Hollow of Treason (The Euphoria Series Book 2) Read online

  Hollow of Treason

  The Euphoria Series

  Book 2

  By Lainy Lane

  Published by

  Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly, LLC.

  Novi, Michigan 48374

  This Book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Hollow of Treason

  Copyright © 2018 by Lainy Lane

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are

  either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Artist:

  Aurelia Frey

  Edited by:

  EAL Editing Services

  Published by:

  CHBB Publishing LLC.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by

  any means without written permission of the author.

  Acknowledgements

  For my husband, Alex, because you put up with all the issues being married to an author brings.

  For Sarah, because without you how would I ever get the Yeti’s into the boxes?!

  For #SuperFray because my books wouldn’t shine as bright without your amazing touch!

  There were far too many contributors to my muse for this series to list, there are some hints in the chapter names. I wouldn’t be able to bring my stories to life without the help of the artists that feed my creativity.

  For my kids, because everything I do is inspired by you.

  For my fans, because all of this would be for nothing without you.

  PROLOGUE

  Echo

  Eu-phor-ia: yü-‘fór-ē-Ə noun: A feeling of well-being or elation. Eu-phor-ic adjective eu-phor-i-cal-ly adverb.

  A sense of elation, that’s what she had been after all along. She had achieved it, but it was now ruined thanks to the drama that he had created. Why any of it had mattered to him in the first place was the one thing she couldn't seem to figure out. Not that it mattered. Regardless of the reasoning, her love was now tainted and forbidden. Her heart had been shattered into a million pieces along with it. Nothing would ever be the same.

  At times she found herself wishing she could just wake up and find it all to have been some horrible nightmare. She had found love. The kind most people only dreamed of having, the kind of love that set the entire world on fire with its passion. The passion that made you feel as if you were falling with no sign of an end in sight, but it wasn’t a problem because you didn’t ever want to stop falling. Her one and only, written in the stars love and yet it had been taken away from her, and now she was forced to leave everything she knew behind. At a time when she should be over the moon, she instead found herself shunned, alone, and without a clue of what to do, where to turn. She was tortured with the fear of whether or not she would even survive the dilemma in the end.

  At one point in my life, I was convinced this place should be named Euphoria instead of simply calling it Faerie. That's what my life had reached at one time, but now it's taken a drastic turn.

  Now this place has become my prison. To make it worse, where I'm going isn't going to be any better for me.

  I guess this is the bed I've been given and now I must find a way to lie in it.

  Echo wrote the last short entry in her diary and closed it. She hugged it over her chest for a moment before she tied the twine around the tiny leather book. She placed her diary, which basically translated to her memories, heart, and soul into the chest. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes against the tears that began to build in her eyes. She held the chain in her hand, the key enclosed in a turquoise circle swung like a pendulum. The weight of it helped her to ground herself in resolve. She reluctantly dropped the necklace into the chest with a deep sigh. It took everything she had in her, along with some might she was unaware she had, but she managed to close the lid with a soft thump and methodically lock the chest.

  Echo hoped that its contents would be passed down from generation to generation. Maybe one day, another dreamer like her would find it. Someone born into her family with the same spirit, the same desires, and the same passions as her. One day, someone would need to fix the things there that had been broken. Hopefully they would find some meaning in the words she had written in the little book. The world had to be turned back to the way it was meant to be one day. Someone would be able to take away the hate that had grown it and replace it with the kind of love it was meant for. Maybe then it would return to being a piece of Euphoria once more.

  She walked away from the chest slowly as the pain of knowing she was leaving an immense part of herself in it built with every step. A piece of her soul was locked up away from the rest of the world, as well as from her. As much as she loved everything she had written in her diary, she knew that she had to leave it behind and attempt to forget that any of it had ever happened.

  A part of her wished she had kept the necklace, its absence weighed on her the most. Her fingers absently trailed along the spot it normally rested. She missed the feel of the thin chain against her collar bone. But she knew someone else one day would need it more than she did at that moment. So with one last glance back and a heavy sigh, she walked away from her world altogether.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Wide Awake

  The smell of late spring surrounded the field. The leaves rustled softly in the wind and hinted at the impending fall. The air felt crisp and clean, and the breeze sent Calandra's hair wisping gracefully around her face. She was wearing an all-white satin gown with lace on the sleeves and no shoes. She was more breathtaking than Tristan remembered. How long had it been since he had seen her last? He suddenly couldn’t recall.

  She smelled of primrose and gardenias as she stood in the middle of the field, waiting for him. His heart spiraled into a euphoric downfall just at the sight of her. None of the past mattered anymore. All the heartbreak she had caused vanished as he walked toward her. Her smile brightened, as he got closer. There was a gravitational pull bringing him toward her. Calandra; his dream girl, his one and only, his written in the stars love. He was walking over to her, and he would make her his once again. His hands twitched in anticipation. He hadn't touched her in the way he desired to in what seemed like ages. Every nerve ending in his body felt as if it had been set on fire. Just as he felt as if his heart was going to burst at the seams, there was a change in the scenery, and his heart seemed to drop to the ground instead.

