Free Midnight Enchantment by Anya Bast Page A

Charlotte resided in the Black Tower with her new husband, Kieran Aindréas Cairbre Aimhrea. If she ran into Liam while he was poking around it could cause massive problems.
    It had been hard for him to leave the Boundary Lands, where the Seelie Queen had her hideaway. Liam had been just a small boy when the Great Sweep had occurred and barely remembered what it was to be surrounded by the fae or immersedin an enchanted wood. He was a nature fae, though, and his blood remembered.
    Standing in the Boundary Lands after having entered through the Phaendir’s secret chink in the wall had been a heartbreakingly beautiful experience for him. He’d just stood there, arms outstretched, sprae lighting on his skin, head, back, and soaked it in. It had been like taking a warm bath after centuries of bitter cold. He’d barely even noticed the Phaendir retching in the grass all around him.
    Now he came to the Black Tower, a betrayer of his own kind, yet what choice did he have? His adopted family of free fae were full of those who’d committed fae murder after the walls had gone up. If the walls came down, Aideen, his wife, along with so many others, would be swept away by the Wild Hunt faster than you could say
sluagh
.
Gone.
    So, here he was, totally alone, looking for any way he could to prevent the walls from coming down. Not only that, he was working with the fucking, conniving Summer Queen and the treacherous Phaendir. Danu, but he hated that.
    The whole thing was making him cranky.
    He stopped in front of the carved double doors of the Shadow Queen’s receiving room. Two black-and-silver-garbed Shadow Guards stood on either side. They said nothing, didn’t twitch a muscle. Liam bet if he reached for the door, they’d move all right. Instead he stood there, scowling at them both until the door finally opened.
    A slim dark-haired woman stood in the entryway. He let out a slow breath of relief. It wasn’t Charlotte. “Liam Connall Deaglan Mag Aoidh?”
    He nodded. “I have an appointment with the queen.”
    “Yes.” She held out a hand, which he squeezed. “My name is Bella. Come on in.”
    He entered the lushly decorated rose and white room. The Shadow Queen sat in the living room, with a good-looking man with long dark hair beside her. Probably the Shadow King, Gabriel Mac Braire, incubus, and Lord of the Wild Hunt. This was the bastard who’d reap his Aideen if the walls fell.
    Bella led him over. “We don’t get many nature fae to see the queen. If there’s something specific you need during your stay, just ask for me.”
    “Thanks,” he grunted. Their graciousness just made him feel that much guiltier. Would be easier if they were all fecking bitches and arseholes.
    He walked over to stand in front of the queen. After a moment, he realized he should bow and did so. She motioned for him to sit down on a nearby sofa. He sat, examining her. The tattoo of the Shadow Amulet was faintly visible on her collarbone and neck. Swathes of silver and white fabric enfolded her slender form and a black and silver crown sat on her blond head. She was pretty and a little fragile-looking.
    So this was the woman who had disposed the former Shadow King. She didn’t look like much.
    He remembered Aodh Críostóir Ruadhán O’Dubhuir, the former Shadow King, and his pet ogre, Barthe. He’d seemed the friendly sort, but fecking brutal as hell under his warm exterior. It was hard to believe this was his daughter.
    The Shadow Queen raised her eyebrows. “Liam Mag Aoidh? You’ve come a long way from your home near Silver Branch. What do you require of the Shadow Court?”
    He shifted on the couch and cleared his throat. He had to be careful to damp his Irish accent. Most of the inhabitants of Piefferburg had lost theirs over the years. “I think it’s more a question of what the Shadow Court requires of me.”
    She raised a silver-blond eyebrow. “Really? How is that?”
    “It’s no secret that the Seelie Queen’s gone rogue