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Check out what people are saying about Up Comes The Sun...

"Jade Lewis’s Up Comes the Sun is a climatic end to the current trouble in her Fae Love Crimes series. I would love to see this series continue with Ginni, Syd, Vox, Chim, and Crispin getting their own “crime” to solve."

"This is book the third in an enjoyable, distinctive series which has a way of drawing you in and holding your attention from beginning to end. I think this one is my favourite so far!"

"This one is the best one yet. It will keep you keep you flipping pages. You get the feeling this is the end to a story but there are so much more that is hinted at. Can't say enough about this book, it is a great read. Hints of humor, some sadness. A must read."

"Up Comes The Sun is a wonderful story that I have read. I highly recommend this story to everyone."

AMAZON

I got her back.

But we’re facing a whole new set of dramas at this point.

And she’s figured out a few things about herself—like power.

She’s got major power, and I ain’t just talking about her ability to attract anything with a pulse.

All is fine and dandy until I’m forced to turn around and face my past.

A past I decided to destroy in my mind a long time ago.

But the truth will set you free, right?

Yeah, if it doesn’t decimate your friendships and strip your very soul from you body first.

At least we’ve got each other. Until we don’t.

The world hangs in the balance and we’re up to bat.

Some of us are gonna make it, and some will have to take the honor of sacrificing our lives.

The night just keeps getting darker and darker. Like this will never end.

But as soon as desperation hits, up comes the sun.

AMAZON

Chapter One
Sinn

Sinn had never been one to put a tremendous amount of stock into superstitions or place much significance on signs from the universe or any such thing. He didn’t think anyone was sending him a message if he saw the same type of bird fly by three times in a day or heard the same song every time he turned on the radio. He walked under ladders and stepped on the cracks of sidewalks with abandon. He took life for what it was. That day was different. 

As he stood at the window at the back of Thea’s house, staring out into the backyard the way he’d done with her days before, his brain was wandering, finding meaning in things he never thought of before. 

Taking in the leaf-filled yard beyond, Sinn thought about his last name. It had always hung over him as a representation of what he was, but now he felt like he was really living up to it. Everything around him seemed bleak. They were even deeper into the dark confusing tangle than they were at the beginning when he was first called in to handle Blink’s disappearance. He couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t been able to all night. His mind wouldn’t quiet down, too awake and frantic with worry about Ginni. His little sister was caught in the clutches of an evil necromancer. But Graeme wasn’t just holding her to taunt him. She was a means to an end, a tool for the necromancer to fulfill his own needs. 

He needed Ginni’s royal blood to unlock the wards that protected the Western Shores from non-elf creatures. The realm was closely guarded, protected against creatures that may mean harm to the elves who lived there. But her blood would allow him entrance, and once inside, he could seek out an ancient artifact that had been just beyond his reach. It was that artifact that would allow the necromancer to magnify his powers, making him strong enough to raise an undead army he would have totally within his control. He was set on building his forces and raising the dead to do his bidding so he could let chaos reign on the human world. 

If that happened, it would be horrific beyond comprehension. That type of horror and destruction would be far more than anything the Magical Enforcement Squad ever encountered, and it would shatter the careful control and management they’d struggled so long to maintain. The loss of life would be staggering, and even those who survived would face a world of suffering and terror unlike anything they could even begin to fathom. There would be many who wished they hadn’t made it through alive. 

Sinn knew he couldn’t let that happen. When he’d entered the MES, it was with the sworn intention to control magic within the human realm and protect all those in Portland, both Mythos and human alike. Even more important than that was his dedication to protecting his little sister and not letting any of the harm he feared come to her. He couldn’t allow Graeme to destroy all of that and bring down the world he’d devoted his life to guarding. 

But he couldn’t just stop it. This wasn’t like the crimes he dealt with on a regular basis. Sinn couldn’t just send in wizards to clean things up and vampire officers to deal with the aftermath. He couldn’t even go in himself and make sure the people responsible were brought into his cells and the humans ushered away with safely altered memories. This was so much more than that. The only way to stop the destruction was to find the necromancer and Ginni and prevent Graeme from going into the elven realm. Unless he was able to do that, Sinn felt powerless to stop what was happening.

Sinn wasn’t the only one missing out on sleep after the encounter in the Shanghai tunnels and Ginni’s disappearance. Thea couldn’t sleep, either. He didn’t know if she had even tried. As his eyes swept over the backyard, they landed on her, meditating in the grass the way she had been for the last several hours. Nothing would break her out of the deep place in her mind where she had retreated to process all they’d gone through in the last few weeks. Sinn had gone out to her a few hours before, pulling his shirt around him tightly to ward off the chill of a light rain falling, to suggest she come inside. The Fae woman barely even reacted to him. The droplets falling on her soaked into her glistening coppery hair and slid down her cheeks like soft tears, but she didn’t move. 

