The Elementals Collection

by L. B. Gilbert

  She closed her eyes, replaying the image of the labyrinth as seen from the top. Most of it had been hidden in shadows, but she’d been able to see the center. Unless the twenty-foot walls had rearranged themselves—and after her hallucination, she wouldn’t put it past the Mother—they were only a turn or two away.

  Salvador murmured something. Bending, she caught her own name. “Good,” she said, fully expecting him to rouse, but when he didn’t wake up, she pushed him over and whacked on his back, anything to get the spores out of his system.

  The smacking sound was loud in her ears. He was sure to have bruises later. “This hurts me more than it hurts you,” she said, continuing to hit him.

  Should she drag him out of the labyrinth? Would the divining rod work in reverse?

  “I will leave you if you don’t wake up,” she lied, hoping the threat would do the trick. When it didn’t, she sighed. Wracking her brain for a solution, she sighed and slid down the wall.

  Gia had an eidetic memory, enabling her to remember thousands of spells. However, most were defensive. The healing rituals she knew required magic to kindle them.

  Except for one. Gia knew a way to break a sleeping curse that didn’t need magic. What it needed was love.

  “You may be out of luck, buddy,” she muttered.

  But the man had come to hell to find her. She had to give him that. And you know you want to.

  Berating herself, she scooted closer, bending to press her lips to his.

  Nothing. He didn’t even twitch.

  She waited a bit more, studying his face, but there wasn’t so much as an eyelash flicker.

  “Right,” she said, mentally kicking herself. Why had I thought that would work?

  “What happened?”

  Gia jumped despite herself. Bewildered, Salvador scanned their surroundings, his slack features firming as he sat up.

  Catching sight of her, he grabbed her arm. “Oh, thank God. For a long and horrifying minute—or hour, I have no idea how long it was—I was back in Sheol, but you weren’t there. However, my entire family was, and I don’t want to get into the gruesome details, but I am so extremely glad my parents have no ambitions to rule a hell dimension because I think they would be way too skilled at it.”

  He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I thought it was real, but then I heard you calling my name. Thank you.” He touched his lips, realization dawning in his eyes. “Did you—how did you wake me?”

  “I slapped you really hard,” Gia lied, trying not to laugh. “Now get up. We haven’t even hit the halfway mark of the maze.”

  Salvador got to his feet with effort. “I don’t suppose there is a fruit-filled garden or nice gastro-pub in the center of the labyrinth?”

  With her assistance, he limped around the final corner.

  “Or a giant monster,” he whispered, stopping short. “I guess it wouldn’t be a true labyrinth if there wasn’t a giant monster in the middle.”

  Gia felt her blood run cold. “Not a monster,” she whispered back. “It’s a minotaur—Ariadne.”

  Salvador grimaced. “I thought the minotaur was a male… and Perseus killed him. Wasn’t Ariadne monster-adjacent in Greek mythology?” he whispered as they edged around the sleeping creature.

  In life, the beast was close to the creature of myth depicted in Greek legend—with the addition of a set of huge pendulous breasts. They were obvious, as Ariadne slept on her back. The rest was spot on—a muscled, two-story-tall body and cloven feet—check. Massive horns—check. Also, they appeared much pointier in person.

  Visions of the time he had almost been gored by a bull in Pamplona in his wild youth flashed through his head. And I thought that was scary. Being run through by one of those would hurt. A lot. He doubted the minotaur would even notice his lifeless corpse impaled on one of those.

  “The Greeks got the story wrong,” Gia hissed, tiptoeing as the minotaur snuffled in its sleep. Its breath was rank enough to make his hair curl. “Now please be quiet until we’re clear.”

  She had a point, but Salvador was too fascinated for caution. Plus, Ariadne snored so loudly it would drown out a marching band—a big Texan one. As long as he kept whispering, there was no way she would hear him.

  “But wasn’t the minotaur supposed to be her brother? Or are they a family of minotaurs? What about Perseus?”

