Read Online Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II by R.K. Ryals - Free Book Online
Authors: R.K. Ryals
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and
there are a variety of multi-colored bean bags tossed haphazardly
on the floor. The room is full of hybrids.
Gray lounges in a pair of worn, grey sweats,
his head lying against one arm of the couch, his feet over the
other arm. On the floor beside him, Gwenyth sits cross-legged
painting her sister's toes a pretty shade of shell pink. They are
in matching silk pj's, the color similar to the nail polish.
Fiona is sprawled on a green bean bag near
the twins, a long midnight sleep shirt on. It extends past her
knees and bears a white, steaming coffee mug across the front with
the words, "Coffee First, Questions Later". Behind her, Bruno leans
casually against the wall in nothing more than a pair of black
sweat pants, the elastic waist band folded down once, his eyes on
me.
"That was quite a show you put on earlier,"
Lyre says as she moves next to Bruno.
Lingerie is a mild word for Lyre's ensemble.
It is nothing more than a thin, red silk camisole with a pair of
lacy red underwear. And yet, no one really takes notice. Lyre is
famous for her risqué night clothes, and we have been subject to
two months of colorful attire that would make Victoria's Secret
models blush.
"Didn't know you had it in you, Chase," Bruno
adds.
I look him in the eye.
" I didn't know I had it in me.
Of that, you can be sure."
Fiona sits up."Were you channeling your
mother?"
There is a wistfulness to her voice that
makes me wonder if she misses her Demon mom. Out of all of us, it
is Lyre and Fiona who spent the most time with their Demonic parent
before being sent to the Acropolis.
I shake my head. "No, I didn't feel
Enepsigos."
Deidra appears next to me, her dark face
looking up into mine.
"Then what? A power surge?" she asks.
I don't know how to answer her. Lyre
approaches me, her dark brown eyes darkening even more.
"She stole our powers, fed off of them. Am I
right, Em?"
Her accusation is enough to make Gwenyth drop
the nail polish, and Gray sits up on the sofa, any pretense of
sleep forgotten. I look each of them in the eye. I'm not the
confrontational type, but Lyre's finger pointing is guaranteed to
cause trouble.
"You want the truth?" I ask, my eyes
coming to rest on Lyre's. "I didn't feed off your powers , I absorbed your emotions . If that's an invasion of
privacy, I apologize, but it's not something I know how to stop.
You think I enjoy feeling your hatred, Lyre?" My eyes move to
Bruno's."Or Bruno's greed?"
Turning to the hybrids on the sofa, I point
at each of them.
"What about Fiona's obsessiveness? Hesther
and Gwenyth's infatuations, or Gray's desolation? And then there
are Deidra's fears and mine. You think I want to feel that, to
absorb it? And then what? What am I supposed to do with it once
it's inside of me?"
No one answers, and I twist the lid off the
water in my hands, taking a long, steadying sip that does nothing
to calm my nerves. Deidra's hand finds the belt loop on my jeans as
Bruno steps toward me. Sometimes it's unnerving having Bruno near
me but it's still not as unsettling as Conor's proximity.
"Maybe we could help you," Bruno says
carefully.
Lyre laughs."What? Are you serious?"
Bruno glares at her as Fiona stands up
slowly.
"I agree with Bruno. You were all in that
dining room today. You heard exactly what I did. This hybrid king
and his bonded Naphil want us to retrieve the Spear of Destiny. We
can't do that if we have a wild card leader and a bickering
army."
Lyre throws her hands up in the air."We don't
have to do it at all! Let them go after the spear on their own. We
have nothing to do with it."
"Don't we?"
The question is a bold one, and I'm surprised
to discover it comes from me. All eyes move in my direction, but I
don't flinch.
"I don't know what has happened in Hell. I've
never seen the place, never lived there, never even knew there were
such things as kingdoms and levels, but today we learned there is
at least one level usurped by a hybrid, a hybrid who wants to give
people like us a
there are a variety of multi-colored bean bags tossed haphazardly
on the floor. The room is full of hybrids.
