Max couldn’t see
straight. Between the tears pouring from
his eyes, and the rage that seemed to make the whole world vibrate he could
barely stay on his own two feet. The
only thing keeping him upright was Rita.
She was talking to him,
telling him to stay put. How could he
stay put? He needed to go after
Clare. He needed to get her back.
This was not how the
proposal was supposed to go.
“Max, all you’ll do is
get yourself captured, too.” Ashtyn was
leading him away from the chessboard, his arm slung over her shoulder. “How are you going to help Clare then?”
He didn’t care. He just wanted her back.
They were leading him
through the hedge maze, back towards the hotel.
They were taking him away from Clare.
He needed to go back to her. He
pushed off of Ashtyn, trying to get away, but she had a firm grip, and he was
starting to lose energy.
“She said yes.” He was
sobbing. “She said yes, and now she’s
gone.”
He could see a look pass
between Rita and Ashtyn. The horror he
saw in their eyes, the sadness, didn’t help.
“Then we will figure out
a way to get to her, to get her back to you.”
Rita was talking now. “We just
need you to have a clear head, okay?”
As they approached the
steps leading up to the lobby Max saw a man standing there, a crystal orb
clutched in his hands. It was… Q. They had met at the house… the old witch’s
house. He was… he was her son. He was a part of this!
Max broke free of Ashtyn
and Rita, rushing towards the man. Q had
no time to react before Max was on him, knocking the crystal orb from his grip,
sending it rolling.
“You did this!” Max had Q by the throat. “You and your bitch of a mother did this to
my Clare!”
Q was trying to speak,
but Max didn’t want to hear it. He just
squeezed harder, watching as the man’s face went from a healthy tan to a air
choked red. He hated to admit it, but it
felt good to lash out, to hurt someone as much as he was hurting.
“You’ll kill him!” Rita
was pulling him off. She had a lot of
strength for someone so small.
Max’s hands slipped from
Q’s neck. The other man was gasping for
air, his eyes were blood shot. “I… I can
help…”
“How?” Max was screaming
now. “How the hell do you plan on
helping? You probably let her out!”
“I know how… to get… to
them.” Q was starting to stand. Ashtyn
was helping him up, handing him back the crystal orb. “I know where the gate is to my mother’s
world.”
“Where is it?” Ashtyn was
speaking now, her eyes darting back from Max to Q.
“In my mother’s house, in
her chapel.” Q was hugging the crystal to his chest now, like a little kid
hugging his teddy bear. “The black
pool.”
Ashtyn glanced to Max,
then Rita. “I know where it is. Come
on.”
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