Cruel Summer. ¹

73. darling, everything's on fire

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter seventy-three. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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"THIS WAY!" Rachel yelled back at us.

"Why should we follow you?" I demanded angrily, still supporting Percy on my shoulder. "You led us straight into that death trap!"

"It was the way you needed to go," Rachel said. "And so is this. Come on!"

I definitely wasn't happy about it, but I had no other choice so I ran along with the rest of them. Rachel seemed to know exactly where she was going. She whipped around corners and didn't even hesitate at crossroads. Once she said, "Duck!" and we all crouched as a huge axe swung over our heads. Then we kept going as if nothing had happened.

I lost track of how many turns we made. We didn't stop to rest until we came to a room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof. I stood at the doorway, listening for sounds of pursuit, but I heard nothing. Apparently, we'd lost Luke and his minions in the maze.

Now that we were somewhat safe, I helped Percy take a seat and lean against the wall so I could check out his wound. It wasn't too bad, luckily—I'd just managed to pierce through the side, so it wasn't like the arrow went all the way through his arm or anything. But there was still a lot of blood. I tried not to gag as I peeled back his shirt.

"Don't do that," Percy told me sharply, his voice strained. "You don't get to be grossed out by this."

I scowled. He had a point. This was my fault, technically. But that didn't mean I wasn't mad at him anymore. "This shouldn't be too hard to fix," I murmured, my eyebrows knit together. "I mean, you lost lots of blood, so we'll have to rest for at least a few hours—"

     "Hours?" Ethan interrupted from across the room. "We don't have time for hours!"

     I ignored his complaints and instead glanced at him over my shoulder. "You must be the half-blood from my dream," I said. "The one Luke's people cornered. It wasn't Nico after all."

     "Who's Nico?"

     "Nevermind," I said quickly. "Why were you trying to join up with the wrong side?"

     Ethan sneered. "There's no right side. The gods never cared about us. Why shouldn't I—"

     "Sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?" I said. "Gee, I wonder."

     Ethan struggled to his feet. "I'm not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I'm out of here."

     I finished wrapping gauze around Percy's shoulder and pursed my lips. I finally turned to face Ethan. "You're just going to head off into the maze alone? That's suicide."

     Ethan glared at me with barely controlled anger. "You shouldn't have spared me, Scott. Mercy has no place in this war."

     Then he ran off into the darkness, back the way we'd come.

     Percy, Rachel, and I were so exhausted we made camp right there in the huge room. I found some scrap wood and we started a fire. Shadows danced off the columns rising around us like trees.

     "Something was wrong with Luke," I muttered, poking at the fire with a spare arrow. "Did you notice the way he was acting?"

     "He looked pretty pleased to me," Percy said. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes."

     I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious, Jackson, he's up to something worse than we thought."

     "Oh, like raising an old dead Titan king?"

     "Oh, my gods," I said, finally at my wit's end. I stood, snapping my arrow in two and tossing it into the fire. "You are impossible. All you want to do is cozy up to her." I nodded to Rachel, who was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest and staring at me with wide eyes. I shook my head. "Fine, then. You guys go right ahead. I'll be collecting more fucking firewood."

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

WHEN I CAME BACK, Rachel was asleep. I tossed my wimpy pile of sticks into the fire. (Believe it or not: there's not many trees to produce firewood in the Labyrinth).

"I'll take first watch," I told Percy, not turning even to look at him. "You need to sleep."

He took a moment before saying anything. "You don't have to act like that."

I stiffened. "Like what?"

"Like... nevermind." There came some shuffling, and when I turned around, he was laying on his side and facing away from me.

I don't know how long I stayed awake for. It was completely silent and almost entirely dark, so it wasn't like back at camp where I could see the sunrise or hear the early-morning nymphs bustling around. I didn't have a watch to check the time. All I could do was mess with my arrows.

At some point, I heard small pebbles begin to trickle down the walls. That peaked my interest. I stood, but the moment I was on my feet, the ground began to shake beneath me. I cursed.

"Percy!" I said, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up!"

He awoke with wide, bloodshot eyes. "Tyson!" he said. "Tyson and Grover are in trouble—!"

"First things first," I said. "Earthquake!"

Percy woke Rachel. We grabbed our stuff and began to run. In what direction, I have no idea. I was just trying to get away from the toppling pillars behind us. Thousands of pounds of marble collapsed where we had just been.

We headed towards the far tunnel. We made it to the corridor and turned just in time to see the other columns toppling. A cloud of white dust billowed over us, and we kept running.

It wasn't long before we saw light up ahead—like regular electric lighting.

"There," Rachel said.

We followed her into a stainless steel hallway, like they'd have on a space station or something. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling. The floor was a metal grate.

I was so used to being in the darkness that I had to squint. Percy and Rachel both looked pale in the harsh illumination.

"This way," Rachel said, beginning to run. "We're close!"

"This is so wrong!" I said, frustrated. "The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can't—"

Then I faltered, because we'd arrived at a set of metal double doors. Inscribed in the steel, at eye level, was a large blue Greek L.

"We're here," Rachel announced. "Daedalus's workshop."