P R O L O G U E
“IT’S YOUR TURN, ” SHE SAID.
“You want me to start now?” I asked. We’d finallygotten to my favoritepart ofthestory, andshewas readyto handme thereins. Fortherecord,swappinggravywasmyfavoritepart.
“Ithinkit’sbestyoutellthispart,”shereplied,assherolledover inthebednexttome.Hercoolhandsbrushedovermychestasshe placed a sweet kiss on my lips. For a coldbeing, she knew how to setmeonfire.Irolledoverquicklyputtingherbodybeneathmine.
“Igettobeincontrol?”Iasked.
“In the story,” she replied with a grin, then slid her cold hand downtomycrotch.
“Whoa!”Iexclaimed,jumpingawayfromher . “Killthemood,how ‘boutit!”
“I’llstop,”shegrinned.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Islowlypositionedmyselfoverheragain.“DoIhave limitations? Restrictions?”
“Hereorinthestory?”sheasked.
“Both.” I pressed my lips to her neck, and she reluctantly releasedamoan.“Oh,thatmustbegood.”
Shesigheddeeply.“Sogood.”
“Norestrictions?”Iasked.
“None,”shereplied.
Theguitaronmyarmcametolifeinaloudstrum.Shegiggled. “Youaskedforit,”Isaid.“Now.Don’tmove.”
Herbodywentrigidbeneathme.Shewasatmymercy. Willingly. Grace Ann Bryant, who had never trusted anyone fully, gave her bodyandherstorytome withoutprotest.From thelookinhereye, shewasgoingtoenjoy it.I’dnever dowrong by her , andsheknew that.
Neverever.
“A MAN COULD TRY, ” I SAID TO HER, AS SHE WAGGLED HER FINE ASS OUT OF the bedroom door to the hallway. I flopped back on the bed and stared at the piss poor job I’d done patching the ceiling. Rushing through it would come back to bite me later, but at least, I got it done before last night.
Grace Ann Bryant was finally mine, and it was still unbelievable. I wanted to jump out of the bed, pump my fists, and do a victory dance. It wouldn’t be very mature, but it would fit my mood. I was flying.
“Dublin, get your ass down here and help me with breakfast,” she called out to me.
Even when she was like this, it made my heart jump. I’d heard people say it before, but I truly was lost. If she said jump, I would ask how high, then make sure I surpassed her expectations. At this point, I was pretty sure I could spread wings and lift off.
“I’m coming,” I grunted, making sure she didn’t pick up on my blissful mood.
“Not without me,” she added. I got hard again. Shit. I only thought I was bingeing before, I’d never be satisfied now. I could never have enough of her. We were going to get married and win this fucking war. We would do it together. “Levi!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
When I jumped out of the bed, I immaturely pumped my fists for good measure, then I slipped into the jeans I’d worn the night before. I’d put on clean ones once I convinced Grace to get a
shower with me. I’d give anything to have Aydan’s wings right now. Because I’d fly circles around the house to celebrate my mood.
Rushing down the steps, I turned the corner to see her standing at the kitchen counter cracking eggs into a bowl. Rufus sat at her feet, waiting for her to drop something. Each time I looked at her, it was like seeing her again for the first time. That day she made me look her in the eye. I hated her and loved her for it.
Back then, my world had fallen apart. My mother, who had been everything to me, passed away. The only person who seemed to understand was Lisette, but I had made that mistake at a weak point in my life. Thankfully, Grace saw past that blunder. Lisette wasn’t the only screw up. I’d tried to fill my need with Katy, then with Riley. I should have known no one would do except Grace.
Then the whole bingeing thing wasn’t what she thought. I went out with and fooled around with a bunch of girls, but I never slept with any of them. They would never compare, so I didn’t even try.
“Are you going to stare at my ass or help?” she asked.
I grinned from ear to ear, then saddled up behind her rubbing my hands over her hips and around to her ass. “I’ll stop staring.”
“You aren’t helping either,” she said. The happiness in her voice filled my heart. Damn. I’d waited so long for this. Just a private moment to admire who she was.
She began beating the eggs, and I decided not to let go. I wondered how much of a distraction I could be. I moved her platinum locks out of the way, then kissed her neck, sending tingles down to her toes. She shivered, but I felt the rebuttal coming. “When are the kids coming home?”
