Page 10 of A Sea of Secrets
“I’ll film it on my cuff,” she teased, wiggling her bare wrist where her cuff usually sat. “I can imagine a video of you being scared would be valuable. Evidence of you chickening out when you don’t tell—”
A shrill scream pierced through the air, and I found Fallon’s hand suddenly in mine.
“Now who’s scared?” I drawled, lifting our joined hands in front of us.
But her sister’s blood still coated her skin, and the humour of the moment disappeared. It would have been only hours ago that Victoria had died. Fallon tried to tug her hand away, but I held firm, not wanting to let go. I’d let her in, and she needed to do the same. Even if that meant I had to force her. She gave in almost immediately like the good girl she was, and we continued walking through the maze in silence once more.
We’d been winding through the hedge for a while when the monster that had been chasing Fallon came barrelling out from around the corner up ahead. It was bent over and its gurgling noises curled my stomach. Its head snapped in our direction, the green eyes zeroing in on us, no doubt relishing in the sight of its next meal.
Little did it know I was no one’s prey and neither was the princess. It was unfortunate, really, as something told me it didn’t get many wins in life. Not when the monster vying for us was one of the ugliest mother fuckers I’d ever laid eyes on.
“No more running, Princess,” I said, releasing her hand and readying myself at her side. Fallon didn’t need my protection. She was bloodthirsty when she wanted to be, and I found it hot as hell.
The monster lifted a tentacle, revealing what it had been hunched over. Blood coated a corpse, the organs tumbling from open wounds and splattering on the ground as a tentacle dangled the body in the sky. The monster roared, flinging it over the hedge.
I made my move. I wasn’t going to give it a chance to attack us next.
Flicking a blade from the tip of my bionic hand, I ran for the monster’s head, leaping over and ducking tentacles as they slashed toward me. I rammed the blade into its eye with as much force as possible, causing bright blue blood to explode from the wound. The thing trundled back with a roar, its jaws opening wide as saliva sprayed all over me.
Fucking sick.
I didn’t let my revulsion stop me from charging after it though, stabbing a few more times in its other eye and blinding it as best I could. The tentacles flew wildly, spasming around like the mind of a junkie. No purpose, no plan, just pure whim. I dodged one, ducking low, and struck the monster in its stomach. With a grunt, I dragged my small blade down to create a decent opening.
It let out a gurgling wet growl, throwing another tentacle in my direction. It hit me square in the gut and I flew back, knocked on my ass and soaked in monster spit.
By the time I got to my feet to retaliate, the monster was already howling in fresh pain. I saw Fallon before it coated head-to-toe in blue, yet it didn’t hide the fierce look on her face as she tore open the wound I’d made with her bare hands.
She was merciless. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn she was from Damascon Hollow.
The monster’s tentacles gave one last spasm before falling to the ground with several loud thuds. Silence fell over us as I just stared at Fallon.
Even completely blue, she was so fucking hot.
“Look,” she said, and I reluctantly dragged my gaze away from her to see where she was pointing.
Beyond her, the green hedges of the maze opened to reveal a mansion atop a hill. Black and grey, the multi-storey building was surrounded by a black iron fence and screamed ‘haunted by ghosts’ and other creepy shit… If you believed in that sort of stuff, which I didn’t. Living, breathing monsters that could tear my heart from my chest? Yeah, that got the pulse running. Invisible spirits that were like ancient pervs and liked to watch? Not worth my time.
Another scream tore through the air and Fallon’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s move and get this fucking trial over with.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
We raced side by side from the maze towards the looming mansion along a long-ass driveway. Dark clouds floated around the uppermost storey, only, they weren’t clouds but ravens circling it. As we drew closer, my nerves set on edge and uneasiness filled my gut—like when you’re lifting in a store and can sense a security guard nearby.
The problem was, we couldn’t bail. We had to keep going, heading to whatever fucking nightmares awaited us. Even if it was the last fucking thing we ever did, which it may well be.
Shouting sounded around us as other Potentials escaped the maze from a myriad of exits and raced towards the mansion. Fallon and I were in the lead though, and as we headed towards a large fountain with three stone cherubs pissing into the water, I couldn’t help but feel myself second-guessing our head start. It might not be in our best interest to reach the mansion first. If we were smart, we’d let some other Potentials go ahead of us. They could test what was to come.
“What the fuck!” Fallon gasped suddenly.
I swore in agreement, and we came to a halt.
Ahead of us, standing knee-deep in the fountain, was a figure. The black dress over pasty white skin was drenched and her long, wet, black hair covered her face.
Fuck this shit.
Nope.
I wanted out. I wanted to get my flippers flapping and swim far from this spooky stream. Monsters, demon puppies, heck, even murderous hooded dudes running around the academy were nothing compared to this. Yeah, they weren’t exactly a party by the pool, but they were still something I could deal with. Mind tricks and things jumping out from the shadows on the other hand. Hard pass.
