Tortured Tales: Faery Tales, #6

By Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Five women. Five stories. Five lives forever changed.

The walls between Realms are thinning. Humans and Fae interact too easily. Dark Fae are running wild. Workers of the Otherworld are playing pranks on each other. Some call upon ancient curses to help protect themselves.

And no-one is asking the right questions: Who? and Why?

Scroll up and buy now to uncover this mystery.

*This is the sixth book in the Faery Tales series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ronel Janse van Vuuren
• Release date: Apr 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393222736

Book preview

Bride of the Unfathomable Deep

Elsa walked out of the whitewashed house, pulling her thin cardigan close to her body as the wind tugged at it. There was only one place she could go to feel better: the sea. It was the reason she agreed to move to the suburbs after college: if she could live close to the sea, she could do anything. She quickly strode through the quiet twilight streets. All her neighbours were busy with dinner. She was sure of it, because that was the kind of neighbourhood she lived in: safe and predictable.

The sea was red from the setting sun by the time she clambered over the last dune. Something broke within her and she ran to the strip of beach between wet and dry sand and fell sobbing to her knees. Only the sea could understand the pain her soul was in. Only the sea could wash away their thankless words.

A cold breeze picked up and Elsa wished she’d had the presence of mind to grab a jacket before she left the house. But anger and pain had chased away every thought. Except one: go to the sea.

Her hands burned with dryness, cleaning agents had invisibly eaten through the yellow gloves and attacked her hands as she once again cleaned the house all on her own. If she didn’t clean the house continuously, the sticky floors would be hidden under drifts of smelly laundry and mouldy dishes interspersed with winding brown paths where dust bunnies would cling valiantly to the stickiness before flying into a corner.

But her efforts weren’t good enough. She worked her days in a boring, soul robbing job only to return home, prepare dinner and clean the house. Living off take-out wasn’t her idea of living. But her housemates didn’t appreciate her efforts.

Her body stopped shaking from her sobs. Her eyes were empty of tears. She took deep breaths and sat with her knees drawn to her chest. All the colours were gone and the semi-darkness between day and night enveloped her softly.

She should have known better than to share a house with her best friends. Everyone’s tastes and agendas clashed. Though, it was better to live with her favourite people than on her own. Most of the time.

She only wished that everyone wouldn’t leave their dirty dishes in the sink and maybe wash their smelly gym clothes more than once a week. She could see germs partying around the house. That’s why she cleaned like someone possessed. Unfortunately, this had led to abuse. Instead of an equal, she felt like Cinderella living with her stepfamily. If only she could escape her world for a while...

Tears cascaded over her cheeks. She fingered them and then rubbed her eyes vigorously to stop the flow. She was done with crying for the night.

‘Don’t cry,’ a voice said from the dark.

Her heart galloped wildly in her chest, but she stayed frozen in place. The pepper spray pressing painfully into her thigh through her shorts’ pocket felt reassuring instead of unnecessary as usual.

The full moon made her appearance and revealed an attractive man, his hands defensively held before him. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,’ he said.

Elsa stood up. ‘I think I should go.’

‘Please don’t,’ he said, his voice deep and calm just like the sea.

She looked at him. In the moonlight his eyes appeared green-grey. She shook her head to clear it and reminded herself that by the light of the moon one could not differentiate colour.

‘We