The Cursed Fae

Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Sophie Davis All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover by Christian Bentulan Artwork by Samaiya Beaumont * For Samiaya, the magician who brings our wild ideas to fruition in a whole new medium… Do you know what we could do?? Chapter one Winter Isn’t Coming, She’s Already HereDark shadows engulfed my house. It should've been lit both inside and out with lights on a timer. The hinge on the old fence gate squeaked when I slipped through. Freezing, I listened for a response and heard only silence. The air was still. Too still.Only the sound of my heart pounding in my chest broke into the monotonous quiet.I knew better than to walk up the stone path. Three of the four porch steps creaked at even the slightest pressure. Ignoring my instincts, I crept on tiptoes to the top. The keys in my hand jingled like wind chimes, and my breath caught.Nothing happened.I suppressed a nervous giggle. Everything was fine. This wasn't like before. My roommate was on her way home from work, and then I would no longer be alone. Eyes darting left and right, I swallowed the worst of my fear and slid my key into the deadbolt.Just as I twisted the knob, it hit me. The reason every one of my nerve endings tingled. Not the lack of lights. Not the deafening silence. It was nothing so human.The wards. Where are the fucking wards?Stars exploded before my eyes; an intense stab of pain at the back of my skull registered a second later. I had only enough time for my stomach to grow queasy and cramp before I dropped to the porch.A ghostly-white face leaned down to hover over mine. Sharp, pointy fangs jutted out as his lips spread into a slow smile.“Hello, Winter, darling,” the vampire drawled. “Have you missed me?”Even as a young child, I'd felt different. Not just because I was fae, either. Our kind were rare, but there were thousands of us spread across the world. While most lived in enclaves, my mom and I had been on our own my entire life, living in normal human towns. I'd graduated from a typical southern California high school before working as a server while considering college. That was all abruptly changing.“Ah, home.” Mom inhaled deeply, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds as we passed a sign that read: Welcome to Arcane Landing!I replied with a noncommittal grunt. My mother's reaction to returning to her hometown was always a weird mix of relief and trepidation, though she did her best to hide the latter. I didn't need her to voice the concern to know it existed. There was a reason we'd stayed away so long, and a reason we were fleeing there now.“You'll learn to love it here, Winter.” Mom reached over and gave my arm a quick squeeze. “I promise.”“You promise?” I scoffed, unable to help myself. “Don't you mean, you hope?”Mom's green eyes flashed red in the headlights of a car coming in the opposite direction. “Winter Lynn Sable.”I sighed and averted my gaze to the snow-frosted trees. I knew I should apologize. It wasn't Mom's fault we had to leave California, but that didn't make it any easier to leave my job and friends.“This is an opportunity for you to be among people like you,” Mom continued, as though my snide comment and her subsequent rebuke had never happened. “Just give it a chance. I was happy growing up here.”Instead of answering, I sunk lower in my seat and pulled up the hood of my sweatshirt.Mom launched into her Arcane Landing sales pitch for the dozenth time, extolling the virtues of small-town living: the mail carrier knows your name; the butcher, baker, and candle blogger visit your house on holidays; the local vet doubles as a barber.Several times on our cross-country road trip, I'd asked why she'd left if she loved it so much. Each time, she'd immediately changed the subject. Not that I expected her to answer.Despite the late hour, my great-grandmother trotted across the porch of her colonial home before Mom turned off the engine. At just shy of her 97th birthday, Nana Essie didn't think twice before hurrying down icy steps in nothing more than a housecoat and orthopedic sneakers.“Nana,” Mom chastised as her grandmother yanked open my door and swooped in for a hug.“Hush, Colleen. I'm a water fae. If I can't stand an early snowfall, I don't deserve to keep breathing on this earth.” Nana pulled back from our embrace to appraise me with her sharp gaze. “You look thin, Winter. Colleen, have you been feeding this child? She's too skinny.” Nana shook her head. “Never mind all that. Dinner is on the table.” She grabbed my hand and started pulling me from the car.“Hi to you too, Nana,” I said, as she led me up the stairs.“It's after midnight,” Mom called after us. “We already ate.”“You'll have to speak up, Colleen. My hearing isn't what it used to be,” Nana said, giving me a wink over her shoulder.All three of us knew her senses were basically superhuman. We also all realized there was no use in arguing with a woman who'd posed as her twin brother to fight on the front lines during World War II. Nothing stopped Nana from getting her way.Mom launched more feeble protests, citing both my need to be up at the crack of dawn for my first day of college and the fact we should unpack the car. Essie acted as if she didn't hear a word.The town of Arcane Landing might not have given me the warm fuzzies, but Nana's house sure did. It was cozy and lived in like no place we'd ever rented. The scars on the wooden floors