Page 1 of Crown of Tides and Fury

1

Come Out And Play

The bright sunshine snuck quietly into my room through thin cotton curtains. It warmed the corner of the bed and stared me down until I woke.

Come out and play, it said,before anyone can stop you.

Careful not to wake my bunkmate, Persi, I dressed quietly. A few minutes later, I was tiptoeing to the kitchen door of the B&B, but the screen screeched and gave me away.

“Mornin’,” someone growled behind me. It was Wickham. He shuffled to the coffee pot with his eyes half shut but said nothing to stop me. I kept moving before he could think to.

We were there, on the northeast coast of Scotland, searching for an immensely powerful witch. But we were also being stalked ourselves by a man who used to love me, who had turned out to be Fae. He also happened to have wings, could fly like freaking Superman, and wanted me dead.

It was the combination of wings and menace that kept me from enjoying the sunshine for the past month. Each time I stepped outside, Wickham would point to the sky to remind me to grab my umbrella or get back inside. Of course, it had nothing to do with the rain that came and went throughout the day along the edges of the North Sea.

Griffon, our stalker, once told me he couldn’t fly over populated places in daylight hours, for obvious reasons, but he’d proved that was a lie the last time he learned where I was. Apparently, when Fae like him are angry enough, they do whatever they damn well want. I couldn’t assume anything anymore.

We were proud of the fact that we’d evaded him for a month now, while we went about our own business of saving the world before it knew it was in danger. But with each hour that passed, I knew we were getting that much closer to the day Griffon Carew found me. I just hoped our little company of four could do something meaningful before that happened.

I picked my way to the cliff’s edge a few hundred yards from our little rented cottage. There, I found a path that took me halfway down the cliff face, to a wide ledge that was perfect for watching the violent waves of the sea gnawing on the rocky coast.

I sat on my butt, raised my face to the morning sun, and willed Vitamin D into my skin. Something shuffled on the rock beside me and I jumped. When my sun-fried eyes worked again, I found a little blond girl sitting close, hugging her knees, and grinning out at the waves, her long hair dancing on the breeze.

“Hello,” I said. “Where did you come from?”

She rolled her eyes and pointed at the top of the cliff behind us.

“Are you lost?”

Again, she rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grinned at the water.

I guessed she was five or six judging from the tiny, perfect teeth of her smile. Too young to have lost any. Her cheeks were round and rosy. Her blue eyes sparkled with unabashed excitement, though she avoided eye contact like it was a game. Maybe she was like me and thought she was getting away with something.

“Are you hiding from someone?”

Another shake, followed by a giggle.

“What’s your name?”

“Fallon.” Her voice was sweet and bubbly like laughter itself. Her smile never faltered.

“Does anyone know you’re out here?”

A nod.

“Were you sent to tell me something?”

A shake.

“It’s a nice sunny day,” I said finally, grasping at conversation straws.

She gestured to the water. “On good days, she brings me treasure.”

“Oh, I see. You’re hoping to do some beachcombing?”

Another shake. A minute later, she got up on her knees so she could reach my face, then turned my head away from the view. “Don’t look. And count to ten!”

I did what I was told, counted aloud, counted slow, and she joined in.

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