“The Bonds of, Like, Sisterhood or Whatever,” by Brigid Collins, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

Excerpt

From my trips by the high school this summer on my way to and from my swim class, I’m like a million percent certain that the portal I’ve been feeling is somewhere in the building. And from my little stop outside the auditorium earlier today to hit that sweet BotB signup sheet posted outside, I’m maybe a thousand percent sure it’s in the auditorium.

And man, when I tell that to Linn after we finish up dinner—totally burgers, score—her face just splits in this gleeful grin.

“It’s like serendipity,” she says as she fishes around in her guitar bag. When she straightens up again, she’s got her fingers curled around her key ring so it won’t jingle. “Over winter break last year, Tom snatched Mr. Schultz’s keys and made copies of the band room key for all of us. Sometimes they break in and hang out, but I’ve never used mine, yet.”

Then I’m the one wearing the face-splitting grin.

Our night of crime is so on.

We wait until Mom and Dad turn their lights out, then we enact the escape plan that’s been the most successful after years of refining. Climb out the bedroom window, shimmy down the corner of the house into the backyard garden. Leave the bikes in the garage because getting them out makes too much noise.

Walk in the free air of the night, baby!

Yeah, we’ve done this a whole bunch. I just like being out at night, Linn likes breaking the rules and getting away with it. Win-win!

The tingling under my shoes—tennis shoes now, since flip-flops are so impractical for covert ops—gets stronger as we move towards Roseville High. My heart is pounding, too, which, weird, because that hasn’t happened on any other nighttime excursions.

Then again, none of our other extra-legal activities have had the end-goal of me getting myself and my sister into the Fairy Realm, not to mention meeting our long-lost, kidnapped sister.

—from “The Bonds of, Like, Sisterhood or Whatever,” by Brigid Collins, in Stolen by the Fae

About Brigid

Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan. Her fantasy series The Songbird River Chronicles and Winter’s Consort, her fun middle grade hijinks series The Sugimori Sisters, and her dark fairy tale novella Thorn and Thimble are available wherever books are sold. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Feyland Tales, and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies.