“Do you mean a tattoo of your dagger?” An acrimonious tension ripples through Everett, causing his muscles to strain.
“No. It’smydagger.” I absently trace the design. “I had it in the waistband of my pants, but now…”
“Now it’s melded into your skin.” Zaid’s face pales in horror.
My breath quickens, panic coursing through me. “Whenever I reap a soul, the dagger…does stuff to me. Bad stuff. I see thingsthat aren’t there. I hear voices. I lose my goddamn mind. It only stops when I place the dagger on a pedestal in my room.”
“But you didn’t reap any souls,” Krystian points out, trying to remain positive.
“If I lose my mind again…” I swallow, feeling like I’ve shoved an entire sword down my throat.
There will be no escape, no relief. I won’t be able to simply place the dagger on the pedestal and get my mind back.
My ribs seem to press against my lungs. I can barely suck down a full breath.
“We won’t let that happen,” Zaid assures me, straightening from his crouched position to grab my hands. “We’ll figure this out, Thea. I promise.”
And for the first time since I met these men…
I don’t believe them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
THEA
Apparently, the Labyrinth’s entrance is in Edinburgh, Scotland.
We enter through an unassuming door on a bustling street, descend a steep staircase, and weave through a series of underground homes and streets.
“This is normally a tourist destination,” Zaid explains to me, a taut smile on his face. They’ve all been doing that lately—staring at me as if I’m seconds from cracking. “Hundreds of years ago, this used to be above ground, hence why there are so many streets and houses.”
“And none of the tourists or guides stumbled upon the entrance to the Labyrinth?” I arch my eyebrows in disbelief.
“It’s not that easy to get into.” He chuckles, though the sound is forced.
They don’t need to walk on eggshells around me, but whenever I tell them as much, they assure me they’re not.
Liars.
“Here.” Zaid stops in front of a plain brick wall, artificial gold lights flickering off its wet surface.
“Here?”
“Here,” Rafe says, stepping forward.
He grabs his dagger out of a sheath, cuts his palm, and then places his hand against the wall.
We all wait with bated breath.
I don’t know what I expect to happen, but when nothing does, my shoulders slump.
If this is a bust, then we’ll be back to square one.
Zaid shifts his weight. “Maybe we need to?—”
The wall crumbles away, the bricks seeming to deteriorate into thin air. Where there was once part of a building now stands a seemingly dark abyss.
Every knot in my stomach tightens simultaneously.
