He landed and circled to us. He jumped again, sailing over our heads. I reached up, and he released the key. I plucked it from the air. A pair of crossed chains appeared, forming an X in front of the arbor. A padlock hung from the center, connecting the chains.
Benny galloped to the arbor and stopped. I bent forward, shoved the key into place, and turned it. Unhooking the lock and dropping it allowed the chains to separate. Benny walked under the arbor and through the gate.
Bryn and Merc skidded in just behind Benvolio.
We all panted for breath. I jumped down from the horse and went to Bryn. I took his face in my hands. “Draw off my witch magic so I can heal and move faster.”
He whispered a spell and drew the magic into him. I felt my heartbeat slow, my senses sharpen.
Kismet had dropped down to sit on Benny’s back. She slumped forward, exhausted from the exertion of the trick horse riding when she was still weak from blood loss and shock. Adrenaline could take a person pretty far, but it always ran out eventually.
I bent down just as Ghislaine flew into the passage. Her horse slammed into Bryn, and he flew backward, landing hard on the path. The sharp pain in my head left me dizzy and disoriented for a moment.
The queen leapt down, screaming, and swung her arm. The dagger came at me, and I rolled away just in time. Ghislaine rushed toward Kismet. I kicked the queen’s leg, and she buckled, but her incredible power blew around us like hurricane winds.
When she lunged again she pinned me to the ground. It took all my strength to stop the dagger from plunging into my chest. But I couldn’t hold on. I brought my knee up hard and struck her in the chin.
I scrambled to my feet.
“Ghislaine, stop this. My sister hasn’t done anything to you.”
“She’s Seelie. She’s my subject. She turned my knights against me. That’s treason! To fall on their swords rather than keep their oath? No talent or training, no matter how great, is worth that. She’s staged her last rebellion. So have you.”
The blast of magic from Bryn hit her in the back, and she staggered. She flung herself forward, though, and I didn’t move fast enough. The blade cut into me, skidding off my rib. My breath ran out of me in a rush and I landed on my knees.
Bryn grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back, hitting her with magic, but on the faery path his power wasn’t at its full strength.
I turned to Kismet. “You’re as strong as the queen. She’s got more control, but you’re tougher. When she tried to bespell me with her kiss, you overcame it.”
Kismet said, “I’m so tired.” Her legs shook from the effort of staying upright.
“Trade power. Trust me. It’s the answer,” I said, grabbing her shoulders. I kissed her on the lips and felt her magic mirror mine. “Witch only in me and fae only in thee. Sisters forever. You’ll rule in the Never,” I whispered against her lips. I sucked her witch magic into me and felt her draw my faery magic out.
The unfurling of the magicks was like being turned inside out. We fell apart, screaming and writhing in pain.
“They’re killing each other! Yes, destroy each other, you nasty Halfling creatures. Twisted and traitorous!” Ghislaine swung her elbow back into Bryn’s stomach as he tried to hold her from behind.
He lost his grip and, free of him, Ghislaine jerked forward and spun to face Bryn. She thrust the dagger, cutting so deep into his thigh that the knife struck the bone and gashed it.
He dropped to the ground, grabbing his leg and grunting in pain.
I felt his injuries sharper than ever because we’re connected by witch magic and my fae magic was gone. The queen’s dagger must have been enchanted.
Her magic flowed outward, and I knew she was coming for us. For Kismet and for me. The queen’s fury tasted of bile and reeked of honey and rancid butter.
I staggered to my feet and turned to run, my back to the queen. Kismet was in front of me, and she darted toward me.
“Drop!” Kismet yelled, grabbing my arm and jerking me down.
I landed on one knee.
“Boost me!”
I don’t know if Kis said the words aloud or if I just heard them echo in my head. My body understood before my mind. My cupped hands rested on my thigh. Her right foot landed in my palms, and I shot up as she did, lifting her light frame, which was already springing.
She flew over my head, and I watched her.
