Page 92 of The Wolf and the Chimera
As the weight of the task before me settled on my shoulders, tears pricked my eyes. Circe was right—I wasn’t brave enough to do this. Five minutes had passed, and all I had done to help my friends was whine.
“Go, Elle,” Circe commanded. “Let your beast be your guide.”
This couldn’t be real—it couldn’t be up tometo savethem.
I stared at the shadowy entrance of the maze and swallowed. Though I wanted to cower and cry, I steeled my spine.
“They agreed to this?” I asked Circe.
The witch nodded. “They believe in you.”
Fools.
I silenced the thought. To pass Circe’s test, I couldn’t allow room for doubt. I had been tired of being the victim, and now it was time for me to become the savior. My chest tightened.
One foot in front of the other,I told myself.Just start with that.
Stuffing my fear into a box, I walked into the labyrinth.
???
Ryder
Absolute darkness surrounded me.
It stifled my senses and locked my muscles. It cooled my skin and paralyzed my thoughts. The only thing I knew in the quiet, impenetrable shadows was that my mate would come for me.
Circe had asked each of our permission for this plan, insistent that it was the only way to prove to bridge the gap between Elle and her chimera. Though I had agreed—like everyone had—I thought Circe was wrong about Elle. The others believed Elle doubted her own power, but she didn’t.
She feared it.
All her life, she’d been persecuted for her magic, and that had poisoned her thoughts about herself. My mate didn’t see that her magic and claws and wings only allowed her to use her big heart for good. She thought the power would ruin her, just as the High Witch’s power had driven her to such terrible lengths to continue her reign, just as Medea’s power had pushed her to possess innocents, just as the Sovereign’s thirst for more, more,morehad turned him into a tyrant.
She feared her magic so much, she dreamed of being human.
I recognized her fear because I felt it myself every time my dominance surged to the surface.
As a result, she didn’t want to truly be one with her chimera, and I…I also understood the hate that being unwanted could fuel.
As I lay still as a stone, trapped in the darkness, I realized I should’ve talked about this with Elle. I shouldn’t have been too cowardly to voice my worries. I wanted all of her—wanted to see behind her masks and guards—yet I didn’t give myself entirely.
When she found me, I would tell her every dark truth in my jaded heart.
My mate will come for me,I reminded myself and sank into the abyss.My mate will come for me.
In the darkness, a woman spoke, but it wasn’t my mate’s smooth voice.
It was Freya.
???
Elle
Thirty minutes had passed, and all I had done was wander around this godsdamned maze. Blisters chafed my feet, and my head pounded with frustration, but I couldn’t find Melanie or Bo. I couldn’t find anyone.
I rounded a corner and recognized my own footsteps in the sand.
I was going in circles.
