Page 1 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

Prologue

Once upon a time…a wish was whispered, weaving a spell of sweet longing and moonlight. No dark king could resist such an enchantment as a mortal woman’s wish...

—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court

The barn owl that was more than simply an owl ruffled its feathers as its gaze swept through the darkened bedchamber. Layers of purple shadows stretched over the room, except for a single beam of moonlight that illuminated the figure of a young woman curled on top of the covers of a bed against one wall. Her soft weeping altered the vibrations in the air, keeping the owl that was not an owl on edge. He shuffled his clawed feet on the carpeted floor of the woman’s bedchamber.

The owl’s eyes funneled the scant light and allowed him to survey this new world through a predator’s sharpened gaze. He stretched a wing out until pain forced him to pull it back against his body. A soft screech escaped him. He had come a long way from the portal in the woods, and his injured wing still needed time to mend.

The woman on the bed stopped crying. The owl that was not an owl buried his face in his feathers, going still.

She sat up and looked around the room, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. He peered back at her through his shield of feathers. Her gaze finally settled on him, and a strange sense of destiny tugged at the core of his being, as though each breath this mortal woman took bound him more and more to her.

A life saved meant a life owed. But he was clever, and the payment of his debt would not come in a way this mortal would expect.

“You okay, Handsome?” Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, and the tracks of tears on her face shimmered like liquid moonlight over her cheeks.

Human tears. Did she not know the power they possessed? He could cast an enchantment that would last for centuries with a single tear from this beautiful woman. His eyes missed nothing as he studied her in the half dark.

Oh, little mortal,he thought as he ruffled his feathers. She slid off the bed and came to him, her slender bare feet peeking out from a loose pair of satin trousers she’d worn to bed.

“I hope the vet was right and that you’ll be all right after a rest. You’re too beautiful not to be flying out in the night.” She knelt beside him and reached out a hand to him. He opened his beak and gave a little nibble on her finger, making her smile through her tears.

“You’d never hurt me, would you?” she asked.

Her tone told him that she didn’t mean that he wouldn’t claw or bite her. No, it came from somewhere deeper, somewhere darker in her soul. This woman had been hurt, and yet she dared to trust him.

Oh, but, little one, I am darkness. I harm those with light within, even when I do not wish to. It is my curse... it is my nature.

However, that endless black abyss within him that roared with rage and demanded blood went eerily quiet when this human was near. Each time she held out a finger to him or caressed his feathered head, a sense of peace he’d not known possible overtook him, quieting the raging storm inside him.

Could she be filled with a light he’d never seen before? A light that made pale the very essence of the Shining Ones like him? Surely not, for this woman wasmortal. She had no ancient blood, no connection to his realm.

Her brown eyes, like honey shot through with amber, watched him intensely, just as he watched her.

“I wish I knew what you were thinking,” she mused. “It must be quite serious, because you look like you’re frowning.” Her lips curved up in a half smile.

A wish…yes. He needed her to make a wish. The owl that was not an owl wanted her to speak the words that would give him the power to claim her, but for that he needed her to make a wish. But how could he make a human utter the words that would give him power over her?

The owl moved a step closer on the carpeted surface of the floor toward her. She stroked her fingers over the top of his head as he continued to look back at her, unable to tear his gaze away. Pleasure rippled through his body, and the ache in his injured wing faded to the background of his mind.

Had this mortal cast a spell on him instead? Such a thing was not possible.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” she asked.

He chittered softly, and she grinned. His breath caught at the dazzling sight. It was like the glamour he could cast upon others, yet he saw no visible magic.

“Very well. I’ll be right back.”

She left the room. After a moment, the door opened, but it was not the young woman who entered. It was the little boy he had seen when the woman had first rescued him and brought him here. The boy couldn’t have been more than ten or twelve mortal years. His mop of blond hair and blue eyes made him look desperately innocent. This was the sort of child who would have been welcome in his realm, for the Shining Ones adored beauty in all its forms.

“Wow. You’re so cool.” The boy knelt on the floor and reached out for him with a gentle touch, just like the woman’s. “Kate’s amazing. Of course she’d rescue you. I bet by the time she’s done taking care of you, you’ll be better than ever.”

And who is Kate to you?the owl wondered silently. He’d spent so little time in the world of men. This modern age had left his kind overshadowed by bright lights and frightening technology that weakened magic.

“I... I think she really needs a friend right now,” the boy suddenly confessed. “I’d love to be her friend, but she doesn’t even want me to be her brother.” He paused, his face tightening with pain. “But I’d do anything for her.Anything.”

A little brother. A loyal one. That was something the owl understood. Loyalty was a treasure to be cherished and protected. Even for a creature of darkness and mist, he craved loyalty and—foolishly—love.

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