1
Tabitha
Tabitha Barnes had found herself smack in the middle of a wild adventure, and she knew it.
She stood in the shadow of an ancient Welsh castle. The castle had been painstakingly moved, stone by stone, from Wales to its current position, which was exactly a ten-minute walk from her home in southeastern Pennsylvania.
She watched as a heartbreakingly beautiful rainbow stretched over the house in a perfect arch.
Her best friend Sara stood at her side, lips parted in wonder as she gazed up at the rainbow. And beside her, stood Sara’s new boyfriend, Dorian.
He wasn’t just Sara’s boyfriend though. As impossible as it sounded, the enormous, raven-haired man was the fae King of Darkness. Sara had released him from centuries of imprisonment behind a mirror in the castle, where he was forced to relive the same midnight party over and over again.
Dorian’s arm was draped around Sara’s shoulders, and his expression was as grim as hers was awestruck.
Workmen padlocked the doors of the castle and secured caution tape around them, as the three friends waited for the King of Light to arrive.
Dorian’s arrival in Rosethorn Valley had brought darkness to the tiny village. Literal darkness and thunderstorms had marked the last few days, but also a sort of sadness that had weighed down the spirits of the residents.
Now that the light king was coming, the skies had cleared and there was a rainbow overhead. He was already balancing out Dorian’s darkness. And to cap it all off, Dorian had just informed them that not only was their new visitor another mysterious fae king, he was also Dorian’s brother.
A welcome feeling of happiness rose in Tabitha’s chest like a helium balloon, threatening to carry her away. She clenched her fists and fought the urge to grin stupidly at her friends.
Something incredible was going to happen - she just knew it.
Tabitha had grown up in a family of quiet, dignified people. An almost indecent amount of family money meant no one had to work too hard or worry too much. Her father was an economics professor and her mom was a patent attorney. Her twin sister was into solving math proofs from a young age and majored in accounting in college.
Tabitha had always been the wild one.
As a child, her nose was always stuck in an adventure book. In her teen years, she’d been a bit more of a party girl, prone to staying up too late watching scary movies, and sneaking out with her friends. It had been all her parents could do to convince her to major in history instead of going to film school.
Tabitha had always believed there was more to life than crunching numbers and making spreadsheets. Although her family lived firmly in the concrete here and now, Tabitha had always known to her core that there had to be more in the world to experience than what was right in front of her.
Until this moment, she had always found her excitement in studying the past. The idea that she was breathing the same air and standing in the same space as men and women who had lived completely different lives was absolutely magical to Tabitha.
It had never occurred to her that there was another realm of existence running in tandem with this one.
A realm of magic and chaos…
“Brother,” Dorian called out in a deep masculine voice.
At first, she had no idea what he was talking about as the fae king gazed at the tree line between the meadow and the woods.
She squinted her eyes and suddenly he was just there - she wasn’t sure how she had possibly missed him.
A huge man with long dark-blond hair and soulful brown eyes gazed back at them from the trees. As he stepped toward them, the generous muscles in his bare chest flexed like a stalking tiger. A shimmering haze seemed to outline his body, though when she tried to focus on it, it disappeared.
In spite of the feeling of levity he had brought with him, his expression was serious.
His eyes met hers and she a shock of electricity jolted through her, as sure as if she’d touched a bare wire. Her whole body surged with life and awareness like she’d never felt before. It was all she could do to stay on her feet.
Dorian and Sara headed over to him, offering greetings.
Tabitha hung back, still reeling from whatever had happened when he’d looked at her. Clearly, he hadn’t had the same effect on her friends.
“Hey, lady,” one of the workers called to her from the house. “We’re leaving, but you can’t go in there, you know that right?”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Tabitha told him. “My friend is a realtor.”
She’d said it with total confidence, hoping they might think it meant something.
It must have worked. The first guy nodded and the other tipped his cap to her.
They hopped in the pick-up truck that was parked next to her Audi in the circular drive and drove off just as Sara, Dorian and the King of Light appeared on the porch.
“Tabitha, I’d like to present my brother, Tristan,” Dorian said formally. “Tristan, this is Sara’s friend, Tabitha Barnes.”
Tristan’s expression was cold and distant. He didn’t look into her eyes this time.
“Pleasure,” he said.
Tabitha glanced at Sara, who only shrugged at her.
“Ditto,” Tabitha replied.
She wasn’t going to bow and scrape just because he was a king. They were in her realm, not his. The least he could do was make eye contact. Although maybe that was a good thing. She still wasn’t sure what happened to her the last time he did.
Tabitha had noticed right away that he was striking, but he was even more beautiful close up. His big body was lean and powerful, and a shiver of energy seemed to hover in the air around him. And then there was the fact that he was wearing leather pants and no shirt, like some kind of off-duty rock star.
“I’m glad you came, brother,” Dorian admitted gruffly.
“You obviously needed my help,” Tristan replied.
Thunder sounded in the distance in spite of the now sunny day.
Was that from Dorian?
Sara gave Dorian’s arm a little smack.
Tristan smirked.
“Now, what do we do about this?” Sara asked, turning to the padlocked doors and the caution tape. “We can’t get back inside.”
“Does this have something to do with your pet monsters?” Tristan asked Dorian, one eyebrow delicately arched.
Dorian sighed.
“When I broke the mirror to release Dorian, I didn’t realize I was setting the creatures free too,” Sara said quickly. “It’s my fault.”
“Don’t apologize to him,” Dorian growled.
“What kind of warding spell is this?” Tristan asked.
“What do you mean?” Sara replied.
“This,” Tristan said, gesturing toward the caution tape. “You said we can’t get inside. Is it protected by a short-term spell whose effects we can live with, or will it turn you into some sort of amphibian?”
Sara opened her mouth and closed it again.
“That’s caution tape,” Tabitha said. “It’s not cursed or enchanted or anything. It’s alerting us that entering the property is prohibited.”
“So it’s just… stenciled ribbon?” Tristan asked dubiously.
“Pretty much, yes,” Tabitha replied.
“Then let’s go in,” Tristan said, pulling the tape off the door before anyone could stop him.