Page 27 of Quarter Labyrinth

The realization hit me like a tide.

The stone gods are real.

And I’m looking at one.

Her too-perfect smile deepened as if she heard my thoughts. “Choose the oak door, and you continue on in this labyrinth—alone. I’ve even arranged that everything Clark purchased for himself will go to you. Double the food and water. But—” her green eyes snapped toward the pink door. “This path leads you to Clark.”

“Is he not in the labyrinth?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a choice if he were.”

Clark had been my best friend, closest confidant, and lifesaver multiple times. But right now, I hated him. Where had he gone? Did he wait for me to drift asleep to decide he didn’t want to be in the labyrinth after all, slip out the way we’d come, and flee the island?

He had his reasons. He never wanted to enter the labyrinth. He had no stakes in this year’s game. We’d heard multiple people die yesterday when they fell from the ladder, and their screams still haunted me. I couldn’t blame him for leaving, but my mind refused to allow reason in.

He’d left me alone.

Her voice broke my thoughts. “He doesn’t have long.”

My inner grumblings halted.

“Clark is in trouble?”

She didn’t confirm, nor deny. Stubborn Stone God. All she said was, “Choose.”

That changed things. If I left now, I still had until midnight tonight to get back inside. And now I knew the way. We’d made it up the ladder once, we could do it again. All I had to do was find Clark, help him, and get back in. I could still do this.

Plus, the fortune teller had warned me that I would not win this year. But Clark brought up a good point. He might accidentally reach the center first, making him the technical winner, even if he still gave the Shallows to me.

In order for that to happen, he had to be here.

I hated everything about this. Hated Clark for making me choose, hated myself for not waking earlier to stop Clark from leaving, and hated the Stone God for showing me a way out and insinuating that Clark needed my help. How far had Leif gotten in the maze already? Bjorn? Were they a mile ahead of me, while I couldn’t get more than a short distance before having to leave?

I’d help him once. The next time he left, I’d find a way to win on my own.

“The pink door,” I said.

She quirked her head as if I’d surprised her. “You’re choosing Clark over the ships you believe to be yours?”

“I’ll find a way to get back my birthright, even if it’s not in the labyrinth,” I replied. Then I reached for the door.

I’d been wrong on two accounts. The door didn’t lead me outside the labyrinth. When I stepped through, I was still in the Forest of Choices, just on the other side of the door.

And Clark was there.

He stood in a clearing with two doors behind him, the Stone God simultaneously behind his doors as she was behind mine. He had his bag on his shoulder, his sword at his waist, and appeared fully unharmed.

I glanced behind me. “You said he wasn’t in the labyrinth.”

She had the face of innocence with the voice of a villain. “I lied. I wanted to see what path you’d pick.”

I don’t think I care for these Stone Gods. If they were all like this, they were best avoided. “What if I’d picked the other door? Would Clark not still be behind it?”

“He would, but I’d have told him what your choice was. As it is, you’ve impressed me with your loyalty to each other.” Her silky hair fell over one shoulder as she tilted her head to the side, those vibrant green eyes staring into mine. I got the feeling she could see something I couldn’t.

Then she threw back her head and laughed.

She stepped forward to grab my wrist. Heat flamed my skin. She didn’t remove her gaze from me, staring harder as she tightened her grip.

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