1304 The Harbinger (The 13th Floor)

by Christine Rains

  Ares had nodded at her approvingly as she walked by his throne. Hera only sneered. The goddess had changed her outfit to a white flowing gown. Meira was tempted to tell her that it was a major faux pas to wear white after Labor Day, but she didn’t want to be turned into a dog yet.

  “The next challenge is simple: you must find your way out through the other side.” Zeus smirked as he directed Sam’s gaze to the labyrinth. The nonexistent cameras panned out to take in as much of the maze as possible. “You’ve already proven to be intelligent, so we had to assure that this wouldn’t be an easy task for you. Beware what lies inside, hero. Don’t take a wrong turn or you may never come out.”

  The audience cheered. More so for whatever lay at those wrong turns than for Zeus.

  “You may choose one weapon to take with you. A sword, a crossbow, a spear, perhaps?” Sounding much more like a salesman than the Father of the Gods, Zeus motioned to a board of several weapons behind the thrones.

  Whispered bets filled the stadium as people guessed what Sam might choose.

  Sam glanced at the wall and then turned his gaze back to Zeus. “I choose Meira.”

  The crowd went bonkers. Hera stood, yelling something at her husband, but even her voice was lost amongst the eruption.

  “Silence!” Zeus boomed. The arena trembled with thunder. No one dared peep. The Thunder God let out a hissing breath. “You do understand what I asked, didn’t you, hero?”

  “I did, sir.” Sam nodded once. “I can think of no finer weapon for me than Meira. She’s quick, fierce, and loyal.”

  Ares chuckled and clapped his hands. “Bravo. Well played.”

  Meira didn’t rise and tried to hide the panic that was nearly upon her. It was a risky move, but if Zeus allowed it, she might be able to get Sam through the labyrinth in one piece.

  Zeus grunted and gazed down at her.

  “Absolutely not. The hero must do this on his own.” Hera shook her head and knocked a few curls out of place with the vehemence of it. “He can’t have any help.”

  “I’ll find the way through the labyrinth myself, but since I cannot wield a weapon, I want one that can fight for herself. Meira is my choice.” Sam’s voice remained calm, but perspiration dotted his forehead.

  Zeus stroked his beard. “You must find your own way through. You cannot have Meira fly you above the walls or give you any directions whatsoever.”

  “No!” Hera protested, and a stormy glare from her husband silenced her.

  “I would not cheat that way, sir.” Sam assured him.

  Offering Meira a hand, Zeus helped her up. “Serve the hero as he asks, but do no more. He says you’re loyal, but it is to me your loyalty lies. Never forget that.”

  “Yes, Father.” Meira bowed. Giddiness made her head feel light. Zeus was going to allow this!

  “Well, let’s get on with it then.” Zeus waved them off with no more ceremony and returned to his throne. He wasn’t entirely pleased, and Hera was most certainly not happy with the turn of events, but since Meira hadn’t been turned into a dog, she considered that favor enough.

  Without a word, Meira and Sam hopped off the dais and walked to the labyrinth. The walls loomed over them as they came to the entrance. The crowd roared around them. Most with approval at Sam’s choice. It only made the challenge that much more interesting. Olympians loved drama.

  “You lead the way and I’ll follow.” Meira could move fast enough to get in front of him if need be, but she also wanted to watch his back. She was to be the tool here and so she would act her part. It was enough they risked the gods’ ire with this, but it would be too much to disobey Zeus now.

  Sam nodded and stepped into the labyrinth. Once they were both in, Meira glanced over her shoulder. The entrance was gone. She tried to calm her heartbeat. The only way out would be at the other side.

  “Best we start marking the way now.” Sam turned and held out his hand. His lips thinned as he realized his mistake again. “Um, where did you have the servant store your lipstick?”

  “In my corset.” Meira wasn’t sure whether to smirk or blush. It had seemed like a convenient place at the time and one that no one would check. She had no belt since she didn’t carry weapons, and she wore no boots. Her skirt contained no pockets, and so that had only left one place.

