“Very few people,” I murmured as I had a rare flash of precognition.
I saw Rowan wearing the leathers of a hunter, her hand full of magic and her stare steady on her target. My baby girl was going to take after her parents but in her own way. I was a little scared for her—it would be a rough road—but also excited. Maybe someday we'd be working together.
I looked around the table at my family and felt satisfaction as well as peace. I could be both soldier and queen. I could be a wife to four incredible men and a mother to four amazing children. I could be a daughter to a loving father and companion to a magical canine. I could be everything I wanted to be without hurting the people I loved. The revelation lifted something from my shoulders that I hadn't realized was there—guilt. Guilt for wanting more. Not only that but also fear that what I wanted was wrong and anger for feeling guilty and afraid.
All of those emotions fled under the truth that had been there all along: the restrictions on my life were of my own making. I had made myself feel this way, not my husbands. Sure, most of them had been against my returning to work and perhaps that was why I felt I had to limit myself. But they loved me and in the end, they had embraced what I needed to be happy. Of course, they did; they were the men who helped me become who I was, in the first place. I should have trusted that and believed in it. I should have believed in us. In the fairy tale.
Because this fairy's tale was real and it was far from over.
A Sneak Peek
Keep reading for a special look into the next book in the Twilight Court Series:
Enchanted Addictions
Chapter One
“He's going for the loch!” I screamed at Killian.
“Son of a bitch!” Killian revved his motorcycle and leaned forward against the wind.
My husband looked damn fine on a motorcycle. Wind whipping through his auburn hair, twin swords strapped to his back, and leather hoodie flapping in the breeze. He had a pair of sunglasses on but no gloves. The lack of gloves was necessary, as soon became apparent. Kill flung out a hand and it shifted into a thick snake tail. The tail wrapped around the neck of the Each-Uisge—pronounced Ech-Ooshkya—I rode and jerked back.
Each-Uisges are a type of Fey water horse. They're safe to ride on land but if one of them gets you anywhere near the water, it's best to leap off his back—if he'll let you—and run. Once you're in the water with an Each-Uisge, you're a goner. He'll drown you and eat you, leaving only your liver behind. They don't do paté.
This particular Each-Uisge had been making trouble around Loch Gairloch—kind of a redundant name if you ask me—and had left a few livers on the shores of the loch to freak out the locals. This would normally be an extinguisher problem but Each-Uisges are Fey animals, not Fairies. All Fairies can speak to animals, especially Fey animals, so communicating with the horse wasn't the issue. It was the fact that it couldn't be tried like a fairy.
When a fairy does something wrong on Earth, the Extinguishers hunt it down and stop it. If that fairy does something as horrible as killing someone, a warrant of extinguishment is released and that fairy would be hunted by extinguishers and extinguished, AKA killed. But you don't kill a horse for doing what's in it's nature to do. Well, humans do “put down” animals for that very reason all the time but Fairies do not, and putting down a Fey animal without the permission of the Fairy Council—which had not been given—would mean war. And no horse was worth starting a war over.
So, the Human Council had called Killian for advice on how to handle the Each-Uisge problem in Scotland. Killian had turned to me, the Human Council's new consultant on all things Fey. I had intended to work for both the Human and Fairy Councils but the High Fairy Council in Ireland had yet to get back to me on my offer. Which is why I was in Scotland.
Kill and I had gone there to wrangle us a water horse.
It was my first assignment after months of being on the payroll, as it were. My pay hadn't actually been discussed. I don't need the cash since I'm the Queen of Seelie and Unseelie as well as the Princess of Twilight but that's beside the point. I should be compensated for my time. Especially if I was going to spend it riding across the Scottish Highlands on the back of a deadly Fey horse.
When my other husbands—I have four total—agreed to my new job, it was with the understanding that one of them would get to tag along with Killian and me on our missions. They'd take turns since they all couldn't come along every time. We had saved the world from a pearl thief recently and all of them had come along on that mission, but we have children at home and we didn't want to leave them with their grandfather every time I was called in. Plus, my husbands have kingdoms to run. Even Daxon, who lives in California, is King of the Fairy Undergrounds and is a busy guy. Killian is the only one who's a prince instead of a king and as such, he had a bit more freedom. So, he'd taken my last job as Ambassador between the Realms, Councils, Coven, and Casters.
