Labyrinth Read Online Free Page A

it’s sweet, actually,” says Raven. “The kiss, not the gossip. Was it your first, Vi?”
    “I don’t think it counts when you’re six years old, so yes.”
    Raven sighs and puts a hand to her chest. “How tragic that you had to make him forget.”
    “Did Flint not tell you the part where I shoved him halfway across the garden?” I ask, trying to force down the guilt that rises like bile in my throat.
    “Honestly, Vi, is there not a single romantic bone in your body?” asks Raven.
    “I guess not,” I lie, popping a piece of the dripping red citrullamyn into my mouth. Please, please stop talking about this.
    “Well, if it had been me,” continues Raven, “I might have been tempted to throw that Forget potion away and fling myself right back at that boy. I mean, a first kiss is something special.”
    Flint leans one elbow on the table and stares at his wife. “Since when do you have fantasies of flinging yourself at human boys?”
    “They’re not fantasies , dear. I’m just saying that if—”
    “Vi would never do that,” Tora says, interrupting them both. “She’s far too committed to her training. She wouldn’t risk everything she’s worked so hard for over a mere boy.”
    “And I wonder who she learned that from,” says Flint. “Could it possibly be her work-obsessed mentor who hasn’t given any faerie of the opposite sex a second look since she finished her own training?”
    Tora protests loudly, but I’ve stopped listening. She’s right. What am I doing with Nate? Seriously. What. Am. I. Doing? Is he really worth the risk I’m taking? Why do I even like him? Sure, he’s good-looking, but then so is Ryn, and there’s nothing on this earth that could make me want to date him. Nate has a sense of humor; he makes me laugh; he’s interested in my life. But I could probably say the same thing about hundreds of human boys. If Nate hadn’t kissed me, if he’d been happy to say goodbye, would I ever have missed him?
    I look over the table at the curling black lines tattooed across both of Tora’s wrists. The markings that identify her as a guardian. I’m so close to receiving markings of my own, but if the Guild finds out that I’m consistently disobeying them, I’m pretty sure I can kiss those markings goodbye. What will I have left if I’m not allowed to be a guardian? I’ll have Nate, but for how long?
    As I lick my fingers clean, I come to a decision. I’ll go to Nate tonight, before I have a chance to change my mind, and tell him I can’t see him anymore. I won’t give him the potion—it seems wrong somehow to take his memories from him—but after tonight I won’t go back to see him again. And I won’t try to find Angelica.
    A small ache settles in my chest. This sucks, but I can do it. I’ve survived far worse.
    “Violet?”
    I look up, unsure how long Raven has been trying to get my attention. “Yes?”
    “What do you plan to do with your week off?”
    “Uh, sit at home and repent my wicked ways?”
    “Yeah, right,” says Flint, laughing. “You probably have a private training center set up in your home. I doubt you’ll rest for a second.”
    I throw a blueberry at him. “Perhaps I will rest, Flint. I haven’t done that since I began my training five years ago.”
    Both Flint and Raven’s mouths drop open. “Okay, you definitely need a break, honey,” says Raven.
     
    *
     
    I pace from one side of my bedroom to the other, trying to work up the courage to go to Nate’s. I wipe my sweaty palms against my pants. This is ridiculous. I always knew getting involved with boys was a bad idea. I scoop my hair up with one hand and fan my sweaty neck with the other.
    Just get it over with. If you don’t do it soon, he’ll be asleep.
    Filigree squeaks from my bed, and I look over to find him clutching a silver ribbon in his squirrel paw. He holds it out to me. “Thanks, Fili.” I tie the ribbon around my hair to keep it off my neck. “Okay. I’m doing this.” I