Page 34 of A Kiss from the Fae (Mistress of Magic #2)

Excerpt from Grainne Morgan’s diary

There are troubling murmurs in the village about the work of the witchfinders making its way towards Abercolme. Thus far, we have kept those lunatics at bay with Gwyn Beatha’s help. As long as we keep the balance, the fae protect witches.

I can only assume that the witchfinders coming here means that we are out of balance with the fae kingdoms. Is this connected to Gwyn and my love?

I find that I can hardly face the day without knowing that he is near.

I miss him terribly when I do not see him.

I am spending more and more time in Murias, and I am feeling the effects of it, but I cannot stop.

My daughter has begun asking why I am away so often, and Mother tuts, knowing where I am.

She has berated me more than once, but it seems I will not listen.

Gwyn has promised me that the balance will be restored and that my soul will be saved, as we have been promised as witches.

The Morgan women have ever gone to the arms of the fae when we die as a reward for our work in this life.

I fear that Gwyn sees a dark future ahead, but he reassures me that all will be well.

‘So, you not up to anything else tonight?’ Faye fell into step with Gabriel as they walked along the deserted river. In the distance, London droned its industrial hum.

‘Just hanging with my harem of sexy vampires, but when I got your text, I sent them back to their crypt.’

‘That’s good of you.’ Faye gave a grim smile. She still felt awful.

‘I’m honoured to be called out,’ he replied seriously. ‘So, what’s this all about? Come on, Faye. This isn’t normal, even for witches. You ask me to meet you in a dodgy part of London in the middle of the night at late notice. You’re on your own and you’ve been crying. What’s up?’

‘I’m going to summon Finn Beatha. I’m going to tell him that I want to be his lover again and let him take me to Murias. And when I get there, I’m going to find Aisha and rescue her,’ Faye replied.

She watched his face for incredulousness, but Gabriel held her eyes with only a frank curiosity.

‘Right.’

‘You’re not… shocked?’

‘Faye, I’m the owner of a magic bookshop. Ritual magic, summoning demons, past life regression…it’s literally my daily bread. No, I respect your decision. But when we spoke about this before, you didn’t see it as an option. Because of Rav.’ Gabriel buried his chin into his scarf for warmth.

Faye looked away. ‘That’s…not an issue any more,’ she said, not wanting to talk about it.

‘What does that mean?’ he asked.

‘It means I’ve split up with Rav,’ she shot back.

‘Whoa. No need to be angry at me.’ Gabriel held out his hands as if for protection.

Faye sighed. ‘Sorry. It’s just been…quite a night.’

‘What did he do? Do you need me to…I don’t know. Rough him up?’ Gabriel was frowning in concern at her.

‘ Rough him up? Really?’

Gabriel made a face. ‘No need to act so surprised.’

‘Listen. I could do with someone in my corner…I mean…if the ritual…goes wrong.’

‘Goes wrong? In what way?’

‘If I can’t get out. If his power is too strong. Finn could make me forget everything – you, Aisha, this world, everything. It’s a risk.’ Faye didn’t want to talk about Rav right now.

‘What do you want me to do if it does? Go wrong, I mean,’ Gabriel asked.

‘Find a way to call me back. Get the coven together if you have to. But don’t, whatever you do, come after me,’ Faye said grimly.

First, create the environment for the queen of your chosen element.

Faye had committed Grandmother’s words to memory: a ritual written at the back of her personal book of magic, what modern witches called a Book of Shadows.

However, Moddie and Faye had always referred to it as Grandmother’s grimoire: a handwritten book of charms and spells passed down from one generation of Morgan women to the next.

To summon Her from her home element, you must create a ritual space of high vibration. Ideally, conduct the summoning as close to the right element as possible.

She knelt down on the wet London beach, putting the bag on the mud and taking the tools from it.

She set the four battery lamps in a circle – north, east, south and west – and flicked them on.

Their soft yellow glow lit the shoreline around them and cast an oily glitter on the dirty Thames water.

Oh well , Faye thought. It’s water. I hope it’s enough .

Water was Finn’s element, no matter how polluted.

And, she reminded herself, the Thames might not be as romantic a stretch of water as the sea at Black Sands Beach at Abercolme, or elsewhere on the stark, rugged Scottish coastline, but it was ancient.

In fact, one of its old names was the Isis, named for the Egyptian goddess of magic.

She handed a blackened abalone shell to Gabriel, who placed a charcoal disc inside it and lit it so that the disc flamed with a red line of fire, permeating it with a bright heat.

From a bag, he sprinkled some loose incense on the smoking disc.

Immediately, the smell of frankincense and copal filled the night.

Taking a cup from the bag, he went to the river’s edge and scooped some water into it, bringing it back and placing it carefully by their feet.

She still felt sick, but she ignored it.

‘Cast the circle.’ Faye indicated that Gabriel should take the incense around the circle and charge it with the power of air.

Following him, she lit a candle inside a small storm lamp and blessed the circle with the power of fire.

Without being told, Gabriel took the cup of river water and sprinkled it around the circle.

Faye followed, tracing a line in the muddy sand for earth.

Dance or pace out the circle clockwise and then pace into the centre of the circle as if in a spiral.

When at the centre of the circle, call out their full name three times.

Your calling should be urgent and passionate, from the heart.

Repeat this process, walking the spiral in and out and calling the name, three times.

‘Call in the elements?’ Gabriel asked, but she shook her head.

