Dark Promise (Between Worlds #1)

Dark Promise

  A Between Worlds Novel

  Julia Crane & Talia Jager

  Copyright © 2012 Julia Crane and Talia Jager

  All rights reserved.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events; to real people, living or dead; or to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Valknut Press, LLC

  Cover Art by Kadri Umbleja

  Editing by Christine LePorte

  Formatted by CyberWitch Press, LLC

  Acknowledgements

  Our gratitude and appreciation to:

  Our husbands, who love us and make writing possible;

  Our kids, who make sure there is never a dull moment;

  Our writer and reader friends, who beta read for us, encourage us, and help us;

  Our team: Heather Adkins, Kadri Umbleja, Stephanie Mooney, and Christine LePorte for their services that make our book better.

  Dedication

  To our readers

  Prologue

  Hidden in the trees, Azura stood watching her daughter from afar, as she had done so many times in the past. Her daughter’s long blonde hair glistened in the sunlight, and her laughter danced on the breeze as she hurried down the sidewalk to the waiting car. Azura was too far away to see her child’s bright blue eyes, but she knew them well.

  The humans had named her Rylie.

  The humans who had become her parents, who had given Azura’s child a beautiful home, love, and happiness, and raised her as their own—and they had no idea that Rylie wasn’t theirs.

  Tears sprang to Azura’s eyes as she remembered the day she had given her baby away to protect her. So much pain remained from what had been the hardest decision of her life. Azura had never been the same.

  And now it was almost sixteen years later and time for Rylie’s transformation to begin. Soon, the girl would begin to change, and she wouldn’t understand why. She needed guidance; she needed to know what was in store.

  But, most importantly, Azura needed to get her to safety before the dark faeries found her.

  After her baby had been born with the mark of the Aurorian on her face, Azura was delighted to have such a special child. An Aurorian faery was extremely rare. The last one had been born over two hundred years before Azura’s child and had gone on to be a great, powerful faery. The mark meant that Rylie’s ability would be stronger than a normal faery’s power.

  Azura had been awed by her precious new daughter, but even amidst the joy, she knew that the small star-shaped symbol on her infant’s face would bring darkness to them.

  Only a few hours after Rylie’s birth, the dark faeries caught whispers of a marked child. Like bloodhounds, they showed up at Azura’s door and convinced her weak-minded husband to trade the child in exchange for access to their dark magick. Her husband had always thirsted for a better ability; it hadn’t taken much to sway him.

  Even at the expense of his newborn daughter, Azura thought with disgust.

  Azura knew she had to protect her child by switching her for a human one. In the human world, her daughter would have a chance. They knew nothing of faeries, much less the rare Aurorians, so prized for their power and revered for their ability to bring peace by force. Among humans, the child would have a chance at life.

  While her husband discussed the terms of his agreement with the dark faery, Azura wrapped her child in a blanket and exited by way of the window. She went in search of a baby who was about to die.

  If it weren’t for the fey’s ability to sense the passing of a life, things might have turned out for the worst, and her daughter could have been lost forever. But Azura thanked the gods for giving her not only the ability to sense the dying, but the power to disappear at will, so that nobody noticed Azura sneak into the hospital room, her child tucked against her body. Nobody saw as she took the dying human infant from its crib of wires and lamps to replace it with her own beloved daughter.

  The human child didn’t survive but moments beyond the switch, as Azura knew would happen. Azura returned home, where she marked the dead baby’s face with the same birthmark—the birthmark that had been her daughter’s death sentence.

  It was the only way to keep her little girl safe.

  Azura took the child to her husband and the dark faeries, who were still seated in her kitchen as if they weren’t discussing the fate of a newborn. She had been relieved when the men believed the infant had died of natural causes.

  She hadn’t only lost her baby that day. Ashamed—of his own behavior as a father willing to sell his child or of being unable to suit the terms of the dark faery agreement—Azura’s husband had disappeared. In one evening, she lost everything.

  In the years to come, Azura had watched Rylie grow up from a distance. Although giving her up had been the hardest thing Azura had ever done, it only mattered that her daughter was safe.

  Now, however, that was about to change. Once Rylie’s transformation was complete, other faeries would be able to see that she was a faery, too. After they saw the birthmark, they’d know she wasn’t just any faery, but an Aurorian faery—and that put her in danger.

  Azura had to go to her daughter and warn her of what was to come…but how?