I smiled as Chambrelle Strait greeted me with a smile and a bow just as the sun set."Perfect timing," she said, red hair twisted into a no-nonsense knot, pale green eyes sparkling. "Her Majesty will be rising soon.""Her Majesty has already risen." I turned to the sound of Sunny's voice, ran to hug her, Uncle Frank, as the pair of them, bodies still cold from sleep, squeezed me between them.Good thing my temperature sensation was turned off again. Nothing worse than being the center of a vampire sandwich before they had breakfast.They pelted me with questions, most of which I deflected as I had with Mom."Later," I said. "I'm still looking for Ameline."Sunny promised to have her network search while I offered one last round of hugs and headed out again. This time to Ukraine, the palace.Charlotte's arms were so strong, so tight around me, if I hadn't been invincible I was sure she'd have cracked more than a few ribs. When she let me go, she coughed softly, head down, hiding

It took me a moment to realize I wasn't crying anymore. Not that I cared. Numb hollowness welcomed me into its embrace, the world around me only peripheral, uninteresting.All but the feeling of his skin, now loose and cooling under my hands, the floppy way his head fell from my lap, face turning away as his empty hazel eyes stared off into nothing. How his blood felt chilly through my jeans, no matter how much my majiness kept me from sensing temperature.Shivering, I hugged myself, hands wet with blood, wiping at a stray hair as it clung to the corner of my lip. Knowing I'd left a trail of him behind on my cheek.Liam.My darling Liam.My oak tree was dead and nothing else mattered.Two days, two nights. I looked down at the diamond on my hand, coated and glistening with crimson, amazed it was steady, no more trembling. Wow. Awesome. Wasn't it awesome I wasn't shaking anymore?Sidhe power brushed against me, full of sorrow. My eyes lifted from Liam's empty face, met a black ga

The Council had restored the old coven site with magic after the closing of conclave. I was happy to see the trees back in their places, the grasses growing high again in the periphery. The old pentagram was gone, our house now the center of the family's power. But this location still had great meaning for the coven and seemed the perfect place to send Liam on.I considered burning his body in the Sidhe realm, but discarded the idea just as quickly. Liam was a Gatekeeper, but he was a Hayle. And this glade combined the best of both.Mom released my hand as we stepped out of the veil into the clearing, the family already gathered and waiting for us. Ahbi's spirit was gentle, but didn't offer comfort.Bless her for knowing I didn't want any just yet.The sky had darkened to black, pinpoints of stars sharing their light on this moonless night. Black robes parted, let me through, the family embracing me with their magic as Ahbi had done, but their sympathy held in check.How well they

One thing was absolutely certain: Fate sucked.And I couldn't wait to get a chance to tell her just how much.Anger returned with the beginnings of my recovery. A lot of it. So much I worried about the nugget growing inside me, at times, and did my best to shield him from what how I felt.Him. Yup. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.In the meantime, I decided to start with Max. Took a quick trip to Demonicon and the drach peak, only to find it empty.And no amount of searching the veil turned up his traitorous ass or any of his people, either.Just wait until I got my hands on his dragon hide.As for Fate, the way to Center was closed to me. I could only imagine she was terrified I was coming to kick her scrawny ass all the way around the veil.Sure, Syd. That was it.Iepa's sorry little soul was hiding from me, too. Bunch of cowards.If this was what it meant to be maji, ducking and covering while other people suffered? I'd have to find a new line of work because hell

I was actually grateful for the big hound's presence when I grunted my way into the lotus position in the center of the family pentagram. Sure, I could have used magic, but I found doing so lately sometimes woke the nugget's need to try his own hand at spinning power. A very disconcerting experience from inside my womb.Triggering his magic interfered with mine. I'd had a few giggle and groan worthy moments over the last few months when the baby tried to help-I had the distinct feeling that was his intention despite the results-turning a patch of damaged grass bright purple when I meant to encourage it to grow. Thanks to his curiosity during another instance, I almost started a new ice age when I tried to cool my coffee half a degree before drinking it. Since then I'd pretty much kept my magic use to a minimum, just in case.My luck, if I tried to use power to sit like this, we'd end up floating off into orbit.I patted Galleytrot's heavy shoulder as I settled, lower back twingeing