The sky was lit by a three-quarter moon when Vincent and I started our journey through the labyrinth. With the cube, a supply of water and snacks, and an ancient text about the goddess we would face, Dmitry patted us on our backs and sent us on our way. His smug smile had put me in a mood.

While I shuffled like an overstuffed elephant, following the directions Dmitry had written on a sheet of paper, Vincent recited the details of Isis's life from the book. "It says here that pregnant women in ancient times prayed to Isis asking her to ensure the safe delivery of their children."

"Why are you bringing that up? I don't plan to have our baby inside this labyrinth. I just want to get this over with and get the hell out of here."

Vincent lifted his gaze from the page, looking regretful. "I just thought it might be reassuring to know that Isis was known as the mothering goddess, among her other titles."

"Thanks. I'll log that away. And I'm sorry if I'm acting petulant. Dmitry is an asshole." I said this knowing he would take it as the apology I intended. "We're coming to our first landmark."

We pulled up to a concrete pillar with a steel sculpture of a star shooting from the top. Across from it stood a door with the same image etched into the wood. Based on the aerial view I'd seen of the labyrinth, the door opened to the other side of the hedgerow. But, according to Dmitry, each door had the potential to lead us to the chamber of Isis. Before that could happen, however, every landmark had to be engaged. There were seven in all, which meant I had a lot of walking ahead of me.

"What's the riddle?" Vincent asked. "I want to guess at it before you tell me the answer."

"I hold the landscape you cannot touch, but your eyes will tell you much. There is little to see in the light, but all will be revealed overnight."

Vincent looked thoughtfully at the statue, taking very little time to come up with his guess. "I'm going to say the sky."

I smiled at my clever husband. His intelligence nearly overshadowed his sexual prowess... Nearly. "You're right. Now, I just need to press my hand on the door and repeat the answer." Following the instructions on the paper, I laid my palm on the door and answered the riddle exactly how Dmitry had said to do it. "The goddess Isis is the ruler of the sky."

I stepped back as the etching on the door illuminated with the yellow glow of the eternal flame, igniting the star and making it look like it was preparing to shoot to the sky. "Wow. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah. I'm not sure whether to be impressed by your powers or to be afraid."

I snorted as I lifted onto my toes and gave him a quick kiss. "You should never be afraid of me. Only impressed."

My remark drew out a smirk, and he took my hand, tugging me further down the passage. "C'mon, my goddess. We have six more doors to ignite."

The next landmark we came to had a sun at its apex. The statue was constructed of the same materials as the last, and I couldn't help thinking of the gollums and demons I called friends. Each of them possessed the strength and stubbornness of steel and stone, and as I recited the answer to the riddle and watched the image on the door ignite, I thought of them. Although I possessed the same DNA as they did, I still had a hard time believing I was one of them.

"Baby, are you okay?"

Vincent's query drew me out of my thoughts, and I blinked at the yellow light shimmering inside the carvings of the door. "Yeah, I was just thinking about the friends I've made since meeting you. I can't imagine my life without you all."

I didn't realize my eyes were watering until Vincent brushed a tear away with his thumb. "Reese, I think I speak for all of your friends when I say we wouldn't be the same without you."

With our arms entwined, Vincent and I made our way to the next four landmarks, following Dmitry's instructions for each one. I had nearly eaten through our snack supply by the time we arrived at the seventh and final landmark. As I spent a moment catching my breath, there was a flutter inside my belly, and I grunted before I could censor myself.

"What's the matter? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, but I think baby Valentino is tired of all this walking."

"Well, we've come to the last door. We can take it slower on the way back." Vincent gestured to the sheet of paper in my hand, and I scanned the document, locating the final riddle.

The landmark opposite the door had been carved into the shape of a coffin with an ankh symbol on the front. We both agreed it represented the afterlife. Given the creep factor, I spoke the riddle with reverence, as if we were standing inside a church. When I pressed my hand to the door and offered the answer, my body tingled, like I was feeling the effects of a caffeine buzz.

When the door lit up, I almost expected it to open automatically, but Dmitry had said any one of the seven doors could lead us to the chamber. It was up to us to figure out which one. As far as he knew, there was no rhyme or reason for which door it would be. Isis would decide that.

"Okay, that's it." I leaned against the stone wall of the labyrinth, rubbing my arms to remove the strange buzz. "Now, we just try to open each door, I guess. You want to try this one?"

