Page 73 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

The veins on his hand turned black. With a curse, Roan used his powers over time itself to hide the deathly spell that was crawling through his body. Culan could not see that, could not know what would be the end. He dug his hands into the earth, holding himself up on his knees when he felt ill enough to collapse.

“What was that?” Culan demanded as he spied the ring. “A trick? What magic are you hiding from me, cousin?” He glanced around at the newly risen soldiers, who were staring at him, their weapons raised as they fought once more for the Twilight Court.

“I hide nothing from you,” Roan lied. He fought against the black moon power, but soon it would take him. All he had to do was last just a little bit longer, hide the deadly effects of the ring just for a few moments more.

“Give it to me!” Culan threw Kate to the ground, forgetting her. She lay on her side, gasping but alive. “If you won’t give it to me, I’ll take it.”

Culan surged forward, kicking Roan in the chest. Roan fell onto his back, and Culan crushed Roan’s left wrist with his boot as he bent down and pried the ring off Roan’s finger. His cousin stared at it, his eyes dark with hunger.

“No! You are not worthy of its power,” Roan said, his body weakening as the poison from the dark moon continued to move through him. He knew that if he let his cousin think the ring was a thing to be coveted, it would entice Culan to take it from him.

“And you are? I think not.” Culan slid the ring onto his finger and grinned as he raised his sword. “Such power,” he rasped, his eyes glowing overbright as fire burst from his free hand in a ball of flame. “I will harness the power of the sun,” he roared with triumph. Then he slung the flames as though throwing a spear of light toward the battle. It struck the earth, rippling outward with fire. Men, Seelie and Unseelie, screamed as they were devoured by flames.

Culan swung back to face Roan. “You always were the weaker of us. You cannot stop me, not with your silly tricks of time.”

“Ahh... but you forget, cousin... time comes for us all... in the end.” Even an immortal could not hold back the fate of the end if it was destined to come. And the bells of time were tolling now for Culan, the silver ringing sound a painful blow to Roan’s cousin.

Culan’s eyes flashed with pain and confusion, and he stumbled, his grip on his sword faltering momentarily.

“What magic is this? What have you given me?” Culan stared at Roan, his eyes wide with shock and agonizing pain. “I hear bells... I...” He glanced around, seeking the source of the sound that only he and Roan could hear. “No... it can’t be... I am king... I...” Culan’s face took on a fierce but frightened look full of madness. He was still dangerous, still a threat to Kate if he realized she was close by. Roan knew Culan would kill her if he had the chance.

He struggled to get back up on his knees. The cursed ring would slow Culan down, but what if it didn’t slow him enough and he went after Kate again?

Kate climbed to her feet, retrieving her small dagger. She looked between Roan and Culan, then burst into a run straight toward Culan. Everything around Roan seemed to slow as he reached out with his magic to stop time, to protect her, to stop her from doing what she was going to do, but he could not harness the winds of time for long—they jerked free of his hold. Roan had never felt so helpless in his life. He’d used up most of his strength earlier on, trying to slow the advance of the Seelie forces, giving his soldiers a chance to regroup. And the ring had taken almost all of what he had left within him to wield in Kate’s defense.

“No, Kate!” Roan bellowed as she leapt at Culan’s back and thrust the dagger between his armor plates. It sank in, but it wasn’t a fatal blow.

With a roar, Culan threw Kate off his back. She landed beside Roan on the ground with a hard thud.

“Is that the best you can do, you damned little—” Culan lunged for Kate, his blade held aloft.

With the last of his physical strength, Roan knelt and stabbed his blade up into Culan’s chest, just below the edge of his armor.

Culan stumbled back, the sword in his hands falling to the ground. Kate and Roan watched as he collapsed, black spiderwebs crossing his skin as the cursed magic moved through him. The bells within Roan’s mind grew louder, tolling of doom, of death... of the end of time... for Culan... for himself. He’d always feared the sound of silver bells, they were painful for a Fae to hear, but now... He could not outrun the sound, and despite what they would bring, he could hear the beauty in the ringing notes. The purity of them. He glanced once more at his cousin.

Culan’s eyes were still, the light within them gone.

“Kate...” Roan managed to get onto both knees. The fighting slowed around them. The Seelie, seeing their king dead, began to throw down their weapons. Kate threw her arms around his neck and covered him with frantic kisses. But he could scarcely feel her lips anymore. How strange, this feeling of losing his senses, slowly, bit by bit. Black shadows began to bleed in at the corners of his vision. He strained his gaze, trying to chase them away.

“Kate...” he said again as he gently held her back so he could see her face.

Kate gasped. “Roan... your skin. It’s...” She looked between him and Culan, noting the similarity of their appearances. “What’s happening to you?”

“I don’t have much time,” he said. The pain was growing. How strange it was for an immortal to feel the pain of death. It was like nothing he’d ever felt before. Like an eternal shadow was passing over the moon, blocking out the light and, with it, stealing away everything he was. He’d always wondered why mortals feared death so much. Now he understood. It was an ending, and endings were such dark and lonely things, weren’t they?

“No.” Kate grasped his arms, holding on to him. “I won’t let you go. I?—”

Roan shook his head. “It’s too late...”

“I don’t understand.” Kate moved her hands up to his face, holding him between her palms. “This whole world is magic! Someone can heal you. Eudora can, she...” Kate’s words were breaking as she tried to speak.

Roan turned his face to kiss one of her palms and managed a small smile. “This is but a dream... and all dreams must end. It’s time to send you home.”

* * *

“No!I won’t go. I’m staying withyou.” Kate cupped Roan’s face as that beautiful and often frightening intensity started to fade from his gaze. It terrified her. She was losing him. Just like she lost her mother... her father. And she couldn’t go with him; the faraway look in his eyes warned her of that bitter truth.

“We’re in this together,” Kate said, her voice breaking. “I’m yours. You can’t just leave me... Youcan’t.”

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