I scowled as he turned to head through the maze, my gaze drifting to the stone head that lay discarded in front of the hedge wall. Right beyond it, I spotted a pair of eyes peeking out of the bushes. They definitely weren’t human, but they were so low to the ground that they likely weren’t a threat, either.

  An animal, most likely. It was gone as quickly as I’d noticed it, so I turned to Drakon and followed him through the bushes.

  We rounded a corner and came face to face with a thick bank of black fog. It rolled through the green corridor toward us, the noxious odor making me gag.

  Valerie’s words popped into my head: Don’t inhale it. You’ll die.

  The fog seemed to sense us and moved faster, surging through the greenery. My heart leapt into my throat.

  “Come. Hurry.” Drakon turned and ran.

  I followed, sprinting after him. Every few seconds, I glanced behind me, tracking the fog on my tail. My lungs burned, and my muscles ached, but we never slowed.

  When we turned and hit a dead end, fear chilled my skin. An enormous hedge wall rose in front of us, blocking our path. I turned around, only to see the fog still rolling toward us.

  Oh, hell, no. I wasn’t going to be killed by freaking fog.

  “Can you teleport us out?” I asked.

  “No. The maze blocks that power.”

  I plunged a hand into the bag at my side and withdrew a potion bomb. Swiftly, I hurled it at the hedge wall and blasted a hole in the middle. We sprinted through it, racing away from the fog. Finally, after several turns, we seemed to have lost it.

  I stopped, propping my hands on my knees as I panted. “That sucked.”

  “Indeed.” Drakon didn’t even look winded, and I realized that he’d probably held himself back for me when running.

  I started forward, not wanting to think about that. “Let’s keep going.”

  Drakon and I continued through the maze. I had no idea where we were going, but he seemed to have a plan in place. A better sense of direction, at the very least. After a while, he cocked his head to the right and listened, then said, “There’s someone on the next row over. Let’s meet them.”

  “All right. But I’ve got a quicker way.” I pulled another potion bomb from my pocket and chucked it at the hedge between us and our competitor. It blasted through the greenery, and I grinned. “See? Quicker. And more fun.”

  “You’re really quite fond of those bombs, aren’t you?”

  “You have no idea.”

  He shook his head and stepped through. The blast had stunned the woman on the other side of the wall, and she sat on the ground, shaking her head.

  Drakon hauled her to her feet and had her in a choke hold before she could so much as blink. His captive was about thirty-five and beautiful in a cunning way, with long raven hair and a black catsuit that made her look like a burglar on a job.

  “Let me go,” she hissed.

  Her magic smelled of wet towels but tasted of oranges. Considering that she had a signature that was both good and bad, I had to assume she wasn’t downright evil. Possibly the most decent of the whole lot.

  Over her head, Drakon met my gaze. He jerked his chin down to her, clearly indicating that I should get to work with my magic.

  Fear glinted in the woman’s dark eyes. “Let’s make a deal,” she said. “You don’t have to do this.”

  She thinks we’re going to kill her.

  The realization turned my stomach as I remembered Valerie’s words. Some people wouldn’t survive this maze.

  Gross.

  Quickly, I strode up to the woman and pressed a hand to her arm, opening up my mind to my seer magic. Unlike my friend Carrow, who could read information from objects but had once been unable to control what they told her, I could get specific bits of info from people when the need called for it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t always successful.

  Do you know Drakon? I put all my energy behind the question. Magic zipped down my arm and into the woman, who gasped, but I found nothing but a blank space. I tried harder, determined to find something if it was there. A second try didn’t prove any more fruitful.

  “Nothing.” I removed my hand from her arm. “She has no idea who you are or what you’re looking for.”

  Drakon frowned, disappointment flickering in his eyes. “You’re sure?”

  “Dead sure.”

  “Then that’s it for her.” He raised his hands to her head in a position I’d seen a dozen times before.

  He was going to break her neck.

  9

  Mac

  * * *

  “No!” I lunged, pushing him back.

  I wasn’t nearly strong enough to budge him, but I was able to stop him in his tracks. The woman’s face had gone completely white.

  “No?” He sounded surprised. “What do you mean, no? You know the rules of the game.”

  “That we have free rein to kill each other?”

  “Not just free rein. Encouragement.”

  “Well, that’s totally effed up.”

  Hope gleamed in the woman’s dark eyes. “Completely effed. And if you let me go, I promise to help you down the line.”

  “See?” I nodded to her but kept my eyes on Drakon. “That’s a great deal.”

  “We don’t need the help.”

  “You’re so bloody ruthless.” It sent a chill down my spine just to look at him. I’d never seen a man so beautiful. So deadly. His physical form drew me like a siren song, even though I hated myself for it. But the things he was capable of…

  “What the hell is so important to you that you’d kill over it?” I demanded.

  He shrugged, seeming almost confused by the question. “Anything?”

  Of course. It wasn’t that things were important to him. It was that he just didn’t give a damn. He’d been alive for a thousand years and had lost all respect for human life.

  “We can’t let her live—it’d be suspicious,” he said, the corners of his mouth turning down in doubt.

