Page 2

Chapter two

Roisin

T he days on Earth blended together. We’d spent hours upon hours every day researching the books in the Fellowship library. In those days, I’d spent every single one avoiding talking to Brandon. It didn’t stop me from staring at him, though.

Or studying the magical bookshelf at the end of the library that they allowed no one to touch.

I’d somehow wound up standing in front of it yet again, even though my family had warned me not to touch any of the books on the shelves because they’d disappear if a person removed one book. It was a strange phenomenon to have a bookshelf in a library we couldn’t touch. What was so special about the books? Or was it the shelf? I scanned the titles of each book yet again. The books appeared the same as all the other books in the library. Some titles were more obscure, while others were exact, and pretty designs etched others. All were leather-bound volumes. Sturdy in appearance .

“Roisin!”

I jolted back from the shelf.

“What were you doing?” Lorcan asked.

“Looking at the books.”

“Make sure that’s all you do,” he said. “Come on, Ciara is about to try to fix the spring.”

Turning our backs on the shelf, we strode from the library, up the stairs, and into the garden outside where the entire Fellowship stood waiting. Luckily, they hadn’t seen me near the magical bookshelf.

After so long of searching, my sister Ciara had finally found a cure and now she was heading back to the Summer Court to fix our dying spring.

She lifted her hands and called on her powers. Magic swirled as the Veil opened to the Summer Court. It was a sight I’d only witnessed when watching my brothers and other sisters escape through the lock the Fae King, our father, had put on it many years ago. I’d never watched Ciara wield the Veil with her dark shadow magic. Like me, she’d only recently traveled to Earth. Everything had changed of late. Father had relinquished a fraction of his control and had opened a doorway through the Veil, but our dying Spring of Life meant our powers weren’t performing how they should.

Ciara stepped into the swirling magic of the Veil, her shadow powers shot out, and grasped the hand of Sir Axis, the Water Sprite Master, in a last-bid attempt to fix our magical water. If he wasn’t powerful enough to perform the task, as a being of immense waterpower, then we’d lose our immortality and die. A concept that had never occurred to any of us. I squinted my eyes as Sir Axis disappeared into the shadows and, in a way, became a part of Ciara.

Her best friend and recently discovered fated mate, Malachi, who’d swapped images with Sir Axis to trick the magic of the Veil, appeared distraught as the Veil closed and Ciara disappeared entirely from our sight. My brother Lorcan’s fated mate, Pepper, a witch, had performed a spell on Malachi and Sir Axis to swap appearances. It was better than the alternative of Ciara marking Sir Axis as her mate, so he’d be able to travel through the Veil to the Summer Court because only Fae could travel there. All so the Water Sprite Master would fix our spring.

I had every faith in Ciara that she would be the one to find a cure for our problems. I hadn’t expected it to bring her problems. We’d all been blind to the fact Malachi and Ciara were fated mates. No, that wasn’t right. The declining spring had warped everything, and the locked Veil had altered everything, too.

Earth was the most damaged by our absence, according to everyone. Part of me sensed the disturbance in the realm, as though it was calling to my powers. The fabric of the realm was crying out in pain for me to heal it, but my powers over ice would more likely damage it than heal the realm. I wasn’t sure what my part in this journey was, but I was here on Earth trying to find a future, my future.

My fate.

We all had one.

Saoirse was fated to find her wolf shifter mate, Arrow, near a magical waterfall. Briana was fated to find Sledge, a wolf shifter mate too, in the same location of Crystal Creek, so she helped Saoirse give birth to the newest Fae royal, Ailbhe. Rian was fated to save his jaguar shifter mate, Sophia, and move to Earth to be by her side as she ruled the Amazon Jungle. Lorcan was fated to find Pepper, a witch who had led us back to Saltine, our long-ago witch seer who’d helped us vanquish the Trappers. Aislinn was fated to find her long-lost fated mate Fallon on Earth, which led to the discovery of this place and the Fellowship of the Infinite Spring, which was connected to our Spring of Life. Ciara was fated to Malachi all along, but their journey to a secret magical location above the waterfall led them to the Water Sprites who were about to help cure our spring.

