Page 87 of Minding the Minotaur
By the feel of things, I’ve landed in another dumpster full of trash.
Damn this portal cape and its total lack of direction. You land where you fucking land. But at least I’m in Sparkle somewhere.
I sniff the air. Luckily, no rotting chicken bones this time. But my movements are certainly hampered by something.
I soon realize I’m waist deep in cardboard boxes and paper. And bubble wrap.
Shit, this is bad. I needed to get to the hospital and rescue Sammy, but it seems I’ve ended up in the commercial area. I peer over the side of the dumpster. I’m in an alleyway, off a bustling street with folks walking past in smart city clothes. I can see a slice of a tall building. Concrete and glass.
I climb out of the dumpster gingerly and edge toward thebusy street, knowing that if the cape gapes, I will be visible to passers-by.
The other problem is, while the cape makes you invisible, it doesn’t make youunfeelable. If anyone bumps into me, they will be fully aware of my huge bulk. And that could bring unwelcome attention.
I have to move carefully. And with so many people around, that’s going to be difficult. Add to that, I don’t have a clue how to get to the hospital from here. Suddenly my mission to find Sammy seems gargantuan.
Maybe Otis was right.
Maybe I should have trusted Jax to get her out.
Yeah, right. Trust that skinny runt of a human? No way.
I take a deep breath and, clasping the cape around me tightly, I move along the wall.
I get to the corner, crouch down low, and pull the cape away from my eyes and snout.
Stockinged legs and dark pants and shiny shoes walk past at speed—so many humans all in a hurry to get somewhere. I squint up at the buildings.
I’ve seen enough of Sparkle now to recognize the weird way they construct their buildings, how they rise up out of the ground, tall, ugly square things with no curves. It’s hard to imagine how they stay up without being hewn into the rock. But they do, somehow.
I’m wondering how to get out of this built-up area when a black car whizzes past and draws up on the curb a few feet further on. I watch intently, my heart speeding up for some reason.
A middle-aged human male gets out. He’s smartly dressed in a suit, his dark hair shot with silver. He looks innocuous, but something about him makes the fur around my scruff stand on end. He holds open the passenger door, waits, then jerks his head impatiently, saying something in a clipped manner.
And then a foot appears. I know that foot.
I know those sneakers.
A leg, a beautiful slice of thigh in jeans, and then my Sammy unfolds from the interior.
She looks wan, tired, her cheeks pale. Her golden hair is tied tightly back in a ponytail.
But she’s alive.
I nearly bellow out my joy, but manage to fuse my lips closed. Rescuing Sammy relies on me keeping my cool.
I manage to shuffle forward under cover of the cape, until I’m right there on the main drag. I watch the man hustle Sammy into the front entrance of an imposing building. It’s made up of panels of blue glass, and I jolt as I see the sign above the revolving doors. Fuck. It’s the Human’s Serpent.
Is this a crazy coincidence?
Or something much scarier?
I gather my scattered wits, just in time to watch them disappear through the revolving doors and be swallowed from sight.
All my senses alert, I move out onto the street, dodging passers-by until I am right outside the blue building. People stream past me, and I have to keep jumping sideways while pulling the cape low over my eyes to remain invisible.
Holy fucking gods, this is nerve-racking.
Finally, I get a chance to make a run for it. I shoot through the revolving doors, nearly catching the edge of the cape in the panels, which would have blown everything. I catapult out the other side onto a polished marble floor, and see two big security guards towering over Sammy.
