~Cover Reveal~ Hollow of Treason by Lainy Laine

Hollow of Treason

The Euphoria Series Book 2

Test and trials abound where temptation resides.

First comes the darkness that slowly eats away at your light bit by bit. Once the erosion begins, it’s hard to repair the damage that has been done.

Calandra thought she was figuring out life and she thought she had a hold on destiny. She thought wrong. To learn what she needs to do to fix Faerie, she must find a way to talk to her deceased mother. Making a deal with death forces her to trust her life in the hands of someone that doesn’t deserve it. Will she be able to fit the pieces together before it’s too late?

Temptation abounds in her heart and she is about to face the trial of a lifetime. Will an act of treason tear her apart completely? Can what she knows to be true keep her from breaking after what she faces?

In Hollow of Treason, the second installment in the Euphoria Series, we learn that things aren’t always what they seem and sometimes destiny can play tricks on us. The darkness won’t miss the chance to overcome you if you allow the light to leave you… even if it’s only for a moment.

 

PROLOGUE - ECH

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 is now ruined thanks to the drama that he created. Why any of it matters to him in the first place is the one thing she couldn’t seem to figure out. Regardless of the reasoning, her love is now tainted and forbidden. Her heart has been shattered into a million pieces along with it. 

At times she finds herself wishing she could just wake up and find this all to be some horrible nightmare. She had found love. The kind most people only dream of having, the kind of love that sets the entire world on fire with its passion. The love that makes you feel as if you’re falling with no sign of an end in sight, but it’s not a problem because you don’t ever want to stop falling. Her one and only true love, and yet it was taken away from her and now she is forced to leave everything she knows behind. At a time when she should be over the moon, she instead finds herself shunned, alone, and without a clue of what to do, where to turn, or if she will even survive this 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, that’s what this world used to be, 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 writes the last short entry in her diary and closes it. She holds it over her chest for a moment before she ties the twine around the tiny leather book. She puts her diary—which basically translates to her memories, heart, and soul—into the chest. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes against the tears that start to build. 

She holds the chain in her hand with the key charm wrapped in a turquoise circle hanging down, slightly swinging. Reluctantly, she drops the necklace into the chest with a sigh. It takes everything she has in her, along with some strength she was unaware she had, but she manages to slowly pull the lid down and lock the chest.

Part of her hopes that these things will be passed down from generation to generation. Maybe one day, someone will find it, someone born into the family with the same spirit, the same desires, and the same passions as her. One day, someone would have to fix the things here that had been broken. Hopefully they will find some meaning in the words she wrote in this 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 and replace it with the kind of love it was meant for. Maybe then it could go back to being a piece of Euphoria once more. 

Slowly, she walks away from the chest, the pain of knowing she is leaving an immense piece of herself in it builds with every step. A piece of her soul is locked up away from the rest of the world, as well as from her. As much as she loves everything she had written in her diary, she knows that she has to walk away from it all, and try to forget it ever happened.

A part of her wishes she had kept the necklace as she feels the piece of her soul further away from her than ever. Nonetheless, she knows someone else one day will need it more than she does now. So with one last glance back and a heavy sigh, she walks away from it completely.

 

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 is now ruined thanks to the drama that he created. Why any of it matters to him in the first place is the one thing she couldn’t seem to figure out. Regardless of the reasoning, her love is now tainted and forbidden. Her heart has been shattered into a million pieces along with it. 

At times she finds herself wishing she could just wake up and find this all to be some horrible nightmare. She had found love. The kind most people only dream of having, the kind of love that sets the entire world on fire with its passion. The love that makes you feel as if you’re falling with no sign of an end in sight, but it’s not a problem because you don’t ever want to stop falling. Her one and only true love, and yet it was taken away from her and now she is forced to leave everything she knows behind. At a time when she should be over the moon, she instead finds herself shunned, alone, and without a clue of what to do, where to turn, or if she will even survive this 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, that’s what this world used to be, 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 writes the last short entry in her diary and closes it. She holds it over her chest for a moment before she ties the twine around the tiny leather book. She puts her diary—which basically translates to her memories, heart, and soul—into the chest. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes against the tears that start to build. 

She holds the chain in her hand with the key charm wrapped in a turquoise circle hanging down, slightly swinging. Reluctantly, she drops the necklace into the chest with a sigh. It takes everything she has in her, along with some strength she was unaware she had, but she manages to slowly pull the lid down and lock the chest.

Part of her hopes that these things will be passed down from generation to generation. Maybe one day, someone will find it, someone born into the family with the same spirit, the same desires, and the same passions as her. One day, someone would have to fix the things here that had been broken. Hopefully they will find some meaning in the words she wrote in this 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 and replace it with the kind of love it was meant for. Maybe then it could go back to being a piece of Euphoria once more. 

Slowly, she walks away from the chest, the pain of knowing she is leaving an immense piece of herself in it builds with every step. A piece of her soul is locked up away from the rest of the world, as well as from her. As much as she loves everything she had written in her diary, she knows that she has to walk away from it all, and try to forget it ever happened.

A part of her wishes she had kept the necklace as she feels the piece of her soul further away from her than ever. Nonetheless, she knows someone else one day will need it more than she does now. So with one last glance back and a heavy sigh, she walks away from it completely.