Bound Darkly: The Darkly Series, #2

By Tarrant Smith

Sinnie has lived a secure, uniquely privileged life in the Seelie Court of Tir na n-Og. For as long as she can remember, her doting father, Sel, son of Selgi, has been the Captain of the Queen's Guard. She cannot imagine the dark warrior prophesied for her future by the meddling goddess Blodeuwedd. Nevertheless, Sinnie's fate is forever sealed the day the goddess whispers the riddle into her child's ear. He would be a warrior born of the dark, raised by the despised, and tempered by the unlikely – and he would be Sinnie's only chance at true love.

After spending nearly a thousand years exiled in the world of men, Hueil, son of Caw, has returned to the Dark Court of the Unseelie to find much has changed in his homeland. The restoration of his name and his new duties at court should have brought him satisfaction, but the many years of banishment and Jennifer Mackell have changed him. Unable to name the yearning that now plagues him, Hueil travels back to Jen's cottage to seek answers. What he finds is Sinnie, a Seelie warrior who is both fire and flame, and a woman who might very well be the death of him – if he is lucky.

Added Bonus: Forbidden, a Darkly Short Story

Cian, a seasoned seelie guardsman, has lost his heart to a human. There's a reason contact between humans and fey is forbidden; more often than not, enchantment is the result. He may have lost his heart, but Elizabeth could lose her self if he isn't vigilant. To give himself strength, Cian recites the rules he has sworn to follow. He must never touch her or let her know that he is real. He must remain invisible to her eyes–an unspoken shadow in her world. And above all, he must keep her safe–safe even from himself. But Cian longs to see the warmth of recognition shining from her eyes; to pass the time conversing with her, to touch her heart and hear her sigh in his arms. He must be careful. He has already broken one rule. Can he keep himself from breaking all the others?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tarrant Smith
• Release date: Dec 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393605706

Tarrant Smith

Far far away and in a time long ago, Tarrant Smith graduated from Queens College in North Carolina with a degree in English literature. She currently lives in the beautiful town of Madison, Georgia with her husband, son, and two rescued stray cats who follow her around like familiars. As a kitchen witch, she has always sought out and nurtured the magick that can be found in the mundane trappings of everyday life. For more information about the author and her romance books please go to tarrantsmith.com 2020 Georgia Independent Author of the Year Award (Romance Catagory for The Love of Gods) "From cover to cover, Smith delivers insanely well-drawn characters and enough moments of levity to keep this paranormal romance moving along at a brisk pace. Never does Smith's work lack. As the author bounces from one subplot to the next and back, she keeps readers on their toes and deeply involved with each of the main characters and their tragic lives." Author's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_HCiwgsJBOiGJrza7FTd-Q The Love of Gods was awarded Literary Titan's Silver Book Award for June 2019. The Fate of Wolves was awarded Literary Titan's Gold Book Award in December 2019 ​​​​​​​The Dreams of Demons was awarded Literary Titan's Silver Book Award in August 2020 The Souls of Witches was awarded Literary Titan's Siver book Award in February 2021 Bound Darkly was awarded Literary Titan's Gold Book Award for July 2019. Kept Darkly was awarded Literary Titan's Gold Book Award for August 2019. Surrendered Darkly was awarded Literary Titan's Gold Book Award for August 2019. Resurrected Darkly was awarded Literary Titan's Gold Book Award for August 2019 Website: https://tarrantsmith.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TarrantSmith Substack: https://tarrant.substack.com/ Medium: https://medium.com/@starrantsmith Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starrant.smith/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/starrants/tarrant-smith-author/

Book preview

Dedication

For my twelve-year -old son, who helped me choreograph the sword movements with the help of his lightsabers.

Bound Darkly

Chapter 1

"O f the two types of fairy, the unseelie is the most dangerous, for dark is their nature. To stave off boredom they seek sport with the unwary, finding pleasure in pain; a twisted moral compass. To guard your doorstep, grow rosemary. To guard your person, pray." Shannon Grey, Book of Shadows (1921)

AS SOON AS HIS BROTHER Hueil decided to quit the unseelie banquet table, Neb took the opportunity to shift to Calcus’s great hall, where he was greeted with the ringing of swordplay as it echoed off the marble walls. The blue devil was sparring enthusiastically with another fey who was unknown to him.

Neb leaned against a pillar and waited for the exercise to end, admittedly with little interest in the outcome. Of all his flawed brothers, Calcus was their caste’s best strategist; you just needed to be aware of his masochistic streak, as he took particular pleasure in finding value in another's pain.

It had been Calcus who had instructed him to locate their brother during his long banishment from Tir na n-Og, and it had been Calcus who had obtained the three charms that gave Hueil the ability to survive among the humans in a world in which magick was dying. Neb’s debt to this brother was minor compared to the life debt that Hueil now unknowingly owed Calcus. Through the centuries, Neb had not been able to fathom the convoluted path Calcus painstakingly engineered, but recently he had begun to think that his brother had set his sights on the unseelie throne.

Neb sighed as his brother slid the finely-honed weapon through the muscled belly of his opponent right up to the sword’s hilt before cutting the fool’s neck with a dagger. The small weapon had remained unnoticed until it had flashed, slicing cleanly through the warrior’s throat.

You will not have anyone to spar with, brother, if you keep killing them, Neb calmly called from across the hall. It wasn’t as if there were an abundance of well-seasoned warriors among their ranks.

If they do not fear death, then the exercise is a waste of my time, Calcus replied as he wiped the bloody sword on the body before sheathing the wicked-looking weapon. What news of our reunited brother?

Hueil is neither happy with his new post nor with the pleasures of court. I fear he is not the same warrior the King banished. The halflings have made him weak.

Calcus approached Neb, his footfalls silent on the black polished floor. Why do you say this?

I fear him bewitched by a halfling of the Light Court. He left her whole and unharmed, instead of taking what he desired from her. It was most strange. Neb shook his head, then lowered his voice to confess the rest. Very unlike the brother we know. I believe he has even returned to visit her.

Her name?

Jennifer MacKell. She is under the Queen’s protection and bound to another halfling.

Do not speak of that meddling bitch. She sways the King from his nature! Calcus roared at him.

Neb’s assessment of Hueil’s melancholy hadn't been well received, so Neb held his tongue as Calcus strode across the ebony floor, deep in thought. His brother didn’t want his opinions, especially when such counsel conflicted with Calcus's own plans.

When Calcus had regained his composure, he turned back to Neb and spoke confidently as he placed another pawn in place. Do not worry over Hueil’s misgivings. He will come back to his natural appetites soon enough and will do my bidding when I require it. He will have no choice, Neb. We will use his liking of this halfling against him if he proves to be a hindrance. Who guards her?

Sel, son of Selgi. His family has been bound to her by... Neb stopped short of mentioning the Queen again in his brother’s presence. It still shall be easy enough to obtain her if need be, he finished and swallowed the bile in his throat. The role of informant did not sit well with Neb, but he owed a debt, and Calcus had a long memory.

Send Naria to Hueil’s chambers. She will remind him of the joys of coupling with his own kind. Calcus snickered to himself and turned his unprotected back to his little brother, a demonstration of his confidence and power.

In silence, they watched two kneeling servants busy themselves with cleaning the bloodstains from the floor with rags, the warrior's body already having been removed. Neb could not help but feel sorry for their lot. He knew the poor wretches had a harder fate than that of the warrior who had fallen by his brother’s sword.

Calcus said over his shoulder, For now, keep an eye on our wayward brother as he navigates the icy waters of the Seelie Court. His favor with the Queen may gain us much—though he makes enemies among his own kind.

Neb bowed to Calcus’s back and took the opportunity to fold space and shift to safer company, else his brother look to him for a new sparring partner. Warcraft was their family’s profession, but Neb lacked the skills of his other brothers. Instead of sharing in the glory of war and blood, more often than not he found himself running errands and maneuvering for favors within the Unseelie Court.

He had been closest to Hueil as a child, but that was a long time ago. Their father had taken perverse enjoyment in pitting his horde of sons against one another. Such a childhood did not lend itself to fostering brotherly affection so Neb tried to steer clear of all his brothers whenever possible.