Gray lounges in a pair of worn, grey sweats,
his head lying against one arm of the couch, his feet over the
other arm. On the floor beside him, Gwenyth sits cross-legged
painting her sister's toes a pretty shade of shell pink. They are
in matching silk pj's, the color similar to the nail polish.
Fiona is sprawled on a green bean bag near
the twins, a long midnight sleep shirt on. It extends past her
knees and bears a white, steaming coffee mug across the front with
the words, "Coffee First, Questions Later". Behind her, Bruno leans
casually against the wall in nothing more than a pair of black
sweat pants, the elastic waist band folded down once, his eyes on
me.
"That was quite a show you put on earlier,"
Lyre says as she moves next to Bruno.
Lingerie is a mild word for Lyre's ensemble.
It is nothing more than a thin, red silk camisole with a pair of
lacy red underwear. And yet, no one really takes notice. Lyre is
famous for her risqué night clothes, and we have been subject to
two months of colorful attire that would make Victoria's Secret
models blush.
"Didn't know you had it in you, Chase," Bruno
adds.
I look him in the eye.
" I didn't know I had it in me.
Of that, you can be sure."
Fiona sits up."Were you channeling your
mother?"
There is a wistfulness to her voice that
makes me wonder if she misses her Demon mom. Out of all of us, it
is Lyre and Fiona who spent the most time with their Demonic parent
before being sent to the Acropolis.
I shake my head. "No, I didn't feel
Enepsigos."
Deidra appears next to me, her dark face
looking up into mine.
"Then what? A power surge?" she asks.
I don't know how to answer her. Lyre
approaches me, her dark brown eyes darkening even more.
"She stole our powers, fed off of them. Am I
right, Em?"
Her accusation is enough to make Gwenyth drop
the nail polish, and Gray sits up on the sofa, any pretense of
sleep forgotten. I look each of them in the eye. I'm not the
confrontational type, but Lyre's finger pointing is guaranteed to
cause trouble.
"You want the truth?" I ask, my eyes
coming to rest on Lyre's. "I didn't feed off your powers , I absorbed your emotions . If that's an invasion of
privacy, I apologize, but it's not something I know how to stop.
You think I enjoy feeling your hatred, Lyre?" My eyes move to
Bruno's."Or Bruno's greed?"
Turning to the hybrids on the sofa, I point
at each of them.
"What about Fiona's obsessiveness? Hesther
and Gwenyth's infatuations, or Gray's desolation? And then there
are Deidra's fears and mine. You think I want to feel that, to
absorb it? And then what? What am I supposed to do with it once
it's inside of me?"
No one answers, and I twist the lid off the
water in my hands, taking a long, steadying sip that does nothing
to calm my nerves. Deidra's hand finds the belt loop on my jeans as
Bruno steps toward me. Sometimes it's unnerving having Bruno near
me but it's still not as unsettling as Conor's proximity.
"Maybe we could help you," Bruno says
carefully.
Lyre laughs."What? Are you serious?"
Bruno glares at her as Fiona stands up
slowly.
"I agree with Bruno. You were all in that
dining room today. You heard exactly what I did. This hybrid king
and his bonded Naphil want us to retrieve the Spear of Destiny. We
can't do that if we have a wild card leader and a bickering
army."
Lyre throws her hands up in the air."We don't
have to do it at all! Let them go after the spear on their own. We
have nothing to do with it."
"Don't we?"
The question is a bold one, and I'm surprised
to discover it comes from me. All eyes move in my direction, but I
don't flinch.
"I don't know what has happened in Hell. I've
never seen the place, never lived there, never even knew there were
such things as kingdoms and levels, but today we learned there is
at least one level usurped by a hybrid, a hybrid who wants to give
people like us a
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