Summer's Gone

by Jen Talty

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because that half doesn’t have the cognitive abilities I have. He can barely understand anything, and I have no idea what form he is in. But that is a problem for another day. Can you stall him for a bit longer, while I try to wake her?”

  “If you haven’t been able to figure it out by now, you don’t deserve to have the Royal Fairy magic. Now give me the vase or we start killing off your wolves.”

  Drew narrowed his eyes. The vision of all the dead wolves made the hair stand on the back of his neck. Slowly, he took the last couple of steps and met Apep halfway.

  “Maybe we have figured it out,” Drew said. They knew a lot more today than they did yesterday, but probably not enough to call Apep’s bluff.

  “You know nothing.”

  “She’s coming to,” Norse said. “Not coherent yet but waking up.”

  “Hurry up, Coral,” he projected. “Everyone else ready?”

  “I’m eye to eye with a wolf right now,” his father said. “And he doesn’t come in peace. Whether Coral is ready or not. We have to go on the attack.”

  “Remember, Coral thinks half of these wolves aren’t real werewolves, but black magic, so they don’t know the ways of how we fight one another,” Drew said.

  “But if they are rogue, then they wouldn’t follow the rules anyway,” Chaz said. “So, everyone, be prepared.”

  In the distance, the growls of wolves echoed in the night. War loomed in the air.

  Apep narrowed his eyes. “You are making a mistake by letting your pack go after mine.”

  “You’re not a wolf; you don’t have a pack.” Sarcasm often got Drew in trouble and by the way steam flared from Apep’s nostrils, this might be one of those times.

  “Give me the fucking vase.”

  Drew gripped it tighter. “Humor me with one last question.” He didn’t wait for Apep to agree. “How did you know that she’d go into the vase?”

  Apep arched his brow. “Wolves don’t play trickery well.”

  Drew let out a small laugh. “You don’t know this wolf very well.” God, he hoped he was the ONE who could open this vase.

  “Give it to me before I command my wolves to attack.”

  Drew let out a long sigh and handed it to Apep.

  “How many of the wolves are really witches?” he projected.

  “Almost all of them, except for the ones surrounding Drew and the cabin,” Chaz said. He howled long and hard, then two short ones. “The leader of the Coven of the Raindrops will cast the spell now. It will take five minutes to take effect.”

  “Watch your back,” Drew said. “Because I’m coming after you.”

  “Do it, and you will die.”

  Apep whistled twice before he turned and headed back down the path. The five real werewolves did not retreat. They stood at attention, keeping their eyes on Drew.

  And not on Cheryl.

  The cries of the witch-wolves howling in pain as the protective spell banished them from the farm sent a cold shiver down Drew’s spine. No creature should be tortured, but they came with evil in their hearts. If making them feel as though they were being burned at the stake until they left the farm was torture, then so be it.

  “Now!” he yelled as he raced toward Apep.

  The wolves jumped into action, but his sister appeared from the bushes, jumping on Apep, taking him by the throat.

  That wolf squealed like a pig. His brothers and father came from around the back of the house, attacking the rest of the wolves.

  “You’ve made a big mistake,” Apep said as he turned. “You don’t stand a chance.” He whistled again, but his wolf-witches were retreating.

  Drew stopped running two paces from Apep. “Do you hear that? That’s your witches burning. The pain will stop when they leave my property and if they try to come back on, it will be ten times worse.”

  Apep’s eyes turned wide as he turned and ran.

  Coward.

  Drew took off, allowing himself to turn into his wolf form, tearing through his clothes. It took three minutes before he leapt into the air, tackling Apep. The vase rolled to the ground, the protective wrap Coral had put over it, protecting it from breaking.

  Apep waved his fingers, but his dark fairy magic didn’t work inside what was now considered the Royal Fairy castle. Apep hadn’t known it wouldn’t work, and Drew and his family only hoped that their gut feelings were correct.

  Taking a hold of Apep’s neck, Drew sunk his teeth into Apep’s flesh, bringing up a tinge of blood.

  Drew nearly choked on the taste.

  And stench.

  Worse than horse shit.

  Grunts and growls continued in the background. Drew would have to wait until his family took care of the wolves before changing back into his human form and unlocking his mate, so she could do her thing, banishing this horrid creature that had no right calling itself a fairy, much less a Royal.

  Drew’s eyes burned, the smell so terrible he thought he might vomit.

  “Hurry up,” he projected to his family.

  Apep struggled under his grip. Gurgling noises came from his mouth as he moved his lips, obviously trying to talk.

  “Here.” His father stood over him, dropping a fresh set of clothes. “I’ll handle this asshole. Shift and change before your sister gets back. You know how she hates it when you bust through your clothes.”

  “It was easier to take him down in this form than my human form.” Drew released his grip, then snagged the pair of jeans and T-shirt in his teeth. He raced around to the back of his cabin. By the time he returned to where his father had tied Apep up, his brother and sister had all the wolves, who had shifted back to their human form, tied up as well.