Vincent gave the door a scrutinizing once over. "I think it needs to be you, babe. If Isis is the one giving us access, she may see me as a threat. In fact, I think Dmitry only has me tagging along because he knew I wouldn't let you do this alone. My biggest worry now is that I won't be allowed inside the chamber."

"I was thinking the same thing." I bit my lip as I turned to stand in front of the door, taking the ornate handle it my hand. It was shaped like a pair of wings, which seemed appropriate. With a calming intake of breath, I gave the handle a twist, first left then right, but it didn't open the door. "Well... One down, six to go."

Taking my arm, Vincent let me lean on him as we retraced our steps. At the next landmark, the one representing music and dance, I tried the winged handle. Again, it didn't budge, but I noticed the buzzing in my body growing gradually stronger, and I wondered if Vincent felt it too. If he had, he probably would have said something, so I decided not to mention it.

I attempted to open two more doors without any luck, and when we arrived at the fifth one, I gave myself permission for a longer rest. As fate would have it, we had arrived at the door representing motherhood, and the statue depicted a heavily pregnant woman. A perfect copy of my current state. Vincent stood over me, looking worried.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. "And be honest with me."

I lifted my chin to offer the answer through my eyes, which I wanted to close for just a few minutes. "I feel wiped out, but that isn't going to stop me. We only have three doors left to check."

"Is that all you feel, just tired?"

He pegged me with those wise, gray eyes, and I couldn't help giving him the whole truth. "Well, I have been experiencing this strange buzz inside my body. It's not painful, just strange. Probably just fatigue."

"When did it start?"

"When I ignited the afterlife door."

When Vincent's eyebrows rose, I knew something was up.

"You're feeling it too, aren't you?" I said.

"Yes. It must be a byproduct of whatever supernatural powers are at work here." He glanced at the door in front of us, which was set inside a thick hedgerow. The pregnant woman carved into the wood wore an ornate headdress made of cow horns, and I remembered him saying one of the symbols of the Egyptian goddess was the cow. I could definitely relate.

Vincent offered his arm to steady me as I stood in front of the door, feeling a connection before I even touched the handle. When I wrapped my fingers around the wings, the handle turned inside my hand, and the door opened under its own power.

"I suppose we should have known it would be this door, huh?" I tried to sound brave, but Vincent had stiffened beside me, looking extremely wary, and he held me tightly to his side as we both peeked beyond the door.

The chamber held as much space as the penthouse living room, with walls made of stone, and torches burning inside antiquated sconces. Hieroglyphs decorated the walls, painted in red. There were birds, cows, and celestial objects, and they appeared to animate under the flickering firelight. A gazebo stood in the middle, looking both majestic and ominous.

I caught Vincent staring down at the threshold, probably remembering the shock he got the last time he tried to enter a secret chamber I'd opened. Of course, I knew he wasn't afraid to test the theory again, and I slipped my hand inside his. "Let's cross over together."

"No." He lifted his gaze from the floor, letting me see the painful pinch between his brows. "If I'm not allowed in, I don't want you suffering the effects. The powers here are clearly responding to you. I think it's best if you go in first. I'll be right behind you."

I nodded, knowing how much it hurt him to let me go without an escort. "You make a good point, as usual. Maybe you should give me the cube, just in case you're not allowed inside."

With a heavy sigh, Vincent reached into our survival kit and pulled out the cube. It was still encased inside the wooden box that supposedly protected demons from the magic. I had not been allowed near the object since we learned about the curse, so neither of us knew what would happen when I touched it. I couldn't stop my hand from trembling as Vincent set the box carefully on my palm.

"I hate this," he ground out. "I want to wrap my hands around Dmitry's arrogant head and..."

"Don't Vincent. I'm getting the strong sense that we need to keep our minds free of anger. If this really is a sacred chamber of Isis, she would expect us to enter it like we were entering her home."

Vincent's expression fell as he nodded gravely. "You're right, Reese. I'm letting my emotions get the better of me. But if anything was to happen to you..."

"I know. I feel the same way. Once we return the cube to Isis, we can go home and enjoy our family." I didn't try to hold back the tears filling my eyes as I lifted up and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Now, let's go take care of business."

