Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Yeah, scrap the hornets.
I crossed to the pitted steps. They were spaced a little too widely apart. Licking my lips, I planted my foot on the first step. It wobbled, making my gut clench in panic.
I eyed the hornets.
No. No, it had to be the tunnel.
I fixed my attention back on the steps. Each swayed slightly beneath me as I carefully clambered up them—my heart in my throat the entire time. Ducking into the tunnel, I wrinkled my nose at the tickle of dangling tatters of a spider web.
Shudder.
I crawled along the tunnel, grateful that I had no fear of tight spaces—a gratitude I’d felt many times in the last forty days. Something popped into view as I neared the mouth of the narrow passage.
And I found myself looking at a freaking jumping spider.
Oh, it’s a ‘hell-to-the-no’ from me.
Without thought, I zapped it with a crackle of moonlight that sent it zooming backwards. My pulse going nuts, I blew out a long breath. I hoped the same thing hadn’t happened to Lear—she had a real fear of spiders.
Exiting the tunnel, I found myself on a rocky ledge. There were more worn steps here. I descended them carefully, pausing each time one wobbled. Once I reached the base of them safely, the warm glow of relief filled my chest and tugged my lips into a shaky smile.
I wiped the chalky dust from my hands onto my breeches as I glanced around. It was then that I noticed a dip in the ground at the end of the hornet-filled path. Basically, anyone who thought to run through it would likely earn themselves a twisted ankle. Ruthless.
Facing forward, I walked along the passage. A drop of water plopped onto my head. Nice, I inwardly griped as I rubbed at my hair—
The toe of my boot caught on a tree root.
I landed hard on one knee—a knee that slammed down directly on a sharp stone. I sucked in a pained breath, unable to bite back a cry. I froze, my heart accelerating at the mere thought that the noise could have attracted the minotaur’s attention if he was close by.
There was a flutter of wings. A squeak. A heavy silence. And then I was dive-bombed by a crap-load of bats.
Lowering my head, I wrapped my arms protectively around it. What seemed like a hundred wings flapped at my skin, but the bats soon swooped away.
Breathing hard, I plopped my butt on the rough ground and palmed my smarting knee. It was official. I hated this place. With. A. Passion.
Not willing to sit around when the shrieking of the bats might have snagged the minotaur’s interest, I pushed to my feet and walked on.
The air lost more of its chill the deeper I went into the labyrinth. Or maybe I was just getting used to the cold.
I wasn’t sure what sort of animals lived here, but I saw enough scat, rake marks, clumps of fur, and teeth-gnawed bones to know that the minotaur had quite a selection of prey to choose from. I couldn’t help but wonder who he once was; if he’d been human or godkin; what he’d done to so earn the wrath of Minos that this would be the consequence.
Or maybe he hadn’t done much of anything to deliberately anger the Sovereign. Perhaps Minos simply felt angered by something this man had done. Half-bloods could take offense quite easily, from what I’d observed.
I slowed as stomach-churning scents tainted the stale air. The unmistakable smell of animal dung and … something else. Ugh, what now?
I kept walking, frowning when I realized that the walls narrowed in these parts. Narrowed to the point where I soon had to turn my body sideways in order to squeeze through the gap. There was a low rip as the back of my tunic caught on the rough wall. Great.
Finally, the gap began to gradually expand until the curved walls were once more spaced well apart. The nauseating stench was strong here, and I soon saw why. I’d arrived at a shallow trench, and at the bottom of it was a sludgy pile of manure and some kind of pus—I didn’t even want to know what exactly the latter was.
I did know that I wasn’t going to wade through it for anyone.
Biting on my lip, I judged the width of the trench. I could cross it if I timed my jump just right. Probably.
Cursing beneath my breath, I took several steps back. Clenching and unclenching my fists, I heaved in a mound of air. My pulse was racing, and a sense of nervous anticipation waded through my blood.
I took off. I sprinted hard and fast, praying to the gods for aid. Then I jumped.
I went airborne for what seemed like a mere millisecond before landing on the ground. Ground. Ha!