Catacombs (The Sekhmet Bounty Series Book 2) (7 page)

“Well, besides being imaginary, I guess they can fly and breathe fire and hoard treasure. What does that have to do with the labyrinth?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re magical. Probably really strong, old magic.” Leilah wanted Shezmu dead. She assigned the case, she brought up my family, and she never did seem to like me. I had wondered why send me and not just kill Shezmu herself. The labyrinth explained that. It was designed to trap monsters. She totally fit the bill. If she went in, she’d be trapped inside, just like him.

Frost crossed her arms tightly. “Why are we talking about dragons?”

“No reason. I’m going to go in. Are you with me?”

She stubbornly didn’t move, staring down at her failed attempt to break the spell. Finally she looked up. “I’m not setting foot in there until you tell me what’s happening.”

“Okay. That’s your choice. I understand. If you don’t want to go any further, that’s fine, but it doesn’t change my mind. Be careful on your way out.” I took a deep breath. “Do you have enough food, in case you can’t get out?”

“Femi,” she said. “Be reasonable. You’re willingly going into a trap.”

I looked over my shoulder and shrugged. “It’s personal to me.” I stepped through the hole before she could try to talk me out of it. We had already wasted enough time. I crossed my fingers that I was right and wouldn’t end up square in my mother’s office. That would possibly be worse than hell.

The room on the other side was cavernous. A white marble colonnade spread from one side to the other, supporting a lattice roof. I was in a courtyard (thankfully not back home) with two choices: one, I could continue through one of the doors and run the maze, or two, I could still turn around and take Frost’s suggestion about bringing in more magical help. The magic that led us through the catacombs probably wouldn’t work in the labyrinth. They were all but impenetrable from the outside because they were stationed between worlds. Not that I was worried about making it through. This was my element. It was in my blood. I ran maze after maze growing up. I was the best in my class. In fact, it was my favorite part of my education.

“I told you not to come back.” My mother’s voice ran like ice down my spine.

My mind swam. She was an illusion. No way would she set a physical foot into a place like this. Too unpredictable. She couldn’t control this world and she’d never risk her life, even if there wasn’t much of it left. She didn’t even try to avenge my father. She wouldn’t come here now.

However, that didn’t mean she didn’t have a hand in it. Mother was perfectly capable of creating a labyrinth with the assistance of the priestesses. Shezmu also had a connection to my family. Her personal regard for human life was minimal at best. But why attach the labyrinth to the catacombs at all? She wouldn’t want Shezmu freed. Maybe that was why the council sent me. They wanted me to deal with my own mother.

One nagging thought wouldn’t leave me alone, and it made my suspicions that she was behind this feel more and more likely: only my mother would believe that the image of her sick and bitchy would tempt me into a room. I turned slowly toward her voice.

It was like looking at my future self in the mirror—if I ever lived a single life to the ripe old age of two hundred, anyway. No thanks. We were the same height, we had the same build, but her resting bitch face was miles ahead of mine. “Mother. This seems extreme. All you had to do is call.”

She batted the words from the air and prowled around me, no longer appearing sick and feeble. My mother and all the Sekhmet elders refused to use any modern technology, like sending an email would fucking kill them. “You abandon your people for what? For this? To risk your life for those who cannot even perceive you. You are as foolish as he was. You have no regard for your family or responsibilities. You cannot defeat him.”

“I don’t think someone who traps and kills innocents gets to be self-righteous.”

A resounding slap connected with my face.

Anger flared in me, tightening my hands at my sides. “Hit me again and I’m going to forget who and what you are,” I said in a cold, measured tone that was hopefully filled with the anger I felt. “Why are you here?”

“The stench of weakness surrounds you. Your sympathy for them blinds your decisions. You need to be reminded of who you are, daughter. That’s why I’m here. You had your chance to explore the world. It is over now.”