“Soon,” I replied between kisses.
“Levi?”
“Hmm?”
“How soon?” she asked, setting the bowl of eggs aside.
“Whenever I call Luther and tell him to bring Winnie home. Aydan and Callum are with the wolves. I don’t expect them back until this afternoon.”
She turned to face me. “That’s not soon.”
“It’s nearly noon.”
“Oh.”
“We have plenty of time though,” I suggested. Her stomach growled between us. “Eat, then gravy.”
“Deal.”
I pitched in to help with breakfast, even if it was just to appease her grumbling stomach. Mine hadn’t made a noise. Probably because I had another body part that was doing all the talking.
As we ate, I dared to ask about the intervention with the women in town.
“So, what happened at the salon?”
“You know what happened,” she smirked.
Actually, I didn’t. It seemed that Mrs. Frist’s webs could keep her in and me out. I couldn’t feel her at all while she was in there. Which, had I not known that she was among friends, I probably would have freaked out. Being disconnected from her brought sheer pain to my whole body. I’d never had anxiety until I was separated from Grace. The kind that brought on a few “not so brave” moments in the Otherworld.
“Not really. I know that Jenny said she wanted to talk to you for our sake,” I explained.
“Oh. Well, they dosed me with Jenny’s brand of moonshine, and asked me questions that I didn’t want to answer but had no choice.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t known about the moonshine.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“About us?” I pushed.
“About my hang ups.”
“You had hang ups?” I asked innocently. Even though I knew that she did. I had suspected it all along.
“Yes, but we are together. No more hang ups.”
“You going to tell me what they were?”
“No.”
I sighed. It didn’t matter how much gravy we swapped, Grace still had to be in control. As long as I had my guitar, I would get my moments. I must have grinned, because she watched me closely.
“What?”
“What are you thinking about?”
“My guitar.”
She fucking blushed. I narrowed my gaze at her. “You want it don’t you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Liar.”
“Fairies can’t lie.”
“No, they just don’t lie well. And you, my love, cannot lie worth a shit.”
She huffed. “That thing scares me.”
“Why? I told you I’d never do anything you didn’t want to do.”
“You can control me. I don’t like to be controlled.”
“Grace, you trust me. You always have. You’ve just got to trust me with this, too. Besides, it will be worth it.” I waggled my eyebrows at her finishing it with a wink. I flirted like we were high school sweethearts.
Deep red cheeks. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was getting hot.
“Maybe.”
“There is no maybe with me.”
“Oh, don’t go all cocky bastard on me.”
“Why? You love it. At some point, you will get the full picture of exactly how much I know about you. I’ve sat back and studied you for so long that I can read you like a book. I bet I could without the connection.”
“I won’t remove it to see.”
That was a quick response. “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said.
“I know.”
I wrapped my hand around her neck, gently pulling her to me. “Nothing is ever going to separate us.”
“You don’t know what this world and the one beneath it can do.”
“I do know. I was there, remember?”
“You haven’t told me what happened. I’ve waited patiently because I knew it was hard for you.”
I kissed her cheek. “I haven’t told you because I didn’t think you were ready to hear about the torture that they put us through. That they put Dylan through.”
“So, tell me. I’m ready,” she said. This put a damper on my hopes of swapping gravy again.
“I wrote it down,” I said.
“Where?” she asked.
“It’s in a book in the vault,” I replied.
“Would you rather me read it?”
“Part of me says yes, but I don’t want you to think it’s because I’m a coward.”
It was her turn to touch me. Her fingers brushed the edges of the beard I kept neatly trimmed along my jaw and chin. “I’ve never thought you to be a coward.”
“I’ll go with you to the vault. You can choose to read it or I’ll tell it. It’s up to you,” I said. It would be the way she wanted to do it anyway. I had already conceded that point. It didn’t matter the conversation. Grace was in charge.
“Gravy first?” she asked.
My face bloomed with excitement, and maybe a little embarrassment. “I would like that very much.”
“Hmm. Me too.” Dear heavens, I loved this woman.
“M
OM!” AYDAN’S VOICE BLASTED THROUGH THE HOUSE.
