Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and find themselves husbands as quick as they could because they were probably going to need them, I restrained myself.
    “This might work better.” I set out three little bottles of oil. They were decorative and looked like cut crystal, but were actually just glass. During Bonny Fae week, Jason could charge three times what he normally did for them, at half the cost.
    “This is glamour oil. You dab a drop on your pulse points before you go out. We don’t guarantee it will attract the person you’re looking for, but it will add to your personal magnetism and charisma. Though I doubt if any of you need much help.”
    Jason was right. A smile went a long ways, and so did a compliment. In the end, not only did they each buy a bottle of the oil, but I was able to steer them to music and tarot cards and blank journals. In other words: anything they couldn’t screw up too much. As soon as they shuffled out the door, I groaned and dropped on the stool behind the counter. The shop was momentarily empty.
    “I really hate Bonny Fae week. Portside Festival is bad enough, but at least the shoppers aren’t looking for ways to manipulate somebody into marrying them. Do these girls even realize what it’s like to marry outside their race? Humans do not live in the same world as the Fae, regardless of how glamorous the tabloids make it sound.”
    “You’re preaching to the choir, sugar. But there’s not much I can do about it. And if I don’t sell it to them, somebody else is going to. I might as well make money and ensure they get quality products.” Jason paused as his phone rang.
    As he moved away to answer it, I glanced over at Hans. He had come in while I was helping the girls. “What’s your opinion? Should we really be selling these girls love potions?”
    Hans shrugged. “They’re adults. If they don’t know what they’re getting into, then it’s their own fault for not doing the proper research. And really, is it any of our business what they want to do with their lives? That’s one thing you need to learn, Fury. You can’t make life choices for everybody. When you think someone’s making a mistake, sometimes you just have to let them burn their fingers.”
    “He’s right,” Tam said from behind me as he emerged from his computer cave—aka the break room.
    “You’re Bonny Fae. What’s your take on this?”
    Tam ran on a moral scale a lot more ambiguous than Jason’s. His kind had emerged out of the woodlands after the Weather Wars and after the World Shift. I had no idea if they had entered via the World Tree or if they had always been around, and I doubted if there was anybody alive who knew. Except, perhaps, the gods.
    “The Bonny Fae come to town looking for mates to keep the bloodline from growing too inbred. Since Fae blood breeds true, and trumps human blood, it doesn’t matter whether the mother or father is human. As long as one parent carries the Bonny Fae genes, all children will carry them and breed true.”
    “Do most of the marriages last?” I still had my doubts. Moving into a different culture was hard enough, but to marry into a people who weren’t even your species seemed an uphill battle.
    “I’d say about a third of the marriages actually work out. If they don’t, the union is dissolved, but all children stay within our realm. We free those spouses who choose to leave and charm them so they won’t mourn the loss. Most of the failures are due to the human partner missing their old life. Life in Briarwood isn’t for everyone.”
    “It’s very different, isn’t it?” I had no clue how the Fae actually lived, but I had a feeling it wasn’t anything like life in the city.
    “Very. Also, just so you’re aware, we can see right through glamour spells so all the magic in the world isn’t going to do anybody any good if we don’t find them suitable. That’s a fact Jason better hope that nobody figures out. It would put a deep dent into business.” With a faint wink, Tam