  “It was Theseus who slew the minotaur in the Greek tale, but that obviously didn’t happen in real life—quite the opposite.”

  “You mean she…” He pointed at the minotaur, then mimicked being gored.

  “More like…” she began, opening her mouth wide before snapping it shut and pretending to chew.

  He made a face, but she shrugged dismissively. “He had it coming—trust me.”

  “Did you know them?” he whispered, almost vibrating with excitement.

  “No. Now shut your damn beautiful mouth or I will slap you,” she said, her frustration cresting over.

  “My what?” Salvador laughed.

  They grew aware of the silence at the same time. “Crap.” He closed his eyes, afraid to look.

  “Ariadne, girrrrl! How are you doing?” Gia asked, shoving him behind her.

  The chilling sound of hoofbeats on stone rang out. He twisted to see the monster rearing up on its hind hooves. It started to stand… and it kept going and going until it towered over them. The snout, horns, and teeth were shiny with mucous that glowed faintly, as if it had bioluminescent algae inside.

  “The better to eat you with?” he wondered.

  There was an unintelligible growl, and Gia shook her head. “No, no. He’s not a snack. Just a traveling companion.”

  More growls. “Sorry, no. I wasn’t visiting. I didn’t know you were here. I was just on my way to make a report to Her. There’s a situation aboveground… No. No. Of course not.”

  “What is she saying?” he asked, less surprised than he should have been to realize Gia could understand Ariadne.

  Gia rounded on him, frustration filling her brown eyes. Belatedly, he shut his mouth, but now she growled something at him. “What did you say?” he asked from behind gritted teeth.

  She gave him a hard shove. And then the message became clear.

  “Run!”

  32

  Ariadne’s roar was finally growing fainter. Gia was grateful that hurdle was behind them, but Salvador was limping now. He had been trying to hide it for the better part of a day, but she knew he’d landed wrong on his ankle after they scaled the wall of the labyrinth when the minotaur had trapped them in a dead end. They had only just escaped by the skin of their teeth, but Gia didn’t begrudge Ariadne her effort. She had just been doing her job.

  Thankfully, Salvador was still mobile, which was saying something because she was pretty sure it had been at least two days since they’d entered the maze. Or at least that was what her empty stomach told her.

  A few more challenges had come and gone after they’d escaped the minotaur. A few hours after that, they had run into a door locked with a mystical combination. It had been the very devil to untangle, but she had managed—with Salvador’s help.

  Then there had been a challenging bit where there hadn’t been a floor for several hundred meters right when the maze walls had grown too high to scale. The pit below had been endless—at least, they hadn’t been able to determine how far down it went. None of the stones they had tossed in had hit the bottom.

  They had been forced to scale the walls sideways, using tiny finger holds and cracks to cross to the other side. Eventually, they had made it across, although their fingers had been bleeding by the time they had. And so it continued.

  We must be getting close to the end of the labyrinth. If Ariadne’s area was the middle, then they should be at the end, shouldn’t they?

  Somehow, their circumstances hadn’t dampened Salvador’s irrepressible optimism or his many questions.

  Naturally, he had insisted on hearing the entirety of Ariadne’s tale, including the
bit about Dionysus and what a colossal douchebag Theseus had ended up being.

  “But you didn’t know them personally, right?” he repeated at one point as they felt their way in near darkness.

  His continuous chatter was a handy way to track him in the gloom, so she answered his questions, even the repetitive ones. “No, I told you I wasn’t around. It was Itzel, my predecessor.”

  “Another Earth Elemental?” he asked in surprise. There was a grunt, then a scrape. She suspected he’d stumbled in the dark, but he didn’t let on. “Sometimes, I forget there were any Earths before you.”

  “Yes, Itzel was the one who passed her mantel to me. She was my mother’s distant relation.”

  “I thought there wasn’t a generational inheritance,” he said. “I always believed it was more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you know, the whole… one-is-randomly-chosen-by-destiny thing.”

