Talia Jager - Forgotten Promise (A Between Worlds Novel: Book Four)

Forgotten Promise

A Between Worlds Novel
Book 4

Talia Jager

Forgotten Promise

A Between Worlds Novel: Book 4

Copyright 2015 by Talia Jager. All rights reserved.

First Smashwords Edition: May 2015

Editing by Christine LePorte

Cover Design and Formatting by Streetlight Graphics

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual personsliving or deadis entirely coincidental.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to best friends everywhere.

Chapter One

M y eyes fluttered open and immediately shut again, stunned by the fuzziness that surrounded me. Blinking a few times until they focused, I became aware that I wasnt alone. My gaze traveled between each individual watching me. Wide eyes and bunched up eyebrows stared back at me. They must have been worried about me since I was the one they were looking at.

Welcome back, a voice behind me said.

I pushed myself up on the bed I was lying on, wondering why I was here in the first place and where I was coming back from.

A guy stepped out of the corner. I hadnt seen him at first. As our eyes met, for some reason my back tingled. He was gorgeouslong, lanky body, shaggy brown hair, tanned skin. He smiledone of those heart-melting smilesand my heart did a little jump.

A girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wings that were pink, lavender, and white took a step toward me. Wings? I stared up at them, fascinated. Do you know who we are? she asked.

I refocused my eyes and looked at each of them again. No. Horror set in as I realized not only did I not know who they were, I didnt know who I was. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes darted back and forth. What is going on? Why cant I remember anything?

Its okay, the girl said softly. She had tears in her eyes, but quickly dabbed them with a tissue.

It is anything but okay. Why dont I know who I am? Uneasiness started crawling on my skin and I glanced around again. And whats with the wings?

Were faeries, she answered.

Faeries?

Yes.

Wait. Did that we include me? Was I a faery too? I reached behind me and my hands bumped into something soft and delicate. Oh my God! I had wings too! Everyone else had them, so why shouldnt I? Did I always have wings? What did that make me? A faery. How did I forget that? Seriously? Who forgets what they are? I needed to see what they looked like, what I looked like; maybe it would help jog my memory.

I jumped out of the bed and crossed the room to the mirror and looked in it. Wide, green eyes stared back at me. My dark brown hair was braided to the side of my face and there wasnt a pimple or blemish on me. I ran my finger over my pointy ears. It was so odd that I didnt recognize myself at all. I studied themywings next. They were big, but not huge, and were a combination of light purple and dark blue. They were cool though. If I wasnt having an identity crisis, I would check them out longer, but right now I needed to figure out what was going on. I turned around and faced the others in the room.

How do you feel? The girls voice was shaky.

I looked at my arms and legs. I didnt see anything wrong. No reason why I shouldnt feel okay. Other than the fact that they were all staring at me. Physically Im okay, but what is going on? Why dont I remember? Im so confused. I racked my brain for my name and came up empty. My heart thudded in my chest and my breathing came quickly. Had I bumped my head? How did I forget who I was?

There were four of them in the room and the noise I could hear coming from outside the room told me there were others in the house. Where was I? How did I get here? The questions kept piling up.

The girl looked around uncomfortably and said, Can you guys give us a few minutes?

The woman near the door left first. The dark-haired guy with black and teal wings walked up and kissed the blonde girl. He didnt say anything, but she looked into his eyes and nodded. Then he walked out. The boy with orange-red wings wouldnt stop staring at me. The girl turned to him and pleaded, Please, Drake.

His name was Drake. The one who made me feel tingly for some reason.

Drake shoved his hands in the pockets of his dark pants and muttered, Fine.

Once he was out of the room, the girl closed the door. Do you want to sit back down?

No. Im good. I glanced back in the mirror and admired the wings again.

Very well. She stood across from me. Do you remember anything?

No. Im a little freaked out. I glanced at her wings again. Make that very freaked out.

She was silent for a minute and then she looked into my eyes and said with a voice that sounded like it could break at any time, Your name is Sierra. Sierra Ryanne Davenport. My name is Rylie. Were best friends, have been since we were kids.

Sierra. I said the name over and over in my head. And my best friend was this girl, Rylie? Why wouldnt I remember someone who had been my best friend for years? Why wouldnt I remember my own name?

I still dont remember.

Whats the last thing you do remember? she asked.

I tried to think back to before my eyes popped open. There was nothing. Just darkness. Emptiness. No sense of belonging somewhere. I didnt remember any place I had been or the last face I saw. I dont remember anything, I confessed.

She took a long, shuddering breath and then continued, We were on a walk a couple days ago when we were attacked. Youve been unconscious ever since. She reached out, but I pulled away. A look of hurt registered on her face. I felt guilty, but I didnt understand what was going on. Im sorry. I know this is hard for you, but please understand its hard for me as well. Youre like a sister to me and Im scared Ive lost you.

I didnt know how to respond. Im sorry I dont remember.

Its not your fault. She sniffled. I dont want to overwhelm you with information. Im going to introduce you to everybody and maybe youd like something to eat. We can talk more later. Does that sound okay?

No! Nothing sounded okay. I had just woken up to find out I had forgotten everything and now Im supposed to go meet people and eat? But instead of saying that, I nodded. Sure.

If it gets to be too much for you, just let me know.

I glanced at my wings in the mirror again and flapped them. Do we fly? I asked, suddenly feeling excited.

No. Theyre not that cool. One corner of her mouth turned up into a half-smile. They flutter when were attracted to someone and when were scared.

Oh. I thought about Drakes wings fluttering earlier. Guess that meant he was attracted to me or scared of me.

Rylie, her blonde hair flowing down her back, led me out of the bedroom, down the hall, and into the living room. Everyones outside.

I walked through the screen door into the brisk air. The magnificent trees with their ember-red leaves told me it was autumn, reminding me of a page from a childrens book with colors so rich and bright. The beauty of the land left me astounded.

A bunch of faeries stood conversing on the deck. The guys were all dressed in pants and shirts with low backs. The girls were all in dresses of different lengths. Some were sleeveless, others had spaghetti straps. Two of them wore leggings under the dresses. A few of them wore some sort of jewelry on their feet. And they all had wings.