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Prologue

O f Gods and Shapeshifters

They say Dionysus is a wild, untamed god, beautiful in the way of all gods.

He loves wine and women, and his rites are dark, tempting, addictive.

It was Dionysus and his followers, both fae and human, who created the first fada during his infamous bacchanals.

By some mysterious magic, the fada were shapeshifters, a mix of fae, human and animal genes—and a touch of the god himself.

The first fada lived in the Mediterranean Sea, water shifters who could change to dolphins, seals, otters, even sharks and other fish. They were dark, ruthless, and as untamed as the god who’d first given them life. From the Mediterranean, they spread throughout the world’s rivers and seas.

Centuries passed, and then one day, a tiny clan of Arab fae from North Africa’s Fertile Crescent got together and created the earth fada, shifters who could change to land-based animals like cougars or bears or deer.

Dionysus found it amusing to provide the spark of life to this new creation.

The North African fae gifted the quartz and its special energy to earth fada alone.

But like most fae gifts, it came with an edge—with the right incantation, a fae can control an earth fada through his or her quartz.

Fortunately, that knowledge is known to only a few North African fae.

When an earth fada reaches a certain age, he or she is taught the secret of the quartz. They vow to guard the secret with their lives. Because if the fae ever learn the earth shifters can be controlled through their quartz, they’re doomed.