Hollow Earth (Hallowed Realms Book 2)

by Amy Miles

  “You could try to jump from the balcony,” the queen said in a bored tone. “But even if you survived the three-story drop, the guards stationed under your window would take care of you. We have you under a watchful eye, human. Don’t try anything stupid.” With that, she closed and locked the door, effectively locking the problem away. They were going to keep me here until I disappeared. They couldn’t kill me; I was already dead, which meant I was a thorn they would have to wait out until nature ran its course.

  Hours passed as I sat with my new reality. Being locked up with no hope of escape wasn’t the worst of it. It was the look in Aed’s eyes. It seemed like he wanted to tell me something. Something important. I blew it, though. I hurt him when I withheld the truth. I’d tried to protect him. And myself. I knew once he found out…what a lost cause I was, that all hope of us being together would be over. Not that we ever stood a chance.

  Tears sprang anew as I lay on the bed. I curled into a tight ball, wishing for the vanishing to consume me if only to make this pain go away.

  “Did the guards hurt ya?” a whispered voice said in the darkness.

  My lips pulled back to scream when I saw Taryn emerge from the balcony curtains.

  I opened my mouth to acknowledge my surprise, but she lifted a finger to her lips to silence me. She nodded towards the wall that adjoined the queen’s room. We needed to be quiet. The walls were thin. Relieved to see a friendly face, I scurried off the bed to pull her into an embrace.

  “How did you get in here?” I whispered.

  Taryn brought us to the far end of the room near the window and away from any ears that might be listening at the door.

  “I’ve been put under watch myself,” she snorted softly. “I’m in the room to the right of the queen. I couldn’t exactly leave from the front, so I decided to jump over to ya via a few balconies.”

  My eyes grew wide. “You jumped…from balconies?”

  “Aye. From mine to hers to yours,” she said as though she had only walked across a hall.

  “What if the queen had heard you?” I gasped.

  “I was careful. Ya didn’t even hear me arrive. Besides, she sleeps like the dead. Though we probably shouldn’t tempt fate by barrelin’ around in here like a herd of wild boar.”

  “Agreed.” My fate was sealed, but I didn’t need Taryn to get in trouble because of me.

  Taryn looked me up and down. “Ya were crying when I came in. Dunna think I took no notice that ya never answered my question either. Did they hurt ya?”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine…aside from being a prisoner in a world I don’t understand, for crimes I didn’t know I’d committed.” I paced the floor as I spoke. “On top of that I’ve hurt Aed by not being honest with him, and in a matter of days, I’ll disappear. Aside from that, I’m fine.”

  Taryn pulled me into a hug, a gesture I know she didn’t make lightly.

  “I’ll get ya out of this. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find a way. Aed and I won’t let ya disappear.”

  At the mention of Aed’s name, I pulled out of her hold. “I hadn’t meant for him to find out about this.” I looked down at my hand and sat on the end of the bed. “I hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. Getting shipwrecked, crashing the ball…”

  “Or finding yourself smitten with my betrothed?”

  I looked up at her. Her face gave away that she knew everything. There was no point in denying my feelings since she already knew them. Devlin had always said I had the worst poker face. There was no reason to keep hiding how I felt about him.

  “Aye. I had definitely not planned for that,” I confessed. “I’m sorry, Taryn.”

  She came up beside me and sat down. For a moment, she didn’t say anything, but then she reached out and touched my knee. I could tell comforting people was not a normal thing for her as she seemed confused about how to do it. “One thing I have learnt through all this…is that ya canna control your heart.”

  I nodded, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to come.

  “But,” she continued, “that’s why we also have minds to protect us from the foolish whims of the heart. Even when we wish things can be different, sometimes what we want canna be.”

  I understood her meaning quite clear. She couldn’t have Devlin, and I couldn’t have Aed. It wasn’t fair, but there was no way around it.

