The Last Love of the Leannán Sídhe

By Liathán O’Murchadha

Annie Shea is not your usual Irish woman. She's the Leannan Sidhe, an ancient member of the Faery Folk. She's known for enthralling men and rewarding them with fame and riches. If they play her false, they die or go mad. It's been the same for centuries until she meets Aidan Doherty, a handsome and sexy singer in a pub who is a bricklayer by day. He has an amazing voice and when she takes him home, their physical attraction becomes wild sex. The next morning, he's loathe to go and she wants him to stay. Annie sets him up for fame but before it happens, he falls from a scaffolding at the job site. Warned by the queen of all fairies, Annie prevents his death but it's time to tell the truth—if he believes it or not. Will they love forever or end it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight
• Release date: Apr 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9780369507969

Book preview

EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2023 Liathán O’Murchadha

ISBN: 978-0-3695-0796-9

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Lisa Petrocelli

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For all the Irish lads I've ever loved, including my darling departed husband, God rest his soul, for he had a fine singing voice and if I could, I'd have let him stay but I'm no fairy lover, just a mortal woman with pen in hand.

THE LAST LOVE OF THE LEANNON SIDHE

Faery Folk, 3

Liathán O’Murchadha

Copyright © 2023

Chapter One

Annie

She was fair as dawn and he was dark as night. He was human and she was faery. They were woman and man. The differences she could count were endless but in her stubborn mind, none of them mattered, not a bit. She craved him and so she would have him. Once in her thrall, they remained so until she wearied of them. It was simple enough. As one of the fey, as the Leannán Sidhe, most men were fascinated by her. Over the centuries, she’d had many men, taken them at will. If they disappointed her or failed her in some way, she moved forward and never glanced back. Most died but she shed few tears. Annie moved forward seeking joy and didn’t wallow in sorrow.

After so many centuries, even a woman of the fae becomes lonely. And as humans entered the twenty-first century, less and less of them believed in fairies and magic. Since she chose not to live in Tir Na Og, she dwelled in the human realms where she used the name Annie Shea.

Posing as a mortal woman amused her most of the time. It was a role she played, like an actress on a stage. She could be old or young, sweet or cantankerous. Sometimes she was haughty, other times humble. She had played a peasant and a princess. It was all in fun or for a brief relationship that was little more than a game, until she met him, the human who changed everything.

Annie first saw him in a pub in Keady Town where he performed, just a man and a guitar before a microphone. His voice was as sweet as the finest quality honey straight from the comb, as tender as a lover’s whisper in the night, and as rich as Belgian chocolate. He played the guitar with skill, his fingers graceful on the strings as he made the instrument sing. She sat at a table, her glass of John Jameson’s finest forgotten and watched, caught up by the man and the moment.

The songs he warbled were ones from ages past for the most part. Some were in Irish, and some were not, but he captivated her with his voice and his music. After he finished playing, she learned his name—Aidan Doherty. Annie wanted him and so she would have him. Whether it would be for the night or for a season she didn’t yet know. It was altogether too soon to hope it might be forever.

Come and sit beside me, Aidan Doherty, she said. Fancy a pint?

His deep-brown eyes were the very hue of brown diamonds, accented with black lashes. Aidan’s hair was as black as a moonless night, a mass of unruly curls that framed his face and reached to the back of his collar. His features were almost pretty, symmetrical, and pleasant to