Grace and I had gone back to bed after another romp through the sheets which had followed a roll on the couch. I bolted up realizing we hadn’t shut the bedroom door. Aydan barreled down the hallway only to skid to a stop at the door.
“Uncle Levi,” he said.
“Hey.”
“Aydan, I’m trying to sleep. What’s the deal?” Grace said, not missing a beat and not moving from her curled up position under the sheets.
“Um, Callum, um. Mom, are you sleeping with Uncle Levi?” he asked.
I groaned, and Grace swatted me under the sheets.
“I was sleeping until you came in the house yelling like a banshee,” she said without looking at him.
“Um, yeah. Callum and I are going down to Hot Tin to help Grandfather clean out the storage shed,” Aydan said with his eyes fixed on me.
“Okay,” Grace replied. “Thanks for letting me know.”
She had ripped them both a new one for not telling her where they were going and what they were doing. Even within the wards, we knew there was still danger in Shady Grove. It wasn’t a foolproof method of keeping evil out.
“I warned you,” Aydan said to me, pointing his finger at me.
“Aydan Riggs, you skedaddle,” Grace ordered. “We will talk about this later.”
I sat dumbfounded. I just assumed that Aydan, Callum, and Winnie would accept Grace and I together. Perhaps I overestimated that, especially with Dylan’s son. They were too much alike.
“Lay back down. He’s just being protective,” Grace said.
I curled my body around hers. “The last thing I want is a rift between you and your children.”
“They are children. Their opinion matters, but we both know that you are the best thing for me and for them. He’s just got a little bit of his father in him,” Grace explained.
“From the look he was giving me, I’d say he’s got a hell of a lot of his father in him. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that look before,” I said.
Grace giggled. “I bet you have.”
If she wasn’t worried, I supposed I shouldn’t be either.
We managed to drag ourselves down to Hot Tin to meet up with the boys. Luther said he would bring Winnie to us there. When we entered, Nestor stood, as always, behind the bar, white towel over his shoulder, and two cups of coffee in his hands.
“Come in and sit a spell,” he said.
“Thanks, Nestor,” Grace said. She seemed very unaffected by our change in status. I knew I couldn’t hide my excitement or pleasure.
“Have a seat, Levi,” Nestor prompted.
“Yeah. Thanks for the coffee,” I said.
“I figured the two of you would need it. I got a full report from Aydan when he came in with Callum,” he said.
I groaned.
“I’ll have to have a talk with him about the things we don’t talk about in public,” Grace said, sipping the coffee.
“Grace! I am not the public, and it’s not like this whole town didn’t know,” Nestor said.
“What?!” I asked.
“Well, the women knew you wanted them to talk to Grace about it. They knew they had gotten to her. It was only a matter of time before the news spread. Plus, Astor insisted that if any trouble arose that we should call him,” Nestor explained.
“Nothing like the whole town knowing you are swapping gravy,” I mumbled. I liked keeping things private, but Grace wasn’t a private person. She was a celebrity in her own right. Now, I was Mr. Grace Ann Bryant. She slapped me on the leg.
“Stop that,” she said.
“What?”
“Brooding. I won’t have it. Not today,” she said with a grin.
“Sorry.”
“Besides, you are a King, Levi. That has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with who you are,” she added.
Nestor smiled as she talked. I was thankful that he approved.
“Thank you, Grace.”
She leaned over and kissed my cheek. It felt like a snowflake had landed there then melted quickly.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, Mom.”
Aydan and Callum came in from the side door.
“Hello, boys. How was your day?” Grace asked.
“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Callum asked.
“Levi may brood, but he isn’t grey. His nose isn’t long, but his…”
“Enough!” I exclaimed. They laughed at my expense which was fine. It defused the tension.
“No, we aren’t going to talk about it unless you are willing to discuss the details,” Grace said finally.
“No details,” I added.
“Right,” Callum said.
“Thank you both for being protective of me, but Levi was here before all of you,” she said.
“That’s right. Prior claim,” I said, playing along.
“In that case, I’ll be the one to kick your ass if you mess up. Hooves hurt,” Nestor said with a stomp. His hard foot pounding the wooden floor echoed in the room. Callum and Aydan were satisfied.
“That’s not fucking scary at all,” I said with a whimper.
“Don’t be a baby,” Grace said.