She refused to follow him back into the house or even move under one of the trees to find some shelter from the rain. According to her, the rain didn’t bother her, but being cooped up inside the house did. Fae performed better under the open sky, she announced. Sinn knew there was nothing he could do to change her mind or influence her to come inside with him. She was committed to whatever she was doing. He’d wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and went back inside. 

It had been a long stretch of hours and several cups of coffee since that encounter, and the almost whimsical amusement of Thea sitting out in the yard had worn off. Now Sinn was worried about her. The rain was gone, but the temperatures weren’t climbing, and she was still in the same place. He headed back outside and crossed the backyard to where she was sitting. He crouched down beside Thea and stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to react. She didn’t. She stayed perfectly still, her eyes closed, her breath slow and controlled. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

She still didn’t move or open her eyes but took a deeper breath, like knowing he was there brought her back into the same place of reality as him.  

“I’m trying to get in tune with the power inside me,” she said. 

“What do you mean?” Sinn asked.

“I’ve been manifesting new energies, not typical of the Fae. I’ve never encountered a single other Fae capable of doing the things I’ve been able to do recently. I didn’t even know I could do them. These powers make me able to make people fall in lust or love. But it isn’t just that. Think about when we were in the cell with Mordanna DeLure. I was able to manipulate the line between reality and fantasy when we were in combat with her.” 

“Is that what you’re trying to do again?” he asked.

Thea shook her head. “I’m trying to determine the source of those powers. If I can find it, I might be able to learn to control it better and more effectively. I also want to know if there might be anything else I’m capable of that I don’t know about. It’s been so long since I’ve truly reached inside me and connected with my Fae powers, I might have missed so many things. Now is the time to find them and be able to use them.”

Sinn nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. The beautiful Fae was right. She’d accomplished incredible things recently, things she didn’t know she could do and he didn’t fully understand. As astonishing and beneficial as they were, they were also unpredictable, and that could prove dangerous. If she lost control of her ability to manipulate the people around her and the very reality they were living in, it could be extremely risky. With understanding and control, it would be an untouchable asset.

“Do you need anything?” Sinn asked. Thea made a negative sound and shook her head. “Then I’ll leave you alone. I’ll be right inside if you change your mind.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Eyes still closed, Thea tilted her face up toward him, and Sinn obliged with a kiss on her soft lips. She let out a long breath, and he walked away, leaving her to her introspective exploration. He didn’t know what she was experiencing or what she was hoping to discover, if anything specific, but he did know having him hanging around her wasn’t going to help her focus. 

He went back inside and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Dialing headquarters, he opened the refrigerator for what felt like the thousandth time that night. He struggled to have any appetite, and there still wasn’t anything on the shelves inside that triggered any more hunger. He’d heard humans joke before that the food fairy hadn’t come yet. Knowing Thea, Sinn wouldn’t put it past her to spontaneously conjure snacks in the refrigerator if the desire hit. 

Finally, the phone stopped ringing.

“Lars.”

“Hey, Chief,” Sinn said, closing the refrigerator door.

“Hey, Bleak,” Chief Lars said. There was a note of hesitation in his voice Sinn knew came from this being the sixth time he’d called that night. 

He still had to ask.

“Any word yet about Ginni?” Sinn asked.

“I’m sorry, Sinn,” Lars said. “No one has seen or heard anything from your sister. We haven’t located her yet, but I have squads sweeping the city for Ginni and for the necromancer. I’m even sending MES officers to all the known pocket dimensions as an extra precaution. As they return, I’m sending them out to the different Mythos realms, too. We are covering everything we can possibly think of to track them down.” 

“Thank you,” Sinn said with a heavy sigh. “I really appreciate you doing so much to find her.”

The Magical Enforcement Squad chief waited for a long pause, then gave a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Sinn,” he repeated.

“I know you’re doing everything you can,” Sinn told him.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. You were right. I never should have hired Ginni for the MES.” 

Sinn felt his heart thud in a painful beat. Just thinking about how intensely he’d reacted to Lars hiring his sister the first day she appeared in the office made him feel guilty. He thought he was doing what he should as her big brother, but now he realized he should have been more trusting and given her the support she deserved.

“No,” he said. “I wasn’t right. You were the one who was right to hire her. I was wrong. Ginni is an excellent MES officer, and she deserves her spot on the squad.”

He drew in a breath, forcing himself to believe that the spot was still hers and that they would be working together again soon. There was more to be done, so much more, and he couldn’t do it without her.

Check out what people are saying about Breaking Down the Walls

"Breaking Down The Walls is a wonderful story to read. This is second book in this series that I have read and can not wait to see what this author will write about next. I highly recommend this story to all."