  “Open it,” Nico said, holding out the vase. “We all tried and couldn’t and I want to see my wife.”

  “I want to see my wife AND kiss my kids, so hurry the fuck up,” Chaz said with a growl.

  “Give him some space and relax a little. My wife, AND your mother, is also in that house,” his father said in a stern voice.

  With a shaky hand, Drew took the vase. It felt warm to his touch. “Coral?”

  “Drew? Is everything okay?”

  He smiled. Just hearing her voice in his head made his heart sore. He twisted the cap gently. White dust floated out of the opening.

  “Close it quickly. We can’t let any of Norse out.”

  As soon as Coral’s tiny fairy self-slipped from the opening, Drew quickly secured the vase. It rattled angrily in his hands.

  “He’s frustrated,” Coral said as her full self-appeared in front of him. “He doesn’t want to stay inside. He’s getting stronger and stronger, but soon, his spirit will be too large to fit in the vase. We have to find his other half and so far, I have no visions of who or where he is.”

  “We will.” Drew took her into his arms, crushing her body against his chest. “But first, before my brothers give me any more dirty looks. Can you take your fairy dust off the house?”

  She gave a quick wave of her hand.

  Drew looked over his shoulder, watching the dust lift like the northern lights off the house and into the sky.

  “Don’t mean to be rude, and we’re all glad you’re okay. But I’m going to the house,” Chaz said.

  “Not just yet, Alpha,” his father said with a bit of laughter. “We need to get those clowns to the main gate. The council is on the way to get them. I’m sure you can project to Daphne, as I already did to your mother. They are fine, thanks to your future sister-in-law.” Titus wrapped his large arm around both his son and Coral. “Why don’t you two go get some rest. We’ll see you for breakfast.”

  Drew wasn’t about to say no to that. He took Coral by the hand, tugging her toward his cabin. He took the stairs two at a time and as soon as they stepped foot inside, he slammed the door shut.

  He gazed into her light blue pools of warmth. They invited him into her world. Heat raced through his blood. His breath came in a short
, choppy pant. Everything he worried he’d never feel with Coral came crashing into his mind, heart, and soul in a kaleidoscope of magical colors and an intense burning that could only mean one thing.

  “I love you, Coral. With everything that I am. With everything that I will be. We belong together for it is fate, but it’s so much more. I’ll never leave your side. I will stand next to you forever.”

  “Wow. That was quite the speech,” she said with a full smile.

  He swallowed his heart beat.

  “Too over the top?”

  “Our life is going to be over the top, so no. It was lovely.”

  He groaned, cupping her cheeks. “Lovely? That’s all I get?”

  “Oh, my dear wolf. With all that I am and all that I will be, I love you right back,” she said, leaning into his body, kissing his lips gently. “I no longer want to take this as slow as I thought I did before I really accepted you. Us. Our destiny.”

  Drew smiled but his muscles trembled with a combination of fear and sinful anticipation. “I don’t either, but I don’t really know much about women.”

  “I know nothing about men.”

  “Looks like we get to find out a lot together,” he said, knowing that for the rest of his life, he’d never feel alone again.

  Epilogue

  Cheryl tapped on Drew’s cabin door. It had been two days since they successfully foiled Apep’s plan to destroy Coral and Norse. They had since learned that he wanted Coral because of her visionary abilities with every intention of using her knowledge to destroy the future. He wanted to create a world where the Twilight Crossing didn’t rule, and their wolf pack wasn’t the strongest and largest in the world.

  But even he didn’t know who Norse was or how he fit into the Royal Fairies.

  “Hey, sis.” Drew pulled open the door with too big of a smile on his face.

  “Oh, hi, Cheryl.” Coral’s smile was even worse.

  Stupid fucking puppy love.

  And sex. Christ, the cabin smelled like they’d been going at it for days. Of course, who was she to deny her baby brother his fated mate and some happiness in his life. Drew had always been a shy kid, especially when it came to girls, and he and Coral made for a cute couple.

  “How goes it here in romance central?” Cheryl breezed past her brother, patting him on the shoulder. “Nico and Chaz have a bet going on when the wedding will be.”

  “Maybe in a couple of months.” Coral waved a mug in the air. “We were just about to have some coffee. Would you like some?”

  “I’d love some,” Cheryl said, setting a large cylinder on the table before plopping herself in a chair and letting out a long sigh. All of her research told her that Drew’s union with the new visionary wasn’t the end. And Chaz had taken the twins off the farm for just a few minutes, and all their powers disappeared.

  That meant that whatever the previous visionary had done to ensure the Royals could survive outside of the farm hadn’t been fulfilled.

  Yet.

  Cheryl knew it had to do with Norse and finding his other half.

  And this damn black wolf that had been haunting her dreams for years.