She backed away, hands at her sides, a challenge on her face. A wind picked up, sweeping down the colonnade, stirring up dust. The dust swirled and formed into creatures. Animals that looked like undead crosses between jackals and dogs came out from between the columns. Flesh hung in rotting strips from their tall, slender bodies. Their tails were forked. They were called sha and were meant to protect tombs. They crept forward in perfect unison, low to the ground and snarling.

I pulled out my knives. The only lessons the old woman knew how to teach were hard ones. It was no wonder our people were afraid to have a different opinion. If anyone dissented, anyone at all, from what she believed to be true, they were crushed. Or in my case, apparently ripped apart by dogs. Rather than living in a world where everyone was entitled to see through uniquely flawed eyes, she insisted they all just saw through hers.

The horrific canine creatures slinked toward me. Bright yellow foam that smelled like rot dripped from their snarling mouths, and their teeth gnashed. Sha were Typhonic beasts, but none like I had never seen before. They were totemic animals that served the god Set. But how and why was Set involved? More and more this case seemed entirely out of my depth and abilities.

The animals rushed me as a group. No way would I get out without a scratch. There were too many. I resigned myself to the fact I was going to get injured, and that didn’t actually matter so long as I defeated them all in the end. I kicked the front runner, sending him sprawling into three others, as I sliced wildly with my knife. But that was the problem with the undead. They didn’t feel pain, and they were nearly impossible to put down. I planted my feet firmly to the ground, and my arms flew independent of each other, fighting the attacks as they came at me in waves. If they knocked me off my feet, I was dead.

At least eight surrounded me, teeth sinking into my thighs and tearing away my flesh. I leaped over them and landed on the other side. I backed myself against a column as they charged again. Fangs sank into my calf as I threw one off my front. I hated the undead. Even as their flesh hung in tatters and bone was exposed, they didn’t stop. One leaped for my neck. I threw my forearm up in time to block it, but its rotten mouth bit into my muscle, straight to the bone. Using my other hand, I pried at its mouth, the stench making me gag.

There was a low whistle behind me. “Looks like you could use help. To bad you are so determined to do this alone.”

Another beast tore at my legs, making me grunt, as I slammed the one still attached to my arm onto the floor. This was why I wore leather.

“Me? Need help? No. I got this. You just stand back and be pretty,” I said through gritted teeth. It had taken Frost long enough to decide to join me. I finally dug my claws between the monster’s teeth, yanked its jaw back, and tore its head clean off. And that was the good thing about the undead. Soft bones. Another one latched on to my shoulder before I could even catch my breath.

Frost stepped forward, hands stretched toward the sky, mumbling words I couldn’t understand. Then she snapped her fingers. “Stop,” she said, and all the beasts froze in place. She blew out a slow breath. “Release.” Her hands clapped and all the creatures went up in a poof of dust, filling the room with a cloud.

I coughed as the grit settled to the floor. Assessing my injuries, I discovered I was actually fine. Not a mark on me. I had felt each and every bite and scratch, but not one of them showed on my skin or clothing. Yet Frost had seen the creatures too. The mounds of dust were proof to that. I scanned the room for my dear mother, but she was gone too—if she had ever been there at all. Either she had slipped back inside or she was as imaginary as the Typhonic beasts were.

Labyrinths were tricky. They could show you almost anything. It was hard to know what was real or fake, or what would actually kill you versus what was actually there to guide you. They used your secrets and weaknesses against you. They were as much a mental trial as a physical one.

With that on my mind, I turned to Frost. “I thought you were leaving.”

“Aren’t you lucky I changed my mind? Looked like they might have been getting the better of you. You seemed to be struggling. Oh, and now we’re even.” Her pale eyes smiled up at me, though her face stayed passive. “I couldn’t leave you down here alone. I don’t need another person on my conscience.”

Struggling, my ass. I could have taken care of them…eventually.

“What is this place? It’s nothing like what I saw through the opening.” Her head swiveled, as she took in the giant cavern and marble colonnade. “Flowers?” she asked. “How are they growing without light?”