  “Elemental lineages don’t have a clear line of descent like a normal witch family does. Our children don’t necessarily inherit our abilities. It’s rare if they do, but the predisposition has to be there, in the blood.”

  Was that going to be the case with Diana’s offspring? Gia had no idea. An Elemental hadn’t fallen pregnant while in service before. One of the many questions I have to ask Her.

  “Why do you think the Mother is making this so difficult for you?” he asked offhandedly. “I thought She would roll out the red carpet for you. Aren’t you Her favorite?”

  She’d hoped he wouldn’t ask about that. But he’d come all this way, and she knew he deserved an answer… Gia could trust him with it.

  “An incredibly long time ago, the Elementals of the earliest age rebelled against Her. She had been sleeping, and they grew discontented and unhappy with the constant warfare that kept breaking out within the human and supernatural populations. Sometimes, even between them.”

  “Your kind actually rebelled?” Salvador was shocked.

  “It was more of a strike than a full-blown insurrection, but a lot of damage can be done when we lay down our arms. The Elementals came down here to see Her, all four together, to air their grievances—ignoring their duties to do so. Chaos broke out above. But She did hear them out. She ended up triggering an ice age to end the fighting.”

  “An ice age? Isn’t that overkill?”

  “Not in Her mind, I guess.” Gia shrugged. “In any case, the Mother put safeguards in place to ensure it would never happen again. That was when the Supes had to agree to the Covenant or face being stripped of their powers. As for the Elementals, most willingly retired, then new ones were chosen. Except they found their ability to convene circumscribed. Afterward, all four Elementals could never be in the same place at the same time ever again.”

  “I didn’t know that. How do you have staff meetings?”

  “We don’t.” She laughed, then sobered. “But I do wish we could all be together.” She paused. “I love my extended family, but my Elemental sisters are closer than blood. It took me a long time to accept the fact our squad was never going to be together like that. But it’s all right. It’s not like I don’t get to see them, just not all at once.”

  His hum of acknowledgment and sympathy vibrated in her ears, and Gia realized he was much closer now than he’d been before. She turned and put a hand on his chest, landing over his heart by chance.

  “There is something I want you to know,” she began. “Can I count on your discretion?”

  There was enough light to see his nod. “Of course.”

  “I’m serious. You can’t tell anyone—especially your family.”

  Salvador put his hand over hers. “Gia, listen to me. After I was disinherited, I had plenty of opportunities. Well, at first, I partied a lot, but then I decided to dedicate myself to righting some of my family’s wrongs by healing. I didn’t make myself hard to find. A lot of powerful people came to me over the years, seeking alliances or partnerships. This includes members of the other Seven families. Hell, it includes members of my own house. Other Delavordos wanted to band together to overthrow my parents. Needless to say, I wanted no part of that. When all was said and done, I didn’t want to owe allegiance to anyone.”

  He squeezed her fingers. “But if you wanted me to make a vow—to swear on a stack of parchment—I would do it. I will keep your counsel, whatever it is.”

  His words rang with truth and sincerity. Gia took a deep breath. “Things among the Elementals are changing. According to Alec, Diana is pregnant.”

  There was a short silence. “Uh, did… did she retire and not tell you?” he asked uncertainly.

  “No.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Wow. Er, sorry, Alec didn’t mention it. It’s a surprise.”

  “I told him not to tell you,” she admitted.

  “Oh.” He drooped a bit, crestfallen.

  She ran a hand through her hair. “At the time, I wasn’t sure if we could trust you. Your family—”

  “Might go ballistic.” Salvador waved away her unnecessary justifications. “And if by some miracle they kept their cool, then it would be one of the other Seven getting their panties in a twist. I get why you didn’t tell me—I do—but why are you sharing now? Aside from the obvious.”

  “What is the obvious?” Gia would like to know because she felt lost. The sense of being unmoored had been with her since before the labyrinth—before Sheol—and she hated it.

