CHAPTER 88

"The day I let a booger with tits scare me will be the day that I die of embarrassment." She half expected Tink to throw the hammer, and was slightly disappointed when she didn't. Something about antagonizing the goblin felt familiar to her, but she couldn't explain why.

Tink laughed. "Pussy has big mouth, but take goblin advice."

"Oh? Do you have some pearls of wisdom for me?" Kisa spun around and was walking backward now, amazed at how easy it was. Her tail moved of its own accord, helping to keep her upright, and she could feel the grain of the wood under the sensitive pads of her feet.

"Tink know plenty." She twirled the hammer in her hand, then adjusted her grip on it, holding it by the bottom. "Good stuff, like always have good hammer."

Kisa rolled her eyes. "How is that good advice?"

"Is best advice." Tink tossed the hammer into her toolbox. "Almost as good as check for polish."

"Check for what?" Kisa stepped back and slipped, then lost her balance. She slid off the railing, her hands outstretched, and grabbed onto one of the balusters, her feet now dangling over open space. Despite a tight grip, she slid toward the bottom of the railing, her feet dangling over open space.

The baluster creaked, and she swung back and forth, unable to pull herself up on the polished wood.

"Tink polish most of railing three days ago," the goblin explained as she walked down the hall. "Nice and smooth. Use best oil, but run out of time. Did floors last week, too. No good for climbing."

Kisa squirmed, and was able to let go and swing her hand up to the next baluster over. She continued this process until she finally reached one that didn't feel like it had been polished like glass.

"Tink would go two more," the goblin warned from above. "That one loose."

She pulled herself up and felt the wood start to give. Grumbling, she took the goblin's advice and moved again. This time, the wood held, and she scooted her hands up the baluster until she could use her legs to assist. From there, it was easy to spring over the railing and back onto the floor.

"You almost killed me," she said with a hiss.

"Not Tink fault cat is dumb. Railing made for hands, not paws." Tink had pulled a device from her toolbox and plugged it into an outlet in the hallway.

"You could have helped me," Kisa continued.

"Cat dumb, but strong, too. Tink know from punch. Not worried." The device clearly didn't do what Tink wanted, because now she was swearing under her breath and using a screwdriver to unscrew the panel.

Kisa wanted to ask what was wrong, but decided she had had enough of the goblin's nonsense. She walked by Tink and was halfway down the stairs when she heard a chuckle from above.

"Booger with tits," Tink muttered. "Tink like that one."

A smile crossed Kisa's face, and she continued down the stairs. Maybe she wasn't destined to be best friends with Tink, but she was willing to get to know the Caretaker better when the chance arose.

For now, she was fairly certain she smelled some leftover bacon downstairs and wondered if she could sneak one more piece before lunch.

Beth scowled at the water. She was sitting on the shore of the Labyrinth's circular river, watching it rush past. Her knees were pulled against her chest beneath a powder blue skirt, and she tossed another rock into the cold water. It disappeared with a small splash, and Asterion lifted his head from his position next to her to see what had happened.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't look at the minotaur. "Yeah, it's fine."

In truth, it wasn't. Ever since her return from the faerie realm, she had been playing the episode with the queen on repeat in her head. All she could think about was the giddiness that had overcome her, the rush of excitement that flooded her whole body and caused her to so quickly turn her back on Mike and the house. At that particular moment, she would have given her very soul to stay with the fae, and it bothered her to know that she had been out of control.

She hated being out of control.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Asterion asked, his voice a low rumble.

She had come down to the Labyrinth to drop Quetzalli off so that Ratu could examine the enchantment on the dragon and try to break it. Beth's plan had been to take her mind off of the faerie queen incident by dallying with the minotaur. However, before they could even get started, all she could think of was the queen's mocking tone as the nobility pawed at her body. It had been like a cold shower on her libido, and she had ended up just cuddling with the minotaur by the river.

While Asterion was kind, he was a terrible conversationalist. She had explained what had happened, and he had spent several minutes in thought over it with absolutely nothing to add.

"Yeah, I'm good." She sighed. Mike refused to talk about it with her. He kept telling her it wasn't her fault, and when she had tried to explain her discomfort at being unable to control herself, he had just nodded and explained it would get better with time. It had been a couple of days since the incident, and now Mike was back with the centaurs over his head wound. Apparently his wound had gotten infected, so she was stuck with bringing the dragon down to the Labyrinth.