by Jayne Faith
I heard the front door open, and a moment later the tall detective appeared in the living room.
“Speak of the devil,” I said.
“Hey, Ella, how are you?” Chris asked. He was already looking around for the baby. Gretchen had more admirers than she knew what to do with.
“Pretty good. Evan’s got the kid,” I said. I gave him a conspiratorial look and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Everything’s all set.”
He nodded just as Deb reappeared, her face breaking into a sunny smile at the sight of Chris.
“I didn’t know you were coming over,” she said, obviously delighted by the surprise.
She went to him and practically had to jump to throw her arms around his neck. They kissed for so long I finally had to clear my throat.
Chris gave me a sheepish look.
“The witches are going to start arriving any second,” Deb said to Chris. “But we could get together after?”
“Sure, I just wanted to say hi,” he said. “I’ll get out of your way.”
He kissed her forehead just as my phone vibrated. I glanced at the message. We’re ready.
My eyes met Chris’s, and I gave him a tiny nod.
Evan had come out with Gretchen. He was in charge of keeping Deb in the house for a couple of minutes while we got into position in the back yard.
I headed toward the back door that led to the yard while Chris scooted out the front door.
“Ella?” Deb’s voice trailed after me.
I gave her a little wave but didn’t respond. She’d see soon enough what was up.
In the perfectly square swath of lawn that had finally fully greened up in the past couple of weeks as May had dissipated the last chill of winter, the witches of the new coven had gathered. Eleven women stood in a circle holding little bunches of spring flowers.
Roxanne waited outside the back door with a huge smile on her face. She handed me my own bouquet, and I squeezed her arm and gave her a big grin.
I went and stood in the space that had been made for me, in between Becky and Adriana, in the circle of witches. The sun had set, and the sky was streaked with orange-pink on the western horizon. It wasn’t summer yet, but the evening was warmer than usual, and the air carried the decidedly summery scent of cut grass.
Chris came through the side gate and jogged into the middle of the circle. He was panting a little harder than the short walk around the house warranted, obviously nervous.
Roxanne was still at the back door, watching for Deb. The young witch straightened and raised her hand at us. She was technically too young to be in a coven—the minimum age was sixteen—but Deb had applied to the governing body of the covens for an exception, and it had been granted. Jen was part of the new coven, too. She’d confessed that Lynnette had drawn her in with her charm. Then the former coven lead had started her manipulations, making subtle threats about exposing Jen’s unique powers to people who would try to take advantage of her. I was glad to have Jen back.
Together, the other witches and I drew magic. Using the elements in purely decorative ways, some of the women wove strands in a series of arches that led from the back door to our circle. I pulled blue air and red fire, concentrating hard on separating the single elements from the others that tried to join them, and made little dots of it wink on and off like fireflies. It only caused a little pain behind my eyes.
When Roxanne opened the door and Deb stepped out, she stopped short and her jaw dropped. She caught sight of Chris in the circle and pressed her lips together. Her expression was trembling, balancing on the edge between tears and laughter.
Roxanne took Deb’s hand, leading her away from the house and through the arches we’d created. Evan walked behind them with Gretchen in his arms. Loki brought up the rear of the procession, trotting along behind my brother like there was no question a hellhound-labradoodle had a place in the little ceremony.
At the edge of the circle, Roxanne stopped and gently nudged Deb to go ahead. Just as she stepped inside the circle, Chris got down on one knee. She didn’t even make it two steps before tears were streaming down her pink cheeks. She was smiling so hard, her blue eyes were nearly pinched shut.
He presented the ring he’d shown me and spoke quiet words to her, and I only half listened as I watched the couple and basked in the pure delight and affection that welled up between them.
Chris slipped the ring onto her finger, stood, and pulled her into his arms. Their lips met, and that was our cue. In the fading light of evening, I and the other witches made a brief little magical fireworks show above the newly-engaged couple. By the time the last spark died out, there wasn’t a dry eye in the yard.
After a round of hugs and congratulations, we all trooped back inside. The others gathered in the living room while Roxanne and I went into the kitchen. I’d almost forgone the champagne because that had been Lynnette’s thing. But Deb loved a glass of bubbly, so I’d bought three bottles of the expensive stuff. Roxanne had made a congratulations cake, and some of the other women had brought various goodies.
Just as I filled the last plastic disposable flute—it wasn’t my style to own a full set of champagne glasses—my phone vibrated. A message from Caleb Montgomery. I paused to read it.
Don’t judge me, but I want to hear every detail of the proposal. Like, every. Single. Thing.
I bit my lower lip, hiding a smile as I typed a reply: Aw, you’re such a romantic. It was amazing.
Can you come over tonight after I’m off shift?
I smiled in earnest, unable to hold it back.
I’ll be at your place at ten.
Miracle of miracles, Caleb had actually still wanted to date me. He’d tried to contact me even before my name was cleared, but I’d been extremely difficult to get a hold of for a while, and he hadn’t known how to reach me. Even after the Cataclysm, I’d told him I wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. He’d waited a month and asked again. I’d said no. He waited another month. I said no again and didn’t expect he’d risk another rejection. But he had, and I finally said yes.
