The roses on the bushes next to me shimmer in the eerie lights dancing in the sky above. The dew drops on their leaves fall to the ground as I walk through the maze, wondering why my heart pounds like I’m slowly headed toward death.
Electric lanterns are all I have to light my path, but the music guides my way through the maze as I focus on the noise.
When I make a left turn, a ton of people dance in a small courtyard in the middle of the maze. People are strewn all across the path, leading up to a gloomy-looking house almost entwined with nature. The branches of several invasive trees almost run through the building, and the roof is so pointy it makes me want to shiver. If evil built a house, that’s what I’d imagine it would look like.
Suddenly, someone’s hands lock onto my shoulders from behind. “Crystal! You made it!”
Just as I spin around in my heels, Kayla hugs me tight.
“It’s so dark and gloomy here,” I say.
“I know! Isn’t it perfect?” She’s glowing right now.
I look around at the decorated trees and bushes, the expensive outdoor furniture all across the courtyard, and the food, which looks like it was made by a Michelin-star restaurant.
“They’ve poured in a lot of work,” I say.
“Tartarus always throws extravagant parties. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve never actually been invited to one … up till now.” She squeals with excitement.
“How did we even get an invite to this party?” I ask.
Suddenly, Penelope throws her arms around my shoulders. “Perks of having friends in high places.”
“Nice to see you finally made it,” I say, winking.
“So Felix got us in?” Kayla asks her.
“Dylan. One of these guys is an old friend of his. I don’t know who, and I don’t care. As long as I don’t have to ever associate with any of them, I’m good.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Kayla leans in. “Tartarus guys are dangerous. More than the Phantoms because they don’t even care who they do business with as long as it gets them more money and fame. Good guys, bad guys, they don’t differentiate. I don’t trust them.” She grabs my shoulders and turns me around. “Look. There they are.” She points at three boys standing on the balcony.
One is as tall as can be, with long black hair with a soft curl in it, who looks like he just stepped out of a haircare commercial. He’s clutching a glass of champagne as he stares off into the distance with that God-like chiseled face of his, thin lips smiling arrogantly, like he knows everyone thinks he’s handsome as hell.
Another one grips the banister behind him tightly as he chats away with someone inside the house, while his other hand runs through his undercut and dark blond hair. His cheerful demeanor and upturned grin complete with lip piercing are in stark contrast to all the scary tattoos marking his skin.
The last one stands with his back toward us, his black hair styled in a comb-over, arms casually draped over two girls like they’re his entourage. And even though I see the least of this guy, he has a certain threatening aura around him, like he could turn around and choke the life out of those girls if they said a single thing that displeased him.
“Ares.” Kayla points at the one with the two girls and the black, combed-over hair. “Caleb.” The heavily tattooed one with the blond hair. “Blaine.” The one with the long, flowing hair who looks like he just stepped out of a commercial. “ABC. That’s what some people here call them because they’re always together, but I prefer devils from hell.”
Penelope snorts. “Appropriate.”
“Right?” Kayla says. “People don’t just join Tartarus for the fun of it. They’re literal demons.” She looks up at them standing on the balcony and whispers, “If you interfered with their plans, they would make you beg to forget it ever happened.”
I gulp.
I’m starting to think coming here was a bad idea.
“Ahhh, don’t worry.” Penelope throws her arm around my shoulders and tugs me away from Kayla. “They won’t bother with us if we just dance and have fun. So are you two up for some drinks?”
Someone turns up the music even louder, and the crowd behind us bursts into cheers. The music fills my bones with excitement, and my limbs move automatically to the rhythm.
“I wanna dance!” I say as I throw Penelope’s arm off me and drag them to the dance floor. “C’mon!”
Dancing like this makes me feel like I’m floating to the moon, so I let myself go on the beat, dancing away like a girl high on drugs, but I don’t care what I look like. I just wanna have unbridled fun and turn off my brain so I don’t have to think anymore.
“God, I’m getting thirsty,” Penelope yells over the music after a while. “Anyone wanna grab some drinks from that table over there?”
She points at the table filled with delicate bites and small drink glasses.
“Sure, let’s see what’s on the menu.” Kayla rubs her hands together like she’s hungry.
But when I look at the table near the door to the house, those three boys walk out, and my blood runs icy cold. On Ares’s shoes is an emblem of fire and horns, and my mind stops working for a moment. Images of blood splatters on the pavement and fire mix into one, and then disappear a second later.
I swallow.
“I’m gonna stay here and vibe to the music some more,” I tell the girls, clearing my throat. “I don’t wanna stop dancing. You go ahead.”
Kayla and Penelope nod and head to the table, and when they’re out of sight, I turn around and walk toward the same pebble path those boys just headed down through the rose maze. The path goes all the way around the house to the front, where a gate blocks out anyone who dares to step inside.
The three guys standing on this side instantly make my heart pump faster. Their ominous figures cast a shadow on the road behind the gate, and one of them clearly carries a weapon.
“You know who we are,” one of the guys behind the gates says.
“We don’t care,” Caleb growls, running his fingers across his undercut and through his dark blond hair.
“Let. Us. In,” the other guy says, and he flashes a gun behind his coat.
