Page 15

“Trolls, basilisks, the baobhan sith, and hundreds of other creatures. They all roam the labyrinth. They feed off of any Seelie scouts and spies foolish enough to find their way deep into the labyrinth.” He shot her a dark grin, as though the idea of Seelie being eaten was amusing.

“It’s how Lord Arun protects us. The Seelie fear this place, and the only way to reach the palace is through the labyrinth. ”

“The only way?” Kate hesitated. “Why can’t they go around it?

” So Roan’s labyrinth wasn’t designed to torture poor humans like her, but rather to keep his people and the palace safe.

As little sense as it made, she preferred to think of Roan as a protector, rather than the man who’d kidnapped her because of some silly wish.

Patch shot her a look as if he questioned her sanity. “Because the labyrinth has no end, girlie. It goes on forever and a day on either side, like an endless wall between us and the Seelie kingdom. You can never find the center unless you already know the way.”

An endless wall? Kate couldn’t imagine such a thing was possible, but perhaps here she’d have to do as Roan said and never make assumptions of what was possible or impossible.

“Wait... what do you mean, find the center?” She’d been trying to find her way through to the other side where the palace was.

Patch arched a bushy black brow. “It’s a labyrinth, not a maze, girl. You go to the center, not to the other side.”

Kate felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

She’d wasted hours going about the puzzle all wrong.

How could she have forgotten the story about the labyrinth and the Minotaur from the island of Crete?

The goal was the center, not the other side, whereas mazes were about reaching the other side.

“I’m an idiot,” she muttered.

Patch chuckled. “Well, don’t blame yourself. Lord Arun made this impossible to solve. Unlike most labyrinths, which always lead to the center, albeit in the longest way possible, he’s put up dozens of dead ends and ways that lead back to the beginning.”

“Is the palace at the center?” Kate didn’t want to think about how vast the labyrinth was if the distant palace was at the center of it.

“No, the palace faces the sea on the other side of the labyrinth and is protected from the sea by more enchantments.”

“If I’m supposed to reach the center of the labyrinth and the palace isn’t at the center... then how does that get me to the palace?” Kate tried not to let her disappointment show as she focused on her new goal. Reaching the center of the labyrinth.

“Don’t know. Never been myself.” Patch didn’t clarify if he meant the center of the labyrinth or the palace, but Kate had a suspicion he hadn’t been to either.

“You said there were trolls, basilisks, and... What is a baobhan sith?” She knew what trolls and basilisks were, at least from mythology and lore.

“The baobhan sith are Fae, pretty ones who will lure you into a dance. When you are exhausted from dancing, they will drain your blood.” He hesitated and then gave her a nudge. “That blade you’re wearing is made of iron. It would kill a baobhan sith.”

“My blade? Oh!” She’d almost forgotten the slender dagger that she’d tucked into her boot. “How did you know I had it?”

“There’s a gem in the hilt. Kobolds can sense the presence of jewels, just like dwarves. ’Tis why we mine.” He tapped his bulbous nose. “We can sniff them out.”

“Wait, I thought fairies didn’t like iron. Why would Roan have an iron blade?”

Patch smirked at her. “You don’t become king of the dark Fae unless you’re strong, girlie.

Roan is from the purest Seelie and Unseelie bloodlines.

He carries the magic of the wild from his father, and there are rumors of other powers he’s taken from his mother’s lineage.

A Fae like that will be uncomfortable around iron but not weakened like the rest of us. ”

“Roan is both Seelie and Unseelie?” That was something she hadn’t expected.

“Aye. As is Lady Eudora, Lord Arun’s sister. It makes the Seelie king blinding mad, it does.”

“Why?” Kate asked.

“Why? Because to have the power of both worlds? Culan would kill to have that power.”

“Culan? Is he the Seelie king?”

“Aye, and he’s Lord Arun’s and Lady Eudora’s cousin. Culan’s father was Lord Arun’s uncle. When he died, he left a power-hungry son on the throne in the Morning Court.”

Kate walked with Patch and remained quiet for a long moment as she considered her next words carefully.

“I thought... that the Seelie, the light Fae, were... the good guys?” She bit her lip, hoping that Patch wouldn’t be offended by the question.

The kobold snorted. “Light and dark are only a reference to a Fae’s source of power, girlie, not an indication of what lies in their heart.

