Page 70 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

And when the path ends, it’s at the entrance to the enormous maze that surrounds the tower that holds the god I need. This was a part of the old stories. What I see from the entrance wasn’t.

A shirtless man waits just inside, lounging on an overstuffed chaise as he plucks treats from a low table sagging beneath the weight of the delicious assortment piled atop it. I watch him for a moment, trying to decide if he is likely to be friend or foe. He sees me before I've made up my mind.

His face brightens, and he hops to his feet, coming to me in a half jog that makes it clear there's nothing beneath the baggy pants he wears…. A very obvious appendage swings against the fabric close to his knee.

“Welcome, weary traveller. Have you come to seek out Cupid?” They meet me with a suggestive smile as their hungry eyes trace over me.

He feels as though he’s meant to be a temptation.

Warily, I answer. “I have.”

“I can take you to them.” He gets close and I take a step back.

“The maze is dangerous, you shouldn’t try to traverse it without a guide.”

Somehow, I don’t think that’s actually what he’s thinking.

Behind him, a woman pops out of an opening further into the maze and hurries forward, hopping to a stop beside him. “Welcome, weary traveller. Have you come to seek out Cupid?”

The repetition grates at my mind.

It’s almost as if they aren’t real. Like they’re reflections of each other.

She is a softer kind of temptation. Beautiful in ways my mind struggles to hold on to.

And she tugs at me with more magic than he does.

Combined, they’re too strong for me to pull back from, and when they each take me by the arm, weight lifts from me. I feel like a leaf in the current.

“Come with us and we’ll give you everything you need.”

It would be so easy to believe them. So easy to let them lead me down these paths, to get lost and fall into the headiness surrounding them.

But I know how easily that sweetness would turn to ash in failure.

“No.”

The word is weak, a whisper.

“Don’t worry, sweet Lily. Nothing hurts here.”

“No.” It’s stronger this time, some of the Power seeping into the word, and they flinch, but ignore it. Another few steps, and they’ll be able to pull me down one of the paths that branch from this one.

“No!”

The Power coils off of me, shoving them back.

They burst like the soapy skin of a bubble as soon as their hands leave me and I fall to my knees without their support.

I only have time to take a few deep breaths before the entrance to the maze starts to grow together. I find my feet and scramble back through, vines catching at my skirt a moment before the way is shut to me.

Shit.

There’s no other entrance. No way to climb up the wall, but…. I look at the trees.

It’s been decades since I’ve climbed one, and I’ve never tried it in a dress, or without shoes, but….

Today is a day for firsts and musts.

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