‘So how about this: you saw what happened to Julius Adamson after the Knights of the Golden Eight killed his brother Lachie in London. Julius got consumed by that loss and because of that, he ended up foolishly confronting the Knights and all he succeeded in doing was getting himself killed. Now, you can’t—’

‘Hey,’ Jack said softly. ‘Kiddo. I get it. Thanks. Just give me a moment to process this.’

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pulled up a file he wished he’d never have to look at.

Zoe’s Message from the Other Side.

It was short, just a couple of paragraphs:

Jack,

I loved you from the moment I met you. Thank you for loving me back, with all my imperfections. That alone made my life worthwhile.

I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.

Jack swallowed, blinking back tears.

Then he wiped his eyes, stood up and nodded to Lily. ‘All right. We still got a job to do.’

Lily smiled tenderly and gave him a hug.

‘Sorry I had to get a little rough with you there.’

‘It’s okay. I needed it. I won’t lie, I’m hurting, but you’re right, I can’t stop now.’

Jack looked down the tunnel ahead of them.

It was square in shape, with grim stone walls.

Easton came back from the darkness.

‘Tunnel runs for approximately a hundred metres,’ he said. ‘Then it forks. But only one fork remains open and it leads to, well, a difficult place.’

‘All right, Easton,’ Jack said. ‘Lead the way.’

Jack and Lily followed Easton and Smiley down the straight stone-walled tunnel.

There was no sign of Rastor.

After destroying the skyscraper in the entry cavern, he had evidently hurried ahead to catch up to their other rivals in the Labyrinth.

About a hundred metres down the tunnel, just as Easton had said, they came to a fork.

The tunnel continued either straight or ninety degrees to the right.

But the straight section was filled from floor to ceiling with a dense metal door that was covered in Thoth hieroglyphics.

The carved glyphs shone dully under the light of Jack’s helmet flashlight.

Lily knew the drill.

She stepped forward, scanned the Thoth runes and translated them:

‘Life is rule, Death is life.

You have arrived at this place challenged, so the Emperor’s Way is closed to you.

Now, the Labyrinth performs its role.

In it, as outside it, Life precedes Death.

Ascend the pinnacle of Life or sit in the embrace of Death, it matters not to Omega.

For to avert the end of all things, you must now defeat the impossible Labyrinth.’

Lily gazed at the wall of metal blocking the tunnel going straight ahead. ‘This must be the Emperor’s Route, the shortcut to the end of the Labyrinth.’