When Magic Sleeps (9 page)

“There’s more,” Winnie explained as she pulled on her clothes. “I don’t just see them in real life. I dream about them.”

Maureen looked at her, eyes wide and confused. Then her confusion cleared. “Your stories.”

“My stories,” Winnie agreed as she bent down and pulled on her shoes.

“The prince?” Maureen’s smile softened. “You love him?”

“I do. I really do.” Winnie yanked her laces tight. “My stories don’t come from dreams like I thought. They’re really happening. And right now, I have to
go tell them what I saw.”

Maureen didn’t argue as Winnie stood and walked to the door.

“Wait,” her aunt said.

Winnie stopped, afraid she was going to try to stop her.

Instead, she heard her aunt push up from the bed. “I’ll drive you.”

Cathair did not see the car until it was almost too late.

He was so focused on getting back to Winnie, that he just barely saw the flash of blue in time to leap out of the way. Tires screeched on pavement. A voice
shouted, “Stop, stop, Aunt Maureen!”

Cathair picked himself up from the knee-high grass by the side of the road. As he stood, he saw Winnie climbing out of the car. Leaving the door wide open
behind her, she raced across the blacktop.

“Cathair!” she shouted. “Oh God, are you okay?”

He caught her as she all but leaped into him. Eyes closed, he inhaled her berry-sweet scent. Wrapped her in his arms. Felt her in every inch of his being.

“I am fine,” he insisted. “The car could not have hurt me.”

She leaned back. “What? Oh right, the
practically
immortal thing.

He could not hold back the smile. He felt lighter than he had in months, years probably. With Winnie in his arms, everything felt right.

“Your neck.” She tilted her head to get a closer look. “It’s all healed.”

“Thanks to you.”

If not for her efforts, he would be dead on the sidewalk next to her house and Ultan would likely have gotten away with his treachery. Perhaps no one would
have even known his fate. They might have guessed he ran away, fleeing his arranged marriage to be with his human love. Perhaps that was what Ultan had
planned.

“I—“ She placed her hands on either side of his face. “I was so scared. I didn’t know if it would be enough. I didn’t know if I could save you and—“

“Shhhh.” He wrapped his hands around hers. “It is well.
I
am well.”

She stared, unblinking, like she couldn’t quite believe it was true.

“Oh!” She jerked back. “I need to tell you about my dream. I saw a wolf, the wolf I think I attacked you.”

“And it was Ultan,” he finished. “We have uncovered the traitor and driven him out.”

“How could he do that? How could he try to kill his own prince?” She sounded genuinely confused by the idea of anyone perpetrating such evil.

Cathair smiled at her goodness.

“Greed for power corrupts the purest hearts,” he replied. Not that Ultan had ever had the purest heart. But Cathair had seen with his own eyes the cost of
power lust. His father had been consumed by it. He would not let such darkness come between him and Winnie, not now that they were reunited.

“There has been one benefit to Ultan’s betrayal,” Cathair said, his voice soft and full of the love he felt for Winnie. “I am free.”

“Free?” she echoed.

Cathair lifted her chin with a finger. “I.” He pressed a kiss to her nose. “Am.” Another to her forehead. “Free.” The final kiss landed on her mouth, and
he sank into it. She welcomed the pressure of his lips on hers but then she suddenly jerked back.

“You’re free,” she said, a goofy smile on her face. “You’re. Free.”

“That is what I said.” He returned her smile.

“So what you’re saying is,” she said, beaming, “that you’re free.”

“That is the general idea.”

Winnie kissed him. Hard.

He felt like his heart might actually explode with joy.

“Ahem.”

Winnie pulled back, her cheeks flaming red. “Oh. Right.” She turned and gestured at the woman standing next to the car. “Cathair, this is my aunt Maureen.
Is there any way she can…”

She waved her hands vaguely at him, but he understood her meaning. He drew back his magic, peeling back the shield that hid him from human eyes.

Winnie’s aunt gasped. “Unbelievable.”

“Aunt Maureen, this is Cathair.” Winnie looped her arm through his. “Dark Prince of the Clan Moraine.”

“I am…” Maureen shook her head. “Unbelievable.”

With a smile, Winnie turned back to him. “This is all really new to her.”

He reached up, pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. In this moment, with her in his arms, Cathair felt like the rest of the world—both human and fae—could
just fade away. But he knew that could not last forever.

“Were you coming to find me?” she asked.

“I was,” he replied.

“Good,” she said. “Because I was coming to find you.”

“Then it seems like we found each other.”

Though it did nothing for his magic, he could feel the contentment within her. Could feel the joy.

“Will you come back with me?” he asked.

“I can’t just… walk away. Not forever anyway.” She glanced back over her shoulder at her aunt, who seemed to be in some kind of shock. “I’m the only family
she has.”

“I’m not asking for forever. We can figure out forever later.”

Her smile could have melted the coldest heart. She pulled away, went to speak with her aunt, who seemed only capable of nodding and wide-eyed staring.
After a few minutes, Winnie returned to his side.

“I told her I would be back soon. She understands.” She glanced back over her shoulder and waved. She turned her face up to him. “Did you know I have fae
magic on
both
sides of my family?”

“So I have recently heard.”

Cathair took her hand in his, and together they walked into the forest.

His mind swirled with all the joy and happiness he knew was coming.

There would be pain and difficulty, too, he knew that. There always was.

But he had faith. Besides, it wasn’t every day a seer pulled him out of dreams and found him real life. That was a deeper magic even than that which
guarded his realm. A magic he couldn’t walk away from. He was going to take whatever magic he could, for as long as he could. Somehow he didn’t think there
would be a shortage around Winnie.

They could figure out the details later.

Thanks for taking the time to read When Magic Sleeps. I hope you loved it! If you did (and even if you didn’t) please consider taking the time to leave a review on GoodReads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other sites. It would mean a lot!

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XOXO,

TLC

Tera Lynn Childs
is the RITA-award-winning author of the mythology-based
Oh. My. Gods.
and
Goddess Boot Camp
, the mermaid tales
Forgive My Fins
,
Fins Are Forever
and
Just For Fins
, and a kick-butt trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa that includes
Sweet Venom
,
Sweet Shadows
, and
Sweet Legacy
. She has published two e-novellas,
Goddess In Time
and
Pretty In Pearls
, and self-published her City Chicks sweet chick lit series. Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

Eye Candy

Straight Stalk

Trying Texas

Oh. My. Gods.

Goddess Boot Camp

Goddess in Time

Forgive My Fins

Fins Are Forever

Just For Fins

Pretty in Pearls

Sweet Venom

Sweet Shadows

Sweet Legacy

When Magic Sleeps

© 2014 by Tera Lynn Childs

Cover design by Damon Za

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious
manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
actual events is purely coincidental.

Digital edition 1.0.

ISBN: 978-0-9904605-6-5

All rights reserved. This book or any
portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.