Page 51 of Death Match

The maze was changing again. And right underneath my feet.

Fuck.

It was as if it knew where I was or something. Maybe it didn’t like that I was sort of cheating by leaping over it instead of running through it. I didn’t know, but as the rock beneath me shifted and split, I knew I had to move fast.

Sloppily, I jumped for the next wall, but since I hadn’t gotten much momentum this time, my feet missed, and my body smacked into the stone ledge so hard, it forced all the air out of my lungs. Holding on by just my elbows and underarms, I clawed at the smooth edge for some kind of grip and kicked my feet to help me up.

When another violent tremor shot through the wall, I cursed and scrambled again.

The rock splintered, but by doing so, it had created a notch for me to wedge my boot in and push off of. I had to take advantage of any opportunity I had to beat this thing. Quickly, I hauled myself up and leapt from the next wall-top just as the one behind me crumpled.

Guess the maze really didn’t like me taking the easier way out…

I shook the idea of the maze being alive out of my head as fast as it had popped in. Too creepy to contemplate.

Either way, I had to keep moving.

The shaking underneath me began again. A couple more leaps, and I’d be at the arch.

Whirling around, I ran along the wall’s ledge. Everything trembled, throwing off my footing. My wounded ankle screamed in pain. I struggled to keep balanced, and just before the rock gave way, I jumped for the next section, letting out a scream.

In mid-air, I watched as the part of the wall I was about to land on sank into the ground, disappearing.

Oh shit. I was going to die.

With nowhere to land and with nothing to grab onto this time to save myself, I started to fall.

The farther I dropped, the darker my surroundings became, and I decided it might be best if I didn’t see my death coming. I closed my eyes, like I had when I’d propelled me and Azrael out the office window.

I tried to find that peace within myself again. That reserve that I couldn’t stop what was happening and I’d be visiting Hank again soon. It wasn’t the dying or the Void that scared me. Honestly, it was the crushing reality that my death would be seen as a failure. A disappointment. So many people were relying on me, and I had let them all down.

That’s what upset me more than anything else.

No pain came. No sudden stop, either.

When brightness pressed against my eyelids, I ripped them open, expecting to see the grungy and sweet old face of Hank, the Void’s keeper, again. But to my surprise, I was still falling, and the brightness rushing toward me—it was the Trial archway that now laid across the floor. Like a spirit door. And I was hurdling toward it.

But hadn’t I just seen the arch a couple of passages away? Had the maze moved it for me? Was it trying to help me now?

I crossed my arms over my face as I passed through the billowing smoke.

Suddenly, the spinning and weightless sensation of falling stopped. When I lowered my arms and peeked through my lids, I saw that I was standing on a cliff, staring at a very long, very rickety looking bridge, which disappeared into a dense fog on the other end. Making it impossible to judge just how far it stretched.

Well, fuck. Was I supposed tocrossthat thing? That was my Trial?

Oh no.

Fear seized me. Instantly, I was brought back to the moment Marla’s sister, Tamara, and I had to cross a smaller but similar kind of bridge in Hell. My fear had almost made it impossible to cross it. But because of Tamara’s sneakiness and quick thinking, she had gotten me to the other side.

She hadliedto do it, but I couldn’t be too mad. It had worked.

Unfortunately, I was going to have to face this bridge by myself.

I crept toward the edge of the cliff and peered down. What I saw had me backpedaling and panting hard. A cavity so deep, I couldn’t see the bottom. Just more ominous mist and the sound of rushing water from somewhere way below.

The muscles in my legs seized painfully, refusing to step closer again.

I didn’t know if I could do this. Dealing with gangsters and strippers and fires was nothing. Jumping from tumbling rocks and getting lost in an endless maze seemed like a cakewalk.

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