Page 137 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

When I briefly let go of Riven’s hand to flatten myself against the labyrinth’s edge, some huge fauns grab me and pull me with them.

“Melody!” Riven shouts, eyes wide.

He’s trying to get to me, but the fauns are like a stream, and I’m pushed by them. All too quickly I’m swallowed by the darkness we just came from. Only there do I manage to wriggle free, to step aside and let them pass.

But when I try to get back to the clearing, there’s suddenly a hedge, sprouted out of nowhere before me, blocking my way.

The entrance to the center is gone.

When I turn, I’m all alone in the maze’s path.

43

Melody

I start running. But the labyrinth isn’t like before when I found my way in. Now it’s moving, constantly shifting. More hedges sprout out of nowhere, where there weren’t any moments ago. Gaps, too, creating more corridors, leading only deeper and deeper. I keep hitting dead ends, no matter how hard I focus my senses on finding Riven.

I run even faster.

Occasionally, I rush past someone.

Giggles and hisses sound from behind a hedge, the thrumming of hooves over grass, the brush of bodies against the leaves and bushes.

As yet another tunnel with a pitch-black end awaits me, I feel the surge of my familiar panic.

I’m trapped. Trapped in darkness.

I turn, trying to calm my rising fear.It’s just a game. Just a game.

But I hate it!

I’m already sweating, my fingers cold, my heartbeat too fast. I cut around another corner, only to meet another dead end. And again. And again.

As it goes on, desperation crawls up inside me, clenching my throat. I freeze when I turn another corner, only to find two fauns, crimson-horns locked, hips moving in sync. I stare when one looksat me, hissing, hisfangsbared, and I back out. Another hedge opens up behind me, sending me stumbling through.

More moaning. The smell of sex suddenly everywhere. Of blood too. My heart beats so fast it’s humming.What game is this?

A fae game, I know. Adarkgame.

Around another corner, I spot Ronin bent over the naked body of one of the gold-painted musicians. His pants are down, and he holds the man by the hips, his head back, his eyes closed. He thrusts deeply into the harpist, heedless of me or anything else, as the man in front of him sighs quietly through parted lips.

The bracelets on their wrists match.

I pivot on my heels, a dark suspicion dawning in my mind of what this game is about. Of what happens if the hunter catches his prey.

In another corner, there’s Kyrith with a nymph, his teeth and chin covered in her blood while the nymph’s legs are closed around his waist.

Where the hell is Riven?

I run again in the other direction, more panic stirring in me, flooding my system. I won’t get out of this.There is no way out.

I sprint faster when footsteps sound behind me, closing in.

I will fight. I won’t be someone else’s prey. This is a nightmare. I run and run, the burning in my lungs a painful, sobering reminder of when I tried to run from Lyrian.

Before he threw me into the dark cell again and things got bad.

The memory sends another jolt of adrenaline through me, swamping my senses, my barely controlled panic surging further. Tears start to stream down my cheeks as exhaustion kicks in.

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