Excerpt!
I shut my eyes tight, aching for Finn. I tried to dream, but sleep escaped me. After hours of tossing and turning, I slipped out of the tent. The camp had settled, the only sound the occasional murmuring of male voices or the pop of sparks from a fire. I walked back to the hill from earlier in the day and sat down in the cool grass, the night wind whispering through my hair. Cuchulainn paced, a tiny dot against the cliffs. How could I, Elizabeth Tanner, defeat one of the greatest warriors who ever lived? The very idea made me laugh out loud, and I shook my head, planting my chin in my hands.
“You cannot win, you know,” a silky female voice said beside me.
I started, my eyes widening and taking in the glowing, translucent being sitting beside me. Black hair flowed down the length of her back, her eyes so dark they appeared as nothing more than two deep pits in her perfect porcelain face. Bloodstained red lips smiled at me, sharp teeth gleaming.
I scrambled away, but the figure waved her hand, paralyzing me. I struggled against the weight of her spell, a crushing weight on my chest, but no matter how hard I strained my muscles, I couldn’t budge an inch.
“But I might be able to assist you in thwarting the great Cuchulainn.” She crawled over to me, her breasts pressed up against mine.
Who are you? I longed to ask, my throat muscles tightening.
“Oh, you know me, Elizabeth Tanner,” she whispered, her lips grazing against my neck. “You took one of my greatest warriors from me.”
A cold frost chilled my heart, stopping it for a moment. It was the MorrΓgan. Who else could it be? I had stood in the way of Finn’s blood oath, Finn forsaking this goddess for me. And now, she had come to collect her debts.
“You left him behind to fight alone.” She shook her head slowly, narrowing her hollow eyes. “Foolish girl. You should hold on to your warriors better.”
My heart leapt into my throat. “What’s happened to him? What do you know?”
“I know a lot of things,” she replied. “The past…the present…and the future…”
My mouth strained with the invectives I longed to throw at her, but MorrΓgan simply laughed, her breath cold against my skin.
“It is no matter,” she said. “You fight Cuchulainn tomorrow. I can help you.”
I tried to shake my head. I didn’t want her help. She would only assist me to steal Finn away again.
“The choice is not yours, Elizabeth Tanner,” she whispered. “Defeat Cuchulainn. Steal the bull. Return to your lover, Finn. But know this…” She sat up, staring at me, her long black hair floating around her blank white face. A flicker of a flame quickened in her eyes, turning into a great red inferno. I swallowed the hard lump in my throat, pure terror racing through me. My hearth pounded like a snare drum, fast and violent and threatening to tear through my chest.
“When it comes to the Fianna,” she continued, “all roads lead back to the MorrΓgan.”
Aisling Elizabeth Tanner is now the leader of the Faerie rebellion. Facing the end of the world, she will have to find the strength to lead the Fae to victory against the threat they face, or risk losing everything, including Finn, whom she’s come to love more than life.
Warrior Finn O’Connell wants nothing more than to fight by Elizabeth’s side. But an ancient Celtic goddess threatens to take charge of his soul, and he will have to wage a war within himself to save the rebellion from disintegrating into chaos.
Betrayal leads them into the Fae Underworld, where Finn discovers his greatest sacrifice might be letting Elizabeth go—forever.
Author bio:
As a child, Colleen Halverson used to play in the woods imagining worlds and telling stories to herself. Growing up on military bases, she found solace in her local library and later decided to make a living sharing the wonders of literature to poor, unsuspecting college freshmen. After backpacking through Ireland and singing in a traditional Irish music band, she earned a PhD in English with a specialization in Irish literature. When she’s not making up stories or teaching, she can be found hiking the rolling hills of the Driftless area of Wisconsin with her husband and two children. She also writes as C.B. Halverson.
