Forbidden Hearts

By Lisa Kessler

Love could destroy them both...

Princess Kathryn crosses the veil for one last adventure before her life is sacrificed to save her people. She visits Comic-Con International in San Diego hoping to blend in and avoid the guards, but when she crosses paths with a human, he kindles forbidden desires in her heart.

Scott Jones is a down and out auto mechanic who longs for his luck to change, but he had no idea a real water sprite would turn his world upside down and show him a new world across the veil. Her zest for life is infectious, and when he learns her fate, he vows to change the stars to save her.

Previously featured in the FAE WORLDS collection

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Kessler
• Release date: Oct 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463801796

Lisa Kessler

Lisa Kessler is a Best Selling author of passionate, page-turning paranormal fiction. She's a two-time San Diego Book Award winner for Best Published Fantasy-Sci-fi-Horror and Best Published Romance. Her books have also won the PRISM award, the Award of Excellence, the National Excellence in Romantic Fiction Award, the Award of Merit from the Holt Medallion, and an International Digital Award for Best Paranormal. Her short stories have been published in print anthologies and magazines, and her vampire story, Immortal Beloved, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award. She also publishes horror and thriller novels under the pseudonym, L.A. Kessler. When she's not writing, Lisa is a professional vocalist and tarot card reader. You can learn more at http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book preview

Dedication

This story is for all my fellow Comic-Con geeks…

Chapter 1

Her ankles wobbled in the strappy heeled sandals. How did humans manage to walk in this crazy footwear? Barefoot was much more practical, but this world had signs everywhere about no service without shoes, so she conjured up a pair she’d seen another female wearing.

She had to admit, the heels definitely dressed up her tiny feet and added three inches of height to her petite frame. She’d get used to them. Eventually.

Kathryn made her way down the crowded sidewalk without bumping into too many people. At least she thought they were people. She never realized it would be so difficult to tell.

Aliens, samurai warriors, robots, and something that looked dead surrounded her on all sides. The dead thing didn’t stink, but his eyes were cloudy and his skin was gray. He dragged his right leg when he walked, too.

A shudder ran up her back. This wasn’t how she pictured the human world would be.

When she stepped out from the shadows of the skyscrapers, the bay sparkled on her right, and a smile of pure joy crept up on her. The sunlight danced on the water, calling to her, but she wasn’t ready to answer.

Not yet.

With a sigh, she forced her gaze forward again and did her best to manage a wobble-free gait. Only a couple more blocks until she reached the convention center.

Her heels clicked the pavement faster, until the mob became too thick for her to weave her way through. She jutted her chin out and puffed air up at her multi-colored bangs.

Waiting made her crazy.

The moment she made it to the front of the line, a woman who maybe lost a battle with some sort of piercing demon, rolled her eyes up at her. Your badge?

She glanced around at the other people moving through the doors with lanyards dangling around their necks. Oh shoot. She needed a badge. Um…I forgot it.

The woman raised a pierced eyebrow. I can’t let you inside without a badge.

Kathryn sighed and turned back, working her way through the mass of humanity like a fish struggling to swim upstream. When she found an empty alcove, she slid out of the crowd and tried to think up a fake name. Her father’s men would be hunting her, no sense making it easy for them.

Her gaze darted around the passing crowd until she noticed a female dressed in a hot pink body suit complete with a face mask. The woman froze in a fighting stance for a photo.

Magenta. Kathryn smirked. but Magenta what?

All the other humans had two names on their badges. She clicked her fingernails, trying to think. Then it came to her. Fae. Magenta Fae.

A fit of giggles swelled, but she did her best to contain them. She wasn’t really a Faerie in the purest sense, but she was in the human world now. No one would question her about it.

She slipped her fingers inside the neckline of her silvery tunic, magic tingling against her skin, and slowly withdrew a badge with her new name on it. With her head held high, she waded into the long line again and presented her badge to the woman at the door.

The woman waved her device over it, and Kathryn started to move through, but the woman blocked her.

Sorry. It didn’t scan. I need to try again.

The person covering the other door swiped her device over another human’s badge, and it lit up with a loud beep. Kathryn focused on hers with a little push of magic. The device beeped, and the woman let her inside.

Immediately, someone handed her a large bag, but she didn’t stop to poke through the contents. The noise and camera flashes stunned her for a moment. There were people, elves, turtles, demons, and even fae everywhere she looked. Excitement bubbled in her stomach. She’d done it. No guards, no handmaids; for now, she was free.

She wandered toward a door with a primitive drawing of a person wearing a skirt. Her cousin, Princess Talia, had spent years in the human world. Since her return, Kathryn had peppered her with questions without mentioning her own intentions to cross the veil.

This door led to a chamber the humans called a restroom. Perfect spot to get out of her jacket before she started to itch.

Once inside, she found a row of tiny rooms with bowls of water in the center. She wasn’t sure of the purpose, but she wasn’t in a hurry to investigate. She went in and latched the door before slipping out of the jacket and tucking it into her new convention bag. Stretching her arms over head, she let out a soft blissful moan as her gossamer wings unfolded behind her.

Much better. She fanned them, stretching the tight muscles. Keeping her wings confined made her back hurt, like forcing her feet into shoes that were too small. She could have hidden them with her glamour, but each time she used her magic on this side of the veil, it made her easier for her father’s guards to track. She’d already conjured the badge.

The guards could be on the way now.

She pushed the thought away. Her time here was limited, she wasn’t about to spend it obsessing over being caught.

Besides, humans didn’t have wings like she did, but this was Comic-Con, and Talia had mentioned it was the only place their kind could walk among humans without being noticed and without using glamour.

Kathryn opened the door and stepped out in front of the full-length mirror.

Wow! Beautiful wings…

Kathryn smiled at a woman in a skin tight black outfit complete with a cape and long white hair. Thank you. She retracted her wings to allow the woman to get past her.

She stopped on the other side of Kathryn. They look real. She met Kathryn’s gaze in the mirror. And those blue contacts are to die for. They almost seem like they’re…changing. She ran lipstick over her mouth and then smiled. Are you entered in the Masquerade tonight?

Kathryn shook her head. No, I’m only here until the sun sets.

The white-haired woman with a small X on her chest raised a brow. Too bad. You’d be tough to beat.

After the woman left, Kathryn stretched her wings, and straightened her silvery tunic a little. The hem fell to her mid-thigh, scandalous for royalty. Hopefully it would help her fit in on this side of the veil. Her skin shimmered, almost opalescent, but in this crowd, she didn’t draw too much attention. They assumed it was an elaborate costume.

Next, she gathered up her ocean blue hair into a messy ponytail, exposing the pointed tips at the top of her ears. She glanced around the restroom to be sure she was alone, then gazed into the mirror again.

A tiny bit of magic couldn’t hurt. Just once more.

She brought her finger up to her mouth, and with a spark, her lips were bathed in a deep purple. Perfect. She stepped out of the room for ladies, and into the throngs of humans, vampires, elves, pirates, aliens, more of those dead things, trolls, dwarves, and something called Power Rangers.

Countless compliments came in about her wings as people passed her by. Her cheeks flushed with color. They were by far her best feature, but even so, she’d never gotten so much attention for them in her world.

For years her father had warned her of the dangers of the human realm. They were violent, primitive creatures without magic. Mundane and ordinary, he’d called them. But she couldn’t take her eyes off them. Pictures moved on devices they clutched in their hands, and that was just the beginning.

She couldn’t stop smiling. No politics or danger. They accepted her as one of them. Freedom. The realm of humans might be the wild side of the veil, but she loved it already.

Too bad she couldn’t stay long.

While she was here, she wanted to try everything. Up