  “Speaking of your brother, I have a surprise for ya.” Taryn smiled and got off the bed. She walked over to the balcony and gestured. A moment later, the same rustling came from the curtains. A red-headed bloke wearing warrior leathers approached us. She’d brought a reaper with her. No...she’d brought my brother.

  “Devlin?” I whispered. How can this be? Humans weren’t allowed to be here! Taryn had already told me he wasn’t dead at the dress shop, so how on earth was he here in Netherworld?

  He didn’t answer me but instead ran across the room and picked me up in his arms. He spun me around in circles like he used to do when we were kids. It was all I could do not to scream with delight. “I can’t believe you’re here.” He wept softly. “I just can’t believe it.”

  After several moments of locked embrace, we pulled away from each other, but I held on for fear he might vanish if I let go.

  “Taryn told me about your run-in with the lorcan,” he said, his eyes filled with worry. “We’re going to find you a way back to the Isle of Glass. Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of this.”

  None of that mattered at the moment. He was here. My brother was here. I was holding his hand. I couldn’t figure out how that was possible. “How are you here, Devlin? If you’re not dead…how?”

  “Your brother is a daft fool, that’s how,” Taryn answered for him.

  Devlin smiled in agreement. He reached out his other hand to take hers. Colour flooded her cheeks.

  “He’s broken every law in Netherworld to breach the veil,” Taryn said, glaring down at him. The expression she wore seemed not to be a look of annoyance, but of reluctant pride.

  “Laws can’t keep us apart, Taryn. We’re fated to be together. You’ll see.” He winked at her and my heart ached for them both. I had never seen my brother act this way around a woman before. Then again, the last three years of my life were going in and out of hospitals. There hadn’t much time for me to see his relationships, even if there had been any.

  “Is this a prison break?” I asked.

  “No,” Taryn confessed. “We’re lettin’ ya know we’re workin’ on a plan to get ya back to the Isle of Glass. Aed wanted to take you back to Eimear, but there’s no time for that. He means well, but he’s wrong this time.”

  “So I’m stuck here then.” I sighed.

  “Not for long. We can’t risk a delay, what with you fading away and all,” Devlin said.

  My eyes darted from Taryn back to Devlin. I wished she hadn’t told him. He would worry. He’d been through enough. One look and I found exactly that in his emerald eyes.

  “I had to tell him, Alana,” Taryn said. “He’d never forgive me if I let ya leave Odran without sayin’ goodbye. I didn’t know when they would try to move you, so I brought him to you instead.” Taryn looked pleased with herself. “It’s a good thing the queen’s guard is too daft to think a girl could scale walls or jump balconies. Otherwise, this might ’ave been a short trip.”

  “I’ve learnt people often misjudge your abilities.” Devlin smirked. He leaned in and kissed Taryn’s forehead. Their intimacy under such duress made me smile. They had made a connection, despite the odds. Even if it was only a fleeting moment. It filled me with an irrational hope that Aed and I might have that one day...before I faded away to nothing.

  They were on borrowed time. It was clear they both knew the dangers they faced being together, and yet, they were savoring each moment.

  “Alana,” Taryn said, drawing my focus back to her. “While Aed wants the best for ya, he hasn’t taken into account what will happen when ya don’t make it to the Isle of Glass in time. The road is a
dangerous place to be right now. We canna head south.”

  I listened intently to her while she went on.

  “That leaves only one direction. North. Over the Wall into lorcan territory. Now I won’t be lyin’ to ya about how dangerous that will be. It’s right mad, but we have no other choice. Time is runnin’ short. That means we take the quickest path.”

  I stared down at my gloved hands. A week. The queen had said I’d be gone in a week.

  “Has it gotten worse?” Devlin asked. He was always so concerned about my health. He was the first to make sure I was comfortable when I was in hospital. He made sure I had whatever I needed, even if it had only been a vanilla pudding. I hated that I was causing him to worry about me yet again.

  “I don’t think so.” I slid off my gloves to check and was shocked to see I had lost another finger to the translucency. Despite my best efforts not to, I began to weep. “You two should leave. There is nothing to be done. Forget about me. Leave me to disappear.”

