“Leo, leave. I’ll let you go, please. Just leave,” I said, tears welling again. My powers retreated down inside of me. His face twisted in suffering.
“I have nothing to go back to. You were my everything. You were always my everything. I have nothing now. I failed. I promised I would protect you, promised I would never leave you, ‘til the day I die,” he whispered. Tears streamed down his face. He took a step back, closer to the ledge.
He glanced behind him, assessing the height.
“Leo, what are you doing? You can leave, don’t just-”
He turned back to me, a sad smile crossing his face.
“I’ll love you forever, Val,” he said, his face desperate. He stepped back.
“NO!” I screamed, reaching my arms out toward him, grappling for the air but missing him. I was too late.
Fury and pain ripped through me. I screamed in agony. I roared, letting every inch of my power well up as the pain shattered through me. My glow became thick and heavy. I felt the world around me turning small. I was rising up in the air. Hovering, flying. I released the last bit of my pain as I fell back down to the stone ground.
I landed on my feet, still standing, power coursing through me. Pain returned to my veins like an old friend. Tears flowed down my face.
He was gone. Dead. Taken from me by the Brotherhood. They had done this. They had brainwashed him. The anguish of his loss shredded my soul, leaving me empty and tattered inside.
I wished I could go back, wished I could reverse time and stop him. That I could change his fate. Leo, my Leo.
I would avenge him; I would kill every single person in the Brotherhood. They would pay for his loss with their lives.
I forced myself to steady, forced myself to focus on the now and mourn later. I stilled my sorrowful heart, hardened it temporarily as I turned to look at Alder. He was slouched on the ground, his skin pale. I walked over to him, pressing my hands to his face, trying to force my power into him.
“Alder, we can break the curse now. Please, wake up. Please, help me. Please,” I said through tears. But he did not even open his eyes.
And that was when I heard the flapping of wings. Massive wings.
I turned to see a dragon, scales of black and white, land on the opening of the room. It shook the tower as it hit. It’s massive body barely fit on the ledge.
The dragon turned to smoke, and a man walked out. A beautiful, tall, dark haired man. Ice-blue eyes stared at me as he walked forward. He wore that thick dark fur coat, his black clothes underneath nondescript, except for those steel tipped boots.
He walked with an air of arrogance, confident and dangerous with a smile of gleaming white teeth. My heart fluttered hard in my chest, taking my breath away.
“Hello, Valeria. Oh, how I’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter 50
The first thing I noticed was the power within him. It was dark and deep. It felt like a never-ending well of black. And oh so deliciously strong.
The second thing I noticed was that it was calling to me. Just like Alder’s had.
I felt his power wrap around me, encircling my own and tightening its grip like a python. He sauntered towards me, that powerful and beyond handsome face beaming with confidence.
Words seized in my throat. I felt frozen in his grip.
“I saw what happened to your lover. What a shame, you must be devastated. It wasn’t the poor lad’s fault really, I may have left out some minor details when I gave the Brotherhood that ring,” he said with a smug grin, his deep voice smooth as honey as he spoke. He walked closer, his face above mine, his breath against me smelled of amber. He was tall, taller even than Alder.
“Unfortunately for him, that ring only links a person to the ring’s creator. And as soon as you put it on, it called me here to you,” he said, taking his hand and lifting up my chin. Our eyes met.
“I’m sure you can put two and two together now, Val.” His power gripped closer. My own power fought against it, but it did not budge.
“I will never belong to you.” I spat through closed teeth. I pushed my power hard against his, trying to get out of his vice.
His eyes sparked as he felt my power moving against his. He dropped his hand, his smile twisting and wicked. My power flared for him against my will.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you will find me quite… endearing… in time,” he said, walking to the bowl in the middle of the room. I hissed at his remark, fighting his dark claws around me.
He drug a lazy finger around the rim of the bowl.
“Now, come and set me free,” he said, lifting that same finger and making a beckoning motion to me.
His power drew my feet forward. I resisted, but I could not fight it. I took several steps to the bowl, the enchantress wrestling inside of me. I felt nauseous.
He pulled a knife from beneath his fur cloak, the same small knife I had used in that dark lair so many days ago.
I felt a pull on my hand to raise it, but I pushed it down.
“No,” I said through gritted teeth, fighting hard. “I will not.”
As I said those words, I felt the grip around me loosen. As if my words had power over him, too. I wondered if the bond this ring had put between us worked both ways? Or was I becoming too powerful to silence?
“You will. You cannot break the promise you made,” he said, his eyes flaring, fire beneath them.
“No,” I said again.
He smiled. “Oh Valeria, I think you will. Because if you don’t, your beloved Alder will die. The longer he stays here, the closer to death he becomes. And I may not be able to force you to give your blood, but I can force you to stay here and watch him die.” As he spoke, I felt tendrils of his power anchoring my feet to the ground beneath me.
My mind raced, my heart throbbed in my chest. What should I do? What choice did I really have?
“I came here to break the curse,” I said to him, steadying my voice.
“Then what are you waiting for?” he mused, “break the curse.”
“I— I need Alder, I can’t do it without him.”
He laughed. “Is that what he told you?”
I nodded, confused.
“Valeria, is Alder the cursebreaker? Or are you?” His lips pursed slightly. He seemed entertained.
But his words shook me to my core. Alder had said we were both required? Why would he have said that? I looked over to him, his eyes closed, his power drained.
Because he loved me and would do anything to get me here, because he didn’t want me to be alone. He knew it could kill him, and he did it anyway. To stay with me. For a chance of redemption. And because he believed in me, he had always believed in me.
I felt resolve settle in my bones. I turned and looked back at Daemion. His eyebrows rose in anticipation.
I reached out my hand and took the knife from him. I flickered my eyes up at him through my darkened lashes.
I saw him… hesitate. He sucked in a small breath, his eyes glimmering with something for just a second. The look I had given him… it had pushed him off balance somehow. He regained composure, but I hadn’t missed it. He had shown his hand. He wasn’t immune to me. Wasn’t immune to my powers or my beauty.
I can take control.
I sliced against my hand in the same spot as before. The pain was sharp, but I did not wince. I did not let my gaze drop from his eyes. The blood pooled quickly in my hand.
“Daemion, I break the curse you placed. I set you free from your bondage. But I bind myself to you, and I will make sure you will never curse this world again.” I turned my hand, the lake of blood cascading down toward the bowl. His face lit with fire, his hands reaching out to try to stop me. But he wasn’t quick enough. The blood hit the bowl.
A massive shock wave blew out from the blood drops, almost knocking me off my feet. Fire erupted from Daemion. The world around us felt like it shattered like glass. A sweet taste filled my mouth.
Then it all settled.
; Daemion pulled back down his fire and laughed. That deep laughter that had surrounded me in his lair.
“You brilliant, beautiful thing,” he said, his eyes locking on mine. Behind me, I heard Alder stir. I turned around to see him moving, his eyes opening. My heart filled with joy. I started over to him, but Daemion grabbed my arm.
I turned and pulled against him.
“Let me go,” I said, but he didn’t budge. Didn’t even look down at me. He was looking at Alder.
“Alder, hope you don’t mind if I borrow your Queen for a bit? Or should I call her my Queen now?” He gave Alder a wicked smile, his face twisting as his dark power washed over me. I saw Alder’s emerald eyes flash, his hand reach out toward me.
Then blackness overtook me.
Chapter 51: Alder
I felt my power come back to me in a tidal wave. It seeped through my bones and woke me from the slumber I had fallen into.
I opened my eyes and saw her. Saw her with him. Heard her words drift to me through my malaise. I saw his smile, that evil smile, as he looked at me.
I knew that look. It was the same grin he always had when he was trying to rip everything I loved from me. I reached out for her, begging for him not to take her.
But I was too weak. I watched as he whirled her away. Fear in her eyes as she looked at me that one last time.
I felt the wind in my lungs exit in a harsh exhale as she disappeared. I clutched my chest and pulled myself to standing. I stumbled to the middle bowl and used it to steady myself. I stared down at her drops of blood that had gathered in the bottom. My voice cried out for her, the anguish inside breaking through my power like salt on open wounds.
The flames raked over me as my power fully returned. I took in a deep breath and straightened my back. My power felt wrong, like something was missing. It was her. She was missing from me. I stepped to the edge of the open tower and looked out, searching for them but seeing nothing but the Labyrinth.
It hadn’t gone how I had expected. I had hoped she could break the curse before releasing him. That we could leave here with it broken and handle releasing him together. But, I had heard her, heard what she did. She chained herself to him, hoping it would keep him from expanding the curse. She had sacrificed herself to save me.
By doing so, the curse had stopped. I could tell the walls that separated our worlds had fallen. The twisted dark magic had receded. But the haven itself had not appeared. The vast Labyrinth remained. I would have to remake this place as I originally intended, but first I needed to find her.
I pushed my power through my body, transforming myself into a basilisk. My emerald green scales flashing in the grey light as I turned. My dark black wings formed. I stretched them out wide. It felt good to be in this form, strong. It would allow me to fly and cover more ground in my search.
I thought then of the other times, the three other times she had lived.