Was there anything left for me to do?

I pressed a finger between my eyes.

“Are you all right?” Aislinn asked.

Ever since she’d found her fated mate, she’d become less inclined to lead with her daggers, and more open to discussing feelings. It was a tad strange to see her transformation, but I suppose love did that to people.

I dropped my hand. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, aye, we’re all fine.” Her fingers stroked the hilt of the dagger strapped to her waist.

“We will be,” I said, standing up tall and forcing a smile onto my face. “Ciara will do this.”

Aislinn’s gaze softened. “You always have so much faith in all of us.”

“Of course, you’re my family. If I can’t believe in you, then who can I believe in?”

A slight pink tinged her cheeks.

“I have a lot of apologizing to do,” she said.

“For what?”

“I was so angry and unhappy for so long. I’m ashamed to admit I took it out on you and the others.” Her blush deepened.

“You weren’t so bad.” I shrugged.

Aislinn laughed meekly, then surprised me with a hug. I squeezed her back and let out a sigh.

“You can tell me anything,” she whispered into my ear.

“Aye,” I whispered back, then released her, clearing my throat of the emotions between us. “I honestly don’t know. It’s like this weight or pressure on me. I’m supposed to be doing something important.”

Aislinn’s brows dipped into a frown. “Were you meant to go back with Ciara?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s this place.” I pointed to the stairs leading to the underground library.

“We have a lot more to research in those books. Perhaps that’s it?”

“Maybe.” I sighed.

Aislinn gasped. A strange sensation ran through my body and tingled every inch of my skin. She grabbed my arm.

“Did you sense that?”

“Aye.”

“She did it.” She released my arm and placed her hands over her mouth .

“Of course, Ciara found the cure.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. None of my brothers and sisters believed my faith in Ciara, but I’d known all along she’d succeed.

Aislinn shook her arms. “I haven’t experienced this much power for years.”

I lifted my hands and grimaced at the ice lining the tips of my fingers. My power had surged with the cure of the spring, but thankfully, I hadn’t iced the entire secret garden even if the garden was decrepit and overgrown. Imagine if I’d frozen everyone here. All the Fellowship members who’d tried to help us. My gaze slid to one member in particular.

Brandon O’Cuinn.

Dark and dangerous in looks. He wore a black jacket with a black T-shirt. I’d learned the names of everyone since coming here, but it was Brandon who was stuck in my mind. His pants were black too and highlighted the tight muscles of his legs and the firm roundness… Heat filled my face and I glanced at the ground, willing my racing hormones to calm. The way I felt around him was inexplicable and who would I ask about the strange emotions I was experiencing? Every time I looked at him, my heart raced. No other man had attracted me. Not until Brandon. My family hadn’t been around humans for centuries, and while I’d heard the stories of Fae finding love with humans, we all knew we’d never be able to mark them as our mates. Human bodies weren’t strong enough for our powers. While we might be compatible in some ways, we’d never be fated to each other. This was my first time around humans. I fi ngered the folds of my rainbow-colored dress. I hadn’t changed into human clothing yet. Well, I had for a day while one of the Fellowship members cleaned my dress, but I’d quickly returned to wearing my familiar dress as soon as possible.

A heated gaze on my face made me drag my attention from the unruly plants around my feet to find Brandon’s dark blue gaze studying me. I’d caught him looking at me many times. He’d tried talking to me many times too, but I’d fled in the other direction. Words tangled on my tongue in his presence. There was no point admitting Brandon appealed to me. Fae couldn’t mark a human as their mate. I’d kill him. He didn’t deserve to die because I found him attractive. His gaze snared mine for a moment before I followed the contours of his face to the dark stubble lining his cheeks and chin. The darkness surrounded the pale pink of his lips. My gaze stayed on them for a moment too, before the heat returned to my face. I longed to escape his proximity.

Brandon’s grandfather, the leader of the Fellowship, stepped beside him and his intense gaze left me. The loss was instantaneous, as though every cell in my body craved his attention.

I glanced around the group, who were all celebrating. Now was my chance to do the one thing I’d wanted since I saw it inside the library.