I carried the tray of plastic champagne flutes out into the living room, with Roxanne trailing behind me holding the cake. We toasted Deb and Chris. Then one of the new witches in the coven, Toshiko, stepped forward.
“I know we’re here to celebrate the engagement, and I don’t want to take anything away from that,” she said. “But I also just want to say how happy I am to be part of this group, this family of witches. I know this coven experienced a lot of pain to get to this point. That’s not lost on me or any of the other new girls. But it’s my great fortune—our great fortune—that it allowed me to join you. And I can’t imagine pledging my loyalty to any other Moon Priestess.”
With that, she turned to Deb. Toshiko raised her glass and the rest of us did, too, toasting Deb, our leader. Our new charter had only been official for a few weeks, but it was as if Deb had always led her own coven, as if she’d been born to do it.
We no longer worried about Lynnette trying to get anything from us. After the Cataclysm, both federal and supernatural charges had been leveled against her. She’d fled, and rumor was she’d changed her name and appearance. Before she’d disappeared, I’d let her know that if she ever tried to contact any of the coven witches or interfere in our lives or coven business in any way, I’d end her. I wasn’t a killer, but I was powerful enough to follow up on the threat and she knew it. Elena and Marta had apparently also left the area. Deb had been right about Jen, though, and we’d reconciled with her. She’d remained a part of the coven, though she was forbidden from accessing any of the organization’s records or accounts.
Chris stuck around for cake and then made his exit. Evan went upstairs with the baby, leaving us women alone in the living room.
We never got around to any coven business. There would always be another meeting for that.
By the time the women began to trickle out and head home, it was past nine and Deb was yawning. Evan and I were o
n a rotation with Deb, taking turns helping out with Gretchen at night, but Deb still had to get up to pump breastmilk every night, whereas I at least got a full night’s sleep two out of three days.
Roxanne had already gone to her room and was probably lying in bed watching videos on her phone.
Deb stood, stretched, and yawned again, so wide her jaw cracked. She looked down at the sparkling diamond on her finger.
“Do you think it’s too soon?” she asked.
“What’s too soon?”
“Are Chris and I doing this too fast?”
I scoffed. “Nah, I think you’re doing it perfectly.”
She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. “Thank you for everything.”
I waved a hand. “You don’t have to thank me.” I seriously did not want to cry yet again that night.
She rushed me and threw her arms around my neck in a fierce hug. “You will always be my family, Ella.”
I pulled my lips in between my teeth and bit down hard as I returned her embrace.
“Congratulations,” I said. “You deserve everything you desire.”
She pulled back and laughed, a dreamy look in her blue eyes. “I think I actually have everything I desire. How crazy is that?”
I made shooing motions at her. “Get to bed while you can.”
I poked my head into Evan’s room, to let him know I was leaving for the night, and then called Loki. After the night of the conflux, we were even more inseparable than before. It was just understood that we were a package deal. Fortunately, Caleb seemed to love the hellhound-doodle. In the garage, Loki jumped into the bed of my old truck.
As I drove away from the house, my eyes were drawn to the northwest, where the Boise Rip had been. An ache still clutched at my heart every time I thought of it, because with it came the image of Damien disappearing into the neon blue flames of magic. But I tried to remind myself that he’d made his choice freely, that he’d finally found redemption and, I hoped, peace. Maybe someday the memories would hurt less.
I drew a deep breath and pulled myself into the present, to the glow of the evening’s happiness that still surrounded me, and to the anticipation of happy days and celebrations ahead. I had more good things going for me than I’d ever dared imagine. My reaper and I had found peace. I had my brother back. A good man in my life. And I had Deb, Gretchen, Roxanne, and the coven. They were all the family I needed.
* * *
Ella’s story is complete, but the adventure doesn’t end here! From the Cataclysm comes a new race. Meet Petra Maguire and the stone blood Fae in BLOOD OF STONE by Jayne Faith . . .
Every kingdom in Faerie wants to claim Petra’s people as their own, but she isn’t interested in Fae power struggles. She moved out of Faerie years ago, and she’s been scraping together a living as a bounty hunter. She just wants to catch her next mark so she can make rent.
But when she’s chasing down her mark in a nightclub, assassins attack a minor Fae king. Petra saves his life, and in the process, she gets unwillingly yanked into Faerie politics. Her daring rescue of her changeling sister from King Periclase, who’s vying to force Petra and the rest of her race under his rule, pushes inter-kingdom hostilities to a tipping point.
Tensions erupt into a threat of all-out war, and the only way to settle matters is for Petra to enter a battle of champions—a fight to the death.
A new race of Fae. Their reluctant champion. Every ruler in Faerie is coming for her.
Download BLOOD OF STONE by Jayne Faith today!