Are we dark Fae more prone to giving humans nightmares or tempting them into danger?

Of course, life wouldn’t be fun without a bit of danger, eh?

” He was chuckling to himself now as if at some private joke.

“I suppose if you want to get down to particulars, the Seelie might overall be more appealing on the surface, but trust me, Kate of the Winslows, you’d be better off with Lord Arun than the likes of Culan.

At least when Lord Arun seduces you, he will give you all that you desire.

We are the court of dark, delicious pleasures.

The Seelie love to play their harps and sing their merry songs, but us.

.. we embrace our hungers and our vices in equal measure.

You’ll have no shame here, not if you become his consort. ”

“Consort?” Kate had heard the word before but only in the context of marriage to a royal person.

“Aye, some might call you a human pet, but Lord Arun would certainly take you as his consort, to care for you all your long-lived days.” He hummed softly then, a little tune that was part mystery and part melancholy.

“You wouldn’t know the ballad of the Bride of the Dark Woods, would you?

” he asked, clearly convinced he already knew her answer.

She shook her head.

“Didn’t think so. Humans always forget the best stories we tell them. The bride was one of you, a human girl who was brought here by one of Lord Arun’s ancestors when she made a wish. She became the king’s consort, his queen.”

“She married a dark Fae king?” Now Kate was enraptured. That was a story she’d like to read. “Could you tell the story to me?”

Patch huffed. “I’m no bloody bard, girlie. Besides, we’ve got to keep our wits about us. If I start trying to tell a story, we’d get eaten.”

“Oh...” The sting of disappointment faded when she remembered what he’d been telling her about the labyrinth and its dangers. He was absolutely right—getting lost dreaming about fairy tales would only get them both killed.

“So how do I kill trolls and basilisk?”

Patch let out an aggrieved sigh, as though her questions were starting to annoy him. “You need only run from a troll. They are slow, stupid beasts. Just don’t stand too long in one place, so they can’t strike you with a club.”

“And basilisks?” She kept at his side as they walked along the path.

“Assuming you avoid staring at one or getting bitten, you need to have your blade soaked in its own venom to kill it.” Patch shot her pitying look. “If you see a basilisk, you’re probably done, girl. Done.”

Kate shivered as a knot of dread welled up inside her.

If she was remembering her mythology, a basilisk was a serpentine creature that was sometimes said to have a lion’s tail or a even a rooster-like head, but was definitely snakelike.

She wasn’t afraid of snakes, at least not the ones who weren’t venomous.

She even liked holding ones that weren’t dangerous.

But a basilisk wasn’t just a poisonous snake.

It was a legendary one. One that could kill her before she could even blink.

If she got herself killed, Caden would never get to go home.

Oh, Caden... She wanted to cry, wanted to go back home and just convince herself this was all some wild dream. But it wasn’t. She sniffed, trying to fight off the burn of tears. If her mother was here, she’d tell her to buck up, to keep her focus on the goal.

“Well, I can’t just give up, Patch,” Kate whispered. “Roan has my brother in the dungeons at the palace. If I can solve the labyrinth in a month, he’ll set us both free.”

“Is that what Lord Arun said?” Patch looked unconvinced. “You’re in the land of the Unseelie, girl. Every bargain has a price, every wish comes with a sacrifice. ’Tis the way with all Fae. We can’t be trusted.”

“Even you? You’ve been really helpful,” Kate reminded the kobold. She had already learned quite a bit about this world, thanks to him.

The kobold gave her a look of reluctant surprise.

“If I was, I didn’t mean to be,” he grumbled and resumed walking.

Kate still had more questions, and she hoped the grumpy little Fae would keep answering them.

“Why would Roan bring me here? I mean... I’m not exactly fairy consort material.

” She was just a girl. She knew she was pretty, but she wasn’t “bride of the dark Fae king” kind of pretty.

She wasn’t experienced, she wasn’t worldly, she wasn’t.

.. anything Roan should be interested in. So why had he brought her here?

She didn’t want to think about the way he’d kissed her in the bathing room, because if she did, she would have to acknowledge that some small part of her wished she had done exactly what he had asked her to do: strip naked and climb in his bed.

That girl wouldn’t be facing trolls, Fae vampires, or basilisks.

She’d be having sweaty, mind-altering sex with a Fae lord.