikely that he’d kill her. He didn’t actually have to wait out the clock if he didn’t want to either. Everything in Tartarus was Jericho’s toy, from the land to the sky to the devils themselves. He could do anything he wanted.

“Do you really care?” He tilted his head in my direction, a sly grin on his lips.

“Of course not.” I rebuked the implication. “It’s just been a strange year, so I figured I’d ask.”

“Strange, indeed.” Jericho chuckled, his emerald eyes sparkling as he nestled her more firmly in his arms. “Next, I suppose we see how she handles crushing defeat.” Jericho looked up as if he was picturing the possibilities. “But I have to say, I really never expected my Minotaur to go off the rails like that. I still don’t know what compelled Rai to remove her tracking marks, but he didn’t seem terribly keen on explaining, so I activated his paralysis collar and sent him back to the beginning of the maze.” Jericho paced over to the mirror and fixed his hair, while keeping her cradled. “Alessi is… well, still the Teumessian Fox. He’s around here somewhere, still as uncatchable as ever, if you want to go play with your blight of a companion.” He furrowed his brow. “While I could break my own rules and banish the Twilight Clock, I’d like for her to see herself lose in real time. If I cheat, I have a feeling I’ll never hear the end of it, and she’ll always feel like she had the upper hand until then.”

“So you’re really planning to keep her?” I met his gaze, wanting to see the honesty or the lie.

Jericho just retained that smile. “After the stunts the rest of you have pulled this year, I would be a fool to give her up.” He shifted his attention to Sela, who he gazed upon with unexpected fondness. “It’s about time I take a new queen anyway. Pasiphae’s memory doesn’t deserve a place in my throne room anymore.”

I was damn near speechless from that confession. But I didn’t let Jericho see that fact. “So what do you want me to do?”

“You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you, my sweet nightmare.” His gaze remained on Sela. “You can do whatever you’d like from here.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.” The word was a release on my heart, and I felt a sense of freedom wash over me for the first time since the game had begun.

“What are you going to do with her until the time is up?”

“I’m going to get her dressed and wait until she wakes up, first of all.” He squeezed her into his chest. She didn’t so much as stir. I’d sunk her deep into the hallucination. “Then I’ll leave her in the Senseless Forest, where she can flail about, cursing my name, until the alarm bells ring.”

Jericho gave me one last nod before he added, the moment before they vanished into one of his portals, “You’ll thank me for this one day, I promise.”

I got to my feet, and I turned off the water. Sweat drenched my platinum hair, and it clung to my forehead and my black horns. I rung out the water that had made it to my scarf, then I concentrated the heat in my blood until any remaining moisture burned off, and I was dry again.

I caught a glimpse of my bare chest in the bathroom mirror for long enough to take in the view of my scars. Most prominent was always the cross that cut deeply over my heart, and the divots that extended my smile. I’d avoided mirrors for ages, and I usually liked it that way. I was a flawed and mangled demon compared to Butterfly. I was broken, hideous, and unlovable.

And yet, Butterfly showed me those little, quiet affections time and again. She saw this image every time she looked at me. She laughed, smiled, and even blushed when I’d make comments that riled her up. Why would she do that? What was she seeing that I didn’t?

I idly traced the mark over my heart with my index finger.

Would she still look at me the same if she knew what this really meant?

I closed my eyes, not wanting to stare at the face of her betrayer anymore. Then I felt a sudden, tight, and familiar embrace squeezing me around my shoulders. My nostrils filled with lilacs as I reopened my eyes to meet the warm amber of Alessi’s staring back at me through the mirror.

The fox nuzzled into my neck. His gaze dropped to my scar. The one he’d seen too many times, yet I was always too ashamed to explain. I’d kept so many secrets from him. Maybe he never had been the problem.

Alessi frowned but didn’t comment. He just stroked my collarbone with his partially shifted claws, cutting deeper on every pass.

“You chose him again, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

I said nothing.

“You always will, won’t you.” Still not a question.

I remained quiet.