Page 85 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

Kate feathered her lips over his and whispered, “Love.”

It was only one word, but it was the only word she needed to say.

He smiled back at her. “Love,” he echoed in wonder.

There was no greater force in the vast reaches of the universe. Even the Fae knew that.

“Once I realized thatyouwere the labyrinth, it was easy to find you. Because Iloveyou, even the darkest and scariest parts of you.” She traced his lips with a fingertip. “That meant I could always find my way to the heart of the labyrinth... to the heart of you.”

He touched her cheek and she flinched, rubbing one of the wounds she’d suffered during her journey. “Somehow, I suspect it’s more complicated than that.”

“I’ll tell you the very long and crazy story later. Right now, I just want you to hold me.” She nuzzled him and breathed in that unique scent of his that in the past had driven her wild with lust, but right now simply made her feel like she’d come home. His arms tightened around her, and he feathered kisses on her forehead and the crown of her hair.

“You will tell me what you’ve been up to, Kate of the Winslows, because I’d like to hear it before the blasted pixies tell everyone else.”

She started to laugh so hard it made her stomach ache. When she finally stopped, she was wiping tears of joy from her eyes.

“All right, I’ll tell you, but only after you do something first.”

Roan’s blue eyes burned intensely. “Name it, my darling.”

She was cradled on his lap and really didn’t want to leave, but it was time. “I found the center of the labyrinth. It’s time you kept your promise to take me home.”

His dark brows rose in surprise. “Home?”

“To the palace,” she added with a cheeky grin. “It’s our home now, isn’t it?”

“My home is wherever you are,” Roan said as he brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, “my love.” His deep voice carried those last two words with such power that she shivered.

His smile promised Kate that she was well and truly loved by the dark and powerful Lord of the Labyrinth. Just like the bride of the dark woods in her book of fairy tales, she was no longer afraid. She had set foot upon her path, and that journey had changed her. Here in the land of the Fae, she had learned to believe in fairy tales and happy endings again.

After all, she was living in one.

Epilogue

The bride danced in the arms of her dark king. The curse that had haunted him was washed away by the power of the bride’s love for him. The bleak future that she had sought to prevent never came to pass. All was well in the land of Faerie after many long years.

“I knew the moment I first saw you that you would be mine... mine to love, mine to worship,” the king whispered against the lips of his bride.

She smiled up at him, trembling with joy. “We fought so much darkness to be together. Now even the stars cannot match the light of our love.”

And thus, as this tale began once upon a time, it now must end as the bride and the king of the dark woods lived happily ever after...

—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court

Kate plucked nervously at her silver-and-purple gown as she waited to enter the throne room. She could scarcely believe it had been a month since she’d woken Roan from his deathlike sleep.

So much had happened since then. Her head was still spinning. The palace had thrown parties every night for an entire week upon Roan’s return. Then there had been countless meetings between Roan and his mother as the Seelie and Unseelie forged new treaties,betterones. Ones that promised someone like Culan could not sound the horns of war so easily ever again.

The labyrinth was no longer a barrier against the Seelie. The enchantments that had kept everyone unable to travel over it had vanished the moment Roan had woken up, and the dark and dangerous creatures within had disappeared as if they’d never been there. Kate believed that the labyrinth had been created by the most powerful of Roan’s magic after his father died because he wanted to protect his lands and his people. He just hadn’t been aware of it. It was why he alone had the power to travel across it and why no creatures within dared to defy him. But now that peace reigned, the labyrinth was still there, but it was a beautiful endless garden full of delights and treasures rather than danger and fear. Lady Kyma had claimed the ruins of the most crumbled parts of the labyrinth to build a new forest for her kin, and soon new dryads were born from the tiny seedlings she planted in the ground

Andvari, the king of the dwarfs, had new gates to the labyrinth built, ones that would remain open, a beautiful passageway between the two Fae kingdoms rather than a barrier.

Perhaps the biggest change came a few nights ago, when Roan had asked her to be his queen.Queen.It still didn’t seem quite real to her. She’d gone from worrying about finals for her business course to running a kingdom side by side with Roan.

Kate smiled. Her mother would have loved that her daughter had dared to leave her own world behind to find love and a life in another. To find the life she was meant to have all along.

After she’d told Roan about how she’d returned to his world and how she’d searched for him, she told him that she had a choice when she’d met his mother deep in the cave. She’d chosen him, rather than return to a time when her mother had been alive.

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