by Amy Sumida
But let's get back to Rowan and her successful mission.
“I'm sending your soul back to Hell, Demon!” Rowan declared.
I shared a proud grin with Killian as our daughter launched herself at him. But our grins fled when, halfway to him, Rowan shifted, her clothes tearing away to scatter across the rug in strips. A snake about the size of a pony landed on my husband, its sleek, russet head rearing up to strike. Rowan's pale green eyes flashed as she hissed, her fangs dripping venom.
“Fuck!” Killian forgot all about not cursing around the children as he scrambled away from our daughter.
The memory of Kill's first shift flashed in my mind. He'd been lost to his snake and had nearly attacked me. I had to remind him of who he was.
“Rowan,” I called to her in a calm voice. “Look at me, baby.”
The snake swiveled its head to look at me. Its tail thumped the ground, drawing my attention to the three barbs at its tip. Cat whined and hid under the bed.
“I'm Mommy, remember? I'm your mommy, and he's your daddy.” I waved at Killian. “You have to focus, Rowan. Remember who you are. Remember what you look like.”
The snake hissed at me.
“Oh, fuck, Twilight,” Killian muttered as he came to stand beside me, my wooden practice sword dangling from his hand.
“Keep calm. Go shut the door,” I whispered.
Killian eased to the open bedroom door and shut it. The click caught Rowan's attention, and she cocked her head at Killian.
“Rowan, look at me,” I called to her, and she turned her bright gaze back to me. “You are six years old. You have beautiful red hair that curls down your back, and pale green eyes with slit pupils, just like your daddy. You have fair skin and look a little like your grandma. Remember, honey? I need you to picture yourself. Try to remember looking into a mirror.”
Rowan lowered her head but her thin tongue flicked out to taste the air.
“You're my beautiful, smart, kind girl,” I said gently. “And I want you back. So, you need to shift back to who you are, Rowan.”
With a shimmer like a heatwave, Rowan transformed, the snake disappearing as the girl returned. She sobbed and ran to me. I caught her and hugged her tightly as Killian wrapped himself around us both.
“Shh,” I soothed her. “You did so good!”
“Mommy, I don't like being a snake.”
“Oh, come on!” Killian pulled back to stroke Rowan's hair, now wild around her naked body. “That was just the first time, and the first time is always scary. I smashed up the training courtyard my first time.”
Rowan sniffed. “You did?”
“He did,” I confirmed. “Because Daddy didn't know any better. But his very next shift, he knew how to control his snake and he did so much better.”
“And I love shifting now,” Killian assured her. “You will too, baby. I promise. It's going to be so much fun! We can shift together and go slithering through the forest!”
“I don't want to scare the animals,” Rowan said softly.
“It's okay, Ro-Ro,” I reassured her. “You can play here with Daddy. And when you get older, you can use your snake to catch bad guys.”
“Really?” She looked up at me hopefully.
“Yep. But first, we'll need to get you more extinguisher gear.” I squished up my face at her and rubbed our noses together.
Rowan giggled. When I pulled back, she looked down at herself. “I'm naked!” She jumped up, off my lap, and ran into her dressing room, crying, “Don't look at my butt!”
Killian and I burst out laughing, partially in relief, as Cat finally crawled out from under the bed.
“Thanks for the help there, Cat,” I teased her.
She hadn't hidden because she was frightened, Cat had faced the Sluagh beside me. No, Cat hid because she couldn't hurt Rowan. She whined and gave me a look that said that she knew that I knew why she'd done it, and to not give her crap about it. Yes, she said all that with a look. Cat's special—touched by the Goddess Danu. She ran into the dressing room to be with our girl.
“Holy shit, Twilight,” Killian whispered. “She did it. Our baby's a Nathair-Sith.”
“And she transformed back in just a couple minutes.” I grinned. “A hell of a lot faster than you.”
