Page 15 of The Labyrinth
“You can drop me off at my hotel,” she instructed.
“Your leg needs to be addressed.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
He blew out an annoyed breath.“You’re stubborn, you know.”
“When you grow up in a small town, that’s certainly a given.”She glanced over at him.“How does it work?”
“Work?”he questioned.“How does what work?”
“Being a shifter.Are you just, you know, born as a baby bull?”
“You think we just pop out of the womb with horns intact?”He flashed a wry smile.“No.Shifting usually arrives at puberty, but it’s different for everyone.My dad coached me when I was little, teaching me what to expect.”
Even at night, traffic was thick, and it seemed like Deacon did a lot of stop-and-go.New York City was a fascinating eclectic blend of many cultures, which she supposed allowed a Greek mythological creature and an Indonesian super lizard to exist in the same sphere.
“Did you have a normal childhood?”
He spared her a glance when he came to another light.“Define ‘normal.’”
“Elementary, middle, and high school?Stressing over final exams.Dating.Skirting around curfews.Getting drunk at parties and throwing up in the parents’ bathroom.”
“Uh,” he faltered.“That was very specific, but no.None of that.However, I think I just learned a shitload about you.”
She pretended to seal her mouth with an imaginary zipper.“I’ll never tell.What do teenage minotaurs do for fun?”
“We learn how to create our labyrinths.”
“What does that entail?”
“It’s part of our curse,” he said.“Wherever we live we must make our labyrinth, and we must stay close to it.The farther apart we are, and the more time we spend away from it, the weaker we grow.”
“So, you live down there?”
“No.I have a condo on the Upper West Side.Easy access to Central Part.”
Marion glanced around.“I don’t think you’re taking me to my hotel.”
“Nope,” he said, popping thep.“We’re going to my place.I have a lot of first aid stuff there.Komodo dragon talons are nasty.Luckily, you didn’t get bitten.”
She moved her leg, and once more, pain shot through her.“What’s the best way to get upstate?”
“Why do you need to go upstate?”
On her phone, she brought up the photo she took.“Shiel Sinaga has property upstate.I’m thinking Peter might be there.”
He let out a little groan.“You have a one-track mind.”
“A dog with a bone.How did you know I was at the cultural center?”
“I didn’t.I was there to talk to Shiel.We had a meeting where I was going to question her about your friend.That’s why the stairway was unlocked and the alarm deactivated.”
Marion blinked, trying to digest that information.She hadn’t thought about that stuff.
“You were helping me?”
“Of course,” he muttered.“I told you I would.”
