If she was lucky, they wouldn’t have a tear in the veil like the one near her apartment. No goblins. No fairies. No kobolds.
No fae.
Definitely no fae.
Callie had spent the first twenty years of her life fighting against her sight. It had been too easy to rely on it while she was with Ash, but now that he was gone, Callie went back to ignoring anything wearing glamour. It was safer that way, and after a while she decided her summer fling with Ash was just another in a long line of lessons she’d learned the hard way.
Never trust the fae.
But she could trust Mitch.
During her trip to Faerie, Callie lost two whole days, proving that Ash was at least being honest when he said that time moves differently in his realm. Buster was pretty annoyed that she missed a shift, but with a promise that it would never happen again, he let her keep her job. Since she was still concerned about paying all of her expenses without a roommate, she needed to work, and Buster’s was the foot in the door she needed for her budding photography career.
Three weeks after she returned from Faerie, though, Mitch showed up at the apartment. With a sheepish expression and an explanation that he obviously doubted held any water, he asked if he could move back in. It had been an irrational, impulsive decision to move out over the summer, but now that he was thinking more clearly, he realized that he wanted his old room back.
Callie of course welcomed him with open arms, though her smile couldn’t quite hide her sadness. Because the second Mitch said he wanted back in, she knew for sure that all those suspicions she struggled to bury were true. Ash had done something to her roommate—compelled him, glamoured him, tricked him… something—to make him leave. Seeing Mitch standing in the hallway, a duffel bag at his feet, his hand nervously scratching the side of his neck, Callie finally had to accept that Ash wasn’t coming back.
Because if he was? Mitch wouldn’t be.
Her roommate never talked about his urge to leave after he moved back in. Callie was careful not to bring it up. All too easily, everything went back to the way it was before Ash suddenly stalked into her life at the beginning of the summer. And while little things—the sunshine, a golden chain, even a blown fuse—still reminded Callie of Ash, she got over his rejection because, well, it wasn’t like she had a choice.
He might be a powerful, nearly immortal being. Callie was human. She only got to live life once, a measly century at most, and she couldn’t waste it mooning over the male she hadn’t even wanted at first all because he decided he didn’t want her, either.
And maybe she would have been able to fully get over Ash in time—if it wasn’t for the fact that he left something behind.
At first, Callie blamed the stress of it all. She didn’t have any idea what those fiery portals the Light Fae used to travel between the human world and Faerie would do to someone like her, and causing her to be late seemed like a pretty plausible side effect. After all, she had lost a few days of real life time though she probably spent an hour at most on the other side of the veil. It made sense that it could’ve done something to her cycle, too.
She figured the first month was a fluke. The second? She started to worry. By the time she hit her third month and she still hadn’t had her period, Callie realized that hoping and wishing and praying that she was wrong was just as helpful as ignoring Ash had been once he set his sights on her.
Mitch had been watching her curiously lately, too, which put her back up against the wall. Her jeans felt a little bit tighter, and her hormones were out of whack. When her shoe lace ripped in half as she was tying her sneakers one day and she had a crying fit over it that lasted ten minutes, Callie traded her sneakers for a pair of ballet slipper flats, grabbed her purse, and headed toward the nearest pharmacy.
It was her morning off. No surprise: Mitch was at work, putting in as much overtime as possible in a bid to show his gratitude at his office taking him back after he abruptly quit over the summer. And while her roommate was going above and beyond to make up for his strange behavior—and, likewise, Callie did the same for him since she felt super guilty that Ash had to be responsible for screwing up Mitch’s life the way he did—she knew that he would have something to say about Callie buying a pregnancy test.
Like, oh, who could the daddy be?
As far as he was aware—as far as anyone Callie knew was aware—she hadn’t been in a relationship since high school. Her last one night stand was more than a year ago. And whether she’d been subconsciously protecting herself or not, she’d kept Ash her very own secret since the fateful afternoon she first saw him in the park.
Of course, there was a good chance she was overreacting. She’d come to terms with the fact that the fae thought of humans as barely more than simple pets or playthings; to Ash, she was a lay he had to work hard for, but the way he pursued her made it clear in hindsight that that was what the fae did. They took what they wanted, and convinced their targets to give them whatever they couldn’t take.
If he could get her pregnant, wouldn’t he have said something? Or would he have thought she’d consider herself fortunate to bring more of Ash into existence?
No. It couldn’t be. A fae sullying his line by reproducing with a human? The arrogant bastard that Ash proved to be at heart would never.
Callie clung to that final desperate hope as she tore open the box and read the instructions. A few minutes in the bathroom, then a few more waiting as she paced the matchbox-sized space, all the while assuring herself that it would show one line instead of the dreaded two.
She’d left the tester stick on top of the plastic wrapper, both of them resting on the edge of the bathroom sink. Her eyes were glued to the wall clock, counting down the moments until she could prove that she was worrying over nothing.
Her hands were trembling as she reached for the test. A deep breath in, then a shaky shudder out when the two blue lines stared right back at her from the tiny window.
Callie slumped down on the toilet, the stick hanging limply in her hand.
Pregnant.
She was pregnant.
And she had no way of letting Ash know that he was going to be a father.
Glamour Lies
Welp, that’s it for the first half of the Callie & Ash novella duet! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed seeing how Riley’s parents met—and how Callie discovered that she was both fated to be a Light Fae’s mate as well as learning that she was pregnant with Riley/Zella.