Hueil’s sleeping chamber was empty when Neb arrived, so he sought out Naria to deliver Calcus’s request. She would do as instructed. The Enchantress, like so many who dealt with Calcus, would find herself a pawn in his brother's endless scheming.

After several more fruitless searches, Neb found her in the King’s outer chambers, looking breathtakingly beautiful in a low-cut red silk gown that clung to her shapely form. Her pale complexion was complemented by raven hair that hung loosely down her back, ending in soft curls below her waist. Her eyebrow arched delicately in a silent question at his abrupt arrival. He bowed formally to her, for this courtesan was one of the King’s favorite pastimes when he wasn’t smitten with the fair-haired Queen.

Neb, why do you come? she purred in her seductive voice.

Calcus wishes you to find Hueil and welcome our brother home in your very special way. Neb envied his brother’s homecoming gift. He himself would do much to obtain Naria’s favors.

And what if the King should discover that Calcus has passed me out to service his brother? She glided closer to him.

That is not his concern. Neb swallowed uncomfortably as her enticing scent reached him.

Tell Calcus my debt to him is paid in full after this errand. I will not do his bidding again. Even in anger, her voice was a soft invitation.

I will pass your message along, he said, though his mouth had gone dry and his groin had tightened in misguided hope when she moved so close that he could feel the heat radiating from her body.

Neb shifted before he did something truly feeble-minded in her presence. He doubted Naria would get away from Calcus so easily, despite her beauty and womanly talents. She would do better for herself if she bewitched his calculating brother instead of attempting to negotiate with him.

With his obligations met, Neb returned to the banquet hall and its possible pleasures. Sure in the knowledge that he would find himself a casualty of such a clash, Neb knew he would need to steer clear of any storm that pitted Hueil against Calcus. The thought of a certain death was unsettling for an immortal.

Chapter 2

Jennifer MacKell was pregnant, an empath, a bound fey-halfling, ward of the Seelie Court, and under the protection of Sel, the Queen’s Captain. She sat on the hard wooden bench in the Morgan County Courthouse and waited quietly for a sign from her—no, their lawyer. Her soon-to-be ex-husband, Jim, sat nervously beside her, never knowing why their lives had changed so quickly.

Some secrets, like the existence of fairies, she was simply obligated to keep from him and her fellow Madisonians. The realm of the fey and the Tuatha de Danann was dangerously real, and these immortals weren’t small garden sprites or harmless pixies with magickal dust. They were big, bad, kick-ass types.

Another case was called forward and the woman to her left stood with a lawyer in tow. Jen pulled her legs to the side to make room for the lady so she could squeeze her sizable girth past without too much difficulty. Cheap sweet perfume followed the woman, leaving a trail of wrinkled noses in its wake while her purple flip-flops announced her progress down the center aisle.

Magick also leaves traces, much like the lilac and lavender perfume presently lodged in Jen’s nasal cavity, courtesy of Ms. Flip-Flop. That invisible magickal trail was how Hueil and the others had found her, and maybe why she had been initially drawn to Steven, the dark-halfling she was now bound to. She and Steven were both halflings, descendants of a fey-human tryst, and magickal by nature. That half-bred distinction now placed them at the fringes of a power struggle between the two courts of the fey, the unseelie and the seelie. Sel was their Seelie Court-appointed fey guardian and protector. He was deceptively angelic in appearance, but even she could feel the ripples of power that surrounded him.

Jen placed her hand over her still-flat stomach and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. On the night Sel had arrived, he had healed her and told them of her pregnancy, much to Steven’s dismay. The steamy affair with Steven had only just started; yet here she was, knocked up with his child and still married to her long-time friend Jim, who was very normal and so very human.

She grimaced and smoothed the fabric of her skirt, taking a moment to listen to the verbal jousting of the current case. The judge seemed to have everything well in hand even if Jen’s previous bench-warming companion didn’t look happy at how the case was progressing.  

