These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows 1)

Does he mean about my feelings for him? Or does he suspect that I’ll be headed to a different realm at midnight, risking everything on the unlikely chance that I can save my sister? “Sebastian, you’re my best fr—”

Before I can finish the word, he lowers his head. Soft lips find mine, and I gasp against him. Electricity buzzes through me, waking me up, zapping between us, making this kiss feel like it could light all of Fairscape, all of Elora.

When his tongue sweeps across my lips and then inside my mouth, I kiss him back with everything I have. Everything I am. I can feel his worry in his kiss, and I wonder if he can feel my fear. I have to save my sister, but I don’t want to die. I don’t want to lose him either.

My emotions are a muddled mess, somehow heightened by his kiss. When he pulls away, I’m lightheaded, the rug pulled out from under me. I’ve been falling for Sebastian for two years, and all this time I believed my feelings were unrequited. And now, when I may never see him again, I learn that they’re not. Fate is toying with me.

“Wait for me,” he whispers.

I won’t. I can’t. And I feel a stab of guilt at how good his words feel anyway. I can’t let my feelings for Sebastian blur my focus. All that matters is getting to Jas.

* * *

“Brie.” A whisper in my ear as the mare runs faster and faster, carrying Mom and me toward the beach. “Brie, they’re coming.”

My heart races, and my hair flies in wild wisps around my face. Mom’s wedding band bites into my little finger as she grips the reins.

“Brie.” The breeze turns hot, and smoke fills the air, stinging my throat. “Abriella, wake up!”

My eyes burn as I crawl across the floor on my hands and knees. The acrid smoke snakes its way into my lungs, and fire dances all around me. Heat licks my skin. Flames dart out and sear my bare legs. Jasalyn smiles up at me, blinking through the smoke. I sweep her off the bed, but she’s too heavy for my skinny arms to hold, and I fall back under her weight. I grip her tighter, and she disintegrates into a pile of ash.

“Brie!” Someone shakes me hard.

I force my eyes open. Force air into my lungs.

The room is dark and cool. There’s no fire, save for a single flame flickering atop a candle on the bedside table. Nik crouches beside me on the floor, still in the skintight dress she wore to meet her client.

“What is it?” Sleep threatens to drag me under again, thanks to the tonic Nik gave me after dinner.

“Gorst is here for you.”

I press my hand to my mouth and spring to my feet. Fawn is curled on her side in the bed, her stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest. My stomach cramps at the thought of Gorst tearing this little girl’s home apart because of me.

The booming knock on the door seems to shake the whole apartment, and I spin to Nik with wide eyes. “Stall for me. I’ll sneak out the window.”

She nods, one step ahead of me. “I put one of my dresses in your bag.” She looks toward the door when the knock sounds again. “It’s nothing as fine as what your sister could make, but it’ll help you blend in with all the girls going to the ball.”

“Thank you.” I hug her tightly. “I owe you.”

“If you don’t open this door, we’ll knock it down!” a deep voice calls.

“I’m coming!” Nik shouts. Her voice doesn’t betray any of the fear on her face. Then, to me, “The portals should open in less than an hour. Be safe and come back to us, you hear? Fawn needs her aunt Brie.”

My eyes burn, so I just nod and sling my bag over my shoulder.

Nik stomps toward the door. The fear sloughs off her with each step, replaced with bravado. “Who do you think you are, pounding on my door in the middle of the night?”

I close the bedroom door as quietly as possible, then pull the pillows and blankets from my mat and place them neatly on the bed.

“We’ve been told that Abriella Kincaid is staying here,” the deep voice says.

“Well, you’ve been told wrong. It’s just me and my daughter.”

After kicking the mat under the bed, I blow out the candle. The blanket of darkness is a reassuring balm to my senses.

“If you don’t mind, ma’am, we’d like to see for ourselves.”

Nik huffs. “I do mind. My daughter is sleeping.”

I pull myself out the window and shut it behind me just as light pours into the bedroom from the main part of her unit. I run down the alley, then cut across to another, zigzagging in a path they’d never suspect. The night is bright under the full moon, and I avoid the main streets, sticking to the darker, narrower paths between buildings to remain unseen, pressing myself against walls and between trash barrels when need be. I run and run and run, sweating, lungs burning. I don’t stop until I’m safely ensconced in the woods at the edge of town.