He blinked at his realization. His mind scrambled to fight the impossibility of what he saw with his own eyes. Her silvery wings patted the air like a woman might bounce her foot while crossing her legs in a chair.

  He moved a little closer, searching for wires and hems, stitching of some kind.

  But all he noticed were tiny, fine veins. As if she sensed his inspection, she turned around, her gaze locking on his. “I thought you were leaving.”

  “Your wings.” He struggled for words. “They’re real, aren’t they?”

  She pressed her lips together and finally shrugged. “They can’t be. Sprites don’t exist, right?”

  “I didn’t used to think so.” He wasn’t ready to embrace her story yet, but her wings were tough to explain away. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, I just…” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know what to think now.”

  She came closer, tilting her head slightly as concern lined her eyes. “I shouldn’t have told you any of this. Foolish.” She scanned the crowd. “You have no idea what that guard will do to you if he discovers what you know.”

  The asshole who grabbed her in the exhibition hall was real, too. Couldn’t be.

  There was only one way to be certain of anything. He whispered, “Could I touch your wings?”

  Color flushed her skin. “As long as no one sees.”

  He reached out with a tentative finger and ran it slowly down the edge of her right wing. They were soft, like velvet, but light as air, a cloud. Oh shit. Everything Kathryn had told him was true. His pulse raced like a bullet train.

  His gaze shifted to her face. Her cheeks colored as he drew back. “Why are you blushing?”

  She wet her lips, her voice a little breathless. “No one has ever touched my wings before.”

  He blinked. “Did I just do something...intimate?”

  A grin brightened her face. “Not exactly, but in my world, if my father had seen you touch them, we would be betrothed.”

  Before he could reply, the guard burst through the glass door onto the balcony with them. “Princess!”

  The guard drew a quiver, and had his bow drawn back in a heartbeat. Scott instinctively blocked the guard’s view of Kathryn, his mind still reeling. This was real. That wasn’t a fake arrow this guy threatened to shoot into Scott’s chest.

  Scott narrowed his eyes. “You need to put that away before someone calls 911.”

  The guard didn’t lower his weapon. “I know nothing of this 911. Move away from the princess or I will end you.”

  Kathryn came up beside Scott, her high heels dangling from her fingers and her head held high. Regal. Although she was by far the shortest, her voice demanded the guard’s attention. “Stop!”

  The guard didn’t relax his stance, but he didn’t shoot either. “Princess Kathryn, you should not be here.”

  “I am not a prisoner.” She crossed her arms. “I can go where I please.”

  His bow was still drawn back at the ready. “No one is to cross the veil.”

  Scott’s pulse raced as Comic-Con attendees stopped, snapping pics on their cell phone. No one realized this was a real arrow and real fae, and he had no clue how to warn Kathryn.

  As if she heard his thoughts, she reached for his hand and clutched it tight. “Ben jee varrey sguir àm!”

  Scott’s ears popped, like he just dove into deep water. Water slapped the rocks below. Somehow the world became so silent, he could hear the tide splashing up on the breaker rocks of the bay. Impossible.

  He scanned the crowded exhibition hall, unable to believe his eyes. “They’re all frozen.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Are you all right?”

  “I think so.” He nodded. “You spoke Gaelic, right?”

  “You know my language?” A hopeful smile lined her inhumanly beautiful eyes.

  “No. But I’ve read enough to know that most Fae come from the British Isles, and usually speak some form of Gaelic.”

  He walked closer to the guard and waved his hand in front of the guard’s face before turning to face Kathryn.

  “What happened to everyone?”

  “I called upon the Goddess to stop time for me.”

  He blinked, glancing at the guard once more. “How come I can move?”

  “I touched you when I asked the Goddess for help. You were immune to the magic. It cannot touch the one who casts it.”

  “Wow...” He drowned in a shit-ton of questions. “Are they just frozen? Do they see us?”

