These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows 1)

“It shows you what you want to see. Or should. I don’t know that a mortal has ever used it.” His eyes soften, and he nods in encouragement. “Tell it what to show you.”

“Show me Jasalyn,” I say softly.

The air around the mirror shimmers with magic, and it seems to vibrate in my hand as my reflection fades away. The glass shows me a lavish bedchamber. It’s like looking through a window. Jasalyn sits at a vanity, smiling at her reflection as her maids brush her hair. The sound that slips from my lips is half cry, half gasp. She looks well. Her cheeks are flushed with laughter, and her face has grown fuller, as if she, like me, has eaten better while in Faerie than ever before.

“I miss my sister,” Jas says, smiling at her maids. “She would love you two.”

The one brushing her hair meets her eyes in the mirror and smiles. “I’ve no doubt you will be reunited soon.”

Jas bites her bottom lip. “I hope so. I have so much to tell her.”

The image fades, and I see myself in the mirror again.

“So?”

I drag my gaze up, and Sebastian’s looking at me expectantly. “You didn’t hear that?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I can’t see what you see. And if I hold it, you wouldn’t be able to see what I see. Did it work?”

I nod, and I don’t bother to hide the smile that stretches across my face. “She’s okay. She misses me, but she’s well and seems comfortable. She’s not”—my throat tightens, and it feels like I have to push the word out through the smallest space—“alone.”

Sebastian releases a breath. “Good,” he murmurs, almost to himself. “So we have some time.”

I clutch the mirror to my chest again. “Thank you, Sebastian. Thank you so much for this.”

“You’re welcome,” he says softly. “I just want you to be happy here, to feel safe and trust that I’m doing everything in my power to get Jas back.” He steps forward, his eyes intent on my face, and my heart pounds. “Will you take a walk with me?”

I draw in a deep breath. “Sure.” I tell myself I’m just giving him the attention he needs so he’ll let me stay, tell myself I’m doing what I need to prepare to retrieve the next relic for the king, but I’ve missed Sebastian over the last few days. I haven’t seen him since I visited him in the training ring and asked for the mirror. I’ve been with Pretha while he’s been gods know where, and I’ve missed his reassuring smiles. His warmth.

I lift the mirror. “I’ll leave this here so no one sees it.”

He nods. “Of course.”

I pull open a drawer in my bureau and place the mirror gently inside. I notice my sleep clothes, and self-consciousness straightens my spine. “I should probably get dressed.”

“You look fine.”

I’m dressed for the hot summer night in loose, flowing pink pants that sit low on my hips and a matching scoop-necked sleep shirt that leaves my arms bare and is nothing but soft lace across my midriff. I arch a brow. “Won’t the servants think it’s odd for me to be walking with their prince in my pajamas? Anyway, I’m a mess.”

His gaze drifts over me as slowly as a caress. “You’re beautiful no matter what you wear.” Warmth flares in my cheeks and pools low in my belly. He steps closer, and every cell stands at attention. “If you’d like, I could glamour us so no one can see.”

“You . . . you can do that?” Aside from his attack on the Barghest and numbing my wound afterward, I haven’t seen Sebastian use much of his fae magic.

Grinning, he snaps his fingers. “It’s done.”

I frown. “But I can still see you.”

“And I you.” His eyes skim over me slowly, as if to say he wouldn’t have it any other way. “But no one will see us or hear us when we speak. Do you trust me?”

It’s a loaded question, and one I can’t answer yet. Before I came here and found out who he was, I trusted him implicitly, and then he broke that trust. But now? He gave me the mirror so I could check on Jas, and he’s searching for her. It would be easy to trust him again. Maybe too easy.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, he lifts his chin. “We’ll get there. I’ll earn it back. I promise you.” He offers a hand, and I take it, aware of the warmth of his skin and the roughness of his fingers twining between mine.

We walk into the hall, hand in hand, past sentries and servants putting the palace to bed for the night. No one sees through Sebastian’s glamour, and I have to wonder what he’d think if he knew I could do this too—if less effectively and inconsistently. Once, he would have been the first person I’d want to talk to about my powers. Now I’m grateful I didn’t recognize them for what they were back in Fairscape. I would’ve told him, and my tasks here wouldn’t have been possible.