Without overthinking our tenuous situation, I stepped across the threshold into the chamber. Once I was standing on the other side of the door, Vincent followed me in. Suddenly, a gust of air swept past us, causing my hair to whip into my face. The torches flickered violently, and I expected to see Vincent yanked back outside. But, a moment later, he was standing beside me, unharmed, and we both let go of a relieved breath.

"I wonder what that was about?" I said.

"I don't know, but I'm damned glad I'm not being forced to watch you from the door." He kissed my forehead before his attention was drawn further into the room. "Wow. That's some pyre."

I turned to scan the chamber, and, like him, the gazebo was the first thing to grab my attention. It was made of stone and wood, with the wood forming most of the outer structure; the pyre. Stretching at least ten feet up, the thick pillars were carved with intricate details, and set inside the pyre stood a throne with the goddess Isis sitting like a royal, all straight-backed and composed. Her stone likeness had been rendered with colorful paint like the hieroglyphs on the wall, and she looked at us as if she were truly made of flesh.

"It's her," I breathed, and a fresh wave of chills joined the buzz. I scanned the goddess from head to toe, taking in the handsome curves of her cheekbones and jaw, as well as the sharp angles of her eye makeup. When I got to her hands, I saw they were empty as she held them open in her lap. Something was clearly missing. Was she waiting for the cube to be returned?

Vincent and I moved tentatively toward the gazebo, and he took in a quick breath as he glanced upward. "Reese, look."

I followed his gaze, and my jaw lowered when I realized the ceiling soared until the light could no longer reach it. It was as if it had no end, and I felt the buzz grow stronger the closer we drew, until...

"Ah!" Vincent's cry came as he was thrown onto his back, just like before, and I waddled over to him as he pushed his body upright. "Well, I can't say I was surprised by that."

"But you were allowed inside the chamber. Why now?"

"Look at the floor, Reese." He pointed at the tiles covered in a fine layer of dust. Painted across them in black ink was a somewhat complicated symbol. A circle inside a square inside a triangle inside a circle. I had seen the symbol before, but I couldn't place it.

"What kind of symbol is that?"

Vincent rose to his feet and started walking the perimeter, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I've seen this before. It's called squaring the circle. It has its roots in mathematics and alchemy. I'm guessing it was put here to protect the pyre from anyone unworthy of approaching the goddess."

I stared at the outer circle where Vincent had been so rudely turned away. Had he been the first gollum to cross the border? "I can't imagine you being unworthy of anything," I told him. "You're the high magister of all gollum kind. You have taken an oath to protect humans."

Vincent returned from his trip around the chamber and stood in front of me, his face sober but soft. "Titles do not determine someone's worth. Deeds do. And, while I have protected many, I have also destroyed many. A benevolent goddess like Isis may not see those deeds as worthy."

I wanted to argue with him, but I'd probably end up eating my words. Nearly all the ones he had destroyed were demons. "Well, at least you were worthy enough to be allowed inside the chamber. So, I guess I just need to put the cube in Isis's hands, and we can go."

I gestured to the goddess sitting on the throne, and Vincent followed my gaze. "Let's hope that's all you need to do," he said soberly.

As he spoke, I felt a rumble beneath my feet, and when I looked down, I realized my shoe had crossed the threshold of the outer circle. The torchlights swayed as another gust of wind entered the chamber, but it didn't seem to come from the open door. It hit me square in the face, like the source originated from the statue.

I was tempted to step back, but I held my ground. If this was Isis telling me she was ready to accept the cube, I needed to swallow my fear and follow through with it despite the fact that my heart was trying to escape through my throat. When the wind died down, I turned to offer Vincent a reassuring smile as I stepped further into the circle. The torchlights continued to flicker as I cautiously approached the gazebo, and it wasn't until the sconces blew out and the room went dark that I stopped.

I heard Vincent's sharp intake of breath over the pounding of my heart, and all the blood rushed to my head as the chamber grew deathly quietly. I had no idea what to expect. Had I triggered the wind, or was it something else? Suddenly, there came a blinding display of light as the eternal flame burst from the floor, spewing up from the innermost circle to surround the pyre.

Just like the flames Dmitry produced inside the gallery, I didn't feel the heat of the blaze, and I remained were I was, paralyzed by the spectacle. Although I expected Vincent to call me away from the fire, it was a woman's voice I heard echoing from inside the flames.

"Welcome, dear child. I see you have come with a gift. I do hope your journey was not in vain."