Jen smoothed the fabric of her floral skirt again and focused on putting energy into her mental shielding. The volatile emotions in the crowded room were starting to challenge her defenses. Nervousness, trepidation, anger, and impatience: all these broke against the energy field she maintained, but like any dam it wasn't perfect—there was some leakage. The closer she was to the person, the larger the leak. If Steven had been beside her, she would have felt better, stronger. She could have drawn from his strength, but Jen had insisted on going through this on her own. Dumb, she berated herself. In hindsight, Jen had to admit that it had just been her pride talking. She had wanted to appear strong. Yet as she looked around the courtroom at the normals, she was surprised at how out of place she felt. Too many secrets separated her from the rest of humanity and in a short amount of time she had grown too accustomed to the supernatural side of her life, finding it more real than this reality. Jen squirmed on the bench to gain some relief from both her thoughts and the hard-oak plank on which she sat.

Catching Jim’s eye, she gave him an encouraging smile that he readily returned. She had hoped his spell-induced indiscretion had been more than just a one-night stand. Jen smiled to herself as she watched him fidget; his familiar mannerisms were strangely soothing to her. He looked trimmer. Some of his paunch had disappeared, and his energy was generally positive, so she knew he had met someone he cared about. Jen just didn’t know if the woman she spied in the scrying bowl during her spellcasting was the cause, or if it was some other unnamed reason.

Technically, she was a polygamist, Jen thought while still watching Jim. She was fey-bound to Steven and legally married to Jim. Yet according to Sel, the fey binding vows that she and Steven had exchanged were more permanent than her wedding vows to Jim had been. Knowing that she shouldn’t have married Jim in the first place, Jen grimaced to herself and then let out a calming breath. Well, she was rectifying her legal status today.

Their lawyer hastily motioned them forward and Jen nervously gathered her purse and stood; her bottom was numb from sitting for so long. She actively resisted the urge to reach back and rub at the odd sensation as her legs propelled her to the end of the bench. Instead she clutched her purse, followed Jim’s lead, and tried not to catch the lawyer’s eye directly. Something about the man made her feel guilty.

Their case was uncomplicated, and the judge handled the matter quickly. Jen and her soon-to-be ex-husband politely answered a few questions and then she watched the judge sign the documents—she was officially freed by the great State of Georgia. It was so anti-climatic Jen wanted to hug the black-robed figure, whom she vaguely recognized as an occasional patron at Steven’s cafe. Instead, Jen happily but sedately made her way out of the courtroom behind Jim. They walked into the late summer heat in silence and stopped to stand on the Morgan County Courthouse steps.

Well, all done, Jim said, slightly teary-eyed.

Yes. They stood awkwardly facing each other, neither quite sure what to do next to fill the silence. Abruptly, Jen leaned in and hugged him, letting her sense of relief seep into him. It was a selfish use of her powers, but Jen felt like she owed him something. When she pulled back, he was smiling.

Right, then. I’ll see you around, he said.

Okay.

Almost shyly he asked, Do you want me to walk you to your truck?

No need. Jen smiled to let him know it was all right.

Right.

I have to go. She backed down two steps. Got to get ready for work, she explained.

Jim hesitated. Right. He nodded uncomfortably and turned in the opposite direction toward his sedan.

After Jim turned away Jen sighed and moved quickly down the steps. She was finished with the whole ordeal, and completely free to tackle her very complicated new life.

She could see Sinnie waiting for her beside the beat-up farm truck. The red-headed fey was dressed in a tee-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. She was Sel’s daughter and Jen’s relative; a cousin of sorts, she thought, but then how did one track such connections when your relative was hundreds of years older than you? Jen waved to Sinnie and received a hesitant wave back. It was Sinnie’s first time in the human realm among normals and she had become enamored with Jen’s very human life. Today, Sinnie had wanted her role to be more than just that of bodyguard; she had wanted to be present to offer Jen moral support.

As Jen crossed East Avenue, she spied four men watching her cousin; one woman tripped over the curb leading to the Courthouse as she craned her neck in Sinnie’s direction. The fey were an unusually beautiful race. It wasn’t that their features were arranged in a more appealing configuration or that they were more perfect to the eye because as talented shapeshifters their outer appearance was a matter of choice. Rather, it was that the overall package glowed with an otherworldly grace that captured the imagination and enchanted the onlooker. Jen knew the sooner she got Sinnie out of town, the better.