  “Never. We won’t let that happen. Will we, Taryn?” Devlin looked over at Taryn, who came over to sit with us.

  “No. For now, you’re safe. I’ll find a way to get ya over the Wall. I swear it. We haven’t given up, so neither should you.”

  She glanced towards the window again.

  “The guards will be changin’ soon. They’re sure to check in on ya. We need to leave for now, but don’t worry, we’ll be back soon. Don’t give up hope while we’re gone.”

  I nodded, trying to pretend I’d ever had reason to hope to begin with. It seemed that my fate, unlike Devlin’s and Taryn’s, was to be ripped from whatever world I was in, living or dead.

  “Say your goodbyes, Devlin, but make them brief. You’ll be seein’ her again.”

  Taryn went back to the window to leave us alone. Devlin pulled me into a hug again, and for a time, we held each other. Each of us saying exactly what we were thinking but not needing to use any words. It was our connection as twins. Being together we understood everything we needed to know. He was holding up the faith for both of us, while I did my best to just hold on.

  “We’ll be in touch. I don’t know how or when yet, but I’ll see you soon.”

  I smiled and took his hand. “You chose well, brother. Taryn is a wonderful woman.”

  He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “What can I say? I’m drawn to strong lasses. Like my sister.”

  I nodded at his compliment but couldn’t hide my worry.

  “You’ll get through this, ’Lana. If anyone can endure pain and suffering, it’s you. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve met.”

  Tears dripped down my cheeks. I never felt very strong, especially battling the cancer. His belief that I was strong made me want to endure this for him. I wanted to make him proud of me.

  He kissed my head once and then left me in the glow of the candles. If there was a way to make me safe, I had to believe my brother and Taryn would help find it.

  Chapter 18

  Devlin

  Once we left Alana’s balcony, we scaled across the side of the manor house to reach the room to avoid the guards below. Thanks to the way the bricks were positioned, the task was no different than climbing a simple rock wall. It surprised me that such a design flaw would happen. Then again, people scaling the side of houses was likely something that didn’t occur often here.

  I went ahead of Taryn, who insisted I go first in case I fell, but secretly, I think she wanted to check me out. I saw the pleasure in her eyes at the muscles I’d packed on since we last saw each other. Not that I was a twig before, but I’d gotten even stronger spending my days hiking the woods looking for signs of the veil.

  When we got to the roof, we knelt down. Taryn looked over the edge at the guards below.

  “We only ’ave about a quarter of an hour before they change posts. I need to be back in my room and feignin’ sleep when they check on me. I can get ya as far as the main road, but there won’t be time to bring ya all the way back. Ya know your way to the Olde Port Inn from there?” She pointed to where the line of trees leading up to the manor house ended. They would provide cover in the dark of night, as long as I cleared the jump first.

  We were at the trickiest part of my escape. Jumping from the top of the house to the carriage house below would not be as quiet as climbing up had been. There was little choice. There were guards pacing too close to where we came up, so we needed to go with Plan B.

  “I can make it from here. Go back now,” I said.

  “Don’t be daft, I’ll get ya to the road like I said. Remember to roll when ya land. It’ll soften the noise and save ya from bustin’ a knee.” She took a step to leap, but I stopped her.

  “No,” I whispered. “I’ll go the rest of the way alone.”

  Taryn narrowed her eyes at me as though to dig her heels in. I pressed my lips to hers once.

  “If you come with me now, I won’t be able to let you go,” I confessed. Unable to stop myself, I pulled her into another kiss. Our lips were soft against each other’s but filled with a desire we both knew couldn’t be satisfied tonight. I resolved myself to leave her this way, hungry and longing for more.

  I forced myself to let her lips go. Our foreheads remained touching, resting against one another in the moonlight.

  “Remember your landin’,” she said, standing up.

  “Wait,” I said, rising to meet her. The slight breeze danced in her hair, making it hard for me to concentrate. “If something should happen to me tonight…” I began. Her head tilted to the side, and I regretted bringing it up.

