A roar so strong it blew my hair back erupted from within the trees. We had crossed into the outskirts of the Dying Labyrinth, a place I’d been to only once before and had hoped never to return. Large eyes the color of an angry viper, green and glowing, beamed from the shadows.
The three of us stiffened in unison at the furious sound. Dash with his hero complex stepped forward, bow drawn in his grasp. “Ash, stay behind me.”
“Who is Ash?” I asked, peeking over at Dash like he was off his rocker. I kept my guard up in case shit went sideways, fishing my blade out of my boot.
“Me,” Star spoke up. “Or the me before the mist. My name used to be Ashley.” She turned to Dash. “You remembered.”
He stared at her, a frown pulling at his lips. “I don’t know. I guess it just came out.”
My heart sunk. I was happy his memories were slowly returning, it just hurt that they were of another girl—my friend. “We really don’t have time for a trip down memory lane.”
Our eyes connected for a moment, and he gave a curt nod.
“Uh, so you got a plan?” I asked, focusing the task back to the creature stalking us.
“Do I ever?” The smirk on his lips told me everything I needed to know. We were winging this thing.
Right. Here goes nothing.
Dash and I simultaneously stepped up together, shielding Star with our bodies. I didn’t want to think about how there was a time when his body would have jumped in front of mine.
“Shouldn’t we run or something?” Star whispered.
Dash and I glanced at each other from the corners of our eyes, and his sinister lips mirrored mine. “Nah. Running isn’t our style, is it Freckles?”
“Stop talking,” I grumbled through my teeth. “And don’t get killed. I need someone to do all the dirty work.”
Putting the bow aside, he suddenly pulled out a blade, flipping it in his hand. “Here.” Dash tossed it to me. “You might need this.”
I caught the dagger without losing a finger. It was the blade I had bargained for in the market. I didn’t know how he had ended up with it, but I had never been so happy to see a weapon before. The slim hilt felt smooth and familiar in my grasp. “Thanks.” Wielding two daggers, I was ready to take on whatever approached us.
A mountain troll came at us on two legs. I couldn’t think of any other way to describe the beast, but it was definitely an animal, bear-like but golden like a lion. As he charged toward us, jaws open and spittle flying in the air, the creature snarled again. I steadied myself.
Dash leapt forward, vaulting off the troll’s hind leg and plunging his blade into its back. The creature bellowed, a shrilling and deafening sound. Branches shook and dirt trembled. It bucked and shook, throwing Dash off. He rolled as he hit the ground and came to his feet, grinning like he had just slayed a dragon.
Show off. Too bad the thing was still alive and very pissed off.
My turn. While the beast concentrated on making Dash dinner, I let the electric energy in the air gather around me. Lightning was the easiest of my gifts to summon; maybe because I had learned it first. The blades in my hands started to glow white, growing warm as I sent the current from within me to the daggers. I was going to give the troll the shock of his life.
Still on his hind legs, the troll threw back his head in a cry of agony. I spun around, slamming one of the glowing blades deep into its belly, and let a bolt of light surge down my arm into the weapon. Stunned, I watched as his underside lit up, energy rushing through him like an overflowing stream, invading all the crevices of his innards.
The troll went completely motionless for a few seconds, and then he burst from the inside out, spewing guts, blood, and fur everywhere. By far the grossest thing I’d ever seen. Clearing bloody gunk off my face with the end of my shirt, I stepped back. “Remind me never to do that again.”
Dash’s mouth had dropped open. “Holy crap, Freckles, you barbequed the son of a gun. That was awesome.”
“We should do it again,” I replied dryly, not nearly as in awe of my own awesomeness as Dash was. The last thing I wanted was to smell like a dead, rotten animal for the next few days. Goop clung to my hair!
My gag reflex was about to activate.
“Never a dull moment with you. I’d almost forgotten what it was like traveling with someone who attracts trouble like flies on shit,” Dash said, wiping the muck off his blade in the grass.
Sheathing both my weapons, I tried not to think about the stuff stuck to my clothes. “I take offense to that comparison. Bees to honey would have been preferable.”
“Why? Because you’re so sweet?”
I snorted. Fighting alongside him had been fun. There was no arguing that, and it had been refreshing being almost his equal on the battleground. “You can’t blame this one on me.”
He arched a brow. “Haven’t you figured out that every creature in the Heights finds you irresistible? If there is one within a mile, they will surely come sniffing.”
I rolled my eyes. “I just want to ensure your so-called badass-ness doesn’t get rusty. Wouldn’t want this six-pack to get chubby.” I patted him on the abs. Yeah, there was no chance of that happening.
“How can you joke about almost getting killed?” Star blurted out.
“We were only teasing,” I told her.
Her cheeks flushed with annoyance. “I don’t know how you do it—stay so calm.”
“I didn’t always.” I leveled my voice, but it didn’t matter how smooth I made it. Star was having a momentary freak-out.
I didn’t blame her. I’d had more time to adjust.
“This is insane. No matter where we go, something or someone is trying to kill us.”
“It might feel like you’re always in danger, and maybe that feeling won’t go away—at least not immediately—but I promise you, what the Institute had planned for you was way worse,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Dash interrupted. “What are you talking about?”
I shot him a sideways glare before swinging my eyes back to Star. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
Her soft brown eyes wide. “Tell me what?”
There was no easy way to inform someone you had saved them from death. “I had a vision a few nights before we escaped. I saw you in an operating room for what the Institute called a ‘routine checkup.’ They were administering a shot, except it wasn’t a vaccine.”
“DNA,” Dash whispered.
I nodded. “The doctor shot you with DNA from someone who had been mutated by the toxic vapor. They’ve been researching and experimenting with us, trying to make more humans with abilities.”
“What if I wanted to be mutated? Then I could be like you. I wouldn’t constantly feel helpless or useless.”
Star didn’t understand the consequences. “I would have told you what they planned to do if the procedure had been successful.”
“She died,” Dash gasped, filling in the blanks.
I tipped my chin, forcing my lip not to tremble as I thought back to that room. “Yeah. It was horrible, and they did nothing to try to save you.”
Star looked at me, tears glossing her doe eyes. “You saved me, and I didn’t even know. That’s why you insisted we had to leave that night, because I had been summoned by the infirmary.”