  “Not really.” She shook her head. “For them, time has stopped, so they are not trying to move.”

  “Impossible...” He went to the edge of the balcony, staring down at the people below. A woman was paralyzed, with a french fry perched at her lips. A man beside her hovered over the bench, just about to sit.

  “I have to go, Scott.”

  He turned to face her. “Where?”

  “Back home. Time passes differently on my side of the veil. If the Royal Guard is already here, then my father also knows I am here. I had hoped to cross the veil back home to Summerland before my father realized I was gone.”

  He wasn’t ready for her to go. Not yet. It sounded corny, even in his head, but he’d never met anyone like her.

  “This is all real.” He took her soft hand in his and something jolted through his bloodstream. “Did you just zap me?”

  She frowned. “Zap?”

  “Yeah.” He lifted their joined hands. “Was it a magic spark or something?”

  “Not from me.” She tipped her head slightly. “I felt it, too.”

  He sure as hell wasn’t magic. In fact, in the last five years, everything he touched had turned to shit. He’d been shocked when he managed to get a 4-day pass to Comic-Con. It was the first good luck he’d had since his father passed away.

  With her hand in his, he led her to a couple of chairs in the food area. He wished he could string his thoughts together into something coherent. In less than an hour, this woman, water sprite, whatever she was, had flipped his reality upside down.

  How could he possibly go back to his mundane world now that he’d had a taste of…magic?

  “I don’t want you to go.” He shrugged. “Not that it changes anything, but you seem like you don’t want to go back either. Why the rush?”

  She hesitated. He almost thought she might avoid his questions, but finally she looked down at their joined hands. “I already told you, I’m my father’s eldest daughter, the Ìobairt for my people.”

  “What’s an Ìobairt?”

  “I’m to be the living sacrifice for the Dobhar-chú. Each ruler of our realm must offer his eldest daughter to appease the creature and guarantee he will protect our realm instead of attacking it.”

  “Wait.” Scott frowned, his hold on her hand tightening. “Are you saying this thing is going to…”

  She lifted her head, meeting his eyes. “Kill me.”

  Scott shot out of his chair, his heart thundering in his ears. “That is seriously messed up. I don’t even know what that creature is, but…” He shook his head, his gaze locking on hers. “You can’t go back.”

  “I must.” Regret lined her eyes, but no trace of fear. Her resolve and courage were far bigger than her small frame. “I was born for this moment.”

  Maybe her father had been drilling into her since her birth, but Scott couldn’t stomach envisioning the light fading from her eyes. There had to be another way.

  “Bullshit.” He sat beside her again, taking her slender hand in both of his. “Your father, hell, maybe all your kingdom raised you to believe this is your destiny, but you’re in my world right now, and we make our own fate here.” He paused, searching her face. “Why did you cross the veil today?”

  She sighed, focusing on their joined hands again. “I begin my twenty-fifth-year next week. I just wanted to see everything I could before the ceremony.”

  He pointed to the silent exhibition hall. “This is barely scratching the surface of my world. I’ve got a couple more days off work. Let me show you around.”

  “The royal guard will find us. I can’t risk you being punished for kidnapping the Ìobairt. They’ll kill you.”

  “They’d have to catch us first.” He chuckled, tilting his head toward the frozen masses. “You have magic, Princess. Let’s use it.”

  “They can track my magic. That’s probably how he found me.”

  He ran a hand back through his hair. “Then we’ll be careful. I know this world better than they do.”

  She hesitated, scanning the motionless crowd. “I suppose we could try.”

  A hint of mischief flickered in her eyes, and his heart stammered. In all the years he’d read high fantasy, binge watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Game of Thrones, and lost hours to playing Everquest, he’d imagined another realm might exist, wished it could be true, and here she was.

  He’d be damned if he would stand by and let her father make her a sacrificial lamb. For now, he would settle for buying some time, then he could work on a plan.

