These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)

by Lexi Ryan

Darkness trails behind me like the train on an elaborate wedding gown. But I’m not anyone’s bride.

I’m stuck here. I’m fae. But I am not powerless, and I will never be like them.

I want to go back to that lonely, tiring existence. I didn’t have many people who cared about me, but at least no one was pretending to care. At least I got to believe that the little I had was real.

“I am not powerless. If you’re tricking me, I will lock you in a darkness so deep and vast, you will pray for the refuge of your nightmares.” He flashes a grin to his goblin. “I really like her.”

You are not the only one who’s been dealt a difficult hand, and feeling sorry for yourself won’t change the fact that your actions will have an impact on my family, my people, and this entire realm.”

“Too late is still too late—whether it’s a minute or a century.

“Sleeping under this roof doesn’t make one king.

None of us asks for the burdens we bear, but that doesn’t make the way we handle them any less significant.”

She’s been so quiet, I almost forgot she was here. I wonder how much she learns simply because others forget she’s present.

“The palace belongs to no one but the land, and sleeping there doesn’t make one significant. No more than sleeping in a witch’s cellar makes one insignificant.” He shrugs, those eyes scanning every inch of me. “As you already know.”

“Perhaps not, but there are many who believe themselves good people who avert their gaze from injustice every day. You could’ve done the same.”

“No, you didn’t,” he says softly. “You told yourself you didn’t believe, because that hope made you feel weak, but you never stopped believing.”

“I want peace. I want what’s best for this kingdom.” “I do too.” Sebastian presses a hand to his chest. “I just don’t want to have to give up everything else that matters to me in order to find it.” I swallow hard. After having a similar, yet opposite conversation with Finn, Sebastian suddenly seems very young.

“I loved the male I thought you were. Twice. And both were a lie.”

“Don’t blame yourself for fissures in a world that was broken long before you were born.”

A female in charge. How refreshing.

“May the road take you exactly where you need to go and always bring you back to us.”

As petty as it is, I kind of wish I could chop Juliana’s hair off to even the playing field. And then, because I’m more sensible than petty, I’d like to keep it for payments to goblins when I need them.

I dream of being nothing more than shadow—a dark penumbra who doesn’t hide or cower. Who takes what she wants and laughs at anyone who gets hurt along the way.

“Next time you straddle me,” he murmurs, “wake up first. I want all of you, not just some dark and twisted secret corner of your mind.”

I believed the gods gave me two great loves. I don’t regret my marriage or my decision to bond with my husband, and I didn’t then either. Vexius truly brought me joy, and if I’d refused to marry him, I would’ve never known what it was like to have his love. I wouldn’t have Lark.”

I’m a liar. Fine isn’t the right word. I’m burning. I’m aching. Half of me wishes we were alone, and the other half is grateful that we’re not.

“Mab ruled the misfits, the dreamers, the rebellious, and those dedicated to truth and integrity.

The reasonable thing doesn’t even resemble the thing I want.

“Would you stay out of my mind?” “I like your mind,” he says. “It’s so sweet and charming, and sometimes . . . deliciously devious.”

“I don’t want to talk about it tonight. I just want to dance with the prettiest girl at the party.” I melt a little at his flattery, and he sighs. “But since she’s not available, I’d settle for a dance with you.”

“I can’t change what happened, and I can’t make the mortal realm a safe place for you, but I can give you a place to call home. The most beautiful place in my whole court. It’s yours.”

“You don’t have to say that,” he says softly. “Having feelings for one person doesn’t negate what you feel for someone else.”

and I’m determined to soak in the fragrant water until my ugly mood washes away.

Magic is rooted in many things—life, first and foremost, but also tradition and love and change. To assume that something magical cannot happen because it’s never happened before goes against all that magic is and stands for. Magic is the possibility of breaking rules. It paves the way for change.

“It’s a wonder how I can loathe this bond so much when loneliness dogged me most of my life. It should be a relief, the constant awareness of another.

“How can you be here with me when I’ve done nothing to deserve you?” “I don’t think love is about what we deserve. It’s an opening of our hearts, not a judgment we make.

“Whatever magical connection we have was what drew me to you that first night we met, but it is who you are and the choices you make that made me fall in love with you.”

Don’t lose sight of that darkness in you. Let it serve the light.”

My resentment is a prowling shadow of destruction itching to be released on the world, and I shove it down. Down, down, down and away, where its darkness can’t sway me.

Mab wasn’t saying that I’m goodness personified. She was saying my power comes from being more than that. From my anger and my hurt. From my bitterness and charred edges.

This part of me is just as valid as the rest.

I draw in a ragged breath and step toward the throne, putting one foot in front of the other. This is how I’ve always done hard things—taking the next step, doing the next right thing.

This is a throne of the night, of the misfits and the lost. This is the throne for all those who had to endure the darkness to find the stars. This is my throne, and it’s been waiting for me.

But most of all, I’ve learned that I’m my happiest, best self when my sister’s around.