“I don’t know. Leave them, I guess. Come on.”
With the maze gone, I can only guess where the exit should have been, but is it really necessary to get to the exit now? I think technically we won, so I head back to the east where we began and where I hope Monstrat and Hades might meet us as soon as they realize the maze has been obliterated.
We hobble along for a while. The dogs follow us. “Shoo,” I say, but they don’t budge. Their shadow forms vibrate beneath my stare and their tails are tucked between their back legs.
We’re about twenty feet from where I think the maze entrance had been when a carriage appears over the hill. It comes to a halting stop and Monstrat jumps out before the footman can open the carriage door.
Monstrat rushes over to us. “We had watchers on the maze,” he says. “I just got word. What happened?”
He makes no move to unburden me of Haven’s weight and I’m in no rush to hand him off. “We won,” is what Haven says. He doesn’t elaborate. I’m not sure if that’s for my benefit or his.
Monstrat frowns. “But what happened to the maze?” He gestures to the barren land. “That maze is thousands of years old. It has withstood innumerable monsters, countless blights, and many trials. And it’s just...gone?”
I make it to the carriage and help Haven inside. He collapses on the bench with a wince. I hurry in beside him.
When the dogs try to follow me, Monstrat claps his hands and says, “Go! Go on now!”
The dogs raise their hackles. Their lips pull back in a snarl, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
Monstrat edges away. “Where did the dogs come from?”
“From the fucking trial,” Haven says and then grimaces with a new flash of pain.
“Dogs weren’t part of the trial.” Monstrat backs into the carriage as the dogs snip at his feet.
“They weren’t?” I ask.
Safely inside, Monstrat slams the door shut. “No. It was two minotaurs.”
“What about the shadowmen?”
Monstrat frowns. “The what?”
Haven and I share a look.
“Speaking of which,” Monstrat says as the carriage lurches forward and the dogs bark at the wheels. “What happened to the minotaurs? We spent a lot of time and effort raising them specifically for these trials.”
The carriage hits a bump and Haven hisses. “Stop asking questions, professor,” he says. “You’re making me want to kick you out the fucking door.”
Monstrat gapes at Haven, but quickly clamps his mouth shut.
And for once, I’m grateful for Haven’s cruelty.
Chapter 34
When we reach Hades’s House, Haven and I are whisked up to the infirmary. Elena takes one look at Haven and immediately decides he’s the one who needs care first.
I collapse into bed and peel my boots off and then my pants. I curl beneath the blankets and fall into a dark sleep.
When I wake sometime later, the sun has risen and Haven is in the bed beside me blanketed in golden light.
It reminds me of the light in the maze and makes my stomach flip.
What happened there? Was it the power Hades gave me? The gift of Life that did it?
I roll over and slide my arm beneath my pillow. “Hi,” I say.
Haven looks at me. There’s no expression on his face so I don’t know what he’s thinking.
And I don’t get the chance to ask because at that moment the doors burst open and Nereus stalks in.
“Did you see him?” he asks.
“See who?” Haven asks.
“Cronus. We were tracking him and he led us right to the maze. Or what used to be the maze. Did you see him?”
The shadowmen. The dogs. Monstrat said they weren’t part of the trial.
All of it clicks into place.
They’re made of shadows and the shadowmen smelled sulphuric, like the Underworld.
They were Cronus’s men. He must have brought them up from the Underworld when he escaped.
And once that settles in, I realize what that meant—we nearly went up against a Titan.
A cold dread prickles over my skin.
We could have been killed. We nearly were killed. I mean, even the minotaurs were horrifying. They were nothing compared to the shadowmen though.
“We didn’t see Cronus,” Haven says.
Nereus scowls and rests his hand on the hilt of his sword. He too is in battle gear. Like Hades, he’s ready for war.
I know Cronus being out of the Underworld is a really bad thing, but I’m starting to get the feeling that I don’t truly know how bad it is.
“What did happen?” Nereus asks. “Why are you so grievously injured and she came away with hardly a scratch?” He gestures at me distantly, like I’m a trivial matter he needs to cross off his list.
I look at Haven.
I know this is going to be painful for him to admit to his brother, that he was the one who couldn’t stand against the shadowman and its dogs, who had to be rescued by the orphan, but I vow to have his back no matter what.
We’re a team.
We survived the maze—and Cronus’s minions—together.
We might not always see eye to eye and I might sometimes hate him a lot but—
“The orphan got barely a scratch,” Haven says, “because she hid in the hedge maze.”
“What?” Nereus and I say at the same time.
Haven scowls at me. “Come on, Hearthtender. There’s no one left to impress.” He looks at his brother again. “I fought the shadowmen alone and got the brunt of their ire for the trouble. Should be easy to win the last trial.”
I lurch to my feet. The world sways and I have to catch myself from falling with a hand on the bedside table. I might not be injured but I’m so exhausted, I can barely stand upright.
Haven’s expression softens. He tries to sit up and hisses with pain.
I go to his bedside, clamp my hand on his thigh, on the wrapped dog bite, and squeeze.
He curls into the pain and can only let out a garbled roar.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” I say and then turn and hurry from the room before I do something more I might end up regretting.
Chapter 35
I’m halfway across the front foyer, cursing Haven’s name the whole way, when I hear shouting and barking wending up the stairwell from what I assume must be the dungeon.
For a second I think to ignore it. I’m in no mood to speak to anyone. I just want to climb into bed and plot a thousand different ways to gouge out Haven’s good eye.
How could he lie about what really happened?
And make me look weak and cowardly and stupid?
Unless he really has been playing me this whole time. Look how close he is to winning the whole descendant trial.
Maybe I’m stupid after all.
The barking grows in intensity. I hear Max screech.
“Oh hell,” I grumble and hurry across the foyer and follow the wide, curving stone stairwell down into a murky darkness.
The barking grows louder. A dog snaps its teeth at something and a man cries out.
“What are they?” I hear Max ask.
Hades’s voice echoes through the cavernous space as he answers. “They’re dogs that were supposed to be guarding the doorway to Tartarus. Somehow Cronus has called them to his side.”