“Thank you?”
The driveway curved sharply around a dense stand of trees, and suddenly, the forest opened up to reveal a clearing. I leaned forward, expecting to see a house.
Instead, I gasped.
“Oh my god.”
He allowed himself the smallest smile. “Welcome to my home.”
Before us stood not a house, but what could only be described as a modern fortress. Sleek concrete walls rose from the forest floor in a complex, interlocking pattern that seemed to fold in on itself. Floor-to-ceiling windows punctuated the structure at unexpected angles, reflecting the surrounding trees. The building sprawled across the clearing, its full dimensions impossible to grasp from this vantage point.
“You… live here?” I breathed.
“I built it,” he said, and for the first time, I heard unmistakable pride in his voice. “Every wall. Every corner. Every hidden passage.”
He parked the truck near what appeared to be the main entrance—though with the building’s complex design, it was hard to tell. After we exited the vehicle, I stood rooted to the spot, trying to comprehend the scale of what I was seeing.
“It’s incredible,” I said honestly. “Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
He adjusted his stance, his massive shoulders squaring slightly. “It’s functional.”
“It’s art,” I countered.
He looked down at me, and I could have sworn I saw a flicker of pleasure in his dark eyes. “Come inside,” he said. “The exterior is just the beginning.”
As he led me towards the entrance, I tried to calm my racing heart. I was about to enter a labyrinth designed by a minotaur—ascenario straight from mythology, yet utterly different from any story I’d ever read.
“Any last-minute rules I should know about?” I asked, only half-joking.
He paused, his hand on the door. “Yes. Don’t wander off.” His eyes met mine, serious and intense. “I’d hate to have to chase you.”
A shiver ran down my spine—not entirely from fear. “I’ll stay right beside you,” I promised.
He nodded once, then pushed open the door to his world.
Please don’t let me trip and break something priceless,I thought desperately as I crossed the threshold, following a minotaur into his labyrinth.
CHAPTER NINE
The massive door swung open with barely a whisper. I stepped across the threshold and froze, my mouth falling open. “Oh my God,” I breathed.
From the outside, Rion’s home had appeared impressively modern and complex, but nothing had prepared me for the interior. I stood in what I could only describe as a soaring atrium, but one unlike any conventional space I’d ever encountered. Smooth concrete walls curved organically upward, intersecting at unexpected angles to create a cathedral-like vastness that somehow felt both open and sheltered. Natural light poured in through strategically placed skylights, casting geometric patterns across the polished stone floor.
“This is… I don’t even have words,” I said, turning slowly in a circle.
The house didn’t follow any layout I recognized. There were no neat divisions, no obvious living room here or kitchen there. Corridors branched away from the atrium in graceful curves, some rising, some descending, none revealing their destinations all at once. The whole place felt fluid, secretive, andintensely purposeful. Nothing about it felt cold or severe. The concrete held subtle variations in tone and texture, deliberate imperfections that made the entire place feel alive.
“The central nexus,” he said. His deep voice carried through the space perfectly, as if the house itself had been built to suit him. “All paths begin and end here.”
“How big is this place?”
“Approximately eighty-five hundred square feet. Twelve primary corridors, seven secondary passages, and three interior courtyards.”
The numbers were impressive, but they didn’t explain the feeling of the place. I’d been in large houses before—old mansions, polished estates where the library occasionally hosted fundraisers—but those places always seemed eager to impress. This felt different. Every line and curve had meaning.
“It’s a labyrinth,” I said softly. “Not a maze where you get lost. A labyrinth. A place meant for movement and contemplation.”
His head tilted slightly as he regarded me. “Yes. Although there are multiple possible routes, unlike classical single-path designs.”