  She couldn’t see him, but she felt his hand when it covered the one still resting on his chest. “I know you didn’t slap me awake,” he murmured.

  Gia didn’t deny it, but her thoughts were in turmoil. “I’m worried about Her,” she confided, knowing he would understand she couldn’t talk about them just now. “I shouldn’t be. Heaven knows She’s seen worse, but something feels off. The closer we get, the more wrong this all feels.”

  Salvador wrapped an arm around her. She let it stay there, even leaned in a bit. The strong beat of his heart thrummed under her fingers.

  “Are you worried She’ll ignore you or push us out? Because I admit I’ve been a little concerned since we found Ciro.”

  “I don’t think that’s the fate She has in store for us,” she said, aware the outline of his form was growing clearer.

  There was a light at the end of the tunnel—literally. Only it wasn’t a fixed point in the distance. Whatever it was—it was getting closer. Turning around, she pushed Salvador behind her. She tensed, preparing for the next challenge the labyrinth would throw at them.

  But then the world went white. After a minute, she heard the Voice…and it was telling her that it was sorry.

  33

  Salvador was holding Gia one moment, then his retinas burned as light returned to the world.

  He stood in a vast cavern lit by unknown means. And it was empty save for him and Gia. She was in the center of the open space, her hand up.

  Was she? She was… Holy crap. “Gia, can you hear me?” he shouted as he ran across the open space.

  She didn’t react at all. Her eyes were open, unseeing. The rest of her was in suspended animation. Even her hair was motionless, the thick sable locks frozen in free-fall. He touched it, knocking it to her shoulder, but the gravity-defying conformation of the curl didn’t change.

  He spun around, taking in the empty cavern. They weren’t in immediate danger, but he knew she’d been correct. Everything about this was wrong. He could tell by the way the hair on the nape of his neck stood on end.

  And Gia. Something was happening to her. Someone was hurting her right in front of him. She wasn’t moving, her face frozen in surprise, but he knew she was hurting. He felt it in his soul. And there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. What was he supposed to do now?

  There wasn’t much to do except wait. He put his hands on either side of Gia’s face, lowering his head until their foreheads were touching. “I’ll be here until you tell me not to be… because I love you.”

  Gia had never felt so alone.
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  “Why?” she asked over and over again. But there was no answer. Just the echo of that message—the one permanently burned into her brain—and the question that had followed.

  It felt like she couldn’t breathe, but she was panting, desperately trying to catch a real breath. Drawing her pain inside, she tried to pull herself together.

  She knew this pain—had felt it when Marco died. Had that been Her way of preparing Gia?

  She shuddered, the world swimming with unspent tears, and she inclined her head. I understand. “Your will be done,” she breathed. “Release me.”

  And the world restarted.

  “Gia!”

  The tears finally fell. Her vision cleared as Salvador grabbed her arms, pulling her to him. But she held something in her hands. It pressed between them, warm and smooth, almost a perfect sphere of clear blue crystal.

  He backed up, gazing at the smooth oval crystal in her hands. “That wasn’t there a second ago. What is it?”

  Gia glanced down, perplexed. “I don’t know.”

  “What about the Mother? Did you warn her about John and his poison? What about—”

  Holding the crystal up, she shook her head. “My… our discourse is over.”

  Relieved, Salvador’s shoulders dropped. “So, it worked?” He gestured to the endless and empty cavern. “She’s not here because She moved. She got to safety, didn’t She?”

  “Not exactly.” Gia swallowed hard. “She’s not here because She left.”

  “What?”

  Fighting past the lump in her throat, she forced the words out. “The Mother is gone. She… She has abandoned us.”

  Her hands fell, but Salvador caught the crystal before it fell to the floor. And then he caught Gia as she broke down and sobbed.

  Pressing the stone back into her hands, he lifted her into his arms, cradling her close.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he lied, wondering how the hell this had gone so wrong.