"It's not what you think," he said softly. "This isn't about me hating humans. I don't hate them. Although, as I've told you before, I have little tolerance for them and even less interest on a personal level.""Then what is it about?" I felt my face ease into blank confusion."It's the magic," he said and shrugged. "It guides us; like a very strong instinct. Fairy magic can be wild and erratic but there's calculation even in its capriciousness. It wants to flourish, as all things do, and the best way for it to thrive is to magnify itself by bringing two powerful fairies together.""So, how did I come to exist?" I lifted a brow and looked over at him. "If its goal is to bring two powerful fairies together, why did it allow my birth?"We were both sitting with our legs drawn up, our bodies pressed together at shoulder and thigh, and our entwined hands in my lap. It felt comfortable but also strange. As if we shouldn't be at this point yet, but there we were, and I didn't want to mov

I looked down at my dirty combat gear and then out at the assemblage of elegant fairies. I'd never felt so inadequate in all my life. They were dressed in shining silk and velvet; long hair done up in elaborate hairdos to highlight beautiful faces which needed no make-up for enhancement. Mingling among these elite sidhe were lesser fey but even they made me feel out of place with their strangely beautiful attributes. Cat eyes peered at me from human faces, hooves poked out of the hem of pant legs, horns crowned haughty heads, and fluffy tails flicked beneath full skirts. There were leathery wings, scaled skin, and multi-colored fur; bodies ranging from very small to massive, and fairies who looked more like beasts than humans.Then the crowd parted and a fairy man stepped through. He was tall with an athlete's build and skin as pale as my Irish complexion. He wore a simple blue tunic over black pants. A sword belt was strapped around his waist and the silver sword hanging from it shon

"Yes, we rule the between of all things. There are even places considered to be in-between which lie on both Seelie and Unseelie land. Little spots where we might find sanctuary if we were to need it," he said. "It really spits off the other kingdoms.""Spits off?" I frowned and then chuckled as I caught his meaning. "You mean it pisses them off?""Ah, yes." Keir laughed with me. "Human speech can be tricky, but your mother tried to teach me general expressions so that you might feel comfortable around me." He sighed dismally. "I guess I'm not so good at it.""I think it will be more fun this way. Just keep trying, and I'll keep laughing." I tried to imagine my mother teaching this fairy king human colloquialisms and just couldn't do it. Not my serious extinguisher mother. Had she been a different person entirely with him? And why had she never been so with me?"It's a deal," he said. "Was that one correct?""Yes, that was right." I grinned encouragingly. "So, you were saying that

Keir left me alone so I could bathe and change into something for dinner... after he pointed out where the bathroom and the closet were. They were behind two adjacent doors in my room. One led to a ridiculously luxurious bathroom and the other to a ridiculously elaborate closet. I fit right in since my being there was pretty damn ridiculous too. What would Abby say if she could see me? Would she laugh or cry? Or would she beg me for a bath in the ginormous tub?I smiled at the thought and went into the bathroom through the door beside the fireplace. Even the door was beautiful; cream colored wood adorned with silver curlicues as if the Fey couldn't stand the thought of even one thing being plain. I shook my head at the door as I closed it behind me. Abby would probably be living this up; already immersed to her chin in fairy bubble bath or sifting through the rows of stunning gowns hanging in the closet. Or perhaps trying on all the shoes. Abby had a love for shoes that bordered on be

A knock came at my door just twenty minutes after Mairte left. I was still sitting in front of the dressing table; staring at my reflection in disbelief with Cat seated on the floor beside me. I got up in a daze; looking once more at the elegant fall of fat curls trailing over my left shoulder, arranged to show off the purple streak there. Mairte had pinned a diamond star over the amethyst hair to highlight it even further.She'd dusted silver powder on my skin, giving me an ethereal glow, and outlined my eyes in black kohl so they looked enormous. My lips were stained red and my cheeks blushed pink but it was the rest of me that struck me silent.The dress she'd finally decided on was dusky lavender; which she said would be a nice tribute to my lineage as well as an enhancement to my coloring. It had a curving neckline that barely skimmed the edges of my shoulders before flowing back into a shimmering cape which cascaded to the floor. My arms were bare although the cape skimmed the