“I’ll show you baby,” I shot back at her.
“Not here you won’t,” Aydan said.
“Enough!” Grace exclaimed. “Levi and I are together. You may express your opinions however you wish to do, but it won’t change the fact that I love him. I dare say that I always have in some form or another. We are together and if you don’t like that Aydan Thaddeus Riggs, then that’s tough chickens.”
A lump formed in my chest with her admission. I saw her eyebrow raise while viewing her side profile. Somewhere in that cold sex on a stick was a romantic woman. I was determined to bring it out of her. I’d planned the gravy date on a whim. Thankfully, Luther and Betty were more than eager to help out, and it turned out great. She enjoyed it despite being a pain in the ass. I knew for the rest of my life, I’d love that ache.
“We are just giving him hell. Uncle Levi has always been a part of the family. He’s just changing bedrooms,” Aydan said.
They were pulling my chain. Consider me choked, and I wasn’t into that kind of thing.
“Well, I don’t…”
Grace turned on her stool, and the look on her face stopped me dead in my tracks.
“You don’t what?” she prompted.
“I didn’t want to assume,” I said.
“As if, I’d let you sleep anywhere else,” she smirked. Always in control.
“I mean, if you really wanna, I suppose…” This time she interrupted me by pushing me off the stool on to the floor.
“Don’t even, Levi Rearden!”
Our audience cackled like hens as I sat sprawled on the floor looking up at her. Thankfully, I hadn’t been holding my coffee.
“Did you drop something, Uncle Levi?” Winnie asked from the front door of the bar. Luther stood behind her with raised eyebrows.
“My dignity. That’s all,” I replied.
Nestor and the boys whooped and hollered again. Luther gave me a hand up. Then Winnie hugged me.
“I’ll find it for you,” she said with a smile.
“I’m pretty sure your momma has it,” I replied.
Grace winked at me, then hugged Winnie, too.
“It’s only because he gave it to me,” Grace replied.
“Did you put it on the floor, Momma?” she asked.
“Yes, I did,” Grace answered.
“Guess I missed the fun,” Luther said.
“The usual,” I replied.
“I’ve got to get home. Soraya was upset that Winnie had to leave. I need to make sure the banshee doesn’t turn loose on her,” Luther said with a chuckle. Part of me knew he meant it.
That was when it started.
A MOURNFUL HOWL BROKE OUR LAUGHTER IN THE BAR. LUTHER SPUN ON HIS heel and raced to the door. Grace and I followed him.
“Get Winnie,” Grace shouted to the boys.
“Upstairs! Now!” Nestor ordered.
I watched Aydan scoop up Winnie and head up the steps with Callum who was holding his hands over his ears.
The shrieking cry from outside blasted us as we exited the bar. In the center of the parking lot, Betty screamed with her supernatural lungs. Soraya knelt at her feet, holding her ears.
“Levi, get the girl,” Grace ordered.
I skipped over to Soraya, scooped her up, then skipped back to Grace.
“I’ll take her inside,” I said.
“Thank you, Levi,” Luther said.
The young girl whimpered in my arms as I ran around the bar, then up the stairs. Callum met me at the door with a snarl.
“It’s just me,” I said, handing him the girl.
“Raya!” Winnie called out. She rushed over as Callum sat the girl down. The two friends embraced.
“Is it Betty?” Callum asked.
“It’s the banshee. Call Troy,” I instructed.
“I’m on the phone with him now,” Luther called from the kitchen.
“Go to Mom,” Aydan shouted.
I nodded, then raced back down the stairs and through the door to Grace. I could have skipped, but I didn’t know what we were
facing. I also didn’t know how deep my reserves of power were.
Luther was slowly approaching Betty as she continued to shriek. His hands were outstretched as if he were trying to calm her.
“Death.Deathiscoming,” Grace said.
“Couldbeanyone,” I replied.
“Someonehere,” Grace said.
“In the bar?” I asked in a panic.
“No. Shady Grove. My people.”
I couldn’t hear what Luther was saying to Betty through the wailing. Then her incoherent cries turned to a chant.
“Gone are the days of Camelot,
“Her King is dead, “Gone are the glorious knights,
“For one will lose his head,
“Gone is the queen,
“Who will meet the blade, “Gone are those who follow
“An uncrowned monarchy.”
