Now I was watching my own kids and their own version of reality, watching Montague send ornaments flying up to the high branches with a spell. Why did I even bother with ladders? It was much easier just to climb a few steps than try to use a spell. Showoff.
“When do I get a wand?” Cassandra asked.
“That’s too strong for you now,” Tristan said. He was in his human form, a polite but opinionated boy whom we treated like another son when he let us get away with it. “You get a wand in ten years.”
“Ella Starr has a wand and she’s only twelve! I saw it in my magazine.”
“Some kind of celebrity witch does not count,” Harris said. “When we were kids, that wasn’t even allowed, but they’re training them younger nowadays.”
“Why don’t I get to train younger?”
“Because it’s dangerous,” Alec said. “And we’d rather protect you than teach you to fight other witches.”
“Uggh. You’re always protecting, protecting, protecting.”
I suppressed a small laugh. Firian came up to me and crossed his arms on a step of the ladder. He wiped a tear off my cheek.
I shook my head. “Shit. I’m not crying. I just can’t believe it’s been ten years already. I’m still afraid the shock killed Grandma.” She lived just long enough to see Cassandra born. She was so in love with my adorable firstborn, but we basically had to use magic to brainwash her into understanding the situation, which I felt awful about.
He smiled. “I think trans fats killed Grandma. You gotta let a good southern woman die happy. She did. She missed your Grandpa, right? She was probably hanging on because she was worried about your dad, and when she saw that he wasn’t alone, she could go.”
“That’s probably true. I know they’re still close, one way or another.”
“Do you miss the simpler times?” he asked.
I looked at him. “Well…no. When I think about it now, I can’t believe you weren’t with me.”
“And yet, how awkward if I was, considering the adult nature of our relationship later…”
“But I love the childhood friends to lovers trope!”
“It usually involves a years-long separation,” he said. “Because ten year olds hitting puberty is not romantic. If Tristan starts getting handsy with Cassandra I am sending him away for ten years.”
“Oh god. You’re right. I guess I finally understand why it was forbidden now. Sometimes the rules make sense when you’re older.”
“But not too much sense.” He kissed me.
The French doors opened, and Mom and Dad peered in.
“Need help?” Dad asked.
“There’s already too many of us, Grandpa,” Cassandra said, with the bluntness of a kid.
“Well, then, maybe I should put the inflatable Santa out there.”
“No! Dad, no, not until the faeries are gone. At least. And only in the corner of the grounds, please, you know how the witches got weirded out by your Santa with a guitar…” The wiccans were offended. Not really because of the religious aspects, but because they thought my dad was tacky, which was not untrue.
He dumped a cold six pack on the counter and waved his hand like he didn’t give a fuck. “Okay, I’ll put it up next weekend.”
Firian left me to grab a Guinness before they were gone.
“If anyone’s hungry we have a pot of stew here,” Mom said. She set it down and Viktor immediately announced he was hungry.
Harris took his hand and led him over to get a plate. Dad started putting up ornaments. A few minutes later, my grandfathers showed up with instruments. At this point, it was just a given that we’d have some Christmas carols and witchy songs, plus a few old Wild Eyed Boys hits. Hearing the music, some of our friends came in to listen. Ignatius and Ina were dancing, Professor McGuinness and Professor Adams were talking on the sidelines, our kids were getting hyper running around with other kids…
“We’re not going to get any sleep before the faeries get here!” I hissed to my guys as I hung Santa Pikachu on the tree. “And you know the fae are going to look amazing.”
“We could all slip out and go to bed,” Montague said. “One of your folks would put the kids to bed. Hopefully it won’t be Rhys reading them Hans Christian Andersen again.”
“Oh lord. So many nightmares that year.”
“We really wouldn’t get any sleep if we slipped out and went to bed,” Harris said.
“We never do.” Alec held a sprig of mistletoe over my head. “Just give in.”
I smiled and lifted my face for a kiss times four, and then I asked my mom if she could put the kids to bed.
Oh, endings! They are so hard to write for me. I get sad saying goodbye to one group of characters. As you can tell, I feel like Charlotte and her guys had a lot more to do in getting their new alliance settled, but I know it’s a good life and I think their future battles were more on the diplomatic front. If there is one thing that surprised me here, it was Montague. I originally planned for him to sacrifice his immortality so he would live the same amount of time as the rest of the group, but as I was writing him, he kinda told me in one of those subtle character-to-author things that this wasn’t really the ending he wanted. Harris ended up being the one who gave up something, which was not what I planned either! So the book ended up being even more about accepting that sometimes we outlive the people we love…but not the love. Is that a little too deep for a RH? Well, I have to let the characters be themselves. I am an anime fan after all, so you know a little pathos just HAS to sneak in to my romance now and then. This was my first story like this where the guys were best friends beforehand and I loved how much they cared about each other too.
Thank you reading! I so appreciate the support for this series! Please join my Facebook group and come hang out! And sign up for my mailing list to get a free copy of the Witch Among Warlocks prequel novella, The Wild-Eyed Boys! If you’re curious about Charlotte’s grandmother Sally and her werewolf mates…it’s a fun read!