Of course, their story doesn’t end there, obviously since Callie & Ash are featured in Favor (Touched by the Fae #0.5) as well as Touch (Touched by the Fae #3) as a happily mated couple who are desperate to do anything to protect their child from Melisandre, the Fae Queen. So, yes, there will be a second story in the Wanted by the Fae duet, coming out toward the end of 2021. Keep scrolling/clicking to get a peek at the cover as well as the description :)
Pre-Order Now
Glamour Eyes (Wanted by the Fae #1)
He’ll give up anything for her—his home, his pride, his power, his life…
Aislinn has spent his entire existence in Faerie working toward one goal: serving the Fae Queen as a member of her elite guard. Melisandre has had his loyalty for close to two centuries, and even if he didn’t agree with her cruelty, she would be his queen until Oberon returned to Faerie and reclaimed his throne.
And then he met Callie Brooks and, suddenly, his loyalty shifted.
The human was his ffrindau, his fated soulmate, and the sole female meant to be his. So Ash loved her and he seduced her and, when Melisandre found out and threatened her life, he rejected her.
To save Callie, he had to give her up, and he would’ve left things as they were if it wasn’t for the rumor being whispered in the Fae Queen’s Court about a Seelie who fell for a human, and a human who was carrying a halfling child.
His child.
Callie’s good at hiding.
Hiding her ability to see through Faerie gla
mour. Check.
Hiding her heartbreak after Ash betrayed her. Check.
Hiding her pregnancy… Oof.
She knows she won’t be able to hide her pregnancy much longer, and when her roommate offers to take on the role of daddy when he finds out, Callie is just glad to have someone on her side. Besides, it’s not like the real father is around to help. She might as well tell Mitch yes.
Too bad that Ash has something to say about that when he finally tracks her down again.
At first, she thinks it’s because he decided that he does want her. But then he starts telling her about something called the Shadow Prophecy and she realizes that hiding her new baby wasn’t just a choice.
It was a necessity.
**Glamour Lies is part two of a duet featuring the very human Callie and the Light Fae male who will give up everything to have her…
Coming November 2, 2021!
Available Now
Asylum (Touched by the Fae #1)
Have you read any of my other By the Fae books yet? While, chronologically, Callie & Ash’s story takes place first, I already have two complete series that are set both in our world and Faerie:
Touched by the Fae (Riley & Nine)
There once was a prophecy about a halfling fated to destroy the Fae Queen's reign...
Too bad the half-fae, half-mortal woman spoken of in it doesn't know a damn thing about the Shadow Prophecy. But the fae? Courtesy of a mysterious mentor tasked with protecting her, Riley Thorne knows all about them.
Because the fae are real. She just pretends they're not.
The Shadow Prophecy is the five-book collection that tells the complete story of Riley Thorne, the daughter of Callie Brooks and the Light Fae Aislinn. It contains Favor, Asylum, Shadow, Touch, and Zella.
Imprisoned by the Fae (Elle & Rys)
There once was a human woman who accidentally walked through a fairy circle and changed her life...
Elle—at least, that's what you can call her—didn't mean to cross over into Faerie. She didn't mean to eat an enchanted apple and basically trap herself on the other side of the veil. She definitely didn't mean to piss off a Seelie noble and find herself in the most infamous prison in the magical world.
And, most of all, she didn't mean to fall in love...
The Shadow Realm is the five-book collection that tells the complete story of Helen Andrews, a human woman who accidentally finds herself trapped in Faerie. It contains Tricked, Trapped, Escaped, Freed, and Gifted.
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About the Author
Jessica lives in New Jersey with her family, including enough pets to cement her status as the neighborhood’s future Cat Lady. She spends her days working in retail, and her nights lost in whatever world the current novel she is working on is set in. After writing for fun for more than a decade, she has finally decided to take some of the stories out of her head and put them out there for others who might also enjoy them! She loves Broadway and the Mets, as well as reading in her free time.
JessicaLynchWrites.com
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Also by Jessica Lynch
Welcome to Hamlet
Don’t Trust Me
You Were Made For Me*
Ophelia
Let Nothing You Dismay
I’ll Never Stop
Wherever You Go
Here Comes the Bride
Gloria
Tesoro
Holly
That Girl Will Never Be Mine
Welcome to Hamlet: I-III**
No Outsiders Allowed: IV-VI**
Mirrorside
Tame the Spark*
Stalk the Moon
Hunt the Stars
The Witch in the Woods
Hide from the Heart
Chase the Beauty
The Other Duet**
The Claws Clause
Mates*
Hungry Like a Wolf
Of Mistletoe and Mating
No Way
Season of the Witch
Rogue
Sunglasses at Night
Ghost of Jealousy
Broken Wings
Born to Run
The Curse of the Othersiders
Ain’t No Angel*
True Angel
Night Angel
Lost Angel
Touched by the Fae
Favor*
Asylum
Shadow
Touch
Zella
The Shadow Prophecy**
Imprisoned by the Fae
Tricked*
Trapped
Escaped
Freed
Gifted
The Shadow Realm**
Wanted by the Fae
Glamour Eyes
Glamour Lies
Forged in Twilight
House of Cards
Ace of Spades
Royal Flush
* prequel story
** boxed set collection
Glamour Eyes: a Rejected Mates Fae Romance (Wanted by the Fae Book 1) Page 12