Her hands caught Ghislaine’s dagger arm as it swung down to impale me in the back. Kismet’s momentum dragged the fae queen backward, and they tumbled out of the passage. I turned and rushed after them.
In the Never, Kismet rolled away from Ghislaine and flipped backward in a handspring.
The queen flew forward and planted a kiss on Kismet’s mouth as she passed. The shimmer of the drug on Kis’s lips caught the light like ground gold. Kismet froze, her eyes wide, and then her stare turned blank.
“No!” I screamed. Maybe Kis was too weakened to resist the queen’s magic this time.
“Yes!” the queen yelled in triumph, and made her final rush.
I leapt forward, but I wasn’t nearly fast enough. I was just a witch without magic in the Never. Unarmed against a Seelie queen in her own domain, I was nothing.
“Kismet!” I cried as the queen barreled toward her and leapt into the air.
At the last possible moment, Kismet’s eyes grew sharp.
A trick!
Kis bent backward so far she was parallel to the ground.And she had an arrow clutched in her hand! The queen’s momentum carried Kismet.
With the flick of her wrist, Kismet made the arrow rise and point up at an angle, like Crux’s sword in the ground.
The queen screeched, but couldn’t stop. She landed on it. One end drove into the ground, the other into the queen.
The arrow went straight through her chest, the tip emerging from her back. Her eyes widened with shock, her beautiful face contorted with rage.
The wind roared; the sun blazed; the ocean churned.
The knights rushed forth.
“No,” I yelled, blocking Kismet from their arrows. “She’s not a Halfling! She’s not. She’s full fae now. I’m full witch. She challenged the queen and won.”
“It’s all right, Tammy, love,” Kismet said, pushing me aside.
She faced the Never. There weren’t only knights now. Thousands of Seelie fae who lived underhill had come to see the battle and to help contain the witches and wolves who’d stolen into their homeland.
“I’m Kismarley, former Halfling and former first assassin of the Seelie court. I accused our queen of treason for telling a human spy the location of the ambers that sustain the world’s magic. I asked any full fae brave enough to challenge her for power to do so. In the end, I was the Never’s champion. I claim the right to rule this land and all of you.” She stretched her arms out and whispered in an ancient language as old as magic itself.
The power of the fae queen circled around her, gilding Kismet in bright gold. The red in her strawberry-blond hair drained away, leaving her golden blond.
My body felt tired and heavy, and I sank to my knees.
“Long live the queen!” Caedrin called, going down on one knee.
“Long live the queen!” others yelled, bowing before her.
Kismet waited and then nodded. “You honor me. Your trust in me will not be misplaced. I will take us back to the way we were meant to live and be. The Seelie fae were once a source of light in the supernatural world, a wonder for all to behold. We will be that light again. This is my promise. My solemn vow.”
The faeries cheered. I spotted Edie and Andre, who were soaking wet and bleeding from some scratches, but otherwise seemed unhurt, despite being in iron cuffs. How had they gotten from the water to the gate? Had the selkies overpowered them and turned them over to knights on shore? Or had they swum
to shore and been caught?
“Kis,” I whispered, nodding at Edie, Andre, and the wolves who’d helped us and were also surrounded and subdued.
Kismet scanned the area and then all around, to the water and the land and the castle in the distance. My heart thumped, waiting. She and Elhard were enemies. What if she didn’t let the wolves go? I’d given my word I wouldn’t leave without them.
Kismet’s steady gaze came to rest on the fae knights. “Release the witches and wolves. Let them take their wounded and dead and leave our lands. There’s no more war with them this day. And, Caedrin, go and get the captured human and release him into their custody. The wolves will see him out for me.”
Captured human?
I was shocked a few minutes later when Caedrin brought a bound and bruised Zach to the path.
Acton and Elhard each took an arm and pulled him to the gate and through it. Edie and Andre shuffled after them, leaving the Never.
Kismet stepped forward and hugged me. “Witch or no, you’re my family forever. I’ll see you again,” she whispered.
I hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. “I love you. Always.”
I cried a little as I turned to leave, but I forced myself through the gate again. Bryn stood on the path with an arm around Andre’s shoulder for support.
“Is your leg broken?” I asked, hurrying to him.
“No, it’ll support my weight. It just hurts.”
I hugged him.
“Are you all right?” Bryn asked. He’d seen me wounded plenty of times, but I think he sensed that this time I’d been changed forever.
“I’m okay,” I said. “We all are.”
EPILOGUE
ON MACON HILL, the magical tor in my hometown of Duvall, Texas, there stands a chapel. From its roof, I’ve shot at werewolves. Within its walls, I was betrayed by a beautiful witch. Sitting outside it, I cast an astral projection spell that landed me in bed with Bryn for the first time. And that didn’t even begin to cover the times I’d lain on the grass next to it as a little girl, coloring or writing book reports.
I had a feeling that from now on, however, no memory would be more vivid than the one we were making. At the front of the chapel, Bryn, my future husband, waited for me.
Oz played “The Way You Look Tonight” on guitar. He was one of three Seelie fae in attendance. My sister wore a green dress and was my maid of honor, much to the gossip and annoyance of my best friend, Georgia Sue, who thought she should’ve had the job. I didn’t even try to explain that if someone had to be jealous, it was better that it was Georgia Sue than Kismet. Georgia Sue would whisper and complain behind my back. Kismet wouldn’t do that, but she might bump off a matron of honor to get her spot.
Caedrin and Momma escorted me in, one on each side, both smiling. They exchanged little glances with each other, and I thought they might be next to get married.
Edie and I had forgiven Zach, but he hadn’t forgiven himself for not being able to destroy those ambers. Also, he didn’t want to see me get married to anyone else. So my best guess for where he was at the moment was in a bar getting drunk. Edie came, under protest. Mercutio wore a black tie instead of his collar, and he stood with Andre and the other groomsmen.
I wore a dress of pale gold and a gold-and-emerald comb in my upswept hair. Johnny Nguyen and his vampire boyfriend had styled me up like a movie star headed to the Academy Awards, but my feet still wouldn’t last long in the fancy high heels.
I waved to my friends and family. It looked like all of Duvall had turned out. Plus we’d had some unexpected foreign visitors, including my grandmother and the president of the World Association of Magic. Aunt Mel was flirting with him, and Edie was distracting my grandmother by pretending to do hexes. At least, I hoped she was pretending.
My grandma and Basil Glenn had declared the amber I’d delivered to be authentic. I’m not sure whether they knew they were lying or not. The werewolves had the real wolf amber back and were guarding it with their lives.
The dustup at WAM Headquarters was blamed on fae warriors and greatly downplayed. My name was never mentioned. Bryn and I decided that the WAM administration didn’t want it known that an untrained witch with malfunctioning magic had brought WAM headquarters to its knees and walked out the front door with two of its prisoners in a plan that was executed in seventeen minutes, with eight of those being time spent eating pastries with the president. A story like that might encourage others to follow my lead. Plus, I don’t think the president wanted me to be in trouble. He seemed to like my pluck.
Bryn and I had talked it over with the fae guests and had convinced them to try to act like they were just regular folk, not regular Folk. The fact that the whole town was resting on the territory of enemy fae was a concern. I sure hoped no wars would break out before people got to have cake. I’d made it special.
My magic was different after having come back from the Never. We weren’t sure if that was because the change in Kismet and me was permanent . . . her magic being all fae and mine all witch now. Or whether the change was because I was pregnant and that threw the magic out of balance. Yes, when we’d made love in the Never we’d made a baby. That was why I’d been dizzy and sick at first after coming home. When I got back to America, though, I felt strong again. I decided the baby wanted to be a Texan.