Something chimed. I frowned as I pulled my scry phone out of my pants pocket. It was easier than running for the crystal ball in my bedroom. I opened the leather case, then swiped at the slice of enchanted crystal, the size of a cellphone, but the mist didn't coalesce into a face. Instead, it turned red.
“Speaking of Hell,” I muttered.
“Seren?” Astaroth's voice came through my scry phone.
Astar had a device—a black wristband—that could connect with enchanted crystal, but it didn't transfer images, only voices.
“Hey, Star,” I used his nickname. “Is everything okay? Varcan's soul hasn't escaped or anything like that?”
“No, Varcan is firmly ensconced in one of Lucifer's personal torture chambers,” the grimace came through in his voice. “I'm calling you for another reason.”
“Yeah, what's that?” Killian asked.
“Killian?” Star shot back.
“Yeah, Kill's here too. And my daughter is about to come back into the room at any second. So, if you're about to say something that she shouldn't hear, tell me now.”
“Go into another room,” he advised me. “This may take a while.”
“Okay, hold on.” I shot Killian a look as I headed for the door.
“Ro-Ro, we'll be right back.” Killian went with me into the hallway that circled the royal family rooms of Castle Twilight and connected our bedroom towers.
“Okay, Daddy!” Rowan called as we closed the door behind us.
“All right, go ahead,” I said to Astar.
“His Majesty, King Lucifer of Hell, sends his warmest greetings to Seren Firethorn, the Twilight Star, and extends an invitation to meet with him at her earliest convenience.”
“What the fuck did he just say?” Killian squished up his face at me.
“The Devil wants to meet me,” I whispered in horror.
About the Author
Amy Sumida is the Internationally Acclaimed author of the Award-Winning Godhunter Series, the fantasy paranormal Twilight Court Series, the Beyond the Godhunter Series, the music-oriented paranormal Spellsinger Series, the superhero Spectra Series, and several short stories. Her books have been translated into several languages, have won numerous awards, and are bestsellers. She believes in empowering women through her writing as well as providing everyone with a great escape from reality. Her stories are full of strong women and hot gods, shapeshifters, vampires, dragons, fairies, gargoyles... pretty much any type of supernatural, breathtakingly gorgeous man you can think of. Because why have normal when you could have paranormal?
Born and raised in Hawaii, Amy made a perilous journey across the ocean with six cats to settle in the beautiful state of Oregon which reminds her a lot of Hawaii but without the cockroaches or evil sand. When she isn't trying to type fast enough to get down everything the voices in her head are saying while her kitties try to sabotage her with cuteness, she enjoys painting on canvases, walls, and anything else that will sit still long enough for the paint to dry. She's fueled by tea, inspired by music, and spends most of her time listening to the voices in her head.
For information on new releases, detailed character descriptions, and an in-depth look into the worlds of the Godhunter, the Twilight Court, the Spellsinger, Spectra, and the Happily Harem After Series, check out Amy's website: Amy Sumida's Website
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Pronunciation Guide
Aideen: Ay-deen
Ainsley: Ains-lee
Apitron: Ap-peh-trawn
Astaroth: Ah-star-rawt-h
Balidet: Bal-e-deht
Beag: big(k)
Camran: Cam-ron
Cleary: Clear-ree
Drostan Dealan: Draw-ston JA-lan
Eibhleann: Eve-lin
Ennis: EE-ness
Gancanagh: Gon-cawn-ah
Glastig: Clee-stickh
Gradh: Grah
Keir: Keer
Manachan: Mah-knock-can
Mo shíorghrá: Muh HEER-grah “my eternal love” in Gaelic.
Moire: Moy-rah
Mór: Mo-ore
Nassar: Nah-sarr
Nathair-sith: Nah-hith-she
Raza: Rah-zah
Rodaidh Cruthaich: Ro-Dee Crew-hick
Seelie: See-lee
Seren: Sare-rin
Sorcha: SORE-sha
Tiernan: Teer-nin
Torquil: Tore-quill
Unseelie: Un-see-lee
