He'd spent his life protecting fairies and he probably knew every way to get out of a situation. He could even talk his way out of a fight. But not with a goblin and the females were even fiercer than the males. A short guy with whatever beer courage was wouldn't be hard to take down."Aye."The waitress came back with their beers. Meg touched her glass to his. "Cheers.""Cheers."He sipped and immediately liked the dark brew in his hand. It did speak to him of his homeland. Something about the richness of it made him think of the richness of the culture of Ireland."Not as good as home, I bet," Meg said."It'll do.""Have you been in America long?""No. Only a few weeks," he said. "Are you from Philadelphia originally?""Sort of. I was born in Ireland, but was adopted as a baby by an American couple.""Are your parents still alive?"A darkness crossed her face and Donal wished he hadn't said anything. "No, they died in a car crash a few years ago."Donal wondered if that was on purpo

Hold on! That was a problem. "We are not siblings, but I can explain our connection."She rested her elbows on the table. "Go ahead.""I need you to have an open mind.""Okay."He took a deep breath. "When you want something good, does it come your way?""Well, not my boss' job, but until then, yes, I guess so. I've never wished for anything unrealistic. I didn't want a pony when I was a kid," she said.She took another sip of her beer, studying him. "Do you know anything about your birth parents?"She put down her pint of beer. "Only that they were Irish and they might have been killed.""Have you tried to trace them?" he said.He leaned his elbows on the table, mirroring her posture. She leaned back, her eyes getting a little warier. He'd have to tread carefully in this conversation. He didn't know what people believed in this day and age. At a disadvantage not knowing that he was going into this conversation blind. Not a good stance tactically and it chafed at him."The adoption w

Meg shook her head. She had chosen not to go that route as Donal had suggested. Instead, she was doing good things. In fact, she wished that Harriet had found a better job. That hadn't happened yet which had Meg doubting what Donal had tried to convince her of. She wasn't a fairy and she didn't know why she'd even entertained the idea.Probably Donal's Irish charm. None of that mattered in the present situation. "I truly don't know what you're talking about, Harriet."Harriet's eyes flashed with anger and if Meg hadn't been watching she would have missed it. The woman schooled her face quickly. "I'm watching you. And if I see you step out of line I will fire you.""You do realize it isn't that simple.""Oh?""Yes. There are procedures for firing someone. You can't just decide that you don't like me and let me go. There needs to be documentation of issues," Meg said. She knew her rights. An eyebrow went up on Harriet's face. "We'll see about that."The woman rose, her gaze never leavi

"Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure."Meg recalled the scene. Harriet was laughing. She demanded that Donal show Meg who he really was. He'd been reluctant, but he did it and what did she do? She'd run away. Oh. God. She'd run away. "What did you think was going on?" Fiona asked. What had she thought was going on? She replied slowly, gathering her thoughts on this impossible situation. "I don't know. I just assumed it wasn't good. The guy I like and the boss I hate were together in a room.""You assumed that he was doing something wrong?" Colleen asked. Meg put a hand over her mouth. "I did. He was stuck there. Helpless. The same way I had been only moments before. He couldn't move even after I could. Harriet must have done that."She couldn't get the vision out of her head. He'd looked at her helplessly. His eyes pleaded with her, but she'd walked away."Didn't you mention that you thought Harriet was odd? Something was wrong with her?" Fiona asked. "Yes. And I left him there. Alone

In a time when fairies ruled the Earth. And humans were an afterthought.The waves of the ocean beat against the shore. The blue sky met the gray water in the land of Connaught in what is now County Galway, Ireland. The Fairy Queen held her wand aloft as she told the three gargoyles their fate.Sean Foley heard the Fairy Queen's verdict and he swore to himself. He glanced at his two brothers, Donal and Declan. Their faces reflected his reaction to the fact that the Fairy Queen had cursed them to be turned to stone until the fairy that they were destined to protect came along. If that fairy stayed with them for at least a day, they would take human form again."Feck," he said. As gargoyles, they'd sworn to protect the fae as a whole and some were called to protect a special fairy. Their father had been one of those rare gargoyles, but he'd lain with the fairy and she was now with child. His child. His father was nowhere to be found so the Fairy Queen had passed judgment on his sons.