Free Bound by Faerie: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Stolen Magic Book 1) by WB McKay Page A

nothing like the woman I'd paid off.
    "Not at all." He rolled over on his stomach to watch me. "The scent of your magic changes along with your looks. I like the red hair better, by the way."
    I strolled by the shelves and stumbled at the careless way he drew attention to my looks. My heart thumped in my chest. "Uh huh." He just nodded. Phew. I continued scanning for a book with the words "The Morrigan" in the title. Ava hadn't known the title I should look for, only assured me there was a book. I hadn't questioned her on it because I felt confident I'd figure it out, but that was before I'd seen his collection. Hundreds of thick, leather-bound volumes lined the shelves. Every one I browsed pertained to the fae in some manner, many of them rare, with information too dangerous to have in just anyone's hands. I could think of a dozen places I could sell most of them and make a tidy profit. Who was this guy that he had books like these? He was a dragon— ugh —was this his hoard? And again, most importantly, how'd he get them?
    None of that mattered if I couldn't find the one I needed, and fast. Like, before this guy noticed I wasn't the same girl he'd been with earlier, or started wondering why we weren't getting into sexy times. Sexy times . This is why it's been so long since I... Focus. I needed to focus.
    If I didn't ask some questions, I could be searching for hours. He was drunk. Time to take a risk. "Do you have any books on The Morrigan?"
    His face lit up with excitement. "Several. She's one of my favorite legendary figures."
    I rolled my eyes. It was easy to be excited about legendary figures when they weren't the mother who abandoned you.
    Owen scrambled off the bed and hurried over to a shelf on the far side of the room, where he pulled out a thin book I probably would have overlooked. The fae tended to go on in their histories, with flowery prose and superfluous adjectives. This book wasn't much larger than a standard notebook. Emblazoned on the cover in a flowing red script, it read, Life of the Phantom Queen . Phantom Queen was one of my favorite titles for her, as "phantom" alluded to someone who was there, but wasn't. Like someone who gave you their last name and then peaced out. Still, with the size of the book and the title not being as blunt as her name, I might not have found it if Owen hadn't told me. So helpful of him to assist in my robbing him.
    "This one is my favorite," he said, his words less slurred than they had been a few minutes ago. "It talks about a lot of things that none of the other histories mention. "
    "It's so short," I observed.
    "We are talking about The Morrigan, secretive and mysterious." He was so full of awe. It filled me with the most confusing mix of emotions. Envious he knew enough about her to feel that way; furious that this random dragon was the only person I'd ever met to know anything; proud that my mother was someone to inspire such awe; irritated that he thought he knew so much. But did he know she abandoned her children? What was awe-inspiring about that? He tapped the book cover proudly. "This is the most comprehensive book in existence; I'm sure of it."
    Shoving my emotions down where I would hopefully never hear from them again, I acknowledged that Owen was right about her being secretive and mysterious. Under the best of circumstances it sounded like he could have been a great source of information on The Morrigan, which was exactly what I needed. Owen sounded knowledgeable. He also sounded damn sober.
    It was all I could do to keep my face neutral with the book in sight. All I had to do was make sure it was the right book. Each casual step I took crossing the room felt like an eternity. Finally, when I held out my hand for the book, trying not to do the grabby motion, I said as calmly as I could manage, "May I?"
    Maybe he saw something in my face. Maybe my voice gave me away. I wasn't sure what it was, but those two words fucked me. Realization washed over his