* * *
Books by Jayne Faith
Ella Grey Series (Urban Fantasy)
Stone Cold Magic
Dark Harvest Magic
Demon Born Magic
Blood Storm Magic
Shattered Magic Novels (Urban Fantasy)
Blood of Stone
Stone Blood Legacy
Rise of the Stone Court
The Oldest Changeling in Faerie
Sapient Salvation Series (Dystopian Romance)
The Selection
The Awakening
The Divining
The Claiming
Magic Currents (Dystopian Fairy Tale)
Books by Christine Castle
Love Across Stars Novels (Sci-Fi Romance)
The Seas of Time
The Laws of Attraction
Vampire’s Elixir Series (Urban Fantasy Romance)
Chasing Legends
Riding Rifts
Drinking Destiny
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Preview of Blood of Stone (Stone Blood Book 1) by Jayne Faith
WITH AN IMPATIENT tug on the cross strap of my broadsword’s scabbard, I watched the bouncer, a lanky man of Elvish descent, examine my mercenary credentials. He scanned the I.D. and activated the magical hologram to verify its authenticity. Among other things, the card displayed my name and the Fae ruler to whom I was sworn.
“Petra Maguire,” he read from my I.D. in a lilting Irish accent. His shoulder-length orange-blond hair was pulled back in the requisite Elf ponytail, exposing the pointed tips of his ears. “Bit of a runt for a New Gargoyle, ain’t ye?”
He peered down at me, his eyes flicking over what little skin I had exposed, looking for outward evidence of my stone blood.
I bit back a smartass retort. My Fae bloodline sometimes aroused some reaction, especially among the Fae races who seldom interacted with my kind. Curiosity was the most common, though revulsion still cropped up occasionally. I reached for my I.D., and he yanked the card back beyond my fingertips.
“You’re half a foot shorter than all the New Gargs I know,” he pressed.
I seriously doubted he knew any New Gargoyles. For one thing, there weren’t that many of us. New Gargs were a new race of Fae spontaneously formed at the Cataclysm, a catastrophic shift in the magical world that occurred a few years before I was born. In a transformation that defied logic, a few hundred Fae abruptly acquired new magic and different features. My father was one of them.
Music pulsed from within the bar, and a line formed behind me. My impatience grew, becoming an itch in my palms, a desire to draw my sword. The Elf, though over six and a half feet tall, wasn’t a fighter. He stood back on his heels, and his upper arms and chest had hardly any muscle tone. He wore a light caliber magi-zapper, a magic-powered stun gun holstered on his hip, but it wasn’t even turned on. If he actually needed to use it, he’d have to wait several seconds while it warmed up. Amateur.
I could have him on the ground, screaming for his mother with a dislocated shoulder in less time than it would take him to reach for his gun. But I knew I had to behave. I’d save my aggression for my mark, who I hoped was inside the bar.
The Elf was still waiting for me to fulfill his curiosity.
“I’m not full-blooded New Gargoyle,” I said, finally relenting.
His mouth widened in satisfaction like a cat who’d just cornered a mouse. He didn’t care about my answer so much as the fact that he’d manipulated me into giving one. Elves could be such assholes.
He settled his weight onto one hip. “Your kind is known for fighting. Maybe I shouldn’t let you in.” He tapped the corner of my I.D. against his lower lip, as if he were going to stand there a while and consider his options.
My temper began to flare in earnest. I needed to get past him before he really tempted me to pull Mortimer on him.
The nightclub I was trying to get into was an establishment on the Faerie side of the hedge, the name for the border between the Faerie world a
nd the Earthly realm where humans and other non-Fae lived. He couldn’t bar me from entering based on bloodline alone. In Faerie, you couldn’t discriminate based on race.
“That’s illegal, and you know it,” I growled. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.”
In a blur of movement, I snatched my merc I.D. from his hand and darted around him before he could react. As I passed, I hit the back of one of his knees with my heel. He grunted as his leg buckled, and he scrabbled for the door handle to catch his balance.
A satisfied smile tugged at the corners of my lips. I relished taking people by surprise with my quickness. New Gargoyles were known for being extremely strong, but not swift. My non-Garg blood had diminished my size but also gifted me with reflexes and agility that full-blooded New Gargs didn’t possess. Only thing was, I had no idea what made up the rest of my bloodline, because my father refused to tell me who my mother was. Just one of several bones of contention between me and him.
The bouncer didn’t come after me, as I knew he wouldn’t. I was tempted to pull Mort from my scabbard, sneak back to the entrance, and give the Elf a little parting poke in the ass just for good measure—nothing fatal, of course—but I reined in my focus. I had work to do. A faint zip of energy streaked across my back, the broadsword’s response to the possibility of some action.
“Soon, friend,” I said under my breath.
The bar, called Druid Circle, had only recently sprung up in this newly-established Faerie territory of the Spriggan kingdom, anchored near the famed Las Vegas Strip. Every Faerie territory had an invisible anchor, or attachment, to a location in the Earthly realm. Up until the Cataclysm, all Faerie territories were anchored in Old World locations—mostly Ireland, Scotland, and England.
