‘What?’ Faye found Annie so easy to read after all these years; something was up.
‘Oh, nothin’. Just…’ Annie sighed. ‘Ah dunno, Faye. I’ve been away twice when ye needed me. It isnae right, that’s all.’
Susie hugged Annie.
‘Come on, babe, we’ve talked about this,’ she said, kindly. ‘Faye’s a grown up.’
‘I am,’ Faye agreed. ‘It’s okay, Annie. You’ve waited so long to get a job like Coven of Love. You’ve got a life in London. We’ll still see each other.’ She held Annie’s hand, squeezing it. She would never tell Annie how much she missed her; that, selfishly, she would love it if Annie came back to Abercolme. She wouldn’t tell her, because she loved Annie, and when you loved people, you did what was best for them.
There was a pile of presents on the end of the table nearest to her, and Faye’s eye was suddenly drawn to a strange little woven basket sitting on top. Instinctively, she let go of Annie’s hand and picked it up; Susie was refilling Annie’s glass.
Cradling Alasdair with one hand, Faye put the box down on the table so that she could lift the lid with her other hand.
Inside, there was a note.
Blessings on his naming day to my grandson. A baby without a name is forever in danger, the note read; it was written in a spiky, unusual script, in a dark brown ink on thick parchment. My grandson. Faye stared at the words in shock.
There was only one person this could be from.
Under the note, a small necklace of black tourmaline beads sat amongst red, gold and yellow autumnal leaves. Lyr.
The air caught in Faye’s throat; panic overwhelmed her.
Faye caught Gabriel’s eye across the garden. He read her expression and hurried over.
‘What is it?’
She showed him the note, unable to speak, cradling Alasdair closer to her.
Gabriel picked the box up and took it inside the house without a word. Faye tried to rearrange her face into a happy expression as her friends laughed and chatted; she drained her glass of champagne. Alasdair seemed unaffected by her tension and gurgled at her; she kissed his cheeks, and felt some of her poise returning.
Gabriel returned in a few moments, his hands empty.
‘Where did you put it?’ she asked quietly. The fact that Lyr – or one of his fae minions – had been here, in her house, put her on edge.
‘It’s all right. It’s just a gift,’ he murmured, rearranging some bowls of salad.
‘But it means… he can get to us. That they can all get to us.’ Faye’s heart fluttered like a bird against Alasdair’s soft weight.
‘I don’t think so. Or, whatever protection it is, perhaps it’s not so much that they can’t get to you. It’s just protection from anything harmful. A gift isn’t harmful,’ Gabriel reassured her.
‘How do you know?’ she whispered, hugging the baby to her.
‘I don’t. But what else can we do? Hope, that’s all.’ Gabriel smiled at Muriel as she set a huge white-iced celebration cake down on the trestle table. On it, she had iced Welcome, Alasdair Morgan. Faye was glad he had a name, and that they were making it plain to whoever was watching. Lyr’s message was right: a baby without a name was in danger from the faerie realm, and that was something she was determined Alasdair would never be.
She swallowed down her apprehension. If Lyr’s gift was genuine, then she had nothing to fear. If it was some kind of threat, Morgana would hear about it. And Faye would renew the magical protections around the house until she, Gabriel and Alasdair were safe inside a crystal castle of their own. Nobody would ever threaten her or her baby again.
The minister cleared his throat.
‘Shall we begin?’ he asked, smiling, and the adults stood in a rough semicircle around Faye: Alasdair gurgled happily in her arms, reaching up to the leaves that fell from the trees around them like a slow magic.
Faye nodded and folded the soft white blanket away from her son’s cheek.
He had his father’s eyes.
THE END
If you were gripped by the magic, mystery and faerie lore of Queen of Sea and Stars, you will love Daughter of Light and Shadows, which tells the story of how Finn Beatha and Faye first met, on the wild shores of Scotland.
Get it here!
Daughter of Light and Shadows
Get it here!
‘A fantasy romance based on Celtic lore. This book is a captivating, well-written dark fairytale that I devoured in one sitting.’ Goodreads Reviewer
Faye Morgan – beautiful, independent and lonely – runs her family’s small shop of magical curiosities like her mother and grandmother before her. She longs for an escape, unaware of the dark power that flows through her veins…
When Faye casts a spell into the sea one cold morning, her call brings her to the attention of the wild and impulsive faerie king Finn Beatha. Finn pulls Faye into an intoxicating new world, both magical and treacherous… and as bewitching as Finn himself, who seems to command every part of her when he’s near.
As Faye’s passion for Finn grows, so does her fear that she might be there for some darker reason... and that she could be trapped in Faerie forever. Is there something in Faye’s past connecting her to this place, to Finn? And dare she find out more when every moment draws her further away from her old world?
A gorgeously sexy and action-packed read, perfect for fans of K.F. Breene’s Natural Witch, Shannon Mayer and Laini Taylor. You’ll never want to put this book down!
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Books by Anna McKerrow
Daughter of Light and Shadows
Queen of Sea and Stars
Crow Moon
Red Witch
Wild Fire
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A Letter from Anna
Thank you so much for reading Queen of Sea and Stars. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it. If you’d like to keep up-to-date with all of my latest releases, you can sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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I came up with the idea for this book and the one before it, Daughter of Light and Shadows, when I was visiting family in Scotland. For this book, Scottish Faye comes to London, a city I have lived in for many years, and it was a delight to describe some of my many favourite places – Regent’s Park and its romantic rose garden, Bloomsbury with its antique bookshops and mysterious history, and even the British Museum, one of my most favourite places to visit. Faye Morgan’s homely magical shop Mistress of Magic has always belonged to her family, and in Queen of Sea and Stars, Faye finds a friend in another magic shop owner, Gabriel Black, who runs another type of magic shop entirely.
I am fascinated with Scottish faerie lore and when I write about it, I feel as though I’m a little bit “away with the faeries” myself. I’m also a little bit obsessed with magical shops, and that might be why I invented another two – Fortune’s and Star Herbs – in this book.
If you have time, I’d love it if you were able to write a review of Queen of Sea and Stars. Feedback is really useful and also makes a huge difference in helping new readers discover one of my books for the first time.
Alternatively, if you’d like to contact me personally, you can reach me via my website, Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram. I love hearing from readers, and always reply.
Again, thank you so much for deciding to spend some time reading Queen of Sea and Stars. I’m looking forward to sharing my next book with you very soon.
With all best wishes,
Anna
Anna McKerrow’s website
Published by Bookouture in 2019
An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite Hous
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Copyright © Anna McKerrow, 2019
Anna McKerrow has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-813-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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