Now we’re on to a different dynamic. Fae Sworn is the first book of Daisy’s story and I’m excited for it too. Daisy is outrageous on the surface…but she also has a heart under it all, and she needs someone to love her. She is not prepared for it to be these faery men though…how WILL it ever work out? Read the first chapter ahead!
42
“Fae Sworn” Preview!
Daisy
My life has taken a pretty weird turn, I thought, as I stepped into the faery realm with my new husband-to-be at my side.
Orson was a sexy, muscular gruagach from the House of Clover. Gruagach were the faeries that tended the cows, and I had gathered that other faeries looked down on them, but this was okay with me considering I didn’t like the other faeries.
The first thing everyone should know about faeries is that most of them are assholes.
I mean, you’ve heard the stories, right?
They steal babies? They play tricks? They offer you food and next thing you know, a hundred years go by?
It had been centuries since humans had been allowed into this realm, but we’d made this bargain, and I was the crazy witch who had decided to be the spokesperson for humankind. I had agreed to marry a man I didn’t really know at all, and leave behind everything I knew, but then…to say I had some issues with my grandmother and the witch community was an understatement.
Sometimes you just have to jump on a new opportunity when it comes up.
Now I was standing before Queen Morgana of the faeries, trying to look like I wasn’t going to take any shit from her. I was good at that expression. This might be one reason I didn’t have a lot of friends back in the Chicago witch community. My family was wealthy, and I had magic everyone wanted to make use of, and my parents had been murdered when I was a kid. If this sounds like the combination that leads to not trusting other people, and maybe even super-villainry, well, yeah, it does. But I’m a pretty awesome person anyway all things considered. I like having friends as long as they don�
��t try to fucking use me.
Most people I’ve ever met only want to use me.
“Daisy Pendleton.” A handsome blonde fairy male was standing in front of the queen’s throne, consulting the paper on which I had signed my name and intention to be a part of the faery realm. “That is your name, correct?”
“Yes, I am the one and only Daisy Pendleton.” Gotta lay down the ground rules. “As you can see, I brought myself and twelve more witches to be faery brides, as per the agreement. You have their names there. We expect to be treated well here, and we’ll reward you in return with more power in the magical world.”
I had been escorted to an outdoor throne, within a hall formed of cypress trees. The throne ‘room’ was like a little island, surrounded by pools of water with lily pads and lush aquatic flowers blooming under mangrove and other strange trees. All up and down the line of trees, faery guards with crests on their golden armor and attendants in flowing fabrics were watching the scene.
The faery queen was seated in a throne behind the blonde faery. She wore a long, diaphanous gown over a way-too-thin body, and a veil over her face, so I had no idea what she was thinking. She whispered something to the man.
“Queen Morgana welcomes you to the realm and looks forward to a long and fruitful alliance,” he said.
“Splendid,” I said, sweetly, but not nicely, if you know what I mean. Like, bitch, show me your face if you want some respect.
Look, I had been warned to never trust the faeries. Even as a kid, every witch and warlock was probably told the same stories. They never lied, but they loved to trick you. They were an alien species without much emotion. They lived for centuries and they didn’t respect us very much. Faeries mothers probably told bedtime stories to their kids about how stupid humans were. We were all gathered here for only one reason: we needed each other.
“You and your twelve fellow witches are invited to the capital city,” the faery man continued. His voice had a musical accent that I could have listened to forever. “In La Serenissima, we will give you our best hospitality and throw a grand celebration to celebrate your arrival.”
“That is very kind of you,” I said, warming up just a bit.
I was going to get to party in magical Venice. Sweet.
For centuries, all magical beings had been getting pushed out to the fringes of society. Magical beings needed humans to believe in them. That was where their power came from. Being human, witches and warlocks like me had a slight advantage. Unlike faeries, demons, shapeshifters and the like, we could use our magic in the Fixed Plane (otherwise known as “the real world”). We belonged to the human world. We were just leftovers from a time when every village had a witch or healer or shaman. But there were certain spots in the world where magic was especially strong, where humans still believed magic was real, and in these places, parallel cities existed. These were towns that existed between realms, where witches and warlocks could gather and mingle with truly magical beings.
The parallel of Venice was considered one of the great ‘lost’ cities where humans couldn’t go, because the faeries controlled it and didn’t allow humans in. Now I was going to get to party there. No doubt, that was gonna be tight. Venice without any tourists? Venice run by the faeries? I wondered what the wardrobe situation would be.
“In La Serenissima, the lords of the great faery houses will assess all of you to choose their brides,” the blonde man continued, and I cooled right the fuck back down again. His tone made me wary.
“Oh yes, the other twelve girls do still need their husbands,” I said.
“Lady Pendleton,” he said, so grandly that I almost liked him again. “You will also be under consideration.”
“We already have an agreement that I will marry Lord Orson,” I said. “And I know you keep your promises.”
The faery queen whispered a few sentences to him.
“Yes. We keep our promises. You will wed Lord Orson, but he is a gruagach. A low faery.”
Orson, by the way, was standing in the background this whole time. He seemed to take this treatment with a shrug, like he didn’t really care what the high faeries thought or planned.