  “Good.” He squeezed her hand with a wink. “Let’s start with getting out of here.”

  Chapter 3

  Kathryn stared up at Scott. He claimed he wasn’t really a warrior, and yet, he was the first person to stand up for her and challenge her destiny. In her entire life, no one had risked so much to help her. He was more warrior than any of the males in her world.

  Her wings fluttered with anticipation. Was she seriously considering this? His offer tempted her more than she could imagine, but she barely knew this human. In fact, he was the only human she’d ever actually met and conversed with. Could she trust him?

  Did it matter?

  The outcome wouldn’t change. She would be sacrificed to save her people, but she would be useless to them dead.

  However, the danger to Scott was very real. His life had no value on her side of the veil.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I need to be sure you understand that the moment we run, the royal guards will search until they find us, and they won’t hesitate to kill you if it means they can take me back across the veil.”

  “Here’s the thing, Princess.” His gaze locked on hers, his rough thumb caressing her knuckles. “You have no idea how long I’ve wished the world could be more.” He swallowed hard, his voice charged with emotion. “In the past year, I lost my Dad, then our auto shop. I sort of drowned in bitterness and while I raged against the world, I drove my girlfriend away, too.”

  The mention of a girlfriend sent a twinge of something through her bloodstream. Something foreign. The thought of him holding some other female’s hand…it…she didn’t like it. At all. Weird.

  “Did you love her?” The question surprised her. Love was duty on her side of the veil. Most royal marriages were arranged, but recently, since her cousin Talia broke with tradition and married Keth, things were changing. Her father betrothed her younger sister as an infant, and now her heart already belonged to another. Love bloomed around them despite her father’s efforts to quash it.

  Scott shrugged. “I think I did, at least in the beginning. When things fell apart, I sorta realized, all the psychobabble about needing to love yourself before anyone else can love you, might be true.”

  Kathryn had no idea what psychobabble meant, but she nodded anyway. “I’ve never been in love. My sister is betrothed, but as the Ìobairt, a union has never been my destiny.”

  “Not anymore. We’re going to change the stars. You’ll see.”

  Goddess, she wanted that to be true with all of her being. A smile warmed her features. “I want you to keep something for me.”

  She slid her fingers up the side of her thigh to a garter under her skirt. Her dagger. Her identity. She withdrew the tiny bejeweled dagger. The handle was studded with blue sapphires that sparkled like the ocean. On the flat edge of the blade, her name was etched into the silver. It proved her royal heritage.

  Scott stared at her as she placed the dagger in his hand. Its razor-sharp blade was just slightly longer than his hand.

  He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I can’t accept this.”

  “Yes, you can. Please. I want you to have it.” She closed his fingers around the jeweled handle. “This is my dearbh-aithne dagger.” She struggled to find a word he might understand. She pointed at his Comic-Con badge. “Like this. It proves my royal birth.”

  “This is your identification?” He offered the dagger again. “Now I really can’t take it.”

  “I don’t have time to explain. The magic freezing time won’t hold much longer.” Kathryn rested her hand over his around the hilt of the dagger. “This is connected to me through magic.” She glanced at the convention hall. “One day, my dagger will lead you back to me.”

  “What?” He straightened in his chair. “I thought you agreed not to go back?”

  “I have to get the guard out of your world first. Plus, when this spell over the convention hall vanishes, so will your memory of our time here.” Her eyes sparkled. “Maybe the dagger will remind you of me. When the time is right, you will find me, and we’ll escape together.”

  ***

  Scott carefully slid the dagger into his belt and took her hand. There’s no way he would ever forget her. He memorized every curve of her face. “I’ll find you.”

  Her lips curved into a hint of a sad smile. “I hope so. The ceremony will take place next week.”

  His pulse jumped. “But time moves differently on your side of the veil, right? How much time will I have?”

  She didn’t want to think about it. “Maybe a month in the human world.”

