SNEAK PREVIEW OF PART TWO: TWICE UPON A DREAM

"Alexander—" He stiffens beneath my hand and I feel the warning in the subtle gesture. A warning I don't heed. I turn him toward me and he lets me do it, rotating with the force of my pull.

The face that frowns at me is unmistakably the one I've grown to love and hate, but the cold, hard eyes are not orange. They're an icy blue that couldn't be less like Alexander's.

"I'm not Alexander," the imposter says—with annoyed emphasis, since I'm still staring open-mouthed at him, my hand on his arm. I let go wordlessly.

The longer I stare, the more obvious it is. So obvious, in fact, I feel stupid having mistaken them. Aside from the eyes, his hair is long (though the same midnight black color as Alexander's), pulled back at the nape of his neck. He's so still, I'm not sure he's even breathing. The reserve, the precise control, is the thing least like Alexander.

But his face. It's the same. Even his eyes burn the way Alexander's do, despite the different color.

"You look like him," I let him know, in case it might be new information.

The first change in his stone-like expression is a small lift of his eyebrow. "So I've been told," he answers. His voice is also different than Alexander's—low and rich, and at the moment, frosty with sarcasm.

"You know him, then?" I ask, hating the eagerness that infects my tone.

Slight confusion causes the barest of lines between his brows; I can't tell if he thinks I'm stupid, joking, or both.

"What's your name?" he asks, voice softer than before. Without the sarcasm, it sounds like dark honey.

"Violet," I reply. "I really need to find him, I—"

The blue-eyed Alexander shakes his head, holding up a hand to stop me. "I don't know what he did or didn't promise you, Violet, but—"

"He doesn't know where I am, could you—"

"Stop," he snaps, and my mouth shuts. He sighs and looks like he pities me."I'm sorry, but if he hasn't contacted you yet, he isn't going to."

Wait a minute. What does he think happened?

"It's not like that. We're not, you know—" I blush, moving my fingers together to demonstrate. "—with each other." Unless you count soul-binding as with each other.

"An enemy then?"

"We're friends," I say in exasperation.

He gives a short, nasty laugh. His eyes sweep over me. With my little frame, big dark eyes and somewhat sleep rumpled hair, I probably look like a stranded woodland creature to him. "Friends? Alexander doesn't have friends, he has playthings."

I flinch—that one struck close to home. "Look, who are you, anyway—his guardian? Just tell me how I can find him."

He crosses his arms over his chest, much like a parent would when they get seriouswith a mouthy child.

"I'm his brother," he replies. "But I'm not protecting him, I'm protecting you."

I frown—does he want me to bestow a lady's favor for his gallantry or something?

"Just leave it alone." He turns to leave. "You'll thank me."

He walks away and I watch, flustered, before shouting after him, "Wait!"

Author's Note: Twice Upon a Dream is available for .99 cents on Amazon or (if you don't have a Kindle) on Smashwords. Thanks for reading! Your input has been invaluable. If you reviewed this story before this posting and you message me with your username, I'll send you a PDF of Twice Upon a Dream for free. (: