A Touch of Fae

Chapter One

Em Charvez hurried along Pirate’s Alley toward The Grove, her family’s shop. It

was January and the brightly colored walls and doors of the narrow passage greeted

her as she held her coat closed against the wind and the rain. The drops fell sideways in

icy missiles, pelting her already chilled skin, stinging her face and hands. She cursed

herself for forgetting an umbrella, although in this kind of weather it would have blown

inside out anyway.

Minutes before, as the storm approached on the wind, she’d stood on the banks of

the river staring at the white froth of the waves and the steel gray hue of the water. The

water could be muddy, green or that gray blue, the river had always held a deep

fascination for her and she often came to walk the Moonwalk when she needed to think

about things.

Hoping to beat the storm but wanting to warm up she’d stopped at Café Du Monde

for a café au lait and a bag of beignets on her way to the shop. Just as she’d crossed the

street and entered Jackson Square the rain had started and she hurried along as best she

could, knowing that she’d be soaked by the time she got to work.

Her heart began to lighten as she approached the block that held The Grove. She

walked through the front door. The jingling of the chimes and the scents of the oils and

herbs assailed her and calmed her frustration at having to leave the research she’d been

doing with the books and papers she brought back from Chicago.

The shop held all manner of magical items as well as healing herbs and teas, special

aromatic candles and oils and readings done by her grandmere and her tante Lou. More

than any other place, it was her spiritual home.

“Hey! How are you?” her sister Lee called out.

“Wet and cold. But I did bring you something,” she answered as she dropped the

bag with the still-hot beignets on the counter.

“Oh! Thank you, Em! My favorite,” her sister said and dug into the bag, pulling out

the sweet dough confection and eating it, getting grease and powdered sugar

everywhere in the process.

Em laughed as she hung up her coat and caught the towel her grandmere tossed her

way to dry her hair off with.

“So tell me already, little raven. I can see how excited you are,” her grandmere said

as Em took a long drink of the chicory-flavored coffee and sighed with satisfied

pleasure as the heat coursed through her system.

Em smiled at the use of her childhood nickname. “You know me too well,

Grandmere. I’ve found something interesting in some of the books and papers from

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Lauren Dane

Alex’s grandfather’s collection. I have this feeling that the demon lord isn’t done with us,

with trying to break the Compact. It’s all a matter of how. So I’ve been keeping an eye

out in my research and well, I’ve found something.” Her grandmere sighed and nodded

in agreement. Em pulled out a sheet that she’d photocopied before she left Chicago the

week before. “This passage refers to some ancient text on chaotic magic, there’s this

sketch in the margin.” Em picked up a pen and sketched a facsimile of the faint drawing

on a separate piece of paper. “Have you ever seen this?” she asked her grandmere.

The older woman looked at the group of odd runic symbols carefully, tracing them

thoughtfully with a fingertip. “No, but this seems familiar.”

That had been niggling at her, she could almost feel what the symbol meant but she

couldn’t quite grasp it. It kept eluding her and she was frustrated. She was glad she

wasn’t the only one. “It does, doesn’t it? Well, anyway,” she said as she folded up the

paper, put it back into her bag and tossed it into a chair, “I have so much more of the

Carter Collection to catalog and go through. I can’t believe how wonderful Alex is being

over this.”

Lee hugged her sister tightly. “Alex is a great guy, isn’t he? He knows how much

you love books and the idea of being the first on the path of light to read some of those

ancient dark magic texts. You know how hesitant he was to take anything from his

grandfather at first. If it wasn’t for you talking with him about the historical importance

of the collection, who knows where it would have ended up. So of course he’s only too

happy to let you at them first.”

“Well, still, I know that others have asked to see the collection but that he’s put

them off until I’m done. It’s a very sweet thing for him to do.”

Lee shrugged with a smile. “You know that Alex wants you to be the curator of the

collection and you know that you’re more than qualified for the job. Alex will let other

people view the collection but as far as he’s concerned, it’s your decision as to how and

when that happens.”

Lee watched the flush of pleasure come over Em’s face at the compliment. Lee

loved her sister very much but she didn’t always understand her. Eric was Lee’s twin

brother and they had an unspoken rapport that she wished she had with her sister. She

wasn’t empathic like Em was, but she could tell that something was wrong, that Em

seemed unhappy and a bit melancholy. Over the last year, especially over the last six

months since Lee’s wedding and the vanquishing of the dark mage in Chicago, her

sister had felt more and more distant.

Truth was, Lee was more than a bit jealous of Alex. He seemed to understand her

sister better than she did. The two of them seemed to really strike a chord with books

and magic and research and Alex connected with Em in a way that she wished she

could. Em and Alex had talked of nothing but those books for the last month. More

often than not when Em called or stopped by it was to talk to Alex instead of Lee.

Seeing the distance and the dissatisfaction grow, Lee had tried to talk to Em about it

several times but Em just changed the subject and Lee didn’t want to push. She only

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A Touch of Fae

hoped the research made her happier. If things didn’t resolve themselves soon, Lee

would push her sister into a confrontation to work it all out as a family.

* * * * *

On Tir na nOg, the queen raised her head at the moment Em sketched the symbol

on that paper, the echo of Isolde tracing it with a finger wrapping around her

consciousness. Alarmed, she quickly stood up and went to her scrying bowl. She

poured water into it and waved her hand over the surface, speaking the words of the

spell that would allow her to see through the Veil that separated the world of Fae from

the human world.

The face of a raven-haired woman with big green eyes shimmered to the surface.

She had almost delicate features but a determined chin. Aine looked at her and saw the

sadness resonating from her. She listened to the woman speaking with the elder human

and, with a small frown, spoke out a name in summons.

Moments later a tall warrior with hair the color of caramel walked into the room

and bowed low before her. His hair was long and it slid over his shoulders as he did so,

the braids at his temples swaying slightly. His muscles rippled as he stood straight

again, his golden eyes flared with intelligence and mischief.

“Conchobar, I need you,” Aine announced as she smoothed her skirts and sat down

on her bed.

At that, a sexy smile slowly slid across his lips. “Is that so, my queen? It has been

two thousand years since I last warmed your bed but I would be most happy to do my

duty now.”

She stifled a smile at his irrepressible nature. “I need you to cross the Veil and keep

an eye on a human for me.”

His only answer was a raised brow.

“She wrote one of the symbols of the first books of the Tuatha De Danann. More

specifically, I believe it is from Crossing the Veil.”

His face went from sexy boredom to acute interest.

Aine gave a satisfied smirk and raised a brow. “Yes, I thought you might be

interested. I don’t know who this woman is or what she knows but apparently she’s got

some knowledge and I need to know just how much so I can proceed.”

“Just watch her? Why don’t I bring her back here to speak to you? If she has the

book she could unleash forces beyond her control.” He had a hard time stifling the look

of irritation on his face. He was too damned old to be put on babysitting watch over

some human.

“Yes, just watch her and keep me apprised of what she is up to. Do not make

contact with her and keep your glamour, I do not want her to know of our existence.

She doesn’t know what the symbol means nor does she know where it comes from. I do

not want to bring her over unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

7

Em had a feeling that some of those books had ended up in Adelade Belton’s library.

Em had been itching to see it for years now and it seemed like she’d finally get the

chance.

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A Touch of Fae