Page 69 of Quarter Labyrinth

But where I’d just been, it wasn’t the second level, or the third. “I was on a parapet above it all. I could hardly see the labyrinth.”

Lines formed in the space between Clark’s brows. “The slide took you…up?”

“A stone god did that. And before you ask, I’m not certain who. I suspect Aurelia Brightspire, but I can’t guess her goal.”

“Why do you suspect her?”

“I heard her voice.”Protect your heart.“She warned me to be careful.”

“And you just had to walk it?”

Just. As if my ankle wasn’t chained to someone who wanted me dead, and arrows weren’t hurtling toward us.

Then Clark added, “Alone?”

Without meaning to, I’d been twisting Leif’s dagger in my hands. I tucked it away. “Yes. It was narrow though. I could have fallen.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. We missed you,” Tove said. Her smile might have been small, but it was as sweet as every flower in the garden near us, and as sparkling as Delilah’s temple.

I gave her a smile back. I doubted many of them truly missed me, as terrible company as I had been, but I’d be better about that. I might notsing, but I could be less sour.

One by one, the group faded to sleep while Clark took the first watch. I stayed up with him for a bit, the truth of what transpired with Leif still resting on my tongue.

It would frighten Clark to know someone like Leif hunted me. He’d be hunting extra hard now that he knew the truth of who I was. If he wanted the Silver Wings as badly as he claimed, my very existence threatened him.

Then there were the matters with Dimitri…

I studied Clark in the dark light. He flipped through his book, reading each log carefully, and snuck glances at me whenhe thought I wasn’t looking. Finally, when he caught my eye, he shut the book.

“Are you okay? You seem different.”

I tried to hide whatever parts of my face were giving me away. I didn’t know how I felt. On one hand, whirling with all I’d uncovered about my past. On the other, excited to have a name in this world. And I knew there were parts of me that should be terrified but I was having a beastly time summoning those.

Fear usually came too late, when the teeth were already closing around my neck. I’d always been that way.

Then there was Leif. The boy who sought to kill me because of a deal he’d made with Dimitri, who wanted to win just as much as I did, and who interested me more than anyone I’d ever met. How could I begin to explain him?

How could I explain himto Clark?

“I’m just tired. It was a long day of traveling to find you.”

Clark accepted the answer with a small nod, going back to his book. But his lids were falling, and soon they shut. His breathing turned even.

I slid the book away to devour it myself. Time and time again, I went back to the Shrouded Sister and her tale. Pain. Sorrow. Hatred. A disdain for the ways of the labyrinth.

“I’d very much like to meet you,” I whispered to the image.

I left the book there, just as I left the group. For good measure, I left my axe and sword as well so Delilah would know I came in good faith. I wouldn’t be coming to her as a warrior or competitor. I’d be coming as the distant daughter of Dawson and Alicent.

Delilahdreamed in gilded hues, of riches vast, of treasures strewn. Rivers of gold and basins of gems, gowns stitched from moonlight’s silver hem. It was right of her to want these things. A beauty like hers demanded greatness.

She entered the labyrinth on its twentieth appearance.Her sister joined her quest.

Delva was not like Delilah. She was the quiet beauty of a rippling pond that only a few cared to see. Her value came in her loyalty to her sister and the sharpness of her mind. But those things could not save her from what she found inside.

Dimitri took a special interest in the sisters for the eldest’s resemblance to his lost love, Allison. The ghost of his past was still too near. He hatched a plan to bring them down.

Delilah’s path to victory was assured—she was clever, determined, and blessed by her sister’s aid. She made it farther than most.But Dimitri, with his honeyed words and promises spun from starlight, ensnared her heart.Few could resist the labyrinth king when he chose to woo, and Delilah was no exception. His tales of unending riches and a world built for her beauty seduced her like no treasure ever could.

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