The Coven and Casters are factions of Witches, the latter being Killian's people. All Witches are descended from Fairies. A lot of Fey bred with humans but only a few Fey races had magic that survived the dilution of centuries of breeding only with humans. Nearly all trace of feyness left their descendants but what did remain made them into their own race: Witches. But not all Witches are the same; they're divided into clans by magic just as their ancestors had all been Fey but were divided by their races.
The Witches decided it was a bad idea for the clans to interbreed. However, love knows no bounds and if you try to restrict it, it flourishes just to spite you. Witches from different clans fell in love and some of them decided to run off together. When enough of them had left, they decided to form their own group—the Casters. Children of these outcast witches were once considered mutants or monsters and even called bloodless, but now that the Witches know who their ancestors are and that those ancestors saw nothing wrong with mingling magic, the Casters have been accepted. Mostly.
Killian is one of those Caster children—a child of two clans. His ancestors were Sylphs and Snake-Djinn, who happen to be Seelie and Unseelie, respectively. This combination made Killian a type of Twilight Caster Witch. When he visited Fairy for the first time, he was made into a Twilight Fairy. The magic of the Fairy Realm amped up the Fey magic in Killian's blood and transformed him. He became a Nathair-Sith—a new type of Twilight Fairy that can shapeshift into a giant snake. He can also shift his limbs into snake tails.
Which brings us back to the horse.
The Each-Uisge wasn't having it. He tossed his head until Killian lost his grip. Killian cursed again as he sucked his tail back into an arm. I could have leapt off the horse's back but this was the first time we'd been able to get close to the damn thing, and I was loathe to let it go. The plan had been for me to jump on the Each-Uisge's back then Killian would help me herd it (is it still considered herding if there's only one horse?) to the nearest rath where I would ride it into Fairy. Once in the Fairy Realm, I could then jump off and set it free.
That plan hadn't worked out so well.
“Hold on, babe!” Killian called to me just before he punched it.
He sped ahead a few feet then angled sharply in front of us. The Each-Uisge reared. Oh, he'd meant to literally hold on. Okay. It was a good thing I'd wound my fingers through the horse's slick mane. Even when the animal was out of water, it stayed sort of damp. It didn't smell the greatest either, kinda like low tide. But I clung to its back as it pawed the air then landed facing away from the loch. Or at least facing to the right of it.
Killian did the maneuver once again and directed the horse back toward where we wanted him to go. It screamed furiously but continued its wild run across the hills. Once we'd gotten the hang of it, it became fairly easy to wrangle the Each-Uisge to the rath, even though the closest rath was several miles away. The Rath Lord had already been warned of our plans and had the gates to the property open for us. I galloped past his house—a manor, really—and straight for the rath, where he waited. The Rath Lord
yanked open the golden door as I approached, and I rode the Each-Uisge straight into Fairy.
Grammar Giggles
And just for a little giggle, here are some grammar mistakes found during the editing of this book.
Correct line: Over time, a few brave witches volunteered to make the trip to Fairy and learn of their ancestors.
Giggle: Over time, a few brace witches volunteered to make the trip to Fairy and learn of their ancestors.
Correct Line: Our people started to go down like bowling pins.
Giggle: Our people started to gown down like bowling pins.
Writing is nearly impossible to do without making mistakes; we're all human. And editing can be even more difficult. Our minds fill in the correct words while we read and even professionals miss things. I hope these giggles help you view the errors in amusement and not irritation. We authors work hard to entertain you and all we want is for you to have a wonderful reading experience. So, please, laugh with me and even at me, but have mercy on my writing.
