Page 3 of Broken Veil
Duncan sucked in a breath, flopped over on his side, and let out a hard snort before he threw an arm over his eyes and fell back asleep.
Carys smiled. Okay, her kick-ass boyfriend was also just a man.
Glancing around the dim bedroom, she realized Duncan might be just a man to her, but that was probably not how the world saw him. And how the world saw him was going to be an issue.
“Oh dear. You’re American.”
Duncan’s mother’s disappointment couldn’t have been more clear.
Since Carys had been born in Wales, she was—strictly speaking—a dual citizen, but while Duncan was a man of money, position, and influence, Carys was an associate mythology professor at a moderately priced state university in Northern California.
Of course, if they were getting technical, she was also a nêrys ddraig, a dragon lord, and a niece of the King of Cymru in the parallel dimension that lived just on the other side of the fae gates connecting the modern world and the magical one.
But that might be a little too complicated to explain to Duncan’s mother.
She rolled onto her side and stared at the window, wishing the night away.
They had arrived in Brightlands London the night before, just as a massive earthen barrow had appeared next to Stonehenge, baffling the human world.
And in the weeks before that, she’d seen an Anglian king crowned, a fae prince declare war on the human kingdoms by stealing children, another fae prince return from exile, and nearly been in a war between human and magical armies.
And in the middle of all that, she’d not quite accidentally released an ancient war goddess into the Brightlands.
She and Duncan had returned to London because she’d sensed a trap, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a fae mound appearing in the human world, drones buzzing over it, and evening news presenters offering glib commentary on the supernatural activity.
“…law enforcement has been challenged by a group of neo-pagan activists who are trying to enter the site, claiming any attempt to obstruct them is a violation of their religious freedom.”
The Brightlands was not prepared for what the Morrígan was planning.
She was staring into the corner, fascinated by the play of shadows against the window from the tree outside, and drifting back to sleep.
Nêrys.
Carys smiled when she heard her dragon’s comforting, deep voice.Cadell?
I wasn’t sure you were awake.
Only a little bit. Are you okay?
She and Duncan had returned to the Brightlands with Cadell, her best friend Laura, and two other magical creatures from the Shadowlands, a wolf shifter named Godrik and a fae healer named Naida.
Naida is feeling better,Cadell said.
Good. Any change in Salisbury?
Laura was watching the news until a few hours ago. She’s sleeping now.
In your room?
None of your business.
She kept her eyes closed, but she smiled.I disagree.
Cadell had first bonded to Carys’s Shadowkin, Seren, but when Seren was murdered and Carys entered the Shadowlands through a fae gate, he’d sensed her and bonded immediately to her.
Carys was the first Brightkin in history—that they knew of—to be bonded to a dragon.
And Laura was her best friend, so any relationship between her best friend and Cadell was definitely her business.
