Page 78 of A Touch of Chaos

“What do you think will be waiting for us when we get there?”

“I have no idea,” Ariadne said. “But it will be terrible.”

Persephone took a breath, but she would face whatever waited for them so long as Hades was there. She would fight for him. She would reunite with him, and they would go home tonight…or tomorrow…or whenever the fuck they left this place.

Galanthis meowed, and Persephone looked to see the cat as she was swallowed by darkness.

It was different from the dark around them, deeper and colder, and there was a wrongness to it she couldn’t describe.

“Ariadne,” Persephone whispered. “Do you think…”

“We’ve made it,” Ariadne said.

An involuntary shiver racked Persephone’s body as they lingered at the edge of the darkness. She’d imagined this unfolding much differently in her head.

Mostly, she’d expected there to be light.

But if they were at the center of the labyrinth, then that meant Hades was near.

Persephone took a step forward and then another, but the dark remained. How was she supposed to find him here?

“Persephone!” Ariadne whispered her name in a hushed tone just as Galanthis gave a low growl and hissed.

Persephone froze as two red eyes flashed in the darkness.

“Ari,” Persephone said. “What is that?”

Just as she said the words, the lights switched on. Persephone flinched at the sudden brightness, dropping her spool of thread. As her vision adjusted, a strange growl drew her attention. When she looked up, she found the source of the red eyes—an abnormally large, pure white bull with enormous horns. It appeared to be covered in bronzed armor, and it was already pawing at the ground and snorting. Thick black smoke blew from its nostrils as if somehow, it had swallowed fire.

Persephone had seen something similar from the chimera she’d fought in the Underworld. Dread pooled in her stomach.

She was certain that thing could breathe fire.

The bull’s eyes were fixed on Galanthis, who stood before it, the hair down her back raised.

“Whatever you do, don’t give him your back,” said Ariadne.

“How are we supposed to run away then?” Persephone demanded.

“I don’t know,” Ariadne snapped. “Isn’t your cat a fucking monster?”

“She isn’t my cat!” Persephone said.

She looked behind her, wondering if they should return to the labyrinth, except that Hades was in front of them, not behind them.

The bull tossed its head and then lowered it, glaring at them with its bright red eyes. Then it charged, and Persephone watched as Galanthis transformed. She grew larger and sprouted black wings and horns, and then she launched herself at the bull.

Persephone and Ariadne didn’t linger. They ran, though she cringed at the sound of the bull’s strange roaring and Galanthis’s howling scream.

She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder to see Galanthis being tossed into the air, and when she landed, it was on the bull’s sharp horns.

“No!” Persephone screamed and came to a grinding halt.

“Come on, Persephone!” Ariadne grabbed Persephone’s arm and pulled her along.

Tears stung her eyes, and her anger burned through her. It was a familiar anger that usually summoned her power, but because they were trapped in this adamant prison, it served no purpose beyond fueling her retreat.

When the ground at their feet began to tremble, she knew the bull had turned its attention to them. Persephone pulled out her blade.

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