I hadn’t even noticed them. Shrubs with clusters of bright pink flowers lined the colonnade and framed either side of the entrance. I moved closer to one plant, but not within reach. “Is that oleander?”

She shrugged. “I’m not a botanist. But I do know oleander is poisonous, if that is at all helpful.”

“They were also used as medicine.” Like anything in life, oleander represented two sides. Just as people had the potential to be good or bad depending on their choices, the flower was the same. It could be used to heal or to harm. There was also a time they were thought to mean caution. Could they be a warning against what was still to come, or did they have a more immediate use?

“Neat, but how the hell are they growing miles underground?”

I laughed. “How did dirt take shape and attack me? Shit happens.” I went to the plant. On closer inspection, the petals weren’t quite right. These were unlike any flower I had ever seen.

I bent down and sniffed one. When I straightened, the dust in the room was swirling around my feet—and Frost slowly morphed into my mother. She came toward me.

“What is it?” Even the voice was an eerie blend of the two of them.

This place really thought I was hung up on my family. I blinked several times, trying to get Frost back. Was it an illusion or an illusion within an illusion? I shook my head, striving to focus my thoughts. How did I know if the real Frost was actually here? She could have left; this one might just be a projection. If so, how much would the impostor know about her? On the other hand, if my mother was an illusion, it was a damned good one, right down to the guilt trip and psychotic rage. But I hadn’t tested her, not really. Our interaction had been brief. I backed into the center of the room. Frost didn’t follow. She just watched me from the edge with a puzzled look on her face.

Slowly my mother’s image faded and Frost was herself again, toying with the end of her braid, watching me carefully. “What happened just now?”

“Hallucination.” I looked at the placement of the plants around the room. They sat by the columns, where the creatures had come from. They were also right by the entry where we both had our first hallucinations. “This isn’t the place to stop and smell the flowers. They’re causing the visions.”

Frost veered away from the plants as she inspected the room. “Huh.”

“What exactly did you see when you looked in here?” I asked, still trying to make sense of this place and what we were up against.

She stopped meandering around the room and faced me. “I told you.”

I rolled my eyes. Like any bounty hunter, Frost was picky with the information she chose to share about herself. Most of us didn’t expose weaknesses—so people couldn’t use them against us, but more so we couldn’t use them against ourselves. “Details, Frost, details. Do you love Sy?”

She snorted, her cheeks coloring. “Hardly.”

I led the way into the colonnade. “You’re the one who saw him. I think the visions showed what we’re most afraid to lose, and you saw him. Sounds like someone has a crush. Isn’t that kind of clichéd, though? It must really burn you that he’s also dating Katrina, being that she’s in your coven and all.”

Her dark eyebrows pulled together and her lip curled. “The only one who sounds jealous right now is you. Maybe the plant caused permanent damage in your brain. Are you seriously in love with Sy? He’s not your…” She shook her head.

Turning the attention to me. Classic avoidance. “Still avoiding.”

She threw her arms up. “My vision had nothing to do with love. I saw a lot of people. I saw the entire coven lying dead at my feet, then Sy came in and I killed him too. I had lost control. Gave in to the same darkness that was in my mother. It was basically my worst nightmare. Not that I have to explain anything to you, but I don’t want to kill him. You’ve caught me. I don’t actually want to kill my friends.” She glared at me, hands gesturing wildly as she spoke. “I can’t believe I felt guilty enough to come in here with you. Why do you always have to be an asshole? What did I ever do to you? You push everyone away. That’s your choice.”

“Why
did
you come back? You’re right, after all. I’ve been a complete asshole to you. I won’t tell you anything. And I’m probably the last person you should be risking your life to help.” I was still struggling to let go of the suspicion that was blanketing every thought I had. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to remember my training. This wasn’t my first labyrinth. We were trained to let our minds and bodies connect with the magic of the goddess, which allowed us to see past the spells of the labyrinth, but this one had gotten its hooks in me, before I knew what I was dealing with. Ideally, when perfectly connected, one could go straight through the maze with no mistakes. Something I used to be the best at doing. My stomach twisted at the thought.
I’m going to get us both killed.