‘Only water. That’s what we want, the High King of Murias, faerie realm of water. We put all our focus on him,’ Faye replied. ‘Remember, same as before. We walk inwards in a spiral, call out his name at the centre, and then spiral out again. Three times. Then I’m going to call him.’

Gabriel nodded.

She swallowed nervously. Was she ready to see Finn again? Was she ready for his power? The power that he held over her? She wasn’t sure, but it was too late now. She had to save Aisha.

Faye held onto the anger she’d felt just earlier; anger would help her navigate Finn and Murias. If she held onto its sharp clarity, it would help her. She had Lyr’s crystal in her bag. She got it out and stuffed it inside her bra, hoping it would be protection enough against Finn’s enchantment.

‘All right. I remember what to do.’ Gabriel nodded.

Faye took a deep breath and focused her thoughts on Finn Beatha. Finn, hear me. Come to me , she thought, and started pacing the circle.

‘Finn Beatha, High King of Murias, faerie kingdom of water; Master of the Cup, Emperor of undine, nixie, sprite, kelpie, frog, fish and water-serpent, come to me!’ Faye called out the words that felt right at the centre of the circle.

Gabriel echoed her, his low voice vibrant in the night air.

They repeated the process once and then once more.

Overhead, the clouds rolled across the moon; rain was coming.

Faye stood at the centre of the circle, drawing power up from the earth and into her body in a line of gold filament, feeling it fill her, ground her into the earth.

At the same time, she closed her eyes and imagined the strange, alien silver magic of the stars streaming into her.

Finn Beatha, I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you.

Finn Beatha, I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body.

Finn Beatha, I summon you from your kingdom.

I offer something of mine that I can give freely; this is the exchange.

This is the promise between faerie and human.

So mote it be.

Faye raised her voice and called out the words with as much strength and passion as she could muster. Anger and concentration shaped her words and sent them to cut the air. You will come to me , she thought, you arrogant, controlling bastard. I will have what I want from you.

Droplets of rain landed on Faye’s hair, but Finn Beatha didn’t appear.

‘Call him again,’ Gabriel said, looking up at the charcoal clouds that massed over their heads. ‘It’s going to rain.’

‘More water can only help us,’ Faye observed, and pulled the hood of her black cape-like swing coat over her head.

Now, I really look the part , she thought.

She took out the wand that had been in her family for generations; the one that had been crafted in Murias and given to the Morgan women.

She dipped the end of it in the river water and drew the sigil of water in the air with it, reciting the Gaelic invocation.

Nothing happened.

‘Am I doing something wrong?’ Faye appealed to Gabriel.

‘I don’t know. I guess with these things, it’s always about the intention, isn’t it?

All the rest’s window dressing, mood-setting, to some extent.

You’re supposed to be calling out with a kind of intense passion.

’ He gave Faye a half-critical look. ‘If I’m honest, I don’t hear it in your voice.

The passion. I’m guessing that when you summoned Lyr, you really wanted to see him.

Tonight, I don’t know. You want to see Finn, but you don’t want to at the same time. ’

‘I can’t let myself be taken over by it like I have before. He wins if I do.’ Faye was torn; Gabriel was right. She feared seeing Finn, and she feared being taken back into Murias. But Aisha needed her.

‘But—’ Gabriel started to argue, and she felt the anger rise up in her again.

‘No! I have to stay in control. You don’t know what it’s like!

He’s like…it’s…’ She wanted to scream at her own sudden lack of eloquence.

‘I lose myself. I…forget. Everything except him. It’s…

’ How could she explain that the pleasure of Finn and of being in Murias made everything else pale by comparison?

That when she was in his arms, she’d sacrifice everything else to stay there, wrapped in the dark ecstasy of his touch?

And how could she tell Gabriel how much that loss of control lured and terrified her in equal measure?

‘Faye.’ Gabriel held out his hands for hers and clasped them in his. ‘From everything you’ve told me about your connection with Finn, it’s…deeply passionate. Right? It’s desire that links you.’

‘Yes, but—’ She tried to explain, but he shook his head.

‘Faye. You have to open yourself up to that desire. Don’t judge it. It’s part of you. You might think it’s a dark part, something in the shadows. But the things in the shadows are what give us power. That’s what magic teaches us, right?’

She nodded. He was right, but knowing something and having the courage to feel it were very different things.

‘You’ve got to let go,’ Gabriel said softly. ‘Call him with all the desire you have for him. I know it’s in you. And he knows, too.’

‘But what if I get lost there again?’ Faye felt as if she was standing on the edge of a cliff. She knew she had to jump; she knew that she would jump. But the thought of the fall rising up to meet her still made her stomach lurch and her head spin.

‘Then you get lost,’ Gabriel replied, completely serious. ‘Maybe that’s what you were supposed to do all along.’

She began again, letting the desire for Finn overwhelm her.

She concentrated on allowing all the dark, sweet joy in her to erupt; allowed herself to remember what it was like to submit to Finn Beatha.

To feel his fist at the nape of her neck, holding her hair.

His mouth on hers and his voice murmuring in her ear, Good girl.

Call me your Lord and Master. Submit to me.

Get on your knees. Tell me how badly you want it.

Finn , she called out with her mind. My Lord and Master. I am ready for you. I am ready to be your whore.

Dimly, she was aware that the wave on which the faerie king arrived, riding a black kelpie – half faerie horse, half serpent’s tail – submerged the whole of the empty, muddy Thames shore. But she was already under Finn’s influence and couldn’t know whether Gabriel had got out of its way in time.

Finn swung her onto the back of the kelpie, and she clung to his waist as the creature dived back under the water.