Well, is it final? Sinnie asked as soon as Jen was within earshot, striking green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Yes, Jen replied to the perky fey while noticing that Sinnie had helped herself to one of Jen's favorite tee-shirts. This one had a witch’s pentagram emblazoned on the front, with the motto printed below, Do as you will, and it harm none. Jen let it slide, grateful for Sinnie’s friendly face.

She reached out and hugged Sinnie tightly—because she could. Normally, any casual physical contact with a full-blooded fey induced a craving that was quite literally out of this world. Powerful endorphins resided on a fey’s skin that could infect a human through the most casual of contact. The fey called this enchanting and it was a forbidden practice in the Seelie Court. But because Jen and Steven were halflings and bound to each other, Jen was free to embrace Sinnie without falling victim to the strong fey-cocktail of chemistry and will. She, in essence, had magickal immunity.

Breaking off the spontaneous contact, Jen pulled back to see Sinnie’s alarmed face and Jen fought to hide a smile. Hueil had looked similarly startled by her show of affection when she had hugged the big unseelie warrior before he returned home to Tir na n-Og, the fairy realm. Sorry. I forgot you’re not very touchy-feely.

You are emotional, Jennifer MacKell, her cousin said stoically in her naturally lyrical voice. I have read much on human pregnancy. It is the hormones. Turning like a dancer taking the stage, Sinnie disappeared and reappeared in the passenger seat. I will ride with you back to the cottage. Steven will be waiting for you.

Jen glanced around Madison’s Town Square and hoped that no one noticed Sinnie’s disappearing act. One man looked at her oddly but, if not forced to confront the supernatural, he would reconstruct the event in his memory to eliminate the moment. Sel had assured her that this was the case with most humans, so Jen ignored the brief display of magick and hauled herself into the ratty truck.

Don’t do that in public, she whispered unnecessarily under her breath while she tucked her skirt under her leg to prevent it from catching in the door. With a firm pull on the creaking door, Jen slammed it shut.

Sorry, I forgot.

Jen shrugged in response. It wasn’t her responsibility to police her cousin’s actions and Sinnie was trying to stay unnoticed most of the time. Forget it, Sinnie. No harm, no foul. Madison might one day find its reputation no longer hinged on General Sherman’s good graces and lack of a match, but instead for the unusual number of otherworldly visitors among its charming Antebellum homes, Jen thought.

It was mid-September, but the heat of August still lingered, and the truck’s air conditioner was broken. Jen had left the windows rolled down, but the sweat was already beading on her upper lip and brow. Sinnie didn’t sweat. By the time they drove across town, Jen would be sticky and wet, but the fey warrior would still look like a model off the pages of Vogue. It was a good thing Steven only had eyes for her, Jen thought, as she glanced sideways at her bodyguard.

She started the truck and headed out of town-proper towards the cottage by the lake. It was actually just a cow pond, but large enough to support a floating dock and a reasonable supply of fish, and truthfully the cottage was more of a shack, but it was home.

As she drove away from the courthouse, the pretty homes and well-landscaped lots gave way to more acreage and fewer floral embellishments, thanks to a healthy deer population. Boxwood and juniper prevailed further out of town, replacing the flowering azaleas—the usual casualties to the deer’s destructive dining.

Once across the 441 bypass, they entered farmland, or more precisely cow-land. A history of small dairies had left its mark on the surrounding county. Some of the land had morphed into smaller horse farms as the population changed.  It was green and lush, and Jen loved it here. Madison had a kind of magick all its own. It could make you forget the larger world outside its protective city limits, and she could almost believe nothing unusual had happened on that night outside Steven’s cottage.

Quickly, Jen pushed that memory away. Her life was never going to be the same. It would be best if she embraced that fact, Jen lectured herself. Yet, living under the constant and watchful eyes of Sel’s family was no small feat. With Steven in the middle of running the cafe, and Jen negotiating her divorce and family inquiries, Sel and Sinnie kept popping up at the most inconvenient times in their effort to follow the Queen’s orders. Then after two weeks and no explanation, Sel had suddenly relaxed his stringent rules, asking only for Sinnie to remain behind to shadow Jen. This new arrangement had left him free to return to the Seelie Court and his duties. And this turn of events had suited Jen, more than she cared to admit to Sinnie; however, on occasion the domineering seelie captain would return unannounced and end the easy camaraderie Jen now enjoyed with her cousin.

