Chapter 107: _ Good Demon, Bad Demon
The Alpha boy strides a few feet ahead of the crowd, squared shoulders radiating authority. His voice booms off the gleaming walls. "Show yourselves! We’re not here to play games. Who are you?"
His words bubble through the place like a stone thrown into water. For a breathless moment, nothing stirs. The Moon Blessed shuffles nervously, glancing over their shoulders like something might pounce from the shadows behind.
Shortly after, they start to hear some movement. Doors open soundlessly. Windows swing wide. And figures draped in white step out.
The cloth flows like liquid silk, catching the glow so perfectly it almost blinds. Their hair hangs long, straight, and midnight black, cutting sharp lines against the pale shimmer of their robes. And their faces... Heidi’s lungs seize. They’re beautiful. Unnaturally so. Chillingly symmetrical, with high cheekbones, flawless skin, and eyes that shine like wet glass. Every smile is perfect, but the perfection hurts to look at.
They move with unison grace with the tilt of their heads that is eerie in its synchronicity.
One of them begins in a melodious tone. "Welcome... Welcome to the labyrinth. It has been... a long while since wolves have walked these lands."
A shiver races down Heidi’s spine.
Her wolf hisses immediately. "Nope. Nope nope nope. Do you see those smiles? That’s not welcome, that’s appetizer menu energy."
Junie, of course, is whispering furiously at Heidi’s side. "Okay, I don’t know whether to run or ask where they get their skincare because—holy moly... are they airbrushed?"
Valentina snorts softly. "That’s not skincare, that’s Photoshop in human form."
The crowd, however, is falling for it. Their tense shoulders loosen. A few sigh in relief. The braided girl—the mate girl, actually clasps her hands together like she’s watching an angel descend from heaven.
"They’re beautiful," someone mutters dreamily.
"They must be the good demons," another whispers.
Heidi’s pulse stutters.
Good demons.
Her wolf bristles. "Oh, sure. Just ignore the part where they look like a cult of haunted porcelain dolls. Definitely trustworthy."
The figures glide closer, their robes whispering across the stone without the sound of footsteps.
The leader—if she can be called that, lifts her hands delicately, palms out as though calming skittish animals. "Do not be afraid. This place is not meant to harm you. We know why you are here."
Her gaze sweeps over them all, pausing deliberately on Alpha Boy, who stands his ground, unblinking. Then her eyes slide like blades onto Heidi.
And for one searing second, Heidi feels naked. Stripped open, like the woman can see every secret crawling under her skin; the near-sex with Amias. The whispered warnings. The gnawing doubt she tried to choke down. All of it, exposed.
Her wolf growls low. "Back off, Elsa knockoff. You don’t get to rummage through our junk drawer."
Heidi forces herself to drop her eyes, heartbeat beating like a drumline.
The woman smiles slowly at that. Then she turns back to the group as if nothing had happened.
"You are far from home," she continues sweetly. "The labyrinth is vast, and filled with both danger and shelter. You have chosen well. The path of light always leads to us."
The students erupt with noise again... this time cheers and relieved murmurs. Shoulders unclench. Someone actually whoops, pumping their fist in the air.
Junie shakes her head in disbelief. "They’re buying this? Seriously? We just stepped into Stepford Barbie Town, and they’re acting like we found the promised land."
Valentina’s lips twist. "She didn’t even say what they are. Demons? Fairies? Uber drivers? They’re just... here. And everyone’s suddenly cool with that?"
Heidi wants to agree and scream at everyone that this is wrong. But her throat feels closed again, tight with panic.
Amias’s words drum louder: Not everything in here is what it seems.
The figures in white move closer, closer still. One reaches out, extending a pale hand toward the braided girl, who eagerly steps forward like a moth to flame.
And Heidi feels the bottom of her stomach drop.
The alabaster figures lead them deeper into a path. The labyrinth feels different here. The walls are brighter than before. The sound of laughter and faint music still drifts from the strange houses around them, but now it feels rehearsed—like a laugh track playing on loop, a little too polished, and a little too empty.
Heidi’s every nerve is prickling. She can’t stop scanning the faces of the figures guiding them, searching for taints in this suspicious perfection.
Her wolf is pacing. "Alert, Heidi. I’m telling you, this is the part in the movie where the dumb cheerleader goes, ’Wow, they’re so nice!’ and then—boom! They are dead. Don’t be the cheerleader."
Heidi nods, feeling as though her steps are growing heavier as she walks. Her gaze flicks to the crowd. Most of the Moon Blessed are entranced. Shoulders relaxed with smiles breaking out as if all the stress had just... melted away. The mate girl is literally glowing, staying right at the front as if this is her homecoming parade. She even shoots Heidi a rude look, like see, my mate was right. We found the good ones.
Heidi wants to shake and drag her back by the braid to remind her that it’s too early to feel so relaxed. But before she can, the girl takes one more eager step forward.
That’s when a sound splits the air.
I-it’s a... cry.
A high and raw cry ripped straight from the gut.
The entire group freezes. Heads whip toward the front just in time to see the mate girl stiffen, her mouth open in a scream that never finishes.
Heidi’s heart stops.
The figure beside the girl, the one holding her hand, smiles with those perfect, red painted lips. Except now his hand doesn’t look so perfect. The fingers elongate, pale skin stretching too thin, until they’re long, sharpened claws that are dark at the tips.
They pierce straight into the girl’s chest with horrifying ease, sliding through bone and flesh like a hot knife through butter.
For a heartbeat, no one moves. They can all see it; the girl’s wide eyes, her trembling hands, and the blood staining white silk robes.
Then he pulls his hands from her chest, ripping her heart out. The sound is wet and grotesque.
The girl collapses before her scream can finish. Her heart is cradled delicately in his elongated hand, still twitching and dripping warm scarlet onto the gleaming floor.
For a full second, the entire group is silent, their brains frozen in disbelief.
Then chaos detonates.