Page 36 of The Labyrinth
She turned and hurried to the back of the building, past the processing area.One look showed there weren’t any barrels or people.Relief slammed into her.The sound of fighting could be heard.Conscious of the time, she followed the sound and came to the loading dock.Deacon’s minotaur form fought several coyotes at once, and even from where she stood, she saw he was struggling.
Her taser wasn’t going to be much use against a pack of canines.Discarding it, she spotted a large meat hook and grabbed it.Charging forward, she stood side by side with Deacon, slashing anything that got remotely close.
“What are you doing here?”he demanded through his thick bull lips.
“Rescuing you.”
“Did you find Peter?”
“Yes.He’s with Delaram.”
“Then get the fuck out of here!”
“Not without you,” she snapped.
“There’s not enough time.”
After she swiped the legs of another coyote, she looked at him.“I’m not leaving you.”
“Stubborn woman,” he huffed, but she could tell there wasn’t any heat to his words.“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”
His horns grew larger and he opened his muscular arms wider, barreling through the remaining coyotes.Deacon pushed forward, and she protected his back.As they stumbled out into the night, they came up short when Shiel stepped forward.
“Huh,” Marion muttered.“Guess Komodo dragons recover quickly from being tasered.”
Shiel raised a gun.“I’m done with you, bitch.”
Deacon stepped in front of her, but before Shiel could fire, she collapsed.Peter stood behind her, holding a metal pipe.With a cry, he jumped forward, his chain jingling, and bashed her over and over.Tears poured down his face, and Marion could feel the pain he exorcised with every hit.
“She’s dead, Peter,” Marion said softly.
Chest heaving, Peter stepped back and glared at Deacon.“He’s one of them.”
“No,” Marion corrected.“He’s on our side.”
“They’re all monsters!”Peter cried, brandishing his pipe.
“They’re not,” she soothed.“This is Deacon.He’s helping us rescue you and destroy this building.We have to get out of here because it’s going to blow.”
Still, Peter hesitated, and she was done with him.
“Come on!”
Marion marched forward and grabbed his arm.Yanking him along, they hurried away from the building.Fifteen minutes had come and gone, so what happened?As soon as they stumbled over the road, Delaram nodded at them and then the building behind them exploded, lighting up the night.
