Fairy-Struck

"No way." I looked down at the fax in my hand with amazement. "This can't be right.""What is it?" My dad walked into our office; his sea blue eyes narrowing on the piece of paper in my hand like a hawk who's spied a mouse.It was a small office with just a cheap particle board desk littered with all the necessary items; a computer, a phone, a fax machine, and a copier. There was an old desk chair in front of it, a cracking plastic mat beneath that to protect the boring beige carpet, and a beat up filing cabinet to the right. That was it, and with us in the room, the tiny space was almost full. Still, it fit our needs. The office was purely for communication with the Council and for record keeping. The bulk of our work was done outside these bare walls."A warrant of execution." I handed the fax to him. "From the Fairy Council.""The Fairy Council?" His narrowed gaze transformed into surprise which returned some vigor to his sorrow-lined face."When's the last time you saw one of

We opened our doors at the same time and slammed them shut together as well; making a loud boom that echoed off our neighbor's brick wall. I walked a little behind my father; casting wary glances around us while I trusted him to take care of what lay ahead. The neighborhood held remnants of the Hunt's passage but no other traces of fairies hiding to ambush us so I focused my attention forward.There were four hunters; two light sidhe of the Seelie Court and two dark sidhe from the Unseelie. It was pretty easy to tell the two courts apart, at least for those of us with clairvoyance. The Seelie, or Light Sidhe, had golden auras which faded to white, like something you'd expect an angel to have. While the Dark, the Unseelie, had jewel-toned clouds of energy pulsing around them. I assume that was how the terms came about, but no one knew for sure. At least, not any humans.The dark sidhe duo consisted of one woman and one man. The woman had crimson hair; the kind of red which only looked

Night had fallen when we finally headed out the door; my dad and I both carrying luggage as well as our larger weapons. We were almost to the car when I was lifted off my feet, straight up into the air. I dropped my bag and grabbed behind me at my assailant with one hand as I pulled my iron knife free from its boot sheath with the other. I'd been taken by surprise, but Extinguishers are trained to never lose their cool in a fight, and I calmly assessed the threat as I defended myself.There were two of them. The one on the ground facing my father was the unseelie male fairy from earlier and if the screech coming from behind me was any indication, the female unseelie was the one holding me up. This surprised me a little more. I'd been sure the next fairy attack against me would have come from that winged, seelie son of a bitch.Wind rushed around us as I stabbed back with my knife and realized that she must have some sort of air magic. She didn't have wings so it fell to reason that she

Tiernan Shadowcall, Lord of the Wild Hunt, lost his cool, blank expression for just a moment as his lips twitched. Then he lifted his chin along with one perfect, blond eyebrow. It appeared to be all the answer I was getting from him."Count Tiernan has asked to join our investigation," Murdock answered for the fairy. "And we're very happy to have him," the last was said with a bit of force and the Head Councilman's gaze fell hard on me and my father.All I got from the exchange was that blondie was a count. Seriously? A Count? That was a fairly impressive title; somewhere between a Baron and a Marquess. Not at all what I'd been expecting when Aideen said he was a royal. A count definitely didn't belong on the Wild Hunt. He should be parading about some fairy estate in fairy finery, petting his fairy dogs and painting sparkles in the air or whatever silliness fairy royalty did. My thoughts must have shown on my face because the Count gave a slow blink as his lips twitched once more.

Aideen had been right. Dad was so thrilled by the idea of me going on a date with Brendan that he started treating Aideen as if she were his long-lost sister and not an evil, murdering fairy. It was a shocking turnabout for him, but one that gave me some hope. If he loved me more than he hated the Fey, then he wasn't entirely lost.I know that sounds obvious—that no one should hate anything more than they love their daughter—but you just don't understand hatred if you think that. I had been just as consumed as he was, and I can honestly say that love could not have swayed me from my vengeance. I would have understood and even supported my father for hating the Fey more than he loved me back then. Now, however, after exile in paradise and with the addition of Aideen's crucial information, I was slowly letting go of my blind rage. Although, it was being replaced with a new type of anger; one colder and more devious but which also left room for reason. It made no sense to hate an entire