She crumpled to the ground. Luther rushed to her, wrapping her up in his arms. She wept quietly into his chest.
“Shh! My love. It’s over now,” he coaxed.
“It is our doom,” Grace moaned.
I stepped in front of her. This message wasn’t about us. I knew it in my gut. “Grace, no. Don’t think that way. This isn’t about us!”
“Of course, it is. We are the uncrowned monarchy! Everyone is going to die,” she said. Her hands started to shake. I grabbed them with mine, squeezing hard and forcing my guitar to start playing a calming tune. To help both of the women.
“Gloriana, it is your destiny to take back the Winter Realm. Heaven help those who stand in your way,” I said to her.
“At what cost?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“At whatever cost,” Tennyson said behind us. I’d felt him appear as I tried to coax Grace. He must have heard the wailing. When Grace looked over my shoulder, I saw the reflection in her eyes of several men standing behind us. I kept her hands in mine but turned sideways to them.
“It’s too much,” Grace said to him.
“We will pay the price, Grace,” Troy added.
“The victory will be worth it,” Astor chimed in.
“Yes, Grace. If anything, we need closure on this curse,” Luther said, while holding his wife.
“Who dies?” Grace asked Betty pointedly.
“You cannot ask me that, and I cannot answer,” Betty replied through her tears. The episode had clearly shaken her. I’d never seen her look so grave.
“I can and I did ask it!” Grace shouted. I held her back as she lunged toward Betty.
“Grace, you promised her that she could do her job,” I reminded her, then braced myself for her ire. Only it didn’t come. She leaned back into me, and I felt the ripple of connection between us.
“You are right,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s our family, so it’s tough to fathom,” I replied.
She slid her arms around my waist, then melted into my chest. She hated showing weakness, but to me, this wasn’t weakness. This was Grace being the caring queen that her father had hoped for to continue his legacy. She loved her people. Probably more than any previous fairy monarch. Certainly, more than the current ones.
I felt a pain in my chest as a dark cloud rose from the earth.
“Levi?” Grace asked.
“Get the kids to a safe place. The ward is breached,” I said, pulling Excalibur from its invisible sheath. The sword ignited in pure blue light, illuminating the knights. It pushed back the darkness, but I felt a horde approaching.
“But…” she protested.
“Grace, now. There are many,” I said.
She nodded, then skipped out of sight. My heart went with her. I wouldn’t need it for this fight. Hearts made killing too difficult. They also could get you killed.
The pounding of hooves on asphalt rang in our ears. Betty stood up with Luther and her skin shifted back to muddled grey. Her hair lengthened to wispy threads of white. Then, deadly black claws protruded from her hands. I stood in awe of the pure dark power of
the Banshee. More pounding of hooves approached surrounding us in the parking lot of the Hot Tin Roof. I felt Grace inside with the children blink away to safety. Digging deeper I realized that she moved them away from the battle to the circle in the woods near our house.
Through the dark smoke, I could make out the goat-like creatures standing erect with spears and swords. Each of the knights held their weapons high. Swords and guns.
A defining howl in the distance assured me that we would have back-up. Dominick was coming with the pack. I just hoped the leather cuff I’d made for him worked. He would need both hands once he got here. I’d given it to him after the squirrel capture while Grace was with the women. All it did was draw his fairy power to it, making it concentrated enough for him to glamour it easily. When he shifted to wolf form, the cuff would shift with him allowing him to glamour a paw. He had tested it, but not thoroughly. A battle would be a sure-fire test.
“Stay in a circle. Do not break,” Tennyson growled. “Jenny is coming with back-up.”
“Someone needs to go to Grace and the kids,” I said.
“Ella and Amanda are going to meet them at the circle,” Astor replied. “When we clear this, we will go.”
I raised my sword as we prepared to battle the intruders from Summer.
RHIANNON’S VOICE ECHOED THROUGH THE SMOKE. “KILL THEM ALL. ”
“Do not do this. Turn your back on her, and I will release you all!” Astor called out to the fawns who had gathered around us in droves.
“They are collared,” I said, looking through my sight. It didn’t matter if they wanted to fight or not. She would make them. I wasn’t morally ambiguous, and this presented a real dilemma.