  Calandra was gone. A tall, gray brick labyrinth surrounded him. The walls loomed over him, leaving him feeling miniscule by comparison. The sky turned black, and there wasn't a single star, yet the moon somehow seemed to shine brighter than he had ever seen. The air was crisp and cool, but there was something cruel about the way the wind howled around him.

  "Tristan?" Calandra's voice was desperate. She sounded lost.

  "Cali!" Tristan bellowed for her and began to turn aimlessly through the maze.

  Every turn he made just led to another dead end. There was another wall and another choice of whether to turn left or right. Over and over again Tristan turned, hoping to see something new and yet was faced with nothing but more turns instead. He felt as if he had been going through the maze for hours and had still managed to get now
here.

  "Tristan?" Calandra called for him over and over, her voice sounded more desperate with every call.

  "I'm coming!" Tristan assured her as he turned down another corridor.

  He felt just as lost as her voice sounded. Suddenly the prospect of finding her seemed impossible but he knew that, no matter what, he couldn’t give up. He would die searching for her if that was what it took to have her back. He would be more than willing to give his heart and soul to the cruelest of beasts if it meant being close to her again. He would spend an eternity lost in a state of nothingness to fix her world. Just as he began to accept that was likely his fate, there was an opening in the walls of the labyrinth.

  His surroundings changed to an oblong opening surrounded by the same gray bricks as the walls he had been trapped in for… well, he wasn’t sure how long. There was an archway draped in emerald ivy on the opposite side of where he had entered. Vines and flowers intricately weaved spiral pathways along the walls. In the distance sat a white bench entangled in roses of several colors. After taking in the scene, his breath stopped when he realized Calandra sitting on it with her legs delicately crossed over each other.

  "Calandra." Tristan felt his heart lift again at the sight of her.

  Calandra smiled briefly and stood up. She stared at him, but she still seemed to be a bit lost. Her eyes were distant and her mind somewhere else entirely.

  "Calandra, I'm here," he assured her as he began to walk over to her, and at the same time, she began making her way to him.

  A breeze rolled in suddenly and brought with it a musky, woodsy scent. Calandra's eyes lit up, and her smile took over every muscle on her face. Her entire being seemed to glow, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Jarreth had just come from the entry on the other side of the opening. Calandra turned on her heels without a single word to Tristan. Jarreth stood with his arms outstretched for her. Calandra darted over to him and leapt into them. Jarreth spun her around as she giggled with her head buried in his neck.

  Tristan’s heart shattered once more, and the shards left over slashed into his lungs and stole the breath from him. The world started to spin, and everything faded to black. Tristan was spiraling into oblivion. He slammed against a slab of concrete, and the world slowly came into focus again. The field surrounded him with the breeze, and it sent in the scent of honeysuckle.

  "What the hell, Trinity?" Tristan sat up and rubbed his head and back where he had hit the slab of concrete that was just big enough to cushion his landing.

  Trinity chuckled, "You awake now, my pet?"

  Tristan groaned as he stood up and the concrete below him changed back to grass. "I don’t suppose you could’ve let me land on the grass? A pillow wouldn’t have been a bad touch either!"

  Her chestnut spiral curls blew in the breeze that always seemed to follow her, but Tristan never felt. "Reality hurts, Tristan, as soon as you let go of her, things will get better. Why can't you see that?" Her irritation grew with each word.

  "That's what you keep saying," Tristan said, "what's so wrong with trying to see the bright side of things?"

  Trinity scoffed. "The bright side? Really, Tristan? Check back into the world and realize that she's gone already! I need you to let go of her.” Trinity seemed to wish she could take the last part of her statement back. Her eyes darted as she searched for an escape, but she settled for an excuse. It’s for your own good, my pet."

  Heat rose throughout Tristan's body. He could feel every nerve and limb start to quake. "I was doing just fine," he shouted and grappled to keep from raising his fists at her, "until you started with these stupid vision dream things! I don't know what you're playing at, Trinity, but I am sick of it."

  He turned and began to walk away from her, an action he had been trying to gain the audacity to do since the day he first met her. Something seemed to stop him every time, like a moth to a flame, he was drawn in and couldn’t break from her spell. He knew, somewhere deep down, that she was right. He had read the signs so wrong with Calandra, and now he was left with nothing to show for any of it. He needed to let Calandra go and give up the hope of her ever coming back. But knowing it was something he needed to do didn’t mean he could actually make himself do it. His heart wasn’t ready to let her go just yet even if his mind knew that he should.

