Page 60 of A Trial of the Heart

He was the steady voice that calmed the rage inside—the castle walls that never wavered in support when I was forced to combat my darkest memories. I was too scared to admit it before, even to myself.

“I won’t leave without you. The fate of the world means nothing to me,” Daxton countered, and I felt myself step away, taken aback or maybe just too stunned by my own realization to comprehend what he had just said.

“What—What do you mean?” I asked.

“Without you, there is no world for me, Skylar.”

My beating heart stilled and ached inside my chest. In my mind, there was no other option in this scenario. I would do everything, even give my life, to ensure he survived. Too many people depended on him, regardless of my success or failure.

I said youbothwould escape the burdens of this world. Your partnersees the truth in this and knows I have the power to ensure it.

“Why are you offering us this?” I cursed at the labyrinth. I refused to believe this was nothing more than a ruse.

You summoned another inside my walls. How? I do not know. But what I do know is that this is not something I wish to put to chance. You could call others to your aid with your unique magic combined with your ferocious will. You may, in fact, best this trial, and then I will cease to have a purpose. Being locked in a prison with no purpose—Now that is just maddening.

“So, in the face of uncertainty, you offer a coward’s escape. I hate to break it to you, but that’s not something I see myself doing.”

“Enough of this!” Daxton roared. “Skylar, you’re coming with me, and we’re escaping. You don’t have a choice in this.Iam making this decision for you. We canbe together. Isn’t that what you want?” The plea in Daxton’s eyes made me hesitate.

Yes. It is clouded, but even a blind man could see it, if not feel it. Hmm, interesting, I believe that is how you called him here. A force as fickle as fate, it seems, and just as powerful.

“I-I…” I couldn’t believe this was happening, and I hated that Daxton was putting me in this position. I searched for my animal’s presence, but she was silent. No, she was absent. There wasn’t even a whisper of her guidance, making me feel isolated and alone. I had never felt this lack of connection with her before, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a warning.

“Daxton,” I pleaded once more. “I want this. I do. But this is not the way to do it. I have to see the trials through. And I know you. We couldn’t live with the guilt of abandoning everyone we care for just for the sake of our own happiness.”

“Fuck the world, Skylar,” he roared. “You…are my world.” His confession was earth-shattering but also deathly frightening. “You’re coming with me,” he demanded as he reached for my arm, his grip tightening like a vice.

“No!” I countered, ripping my arm out of his grasp. “This isn’t you, Daxton! This isn’t right…” And then suddenly, it dawned on me. “You… You’re not really Daxton, are you?”

A sheepish grin crept to the side of his trimmed beard, his square jaw cocking to the side. I gritted my teeth as anger boiled inside me.

“Daxton wouldn’t force my hand. This… This is all some kind of sick trick!” I silently cursed myself. How had I missed it before? The absence of my animal’s presence, the shift in his demeanor, and the way he tried to force his hand. It all made sense now.

This wasnotDaxton.

It was a damn good impersonation of him, but it wasn’t him. “Who are you?” I roared, my power flaring out around me in a pulsing wave.

“It’s still justusin here, I’m afraid.” Daxton was still standing before me, but now, his voice was different. “All I’ve done is taken a new form … One that I thought would’ve convinced you to freely turn away from the path and ultimately grant me a victory.”

“Labyrinth?” I breathed.

“Why, hello there.”

Sheer horror took my breath away as I realized that thiswasthe labyrinth. It had the ability to take a physical form. It could shapeshift.

ChapterThirteen

The grin on imposter Daxton grew wider, almost inhuman, as the gray coloring of his eyes turned crimson.

“Well, well. Clever indeed. It’s pleasing to see that your beauty is not just a front. You have a precarious mind to match.” His menacing chuckle sent chills along my skin, my animal finally returning. “Your mind effortlessly ventured to this figure,” he said in a sweeping motion, addressing Daxton’s form. “In your extreme duress, the details were so astonishingly exquisite that it took little to no effort to duplicate his appearance based on your memories alone.”

Black fog encircled Daxton’s figure as his shape changed into none other than Gilen. “I wonder…” The voice was now an exact match to Gilen’s, making me gasp. “Would this person have convinced you?” He flashed me a wicked grin that was anything but sincere. “No? Perhaps this, then?” With a wave of its hand, Shaw’s form suddenly appeared, and then Rhea’s.

“No, based on your memories, I was correct the first time,” the labyrinth said with a perfect imitation of Rhea’s voice. “The prince is the only one that could have tempted you through death’s doorwillingly.” The blackfog rearranged and conjured Daxton once more, but instead of the stormy gray that I longed to see, his eyes were as red as blood.

“Death’s door?”

“Why yes,” it sneered. “This was a gateway to the great crossing. One that two champions before you willingly took. Yes, some trickery was involved that ultimately ended in deception… But some temptations are often too difficult to ignore. Was it not warned on the scroll to not abandon the path?” I paused, recalling the line in the writing Rhett had shown me. “Very good, you do remember. Now, if you could ease my curious mind, I wonder … what gave me away?”

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