Pulling up next to the rented cottage, she cut the engine. Taking the time to wipe the sweat off her face, Jen confessed the vague worry she had been entertaining for weeks. Sinnie? Her cousin had already shifted from the truck to outside and beside her door.

Hmm, she murmured absently.

Do you think Steven will ask me to marry him, now that I’m you know? Her cousin opened the protesting door so Jen could climb out.

You are bound. Is that not enough?

Not by my parents' standards. Steven had indulged her in keeping the pregnancy a secret until after the divorce, but the topic of marriage hadn’t come up. She still secretly wanted the title of wife no matter how binding the fey-vows were supposed to be. It was going to be difficult enough to bring their prospective families up to speed.

Do you wish me to make him marry you? Sinnie asked seriously.

Heavens no, Sinnie. I was just wondering. Jen pushed the worry away. She had to believe it would all work out. She and Steven would always be together, no matter what the future held.

Sinnie shadowed her to the cottage door, then grabbed her arm and pulled Jen firmly back down the last two steps, prohibiting her from entering. There is someone inside. Wait here, she said sternly, all pretense of normalcy gone. Slipping past Jen, Sinnie entered silently through the newly installed screen door. After a moment, she beckoned for Jen to follow.

Hueil stood leaning casually against the kitchen countertop that separated the living room from the efficiency kitchen. He was in his human glamour, looking very GQ in a soft black silk shirt and steel gray slacks, his dark wavy hair curling where it touched his collar.

Despite everything, Jen was pleased to see the too-handsome warrior and her former protector. Crossing the distance quickly, she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. She could feel his shock and Sinnie’s disapproval mingle in the air like wisps of smoke. Jen didn’t care. Although she should fear him for who and what he was, she simply could not.

Hueil set Jen gently away from him and smiled crookedly down at her, his golden-amber eyes sparkling with honest amusement. Little one, I have missed your misplaced trust. He laughed softly at his own joke as his smile grew.

Jen couldn’t stop the grin from forming as she craned her neck upward; even in this form he was tall. You’ll always have my friendship, Hueil. Sinnie’s irritation was obvious, so Jen took a few steps away from Hueil’s large presence. For what it’s worth, Jen added under her breath, knowing he would hear it.

Her complete acceptance of Hueil’s morally ambiguous nature had baffled the dark warrior. It baffled most that knew her story, but her gift had given her insight into the unseelie and his long struggle to survive in the human realm.

Why are you here? Sinnie snapped, glaring at the darkly seductive fey. She had assumed a defensive posture, lightly balancing on the balls of her feet with her fingers touching a hidden throwing blade tucked at her waist.

Jen suspected that the scrying spell she had used on Jim had also worked on Hueil. Two nights ago, under a full moon, she had summoned Hueil’s true mate. If the arcing electrical charge she felt in the air and across her skin was any indication, Sinnie was the woman for Hueil. Jen was enormously pleased, for she genuinely liked both of them. She also knew that Sel would have a cow (or whatever the magickal equivalent was) when he found his daughter was drawn to Hueil.

Sin, calm yourself. I came to find your father, Hueil said coolly, his cheek still tugging at the corner of his mouth as he fought a smile.

That is not my name, she spat back, like a cat whose fur had been rubbed the wrong way.

You are temptation itself. His amber eyes glowed warmly and his perfect lips broke into a devastating smile, once more eliciting a hiss from Sinnie. I would help you find your darker nature if we were alone, Sin, but alas—duty calls me. Then he chuckled as her ire grew to fill the room.

My father is at court. Go seek him there.

He nodded his head at Jen while still grinning, and then bowed low to Sinnie before he spoke in the softest of whispers. "I am but yours to command, a chuisle." Hueil abruptly shifted and vanished, leaving Jen staring at nothing but the space he had once occupied.