  Trinity held her hands out in front of her with her palms facing down to the ground. She closed her eyes, and a wind blew through the field. It carried over to Tristan and wrapped around him. Immediately his pain was lifted once more. He felt as if a tidal wave had just swept in and washed away all that was wrong with the world. He stopped walking away and turned to face Trinity.

  "You'll stay with me because I'm the one who can take it away." She smiled coyly and crossed her arms.

  Tristan worked to steady his breathing in the relief of whatever Trinity did to make him feel right again. He didn’t feel whole with her, there was still a sort of hollow place within him somewhere, but he felt just a little bit better. Just enough recovered to keep him around, no matter how much he knew he should leave.

  Just as he felt himself relaxing, Calandra's face flashed through his mind, and the pain returned tenfold. His heart bled its contents into him from the rips that now covered it. His entire body tensed in pain and he felt as if he couldn’t move. Tristan doubled over on the ground.

  "And I can bring it back..." she told him as she walked over to him and stared down at him.

  Tristan stared up at her, once again at her mercy. This was what had kept him with her for the past couple of weeks, this was why he couldn’t leave. He needed her to take the pain away. He pleaded with her with his eyes, and she finally gave in and took the suffering away again. He couldn’t go without the way she took away the rawness of the pain from Calandra. So, no matter how hard he tried, he continued to give into Trinity. He was trading one type of pain for another, but it was his only chance at survival. The relief he received from Trinity was the high that was keeping him alive. She would pull him in, chew him up, and spit him out, yet he couldn’t go without it.

  Sprites flew around them and weaved patterns in and out of the space that separated them. "Don't you see, Tristan." Trinity crouched down in front of him and placed a finger on his chin. "You have to let go of her. Me taking the pain from you isn't doing you any good."

  "She is a part of me," he whispered.

  "Only because you still want her to be, my pet."

  All at once, reality hit him like a ton of bricks. It was in his control. He had to find a way to wake up and walk away. He had to learn to not rely on Trinity to be his painkiller. He must put the pieces together and stand on his own two feet. He must discover who he was without Calandra, who he had been before Calandra. But until he figured it out, he still needed both.

  "No!" He stood once more. "I don't."

  Trinity smiled a devilish smile. "Well then, let it go."

  "I will." It was more of a pact with himself than with Trinity, though judging by the look on her face, she didn’t see it that way.

  "And until then, you will stay with me."

  He nodded in agreement, knowing he had no other choice.

  "You know I care for you, Tristan," she ran a hand lightly over his chest, "and whether you want to believe it or not, you do for me too." Trinity smiled the best seductive smile she could muster. Typically this would break through any walls the guys she had worked with in the past might have had up, Tristan was different though. He did smile back slightly which was some improvement over the last time she tried this method.

  "I do," he mumbled under his breath so it was just barely audible.

  "Let us return home then. We will try this again later in the week." Trinity motioned for him to go ahead of her and lead the way.

  "You have your work cut out for you with that one," a pink sprite whispered as it darted past Trinity's ear.

  Trinity reached up to flick it, but missed by an inch. "Like I don't already know that," she muttered as she walked
after Tristan. "You know what I am, I can handle it just fine, thanks!"

  CHAPTER TWO

  Off The Lane

  The darkness encircled her into a seemingly never-ending black canvas. Night encased the entire world into a cold and eerie sense of belonging. The air was cold, and a breeze seemed to carry a soft tune along with it. The world felt as if it was standing still all together. A cold void rushed through Calandra as the scene played out in front of her. Only a few select stars twinkled in the sky, but the moon shone down brighter than usual. It looked lonely with only a couple of stars to keep it company. Something was off about the night. It was a dark and lonely feeling walking the woods. The air seemed to wrap around her and left goose bumps on every inch of her skin.

  Calandra normally stayed on the pathways in the woods, but tonight she had decided to wander off the lane. The trees outstretched over her, blanketing her in even more darkness. The branches were bare and twisted, even though it wasn't yet winter. The branches knotted and twisted in disturbing ways. They resembled skeleton bones caging her into their territory. Shadows were swirling through the trees. They spiraled down toward her, leaving her with the looming impression they desired to swallow her whole. A gray fog rolled in and mixed itself into the shadows. Despite the eerie feeling that shuddered through her bones, it was a mesmerizing vision to see the colors and textures combine.

  As much as Calandra knew she should be scared, in a way, she hoped the shadows managed to catch her. The shadows were drawing closer to her, and she had the desire to reach out and pull them into her. The woods were more mystical than they had ever been before and it brought a sense of forbidden desire to her. Somehow it felt that those shadows could fill her with something she desperately needed, though she was not sure what that something could possibly be. She wandered further off course and deeper into the alluring darkness of the woods. She didn’t know where she was going, but she felt as if somewhere deep in there, something was calling her name. Branches and brush crunched under her feet as she wandered into the dark. The shadows came down from the trees and began to trail a path in front of her, calling her to follow wherever they led, and she obliged.