  I could feel the hesitation in him, and it surprised the hell out of me. I’d thought the cold-blooded bastard would twist her neck without a second thought, but I seemed to have him on the hook.

  “Killing randomly just isn’t my style,” I said. “And I’m not going to help you if you do it. Let me dose her with a forgetfulness potion.”

  “You have one?”

  “It just so happens that I come prepared.” I hoped. I wasn’t sure if Eve had included one in the bag she’d given me, but the odds were good. If I had to, I could use my disorientation power to muddle her brain and then tell her to forget this, but I was running low on magic and needed to save it to keep questioning people.

  I pulled the bag from the ether and began to fish around, hands fumbling. I could feel the woman’s panic. It coated the air that flowed into my lungs, making me nervous. She could try to bolt at any minute, and Drakon would definitely snap her neck then.

  Finally, I found a tiny vial of potion marked Forgetfulness, then yanked it out and grinned.

  “What else do you have in there?” Drakon asked, his gaze keen on the bag.

  “Just a change of clothes and some snacks.”

  “Hmm.” He didn’t believe me—that was obvious. But I didn’t give him time to question me any further. I dumped a little bit of the bright blue powder onto my palm and held it up in front of the woman. “This won’t hurt a bit.”

  “But what—”

  Before she could finish her sentence, I blew the stuff into her face. She coughed, and then her gaze went blank. I grinned and nudged her to the side. “She’ll be woozy for a minute or two, but then she won’t remember the last ten minutes.”

  “You’d better be right,” Drakon said, his gaze still on the woman. “Come on.”

  I followed him down the path, stashing the rest of the forgetfulness potion back in my bag. “You were really just going to kill her?”

  “Yes. And I still might.”

  “There’s no point. I’ve told you that Sebastian Waverly is a far more likely culprit.”

  “We’ll see.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  We made it another ten minutes through the maze before a massive boulder blocked our way. The gray stone rose fifteen feet in the air in front of us, entirely filling the path.

  “Let’s find another route.” Drakon turned around. “We don’t actually need to reach the center to find more contestants to question.”

  I followed, then pulled up short. Another boulder had appeared right behind us.

  “Damn it.” Drakon spun back to the first one. “Looks like we’re going through.”

  “Or around.” I pulled out my sword and hacked at the thorny growth on one side of the boulder. Leaves and branches fell away, but new ones grew immediately in their place. After a minute, I stepped back and stashed the sword in the ether. “Let me try a potion bomb.”

  “I’ll try it first.” Drakon rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and walked up to the stone. Reaching it, he braced his hands against the rough surface and began to push. When nothing happened, he leaned into the job, his brow creasing with the effort. A moment later, the boulder began to move, sliding across the ground and leaving a deep gouge in the dirt.

  I blew out a low, impressed breath as I watched him move the stone. It had to weigh tons. This was even more impressive than the trick with the gargoyle’s head. I had some pretty strong friends, but even I hadn’t seen anything like this.

  Finally, the wall to the right of the stone revealed another passage. Drakon straightened and brushed off his hands, staring down the corridor that had appeared. “Ready?”

  I nodded and followed him. We’d only gone about ten yards when a figure burst out of the bushes to my left. A sharp blade swept across my arm, and pain flared.

  Quickly, I leapt away from the man who had lunged at me. He looked to be in his forties, with dark hair and eerie violet eyes. I’d seen him at dinner last night, though I hadn’t had a chance to get a feel for him, but I knew he was one of the current members of the society and was here to thin the herd.

  No way in hell he’d find success with us.

  I reached for my sword, but Drakon was quicker. His movements were a blur as he darted around the man, grabbing his arms and pulling them behind his back. For the briefest second, Drakon had him immobilized…and then the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke, right out from under Drakon’s grip.

  “Damn it.” Drakon spun around just as the man appeared behind him.

  It was almost as if the damned vampire had a second sense for where his opponent would be. And his speed. Holy fates, I hadn’t even seen him draw a blade, but he suddenly had a slender silver dagger in his hand. Before his attacker could adjust, Drakon sent the dagger into his gut. The man gasped and doubled over, clutching his stomach, and Drakon gripped his arms to restrain him.

  The man’s magic flared, bringing with it the scent of rotten fruit.

  “Sorry, friend,” said Drakon. “Your magic won’t work as long as my blade is in your belly.”

  The man hissed and jerked, trying to tear out of Drakon’s grasp, but the vampire was too strong. He met my gaze and jerked his head toward his captive.

  I approached warily, my hand outstretched. My magic was low from using it on the woman, and I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to get. It wasn’t like I needed to tell Drakon the truth—I didn’t care if he got what he’d come here for—but I didn’t want him knowing that I was lying to him.

  The man flinched as I gripped his arm. “What are you doing?”

  At first, I got nothing. I frowned and tried harder, but still, nothing came forward.

  “Well?” Drakon prodded.

  “He has powerful mental blocks. I can’t see anything yet. Give me a second.”

  “This is taking too long.” He pressed his fingertips to the man’s temple, and I felt his magic flare on the air.

