by E Hall
The ghosts are packed like sardines on the deck, but they’re hungry ghosts, never satisfied.
“Then it’s set. The Court of Queens in exchange for a fae and if not, you’re both on the chopping block.” The captain blusters across the deck and then declares, “We sail.”
Kenna steps over to the deck rail. I follow, ready to admonish her, reprimand her for not cluing me in, but in the charcoal night, something glints on the water in the distance. Her gaze fixes on it intently.
“What is it?” I ask, squinting my eyes.
Instead of answering, she dives into the water.
Chapter 25
Kenna
The water chills me to my bones, but not more than on the ghost pirate ship. Despite what I’ve said, I know what I’ve seen and what I’ve read in Isa’s diary. I’m the cursebreaker. I don’t want to lose Corbin or break his heart, but it’s up to me to break this curse.
If I could write an entry in my diary right now it would be something like this:
Corbin,
Please trust me.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
Forever yours,
Kenna
Like I’ve been saying all along. I am the problem and the solution. It’s time to make things right.
I now understand what Melchior meant about keeping me close and why he wants me. I exist outside the curse so I can break the curse. That’s why I was named Magical’s Most Wanted...and Melchior’s Most Wanted. I’m potentially the ninth queen, but I’m also the fae king’s enemy because I’m the cursebreaker.
If he can control me, he remains in his role of power. Plain and simple.
But I will break him.
Isa said I’d have to make a choice. I have. Lila, Isa, and my father had their chances. It’s up to me. Hopefully, this time is the charm.
I swim to the rowboat and get in, hoping Corbin can manage the pirates and find the Court of Queens because we’ll need all the help we can get.
Lila sacrificed for love. My father made a trade for truth. I’ll do both if I have to or I’ll die trying.
Keep reading... book 4 in the Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series series Love United.
An excerpt is below
Chapter 1
Kenna
Either I just made the biggest mistake of my life or a very brave choice. My stomach knots and rolls as I swim swiftly to the rowboat tied up next to the ghost pirate ship.
It’s probably foolish, but I glance back over my shoulder. Corbin stands on the deck, motionless, in shock. With misty swords and scabbards outstretched, the ghost pirates bar him from jumping in after me.
We made a deal. They bring us to each of the fae queens in exchange for a unique fae...me, even though I didn’t reveal my identity. The bargaining continued. If we crossed them, they’d also get a wolf shifter in the trade.
Until recently, I didn’t know that ghosts, never mind ghost pirates, were a thing. They’re creepier than I imagined. Not in a zombie way, but in a really close to death way.
After the fae king, Melchior, stabbed me in the chest, I had an intense moment when I felt incredibly close to the veil—as my father called it. I think of it like a sheer curtain that divides this world and the afterlife. There’s also the otherside, as I’ve heard the magicals say. It’s a place of reckoning.
Apparently, when our kind dies, they can remain here as a ghost—there are three kinds plus the ghost pirates, which are sort of evil. Or, the person who dies sails on to the Sea of Dreams.
I did neither. When that dagger drove into my chest and I was close to the veil, it wasn’t creepy or scary at all. It was warm and cozy in a way. Like an embrace. But because I’m tri-magical, the vamp in me went buh-bye and the fae and wolf kept me alive.
Cool, weird, whatever, but the ghost pirates give off the creepy, scary kind of vibes I’ve gotten when I think about death. They’re like all my fears manifested into an ethereal, misty form—at least they make me feel the way all my fears would make me feel.
As I row away from them, I shiver. I tell myself it’s the frigid North Sea clinging to my skin in these small hours before dawn.
While still on the ship, I’d looked over the edge, trying to spot the rowboat when something glinted in the water. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if mermaids were real. Come to think of it, I’ve heard Inga talking about the sea fae.
If they’re anything like the forest fae, I hope we don’t have a close encounter. Speaking of the forest fae, that’s what made me jump. I have to break the curse their king cast on all magicals—but especially the curse he put them under because it compels them kill people.
I’m the cursebreaker. I know it. How could I not be? Meanwhile, my friend Pepper thinks she’s supposed to break the curse. I have to go rescue her from Melchior’s clutches while Corbin collects the fae queens. Together, we’ll use the Klave to break the curse and worry about keeping our bargain with the ghost pirates later.
I row as fast as I can to keep myself warm and repeat the reasons I’m the cursebreaker to keep myself from freezing to death.
