PROLOGUE
Calista
“We made it,” I breathed as I took in the castle at the center of the labyrinth. After all I had encountered, it didn’t seem to be as scary as it was in the beginning. Jessandra’s wariness paused my personal celebration.
“I wouldn’t be so confident.” She raised her hand and felt the air along the threshold of the drawbridge. “I fear you will lose no matter what.”
Tears of anger pricked my eyes for the boy who wormed his way into my heart. “I followed his stupid rules!”
“Have you learned nothing from me, child?” Her intense gaze locked with mine. “Fae have no rules.Everythingcan and will be twisted to suit our needs and desires.” She snapped her long fingers in my face. “Just like that.”
Metal clinked and grinded. We turned to find a thick chain reeling in. The ground vibrated, then a loud groan echoed as the bridge pulled loose from the dirt. Bits of mud and grass clung to the wooden edge and between the slats as it rose from the ground.
“Roth’s balls!”
A sneer split my face. Boys and their bits are what got me here in the first place. And balls were gross. “I really wish you’d stop saying that.”
Jessandra smirked. “So does he.”
She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened. I followed her gaze and froze with shock. Goblins watched us as they ran for the bell tower, climbing up the ladder to reach the rope.
“It’s not time,” she whispered.
“He can’t do this!”
“Hecan do whatever he pleases,” she hissed. Jessandra grabbed me and hoisted me up onto the rising bridge. “You must go. Now!”
I reached down and grabbed her arm, but my hand was sliding off quickly. “Come with me!”
She gave my hand a squeeze before the bridge lifted me too high to hold onto her. “This is not my journey. Astaroth will kill me on sight for guiding you. My debt to you is repaid. Pray to your god we never meet again.”
Kill her on sight? For helping me? I wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t kidnapped my brother to get even with me, but now…. All I could see were Roth’s furious, glistening eyes as they towered over me. Those speckled orbs that I loved so much swirled into an oblivion, devouring the starlight within until they hardened like obsidian and threatened to smash me where I laid.
The mud on the edge of the bridge made it hard to retain my grip as it rose higher. If I held on any longer, the drop wouldinjure me. Then, my brother and I would be trapped here at the mercy of who I now knew as the Goblin King. I took one last look at Jess as the bell tolled. She was retreating into the alleyways of the city, chased by the guards that fought to keep us out.
“There she is!”
I peered over the edge to find a battalion of archers at the ready. All arrows pointed at my head. “Stop her!”
They released their arrows, and I let go of the bridge, sliding down into the courtyard of the castle. Splinters dug into the palms of my hands, but that was better than being pierced by the arrows thudding into the wood at my backside. When I hit the bottom, I toppled onto the cobblestone road leading to the castle doors. It towered ominously above me as I scampered backward on hands and feet out of the view of the windows. The sharp bits of wood stung my flesh as they pushed deeper inside my hands. Shadows covered my presence as I quickly picked the biggest shards out. One held so tight I had to use my teeth. I spit it to the ground, ignoring the bead of blood that followed as I took in the discolored concrete walls of the fortress ahead of me.
“Nothing is ever as it seems,” I muttered to myself as I crept forward on cautious tiptoes, surprised that no soldiers guarded the castle itself. With great care, I ran my hand along the wall until the concrete disappeared but still looked like it was there. “Aha.”
Hesitant, but running out of time, I stuck my head inside far enough to see and found a party of sorts. Goblins danced around singing a song I couldn’t translate.They shouldn’t be celebrating. They haven’t won!Exhausted and irritated, I stormed into the room. The goblins did a doubletake and grew silent with shock. Whether it was because I actually made it or from my stinky, disheveled appearance, I wasn’t sure. Probably both since those nearest me pinched their noses and fled my proximity.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
They glanced at one another before scattering into the shadows and through tapestries hanging on the walls. I would’ve gawked had I not already seen a million strange and disturbing things throughout the labyrinth. At the head of the room, curtains drew aside to reveal the Dark King himself, leisurely draped across his throne as if he were bored. My heart skipped when his head fell to the side the way it used to do when we laid on the forest floor together. His leather pants creaked as he righted himself and stood, reminding me how much he had grown since last I saw him. A smug grin appeared on his face. The boy I once knew was now maturing into a man.
“I am here.” His arms stretched out to his sides to present himself to me.
“Not you, you egomaniac!” The smirk slipped from his face, as if he were taken aback at my venomous name calling. “I made it before the bell tolled, as per yourrules. Now give me my brother!”
Astaroth clicked his tongue. “Cali,” he sighed. The way he said my name always made me pause. It rolled off his tongue as if he struggled to let go of it. It pained me as much as it did him.
“No!” I stamped my sore foot to help me resist his charms, hands clenched at my sides. My jagged, broken nails dug into my palms.
His tall, lean body hardened as he came to a standstill. “No?”
