Page 86 of Quarter Labyrinth

My chest hitched, but I obeyed. His dark eyes were steady, filled with something I hadn’t expected—certainty.

“We’re going to get out of this,” he said firmly. He reached out, brushing a strand of damp hair from her face. “I know you’re scared, but you’re not alone. I’m here. I’m not leaving you.”

Tears slid silently down my cheeks as I shook my head. “But what if—”

“No ‘what ifs,’” he interrupted, his hand finding mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You’re the bravest person I know, Ren. Braver than me, for sure.”

I let out a shaky laugh, more of a gasp than anything, but it was enough to break the ice in my chest.

He smiled faintly, tilting his head toward mine. “See? There you are.”

My breathing slowed as his calm presence began to seep into me. “I don’t feel brave,” I whispered, my fingers tightening around his.

“Then borrow some of mine.”

He kissed me, the softness of his lips fitting in the spaces around mine, handing me courage that swelled in my chest. I let myself get lost in his touch. His hands tightened around the small of my back, his body warm next to mine, and his movements sure. There was no hesitation, no doubts. I clutched his shirt tight to draw him closer.

I’d always thought of Clark as the land while I was the water. I thought it made him less exciting than me, but now I realized how much I needed someone like him who grounded me when the storms raged. I would be the one to sweep him onto adventures and he’d be the one to carry me home.

When he pulled away, I felt braver.

“That worked pretty well,” I whispered.

His green eyes glinted. “We should try it more often then.”

I would have loved to stop for the night. But the sky darkened, the star came out, and we had gotten more turned around than I thought. We traveled for a few more hours before stopping to rest.

The fear I’d felt before simmered into a dull anger that drove me. Anger for the ones we’d lost, for how we’d lost them, and foreverything that’d come to pass. We were meant to slip into the labyrinth, find the end, and then reveal my identity to the world. I’d take my place with the Silver Wings. Nothing lost, everything gained.

The unveiling of my identity hadn’t gone the way I’d planned.

I’d always envisioned the excitement at my father’s announcement.Here is Serenity Montclair, my daughter and the rightful heir to the Silver Wings.His crew would cheer, and I’d get to work the deck among them while learning the ropes. We’d be a family. Mother would get to leave Haven and strength would return to her bones. I’d think of the labyrinth only in passing.

No one was meant to die.

“I really would have taken them with me to give everyone a home aboard my crew,” I said as we dug into the edge of the hedges for a safe place to sleep. I wiped my brow as I sat back with a sigh. “Maybe we should have left them once autumn came, just like we’d planned.”

“If we’d left earlier, you wouldn’t have woken Harald and Tove before Astrid killed them too.” Clark took a drink from his flask before offering it to me.

I shook my head. “But Astrid might not have been so spooked without people and wolves hunting me.”

“There’s no way to know for sure.” He offered his flask again.

I relented, but I knew I’d be going over every memory of her, looking for signs I might have missed that she’d lost her mind. Aiden and Gunnar’s death would haunt me forever.

A more pressing issue wiggled its way to the front of my thoughts. “Lady Luck will be after you,” I told Clark. “You just killed one of her competitors.”

He shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

August’s words came to mind.In return, I change Clark’s fate.

Would his fate come at the hand of a scorned Lady Luck? I might’ve brought it up to him, but wolves howled, and we stayed quiet until they’d passed in the distance.

Our second meal of autumn came, bringing the weight of our emotions crashing down all over again. We had no one to share the meal with this time. The food filled our bellies more than they had been in weeks, but the hollow ache of absence remained. We ate in silence, each bite tasting of solitude.

Twice, the eerie howls of wolves echoed through the labyrinth, raising the hair on the back of my neck. Once, we caught faint voices from other competitors. Our paths never crossed. I couldn’t say whether it was thanks to Delilah’s magic or sheer luck, but either way, I was grateful.

The silence stretched on, thick and heavy, until our plates were empty. Only then did Clark break it.

---