Feather, Fur and Fey Read online

  “It’s so pretty.”

  He laughed. “I am glad you think so. We now have fifty yards of them.”

  She levered herself up and looked around. Deep plum, brilliant gold and snowy white mixed with pine green. The flowers grew in a wide circle around their current position.

  “Oh, my.” Part of her exclamation was the flowers, another portion was the hot throb inside her.

  He rolled over, and she caught the sweet smell of the crushed flowers. Summer and citrus.

  He had slipped out in the roll, so he slid into her again, and under the bright sun, they danced.

  * * * *

  The real estate agent was an urbane, young elf who was eager to please Uhrl.

  “What do you think, Maki?” Uhrl looked around at the house with its twelve bedrooms and two hundred acres of untouched land.

  “I think that it will do. Thank you for finding it.” She smiled. “Of course, there is only one way to tell.”

  Uhrl looked at the young elf. “Do you mind if we examine the property completely?”

  “That would take days, sir.”

  With a swing in her hips, Maki headed for the back yard. “Not the way we do it. We will be back in under an hour; prepare to draw up the paperwork.”

  Maki stripped, much to the young elf’s shock. When Uhrl joined her, he was stunned. When they shifted shape, a strangled noise emerged.

  She didn’t hear what he did when they took to the skies. She really didn’t care.

  The view was lovely, and they had a water source as well as the caverns that were on Uhrl’s list.

  She flew close to him. “I like it.”

  “If you are content, I am content. We shall make it our home. Less than an hour commute for either of us and plenty of room for family.” He did a slow barrel roll in front of her.

  She chuckled and followed him back to the house and their clothing.

  They got dressed, and the paperwork was ready for them. Uhrl signed the offer, and the agent was on the phone.

  Ten minutes later, acceptance had gone through and only the bank information was left to process.

  The occupation would commence in thirty days, and Maki had a plan all of her own. If she wanted to start a family, a commute wouldn’t work for her. She wanted her children around her, but she loved plants. There was a chunk of property just down the road that would suit her admirably.

  As they drove back to Uhrl’s place and she called a moving company to make an appointment, she smiled at the memory of the agent’s expression. His shock had become admiration in seconds. It was a reaction that was common when the fey met a griffin. Contempt for shifters disappeared when the gain was magic.

  One small step for shifters and fey, one giant leap for keeping magic in the world.

  Epilogue

  The family gathering took over the property and every Mackie and Delock available was there to meet and greet the newest arrivals.

  “So, love. Where are the twins?”

  Maki looked up at Uhrl. “Which set?”

  He grinned. “The newest ones.”

  “Ah, Adra and Idra are with my brother and Melody. She is trying to convince him that more babies are in their future.”

  Her eldest were playing in the middle of the yard with their older cousins. Grim and Wick were a solid team, and while Wick had the height on her brother, Grim was a solid block of muscle.

  Over by the flowers, Calysto and Helene were playing and braiding the flowers into halos for anyone who wanted one.

  The shielding over the property allowed the drow their first taste of sunlight in centuries. It made the Mackie-Delock home a very desirable place to be invited to. They had been featured in a number of international magazines for their mastery of protective magics, and those articles never failed to make the happy family laugh.

  Publicity was no longer something to be feared. They were just a normal blended fey family. Folks assumed that she was a half-fey and that was fine with Maki.

  She had Uhrl, her children, her family and her new greenhouse. Supplying exotic blooms to the rich and famous left her plenty of time to send flowers to those who needed the healing that they would bring.

  “My parents were looking forward to meeting them.”

  “I will bring them over.” She kissed Uhrl quickly and retrieved her infants from a reluctant uncle and aunty. Maki didn’t blame them; fey babies were adorable, all cuddly and pastel with pointy little ears. When you took the girls’ pastel eyes into consideration, they were irresistible.

  “Come on little ones, time to meet Grandma and Grampa pointy ears.”

  The little girls squealed and waved their arms.

  When they got to Uhrl, he took Adra, and together, they went to meet his parents with the newest addition to their family.

  Every day together was a gift, and it made Maki keep an eye on the world around her. Uhrl was in charge of keeping an eye on her.

  Author’s Note

  I don’t think I did justice to the cover. I love it. Sigh. Now, I have to think up the next books in the series and put the pressure on my poor cover artist again...

  And yes…I named an elf Earl. Smirk!

  The next six months will introduce a mate for Teebie, aquatics and more villains appearing. Let me know if you get tired of the Crossroads.

  Thanks for reading,

  Zenina Masters

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author