Page 4 of Minotaurs and other Magic

Nate’s feet slowed.

The minotaur stopped and scooped him up as if he weighed nothing and carried him in his arms. He acted as if the harp on his back weighed nothing. And Nate couldn’t do anything to resist because as soon as he started moving his hands, the rope around his throat began to choke him. So he closed his eyes and let himself be carried to where he would be killed.

The minotaur kept talking in that same soft voice as if explaining things to a confused child. Nate opened his eyes. He recognized the tone because he used it when there was a child in his classroom who was struggling.

“What the fuck is going on?” Nate stared up at him.

The minotaur smiled and continued with his incomprehensible chatter until they reached a wall broken by two decorative metal gates, each one emblazoned with the red flower that had been on the vampires’ uniforms. But around the top of the wall was a different emblem, a fancy knotwork that appeared almost Celtic in design.

The two guards on the gate bowed and opened the gates. This was a palace. Nate had been to enough of them in Europe to recognize one, even if it wasn’t quite the same.

The minotaur walked up the path and took a left at a large tree before continuing along another path. He stopped outside another door and set Nate on his feet before pushing the door open.

Like the gates and the wall, these heavy doors were also highly decorated with knotwork and the flower. The floor seemed to be made of marble, and a staircase swept upwards. Everything was carved and decorated. And there was glass orsomething in the roof, allowing the moonlight to bounce off mirrors and illuminate the foyer.

As if sensing the minotaur’s arrival, two people rushed in. They stopped and stared at Nate. And even though he didn’t understand the words, it was clear the conversation was about him.

The minotaur set his harp down to one side, then moved his arm, indicating for Nate to follow. Given that he had no choice as they were tied together, he did.

This was a bad dream that was getting worse with each passing hour.

At first, he thought he might die from infection, then from dirty water, then lack of food or exposure. He had not put death by rich minotaur on his list…but who did, right? That wasn’t exactly something one planned for.

Because minotaurs didn’t exist.

Yet he was following one into a rather lovely sitting room that was decorated with several large sofas in varying shades of deep pink. There was a massive desk in one corner and several bookcases along one wall. His gaze skimmed the spines, hoping that he would see one written in English, but he didn’t recognize any of the letters.

A woman’s voice drew his attention. He hadn’t noticed her when he’d walked in, and he should’ve because she was striking…and just a little terrifying. There was something about the way she looked at him that made him want to hide behind the minotaur.

She and the minotaur had a conversation that ended with both of them looking at his feet. What was wrong with his feet? Was it because he had feet instead of hooves?

No, the vampires who chased him had worn boots, which meant they had feet.

The minotaur kneeled at Nate’s feet and tapped his hiking boot as he spoke.

“If you want my shoes, you can have them.” Is that what this was about? Was it his shoes that the minotaur wanted?

The minotaur undid the laces and encouraged Nate to remove his foot from the boot, handing it over to the woman who inspected it. A frown formed between her eyebrows, which did nothing to ease Nate’s disquiet.

With a subtle tap and nudge, he removed his foot from his other boot. The minotaur plucked at his sock, then touched the fabric of his pants, noting the pockets, before rubbing the fabric of Nate’s shirt between his fingers again.

On his knees, the tips of his horns were the same height as Nate’s eyes. He wanted to reach out and touch the horn and his hair. Dark auburn locks curled over his forehead, parting for his horns and ears—one of which was adorned with three gold rings—before curling on his shoulders. The tunic did a poor job of concealing the muscles of his arms and chest.

The tunic did a poor job of concealing everything, to be honest because, for the duration of the concert, he’d been aware of how close he sat to the minotaur’s oversized junk. He was now super aware of how close the minotaur was to him. The way his warm breath swept over Nate’s stomach and his massive hands touched so gently.

The woman put the hiking boot on the floor and then touched the fabric of his clothes in the same way the minotaur had. When she’d finished her examination, she addressed him directly.

Nate shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I don’t know where I am, and I don’t know what’s going on, and I just want to go home. I’m sorry I stole, okay? I was hungry and cold.”

The excuses fell from his tongue even though they wouldn’t understand a word, no matter what he said. He sighed and lowered his gaze.

The minotaur remained on his knees. He patted Nate’s outer thigh as if everything was going to be fine. Nate suspected nothing was going to be fine again.

The woman gripped Nate’s chin and forced him to look at her. She asked him a couple of questions he couldn’t answer before trying again in another language. It was definitely a different language. He knew that in the same way he could tell Welsh from English and spoke both. He didn’t claim to speak French, but he understood enough to recognize it when spoken.

She wasn’t using any of them.

She used a third language, but she wasn’t asking questions anymore. And her words made his head thump and the room spin. And she kept staring at him. He stumbled, and the minotaur caught him as everything turned black.

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