  “Okay.” Sam’s gaze darted around and came to a rest upon her chest. His eyes dilated and he wet his lips. “I don’t see any cameras. Do you think they’re watching us?”

  “I’m sure they’re watching our every move.” Meira wouldn’t doubt that the walls themselves had eyes. “In the middle.”

  Sam delicately slipped two long fingers between her breasts. Her skin tingled with the contact, and her nipples became hard nubs. Even just his touch could do so much to her. Why did she have to wait three months before sleeping with him? Ah yes, that damn relationship expert. That woman’s column was boring anyway. Meira could’ve had those memories to get her through the lonely nights ahead.

  “This wasn’t exactly how I imagined we’d spend our night.” Meira’s regrets tugged a sad smile from her.

  Sam located the lipstick and drew it out. He rolled it in his palm. “How did you imagine it would go?”

  “I’d end up wearing my Valentinos and nothing else when we went back to your place.” Her voice grew husky and her body ached for him to touch her again.

  “Those red shoes you were wearing earlier today?” He glanced up from the tube with a warm exhale.

  “Yes. Did you like them?”

  “Yes.” Sam nipped his lower lip as his gaze raked slowly up her body. His hand closed around the lipstick, knuckles turning white, and he turned away from her to face the wall. He drew an arrow pointing the way they were going.

  Meira was suddenly very aware of her horrifying feet. Why did she have to bring up the shoes? She had so many beautiful pairs in her apartment. Would Zeus ever let her go back? Surely he wouldn’t send anyone else to take her place there.

  Yes, he likely would. And Sam would find another woman who could give him a life of simple honesty.

  She would not cry again. Not now. Sam still needed her.

  “We should get moving.” Sam capped the lipstick, pocketed it, and started walking toward the first fork in the path. He gave a shout as he suddenly fell forward right through the ground. Or rather, the illusion that looked like the path.

  Her heart hammered. His fall stretched into slow motion. Sam’s limbs flailed, grasping at nothing. His handsome face contorted into a mask of terror.

  Meira dove after him. She spread her wings and flapped them twice to give her extra speed. Zipping through the illusion, she snatched Sam in her feet just before he was impaled on the spikes at the bottom of the pit.

  Both of them were breathing hard as she flew back up and set him down on solid ground. Her talons had scratched and pierced his skin. There had been no time to be gentle. She swept her feathers over his back.

  “I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”

  “Yes, but not as much as dying at the bottom of that hole would have.” Sam breathed heavily as he rolled his shoulders and winced, but none of the puncture wounds appeared deep. “Thank you for saving me.”

  Meira nodded. She might’ve caught him before he fell to his death, but she hadn’t saved him yet. They weren’t even one hundred feet into the labyrinth at this point.

  “Maybe you should go first.” Sam suggested. “Unless you think they won’t try this again now that we’ll be wary.”

  “There’ll be more to keep you on your toes. That one was just to warm us up.” If they were lucky, the other traps would be as primitive as that one. Nothing to reach out and grab them or something more modern like lasers. Meira wasn’t going to mention that out loud to Sam. He had enough to fear as it was.

  They came to the first fork, and Sam pointed right. “We keep going right until we can go right no more. Then we’ll methodically go through all the options, but always right if we can.”

 
; “You drive and I’ll take care of the bumps in the road.” Meira waited for him to mark the way, and then they continued on. She could only hope that the bumps wouldn’t be so big that they threw them both into a ditch they couldn’t get out of.

  CHAPTER 9

  Meira darted down and raked her talons through the minotaur’s neck as it twisted toward her. The bastard couldn’t see any longer as she’d gouged out his eyes, but he could hear and smell just fine. Big and strong as he was, he wasn’t quick enough.

  She caught the jugular, and blood splattered the nearest stone wall. The minotaur fell to his knees, clutching at his torn throat. Meira ripped open the other side just for good measure.

  The beast gurgled and grunted before falling forward with his own weight. He thrashed as if fighting Hades himself, but went still as Meira landed and folded her bruised and bloodied wings. None of the blood was hers. The beast had nicked her feet with his horns a few times, but it was in moments like this that she was glad to have ugly thick skin.