  Fuck. If he didn’t remember the blade, she could be sacrificed. The stakes were too high. He pulled out his cell phone and quickly typed in a note.

  Cross the veil. Save Kathryn.

  She got up, walking toward the balcony where her frozen guard still stood at the ready to launch an arrow. Scott followed, his heart pounding in his ears. He caught her arm, and she turned to look up at him, her lips parted slightly. His voice softened to a hoarse whisper. “You stay alive for me.”

  She nodded, a ripple of color washed through her blue eyes. Everything about her was magic. Before he could stop himself, he bent to brush his lips to hers. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she tilted her chin up, returning the kiss with so much tenderness, he was weak and strong all at the same time.

  She smiled up at him and whispered, “Tromhad múirn laoch... Come back to me, my warrior.”

  “I will.” He rested his forehead on hers, reveling in the realization that she made him forget he was an auto mechanic, like a warrior might be his true self. “That won’t be our last kiss.”

  Without another word, she turned away and ran to the railing of the balcony. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she snapped her fingers. Sound washed over them, intruding on the silence as time resumed. The guard marched toward them.

  “Kathryn, wait!” Scott called, but it was too late.

  She sprang forward, slapped the guard, and then leapt off the railing. Scott rushed to look over the side, but she hadn’t fallen. Kathryn soared over the bay. How did no one else see? Was it glamour? Who knew?

  She blew him a kiss before diving into the water. The moment she broke through the glass of the bay’s surface, a shockwave of magic knocked him back onto the floor.

  He blinked, clearing his vision as he looked around. His head throbbed, fuzzy and out of focus. Wasn’t he with someone? He got up, puzzled. How did he get out on the balcony? He rubbed his temples, struggling to piece together the missing time.

  He ran out here. They were in trouble. Weren’t they?

  They.

  Scott stood up and glanced out at the water. He was forgetting something. Someone. Maybe he hit his head when he fell. Scott sighed and reached for the door back into the exhibit hall, when his hand brushed over something on his belt. He frowned and withdrew a tiny dagger.

  The stones shimmered with his touch. Images crept back into his mind. A woman with blue and violet hair.

  Scott smiled. Kathryn. He remembered. The magic and her fathomless blue eyes. Tucking the dagger back into his belt, he turned back toward the bay. “I’ll find a way through the veil, Princess. I will...”

  And with that, he disappeared back into the throngs of people.

  ***

  Kathryn shot through the clear water, invigorated by her adventure. A foreign emotion brewed inside her heart…hope. Foolish. Her destiny had been decided from the moment she drew her first breath, but Scott had kindled an unfamiliar fire inside of her.

  Instead of returning to her father’s kingdom, Kathryn swam toward the castle of light, her cousin’s realm, the Queen of Summerland. She stepped out of sea, her body instantly dry. Unlike the human side of the veil, magic ruled here, and she tapped into it instinctively.

  Her cousin Talia’s castle shone in the distance like a beacon, sparkling in the late afternoon sun. As she hurried down the path, she wrestled to contain her thoughts. She didn’t tell Scott how to pierce the veil between their worlds, but without fae blood in his veins, he probably wouldn’t be granted entrance anyway. It was for the best.

  The only way to protect him was to keep him out of her world.

  But a selfish part of her wished he were beside her. The determination in his green eyes haunted her, tempting her to dream her life could be more. While her siblings grew up chattering about love, she’d never given it much thought. Pointless for her to yearn for something she would never have.

  That won’t be our last kiss.

  It had been her first.

  Her skin flushed with heat at the memory of his lips caressing hers. His touch stole the air from her lungs and kindled a yearning she’d never faced before. An ache to be loved, to be more than a blood payment on behalf of her people.

  She blinked back a wave of unwanted emotion. Her first memories were of her mother fading away, and her father breaking down. She’d never seen him cry before or since. His heart hardened to stone the moment her mother released her final breath.

 

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