Page 14 of A Sea of Secrets
My stomach rippled slightly, like something uncomfortable snaking through my gut at the thought.Guilt?I scoffed. But my mind flipped to thoughts of Flynn. My right-hand man would laugh in my face before punching me in the gut for even thinking I betrayed his memory. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair, and a small smile crossed my lips. I missed him. He’d have gone all awkward and shy if I’d ever said that to his face, but maybe I should have. Maybe I should have told him, brother to brother, that I loved him. I chuckled at the thought. Wherever he was now, he’d probably be yelling at me to get my shit together and man the fuck up.
The cool breeze was a boon on my raw skin as I walked through the maze. I kept one hand on the left side of the hedge, monitoring for any sign of movement from its branches because hell if I let this place eat me alive. I was a Hale, and we always conquered every obstacle in our path.
Now and then a scream would pierce the silence. It seemed the Masters had plopped us into a maze the size of… well, it was damn huge by the sounds. Options were limited in the maze, as was vision, and all sounds echoed so that they could have originated from far off or just around the corner. It was a scare tactic to start us off on the wrong foot, a test of our survival skills when given no materials to work with.
I grimaced, wondering how long it would take to reach the end or the centre of the maze. From what little I knew of mazes; Iwas sure they usually held something special in the centre. That was likely where I should be headed. Wherever that may be. I supposed I’d know when I got there, but—
A rustling sound, accompanied by a string of curses and grunts, interrupted my train of thought. I smirked. Was it another Potential having a roll in the leaves? I almost walked past the commotion. It was every Potential for himself. But I must have been feeling generous because I decided to help. And not a minute too soon. As soon as I stopped to look at the person, their dark flesh wrapped in vines, and bloodied fingers clawing all the while, I realised who I’d almost left to die.
“Noah? Fucking hell.” I jogged to him immediately.
To his credit, he was putting up a good fight, but only the gods knew how long that would’ve lasted. His brown eyes widened, his pupils dilated, and his movements were frantic as he wrestled with the hedge. I stood there a little dumbfounded as he gnashed at the ropes with his teeth, biting and tearing with everything he had. It was almost impressive.
“A little… help,” he gasped, glaring at me.
I jerked to attention, grinning like the cat who lapped the cream as I tore those leafy fuckers to shreds. “Did the lizard get himself a little stuck in the greenery?”
Noah took my outstretched hand with a huff, allowing me to pull him to his feet. “Even chameleons need to watch their step in dangerous territories,” he said and looked around with a scholar’s eye, cataloguing every detail of the maze. “What do you think waits for us at the end?”
“Nothing good,” I replied, then bumped Noah’s shoulder with a fist and grinned. “It’s a trial of the mind though, right? Should be a brainiac’s wet dream. All it’s missing is some grapefruits.”
Noah swore under his breath as he pulled his pants back on and looked at me with darkening brown eyes. “For the last time, I did not stick my dick in a—”
A scream cut off whatever delightful response he might have given. “It’s alright, little guy, I don’t judge other people’s pleasures. We’ll table this for later,” I said with a grin I knew would piss him right off. “To the monsters?” Because it was always monsters.
“To the monsters,” Noah agreed, gifting me with a knowing smile. “Let’s fuck shit up.”
“‘Atta boy.”
We dashed through the maze, making sure to keep a hand on the hedge to maintain our sense of direction. It didn’t take us long to get through—we had a playlist of screams, gurgles, hissing, and groans to guide us. Fucking monsters were having a feast out there by all accounts. A strange mist appeared at our feet, and we moved more cautiously in case something emerged from it. But it never did.
We finally pulled around the last corner, jogging through the exit into the centre of the maze. We found ourselves in a large courtyard with a dark, foreboding mansion not much further in the distance. Despite the blood-curdling commotion, and everything I’d witnessed so far, the chaos we found still managed to surprise me.
Blood flowed like rivers along the gravelled courtyard as Potentials in every direction fought tooth and nail to survive against their attackers. It wasn’t the sight of the bodies that shocked me, but the sheer number of monsters swarming the otherwise picture-perfect setting of some rich asshole’s acreage.
I was so engrossed in the scene that I didn’t notice something approach and gnash its teeth at me. I picked my jaw up from the ground quick-smart, grabbed its scaly hide, and hurled it through the air toward the fountain in the centre of thecourtyard. Its body hit the stone with a sickening crunch before slumping into the red waters.
“Gods almighty,” Noah whispered beside me. “You ready for this?”
I grunted in reply, cracking my knuckles and heading into the fray. We made a good team as we kicked and punched our way through. The chameleon was light on his feet, what he lacked in muscle he more than made up for in agility and clever footwork. Any finned, scaled, or slimy monster he missed, I squashed beneath fist or feet, until we were coated head-to-toe in blood and gore.
Something resembling a cat-sized slug inched along unnoticed until the damn thing wobbled like jelly before half its form inverted into a ball of teeth, latching onto Noah’s leg.
Fuck.
Noah screamed, blood staining his pants almost instantly as he grabbed its gelatinous body and tried to remove it. That only made him scream more.
I charged, not giving two shits for the other Potentials or monsters in front of me. I knocked anything in my way aside until I reached Noah. I pulled my foot back and kicked the creature until next Sunday. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea, because Noah’s blood-curdling screech rivalled even the biggest beast here. But the thing detached itself and was booted out of sight.
“Shit, sorry,” I said with a wince, leaning down to inspect his wound. I grimaced as I rolled his pant leg up, spying a nasty gouge leaking scarlet. Noah said nothing as he panted, but his pale face and expression told me I’d be hearing about it later. If there was a later. With an apologetic smile, I tore a strip from my shirt and tied it over the injury, stemming the blood flow. Relief flooded my system as I helped him to his feet. The brainiaccould still move at least, which infinitely improved our chances of survival. We had to get out of here.
Through the slew of bloodied Potentials and furred and scaled things, we trudged onwards with my sights set on the mansion. If we could make it through those doors, we might find somewhere to hide or weapons to use. If nothing ese it would get us out of the open.
Noah seemed to have had the same thought, his hand clenching around my side as we trekked through the grounds, batting away smaller monsters where we could. For the larger ones, we slinked past them slowly, careful to avoid rousing their attention from the Potentials they were already tearing into.
Noah and I had almost made it past the fountain when I saw them: a flash of blond hair on the right, with the familiar faces of Kendra, Dick, and Lou at Zane’s heels. They crashed out of the maze, almost perfectly in sync. Then I saw her. Fallon and Ace fought against some creepy chick in a fountain. She delivered a killing blow, then her eyes found mine amidst the chaos. Was that relief on her face?
Zane and the others quickly made their way to the fountain as well, ducking and pommelling anything in their way. Before we knew it, we were united once again at the blood-filled fountain.
