Radley's Labyrinth for Horny Monsters by Annabelle Hawthorne (highly recommended books .txt) 📕

were three, and each one looked equally suspicious. Cerulea had informed him that they were in the inner circle in relation to the river and that the passageways had been booby-trapped. They had only walked for about ten minutes, and she had pointed out at least three traps that Mike could have triggered that would have killed him.

Mike leaned against a dry section of the wall, closing his eyes and letting the rhythmic vibrations of the river lull him into a meditative state. His clothes, dried with fairy magic, still retained a mystical warmth.

He had asked Cerulea about the traps. The Labyrinth wasn’t just a random maze, he had informed her, and the fact that someone would put in a giant maze with killer traps and a Minotaur meant that it must have a secret or a treasure worth protecting. She had shrugged away his answers, being deliberately evasive. She also wouldn’t speak to the fact that she and the others were trapped, which was also a piece of the puzzle.

Why would a maze be designed to keep people out but then never let them leave? His eyes closed, he sank deeper into a state of relaxation, tiny lights flickering behind his eyelids.

The world of darkness receded, chased away by glowing beams of light streaming through his windows. He walked through his house, humming a song to himself that he didn’t recognize. A large table had been set up in the family room, with an equally large game board.

“Every room has its purpose, every monster has its place,” he sang out loud, but it wasn’t his voice. It was Emily’s, but that wasn’t quite right either. It almost sounded like Emily’s voice mixed with Naia’s. The game board in front of him reminded him of Clue—it was a layout of his house. On the board, several pieces were scattered through the house. He picked up a sultry figurine that was standing in the fountain, immediately identifying Naia. Setting it back down, he then picked up another one on the front porch. This one was Cecilia. Even Lily was there, her figurine currently in the backyard with Naia and Zel.

There were other pieces on the board, pieces he didn’t recognize. When he held them up, they were blurry and he was unable to see any detail. Frowning, he stared at the board. Where was the Labyrinth?

He touched the spare bedroom, tracing his fingers over to the closet. The board shimmered and unfolded another section, revealing the enormous structure somehow in the walls of his house. The pieces were on the board, standing in various locations. He found his own piece, picking it up to inspect it. Setting himself back down, he spotted the Minotaur with a couple of other pieces.

Beth and Abella. Fuck. He set these back down. He saw the other fairies, their figures very tiny, and even Sofia. Her miniature scowled at him somehow. In the center of the Labyrinth was a pair of figurines. One was Tink, but the other one was blurry. Holding the piece in his hands, he tried to identify it by feel.

“Mike!”

His eyes snapped open, and he stood up. Had that been a dream or a vision?

Olivia was hovering in front of him, glitter shedding off her wings.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I found one of your friends. She needs your help.”

“Who did you find?”

“The one with one eye.” Olivia’s face twisted up. “She is really mad.”

“Is she okay?”

“For now.” She turned into a ball of light. “Follow, follow!” She whizzed away, then stopped at the entrance to the corridor on the right. Mike followed close behind, Cerulea sitting on his shoulder. Olivia moved at a pace consistent with a fast walk—she was easy to keep up with but would zip farther ahead if Mike tried to catch up.

Mike was already lost, and Olivia led him through a series of twists and turns that made it so that he knew he wouldn’t be able to find his way back to the river. He looked up, marveling at how his brain couldn’t even identify a landmark in the dark ceiling.

An icy void blossomed in his belly, and he froze, his magic telling him he was in danger but not what from.

“Duck!” Cerulea shrieked in his ear.

Mike threw himself flat, and a large stone on a rope swung where his head had been. He was going to stand up when he heard the creaking of a second rope. Crouching, he moved forward, and the second rock crashed into the first one. His ears rang, and the pile of rubble buried the passageway behind him under a few feet of stone.

“Holy shit,” he muttered.

“You’re telling me.” Cerulea squeezed out from under his collar, where he had crushed her. Her chitinous shell readjusted itself, her wings tucking back beneath it. She smoothed out her antenna and rubbed her left shoulder.

“Sorry.” Mike stood. “I’m glad you saw it in time.”

“Part of that is thanks to you,” she said, her antenna twitching playfully. “My senses haven’t been this sharp in years!”

“Have you guys really been stuck here that long?” Mike asked.

“A woman named Emily banished us to the Labyrinth over a misunderstanding. She thought we did a bad thing and told us we could live here or leave the house.”

“And you chose to live here?” Mike looked around. “Why not go be free?”

“Fairies like us are almost extinct, you know.” Mike had started walking again, and Cerulea spoke softly into his ear from her perch on his shoulder. “The human world isn’t as friendly as it used to be. Our fields and forests got torn up, and fairies learned long ago never to trust humans.”

“You trusted me,” Mike pointed out.

She shrugged. “We had been down here for quite some time and figured if you weren’t the Caretaker, then something had happened to the house. We could smell Naia’s magic coming off you.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It also didn’t help that we were all so horny.”

“Well, if we