Sate the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy

Author:Alexandra Ivy [Ivy, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Published: 2022-10-03T14:22:38+00:00

Chapter 12

Ryshi managed to land on his feet this time. A miracle. And just as miraculous was that they were dumped onto a soft patch of grass. Still, he was on full alert as he glanced around. They were standing near a thick forest of towering pine trees that perfumed the air with a refreshing scent. Lovely.

Unfortunately, the smell couldn’t overcome the stench that floated from the nearby town. The reek from rotting food, brackish water, and filthy minotaur fur was too potent to be covered.

Ryshi clenched his teeth as he realized exactly where they were. It wasn’t quite as bad as the previous maze, but it was close. And worse, this area was going to be the most dangerous for Sofie.

Turning his head, he watched as she wandered toward a nearby tree, reaching out a hand to brush her fingers over the green needles.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She turned to face him, her expression icily composed. “This is no illusion.”

A pang of regret that she was once again the aloof, unapproachable vampire sliced through Ryshi. He’d heard the expression one step forward and two steps back, but with Sofie it was like a teeny step forward and a mile backward. Not that he was going to concede defeat, he assured himself. It didn’t matter how many steps backward, forward, or in between it took, he was going to have this female in his life.

Forever.

“No. It’s very real,” he assured her.

Sofie turned to study the nearby town. Her nose wrinkled as she took in the sprawling buildings constructed from wood with thatched roofs that sagged from the constant drizzle that fell from the gray sky. There were a few muddy lanes, but most of them meandered in strange curves and often ended without warning. Probably because the large population of minotaurs spent most of their time in the nearby colosseum, drinking their potent ale and enjoying violent battles between their chosen warriors. They weren’t big fans of wasting time repairing their homes or cleaning the foul waste that clogged the sewers.

“We reached the homeland?” she asked in disbelief.

Ryshi shook his head. He hadn’t actually entered the minotaur homeland when he’d been there before, but he very much hoped it was better than this place.

At least cleaner.

“My guess is that this is more like a suburb.”

Her gaze remained locked on the town, where they could see several large minotaurs staggering down a muddy lane. One of them stumbled forward, smashing into a lopsided building that promptly collapsed beneath the impact.

“Is that a joke?”

“Not really.”

“This doesn’t look like any suburb I’ve been in.” She sent him a suspicious glance. “At least not since medieval London.”

Ryshi shrugged. “I was forced to stay here long enough to determine that this place is not the same as the labyrinth. There are no illusions and the only creatures here are minotaurs.”

She wrinkled her nose. “That’s what I smell?”

“Unfortunately.” There was nothing pleasant about wet, moldy fur. “It’s also unfortunate that they aren’t held captive by the same spell that’s inside the rest of the maze.

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