"This is a fun read that once you start it, you will not want to put it down."

"I was hooked on this book from beginning to end, it's the second book in a new and interesting series, by Jade Lewis, Thea and Sinn's story is well written, their characters are well-drawn and interesting with incredible world-building by the author. It's a wonderfully well-written story which had no trouble holding my attention."

AMAZON

She’s missing.

The beautiful Fae that’s stolen my heart. And everyone’s, if I’m being honest.

Urgent is my middle name now and I’m not willing to rest until we find her.

There’s no choice but to bring in a forensic magician to the team.

Eye roll times a million.

But it’s just what we needed. And slowly but surely, we start to unravel what’s happening.

Throw in a trip to the Funhouse Lounge, the appearance of the infamous Candelabra Effervescence, and some creepy tunnels, and my Saturday night just got a lot more interesting.

As if that wasn’t enough, in this search to get the pretty girl back and understand why creatures keep disappearing, we agitate a horde of zombies who love crashing through concrete.

It’s far more than I signed up for, but I’m willing to man up and break down the walls.

AMAZON

Chapter One
Sinn 

There was nothing strange about the restaurant. It was nothing more than a diner decorated with the usual retro Americana and filled with the smells of comfort food. The only thing that stood out about it to Sinn was that Thea had vanished there. 

The Magical Enforcement Squad Captain hoped he was going to come to the restaurant and find out that Ginni had overreacted. She was on edge from being thrown into Blink’s disappearance case as soon as she joined the force. Knowing that Sinn and Thea had already been trapped in a bubble dimension by Mordanna DeLure had made her worry. Hopefully, he would show up at the restaurant and find Thea had just dipped into another corner or stepped outside to take a phone call. His sister had just jumped to conclusions and everything would be fine.

Except that wasn’t how it worked out. He didn’t show up to the diner to find Thea out in the parking lot on a call. Ginni didn’t rush out to apologize and tell him Thea was lured into the kitchen by the smell of the food cooking and was fine. He didn’t get to tuck into the booth with them and stuff himself senseless with eggs, bacon, and buttered toast.

Instead, he found the roommates on the brink of dissolving and his sister scouring the restaurant for any sign of Thea. Syd prowled around the diner, occasionally slamming through the doors to do a round outside before coming back in. Concern and fear etched on her face, her eyes flashed as she searched every corner and stared threateningly into the faces of everyone still in the restaurant. Every movement became more feline, heralding just how close she was to shifting into her panther form. Sinn didn’t want that to happen. The last thing he needed in that moment was an out of control panther stalking the diner, moving among humans that would need to be handled by a cleanup squad.

Vox seemed to be coping with the situation better, or at least, she wasn’t moments away from causing an axe disaster. She moved through the restaurant almost calmly, stopping at each of the tables to talk to the diners still there. Sinn was sure some had slipped out in between Ginni realizing Thea was missing and calling him, but she’d managed to keep most of them in place. The siren spoke to each of the people, trying to find out if they’d seen anything. Sinn watched them answer her questions as best they could, hovering in an uncomfortable position of not knowing if they should keep eating or abandon their plates.

He turned his attention back to the bathroom. Ginni was still inside, going over every nook and cranny again. She wasn’t going to find anything new. It wasn’t a big room, and she had already gone over it several times. He let her do it. If nothing else, it made her feel like she was really involved in an important MES investigation and kept her contained in the small space so he could keep track of her. 

He stood between the bathroom and the door to the diner, clutching the only piece of evidence Thea left behind. Nothing was off about her purse. It looked exactly like it had the last time he saw it.

He dug through it for the third time. It was the equivalent of Ginni scouring the bathroom but on a miniaturized scale. Just like every other time he’d looked through it, the purse seemed to have everything it should. Her cell phone was still there, set to silent and chronicling the dozens of calls her roommates had made in vain. Makeup, breath mints, and hair ties cluttered the bottom. Her wallet still contained the identification she’d shown him the first night they met and a handful of money. Finally, he found the business card he’d given her.

He frowned, trying to come up with some sort of explanation for what happened. It looked like exactly what Ginni had told him. Thea had simply excused herself to go to the restroom before they ate and never came back. No one saw her leave the restaurant, and she’d left everything behind.

The sound of the stall door smashing open brought Sinn’s attention back to the bathroom. Ginni stormed out, her glare as frustrated as it was concerned.

“Nothing,” she said. “There are no other doors, no windows. There’s no way she could have gotten out of here.”

She fell into step beside Sinn as they made their way back to the table. Despite the chaos, the waitress had brought everything they’d ordered, and the plates filled nearly every inch of space. Sinn dropped down into the booth and picked up a piece of toast from one of the plates. Using the corner to poke the soft yolk of a sunny side up egg, he gathered the released goo and took a bite.

“That was mine,” Ginni said.

“I don’t care,” he told her, the words muffled by the food.

Vox and Syd came back to the table, shaking their heads.

“Nothing,” Vox said. “No one saw anything, and there’s no trace of Thea.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Syd asked, a rumble behind the words.

“How about the summoning stone?” Ginni asked hopefully. “You used it to bring Mordanna to the jail. Can you use it to get Thea back here?”

Sinn shook his head. He tossed the rest of the toast back onto the plate and took a swallow of bitter black coffee to force it down past the tightness in his throat.

“No,” Sinn told her. “Using it to summon the sorceress burned up all the stone’s energy. It can’t be used again.”

“It’s not a bad idea, though,” Vox pointed out. “Using magic to find out where Thea is.”

“If it was that easy, don’t you think we already would have?” Sinn asked.

“Why isn’t it?” Syd asked.

“Magic is generally a last resort when it comes to missing persons cases. There are too many limitations to rely on it. Information we get from magic is usually spotty at best. Even when we do get some information, it’s rarely truly reliable. The success rate of finding someone that way without a tremendous outlay of manpower or money is extremely low.”

“So, that’s it?” Syd asked. “Because it’s challenging or doesn’t have a guarantee of immediately flopping her down in your lap, you’re not even going to try it?”

Sinn’s eyes slid over to the were-panther. He knew most people who encountered her were likely intimidated, either by her beauty or by the intensity she radiated. He didn’t care. Right now, all that mattered to him was Thea.

“I didn’t say that, now did I?” he growled. “I just explained why it wasn’t the first thing we jumped on. I know you think you know better than any of us, but I’m still the captain of the Magical Enforcement Squad. This is my expertise, my profession. I know what I’m doing, whether you want to admit that or not.”

“If you knew what you were doing, why are two of my best friends missing now?” Syd asked. “We called you to help us when Blink disappeared, and now Thea is gone.”

“Are you trying to say that’s my fault?” Sinn asked.

Ginni held her hands up between the two. “Enough. The two of you being at each other’s throats isn’t going to help anything.”

Sinn took a breath and let it out slowly. “Magic is the last resort in a situation like this. But I’m open to trying it. I want to get Thea back as badly as the rest of you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sinn noticed Vox staring at him. He turned and saw the knowing look in her eyes. The siren could sense he had developed feelings for the Fae woman. He didn’t care if she knew. The only thing that mattered to him was finding Thea and bringing her home safely.

“Vox, Syd, the two of you should go home. Wait at the house and see if she shows up. It’s possible wherever she went, she’ll just go home. Ginni and I will go back to the station and do some research into the options for locating Thea using magical means.’’

Vox and Syd nodded their agreement. The waitress packed all the food up for them to bring home, but Sinn doubted it would be eaten. They left the diner, and Ginni got into Sinn’s squad car with him. They were on their way back to the station when she turned toward her older brother.

“How do you handle it?” she asked.

“Handle what?”

“The stress of this job. You always seem so calm and collected, and you’ve been doing this for years.”

Sinn didn’t know how to answer. Ginni had always felt like his responsibility. He did everything he could to shield his younger sister from the roughness and realities of the world. He could still remember the day Ginni was brought as an infant across to the human realm. His guardian introduced Sinn to her, and he immediately knew how special she was. It was rare for half-elves to have full siblings. Humans and elves didn’t usually breed, and an elf choosing to repeat the shame by having a second child with the same human was extremely uncommon. Even from that first moment, Sinn was very protective of his sister and set on keeping her safe from the cruelty that seemed inherent in this world.

This was another of those moments, a chance for him to protect his sister.

“You have to compartmentalize,” he told her. “It’s important to keep what happens at work away from the rest of your life.”

Ginni turned toward him with shock and disbelief in her eyes. “But the Magical Enforcement Squad is your entire life.”

“That’s me. I don’t have to follow the advice I give you. I want you to have a better life than I do, a more balanced one. You shouldn’t be like me. So don’t be. Separate the stuff you see at work from what happens outside of it. And make sure there is something outside of it. Don’t let this become everything to you.”

Her head tilted at him with a skeptical expression. Sinn couldn’t blame her for not immediately believing what he was telling her. It was impossible for him to separate his work life from his personal life. It always had been. It was especially true now, with Thea missing. He thought about all the missing persons cases he’d ever worked and put himself into finding them. But it was different with Thea. This wasn’t just his professional duty. His need, his drive to find her, was so much more.

Lines were blurring all around him, like the thin borders between realities in the bubble dimension. At any moment, they could shatter completely.

Check out what people are saying about The Beginning of the Undoing...

"Jade Lewis has restored my faith in the paranormal. Yes, that's right, I, used to read paranormal books all the time. Then, one day, I just stopped reading them; due to the repetitive nature of the storylines. However, I can ensure you that is NOT the case, with Jade's latest release."

"Outstanding! Jade hits the motherload with this incredible, mind-blowing, block busting bombshell. A vortex of spinning emotions bursting into play front and center. Satisfying is an understatement, this baby comes packing a punch, thrusting this baby into the eye of the storm, blasting it into a tailspin with an astonishing culmination. Sparks fly as drama, tension, intrigue, danger and mounting suspense, keeping you riveted on a razors edge. Add sizzling undercurrents and turmoil, along with perplexing situations and a boatload of trouble, thrusts this bad boy to life spectacularly. "

"Well this book is just one big mystery. There seems to be multiple events going on but don’t know if there all related. Thea is a runaway princess and I’m not sure how she made it this far without getting herself in trouble. With Sinn she seems to be a hinderance and help. But I’m hooked and want to know what is really going on and if it all revolves around Thea. This seems to be a interesting start and I want to read more. "

"The Beginning of the Undoing was a great start to this series, the plot was strong, it was written well. Jade Lewis did a great job on it. Thea and Sinn were strong characters that didn't start out on the right foot but they were made for each other. They may have had some bumps but they made a strong pair. Their connection and chemistry was strong. They were good together. I enjoyed this story. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Thank you, Jade Lewis. Great work :)"

"The Beginning of the Undoing (Fae Love Crimes Book 1) by Jade Lewis this is a wonderful start to a brand new series that I have fallen in love with the characters and story line. I can not wait to read the next book in this wonderful series and I highly recommend this story to all."

AMAZON

Keeping order is my charge, but with this fae princess?

There’s no chance of it.

The Magical Enforcement Squad maintains the thin balance of power between humans and all the other creatures trotting around on planet earth.

But that balance is being jacked by a beautiful woman who’s driving the creatures around her crazy with accidental attraction.

She thinks it’s all good fun until I snap handcuffs on her shimmery wrists.

Then the adventure begins…

She’s not who she’s pretending to be, people start disappearing around her, and the worst thing in the universe starts to happen. I fall for her.

Everyone does, so it’s not that big of a deal, but it is.

Her past is going to catch up to us and kick me square in the butt if I survive all of this.

Meeting her was the best and worst day of my life.

It was the beginning of the undoing.

SPECIAL FAN PRICING 99CENTS

Prologue

The elaborate mirror hanging on the wall reflected an even more gilded girl. Priceless gems draped her long, delicate fingers and slender wrists, dripped from her pale, graceful neck, and sparkled in her hair. Her long, red-gold mane, swept up and secured on the back of her head, revealed the slope of her shoulders and the low scoop of her neckline. She had never looked more beautiful. Only the corners of her mouth, tipped down in misery, took away from her ethereal image.

She couldn’t help it. The wedding finery enhanced the fairy princess’s incomparable beauty, but it also made fear course through her veins. Heat crept up the back of her neck and anxiety made her insides shake. Her lavish surroundings used to be her space of comfort, but not that day. There was no air in the bedroom. She couldn’t fill her lungs or move out of the tight space where she sat. Around her, stone walls hung with rich tapestries, and luxurious furniture loomed massive and threatening, closing in on her. 

For sixteen years, she had given unquestioned loyalty to her parents. Raised to obey them without hesitation, the princess had always known it was her duty to put the needs of the royal family before her own. She didn’t belong to herself, but to the people of the kingdom they reigned over. 

Soon, she would belong to someone else. 

That loyalty and obedience had brought her here, to a wedding day she didn’t want. The minutes were ticking by, dragging her closer to the ceremony that would tear her away from her life and throw her into one that made dread turn her stomach. In less than an hour, her innocence would be sacrificed at the altar of power to seal an alliance. 

It didn’t matter to her father, the King of the Autumn Court, that the princess was a virgin who had never been kissed, much less experienced the touch of a man. He wanted to create an alliance with the King of the Winter Court no matter what the cost. It ended up costing the innocent princess the promise of her future. Her father offered her up on a silver platter, pledging her hand and everything else in exchange for the allegiance of the Winter Court. 

The thought of the ceremony and what life would be like after made her heart pound so hard, it felt like it would crack through her ribs and burst from her chest. Her blood rushed so fast, she could hear it, and the tingling on her skin intensified. This couldn’t happen. In a fraction of an instant, she made a decision. It was irrevocable. The consequences of this action would create ripples likely to spread far beyond just her kingdom. But she couldn’t stop. It was the only way to save herself. 

She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her wedding embellishments, and what felt like invisible chains around her snapped. She ran from the image staring back at her. She didn’t think. She couldn’t. Not in small part because her mother would be able to read every thought that went through her mind. She was extremely aware of the guards standing watch on either side of her door in the hallway just outside. That should have been a clue to everyone bustling around the palace, preparing for the event. 

And it was exactly that, an event. Not a celebration. Not a party. Not an occasion. Not a joyous day that would have no need for armed, uniformed guards posted outside. This was an incident, a transaction. A bride shouldn’t need to be guarded. 

The princess’s father said the guards were there to protect her. They were meant to stop her potential enemies from getting into the room and harming her before the kingdoms were united in their strength. She knew the truth. The guards weren’t there to keep anyone out, but to keep her in, to ensure she was there to be offered up as payment for the kingdoms coming together. 

But they’d underestimated her. They had her entire life. She wasn’t going to allow them to take everything from her. Her mind, her body, her future. They were hers, and she was going to do everything she could to keep them. Running across the room, she threw open the window and took a deep breath of the cool air beyond. She scrambled onto the windowsill and focused on the huge tree ahead of her. Like all the other trees around the palace, the leaves on the branches were stuck in perpetual autumnal glory. Vibrant jewel tones of red, orange, and gold represented everything threatening to hold her prisoner—and her only means of escape. 

Another deep breath filled her lungs, and the fairy princess threw herself toward the tree. She allowed herself only a moment of relief when her body made contact and she wrapped herself around a thick branch. Climbing to her feet, she made her way along the branch and launched her body to the next tree. 

It would be difficult to see her as she traveled through the branches. The thick forest of old trees surrounding the palace made it blend into the world around it. As though a part of nature itself, the palace looked like nothing more than a dense wood, crystallized in a state of turning. 

Her wedding dress was heavier and more ungainly now that she wasn’t standing in her room. It pulled on her and tangled in the leaves as if conspiring with her father to force her back. She gathered it in her hands, holding it up away from her feet, and made her way as quickly and carefully as she could toward the next tree. She was almost far enough away to get down onto the ground. 

A surge of hope coursed through her when she latched onto the branch of the next tree. It was possible. She might actually be able to pull off this escape and not have to go through with the wedding. She could almost taste freedom. All she had to do was get through the trees and out of the kingdom. There was still time before anyone came to her room looking for her. Not much, but enough to put distance between herself and the palace before they noticed there was no bride to use for barter. 

Letting the optimism fuel her, the fairy princess took another step. A deafening clap of thunder crashed overhead, and a second later, the sky opened up. Cold rain came down in sheets on her, instantly making all the leaves and branches around her as slick as oil.

So much for the positive thinking.

She tightened her grip on the branch and inched herself along more cautiously. She couldn’t slow down too much. Time kept moving, even if she couldn’t, and she didn’t want her father plucking her down from the tree and delivering her to the altar soaking wet. 

Keeping her head tucked down so she didn’t feel like the rain would drown her, she looked ahead and tried to map out how she could get through the branches. All she had to do was get through them and slide down the trunk closest to the forest path, and she could disappear into the woods. 

“Don’t be silly.”

The voice in her head was clear and unmistakable. Her mother. The princess had allowed her thoughts to linger too long on her escape route, and the Queen of the Autumn Court had been able to hear it. Perfect.

“There is no use resisting. Just resign yourself to your fate. It will make it easier for everyone.”

Exactly the pep talk every bride wanted to hear from their mother on their wedding day. 

The princess shook her head hard, fighting to block out her mother’s voice. It worked to stop the interference but made her lose her footing. She tried to get herself back under control by taking a few steps but stumbled and nearly toppled down through the branches. The temporary lapse in concentration meant her mother was able to get into her mind again. The girl heard a sharp gasp and knew her mother had seen what was happening.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get back to the palace this instant!”

Filled with even more determination, the fairy princess silenced her mother’s voice and blocked access to her mind. She pushed herself forward through the trees. Behind her, the palace alarms rang through the air. Any second, the guards, led by her brother, would stream out of the building and hunt her down. 

Far too close, fanfare drowned out the sound of the alarm. She should be trying to get away as fast as she could, but the sound stopped her. She paused and dropped down to hug the branch so she could see what was happening. Dirt, rain, and rough bark stained and tore her dress, but she didn’t care. All her attention was on the approaching procession. Behind the row of musicians announcing his arrival rode the King of the Winter Court. Icy blond hair rippled behind him in the wind, and sharp, intense features created a face that, while attractive, held a distinct coldness. 

Looking at him sent a chill of fear through the girl. It strengthened her urge to flee, but before she could, the palace guard approached. They went to the King’s retinue, and in seconds, the procession erupted in chaos. Shouts traveled on the air up to her, and she knew the guard had told them she was gone. The King held up his hand, fiercely silencing the men around him. The girl watched her brother approach, and the two men spoke rapidly. 

Suddenly, the King’s head lifted as if he heard something. He looked around, scanning the brilliant leaves. His steely eyes locked on her, and the girl’s heart clenched with terror. She burst into action. Ignoring the slipperiness of the branches and leaves beneath her feet, she ran across them, leaping from tree to tree, clinging to whatever limb caught her. Just below, the Autumn and Winter Courts were gathering. They watched her every move, kept pace with her as she ran. Voices screamed up at her and throbbed in her head, but she kept going. 

A few agile dips and slides got her a few paces ahead, but a final leap didn’t connect. Pain racked through her body as she plummeted to the ground, smashing into branches and limbs on the way. The impact knocked the breath out of her as she slammed into the ground. She could hear the guards closing in, but when she tried to get to her feet, stabbing pain shot through her leg and hip. It wouldn’t take any weight, and she knew it was broken. 

She was trying to scramble away, dragging herself across the grass, when a hand grabbed onto her arm and yanked her up. Shocking amethyst eyes locked with hers. The beautiful woman gripped the princess’s shoulders tightly, the expression on her face like she recognized her. Those hypnotic eyes flickered over the princess’s face for an instant before the woman spoke.

“The Beginning of the Undoing.”

The fairy princess flinched at the words, and the world around her burst into a flash of blinding white light. 

Chapter 1
Halla

Since I had made my speech in the Square, the Council hadn’t met. Maybe they had nothing more to say to each other. That in itself was weird, because all they ever did was talk. But I was alone in the Council room, and I was glad that no one else was here.

Even if the Council came in now and started bullying me, I probably wouldn’t do anything about it. I felt like all the fight had left me. I felt like I was just a shell, a reflection of the person I was earlier. The difference between who I was when I woke up and who I was now was like night and day.

My mother was dying. Apparently, she had been sick for a while. I had just been too busy with everything else to notice. Had I been selfish? I had been doing everything for the community here at The Oasis, but somehow, I still felt guilty that I hadn’t seen any of the signs. I had treated my mom as the enemy, and as a result, I hadn’t been looking closely enough.

How much loss would I still have to deal with? It was bad enough that I had lost Zohana, my little sister. She had died in the first attack on The Oasis when the warlock’s monsters had come for the Unnaturals. I hadn’t been here to save anyone then. I had barely managed to process the guilt, and now it was happening all over again.

And what about all the fighting that was to come? This morning, I had managed to get all the Unnatural youngsters to see the light, to realize that it was up to them to fight if they wanted to secure their own future. It had seemed like a victory when they had all agreed to stand up for themselves. Now, all I could see was how many more lives we would lose before all of this was over. There were casualties in every battle, every one of them would be sacrificing their lives when they went out to fight.

I was surrounded by so much death and destruction, and suddenly, I had no idea how to deal with it. I had been strong for so long, but now I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.

How was I going to deal with this?

And what about my companions? Aurelius, Damien, Byron, and Greyson would follow me to the ends of the Earth. Their loyalty was flattering, and I had come to love all of them very dearly. What if something happened to them too?

For the first time since this had all begun, I was starting to wonder if I was doing the right thing. I had fought so long and so hard to oppose the Council, to create a better future for the Unnatural community. But taking them all up to the surface so they could survive in an environment they didn’t know, taking them to fight the warlock when they had only recently had to battle for their very survival, seemed almost cruel now.

It was unlike me to doubt myself, but until a few weeks ago, it had only been me. It was easier to sacrifice my own life, but when it came down to others, everything became more complicated. How did I know I was still on the right path?

“Halla?” Zora asked from the tunnel before she pushed open the door to the Council room. “Here you are, I’ve been looking for you.”

She closed the door behind her when she came into the room and walked to me where I sat in the middle of the floor. She sat down next to me, tucking her knees against her chest.

“Did she tell you?” I asked.

Zora nodded. “Apparently she’s been sick for a while.”

“I feel terrible for not noticing,” I admitted.

“You weren’t here. It makes more sense than me not noticing. I was around Mom all the time, and I didn’t see anything.”

I took a deep breath and let it out with a shudder.

“What are we going to do?” I asked. “How are we going to get through this? I don’t know if I can deal with losing anyone else. It is bad enough already.”

“We’re going to get through this together,” Zora said. “We’re going to lean on each other because we’re sisters. It’s the only way.”

Tears rolled over my cheeks, and I wiped them away angrily. We hadn’t lost her yet, and I was already crying. I couldn’t afford to break down when there was so much hanging in the balance. It would be better if I only grieved my mother after she was gone. But knowing that her time was running out made it hard.

“Maybe it’s better if we stay down here,” I said.

“You can’t be serious. You’ve been working so hard to get everyone behind you. It’s finally worked. You can’t give up now.”

“What if everyone dies because of me?” I asked. It was my biggest fear that in trying to save everyone, I only led them to their death.

Zora reached out and pulled me against her in a hug. “If we don’t do anything, everyone will die anyway. We can’t give up now. We have to keep fighting.”

Zora was right; if we stayed hidden in The Oasis, the warlock and his monsters would find us and kill us all.

“The Unnaturals are finally ready to protect themselves,” Zora continued. “We must lead them so that they can look after themselves the right way. Even if they were all willing to fight, you said yourself that there wasn’t enough room for a fair battle down here.”

I nodded. Zora was right. There wasn’t enough room to put us at an advantage. If we wanted to fight, we had to go to the surface. If we wanted to survive at all, that was the only way. But the confident person I was when I had stood on the fountain and made that speech had withdrawn, and only an insecure girl was left. And who would follow me now?

Having the vampires at our backs would have been perfect in this situation. They were strong, and they were vicious fighters. But Constantine had insisted on breaking away from the community and leaving with all the vampires in tow.

“Have the vampires left yet?” I asked. Maybe we could still convince them to stay. Then, at least, we would have some sort of defense system.

“They have,” Zora confirmed. “They left at sunset.”

I frowned. “Is it that late?”

Zora nodded. I had been sitting on the floor in the Council room for hours. It didn’t feel that way. It felt like mere minutes ago that my mom had left me. It felt like years ago too.

“Did anyone else stay behind?”

Despite Constantine trying to break up The Oasis, some of the vampires didn’t agree with him. Greyson, Valerie, and Eugene were three of the vampires who had decided to stay behind. It helped us a lot that we had that kind of fighting power behind us, but it was only three of them. I was hoping that a few more had decided to stay with us instead of leaving with Constantine.

Zora shook her head. “No, we only have three left.”

I sighed. “That’s not enough. How are we going to fight with only three vampires standing with us?”

“We’ll have to make do. We have a lot of youngsters who will fight with us, and three vampires are better than nothing. We will make it work.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. Earlier, when I had made the speech, and everyone had been on board with my plans, I had been sure we could take the warlock down. Now I had started to doubt. Some of the Unnaturals had never lived on the surface. The older generation had come down to The Oasis to make a better life, and they had an idea of what to expect. But the younger ones had no idea what it was like to live up there. It wouldn’t only be an army that was willing to fight. It would be a group of people who were crippled by their ignorance and possibly the fear of the unknown. It was risky business to take them up there, and I felt like I was leading them into a trap.

But leaving them down here to fend for themselves when the monsters would come and rip them apart was the only alternative. And I wasn’t going to let my people suffer.

I just hoped and prayed that the path I was leading them down wouldn’t end in suffering anyway.

“What are the plans?” Zora asked me. “We need to get everyone ready.”

We had to go through with it, I knew. And our plans had already been made.

“We’re leaving The Oasis tomorrow at nightfall,” I said. “It seems like the best time to go – the humans won’t be a problem at night, and we can travel quite some distance with the community before we have to rest. We’ll rest during the day and walk at night to be sure that we are safe. There should be enough of us to protect the group.”

Zora nodded. “That makes sense. Where are we going to stop for the day? It will be a lot of people.”

“I thought about that,” I said. “There is a safe place that is big enough for all of them about a day’s travel from here. If they can keep up the pace, we can make it before sunrise and be safe.”

“It sounds like it could work,” Zora said. She sounded a lot more confident than I felt. It was good that at least one of us felt sure that we could make this happen. I had to snap out of this self-doubt, we had lives to save.

“What if the warlock finds us there?” Zora asked after we were quiet for a while, thinking about our plans.

“I thought about that too. I was thinking we’ll leave the community there with a few people to protect them, and we’ll break off in another group and find the warlock and end this. I’ll lead the community to the safe place, and then I’ll take my companions, and we’ll hunt him down.”

“Are you going to be able to deal with him with such a small group?”

“We’re going to have to . I don’t want to risk the warlock finding the community while we are on the surface before they are ready to really defend themselves. We have to get out of these caves to stand a chance at all, but nothing is without risk until that warlock is in the ground. And I intend on putting him there myself.”

“That sounds a little more like the sister I know and love.” Zora hugged me again. “We’ll get through this.”

I nodded and hugged my sister back. I wanted desperately to believe her that we could make this happen. Somewhere, deep down inside, I knew that I was bigger than this grief. But right now, it was tripping me up, and I was scared that it would change everything.

But, like Zora had said, we had no choice but to move out of here and to fight. It was the only way to survive.

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