Hi everyone!
I’m super excited to let you know that FORBIDDEN HEARTS is now available everywhere! This is the Fae novella that was featured in the FAE WORLDS Collection earlier this year. So if you missed it before, now you escape to Summerland for a lower price!
BLURB –
Love could destroy them both…
Princess Kathryn crosses the veil for one last adventure before her life is sacrificed to save her people. She visits Comic-Con International in San Diego hoping to blend in and avoid the guards, but when she crosses paths with a human, he kindles forbidden desires in her heart.
Scott Jones is a down and out auto mechanic who longs for his luck to change, but he had no idea a real water sprite would turn his world upside down and show him a new world across the veil. Her zest for life is infectious, and when he learns her fate, he vows to change the stars to save her.
Previously featured in the FAE WORLDS collection
The SUMMERLAND stories:
Book 1: Across the Veil
Book 2: Forbidden Hearts
This story is part of my Summerland Stories that began with ACROSS THE VEIL which is FREE everywhere, so snap it up and sink into the magical world of Summerland!
I hope to revisit this world often with shorter works that feature magical fae heroes and heroines. It’s so fun to escape into a new world, right?
Hope you’ll check out Kathryn & Scott’s story. Here’s a little taste:
Kathryn stared up at Scott. He claimed he wasn’t really a warrior, and yet, he was the first person to stand up for her and challenge her destiny. In her entire life, no one had risked so much to help her. He was more warrior than any of the males in her world.
Her wings fluttered with anticipation. Was she seriously considering this? His offer tempted her more than she could imagine, but she barely knew this human. In fact, he was the only human she’d ever actually met and conversed with. Could she trust him?
Did it matter?
The outcome wouldn’t change. She would be sacrificed to save her people, but she would be useless to them dead.
However, the danger to Scott was very real. His life had no value on her side of the veil.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I need to be sure you understand that the moment we run, the royal guards will search until they find us, and they won’t hesitate to kill you if it means they can take me back across the veil.”
“Here’s the thing, Princess.” His gaze locked on hers, his rough thumb caressing her knuckles. “You have no idea how long I’ve wished the world could be more.” He swallowed hard, his voice charged with emotion. “In the past year, I lost my Dad, then our auto shop. I sort of drowned in bitterness and while I raged against the world, I drove my girlfriend away, too.”
The mention of a girlfriend sent a twinge of something through her bloodstream. Something foreign. The thought of him holding some other female’s hand…it…she didn’t like it. At all. Weird.
“Did you love her?” The question surprised her. Love was duty on her side of the veil. Most royal marriages were arranged, but recently, since her cousin Talia broke with tradition and married Keth, things were changing. Her father betrothed her younger sister as an infant, and now her heart already belonged to another. Love bloomed around them despite her father’s efforts to quash it.
Scott shrugged. “I think I did, at least in the beginning. When things fell apart, I sorta realized, all the psychobabble about needing to love yourself before anyone else can love you, might be true.”
Kathryn had no idea what psychobabble meant, but she nodded anyway. “I’ve never been in love. My sister is betrothed, but as the Ìobairt, a union has never been my destiny.”
“Not anymore. We’re going to change the stars. You’ll see.”
Goddess, she wanted that to be true with all of her being. A smile warmed her features. “I want you to keep something for me.”
She slid her fingers up the side of her thigh to a garter under her skirt. Her dagger. Her identity. She withdrew the tiny bejeweled dagger. The handle was studded with blue sapphires that sparkled like the ocean. On the flat edge of the blade, her name was etched into the silver. It proved her royal heritage.
Scott stared at her as she placed the dagger in his hand. Its razor-sharp blade was just slightly longer than his hand.
He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I can’t accept this.”
“Yes, you can. Please. I want you to have it.” She closed his fingers around the jeweled handle. “This is my dearbh-aithne dagger.” She struggled to find a word he might understand. She pointed at his Comic-Con badge. “Like this. It proves my royal birth.”
“This is your identification?” He offered the dagger again. “Now I really can’t take it.”
“I don’t have time to explain. The magic freezing time won’t hold much longer.” Kathryn rested her hand over his around the hilt of the dagger. “This is connected to me through magic.” She glanced at the convention hall. “One day, my dagger will lead you back to me.”
“What?” He straightened in his chair. “I thought you agreed not to go back?”
“I have to get the guard out of your world first. Plus, when this spell over the convention hall vanishes, so will your memory of our time here.” Her eyes sparkled. “Maybe the dagger will remind you of me. When the time is right, you will find me, and we’ll escape together.”
***
Scott carefully slid the dagger into his belt and took her hand. There’s no way he would ever forget her. He memorized every curve of her face. “I’ll find you.”
Her lips curved into a hint of a sad smile. “I hope so. The ceremony will take place next week.”
His pulse jumped. “But time moves differently on your side of the veil, right? How much time will I have?”
She didn’t want to think about it. “Maybe a month in the human world.”
Fuck. If he didn’t remember the blade, she could be sacrificed. The stakes were too high. He pulled out his cell phone and quickly typed in a note.
Cross the veil. Save Kathryn.
She got up, walking toward the balcony where her frozen guard still stood at the ready to launch an arrow. Scott followed, his heart pounding in his ears. He caught her arm, and she turned to look up at him, her lips parted slightly. His voice softened to a hoarse whisper. “You stay alive for me.”
She nodded, a ripple of color washed through her blue eyes. Everything about her was magic. Before he could stop himself, he bent to brush his lips to hers. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she tilted her chin up, returning the kiss with so much tenderness, he was weak and strong all at the same time.
She smiled up at him and whispered, “Tromhad múirn laoch… Come back to me, my warrior.”
“I will.” He rested his forehead on hers, reveling in the realization that she made him forget he was an auto mechanic, like a warrior might be his true self. “That won’t be our last kiss.”
Without another word, she turned away and ran to the railing of the balcony. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she snapped her fingers. Sound washed over them, intruding on the silence as time resumed. The guard marched toward them.
“Kathryn, wait!” Scott called, but it was too late.
She sprang forward, slapped the guard, and then leapt off the railing. Scott rushed to look over the side, but she hadn’t fallen. Kathryn soared over the bay. How did no one else see? Was it glamour? Who knew?
She blew him a kiss before diving into the water. The moment she broke through the glass of the bay’s surface, a shockwave of magic knocked him back onto the floor.
He blinked, clearing his vision as he looked around. His head throbbed, fuzzy and out of focus. Wasn’t he with someone? He got up, puzzled. How did he get out on the balcony? He rubbed his temples, struggling to piece together the missing time.
He ran out here. They were in trouble. Weren’t they?
They.
Scott stood up and glanced out at the water. He was forgetting something. Someone. Maybe he hit his head when he fell. Scott sighed and reached for the door back into the exhibit hall, when his hand brushed over something on his belt. He frowned and withdrew a tiny dagger.
The stones shimmered with his touch. Images crept back into his mind. A woman with blue and violet hair.
Scott smiled. Kathryn. He remembered. The magic and her fathomless blue eyes. Tucking the dagger back into his belt, he turned back toward the bay. “I’ll find a way through the veil, Princess. I will…”
And with that, he disappeared back into the throngs of people.