Oathbound: A Sapphic Portal Fantasy by Hadley H. Hudson

Author:Hadley H. Hudson [Hudson, Hadley H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

Jules jolted up in the bed, fully awake. A cold sweat covered her body, her night gown slicked to her skin. Jules breathed in shuddering bouts of air. Her eyes darted around the room—not the forest. Bile rested on her tongue, the sour taste the only thing she could focus on.

She hadn’t killed Aster. No. It was the man. Aster hadn’t been anywhere near the knife.

Unease crawled beneath her skin, screaming at her. Jules stood from the bed, trying to air out the sweat that coated her. She paced her room, trying to stop the jittering.

You killed her.

“No, I didn’t.” Jules whispered.

Before she knew it, she was making her way down the hall.

She stopped, her fist mere inches from the door. This was ridiculous. Aster was alive, and definitely not dead. Jules knew that, but reason wouldn’t cement itself in her brain. The fear lingered, the image of Aster’s dead body echoing through her mind.

She knocked lightly on the door. She leaned her ear against the wood, hoping to hear Aster stirring beyond it. There was no noise, so she knocked again, slightly louder. She waited, to no avail. Her hand found its way onto the doorknob. Jules cringed at the high squeak of the hinges as she cracked open the door.

She peered into the room. The room was larger than any other she had seen in the building. A four-poster bed stood in the middle of it, sheer curtains crafting walls around it. A streetlamp flickered outside the only window. Ornate furniture was outlined in its warm glow but didn’t do much to light the room more than that.

Her eyes strained to look at the bed, stepping in to see around the bedpost.

Aster was sleeping on her stomach, face turned to the side. The lamp light caressed her cheek, giving her skin a soft glow. Jules watched her chest rise softly, watching each breath, making sure they didn’t stop. A soft snore sounded from Aster.

It was such a delightful noise. It washed away her nerves, a small, relieved laugh making its way through her lips. Jules stayed to listen to the sweet cadence. It would be all too easy to fall asleep to it—to wake up to it.

Aster’s brows creased together at something Jules couldn’t see. Jules lowered to a crouch beside the bed, scanning Aster’s face. What was she dreaming about, what didn’t she dream about? Something better than hers, Jules hoped. She wanted desperately to smooth the crease between Aster’s brows, to soothe her back into the peaceful slumber she had been in moments earlier.

Aster’s breath hitched, the snores stopping. Aster began to mumble, something frantic that Jules couldn’t understand.

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay,” Jules whispered, doubting Aster could even hear her.

“No,” The broken word Aster uttered rammed into Jules with the weight of the world.

Jules stood, checking Aster’s still sleeping face. It scrunched into a pained expression.

“No, no, no, no, no—” Aster repeated the word, her cry getting louder, each one digging a knife deeper into Jules’ heart.

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