by Linsey Hall
“We were coming to see you,” Coraline said, her dark hair was streaked with blue today.
“We wanted to apologize,” Beth said. “For trying to take your dagger. It was meant to be a prank, but it was uncool.”
Mary shrugged one shoulder. “We’re witches, but we didn’t mean to be bitches.”
“Wow. Um, thank you.” It was nice of them, and it warmed me.
But still…
I looked at Connor. Once, I’d have killed for the witches to be nice to me. But there was more out there. More than this, and I wanted to find it with him.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to the witches. Then I grabbed Connor’s hand and pulled him down the street.
“What was all that about?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” I grinned and kissed him on the cheek. “Now, how about that date?”
~~
Want to know more about the Devil of Darkvale and the woman that Connor saw in Covent Garden? Hint—she’s the reason the Devil was looking a bit shellshocked in the last scene. Their story, called Once Bitten, will be here at the end of April, so keep your eyes peeled.
In the meantime, you can read more about Connor’s sister Claire in her series, The Forbidden Fae. Or, you can sign up for my newsletter to get a free novella about Cass. I never spam, and you can bail out at any time.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are so helpful to authors. I really appreciate all reviews, both positive and negative. If you want to leave one, you can do so at Amazon or GoodReads.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Jena O’Connor and Ash Fitzsimmons for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you!
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art.
Author’s Note
Hey there! I hope you enjoyed Secrets and Alchemy.
Most of the historical elements from this book were inspired by Dartmoor and a recent research trip to the UK with fellow author CN Crawford.
Dartmoor is full of amazing archaeological sites. One of the most remarkable are the Clapper Bridges, which can also be found on other upland areas of the UK. They are built of massive slabs of granite or schist laid over more stacked stones. Though they are generally thought to be prehistoric, many of them were built in the medieval period to facilitate crossing the rivers. The word ‘clapper’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word cleaca, which means ‘bridging the stepping stones’.
The small, gnarled trees that mark the entrance to the Court of Flames are based on Whistman’s Wood, an ancient oak forest that is likely a holdover from before the deforestation of Dartmoor around 5000 BC. The ground there is so rocky that it was possibly never cleared, and many of the current stunted, twisted oaks are hundreds of years old.
Fletcher’s Bar was inspired by the real life Gordon’s Wine Bar, which is credited with being London’s oldest wine bar (established 1890). While that is interesting, it is the building that I enjoyed the most. Check it out on Google to see photos of what I’m talking about—it’s impossible to describe any better than I did in the text.
Thank you for coming along on Connor and Sora’s adventure. Their book is finished for now, but there is always the possibility of another.
About Linsey
Before becoming a writer, Linsey Hall was a nautical archaeologist who studied shipwrecks from Hawaii and the Yukon to the UK and the Mediterranean. She credits fantasy and historical romances with her love of history and her career as an archaeologist. After a decade of tromping around the globe in search of old bits of stuff that people left lying about, she settled down and started penning her own romance novels. Her Dragon’s Gift series draws upon her love of history and the paranormal elements that she can't help but include.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2020 by Linsey Hall
Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
ISBN 978-1-942085-97-3
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