Tennyson put his hand on my shoulder. “Levi, you lead us. We will follow you. They brought the fight to us. We will make her pay for it all no matter how many lives are lost here today.”
He had always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. I was thankful for his guidance. He was a brother, friend, and mentor. Perhaps it was the love talker in us that gave us the common bond. He’d taught me a lot about that part of myself. One thing in particular that Grace had never questioned. My power.
Tennyson told me not long after he moved here that he was a love talker, and that his power was centered in the person that he loved, Jenny. He could do the same things she could do. I’d asked him once to show me his tentacles, but he refused, saying he left the slimy work up to her. He warned me that Grace was probably the most powerful being that he knew outside of her father. She inherited what he had, on top of her already cold magic.
The thing that made me different than any that had come before me, including a man named Cohen, was Taliesin’s power. Tennyson suspected that Oberon planned for me to be in Grace’s life from the beginning. He and my father had been friends in the Otherworld
when my father left to seek out his Great Love. Giving me the power of the bard gave me the ability to do things that Grace couldn’t. I’d only begun to tap the power I could get from her. I never wanted to use too much of it. However, standing in the field with her and Dylan, I knew my time had come. I used her power to snap him out of existence. He knew I could do it. He’d asked me to do it before in the Otherworld. I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t want her to bear that burden. So, I pulled her power and killed him.
Tennyson warned me about that cold darkness. Grace was always afraid of it. I’d always told her that I’d keep her from it. When Dylan died, a part of that darkness formed inside of me. I realized why she feared it. It latched on to my heart, burrowing itself into the good parts of me.
Now, I had killed Stephanie, too. The second time was easier. And the cold had less of an effect on me. I learned that the cold, if used properly, could be the difference in winning this war. The problem was that like Grace, a part of me feared to use it too much.
As I looked upon our approaching foe, I felt that chill rise in the form of goosebumps up and down my flesh. The battle song that had begun to play on my guitar warbled when the cold ran through my veins. It craved the fight. The battle. Death.
It made me the man she needed. Not the soft young man who was dragged into this town kicking and screaming. Well, actually silent and brooding. Now, I was ready for battle. I was ready to be King.
“Hold nothing back. We will deal with the damages when it is done,” I said with a voice deeper than my norm.
That cold vein ignited in my heart and swirling blue tattoos formed across my body and down my arms to Excalibur. Its bright sheen crackled as the cold magic joined its luminescent glow. The blue spread from me to each of those standing with me to fight. Tennyson’s eyes sparkled as the black smoke parted revealing our foe completely. He loved the battle. He craved the fight. And until this moment, I never understood that drive. But now, it was inme. I ground my teeth together unwittingly snarling at the enemy. I searched their eyes for fear, and I found my first victim. A faun
standing just a few steps ahead of me cut his eyes away from mine when our gazes met. I saw his spear tremble with his fear. Willing or not, this would be my start. I pushed back the cold just a bit. I wasn’t here to feed it. Only to use it as needed. Control.
My breathing settled to almost nothing. Fairies, in general, didn’t have to breathe. For me it was an old habit. Necessary until I became a full-fledged fairy, which was one of those things I never got around to telling Grace.
In my long conversations with Tennyson, as he groomed me to be King, he proposed that I become full-blooded at some point. He warned that some in the realm would see my Changeling status as a weakness. I agreed to do it. He told me the process, and by this time, I knew that I could use Grace’s power. I’d made myself a winter fairy. It was not long after I’d returned from the Otherworld. After I’d seen the darkness, I wanted to have the power to change the despair there. I thought at some point, maybe I could save Dylan.
When Grace offered the change to me, I accepted it as what she wanted. The fact that I’d already done it didn’t matter anymore. Tennyson did say he was shocked that the change didn’t affect me like it did most humans, but he chalked it up to being a changeling and not fully normal.
I’d never lied to Grace, but there were things I didn’t mention. Yet, when she would discover them, like the sword fighting, it was almost like she accepted them as fate. One thing I’d learned very early on about Miss Grace Ann Bryant was she enjoyed pretending she didn’t know everything. She didn’t want to be counted on, like so many now did. She hid her abilities, but I felt them inside of me. I knew exactly what she was capable of doing, and I admired her for it. All of her life she had that inside of her, but she never let it take over. She was strong as fuck.