About the Author
Born and raised in Hawaii, Amy made a perilous journey across the ocean with six cats to settle in the beautiful state of Oregon which reminds her a lot of Hawaii but without the cockroaches or evil sand. When she isn't trying to type fast enough to get down everything the voices in her head are saying while her kitties try to sabotage her with cuteness, she enjoys painting on canvases, walls, and anything else that will sit still long enough for the paint to dry. She's fueled by tea, inspired by music, and spends most of her time listening to the voices in her head.
For information on new releases, detailed character descriptions, and an in-depth look into the worlds of the Godhunter, the Twilight Court, the Spellsinger, Spectra, and the Happily Harem After Series, check out Amy's website: Amy Sumida's Website
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Read more of Amy's books:
The Godhunter Series
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Pronunciation Guide
Aideen: Ay-deen
Ainsley: Ains-lee
Aodh: Ee
Balloch: Bal-lock
Baobhan sith: Baa-vahn-she
Barra: Bare-ah
Basmhor: ba-svar (Gaelic for deadly)
Beag: big(k)
Bean-sidhe: ban-she
Cailleach Bheur: CALL-yack Burr or COY-ick Burr
Catan: KAH-tan
Cliona: CLEE-oh-nah
Conn Dealan: Cawn Ja-lahn
Criarachan: CREE-are-rock-ahn
Craos-Teine: Cr-oo-SH Teh-nay (Gaelic for a blazing red hot fire)
Cúl tóna: cool tone-ah (dickhead in Gaelic)
Dathadair: Dath-ah-dare (death omen in Gaelic)
Daxon Tromlaighe: Dack-son Trahm-lie-ya
Dhoire: Doy-rah
Diocail: JU-kel
Duergar: Doo-ay-gahr
Each-Uisge: Ech-oosh-kee-ya
Eadan: Ae-dan
Eibhleann: Eve-lin
Elara: Ee-lah-ra
Ewan: You-win
Fir Darrig: Fear-durg
Fuku-Riu: Foo-koo Ree-you
Gancanagh: Gon-cawn-ah
Gatik: Gah-teak
Ghillie-Dhu: Gill-ee-doo
Glastig: Clee-stickh
Gradh: Grah
Greer: Gree-air
Gwyllion: Gwith-lee-on
Han-Riu: Hawn Ree-you
Hrafn: Ha-raf-in
Iseabal: Ish-bal
Ka-Riu: Kah Ree-you
Katsuo: Kaht-soo-O
Keelut: Kray-ee-oot
Keir: Keer
Kinryu: Kin-ree-you
Kiyohime: Kee-yo-hee-may
Kuniyoshi: Koo-nee-yo-she
Lana Clach: Lah-nah kLax
Latharna: LA-ur-na
Lonnegawn: lonny-goon (forest dwelling plant-person)
Lorcan: Lore-cawn
Mairte: Mahrj-tah
Marcan: MOR-kawn
Mizuchi: Me-zoo-chee
Mo shíorghrá: Muh HEER-grah “my eternal love” in Gaelic.
Moire: Moy-rah
Mór: Mo-ore
Mufasa: Moo-fah-sah
Nathair-sith: Nah-hith-she
Nighean: Na-yee-in
Nuckelavee: Nuke-ah-lah-vee
Otohime” Oh-toe-he-may
Paslein: Pahs-leen, a type of fairy butterfly with crystalline wings
Qalupalik: Kah-loo-pah-look
Rayetayah: Rah-yay-tah-yah
Raza: Rah-zah
Ri-Riu: Ree Ree-you
Rodaidh Cruthaich: Ro-Dee Crew-hick
Ryujin: Ree-you-gin
Ryvel: Rival
Sanna: Sah-nah
Searc: Sherk
Seelie: See-lee
Seren: Sare-rin
Seudachan: Shay-da-kan (jewel box in Gaelic)
Sileas Trachd: Shu-lee-ah Tahh-k
Sorcha: SORE-sha
Sui-Riu: Soo-ee Ree-you
Tayotama-hime: Tah-yo-tah-mah He-may
Tiernan: Teer-nin
Torquil: Tore-quill
Tursa: Ture-sah (a type of fairy bear)
Uisdean: OOSH-jan
Unseelie: Un-see-lee