18

I ran along the dimly lit stone walls, feeling like a lab rat in some research facility, hunting for cheese.

Part of me felt like an idiot. The other part, the winning part, knew I wasn’t just running for me. I was running for Ruth.

We, fifty-two losers, all ran blindly because, let’s face it, we had no idea what to expect. Behind me, voices rose in the air with spells and incantations and labored breathing. The musty, wet, mineral smell of the maze filled my lungs.

With a power word on my lips, the tunnel opened up into a dozen other tunnels and openings. The labyrinth. I had no idea which of these led to the center. Maybe they all did. With that in mind, I picked a middle tunnel and ran—

Something hit me on the side, and I pitched forward like a stunt woman in an action movie. Unlike an experienced stunt woman, I had zero training on my landings. And with my already quick forward momentum, I knew I was going to hit that ground hard.

I did.

My breath escaped my lungs as I smashed into the hard dirt. Pain exploded on my left hip and elbow, and I might have swallowed some dirt.

I spat on the ground. “Ow.”

I tried hard not to think about what I’d just had in my mouth as I pushed to my feet, wondering who had hit me and why.

A fist connected with my jaw.

Stars danced in my vision as I hit the ground again. My scream echoed around the tunnel as someone kicked me in the stomach—twice—before moving on. When I looked up, all I saw was a big witch male with red hair sprinting through the middle tunnel.

The bastard took me by surprise. It wouldn’t happen again.

I was still unsure why he’d done this. Only when I looked behind me did I understand.

Our entire loser group was fighting each other. And when I say fight, I don’t mean a few slaps and some hair pulling. I’m talking serious beatings in a mix of physical and magical hits.

I stared, opened mouthed at the most savage, brutal, magical brawl I’d ever seen.

Ten witches doubled back to the entrance of the labyrinth in obvious panic, their flight erratic and swift, dropping their bags, even phones, as they fled. High-pitched screams reverberated in the tunnel. A man’s voice let out a ringing, defiant shout.

With a roar of light and sound, a flash of blinding red and purple sparks illuminated the tunnel like fireworks as witches flung their magic at each other like automatic weapons.

The ground and walls shook under the magical fire. Latin words soared above the screaming as witches frantically defended themselves. Through the shouts rose the dull, heavy, and familiar sounds of a closed fist hitting flesh, over and over. More screaming was followed by a pause and then the gurgling sound of someone choking before it died away.

I could make out at least a dozen dead or unconscious witches lying in awkward positions on the ground.

This was madness.

I clenched my teeth, rage filling me. “What the hell is wrong with you people!” I shouted. I looked for Willis, but I couldn’t see anything past the flashes of multicolored magic and the blurs of arms and legs as the witches kept fighting.

The shouts and screams rose rapidly, growing louder and louder until it was a cry of madness. There was no dignity in the sound. No self-control. They’d all lost their minds.

There you have it. Put a group of people together, add fear and desperation, and you get Fight Club—but witch magic and no rules.

I had a feeling Silas knew this would happen. He wanted it to happen. He had added fuel to the fire by calling us losers and docking off twenty-five minutes.

And time was ticking fast.

If I stayed, I might get killed by a flash of rogue magic. Not going to happen.

Making up my mind, I shot through the middle tunnel after the redhead. I owed him a few kicks in his manhood.

I darted through the passageway, my anger and frustration propelling me faster as I left the screaming behind me. I ran hard until I could barely hear the fighting anymore, until I all heard were my boots hitting the compact ground and my heavy breathing.

I moved with my senses on high alert, keeping my wits about me since I knew the redhead might be lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump me. Not this time. I had the perfect power word to use on that son of a bitch. And I couldn’t wait to use it on him.

I slowed to a walk, listening with my heart pounding on my chest like it wanted out. It was tired of the constant abuse, and I didn’t blame it.

I checked my phone. The countdown app read: 40:00. Still lots of time. Right? Probably not. But I didn’t have a choice.

“You can do this,” I whispered to myself. “Because… you have to.”

I walked into a place that had never seen the face of the sun, never heard the whisper of wind. The tunnel was dark, close, cold, and intensely creepy. Who knew what kind of creepy crawlers lived here? Big, giant, slobbering, swallow-you-whole crawlers.

More stone walls moved past me with identical wall torches. The tunnels were narrow, forcing visitors to stay on certain paths. I peeked in a few openings, turns that took you nowhere, and claustrophobia began to take hold.

I wasn’t an idiot. It would never be as simple as just wandering to the center because what would be the point? This was a trial. Trials required some level of struggle, a test of performance. Something or someone would be there to stop me. I just didn’t know when they’d make their appearance.

After a few minutes of walking, a thread of panic slid through me. Maybe I’d been going around in circles this whole time? Was I lost?

I was so busy in my own head that by the time I saw the toad, it was nearly too late.

“Ah!” I screamed.

“Purrrreeeek!” called the toad.

Screaming like a banshee, I threw myself back and hit a side wall, my hands in the air in front of me with the power word still stuck between my tongue and my throat.

The toad was massive, the size of a bear, and nearly as tall as me. Its hide was rough, earth brown, and covered in large bumps. Two red eyes with a black horizontal line stared at me intelligently, magically. Strings of yellow spit drooled from the corners of its mouth, all the way to the ground. Nice.

And the giant amphibian was blocking my way. That was its purpose, which told me I was going the right way. But it also meant I needed to get past the damned creature.

So much for the trial being simple. “Hey, buddy. Think you can let me pass?” I was a witch and toads didn’t scare me. Hell, most of us either had them as our familiars or dunked them in our cauldrons. I wasn’t a fan of that last part.

But I wasn’t accustomed to toads the size of grizzly bears. And the longer I stood here debating, the more minutes and seconds I was wasting. I was running out of time.

That’s right, this sucker was big, uber big with an uber big belly and uber big hands and feet, with an even larger mouth.

Heart thrashing, I pushed off the wall and took a careful step forward, the toad’s eyes never leaving me.

I grimaced at the smell. “Damn. You stink big. Big stink for a big boy.” I laughed, thinking I was hilarious.

The toad’s jaws parted in a silent hiss, and its throat constricted weirdly until it swelled like a balloon.

I’d watched enough of the nature channels to know what that meant.

I tapped into the elements around me, focused my will, flung up my hands, and shouted, “Accen—”

A giant bogie the size of a beachball came at me with frightening speed.

With the rest of my power word forgotten, I ducked, threw myself to the ground, and landed with an oomph of hard ground hitting my ribs just as the toad’s snot hit the wall where my head would have been with a sickening thud.

And then something horrible happened.

The yellow snot sizzled and popped as rolls of steam rose. The hissing sound returned, and a round section of the stone wall just dissolved in a cloud of yellow mist and foul stench. Droplets of yellow liquid fell to the ground, and where they touched little holes appeared in the space of three seconds.

A hysterical laugh escaped me. “You’ve got acid snot? Of course, you would. How stupid of me,” I said, pushing to my feet, and I gagged at the foul smell. I knew toads had toxic secretions. I’d just witnessed this beast’s toxic secretion of gigantic proportions.

Fear licked up my spine until it was like I had an icicle instead of bones.

If that snot touched me… my skin, my bones, everything would melt away. Were these trials that sadistic? Were they willing to kill the witches in training?

Anger replaced my fear in an instant. I would not be beaten by giant bogies. Because, well, that would be humiliating.

I planted my feet. The giant toad barely moved, probably because it was just too damn big. I was going to barbecue this sonofabitch.

I turned toward the toad, fingers spread and palms out toward it. The toad’s mouth opened again, and it made a slick, hissing sound.

“Accendo!” I shouted, willing my fear—not of the toad but of failing—to a tangible shape, and directed it at the massive amphibian. My terror and adrenaline roared out of my fingertips in the form of a fireball.

Another globule of acid mucus sped toward me.

The fireball caught the blob in midair—and it burst into a cloud of ash and embers.

“Hah!” I cried and did a little victory dance. A wave of nausea hit as the magic took its payment. But I was so high on adrenaline, I barely felt it.

The toad burped, pulling my attention to it again as it opened its mouth.

“Like why? Why can’t I ever catch a break?” I readied myself, tapping into my will. “Accendo!” I cried, flinging another fireball at it.

The fireball hit the toad, and my confidence soared.

Then the unexpected happened.

The toad did not burn or explode into ash. Instead, the thing’s body welled and shifted. Joints popped and flesh rippled and stretched to gigantic proportions. Its legs and arms thickened and lengthened. The toad grew and swelled until its body was so big, it filled out the entire tunnel space.

“This trial sucks,” I grumbled, hating that flicker of defeat I felt.

The toad flicked its head at me. A grayish-brown tongue whipped out of its mouth.

I jumped to the left, only remembering too late that I was in a tunnel without much space, and hit the stone wall with a horrible thud.

That’s going to hurt tomorrow.

The tongue wrapped around my lower left leg and yanked me forward. My feet left solid ground, and I was hauled across the tunnel and smashed into the opposite wall. I slid to the ground as I felt the tightness of the tongue release.

I gritted my teeth as agony sang through my body. My nerves pulsed into a burn, and a primal sound of pain and determination escaped me.

Think, Tessa. Think!

It was clear. If I tried another fireball, the toad would grow again. But then, how was I supposed to get past it?

I could try to climb over it, but if that didn’t work, it would squish me to death.

There was just one way I was getting through to the other side of that tunnel.

“Screw this.” I let out a breath. “Okay, stinker. If I can’t go over you… and I can’t defeat you… I’m going through you.”

I’d made up my mind. I was going in through its mouth. Once inside I could either burn my way out or explode an opening large enough for an exit.

Yup. I was mad. The thing had acid snot. But everyone knew you needed to be just a little mad to be a witch.

I had to believe the impossible was possible.

“Bottoms up.”

I moved to face the giant toad, crouched into a running position, and waited. I’d only have one shot at this. I prayed to the cauldron I was right. If I wasn’t, the acid would kill me.

The toad’s eyes flicked to mine.

My pulse thrashed as I lowered myself further. “This is going to suck.”

The creature opened its mouth.

I burst into motion, making a beeline for its large, disgusting, sewer-smelling mouth—and leaped in.

I held my breath, my boots hitting something soft, like walking on a giant sponge. I blinked into darkness. I couldn’t see. And for a horrible moment, panic hit. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

I felt a tug on my will and then my boots hit solid ground again and I blinked into the dimly lit tunnel.

The toad was gone. It had disappeared. I turned on the spot, looking for any evidence of the toad, but there was nothing. It was as though it never existed.

Silas had a strange sense of humor.

A trickle of excitement pulled my breath tight. But my happy mood evaporated as I checked my countdown app from my phone. The numbers 25:00 flashed back at me.

I had no idea how close I was to the center of the labyrinth or how many other toads or creatures I was going to have to face before I got there. Because I knew more were coming.

And with my luck, they were probably worse, much worse.