My victim stumbled as he approached me, but never fell down completely. I bladed my body to the right, holding the glowing sword between us. The poor fellow never had a chance. It was almost as if he fell upon the Great Sword. I sidestepped one blow, then struck another as the horde descended upon our circle. The magical blades
of the knights pinged with power as they struck against the blades and spears of our enemies.
Troy’s guns, Driggs, flashed fire and lightning into the throng of attackers. Their bodies would explode or burn depending on which one he used. Usually he only used the fire, but tonight, he held nothing back.
Astor’s abilities shone during the fight. He wasn’t as lithe as Tennyson, but he had power. His beefy arms flexed as he drove his sword into one faun, then drew it out fast enough to sever the head of another. His steps were methodical and deliberate.
Luther produced a flaming blade which cut through three and four of our enemies at once like a hot knife through butter. Betty clawed through the enemy with those black nails. Blood dripped from them as she sliced into faun after faun. She was downright frightening.
We were winning the close-up fights, but more and more of the army descended upon us. It was as if Rhiannon had a never-ending supply of fauns to serve as fodder for our blades, claws, and bullets.
As I dodged a blow, I felt Grace in the back of my head.
“Don’tworryaboutme.Juststopthem,” she said.
“ShouldIbeworried?” I asked, as I dodged another strike by the well-trained fauns.
“Ofcoursenot.Iloveyou,” she said.
Now, I was worried. It was far more feeling and caring than my Grace. Things I knew she was capable of but wasn’t her normal style.
“Grace is in trouble,” I said.
“What is it?” Tennyson asked, as a large red wolf bounded past me striking a faun to the ground. His teeth gleamed with blood, and the leather cuff just above his paw pulsed with power. The implement had worked for Dominick. In his wolf form, he looked up to me, then with a nod of his head, he bounded off to strike down another of our attackers.
“Levi!” Troy prompted.
“I don’t know, but she’s talking in my head. She’s being nice,” I said.
Astor chuckled, but then his face paled. “Something is wrong, then. We must go.”
“Astor and I will go. You, Troy, and Luther finish up here,” Tennyson suggested.
A loud battle cry resounded across the field and a blue glowing, white-haired elf thrashed through the enemy to arrive at our location.
“Riley and the witches have gone out to meet the Order of the Red Cloaks. They arrived near the hedge maze. They are trying to destroy the portal into Winter,” Finley reported. “Where is Grace?”
“She took the children to the circle,” Tennyson offered, not giving him a hint of a problem.
I had thought that Finley and Grace had a strong sibling connection, but I was reminded that no one is more connected to her than me.
“Whatthefuckisthisgreenstuff?”
“Whatthefuckisgoingon,Grace!?”
“Itoldyou.Iloveyou.That’sallthatmatters.”
“I’m going to her now,” I said, then twirled Excalibur in a circle opening a portal to the stone circle in the forest.
“Fine. Go. I’ve got this. Take the wolves with you. Finley take Astor and stop the witches,” Tennyson barked orders like a general.
“Luther?”
“I’m staying with him,” Luther said, as Troy shifted to wolf, and bounded through the portal followed by Dominick.
“Finish it,” I said, just before I stepped through.
I DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO WONDER HOW THE FORCE MADE IT THROUGH THE wards, but my mind wandered there despite seeing the scene before me. The circle of stones illuminated the ground around the area. Amanda, Ella, and the children were inside. Above their heads a huge white raptor circled. Pacing the rock line, an Arctic white wolf snarled at Rhiannon who held her hands outstretched calling long, green lines of kudzu to her. The aggressive vines came out of the ground and the trees around us. At her feet, Tabitha sat with her head down. The choking tendrils twisted around her neck causing her to gasp for air.
There was no force here. No army. The centaurs were covered in vines which made them look like shaped hedges. In the center of them, Grace stood with dead vines laying around her feet, but at some point, they had overwhelmed her. Now they twisted around her neck just like the ones on Tabitha.
