I don’t know. For now I’m chained in a cell with no access to my magic. They haven’t come too close to me, which is why I still have the ring.
I draw my knees up and press my forehead against them. There are so many important things I could say or ask, but the words that swim to the surface are, I miss you so much already. I don’t try to hide the thought. There are no secrets left between us now.
Nowhere near as much as I miss you.
My aching heart reaches out for his. I wonder if he can feel it, my longing for him. I suck in a deep breath and tell myself not to cry. I’ve done enough of that already. And I’ve had enough of the hopelessness, defeat and darkness. Bright colors, I say, telling myself as much as I’m telling him. We’re painting with bright colors now, not dark ones. We can fix this. We can find a way.
I don’t know if it’s me or him or both of us, but I sense a change. A lift in the mood. I curl up beneath the covers and lie awake for another few hours, speaking with him—thinking, planning, plotting—until I fall asleep with the sound of his voice in my mind.
When I wake in the morning, I’m tired but energized. I’m focused. I have purpose. It’s later than I thought it was, so I dress quickly and hurry to Gaius’s study. He isn’t there. A quick look in the greenhouse tells me he isn’t there either. I run down the stairs, and then down again, below the entrance hall, to the door Chase opened by holding his hand against it. I hesitate. Gaius said he would add my handprint to the door’s access enchantment just before we left for the Wishbone Rivers, but I haven’t tried it yet. I haven’t wanted to come down here since then.
I raise my hand and place it against the door. Click, and the door vanishes. A tiny thrill runs through me. I really do belong here now. After more stairs, I turn into the wide corridor and head for the meeting room with the oval table. I wasn’t sure anyone would be there, but I hear voices coming from the open door. As I reach it, Gaius comes out of the room next door with a scroll in his hand. He greets me and nods for me to walk in ahead of him.
Lumethon, Kobe and Darius are sitting around a diagram of a building. “So we’re still going ahead with this?” Darius asks.
“Of course,” Lumethon tells him. “We can’t abandon all operations simply because Chase isn’t here.”
“I’m not saying abandon everything, but this one was his. It’s complex. He’s the only one who’s been there before.”
Gaius steps around me and hands the scroll to Lumethon. “For the Seers.”
“Thanks,” she says.
Ana walks in then, with flushed cheeks and a towel around her neck. “Did I miss anything?” she asks. “Anyone figure out where Chase is yet?”
“Yes,” I say, moving to stand at the head of the table as everyone looks up in surprise. “And I have our next mission. It’s close to impossible, but Chase tells me that’s usually the best kind.” I twist the telepathy ring around my finger and smile at my team. “We’re breaking into the Seelie Court.”
Calla’s story continues in Creepy Hollow, Book 6, coming in 2016!
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you, thank you, thank you …
To God, for stirring up stories in my imagination and helping me get to the end of another book.
To Cherie Reich, for being my editing eyes, and for talking me down from near panic as my deadlines soared past me!
To Dani Snell from Refracted Light Reviews, who organized the fantastic review team for A Faerie’s Revenge.
To the early readers, who take the time to hang out in Creepy Hollow with all my characters and then write reviews about them.
To all the Creepy Hollow fans, for loving Calla just as much as you loved Violet, and for being desperate to know what would happen after that final (shocking) word of A Faerie’s Secret.
And to Kyle, for putting up with the many, many hours I spent shut away in my study getting this book finished.
BOOKS BY RACHEL MORGAN
THE CREEPY HOLLOW SERIES
Bestselling YA fantasy series
Kick-butt faerie Violet is about to graduate as the top guardian of her class, but when an assignment goes wrong and the human boy she’s meant to be protecting follows her back into the fae realm, a dangerous plot is set in motion.
Magic, mystery, danger, action, romance … This series has it all!
An A to Z of Creepy Hollow Fae (Prequel Short Stories)
The Faerie Guardian
The Faerie Prince
The Faerie War
A Faerie’s Secret
A Faerie’s Revenge
THE TROUBLE SERIES
Swoon-worthy guys, comical moments, witty dialogue, and hot kisses ...
This sweet contemporary romance series will sweep you off your feet!
Forgiven (A Trouble Novella)
The Trouble with Flying
The Trouble with Flirting
The Trouble with Faking
The Trouble with Falling
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Morgan is a South African author who spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults and those young at heart.
Connect with Rachel online:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads
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Table of Contents
Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Part II
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Part III
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part IV
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Next in the Creepy Hollow Series
Acknowledgements
Books by Rachel Morgan
About the Author
Table of Contents
Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Part II
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Part III
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
&n
bsp; Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part IV
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Next in the Creepy Hollow Series
Acknowledgements
Books by Rachel Morgan
About the Author