Page 84 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

She sucked in a breath. Tears carried magic. It was what she’d been told so many times. Tears heldlove, and love was magic.

Kate leaned over Roan, and the tears came so easily to her. They flowed in rivers down her cheeks, coating her lips even as the rain fell all around them.

When her lips touched Roan’s, the world seemed to stop except for the rain, which turned into a torrent as an ancient, invisible fire kindled between her mouth and Roan’s.

Come back to me, my Lord of the Labyrinth.

The rain suddenly slowed around them, drops hanging like frozen dew in the air before they began to slowly fly back up into the clouds as though time itself was turning back, like the hands upon an ancient clock.

Kate lifted her head and stared down at Roan. His lashes fluttered, and the shimmer of a century-old spell rippled over his skin and then was gone. The black veins on his skin faded away. Kate held her breath, waiting... hoping.

At long last, her king opened his eyes. And the rain once more poured down from the skies around them, and the air flooded with the smell of petrichor and growing things... of life.

Blue eyes no longer clouded by death or pain burned bright, like diamonds infused with fire. Those eyes... they were what her dreams were made of, and she couldn’t live another moment without losing herself in them.

Roan’s lips parted as he stared at her in endless wonder.

“Kiss me... Kate. Kiss me or I’ll believe this is yet another dream...” Roan whispered.

A joy brighter than any Shining One could create filled her body and soul as she kissed him. Roan was awake,alive. He washersagain.

Kate curled her arms around his neck as he sat up, and he pulled her onto the bed with him. Laughing, she buried her face in his neck as they held each other beneath the wild rainfall that coated their skin, washing away the dust and darkness of a century.

“You did it,” Rath said to Kate as he joined them at the bedside and clapped his hand on Roan’s shoulder.

“My friend.” Roan gazed up at Rath, his eyes dark with emotion. “You stayed with me, didn’t you?”

“I would stay with you until the very end of everything,” Rath promised.

“How long was I...” Roan didn’t finish.

“A hundred years,” Kate said. “I didn’t know it would take me so long in your world to get back here.”

“What of my sister?” Roan asked his friend.

“I haven’t seen her since you were laid to rest. The way here was closed to all. I do not know if...” The First Lance swallowed hard and looked away.

“She’s waiting for you, Rath. Go to her,” Kate said, then glanced at Roan. “Open a Fae road for him, send him home to her.”

Roan closed his eyes, and a blinding portal of light burst forth behind Rath. “Go, my friend. Delay not another moment. Life, even for us, is too brief to miss those we love.”

With a rakish but weary grin, Rath leapt into the road and vanished as the light from the gateway faded.

Kate and Roan looked at each other again, and then she leaned in, pressing her lips to his, tasting the magic that filled each tender, passionate caress of their mouths.

Kate wasn’t sure how long she and Roan were lost in each other, but when they finally took a moment to catch their breath, Kate realized the smell of death and dying around them had faded. Dozens of intoxicating aromas now mingled in the air with the clean scent of rain. She gasped as she saw the blooms of a thousand flowers in a thousand hues covering the ground. The wildflowers had come back. Wisteria hung in draping boughs above their heads.

“You brought it all back to life, Kate of the Winslows,” Roan chuckled. “You broughtmeback to life.” For the first time, she glimpsed faint crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. Had he changed?

Roan placed his hand on the back of Kate’s neck as he pressed his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and held her tight, as though he feared she might vanish.

“You’re mine, Kate. Mine now... minealways. I’ll never let you leave me.”

Her heart felt like it was going to burst. She was exhausted, so tired she could no longer move, but she didn’t need to. She was right where she wanted to be. With him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kate promised him. “I’m yours, remember?” She kissed the tip of his proud nose, which earned a smile from her dark king. Then she stroked a finger over his lips as their gazes held.

“How did you come back? Did Eudora come find you?” he asked after a long moment. “I used the last of my power to send you away.”

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