Page 1 of Faerie Marked

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The empty picture frames lining my dresser were a constant reminder of what I didn’t have. I’d thought about keeping the stock images they’d come with, but the idea of staring at the perfect smiling faces of couples and families was like a knife to the gut.Everythingwas a reminder of the fact: my parents were dead.

I furiously wiped at the tears trailing down my cheeks.

A Fae mother and a werewolf father…a forbidden romance doomed from the start, and a daughter left behind, destined to fit in nowhere.

I had no pictures of the two of them and none existed of the three of us together.

Happy birthday to me.

Normally I wouldn’t risk the tears because Uncle William hated any display of emotion that could potentially show weakness to our enemies. He hadn’t even cried when his brother died, or so I was told.

Besides, he was a defense attorney—one of the best—and kept his guard high. Whether this was a side effect of his chosen profession or a personality defect, I didn’t know.

I sighed, pushing heavy red hair out of my eyes, dreading the next few hours. Tonight’s party should have been a few stolen moments of joy, a celebration of epic proportions for my eighteenth birthday. “You only turn eighteen once,” Uncle Will had said, and he had always made sure to give me whatever I wanted after I became his ward.

Even though he possessed more money than God—excuse the hyperbole—he could never give me the one thing I wanted.My parents. It was simply beyond his scope.

If he knew I was up here moping instead of getting ready, what a lecture I’d get. His words had the ability to strip me bare and leave me a shaky mess. It was a particular talent of his, and sometimes I felt like he practiced on me and the house staff so he’d be better prepared for court.

The door to my room burst open, shattering the precious silence. From the doorway where she stood, my friend Dawn de León stared at me with golden eyes, her hair a perfectly styled wave of sleek chestnut running along her spine. She’d set her standards tostunningfor the evening, adorning her lanky frame in a dress made of pure sunlight. The golden shimmering ensemble complemented her eyes, and every detail down to the diamond earrings dripping from her ears was on point.

By comparison, I looked like a troll.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You do know you can’t be a party pooper if it’s your own party, right? Stop sulking and get down there!” she insisted.

I tried to force a smile for my best friend and failed miserably. “I’m sorry, Dawn.”

“Tavi Alderidge, please tell mewhyyou’re up here in the dark alone when there is food to be eaten and a hot boy waiting for you to grab him and kiss him?” Dawn emphasized the statement by miming me grabbing thehot boyby the shirt and dragging him up to my waiting lips and tongue.

She wouldn’t tolerate my behavior for much longer, if pulling out the last-name gun was any indication. I’d used up my allotted “alone time” for the evening and the cavalry had come to rouse me to battle.

My hands, stiff from clenching them at my sides, were nearly numb and I tried to shake them out. The sun had already set outside and washed the world in hues of violet and navy. I knew whatever fleeting moments of stillness I’d enjoyed were now gone for good.

“Sorry. I was thinking,” I told Dawn with a soft smile.

“Tavi!” Her gasp scraped past me. “Unless you were thinking about Jason Rutledge and how to pull him into a dark corner to be alone, then clear your mind because no other thoughts have a place there. Not today. It’s your birthday!”

I knew Dawn wanted to cheer me up. And part of me wished I could tell my friend about the sadness. About the real reason why my eyes were a little red. “I’m fine,” I insisted. “Getting my head in the game.”

“You’re going to have to do a lot more thanget your head in the game, girl. What have you done to your hair? All those waves…” She clucked her tongue and moved forward, apparently to straighten me out.

Dawn had done her shining brown hair better than any salon could reproduce. Blessed with beauty and the money to back it up, she was a prize by the standards of anyone in the pack.

A few more pokes and prods from her ever-caring hands and I was deemed good as new, her thumbs wiping beneath my eyes at any trace of smeared liner.

I took a calming breath and stood at last. “Okay. Let’s go have some fun.”

Every word cost me and part of me still remained back on the bed, staring at those empty frames. But now, I’d insisted on my readiness, and Dawn would brook no further argument. She looped her arm through mine until we were linked at the elbows.

“You are not going to believe the kind of spread your uncle put together tonight. You haven’t seen it yet, have you? I mean, I don’t know when you last left your room, but you are going to die! It’s amazing. So much better than the party my parents did formyeighteenth. You are so lucky.”

I listened to her talk without any need—or room—for comment, one good thing about Dawn. Once she got on a roll, she did most of the heavy lifting in any conversation.

It didn’t take long to navigate the winding white-and-black-veined marble staircase, then Dawn pushed me out the back door and into the yard. A lush green lawn stretched as far as the eye could see, only a small part of Uncle William’s estate and kept in manicured perfection by an army of hired gardeners. Tonight, he’d erected a stage for musicians to play and the sound of the band echoed across the horde of people. My pack members.

Warmth stole over me. No matter my bastard heritage, these people were here forme. They were here to celebrate a significant milestone in my life. My uncle led our wolf pack, and as his niece I enjoyed a place of esteem within the hierarchy. No one understood the tenuous grasp I really held on the position of status. If they knew the truth about me, I wouldn’t be allowed to stand here.

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