Page 31 of Labyrinth of Broken Vows
I cling to his words, but there’s something darker underneath them; something desperate, afraid. It’s not just for me, but for him too. He’s scared.
“Thorne...” The name slips from my lips, soft, fragile—so unlike the fear pounding in my chest. I hadn’t even realized I’d said it out loud until the echo of it fades. It feels strange to say his name without the weight of the title, King, but in this moment, the maze, the danger... it feels like all that power means nothing.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that,” his voice whispers through my mind, What does he mean?
I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes. Everything is spinning around me, his words, the shifting walls, the looming shadows. The truth in his voice stirs deep inside me, but I can’t focus on it. Not now.
“I don’t understand...” I manage to whisper, shaking my head. My hand tightens on the dagger, its cold, rough surface grounding me. "Why me?”
There’s a brief pause, and I can feel his presence, pressing against my thoughts as if he’s standing right behind me. “I sent you the dagger for a reason,” Thorne says, his voice rougher, more strained, as if he’s fighting something. The calm he’s always held in our strange, mental conversations is slipping, his control fraying, letting raw emotion creep in.
"I’ve seen what you’ve been through. I’ve watched you endure. I’ve seen the fire in you—the one no one else sees." His voice drops lower, and I can almost feel the weight of his words like a touch on my skin. “You’re not just some pawn in this maze, Brielle. You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.”
The words slam into me, knocking the air from my lungs. The one he’s been waiting for? My heart races, my mind spinning as I try to make sense of it all. Why would he wait for me? I’m no one, just a woman.
“Do you think I would have let anyone else live this long in here?” he continues, and there’s something darker in his voice now, possessive. “You don’t even realize it yet, do you? How important you are to me. How much I need you alive.” His voice trembles on the last word, the desperation thickening. “I can’t lose you. Not now. Not after everything.”
My heart pounds, each beat heavy with the weight of his words. His fear, his longing, it wraps around me, pulling me in.
“I’ll tear this maze apart to get to you if I have to,” he growls, the darkness in his tone making my stomach twist. “But you have to survive this. You have to fight your way through.”
My grip tightens on the obsidian dagger, the weight of it grounding me. I feel his fear bleed into mine, our panic intertwined. His voice is no longer the taunting king who lured me here; there’s something raw and almost... broken in him.
“Why, Thorne?” I ask, my voice barely more than a whisper, but I need to know. *“Why do you care?”
He’s silent for a moment, and when he speaks again, it’s lower, darker, laced with something almost painful. “Because you’re mine, Brielle. You’ve always been mine.”
His words shock me, leaving me standing in the shadow of his need, his obsession.
"Now fight," he murmurs, his voice a caress, "Fight your way to me, or I'll tear apart this maze and everyone in it to get to you.”
I swallow hard, gripping the dagger tighter. The walls shift again, but I’m no longer just running from the maze; I’m running toward him. Toward whatever this twisted, dark connection between us has become.
And for the first time, I’m not sure which scares me more—the maze, or him.
Villina’s eyes darted around, and I could see the tension in her body as she prepared for whatever was coming.
Something moved, a blur of darkness at first, but then another growl, closer this time. Shadehounds. My heart pounded as their massive forms emerged from the shadows, claws scraping against stone, their hungry eyes locked onto us.
"We need to move," Villina hissed, backing up, her gaze scanning the fog. "Now."
But it was too late. The first hound lunged toward us, its powerful body hurtling through the air. Without thinking, I lunged to the side, slashing my dagger through the air. The blade connected with the beast’s side, and it howled in fury, staggering before crashing to the ground. Villina was already moving, her sword slicing cleanly through another hound’s throat, but more were coming; too many of them.
I didn’t have time to be afraid. I fought on instinct, ducking and weaving as the beasts charged from all sides. My heart raced, my blood pumping with an adrenaline I had never felt before. The Maze King called me his she-wolf, and maybe he was right. I felt it now; a fierce determination to survive. Villina fought like a demon beside me, her blade flashing through the fog with deadly precision.
A large hound leaped toward me, and for a split second, I saw its teeth coming for my throat. But I was faster. I dropped to the ground, rolling under its massive body, and drove my blade up into its belly. Blood sprayed as the creature let out a final, desperate howl before collapsing. As quickly as they had come, the hounds retreated into the shadows, leaving behind only the echoes of their growls. Silence fell, broken only by our heavy breathing.
I stood there for a moment, drenched in blood and adrenaline, my chest heaving. Villina wiped her blade clean on her sleeve, shooting me a sideways glance.
Her eyes met mine, both of us shaken but refusing to show it. My hand trembled around the obsidian dagger, the weight of it a reminder of the blood I'd just spilled.
"Those things are getting faster," Villina muttered, wiping her blade clean, but her tone held a hint of fear, maybe, though she’d never admit it.
I nodded, still trying to catch my breath. Thorne’s voice had been silent in my head for a few minutes now, but his words still echoed,I can’t lose you. Not now. Not after everything.
A slow, mocking clap echoed through the space, and my blood ran cold. Out of the shadows, a woman stepped forward, her features sharp and beautiful in a terrifying way. She wore a flowing dark gown.
Her eyes, cold, calculating, locked onto mine as her hands continued to clap, the sound reverberating off the stone walls.
