Page 100 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
The castle’s hedge maze comes into view. I have so many memories between those leafy walls. There’s a tug in my chest. A spark lights within me. All at once I know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
“The door is at the center of the labyrinth.” Grabbing Harrow’s hand, I run toward the entrance. Finally, I can get the hell out of here. We race into the first corridor and I stop. The way through the maze is changed. “This is not the route through the labyrinth.”
“Of course she wouldn’t have made it easy.” Harrow sighs. “There’s a faster way.”
Hooking his arms beneath me, he lifts me up and shoots skyward. The air rushes from my lungs. I’ll never get used to the feeling of my stomach plummeting to my feet when I’m flying.
Harrow flies until we’re high enough above the maze to see it in its entirety. Now that I have a good look at it, I’m not even sure there was a path to the center. On top of the maze’s complex pathways, there are monsters inside the labyrinth. At least ten monstrosities roam various corridors.
“How was I expected to make it to the door?”
“She doesn’t really want you to leave. I expect she’ll be furious when she realizes we’ve cheated our way to the center. I’m sure she never expected you to be accompanied by someone with wings.”
The eyes of every creature in the labyrinth lift to where we hover above it. “They don’t look too happy about it either.”
As we descend, the monsters rush toward the center of the maze.They’re going to try to stop us from getting to the door.“Harrow?”
“Looks like we’re on a bit of a time crunch,” Harrow says as he speeds toward the door.
My hair whips behind me as we dive. His boots hit with a thud that leaves a mark on the ground. My stomach is still somewhere up above.Let’s not do that again.
I squeal as he sets me down. “We did it!”
The door out of the in-between is an exact replica of my bedroom door. I place one hand on the doorknob, holdingHarrow’s hand tightly with the other. Turning over my shoulder, I give him a grin that’s so wide my cheeks hurt.
The feeling of falling returns even though I’m still standing in place. Something changes in that moment. Harrow drops my hand.
No, I drop his. Wait, my hand falls through his. My body has become translucent. “What’s happening?”
An unseen force grips my center, yanking me backward so hard and fast that I can’t breathe. Harrow’s mouth is open, eyes wide with shock.
His distraught face vanishes.
The in-between fades from sight.
And then I wake up.
Someone is screaming inside my head. The scream comes again, ricocheting off the walls of my mind, fighting to break free. Are those screams mine? I’m trapped in here, alone in the darkness of my hollow skull. Where is my body? How do I get out?
The faintest sensation brushes past me. With a whoosh, I’m slung back into my physical form. Darkness still surrounds me. Awareness trickles in like water through a cracked vase. Pins and needles skitter up and down my arms and legs.
Warmth envelops my mouth. I gasp, my lungs expanding for what feels like the first time ever. There’s pressure against my mouth, preventing me from taking a full breath.
An overpowering symphony of cheers assaults my sensitive ears. Why is everyone so loud?
“True love’s kiss!” someone cries out.
“The prince has broken the spell!” a man’s voice yells.
“True love! True love!” the crowd begins to chant.
As my eyes adjust, I find Cassius bent over me. His tawny eyes are hyper-focused. When we lock gazes, he releases a breath of relief.
“Thank the stars, I thought you were lost to us.” The warmth in his voice melts through the edge of my shock.
“Cassius?”
“It’s me.” His fingers caress down my cheek.
