I Do, But First: Summer Fae, #2

By Graylin Fox

I’m Contessa Britton--an elf and the youngest Princess of the Summer Fae. All I wanted to do was marry my high school sweetheart, but before I can walk down the aisle, I'm required to ride into battle on my dragon with my family all around me to secure our power. 

Matthew and I had years of separation to make up for, and we were about to make it official. Then, the ogres came. The deadly Dark Fae who had killed millions of humans were back and wanted my entire family dead. And they started by kidnapping my future parents-in-law. 

As they say where I grew up: Oh, hell no

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dark Fantasy Press
• Release date: Jan 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9780996633253

Graylin Fox

Graylin Fox is an Urban Fantasy author of Contessa: Princess of the Summer Fae, the Arcane Court Series (Death Dealer, Red Lady, Shadowed Vengeance, Demon Child), and the paranormal romance Candy Man Delivery Series which she writes as Graylin Rane. Graylin is also a psychologist, and used this knowledge when writing Smolder, a novel about a hospital psychologist, and Your Biggest Fan, about a woman obsessed with a boy band member. She still practices psychology in South Florida, unwinding with her friends at the beach.  Keep up with Graylin online at GraylinFox.com, on Facebook [GraylinFoxWrites], and on Twitter [@GraylinFox].

Book preview

Chapter One

Tessa, Matthew shouted. His boots thumped across the house. His aftershave filled the air as he pulled me into a kiss. My fiancé knew how to make my toes curl.

I pushed back a little bit and he relaxed his grip.

You heard? I asked, trying to keep a worried tone out of my voice.

He leaned his forehead on mine caressing my cheeks with soft calloused fingers. Yeah.

We were a picture of contrasts. I came close to five and a half feet tall with long sun streaked blonde hair wound into a braid that fell to my waist. My normally translucent skin had a golden hue from months of sword practice in the backyard. My white tank top and gnarled blue jeans showed off my thinly muscled body.

Matthew was taller than average humans at close to six foot tall with waist length black hair and his mocha skin darkened due to training of his own. He also preferred jeans and a t-shirt to any other clothing. His dark jeans and snug beige shirt triggered a few naughty thoughts as I gathered myself.

Maybe we can wrap this up before the ceremony? Hope lifted my voice at the end.

The boy I’d loved since high school covered his pained response with forced laughter. Everyone involved in our wedding will wait until we’re done.

What do you know? Reluctantly, I pulled away returning to the suitcase I’d been preparing for our wedding day.

There was a slight hesitation before he began to speak. There is a new leader of the Dark Fae. He paused, wincing. The rest of what he had to say would upset me. He didn’t like to do that. Something’s stirring in the low lands.

I rocked back on my heels fighting tears. I’m not usually the weepy type but it was my Wedding Day, dammit. The freaking ogres and their puppet masters, the Dark Fae, couldn’t leave us alone long enough to get married? Over the past two years, I’d learned enough about fae magic for it to scare me, and I had power. It was all elemental and boundless, in the Otherworld. Here on earth, it was limited. Belief matters and humanity had turned its head toward another source of power diminishing the strength of the natural world.

Greer, the last leader of the darker magical community in the Otherworld tried to conquer earth. I objected by decapitating him, and then killing his mother, my sister.

How many sisters do I have again? Throwing items into my backpack, I took my anger out on socks and underwear.

Enough to entertain a basketball team with an alternate. Or you did. The six-inch tall fairy bobbed in the air with laughter.

Also, plenty to kick ass. It’s my wedding day. Sighing, I fought back tears. Matthew and I’d planned meticulously for this day.

A small goblin, approximately three and half foot tall, appeared in my bedroom doorway. His forehead crinkled in concentration. He made me smile even when my heart ached.

I softened my voice and asked, Rusty?

He nervously fidgeted with the child-sized tux Matthew’s mother made for him. You aren’t dressed.

I wore jeans and T-shirt instead of my wedding gown. There’s a problem in the Otherworld.

Kyl, dressed in an even tinier tux, flew down at the goblins faced shooing him away. Change into your overalls. Put your wedding clothes in your bag. We have an errand to run before the ceremony.

Rusty shot me a worried look. I rolled my eyes and it eased his concern. Kyl was the mother hen to all of us. Having ten children will do that to a man. I heard their voices trail off to the other side of my childhood cabin.

My name’s Contessa. A few years ago, my world changed. I’d lost my entire human family to Greer’s apocalyptic virus, found out that fairytale creatures were real, my high school boyfriend was an elf, and so was I. On top of all that, it turns out my human mother was really my elf nanny who escaped my evil eldest sister to raise me in Appalachia. On a scale from normal to soap-opera-reality-television weird, I think I rang the bell on the weird scale.

My family tree had plenty of crazy in it. I hoped this latest threat wasn’t a relative. Straightening my back, I followed Matthew and his great ass to the cabin’s kitchen. I never traveled to the Otherworld without two cups of coffee in me and a six-pack of Diet Coke in a cooler.

I’m ready. Announced the goblin I’d taken in when he escaped from his captors.

Matthew managed to cover his laugh with his hand. I wasn’t so lucky. Rusty stood proudly in overalls with the legs rolled up to reveal biker boots. The black T-shirt accented the muscles he’d developed helping out around the house and wrestling with my dragon in the backyard.

His face fell at my giggles. You don’t like it.

An ache grabbed my chest. The small goblin had few hairs wound in a circle on top of his head and secured with something shiny. I hoped he hadn’t tried hair spray. He’d escaped slavery to bravely ask for my protection. I’d sooner hurt my future children than Rusty.

You look very handsome, I said. I meant it.

Thank you, he replied shuffling his feet.

Matthew winked at me as he slung a cooler over his shoulder. Rusty, you always make an impression.

Kyl landed on my right shoulder. He saw a movie with bikers. His tone was low enough that only I heard it.

It made it harder to keep a straight face.

A thump outside let me know Jasper was ready to go. The formerly small dragon had grown to the size of a private jet. He’d make it to full military transport in the next decade. His Uncle Roan could transfer an entire battalion.

Don’t bounce the place off the foundation. Matt teased as he opened the back door.

For his part, Jasper blew smoke rings out of his nose. The cabin’s fine.

This time, I said glaring at him as I exited. There was a smile in my eyes.

He grinned, tilting his head to the right. Do I need my saddle? He kept his tone low so Rusty wouldn’t hear.

Shaking my head in the negative, I held my hand out for the goblin. Come on Rusty.

Reptilian yellow eyes flashed with humor.

Walk behind us Jasper, I suggested.

Ogres. Matthew shouted, ducking behind a tree.

Rusty hid behind me as I scuttled to the barn. I grabbed a bucket of water for these occasions. My power was elemental ice and it flowed with no effort in the Otherworld. Here on earth, I needed to have one hand in water. This made sense if I didn’t think on it too hard. Kyl just said, Magic and shrugged when I’d asked.