She had been born from Mare first. In that life she was adopted by a family of fisherman. But she never made it into the Labyrinth, having died in a shipwreck on their vast sea at the age of nineteen. I remember her fear that night. The terror coursing through our bond had woken me up in a cold sweat. I felt her suffocate in the water, felt her drown and was helpless to stop it. I whirled there as quickly as I could, but it was too late. I carried her body home, to the Labyrinth, back to her life source. We burned her and spread her ashes in the sea. I mourned for years.
Her second life she was born in Sericum and was adopted by a wealthy merchant. When I had come to her on her twenty-first birthday then, she was cold and laughed in my face at the suggestion. Too content with her luxurious life in the bustling city. I tried to convince her, tried to get her to focus on the bond between us. But she wouldn’t come. She died several years later at the hands of a terrible man who had followed her into a dark street. I felt her pain and fear that night too, sending waves of nausea through me as I tried to save her. I put my blade through the man’s neck, but again I was too late. She bled out in my arms. I held her and cried as she slipped from this world. I brought her home and burned her body. I spread her ashes in the winds above Labyrinth City. I barely slept for a decade, every night remembering how she looked, slaughtered in the street.
The third time she was born in Cognitonis and raised by a librarian, she was smart in that world. So incredibly smart, but weak. She didn’t believe in herself, didn’t trust her instincts. Couldn’t sense the power that was within her. The Brotherhood killed her the night before she turned twenty-one. They slit her throat while she slept in her bed. I hadn’t felt it. I didn’t know until I came for her the next day and found her already cold and pale. I brought her body home and burned her, scattering her ashes in one of the great forests of the Labyrinth. I spent the next decade reading every book in our Library in her memory.
This time was our last chance, and she had done it. She had gotten so far. She had broken the curse. I had barely let her out of my sight, except that day I had to deal with a slaughtering in one of the villages. And in that single day I was away, she had made this deal with him. Made the deal that set all of this into motion.
My large fangs ground together at the thought.
I was terrified of losing her again. There was still so much to do, so much for me to tell her. To tell her how I had loved her and lost her three times before. To begin the work of rebuilding the haven. To rid the world of the Brotherhood. To exile Daemion. To rule over the haven, and maybe the four cities as well, if she wanted. To show her the world like I had promised. There was so much unfinished.
The pain of Daemion taking her stabbed my heart. I had promised her she would never be alone, I would not break that. I could not lose her again. I would not.
I opened my wings and took off to the sky. I would find her.
Accompanying Playlist
This book was written to the vibes of:
Bad Girl - Daya
Sacrifice - Bebe Rexha
A Million on My Soul - Alexiane
6 Inch - Beyonce, The Weeknd
Finally//beautiful stranger - Halsey
Fucked My Way Up To The Top - Lana Del Rey
Lovely - Billie Eilish, Khalid
Impossible - Anberlin
Underground - David Bowie
Golden - Harry Styles
Captain Hook - Megan Thee Stallion
After Hours - The Weeknd
More - Halsey
L$D - A$AP ROCKY (read chapter 44 while listening to this, you’re welcome)
Hallucinate - Dua Lipa
Kiss from a Rose - Seal
Die For Me - Post Malone, Halsey, Future
Notes
Chapter 1
1 Val-ear-ree-ah
Acknowledgments
Mom, I love you. Thank you for encouraging me and reminding me constantly that I was meant for more. When I make it big, I’m taking you to Paris.
Hahee, how could I have written this without you? You could recite the book you read it so many times. I owe you so much, without your feedback this book would have never turned into what it became. When I make it big I’m taking you to literally wherever you want to go.
My beta readers, you gave me the confidence to actually publish this book. Cass, Grace, Mikayla, Jordan, Sam, Johanna, and Jen. I hope the world loves this story as much as y’all did.
David Bowie, how could I have written this book without your songs? The soundtrack to Labyrinth inspired so many scenes in this book, thank you for giving the world your art, I hope you are singing amongst the dancing stars in heaven.
To the men who single handedly inspired Alder and Daemion, Jamie Dornan and Ian Somerhalder. Thank you for being so damn hot and downright awe inspiring. If you ever read this, I will cry.
God, you put this book on my heart. I argued with you for weeks about becoming a writer until I finally heard you say, “Why Not?”. Thank you for leading me on this path and holding my hand the entire way. It was terrifying but worth every step.
/> Coming Soon from L.J. Serafin
The Dark King (Book 2 in The Labyrinth Series)
The Queen of Darkness (Book 3 in The Labyrinth Series)
About the Author
L.J. Serafin is an emerging author of romantic fantasy novels. The Labyrinth King is her first work in a planned series. She dreams of living in NYC in a tiny apartment with her pekingese, Gizmo. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Baylor University. After working for years in the trenches that is Emergency Medicine, she woke up one day and felt called to return to her lifelong dream of becoming an author. And so she did.
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