  The man’s eyes widened, and fear filled them as he paled. His mouth twisted in an expression of agony, and he shuddered.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  “The society protects him from compulsion, but they aren’t able to block my other powers. I can still make him nervous.”

  Nervous? He was scaring the shit out of him with that horrible mind trick thing of his. Worse, it looked like the man was in pain.

  “Stop it,” I said.

  “It’s lowering his guard.”

  He was right. My seer power was no longer blocked.

  The man’s dark magic rushed into me, making my stomach lurch and my skin go clammy. Images of torture and despair rushed through me, and the man was the villain in all scenarios, but they were old memories. There was nothing related to Drakon, however. At least, nothing that I found. Didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

  Shaking, I pulled my hand back. “I’m getting nothing related to you. He’s a right bastard, though.”

  Drakon frowned and jerked the man around so they faced each other. His gaze turned icy as he stared at his captive, and I shivered and stepped back. His power rolled out from him, so intense that it made my soul shiver.

  In front of him, the man seemed to wilt.

  “Do you know who I am?” Drakon asked, his voice silky.

  “Yes.” The man’s voice quavered.

  “And you were expecting to get the better of me?”

  “I—”

  Drakon leaned close and whispered in the man’s ear. I couldn’t hear what he said, but the man’s knees weakened and he sagged in Drakon’s grip.

  When Drakon pulled back, the man began to stammer. “I don’t know anything about that, I swear. There’s nothing here like that.”

  “Tsk, tsk. That’s not the answer I’m looking for.” With a fluid motion, he reached up and broke the man’s neck.

  I lunged backward, gasping. “Really?”

  Drakon tossed the body away. “Really. You felt his magic. You know I was doing the world a favor.”

  I swallowed hard and looked down at the fresh corpse. I’d seen what this man had done, and that had probably only been a fraction of it. Though I couldn’t argue with Drakon—the world was better off without his victim—the vampire’s casual cruelty still scared the crap out of me.

  “Let’s go.” Drakon turned and headed through the maze.

  I followed. We passed several uneventful turns, and I realized that we were probably nearing the center. We just had to survive until someone found the prize in the middle, but what if that could be us? I didn’t care about winning, but I was curious what awaited.

  As we walked, I kept glancing at Drakon. What was it that he sought here? Something terrible, probably. Was I being unethical by helping him? Actually, I was barely helping him at all. Half the time, I was lying.

  We reached a corridor of the maze that appeared to be built of brilliant purple flowers. Their scent was intoxicating, and I couldn’t help but inhale deeply as I entered. Their soft petals appeared to be made of velvet, and it was all I could do not to reach out and stroke them.

  That would be a bad idea, however. There were plenty of poisonous plants in the magical world, plus a few that liked to bite.

  As we walked, my head grew woozy. “Do you feel that?”

  “Hold your breath.” Drakon picked up the pace, and I followed, desperately trying not to breathe.

  It didn’t seem to matter, though. I was already feeling the effects of the flowers, and the ground in front of me seemed to wobble. I staggered forward, my vision going fuzzy. When I began to fall, Drakon swept me up in his arms. He clutched me to him, his grip almost protective. Even the look in his eyes…

  Nah, it was crazy. He didn’t care about protecting me.

  Still, heat surrounded me, along with the most intense sense of longing.

  For him.

  It was insane.

  Why the hell would I feel something like that for him? It made no sense. I didn’t even want to feel that. But something in my body—no, my soul—pulled toward him. Just touching him made me feel a little more complete, but I hated him.

  He’d threatened my life.

  His face went blurry in front of my eyes, and I blinked frantically, trying to clear my vision and my head. I was as likely to pass out from lack of oxygen as I was from the effects of the flowers, so I finally sucked in a breath and asked, “How can you hold your breath like this?”

  He hadn’t inhaled once.

  “Practice.” His tone was grim, and I had to imagine that the reason for the practice had been miserable. “There wasn’t much else to do in the tomb you trapped me in.”

  Shit, no wonder he hated me.

  I really needed to prove my innocence. There was no way he’d let me go if he really thought I’d done that. But I had no idea how to prove myself, and it didn’t seem likely that Carrow and the Devil would be able to find the true culprit.

  I shook away the negative thoughts as I tried to stay conscious.

  Finally, we reached the end of the corridor. My vision had nearly blacked out from my spinning head, and I couldn’t make out any details surrounding me. Drakon staggered a few more feet, then set me down and gasped.

  I followed suit, filling my lungs with cool, fresh sea air. As I did, my vision returned to normal, and my head stopped spinning. Gratitude shot through me for the mere act of being able to breathe.

  “Thanks.” I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to clear my head.

  “We’re close to the center,” he said. “Do you feel it?”

  I nodded. The prickle of magic was fierce here.

  “Let’s go to the right.” He set off in that direction.

  “But the center of the maze is the other way.”

  “I’d rather see if there is someone else for us to question.”

  Of course. I grimaced. I’d really prefer not to run into someone whose neck he felt obliged to snap. All the same, I followed him, vowing to be on the alert for any sociopathic behavior.

  As we entered another passageway, the air turned cold. I shivered, looking around for the source of the temperature change. “What the hell is going on?”

 

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