I was having sex with Tiernan when it all went wrong.It started out wonderful. Tiernan did all the right things; going slow at first, touching gently and then with more force. It was so good that I rushed him a little, and he was soon rising up above me, his smooth, sculpted chest under my hands and his heartbeat thudding wildly against my fingers.The sable ends of his hair were sweeping forward faster and faster; teasing me with brief glimpses of his face. Then that inky darkness started seeping up the strands; devouring the light around him until his hair was completely black. It grew longer, pooling around us, until it blocked my view of him completely. I reached up to brush the hair away from his face.Staring down at me were the eyes of a stranger. Even the body laying between my thighs had changed. This man was thinner than Tiernan, physically fit but not with the warrior's bulk that I preferred. His skin was paler too—pure white like Iain's—and amid all that black hair, he

I felt ridiculous, but I guess that was getting to be the norm for me. My coronation gown was not about showing off my assets, it was about showing off my lineage and so the neckline went all the way up to my throat. Then it flowed out in sleeves which got wider as they went until they belled around my wrists as if they'd forgotten they were sleeves entirely and believed themselves to be skirts. The real skirt was even more full, with a train so long that I had no idea how I'd get down the stairs without catching it on something.The gown was made of layers upon layers of silky gauze in colors deepening from pale lavender to black. The black fabric was laid closest to my skin, so although the gown gave the illusion that it was transparent, with all its shifting sheer layers, it was completely modest. The top layer was dusted with diamonds, sparkling like stars across the celestial sphere of my dress. Beneath the hem, the toes of my black silk shoes poked out, revealing yet more diamon

What my fairy father forgot to mention was that he would still be sending an army with me. Okay, maybe not an army; ten knights, not including Tiernan and Torquil, but still, I hadn't been expecting so many. They were going to wait in Fairy, outside the entrance to the Human Realm, until I returned. This way they could guard me on my journey through Fairy; to the fairy mound and back. Torquil and Tiernan would be my guards for the rest of my trip.Neither man was happy with the other's attendance and their ire was almost comical. Except that Torquil was such a stuck-up, hard ass that he irritated me nearly as much as he did Tiernan. If Torquil had gotten his way, I would have been traveling inside a carriage instead of riding in the open air on Cat's back. He had pointed out over and over that I'd be safer inside a carriage, and I'd pointed out that a carriage was nothing but a moving cage and traveling in one was like gift wrapping myself for my enemies. I'd won that argument in the e

We reached the fairy mound which led to Gentry Technologies at mid-morning the next day. The knights had set up camp again; intending to wait there until Tiernan, Torquil, and I returned from the Human Realm. I was comforted to know that they'd be there when I returned, and that which gave me pause. How had I changed so much in such a short time? I told myself I couldn't be changed easily. Had that been a lie? Where was the self-reliant Extinguisher who kept the fairies in check? Where was Seren Sloane?A soft nudge to my shoulder reminded me that Cat had shifted into her canine form and when I looked over at her, it was to find her staring up at me as if she had every intention of following me into the fairy mound. I sighed and held her face in my hands."Look, little Cat." I smiled at the silliness of the name. "You need to stay here and guard my back while I go into the human world." She whined, and I set stern eyes on her until she quieted. "I can't take you there; you'd cause a

"I've planned an evening out," Tiernan announced as he walked into the suite we were sharing with Torquil.It wasn't the same suite we'd been in before—I think my father still occupied that one—but it had the same layout; open socializing area with an attached kitchen and rooms off to the sides. I'd been in the little kitchen, making me some tea, when he'd walked in."I don't want to go out," I said immediately as I turned to face him.I froze; the rest of my refusal dying on my lips. Tiernan was dressed in jeans and a cornflower blue, button down, silk shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to show off his muscular forearms; the kind of muscles warriors got from swinging swords and lifting heavy shields. His long hair was simply blond again but it streamed across his shoulders in careless luxury like an expensive accessory he'd forgotten about. His eyes were glamoured deep cerulean and although the coloring was completely normal, it was a striking look for him. The blue was nearly as br