  “What’s this?” Drew held up the container.

  “I want Coral to look at the image. Before she locked everyone in the house, she said there was a white wolf in this picture. But I don’t see it and neither does anyone else, but the image has changed.”

  “Changed how?” Coral set two mugs on the table. “Drew, you can get your own.”

  Cheryl laughed. “I love this girl.”

  “Right back at you.” Coral sat down, taking the cylinder in her hands and pulling it open. “What do you see in the picture?”

  “The dark wolf, but now it’s snowing, where before, it was summer.”

  “Summer’s gone,” Coral whispered, spreading out the image on the table. “I see the snow. Interesting that it changed, but you really don’t see the white wolf?” She tapped the paper with her index finger only inches from the black wolf.

  “I don’t.”

  “Drew, do you see it?”

  He shook his head. “But Cheryl is a white wolf.”

  “I’ve never seen you in wolf form,” Coral said. “You will have to show me and then I can be sure if it’s you or not.”

  Cheryl didn’t shift as often as she should. Not that she didn’t like being a wolf. She loved it. But lately, she felt like her wolf side served no purpose. She wasn’t part of the Legend or the legacy since all of Lear’s children had been accounted for. There was nothing in the drawings, books, or stories about a female wolf and a Royal Fairy.

  There had been stories about Chaz and a princess.

  And the warrior wolf and fairy.

  Even the visionary and her wolf mate.

  But nothing written about Norse other than he had never been born. She suspected he might never see himself outside of that stupid vase. She couldn’t imagine what life in there would be like, but it seemed Norse hadn’t been as important as everyone thought.

  It had been Coral and her role as a visionary.

  Cheryl hated that she wished her role had been a mere historian, helping guide the fairies and their wolf mates through the puzzles left behind by King Lear and the original visionary.

  “I can do that,” Cheryl said. “Give me five minutes.” She left the cabin, leaving the door open. She undressed behind the cabin and took off running, shifting in less than a minute. When she returned to the cabin, she hadn’t taken more than two steps when Coral gasped.

  “That’s you in the picture.” Coral pointed frantically.

  The floor below Cheryl’s paws vibrated and shifted like the beginning of an earthquake. She spread her four legs, bracing herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched in shock as the vase lifted from the table, floating in her direction.

  It landed on the floor at her feet. Reds, greens, yellows, blues, and a wild purple trail of fairy dust swirled around her and the vase.

  Fulfill your destiny and then, and only then, will the Wolfairies be safe.

  Thank you for taking the time to read, SUMMER’S GONE. Please feel free to leave an honest review.

  Look for WINTER WEDDING, the final installment in the Twilight Crossing Series.

  More Books by Jen Talty

  Also by Jen Talty

  NY STATE TROOPER SERIES

  In Two Weeks

  Dark Water

  Deadly Secrets

  Murder in Paradise Bay

  To Protect His Own

  Deadly Seduction

  When a Stranger Calls

  FEDERAL INVESTATOR SERIEIS

  Jane Doe’s Return

  The Butterfly Murders

  THE MEN OF THEIF LAKE

  Rekindled

  THE AEGIS NETWORK

  The Lighthouse

  Her Last Hope

  The Last Flight

  The Return Home

  Coming Soon:

  The Matriarch

  THE COLLECTIVE ORDER

  The Lost Sister

  The Lost Solider

  Coming Soon:

  The Lost Soul

  The Lost Connection

  SPECIAL FORCES: FIRE PROTECTION SPECIALISTS

  Burning Desire

  Burning Kiss

  Burning Skies

  Burning Lies

  Burning Heart

  Coming soon:

  Burning Bed

  Burning Oath

  Burning River

  The Brotherhood Protectors: Out Of The Wild:

  Rough Justice

  Coming Soon:

  Rough Around the EdgeS

  Rough Ride

  About the Author

  Welcome to my World! I’m an Award-Winning and Bestselling Author of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance. DARK WATER, book 2 in the NY STATE TROOPER series hit number 10 in Barnes and Nobel overall. THE BLIND DATE hit number 1 in the Contemporary Romance/Kindle Worlds List on Amazon. JANE DOE’S RET
URN won both THE MOLLY and the BEACON before being published by the WILD ROSS PRESS.

  I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.

  I’m currently enjoying the next phase of my life…the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.

  Sign up for Jen’s Newsletter where she often gives away free books before publication.

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  Paranormal Dating Agency World

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  Blurb for Winter Wedding

  Cheryl Ferguson has spent the last year researching the Royal Fairies and magical spell that banished them from the Royal Castle before they had all been destroyed. Her three brothers, Chaz, Nico, and Drew, have all taken their rightful fated Royal Fairy mates, ensuring the new creature: Wolfairies, would be brought into the world. With the last union of Drew and Coral, Cheryl had thought their family would finally be able to relax and enjoy the newborn Wolfairies.