  “Why should anythin’ happen to ya? You won’t be so daft as to get caught goin’ back to the inn.”

  I nodded. “No. I will make it back to Seamus. His life depends on Aed’s seal,” I said, patting the leather pouch it was in, “but I can’t leave my sister locked up in that room. I know you trust Aed, but his plan won’t work. You’ve said it yourself.”

  “Aye. Which is why I’m workin’ on a new one.” Taryn frowned and put her hands on her hips.

  “No doubt it’s a dangerous one.”

  “So what are ya plannin’ on then? Stormin’ the castle, unarmed and carryin’ her over your shoulder as ya walk her to the Isle of Glass yourself?”

  I made a face, annoyed that she hit the nail on the head. “Maybe?”

  Taryn grabbed onto my shoulders and gave them a shake.

  “The Isle of Glass can only be reached by boat, and it’s a several days journey even then. Do ya have a boat, then? Do ya know how to sail one?”

  “Well…no, but—”

  “There’ll be no butts about it. Any attempt to take Alana from this house will lead to death for the person attemptin’ it. This is my world, Devlin. Don’t ya be forgettin’ that.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair, exasperated.

  “I know, Taryn. But I can’t leave her there. I can’t stand by as she vanishes into nothingness. I’ve lost her once. I couldn’t bear to do it again.”

  Taryn let go of me and nodded.

  “I know that, too. She was my soul, Devlin. My responsibility. I ’ave as much a need to see her safely delivered to the Isle of Glass as you do.” Her face screwed up in a way that let me know she was thinking about something hard.

  “My plan won’t be easy, mind you,” she said. “I’ll need help.”

  “I’ll do whatever you need. I trust you,” I said, ready to listen to any plan she had.

  “Aye, I know you will. But your help isn’t the one I’m needin’.” Taryn sighed and then smiled at me. “Leave that to me. I’ll figure it all out. You get Seamus back on his feet. We’ll be needin’ him to make this work.”

  She squared her shoulders. “Come back tomorrow mornin’. I’ll know then whether or not I’ll have the aid we need.”

  “Aye,” I said, taking her in my arms. “You have a way about ya, Taryn. You’re a natural leader. People will follow you into the depths of hell if ya ask them to.”

  �
�That’s a good thing because that’s exactly where I’m headed,” she whispered. “Now go, before we’re seen.”

  I pulled her in for a brief kiss before jumping off the roof and landing with a slight thud on the carriage house room. Mercifully, it wasn’t enough to alert the guards. Rolling had indeed helped soften the blow. Not that I’d ever doubted Taryn’s advice. I trusted her. If she had a way to help my sister, then I knew all was not lost.

  When I stood up from my landing, Taryn was still there, watching in case I’d need help. I shooed her away as I didn’t want her to be caught either. We stood there for a moment, each locked in our resolve to make sure the other was safe. Eventually, she nodded once and then disappeared, leaving me to find my way back to the inn.

  By the time I made it back to Seamus and Tris, it was so late that it was early.

  Not wanting to wake anyone, I let myself into the room as quietly as I could. I should have known Tris would be awake, nursing her patient.

  “Devlin?” she whispered. “You’ve been gone ages. I was so worried. What happened?”

  I held out my hand and showed her the Prince’s Royal Seal. “Will this help?”

  Tris’s eyes widened with fear. “Where did ye get that? Devlin, if you stole that—”

  “I didn’t steal it. He gave it to me.”

  “Who gave it to ya?” she asked, cocking her head.

  “Aed,” I said, hating that she made me say his name.

  Tris stared at me, then at the seal, and then back at me again, her mouth agape. “Prince Aed willingly gave you his Royal Seal? After ya kissed his girl and got Taryn into this whole mess? Not to mention he must know it was me who helped bring you and Seamus through the veil. Why would he help you?” she shrieked but then covered her mouth for fear she’d woken Seamus.

  I ignored her question to walk over to him.

  “How is he doing?”