“A lord of his kind, but not one of the great houses. A lady as beautiful and talented as yourself cannot be shipped off to some remote faery holding, nor would you enjoy it there, I assure you. You will be married into one of the great houses as well as to Lord Orson. You chose him, but the high lords will choose you.”
Ohhh damn.
I should have seen this coming. I should have known they wouldn’t let me just scurry off with a big handsome faery who seemed pretty normal, and mind my own business.
“Okay. Okay. I get it. Good old faery tricks. You didn’t lie, you just withheld some extremely important information that you intend to let some faery lord pick me out of a lineup and offer me two husbands, and I don’t get any say in it.”
“Queen Morgana is sure you will not find any of these men wanting,” the blonde guy said. “They are all as beautiful as the stars, wealthy enough to give you anything you desire, and strong in battle, magic, or a respected profession.”
“So they’re not pampered snots? Thanks for that, at least, although I will be the judge. And what about Orson?”
“Lord Orson is already accustomed to serving the higher born. He understands the hierarchy of our court, and you soon shall as well.”
“No. This is not what I agreed to. I don’t want a higher born husband. I just want him.” I pointed at Orson, who really could have backed me up. My heart sunk as he just accepted this ridiculous situation.
The golden faery ignored me. “In La Serenissima, we are pleased to have assembled these lords together to teach you and the other brides how to comport yourself like high fae. You will all stay together in the great palace, and have instruction in our music, dances, manners, and ways of pleasure, along with everything else you need to know. We will depart for La Serenissima on the morrow.”
‘On the morrow’. Lord.
“I don’t need to be taught how to be anyone’s bride!” I said.
Still ignoring me, “The faery queen wishes for you and the other girls to dine here at her winter palace tonight.”
I didn’t even know where I was in the faery realm, because I had just strolled in through a portal and ended up here. This was happening so quickly. So we were at the winter palace. Okay. That sounded pretty fancy.
Two can play this game, I thought. I already know how to behave myself, but I also know how to raise hell. If you’re going to fudge all the rules and then ignore me, I’m just not going to act like a good faery bride. I’m going to be a total diva until none of your faery ‘high lords’ can stand me.
“What about magic lessons?” I asked.
“Magic lessons,” he repeated.
“Yes. We’re witches. Magic is our thing, and we joined your realm to gain access to the magic of your realm, so we need to learn how you use it. We need instruction in magic and it behooves you to give it to us so we can fight other witches and warlocks effectively. It’s a waste of our talents to focus only on music and manners.”
He conferred briefly with the queen and she nodded.
“My witches need proper dinner attire,” I continued. “I don’t think you want us dining with the queen in our current state.”
He sniffed slightly. “You won’t be dining with the queen—“
The queen interrupted in her soft voice, speaking her own language. He flushed. “Yes, Your Majesty. She says you and the other humans can follow Lady Melis to the dressmakers.” He gestured to one of the attendants.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice sharp.
I couldn’t read the queen at all, because she never spoke English, even though she clearly understood it, and when she spoke it was always in the same soft, weak, measured tone. Clearly, she wore a veil by design and it drove me nuts. How was I supposed to judge her when I couldn’t read her expressions or even her voice?
Orson
started walking out at my side. He gave me a little wink of a smile, like he thought this was funny, or maybe he was just wincing from pain.
“Lord Orson,” Lady Melis said. “You’re badly injured from your battle with the humans. Please, the queen would like to welcome you to the healing baths.”
“Yes, just give me a moment with my betrothed,” he said. He put a hand on my shoulder and urged me aside a few steps. “It isn’t like home, lass. You can’t be bossing around the faery queen or you’ll make an enemy of everyone in her court.”
“Actually, that’s just like home. I have a lot of enemies.” ‘Enemies’ was exaggerating, but it had a better ring than ‘people who don’t like me that much’.
“Well, maybe that tells you something.” He looked me over and then swayed a little on his feet. I immediately put my hands against his rock-solid chest; even in his weakened state he almost knocked me over, but he caught himself.
“Lord Orson!” Lady Melis said.
“I’m fine!” He motioned for her to stay back. “I assure you, I’m made of tougher stuff than that. Although, it is a good thing you rescued me when you did. So please—just try and behave yourself, eh?”
His injuries were the reason I was in this position. Our ‘romantic’ back story in a nutshell is that we met at the Haven, the place where deviant wizards were held so they didn’t corrupt magical society. It was basically a prison. I was trying to run away from home when they caught me, and I stumbled upon Orson being held captive in one of the upstairs rooms, with bands of iron around his limbs, slowly poisoning him.
He was in pain, he was sexy, and I knew the fae queen wanted an alliance with witches who were willing to marry faeries. I had the key to saving his life. So I made this bargain. Let it never be said that Daisy Pendleton let a sexy-ass man die on her watch.
“You do need to rest,” I murmured, seeing the burn marks on his wrists when his movements drew his sleeves up higher on his muscular arms. “These look bad…” Dots of blood spotted his shirt in places where the wounds had opened a little, despite our efforts to heal him.
A Witch Among Warlocks: The Complete Series Box Set Page 104