  Meira shook her hair from her face before stepping over the corpse to check on Sam. “Are you all right?”

  Pressing a hand to his chest, Sam leaned against one wall. The minotaur had tried to slice him open with his horns, going for something more artsy than just charging Sam and crushing him against the stone. Minotaurs always had something to prove when put into a labyrinth.

  “Yes, maybe. I don’t think it needs stitches.” Sam hissed as he lifted his hand to show her the wound. Blood dribbled down over his abdomen and soaked into his pants.

  It didn’t need stitches, but the blood loss was a concern. Folding her body and balancing on one leg, Meira used her other foot to pluck some down from underneath the opposite wing. She then gently pressed it against his injury. “This will help soak up the blood and stop the bleeding much more quickly.”

  Only when she was standing on two feet again did she notice his expression. It was as if he’d never seen her before. Meira stepped back and looked away. How alien she must seem. A creature far from the angel he had first thought her to be.

  “Do you think it’ll be much farther? We’ve been going for hours. The sun’s up, even if we can’t quite see it yet.” Sam remained against the wall, gazing upwards at the sky.

  The hours had blurred together. Meira had taken the brunt of the attacks from monsters and spells. Every inch of her body ached. Not even during training had she been forced to fight so much in so little time. Perhaps she was a bit out of practice, but her will pushed her onward even if her body wanted to collapse.

  “I don’t know. Distance and time aren’t what they seem here. We might turn the next corner and find the exit.” Though she highly doubted it. The minotaur wouldn’t be the final monster. There’d be something horrific by the exit. Something that Zeus would think would truly challenge Sam. Meira had been trying to think what that might be. It would be something cerebral. And she was worried more and more as they went on that the Thunder God would command her to be that last obstacle.

  “Meira,” he sighed. “I need to rest. I’m exhausted. I should’ve slept more after the first challenge.”

  “If we stop so you can rest, the gods will send something else along. We need to keep moving.” She jerked her head toward the next corner. “Come on.”

  “Meira.” Sam said her name with more force. “I’m not like you. I’m not some … super being. I’m just a normal guy. Everyone’s making a big deal that I’m a hero, but I’d like to think there are lots of people who would’ve done the same thing I did. These challenges are for superheroes. Not a regular man like me.”

  She marched to stand in front of him. Her wings lifted, forgetting for a second that she didn’t have hands to take a hold of his face. Relaxing her wings, she made certain their gazes were locked before she started speaking. “You are a hero.”

  When Sam shook his head, Meira stomped her foot and forced her face an inch from his. “You are a hero, and that’s a rare thing. Did you see anyone else helping people on the street there in Carmine? No. Humans are selfish creatures. No, don’t try to protest. You are. We all are. And though the human race has grown to billions this past century, there aren’t any more heroes than there were before.

  “Zeus wants your soul because you’re a rare gem. You’re precious. Something I’ve known for a while now. I’ve never met anyone else like you.” Meira’s vision blurred. She blinked back her tears. “You don’t need to be a super being to make it through this. You need to just keep pushing yourself because you will make it. And I’ll be by your side every step of the way to make sure you do.”

  “And you won’t be there after it’s all over?” Sam whispered.

  “No, I won’t be.” Meira squeezed her eyes shut and drew away from him. And even after everything that had happened, she still wanted to be. That through some strange twist in the universe, she and Sam could be together. Believing that was going to hurt her all the more in the end, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  Sam’s fingers brushed her cheek, and when she opened her eyes, he walked toward the next bend. “We’re almost out of lipstick.”

  “I can make scratch marks.” Meira turned and followed Sam around the corner into his spacious downtown apartment.

  CHAPTER 10

  Meira loved Sam’s sense of style. Sleek and modern and not afraid to use bold colors. Several modern works of art decorated the walls. All originals from artist friends of his. Chunky furniture and a spectacular, irregularly shaped coffee table with foam pads on the corners.

  Foam pads?

