Free Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

little overly obvious, I mean, can Dane really be that… stupid? I shrug and scoop it up. Then, I sling the satchel across my body and climb back out the window, my knees absorbing the brunt of the impact with little trouble. My breath pushes past my lips in a huff and I stumble forward a few steps.
    The sound of Dane’s voice hits my ears and I glance around frantically for a place to hide the satchel. I have to settle for shoving it into a bush and hoping it’s small enough not to be noticed. I’ll have to come back for it later.
    My heartbeat’s just settling into its normal rhythm as I round the corner and see Dane and Flint walking toward me from the other end of the street. I jerk as if hit and my pulse immediately picks up again. It’s too late to backtrack. Flint’s already got his hand up in a low wave and Dane is giving me that creepy ‘now I’ve got you’ grin. I slow my steps and take a few deep breaths, struggling to control my racing heart and smiling as demurely as I can. It would really suck to get caught now.
    “Hello, Dane, Flint,” I say. “Lovely to see you.”
    Flint’s eyebrows have disappeared up into his hairline somewhere and his return smile is uneasy. “Hey, Jax.”
    “Good evening, Jasmine,” says Dane. “You look stunning this evening. So nice to see you out of those awful pants and into something more suitable.”
    Is he really serious? He pretty much issued a death sentence for my brother earlier and now he wants to chat about clothing choices? “Well you know, the festival and all…” I blink rapidly to prevent myself from rolling my eyes.
    “Yes, you young people do like an excuse to dress up.” Dane’s cheesy grin grows and his eyes slide to Flint at his side. “I do have some great news for you though.”
    “Oh.” Alarm bells sound in my head. Anything Dane thinks is great is probably not, in fact, whatever his news is, it’s probably the last thing I want to hear right now.
    Dane doesn’t wait for me to ask anyway. “In light of the recent events and your newly unfortunate circumstances, I’ve decided to grant you a concession.”
    He seems to be waiting for a response from me. “Thank you?… Sir.”
    “Letting you be Promised early was an easy decision when I realized I had the perfect man for you.” Dane pats a pale-faced Flint on the back.
    My smile shatters and I struggle to keep from screaming. Promised early? I open my mouth, but my suddenly dry throat won’t let any words by.
    “Speechless with gratitude I see.” Dane’s expression twists into something more sinister, his eyes boring into me. “You’ll do well to remember my generosity this evening in light of your flaunting of the rules earlier.” Just like that his face morphs again, into the jolly leader. “Well, come along then.”
    Before I can protest, Dane reaches out to grab my arm, but Flint beats him to it, grasping my bicep and pulling me into his side. “I’ve got her Sir. Jax and I have some things to discuss anyway.”
    I glare at Flint’s hand on my arm and then directly into his face. I don’t have anything to discuss with him.
    The walk is silent except for the sound of my feet dragging in the dirt. Flint’s eyes dart from me to Dane and he opens his mouth a few times but then shakes his head and shuts it after another glance at Dane. So maybe there is something to discuss, but not anything he wants to say in front of his father.
    I slow my steps until Flint is forced to fall behind alongside me. “What’s going on?”
    “I’ve got this under control. Just trust me,” he says.
    Dane gestures ahead for us to catch up. I guess trusting Flint is my only choice right now. He wouldn’t actually go through with the Promising. I’m sure he knows how I feel about that whole thing. Right?
    The closer we get to the square, the louder my pulse pounds in my ears. My palms may be sweaty, but inside I’m ice cold with something approaching terror. The only thing keeping me