“How about …” Blaine replies, swooping his long, dark hair over his shoulder. “No.”
“Fine.”
The guy pulls out his weapon.
BANG!
He shoots off the lock with his silenced gun, and the three boys jump back to avoid the shot.
“Motherfucker,” Caleb yells, enraged. “You shot at us!”
The gunman kicks open the doors straight into the boys.
“Move!” one of them shouts as they barge right through the boys like they don’t exist.
I should run.
As fast as I can, far away from here, before anyone sees me standing here.
But when the middle one of the three boys turns around, I feel frozen to the ground. Eyes gray and devoid of life, a face with features so sharp it could split mountains, and soulless pupils burning into the men’s backs as they run toward me. Pure, unfiltered rage hides deep inside, fueled by something far greater than just the intrusion into his domain. And it makes my heart pick up in fear.
Ares.
“Over my dead body,” he growls, his voice low and just as deadly as the gun he pulls out of nowhere.
BANG! BANG!
Two silenced shots. One blink.
My hand immediately slams into my mouth.
Just one blink between me and the one guy who lived a sliver of a second longer than the other. They both sink to the ground, bullet holes in their heads.
Oh my God.
“I guess they got it coming for them,” Caleb says, biting the piercing in his lip.
“Did you have to do that?” Blaine says as he stares down at the bodies.
“When you send a message, you send a clear one,” Ares says, his voice still void of any emotion.
But then he raises his head.
Piercing, haunting gray eyes stare straight into mine.
I swiftly turn and run as fast as I can.
I don’t know where I’m going. I just know I need to get out of here.
I go through the rose bushes and into the maze. But panic seeps into my veins the second I come across the courtyard. Any of these guys could be from Tartarus. If they realize what I saw …
I can’t risk it.
Bypassing the courtyard, I head straight into the other side of the maze up ahead, my heart racing in my throat. I keep running, despite the fear creeping further and further into my veins, crippling my muscles.
An overgrown path up ahead narrows quite a bit, but I still push through, desperate to get as far away from the scene as I can. But when I misstep, I fall sideways into the prickly roses.
“Ow!” I groan, retracting my arm covered in cuts from the thorns.
I rub my arm and face, smearing some of the blood on my dress before I continue. But the second I make a left turn, I come to an abrupt halt in front of a crossing.
Right as three guys approach from the left.
The same three guys I just saw murder two people in cold blood.
Ares. Blaine. Caleb.
Their stride is so frigid it makes my entire body shiver. I’m frozen to the ground as they come closer, unable to move a muscle except that damn heart of mine that beats uncontrollably fast.
I can’t even breathe.
It’s as though Ares’s rage controls my very soul with one piercing look, and I’m merely a puppet dancing to his command.
Caleb and Blaine move right past me without even throwing me a glance, the cold breeze that follows them making my blond hair drift in the wind.
But I notice too late that Ares has stopped right in front of me. He towers over my petite four-foot-nine-inch frame. He must be at least six feet and seven inches, if not more.
He takes a step closer, and I can literally feel the electricity zing through the air.
He’s a killer.
My eyes flick to the gun glinting in his belt buckle.
Take it. Steal it. Use it. Make him pay.
But my body refuses to move.
His hand rises to touch my face, and my eyes widen in shock. On his thumb is a single droplet of blood, which he inspects like it’s made of gold.
When his eyes connect with mine, a slow but docile smile spreads on my lips.
An actual smile.
I can’t look away from those haunting gray eyes sparkling with curiosity, even if I wanted to. Caleb and Blaine have stopped a few feet away and watch him with keen interest.
Ares’s eyes twitch and narrow as they lock in on my smile, and he aggressively wipes his finger on his sleeve and walks off, following the boys back to the party in the courtyard.
But I can still feel the prickle of his thorns.
Ares
I clutch my cup filled with vodka as I stare at the partygoers dancing away while I’m casually draped over my seat. But the people in front of me are like shimmers in a dream, fading into the back of my mind.
My thoughts have drifted off along with them, possessed by a certain blond-haired girl in a little beige lace dress with bloodied cuts all over her skin. A girl who watched me kill.
I let her run.
I watched those little feet dash off into the darkness beyond the maze, awakening the violent animal caged inside me.
Something about that soft face with plump cheeks like apples made me want to sink my teeth into her and taste her sweetness.
God, I wanted nothing more than to chase her all the way through the entire fucking maze and make her scream. Become the force of terror everyone sees me as.
Until I saw that smile.
That sweet, innocent pink-lipped smile that could make a man fall to his knees and beg.
I take a sip of my vodka, but the alcohol does nothing to quench my rage.
I’ve never hated anything more in my life …
Until I saw that fucking smile.
No one fucking smiles at me.
Especially not after they just witnessed me kill.
And she fucking smiles?
My fingers dig into the glass so harshly it breaks underneath their strength, shattering into a million pieces onto my lap.
People look at me like I’ve lost my damn mind.
“Are you okay?” Caleb asks. “Dude?”
But I don’t even care if I’m bleeding.
All I can think about is how I’m going to crush that smile … and destroy that girl.