I’m the only tri-magical. Rather, I was before Melchior went and stabbed me. In good news, I no longer thirst for blood but I could use vamp strength right about now. Still, that makes me unique.
And I’m the reason the curse was cast. Well, one of the curses and one of the reasons. The other one came long before me, but has to do with my fae ancestors, including Lila and Isa.
My father was seeking a way to save the magical world and created the Klave—a curse breaking tool. No doubt, he wanted me to use it.
I’m to be the ninth of the fae queens. No chance. I’m in love with a wolf.
Also, Isa, my fae grandmother who betrayed the king wrote that I’ll have to make a choice. Um, yeah. Choice made. Save the world. No brainer.
To top it off, my father’s last words were break the curse. On it, Dad.
The fae have been hunting. But the thing about wolves in the wild, they hunt too. And I’m about to track down my brother and best friend, Pepper, then break the curse. After that, I’m coming for you, Melchior.
First, I have to get back to Lonsdale and get the Klave.
The rowboat runs onto the rocky beach with a grinding, crunching sound. I toss the oars and scramble out. When this is over, I’ll have Baker find out who reported a missing rowboat in this town and have it replaced or at least pay for damages. The landing on the rocks didn’t sound good.
The Jeep waits exactly where we left it. Thanks to my mate’s bad habit, the keys are in the ignition. I’m thankful that thieves didn’t wander through in the last hour and steal the thing—then again, Concordia is the safest country in the world except when it comes to monsters like me.
I speed out of the parking lot and back the way we came, inland to my haunted Victorian manor house with its secret rooms and ghost butler.
As I drive, I have plenty of time to think about how it would only be weirder if I was making this stuff up. I tell myself to focus. Get the Klave. Go to the woods. Find Pepper and Clove.
I know that he has a thing for her, and she used to have a crush on him. Their names kind of go together—two spices. However, as it is, a dragon and a fae are forbidden to be together.
That’s kind of how this whole thing got started. Except, it was a fae and a human. Then, my grandparents, a human turned werewolf and fae, fell in love. They double broke the rules when they had my father...then he and my mom triple broke the rules when they had me.
See? I’m the reason. I’m the cursebreaker.
But there shouldn’t be rules about who magicals can love. Love is love. But stupid, jealous Melchior wants all the fae to himself so he had to go and make the curses to begin with.
“Focus, Kenna,” I remind myself as I hurry along the unlit roads back to Cardington.
I’ve established that I’m the one who needs to do the dirty deed, and I found the Klave, the powerful, magical tool t
o break the curses.
But how do I use it? It came with an appendix in the form of the stained glass on the windows in the secret room. That led us to learn about the Court of Fae Queens—who Corbin and the ghost pirates are going after. However, the Klave didn’t come with a user’s manual.
I brake abruptly in front of Lonsdale, hurry up the steps, and dash inside. The house is pitch black except for patches of light cast by the moon, checkering the floor. I run down the hall to the secret room.
As I swing the painting open, voices rise and fall. Shadows grow and shrink on the wall. I creep forward, listening carefully. Because it’s a secret room, I carelessly left the Klave on the table. I open and close my hands, drawing my fae magic to my fingertips just in case.
If there are robbers in here, they’re about to meet some fae magic nastiness. I haven’t come this far to only come this far. The plan is to get the Klave then go to the woods and find my friend. Then, I’ll break the curse and we can all go on our merry way.
The voices sound familiar. I step into the room with my hands at the ready. My wolf smells tweed and something else—campfire? Marshmallows? Is someone using my father’s magical artifacts as kindling?
“Oh no you don’t,” I shout.
A ginger-haired female and a wiry guy with light hair bend over a book on the table between them. They look up abruptly and their heads knock together.
“Pepper? Clove?” I ask, lowering my hands. Despite my brief lesson with Lila on wielding fae magic, the energy has nowhere to go and I singe the carpet.
Stomping around because I don’t want to be the one to set this place ablaze, I ask questions rapid-fire. Time is of the essence, considering my mate is at sea with ghost pirates. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? How did you get away from Melchior?”
“Hey, sis,” Clove says casually.
I narrow my eyes. “I was waiting for you to smite me or something.”
“Smite?” Pepper asks. “If any smiting was going to happen, I think that’s up to me. Dragon girl over here.”
Clove glances at her out of the corner of his eye and the tips of his ears turn pink.
