Page 52 of Mochas and Minotaurs

When I first arrived here, I had a purpose. A singular purpose. I was looking for something. I’d searched the maze thoroughly for it. That was the reason why I knew I’d been here for a long time: I knew this maze inside and out. Every dead end, every wall, all of it. But I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. Whatever it was.

I trudged through the familiar corridors again. Looking, searching. For what? The face flashed in my mind. Sometimes, she had red hair. Other times, her hair was raven black. But always, those mesmerizing green eyes bore into my soul. Was she the one I was looking for?

I didn’t even remember her name, even though I knew I should. It was like whoever had put me in this maze had given me something so that I forgot everything else. Even her. But I sometimes saw her in my dreams, so I slept a lot. It wasn’t like there was much else to do.

But my dreams weren’t always of her. I also dreamt of another woman. Older. She told me how I was silly to have trusted a woman. That they would all choose cold hard cash over me. Was she talking about the one with the green eyes? Had she betrayed me?

None of it made any sense. How could it, when there was nothing in the world aside from the maze and the entrance Imust protect? I didn’t know exactly where this entrance was. But I knew that it was my sole purpose in life to make sure that no one who came into my demesne left alive.

This was my land. My maze. My territory. But why then did I remember other locations? A place full of strange machinery and heavy items. And another one full of things, objects, and artifacts. But those images in my head were fuzzy, and the labyrinth in front of me was clear.

The most delicious scent drifted through the maze into my nose. Something familiar. Something delicious. I stalked toward it.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

My prey didn’t even run from me. The tiny form seemed to be searching for something. Searching for me?

She saw me moments after I noticed her, and instead of running away, she surprised me by running toward me, arms outstretched.

“Marcus!” She launched herself at me and all I could do was stare, confused, as she embraced me. “Marcus.” She repeated the name several more times, plastering little kisses everywhere she could reach.

Was that my name? It sounded familiar too.

Now that she was in my arms, I realized she wasn’t prey at all. Other memories were filtering in too. I grabbed her shoulders and held her at arm’s length, studying her face. It was her.

“I missed you so much!” She buried her face into my furry chest and I could feel the wetness of her tears.

The memory of the other woman ran through my head. “She said you betrayed me.” None of it made sense.

She shook her head. “No. I never did.”

“She said you took money.” For what I didn’t know.

“It was the only way,” she whispered, her mouth by my ear. “The dragon wouldn’t let me in here. It was the only way we could get you out.”

Out. That was what I had been searching for: the way out! The location in my head clarified. My gym! Her home!

“Gigi.”

The rush of memories filled my head at the sound of her name falling from my lips. Moving into the new space, seeing her, recognizing her. Her in my arms and in my bed. And further back, of starting the gym, of meeting Declan, of me running away from my duties. I remembered it all.

I tossed my head, clearing the fog from my brain.

And now here I was stuck in the maze anyway. And she was here too, which meant…

“You agreed to the dragon’s deal.”

“It was the only way,” she repeated.

“No! I refuse. I refuse to put my son through this. I refuse to give him another generation.”

But even as I spoke, a sweet scent filled the maze. Not hers. She was sweet, but this was different. Something artificial. Then it started: the unbearable heat.

“What’s wrong? Marcus?”

I knew what was happening. The dragon wanted another minotaur to fill the role when I was too old or died in battle. And for that, he needed Griselda to conceive. Whatever was being pumped into the maze was pulling me into a rut. I could try to resist it, but eventually, I would succumb. And then, once she was pregnant, they would take her away. I’d never see her again.

And she’d be stuck raising our son alone. The child would be destined to serve unwillingly as I did now. Would she treat him like Elise did me? As a meal ticket? Or would she love him like a real mother, seeing me in his eyes every time she looked at him? That would be worse because then she’d lose her son too when the time came.

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