“When Hurley-Ghair and Merissa meet, human and fairy worlds collide. The only thing saving them and their homes from a destructive force is a hidden portal stone, an owl, and something magic.”
Coming late Winter 2018
Prologue
The kitchen smelled of patchouli, chocolate, and coffee. Strong coffee. I took another sip of the hot brew and closed my eyes. Heavenly. Nonna definitely knew how to brew a good cup of joe. A fresh batch of brownies sat on a plate in the middle of the oak table right next to a bowl of realistic plastic fruit. So much so, that the first time I saw that basket, I reached for an apple, bit into it, and almost broke a few teeth. Nonna had a long, good laugh over that one. I chuckled softly at the memory.
“What brings you here, Princess?” Nonna sat down at the table and immediately began fanning the tarot cards that she carried in her vest pocket, out on the table. “Ahh, I see.” She flipped a card. “Oh my, my, my.” She looked my way and smiled. “Involves a man with amber eyes. This is good. A little lust is quite healthy.”
I almost spewed my coffee. “Nonna!”
“Would I be wrong?” She turned her attention back to the cards, nodded then picked them back up and began shuffling.
“Save your energy. I’ve peered into the scrying waters, the crystals, and the chimes have sung me tunes from the winds coming out of the North. The fae King is gone. The waters showed me his burial fires.” Nonna stopped and placed the cards down on the table, took a sip of her jasmine tea and looked at me. It was unnerving the way her focus never wavered. She was searching my eyes. “I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
“I know. I’m searching and watching your aura. What you’re going to have to do won’t be easy. It will set your sails down a new path and I need to know you’re ready.” She paused and looked me in the eyes. “Are you?”
I wriggled my nose. “I don’t want a new path. I just got settled into this new routine. I love helping you in here in the shop. These last several months have been the best. You have no help. I have no money. I can’t go off on a wild good chase. I can’t.”
Nonna raised her hand in a stop motion. “You sound like your mother. I raised you differently.” She picked up the cards and began shuffling them while I sipped my coffee.
“I have to find the Prince. I’m not sure why I do though. Wouldn’t his family let him know about the King’s death?” Nonna flipped a card over with a loud schwack against the table. I saw her grin then she looked up at me and smirked. “What?” I asked. She held up the Lover’s card. I stood, upending my coffee and spilling the last dregs of it on the table. I grabbed some napkins quick and started mopping up the spill thankful I didn’t have to look at her and that smirk on her face for a moment. I threw the wet napkins out and as I passed by, Nonna was hiding her large smile behind her hand. “No! No, no, and no.” Nonna chuckled. I wagged my finger. “I am not getting involved with a fae prince slash rock star. He’s everything I do not need in my life.”
“And, that is why he is perfect for you.”
“No.” Nonna flipped cards and I watched as the two of cups, the sun, moon and universe cards came up. Changes, love, having everything or nothing. Fates aligned. I sighed.
“Yep. He’s the one.”
“I’m not going.”
“Merissa Jane Dunleavy. You were shown the future, it’s an obligation to find him. Perhaps by telling him now you might be able to circumvent the king’s death from happening.”
“Nonna, we both know we can’t change what will happen. Especially, with the fae. Besides, they don’t like us.”
“You, my princess, are going to change that. I’ve seen it in my waters.” She gave me a squeeze about the shoulders and grabbed my coffee mug.
“I can get that myself.”
“No. You need to find out where your man, your fairy rock star prince, is.”
I watched as she poured me coffee and fixed it just the way I liked it. I’d already done the research and as fate would have it, Scott was in Boston this weekend on his way to New York for a show. And, if my gut was right (and it usually was), he was hanging in Salem, Massachusetts.
“I assume you’ve already researched?” When I didn’t respond, Nonna giggled like a teenager, not like the seventy-five year old she was. “Let me go get my pendulum.”
I sighed. There was no fighting Nonna on this. “He’s local, so pull out the North Shore map.”
Nonna rifled through a box that she kept hidden inside the hutch, pulled out a map then spread it out on the table. Pulling out her pendulum from her vest pocket, she dangled the obsidian stone over the paper, closed her eyes, and began a silent chant. I watched and drank my cup of coffee. The sound of a loud thunk on the map made me jump. The stone sat on the word Salem. It didn’t land on a street, but it confirmed my hunch that Scott Jaynes, musician extraordinaire was hanging in Salem, Massachusetts.
“Well, it appears your future husband is right here in Salem. I would check all the visitor hotspots. The Witch Museum, the cemetery, trolley cars, the Willows, Cabot’s Place, Pyramid Books. He’s a rock star, so check the Purple Scorpion.”
“I highly doubt Scott Jaynes is getting a tattoo.”
“Ooh is that his name. Nice. Merissa Jaynes. It has a nice ring to it.”
“Nonna!”
“Well, it does. Of course, he would have a fae name.” She scratched her chin. “Now give that cup here and get out of my house. Go find him. Be nice to him. We want to bridge the gap between us. My guess is he’ll know of you – the fae are pretty smart.”
“So will he have wings?” I chuckled, but Nonna didn’t. She was too engrossed in thought of pairing me up with Scott.
“You’ll know him. Be careful of the eyes. They are sneaky and can bewitch a witch.”
“Yes, Nonna.” I reached over and gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Thank you. Are you going to be alright at the store today?”
“Yes. Now go. You’re stalling. Your future husband awaits.”
#Something_Magic #athatHusseynovel #FallWinter2018
Not to be reprinted, photocopied, or redistributed in any form without express consent from the author: S.A. Hussey.
S. A. Hussey 