He really does have a crush on her.
“Yeah, smite because the last few times we’ve run into each other, the welcome was less than warm,” I mutter.
“But we made up.” His lips move awkwardly as if friendly isn’t his native language.
My eyes widen. He’s trying to smile. Wow. That’s a first.
“Right. So fill me in. What are you doing here? How’d you rescue Pepper?”
Clove laughs slightly or maybe he’s choking. I don’t know. I’m not used to him being anything but surly.
“I went to the woods and found—”
Clove and Pepper exchange a glance.
“A dragon,” she finishes. “I shifted.” Pepper bounces on her toes. “I don’t know how I did it, but I shifted. Okay, maybe I have some idea how it went down. To be honest, entering the woods alone at night terrified me. I said to myself, Dragon, if you’re in there, I need you right now. Then I endured an unimaginable about of pain. Period cramps have nothing on shifting.”
I break in. “The first time is tough, at least for my wolf. But your body will know what to do next time.”
“I hope so. Anyway, I was this massive, hulking beast in the woods. Then Clove showed up and said he needed my help. That you both did. I wasn’t sure since, as you said, the last time I’d seen him he’d stolen the key. But he quickly filled me in, I shifted back, and here we are.”
“And where is Corbin?” Clove asks.
I bite my lip. “He’s with the ghost pirates,” I mumble.
“What was that? I don’t think I heard you, which is odd since fae have perfect hearing. I thought you said he was with the ghost pirates.”
I nod.
Clove’s lips form a thin line. “Kenna? What were you thinking? You left your wolf-mate with the ghost pirates?”
I wave my hands to explain. “He’s getting the fae queens. We’re all going to meet back here. I’ll break the curse and then we’ll take down Melchior. Strength in numbers and all that. Plus, I think we all have a taste for revenge after what he did.”
“And the ghost pirates are doing this out of the kindness of the hearts? Wait. They don’t have those.” Clove is on his feet, practically shouting.
“Did you just make a joke?” I ask. First, he smiled. Then he laughed. Now this? Who is this guy? Oh, right, he’s in love.
He paces. “There is so much I want to argue with you about right now.”
“But we have to focus. Break the curse. End the fae king’s rein.”
“And rescue your mate,” Clove adds.
“Yeah. That.”
“You hadn’t quite thought through what to do when the ghost pirates realize you double-crossed them did you?”
I chew my lip and shake my head. “No, this is more of a thinking on the fly operation.”
“And you left him there, why?” Clove asks.
“Because I knew he wouldn’t let me confront the king. He has this thing, being Alpha and all. Also, he doesn’t take kindly to the fact that Melchior wants me to be queen. You know, jealousy.” I tap the air with my forefinger. “On the upside, he’ll be flattered you care enough to have noted that he’ll need rescuing.”
“You can thank Pepper’s dragon. She’s rubbing off on me.”
She beams a smile. “We’re peacemakers so it dulls the unseelie in him. Well, peaceful except when it comes to the fire breathing thing.”
I arch an eyebrow.
“There’s a scorched bush around the side of the house. I’ll replace it. Promise.”
“Okay. So any idea how to use the Klave?” I ask.
They turn back to the table where the diary, mirror, sextant, and several books rest between them.
“We were just figuring that out,” Pepper says.
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to you, readers!
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About the Author
E. Hall is the author of *unputdownable* fantasy and paranormal romance books. She’s also known for making up words, which kind of goes with the territory. She’s in constant pursuit of wonder, waves, and nachos. When she’s not writing about fae, wolves, and magic, she’s probably writing under her romance pen name...or reading. There is no such thing as too many books.
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P.S. If you have a moment, and enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a starred and/or a written so other readers can find it too and it means a lot to me to read your comments! Click here to review.
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Also by E. Hall
The Court of Crown and Compass Series
Fae of Light and Shadow (prequel)
Fae of the North (book 1)
Fae of the West (book 2)
Fae of the South (book 3)
Fae of the East (book 4)
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RIP Magic Academy Paranormal and Supernatural Prison Series
Law & Disorder (book 1)
Crime & Curses (book 2)
Mayhem & Magic (book 3)
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Wolf Shifter Diaries
Sweet Paranormal Fae & Shifter Fantasy Romance
Life Fated (book 1)
Lies Tamed (book 2)
Loss Hunted (book 3)