  What was going on? There seemed to be nothing threatening, but this only served to make her more tense. No longer could she see any part of the maze. It was as if they were back in the Middle Realm.

  She followed Sam through the entry hall and into an open living space. Her talons didn’t make a sound on the hardwood floor. That was almost as strange as the fact Sam was now dressed in a house robe.

  Sam stopped and stooped to pick up something from the floor. He straightened himself, staring at the pacifier in his hand.

  A woman came out from the master bedroom. Black hair mussed in the most beautiful way and a silky blue robe swishing as she walked. Not just any woman. Her. Meira. It was her, but with no wings and no ugly bird feet.

  What was even more, she carried a baby in her arms. A chubby, curly haired baby.

  “Oh good, you found it. She hasn’t fussed yet, but you know how she gets.” The robed Meira smiled at Sam and rocked the baby in her arms.

  Sam raised a hand and caressed the top of the baby’s head. The child cooed and nabbed his pinky finger. “She looks so much like you. So beautiful.”

  Meira made a circle around the couple, searching the apartment for anything out of the ordinary. No traps or spells. Just this one grand illusion. She moved to stand behind Sam. “Don’t get caught up in this. It isn’t real.”

  Sam didn’t appear to have heard her. His eyes were shimmering with emotion, and he wore a goofy grin. He scooped up the baby and pressed his cheek to her head. “I love the way she smells. She’s perfect.”

  “She’s definitely already daddy’s girl.” The robed Meira chuckled and wrapped her arms around Sam, watching the child with him. “I’ve never been so happy.”

  Sam wrapped one arm around her. “Then be prepared. Things are only going to get better. I want at least another half dozen of these little heartbreakers.”

  “Six kids?” Meira gasped. “You can’t possibly want six kids. You know this isn’t real, right? There’s no way I’d stay home taking care of a bunch of babies. Sam, come on. Snap out of it.”

  Not that she could snap her fingers. She fanned him with her wing to get his attention. She even brushed her feathers over him, but didn’t get any reaction. When she attempted to touch the other Meira, her wing went right through her.

  “Whatever you want, baby.” Robed Meira kissed his neck as she cuddled him.

  “Sam!” Meira shouted his name. She m
oved right up to his ear. “Sam!”

  The baby started to cry and he hoisted her up, cradling her against his chest. Sam patted her little bottom as he soothed her, whispering sweet nothings to the child.

  “Sam!” Meira screeched, but only the baby wailed louder. “Dammit, Sam. Don’t you dare fall for this! There’s no way I’d be a simpering little housewife like that. Is that what you really wish me to be like?”

  It was offensive. Back on Earth, Meira was a modern, career-focused woman. She’d never had a desire to be domestic even when she had her own fantasies of having a life with Sam. If they ever had kids, there would be a maid and a nanny. Though the idea of kids was still a question mark in Meira’s mind; given the experiences she’d had with her own family, she had little maternal instinct.

  The baby quieted as he slipped the pacifier into her mouth. Her little eyes fluttered, and she dozed off in Sam’s arms.

  Robed Meira smiled at them and motioned to the bedroom. “You know, it’s been over six weeks now. She’s sleeping, and I’ve never wanted you more than I want you now.”

  She tugged at the belt of her robe, and it fell open revealing her naked figure in its full glory.

  “Oh come on!” Meira threw up her wings. “There’s no way any woman looks that good after just having a baby.”

  “Come on, darling.” Open-robed Meira crooked a finger at Sam and did a slow, tantalizing walk backward to the bedroom.

  “No. I don’t think so.” Meira groaned. “I hate to do this, Sam, but you’re not leaving me any choice.” She raised one foot and jerked a talon over the back of his calf. She was careful not to make it deep, but she wanted to make it hurt and bring him back to reality.

  Sam didn’t flinch. Didn’t even look her way. Blood trickled down his leg and dripped onto the floor.

  He walked toward the bedroom.

  “Dammit.” Meira growled and readied herself to knock Sam over when a hand on her shoulder restrained her. She spun, ready to strike with her claws.