Well? What did he say? Jen demanded, dying to know. She had heard enough of the guttural Gaelic between Sel and Sinnie to know the sound of the language when she heard it, but she had yet to decipher the meanings. Hueil could be decidedly charming when he wanted something; to Jen, he looked like he wanted Sinnie in the worst way.

He is deluded. It was a Gaelic endearment, nothing more. When Jen did not relent, Sinnie finished explaining, "Mon chuisle means ‘my pulse’ and is short for ‘pulse of my heart’."

That’s lovely, Sinnie, Jen gushed. She was by nature a hopeful romantic. She had tried being practical and a realist, but it hadn’t worked out well for her.

It is not lovely. Hueil is from the Dark Court. I am of the Light. It cannot be. Sinnie collapsed into the couch’s pillows rather dramatically.

But Steven and I are light and dark, and your King and Queen are also. Jen was not seeing the problem.

Sinnie’s vibrant green eyes narrowed suspiciously. Have you been practicing your spellcraft on me, Jennifer MacKell? she all but accused.

Jen could honestly say no, so she did—quickly. It had been Hueil’s fate she had tampered with, so technically it wasn’t her fault that the universe would now put Hueil in Sinnie’s path at every opportunity. Jen found that truth was a fine line for her these days. Maintaining an air of innocence, she smiled pleasantly at her cousin but was grateful for the distraction as Steven’s truck pulled up outside.

Chapter 3

"H e came for me when I was a child, for I was a seer and one of his kind. But too late I saw his fairy promises were ash instead of stardust." Tandy Bennett’s journal, 1942

HUEIL ARRIVED AT THE Queen’s outer audience chamber. He had known it was the most likely place to find Sel, but he hadn’t wanted to pass up the opportunity to see Sinnie, no matter how feeble the excuse. Scanning the elegant hall, Hueil knew he wasn’t trusted or welcome among these fey. The courtiers of the Seelie Court gave him a wide berth as he walked among them looking for Sinnie’s father. Even in his current guise, they sensed the darkness in him. Any of these seelie would have happily eliminated him from their White Court if it hadn’t been for the Queen’s commendation and his unlikely posting. In their opinion, he was a blight on an otherwise flourishing Court of Light.

Spying his target, Hueil made his way across the white marble floor to the tall blond whose head was bent in deep conversation with another. As he rapidly approached the Captain from the back, Sel dismissed his companion and turned to face him.

Without preamble Hueil said, We need to talk. Follow me. Hueil shifted to his sleeping chamber where he could be assured of some privacy.

The normally composed Captain appeared in his wake, obviously annoyed. Well, what is so important it requires me to follow you like a dog?

Hueil ignored his tone and imparted the intelligence he had been tasked with obtaining while lingering in the unseelie banquet hall. There are disgruntled rumblings among my caste over the remaining halflings. The hunters found more of our blood in mankind than was thought to exist. I have heard the hunting has resumed by those who would have fey blood remain pure. Hueil knew that Sel had the ear of the Queen and could bring her attention to the problem. The last thing Hueil wanted was to have a dark hunter happen upon Sinnie at Jen’s lodgings. The thought made his blood run cold.

It has been set in motion—you are sure of it? Sel asked.

Aye. Sel might dislike him personally and have the usual seelie misgivings about Hueil’s caste, but the warning was appreciated. The Captain seemed to take a personal interest in the welfare of all the Light Court halflings on the Queen’s behalf.

After a moment’s thought, Sel said, The Queen will not want to hear of this without proof. She is in negotiations with your King and cannot use hearsay as evidence of treachery. The King can simply deny knowledge of the deed. You do have proof?

Hueil found himself giving voice to his secret fear. Not yet. But recall Sinnie as Jen’s guardian until I can find the source. His protection may ruffle Sinnie’s feathers, but he could not have her in harm's way. The talk of hunting halflings wasn’t new, but until now Hueil had never had a reason to take a side in the fight. Sinnie’s involvement with Jen and Steven made all the difference, in his point of view.

Sel's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Sinnie is well trained in warcraft. She can handle her assignment. I will not summon her home because you