I didn’t want to find out too many details about the new little life inside me, though, so it might be a boy or a girl. It might be one baby or, in the family tradition, twins. One thing was sure: Bryn and I were thrilled. He claimed he didn’t even care if the baby’s magic was all screwed up, but I knew it wasn’t true. He’d been to the witches’ bookstore in Austin and had gotten a whole collection of baby books. Baby’s First Spell. Larkspell Lullabies. Enchantments for Infants. It was silly, since as far as I knew none of the witches in my family or his ever got their powers as babies, but the books sure were cute. And I liked seeing him happy and excited.
Kismet took her place at the front with a satisfied smile. Momma and Caedrin sat in the first row with Aunt Mel and Aunt Edie. I strode to the front, giving Merc a wink, and stopped next to Bryn.
Johnny fixed my train, and I heard him sniffling. He’s sentimental, like most folks in Duvall.
When the ceremony started, I reached over and laced my fingers through Bryn’s. I knew it wasn’t really time for us to be touching yet, but I was a little nervous, and that jolt of shared magic calmed me right down.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
“This ceremony is just a technicality anyway. We’re already for life or longer,” I whispered.
“I know,” he said, looking back at the preacher, but whispering to me. “But I like for things to be legal. I’m a lawyer, you know.”
“Are you? I sure wish you’d told me that sooner. Marrying a lawyer, what a mistake this could turn out to be.”
He winked at me. “I love you.”
“We’re not at that part yet.”
He smiled.
“But if we’re doing things out of order, which we usually are . . . I love you, too.”
The preacher paused, waiting for us to settle on down. I zipped my lip and stood up straight, but I didn’t let go of Bryn’s hand. Maybe I never would again.
I heard rumblings behind us. And was that a growl? Had the Texas werewolves who had a grudge against me shown up to tangle with the Highland werewolves who’d come to visit?
For the love of Hershey, I hoped not!
“May I continue?” the preacher asked.
“You can sure give it a shot,” I said. “That’s really all any of us can do in this mixed-up life. If you want some of the Chambord torte wedding cake, though, I’d recommend that you hurry things along.”
I guess he did want to try my famous torte, because he finished the ceremony in record time.
So, yes, when the next mag
ical battle breaks out in Duvall, Texas, I’ll face it as Mrs. Tamara Josephine Lyons.
But just so you know, to my friends, I’m still plain old Tammy Jo.
TURN THE PAGE FOR AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SOUTHERN WITCH SERIES
WOULD-BE WITCH
AVAILABLE NOW FROM BERKLEY SENSATION!
JENNA REITGARTEN IS awfully lucky that my witch genes are dormant, or I’d have hexed her with hiccups for the rest of her natural-born life. She stared at me across the cake that had taken me thirty-six hours to make, a cake that was Disney on Icing, and shook her head.
“Well, it’s a really pretty cake and all, Tammy Jo, but it’s got too much blue and gray. It might be good for a little boy, but Lindsey just loves pink—”
“The castle stones are gray and blue, but the princess on the drawbridge is wearing pink. The flower border is all pink,” I said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“Uh-huh. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take this one for the playroom. I’ll put the other cake, the one with the picture of Lindsey on it, in the dining room. And I can’t pay two hundred thirty dollars for the castle, since, after all, it’ll be a spare.”
“Why don’t I just sell you the sheet cake?” I asked, glancing at the flat cake with the picture of her three-year-old decked out in her Halloween costume. Lindsey was dressed, rather unimaginatively, in a pink Sleeping Beauty dress.
“And what would you do with this one, honey?” Jenna asked, pointing at the multistory castle, complete with lakefront and shrubbery.
“Maybe I’ll just eat it.”
She laughed. “Don’t be silly. Now, you’ll sell it to me for a hundred thirty dollars or I’ll have to complain to Cookie that you didn’t follow my instructions, and then—”
“I followed your instructions,” I said, fuming. “You said ‘think fairy-tale princess.’ Well, here she is.” I flicked the head of the sugar-sculpted princess, knocking her over on the blue bridge.
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