“Your call, Bard. What do you do? Save your love? Or save the town? You see, I’ll make a deal with you. You give me Gloriana, and I’ll call off the fauns. You will save all of Shady Grove, sacrificing your sanity for their safety. I’ll even promise not to kill her. She will forever slumber in my court. I’ve pulled that trick a time or two,” Rhiannon said.
“Grace?”
“I toldyou. I love you. Save my children who are a part of this town.”
“No!ShadyGroveisnothingbutaprisonwithoutyou!”
“Thensobeit.Atleast,theywilllive.”
“You know I can hear you. Right?” Rhiannon mocked.
“It doesn’t matter if you hear us or not. I will not trade her life or anyone else’s. Fight me!” I demanded lifting Excalibur.
She stepped toward me, but I held my ground. She pressed her milky-skinned breast to the sword. She pressed harder, but the sword did not break her skin. The long green frock she wore hugged her figure. Tabitha sat behind her with her eyes bulging out of her head as her neck was stretched by the vines. If it continued, her head would pop off like a bottle rocket.
“Tsk, tsk. You should know that the Great Sword cannot hurt one of the ladies of the Lake. I may not hold that position now, but it’s like a grandfather clause. Does that change your mind?” she asked.
Dominick and Troy flanked her on both sides moving quietly. She saw them, but they tried not to draw her attention.
“Give me a minute with her,” I begged, as if I were grasping for straws. If I stalled, then perhaps I could wait for back-up or a clue as to how to get out of this mess.
“Very well. You may approach her, and I swear not to make a move unless your wolves strike. I’d hate to have to kill two fairy-born wolves at once,” she said.
Fairy-born wolves. I knew Dominick was half-fairy, but I had no idea that Troy was. I should have known. Everyone in this damn town was fairy.
I lowered the sword and approached Grace who shook her head at me.
She gasped at her words as the vines gripped her neck. They prevented me from touching her in the way I loved the most. When I wrapped my fingers along her neck, it reminded me of the collar I once wore and how her cold hands had freed me.
“Don’t try to free me. Keep my children safe.” She struggled to speak as I drew close to her. I pressed my forehead to hers as she continued. “What is your middle name, Levi?”
“Grace, this isn’t the time for that!” I scolded her. I felt her fear and panic. I didn’t understand why she wasn’t inside the circle with the children, but I was sure it had something to do with Tabitha.
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was much brighter some centuries ago than it is now Al-Sufi, an Arab writer of the tenth century . ., calls it a star of first magnitude.
To complete our survey of the constellations south of the equator we must add the tip of the Eagle’s wing, the legs of the Unicorn, and part of Ophiuchus with the Serpent he is strangling as he treads the Scorpion under foot (a gallant hero, to contend with both these enemies at once).
It is worth noting that just as the three stars of Orion’s belt mark the celestial equator in one part of the sky, so the three bright stars of the Eagle mark it in the opposite part (Altair, with β and γ on either side); but they are just north of it, and Orion’s belt is just south. As it is often interesting to know where the ecliptic lies, we may point out that the following southern stars lie near it: Spica, α Librae, Antares, α and β Capricorni (and in the north the Pleiades, Aldebaran, Regulus). It is also convenient to remember the positions of a few constellations as a guide to right ascension. Thus, Achernar is in the Ist hour, Canopus and Sirius are in the VIth, the Cross and Corvus in the XIIth, and the Bow of Sagittarius is in the XVIIIth.[4]
There are more bright stars in the southern hemisphere than in the north, for a count of all those above fourth magnitude shows that there are 228 south of the equator against only 164 north. But whereas the stars in the north are fairly evenly distributed, there is a more strongly marked tendency in the south to congregate on the Milky Way, so that, while the tract through Argo and the Cross to Scorpio and Sagittarius is extraordinarily rich, the part between Orion and Fomalhaut is comparatively dark and bare, and the regions round the south pole and north of Argo are also very barren of bright stars. Some regions, however, which look dull to the eye abound in marvels for the telescope and camera.
The brilliance and the complex structure of the Milky Way is undoubtedly what most strikes the northerner travelling south. In England we have a glimpse of it in Cygnus and Aquila, where this rich and bright part begins; but there is nothing to equal the brightness or the mingling of dark and light which we see in Argo and
near the Cross, in Scorpio and in Sagittarius. When this part is about to rise, there is often a glow on the horizon as if it were dawn.
