Page 46 of Vanish

But wasn’t that what I wanted—to venture into the unknown and explore its possibilities? To break my painful, wearying bond with a world where I felt out of place, other than with the man whose relationship I still remained uncertain had been nothing more than a carefully crafted lie?

Though I claimed such reasoning guided my desire for the unseen world, deep in my heart I knew that Lucien wasn’t the only one hiding behind a mask of deceit—I’d also crafted a web of lies, living a life of pretend rather than facing the truth that I wanted to run away in order escape my pain and the strain brought by my expectations, just as I’d always done.

Amid my uncertainty I sensed Lucien—though I couldn’t see or hear him I knew he was nearby, as if residing in the next room. His proximity tugged on my heart, urging me to go to him, but I resisted and floated further away on tiptoe, allowing the new thread I’d just discovered to guide me.

Yet no matter how far away I tried to drift from all ties holding me to the visible world that had brought me nothing but pain, I couldn’t completely melt into invisibility’s comforting embrace, as if another purpose outside of Lucien kept me tethered to the visible world—a force far stronger than than the beautiful romance I’d spent my entire life imagining that had previously bound me.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when this lingering connection tugging at my consciousness pulled me reluctantly back to the visible world I’d just abandoned. I paused to search within myself for this strange feeling of belonging, of being needed that seemed at odds with everything I’d experienced in my returned memories.

Despite the nothingness making my body feel light, a weight settled in my stomach that it took me a moment to diagnose as responsibility that vanishing wouldn’t only cause me to leave behind the man who’d lied to me, but an entire nation in a desperate plight.

I felt an immediate regret that my own suffering had caused me to momentarily forget the fate of so many others, but coupled with this came a surge of frustration. I had spent countless hours already seeking a solution to the curse, agonizing at my failures, and encouraging Lucien in his own efforts. Clearly it had all been in vain, and it was high time for me to distance myself from the futile efforts that brought only grief.

I pushed through my twinge of guilt and mentally strained against its constraints in hopes of finally breaking away from this prison of being caught between two realms. After much exhausting exertion, I gave in to the force beckoning me back to the visible world to part the unseen curtain that divided the two lands.

The world gradually grew clearer, as if the droplets of the rainy windowpane obscuring my view slowly washed away, allowing me to discover what lay just on the other side: it wasn’t Lucien whose presence had coaxed me from the threshold I’d been straddling, but instead the last man I expected to see.

My breath caught: it was my older brother, Castiel.

My mind whirled. Shortly before my departure for my wedding, he’d been summoned to the neighboring kingdom, Eldenwood, for state affairs. Though I hadn’t been privy to the details, my understanding was that his royal duties would encompass several weeks at least…making his sudden arrival in Brimoire all the more perplexing.

Had he cut his responsibilities short…for my sake?

The idea was ridiculous. While his role in my life hadn’t been as traumatic as Father’s in that he never treated me cruelly, he was still a foreboding presence—a silent onlooker who usually maintained his distance, as if the heir to the throne had no business with an illegitimate princess, which created a heartache different than Father’s verbal abuse.

At first I wondered whether he was merely here as a formality in responding to the disappearance of a Thorndale princess…before remembering that duty had already been fulfilled by the visiting dignitaries from Thorndale, giving me hope that Castiel’s visit was more personal than political.

He stood in the doorway peering into what undoubtedly appeared to be nothing more than an empty room. His gaze passed over me several times, confirming that I was still hidden beneath invisibility’s protective shroud. Though his expression remained impassive, tension stiffened his posture. I watched him curiously, wondering if it were possible he felt concern for me or if the crease between his brows was caused by something else.

He tilted his head, as if listening for something. Slowly his gaze shifted to the shadowy corner where I stood and I froze in shock. He didn’t appear to be able to see me, yet he stared through narrowed eyes, as if trying to peel back whatever layer blocked me from view.

After a prolonged pause he ventured a hesitant step in my direction. “Lisette?” For all his halting movements his tone bore confidence as he softly called my name into the darkness, making me certain he somehow sensed me hovering just beyond his sight.

I didn’t immediately answer, trapped by my uncertainty on whether I wanted him to know I was here. Though he’d never given me any reason to fear him, his loyalty to the throne would force him to send word to the king whose notice I yearned above all else to escape, informing him that I hadn’t fully disappeared. Whatever the land of the vanished contained, at least I could be certain I was finally out of reach of the man who’d made my life a living misery.

My brother stepped farther into the room, his eyes fixed on the spot masking my presence. Could he actually see, or somehow sense me? Cautiously I slid sideways away from his gaze, but his eyes tracked my movements. I stared at him in wonder. I’d known Castiel my entire life but had almost no connection to him; how could he see me when even Lucien was no longer able to find me? I hesitated, half inclined to fade through the wall and away from his uncanny gaze, but curiosity, mingled with a faint tinge of hope, pushed me toward him instead.

I felt myself tug partially free from some of the curse’s tendrils. “Castiel?” I wasn’t sure whether my voice would fade, but it managed to stretch across the distance separating us to reach him.

He turned more fully in my direction, squinting to make out my faint form in the dim light. I was tempted to withdraw and allow the shadows to swallow me up, but though I’d had little opportunity to develop much of a relationship with my brother—let alone one of trust—the fact he’d traveled such a vast distance through a cursed land for my sake made it impossible for me to feel invisible, creating a new connection to the world I’d left behind after the one binding me to Lucien had severed.

Almost against my will, my body tingled as it gradually rematerialized. Upon seeing me his shoulders sagged with relief. “Lisette.” In two strides he was at my side, reaching for me as if he meant to embrace me—brotherly affection that was entirely out of character for him—before his arms fell limply to his sides.

I gaped up at him, half-expecting the curse to dispel what I was certain was merely an illusion by erasing his presence, but no matter how long I stared he remained. He scrutinized me just as intensely, his eyes glassy with a look I’d never seen reflected there before.

I pushed through the surprise clogging my throat enough to retrieve my voice. “What are you doing here?”

He shifted on his feet as if nervous, an emotion I’d never witnessed midst his usual confidence. “I…heard what happened while I was away. I wanted to come…to see…” His explanation faltered and he lowered his gaze.

It took me a moment to decipher the foreign emotion tugging his usual stoic expression. Was he…worried?Such a contrast to the neglect I was accustomed to. “The King of Thorndale already sent a dignitary on my behalf.”

Fierceness tightened his countenance as his head snapped up. “Such a formality would do nothing to save you; I had to come myself.”

As considerate as his gesture was, it seemed excessive. It was one thing for a throwaway princess to venture into such dangerous territory under the influence of a raging curse, and quite another for the heir to the throne to embark on such a precarious journey. And for what purpose? The inconceivable idea that I could even be saved was one matter, the fact that anyone wouldwantto was another concept entirely, one impossible for me to wrap my head around.

“You…want to help me?” My muffled voice sounded even smaller in my vulnerability.

“Of course. You’re my sister, Lisette.”

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