Ari was using heat exhaustion and my thirst to torment me into appeasing her—and her strategy was working.
In my confused state of mind she was both torturer and savior—she came bearing life-giving water and offered me her icy lips as an opportunity for me to drink salvation.
Her transformation in my eyes was now complete. She shape-shifted into a goddess stamped out in stars who still deigned to come down to earth to rescue me from a hell of my own creation.
She took a long drink from the ice water and smiled as I groaned in desperation.
“I know what you want—you want those long, icy kisses that never seem to end, don’t you, Theo?”
She took another few sips then bent down and pressed her mouth to mine, allowing me to drink the water from her cold lips.
She sat back on the ground and stared at me. Her face was now in shadows and I could see her mouth and eyes as dark patches in the gloom.
“Do you want me to satisfy you, Theo—is that what you want?”
I nodded mutely.
She took another deep draught of ice water and then brought her mouth again to mine. I hungrily plundered her lips.
She repeated the process a third time and then abruptly pushed me away angrily. “Less passion, and more affection!” she stormed, slapping my cheek and then throwing the water in my face.
“Men—you can never be trusted to show some control.”
She stood up and picked up the ice bucket.
“Please, don’t leave, Ari—please!”
She shook her head slowly. “Yes, I know you want me, Theo—but you’ve been a naughty boy and now you’re going to have to spend the night out here alone.”
“No, don’t leave, Ari, “ I groaned.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, Theo, and we’ll see then if you’ve learned your lesson. But I should warn you I’m not due back home for several days. I think by then you’ll be a changed man, Theo. Your head has been spinning like a weathervane, but I’m going to see that you face the front again!”
And with that she was gone. I lay flat out on the ground looking up at the deepening sky above and seeing the first few stars.
I knew if I stayed out all night I’d end up shivering in the cold unable to sleep. If I were going to solve the puzzle of the maze, I’d have to try now before the sun went down.
I was thinking more clearly now that I had drank a small amount of water from Ari’s lips and the blinding sun was behind the trees. I tried to remain calm and think logically.
I had to put aside the horror of Ari’s torture chamber and look for a way out, but if I wasn’t able to focus and was still trapped by the following morning, I knew I wouldn’t make it through another day.
