Chapter 1 The Wrong Twin

Ryn POV

"Take me instead."

Those are the three words that ruined my life. I signed a contract with a vampire king without reading it. In my defense, my sister was about to be taken and I had about thirty seconds to make the worst decision of my life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Nobody believes we're twins despite having the same face. We're two completely different people and if anyone in our village were asked to choose between us they'd pick Vael without a second thought.

Vael took both the smart and the beauty while I was left with well... keeping us alive because she was always casting spells trying to be the next big thing in witchcraft.

It worked for us mostly. The part that didn't work was Callum.

Callum had been Vael's boyfriend for two years but I liked him, more than I should have if I'm being honest but because he was Vael's and I wasn't the kind of person to steal my sister's man, I never said anything.

Vael had been heartbroken before Callum and it changed her to the point I feared she might do something stupid to herself. It took her a long time to trust someone again, and even longer to let him in.

So when he proposed three months ago I cried happy tears because she deserved this and I wanted it for her more than I'd ever wanted anything for myself.

The wedding was tomorrow. I spent the whole day helping. Flowers from my garden arranged and ready. The cottage was cleaned twice while Vael's dress was pressed and hanging on her door.

He came by in the afternoon looking nervous and happy and when I walked him to the gate, I told him she was lucky to have him and meant every word even though something in my chest did that thing it always did when he looked at me a second too long.

I went to bed early because tomorrow was a big day and one of us needed to be rested.

That was the last normal night we had.

I woke up and the cottage was cold.

Not the normal cold we were used to in the mountains. This was something else. I lay there for a second before I noticed the cellar door open and caught the candlelight flickering from downstairs.

I called her name from the top of the stairs. Nothing. So I went down.

The temperature dropped with every step down. By the time I reached the bottom, my breath was visible in front of my face. The candles weren't arranged the way Vael usually set them up for practice.

These covered the entire floor in a pattern that spread from wall to wall, and the smell coming off them was sharp enough to make my eyes water.

She was standing in the middle of it with her arms stretched out and her lips moving fast. I'd seen her practice before but not like this. This felt different in a way that made my stomach twist.

"Vael what are you doing, it's the middle of the night. You're getting married tomorrow."

She didn't even blink.

Then every candle in the room bent toward her at once and went out at the same time. I grabbed the stair rail so I wouldn't fly off.

The dark lasted one second, then the corner of the cellar shifted and he stepped out of it, looking at my sister like she was a small problem he hadn't decided what to do with yet.

"You called," he muttered with glowing eyes as my sister stumbled back.

"I didn't mean to summon anyone." Her voice came out small. "I was just practicing a spell for the wedding tomorrow, a simple flower arrangement, I didn't mean to open anything I swear..."

"You opened a channel. Someone answers for that."

"Please." She stepped back as he stepped forward. "It was a mistake. I'm getting married tomorrow, I can't go anywhere..."

He reached for her arm and she made a sound I had never heard from her before. I came off that last stair fast.

"Take me instead."

He stopped and his eyes were about to swallow me whole but I straightened my back and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm serious, take me." I brought my hands forward.

Vael grabbed my arm. "Ryn don't..." I shook her off.

"We're twins," I said standing on my toes so I could reach his height. "Same blood, same everything, surely there's something in me that's useful to you. Please don't take her. I'll do whatever you want from her. Just take me instead."

He looked at me for a long moment then one eyebrow went up. "Anything?"

I nodded.

The silence that followed was the longest of my life. Something shifted in his expression and I barely caught it.

"One cycle of seasons. You serve the contract and would be released at the end."

"I don't care, as long as you leave her alone."

He glanced at Vael. "Agreed."

The contract appeared in his hand and I signed it because I couldn't bear to see my sister's one shot at happiness get taken from her.

"We leave in ten minutes," he said and stepped back.

I turned to Vael and she grabbed me before I could say a word. Held on so tight I felt it in my ribs.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Ryn I'm so sorry."

"Stop it," I pushed a strand of hair off her face. "It's your big day tomorrow. Be happy, that's all I want."

She was crying into my shoulder while I held her and told myself one cycle of seasons wasn't forever.

The vampire was waiting at the edge of the property when I came out. He didn't say another word to me even as we crossed into the Borderlands together.

I knew we'd crossed the Borderlands because my body told me. The air thinned out, the ground went cold and hard under my feet, and when I listened for the sounds of home there was nothing behind us but silence.

I kept my eyes forward the whole way because I couldn't afford to look back.

Maybe the vampire territory wasn't as bad as people said it was. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?