“You have no business being down here alone. Obviously this mission is personal, or you wouldn’t be so secretive about it.” She had no idea, and it just kept getting more and more personal. Too personal. Almost like it was made for me. Absolutely everything in this place felt like it was left just for me. I just had to finish this. “It’s not too late to leave.”

I glanced back. Frost was definitely turning out to be a better person than I had ever given her credit for being. Even if I couldn’t leave, she could. It had been a long time since I ran a maze. “You should go. Get backup and I will go through the maze.”

“If I can’t talk you out of going, then I guess we’re both going in.”

“Thank you.” I blew out a slow breath. “Now be quiet. I have to connect with my goddess.” I took deep breaths, in and out, in and out, clearing and opening my mind like I hadn’t done in years. My breath ran through my body, and my muscles relaxed until eventually my mind followed. It used to be easier for me. When my life was simple and I was focused on wanting only one thing: to leave. But now my mind was scattered by so many different pulls, it was harder to hear the goddess as clearly. Tingling started in my toes and traveled up my body then back down. My arms floated upward and I held them out, even with my shoulders, until the fingers on my left hand started to flex then static ran down my arm. Left it was.

“What happens if we go the wrong way?” Frost asked as we passed the white pillars.

“That depends on the setup. Most labyrinths are circular, meaning that no matter which entrance you go through, you can reach the destination in the middle. However, there are those that if you step through the wrong door, you die. Or it could be connected to a world besides ours.”

Her eyes widened. “How do you know this is the right door? Please tell me you have more evidence than just pointing at it.”

I shrugged. “The goddess told me.”

“You heard her voice? Did she talk to you?”

I shook my head. “My fingers tingled and flexed.”

She squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Please tell me you’re going on more than that.”

“I feel the goddess. I can’t explain it how it works, but I can feel her.” I shook my head, coming to a stop in front of a blank stone wall. “It’s my method of communication. It works. I’ve been talking with Sekhmet like this since I was a kid.”

Frost turned toward me. “You aren’t lying?”

I laughed. “Why would I lie about this? If I pick the wrong door, it sucks for both of us.”

Now we both stared at the smooth wall. I pressed my hands all over it, searching the entire thing for cracks, levers, or any sort of sensor that would open the wall, but it was completely smooth.

“There’s a door on the other side. Maybe this one has been closed.”

Very tricky. Maybe that was how they got the humans to Shezmu. The visible entrance. But why did the goddess send me this way when I too was trying to find Shezmu? I looked back at the other door again, and my stomach rolled. Though I didn’t understand fully, I knew what I needed to do. “This is definitely the way she wants me to go.” I studied the stone wall. “The labyrinth can play tricks on you. The flowers are just a taste of what could be before us. Never trust anything you see.”

“This seems like a theme with you. Are you always this untrusting?”

I looked back at the wall. “Only when people are trying to kill me, which is all the time, so yeah.” I ran my fingernail over my lip as I studied the seamless stone. Something had to be here. I ran my fingers along the entire carved frame around the would-be door. If it wasn’t here, it could be anywhere in the room. It would take time to find the switch. I pulled a protein bar out of my pack.

She crossed her arms. “Why would someone be trying to kill you?”

I hadn’t considered the why. Not really. Leilah had already tried to kill me once when she sent me to be sacrificed to the vampires. But then she had the chance to vote for me to die after I broke their rules, and she didn’t. She voted for me to live, which assured my survival. Had she voted for me to die, it would have tied the score. What did they do if the board was split? Sy didn’t get a vote that night. Maybe he would be the tiebreaker, meaning I would have won regardless, and she would know that. So rather than tipping her hand, she let it look like she was on my side. But the whys for any of this had never really mattered much to me. I had been focused on breaking away from them, but maybe that was short-sighted. Perhaps the whys would tell more about Leilah and the council. “You know, I’m not sure.”