The Witching Hour (The Grim Reaper Saga (Urban Fantasy Romance)) Read Online Free PDF Page A

world’s most notorious criminal masterminds. Al Capone, the ‘birdman’, Whitey Ford...and the list went on. Depraved souls eventually lost to the madness imbued within the island.
    The atoll had been home to fae long before any human had dared to step foot upon it. There’d always been a hint of danger settled within the foundation of earth and stone. A natural fallout of magick linked to the long time association of fairy.  
    The island had now become a human commodity. Used for the sole purpose of commercial gain, it made traveling between the realms a nightmare. Too many tourists, too many prying eyes.
    But in truth, the island itself was not home, rather, only an entrance to the sithen. Alcatraz was actually one of many openings to the Kingdom. The entrances were scattered throughout the globe. But any fae who had ever existed, or would ever exist, resided within the realm.
    Cian bowed his head against the whipping winds and walked toward the tree. An old oak, its limbs twisted by age and roots gnarled and curled out the ground, was the life-sustaining mother of them all.
    After centuries of cohabitating with magick and immortality, the tree had begun to take on a life of sorts. Every immortal born under its boughs would forever be linked to the spirit of the oak. And that made it impossible to stay away for too long; it was a quiet yearning that gnawed away at the insides.
    He leaned into the wind, his mind consumed by the twisted woman he’d left behind. She would live. Eventually she’d find herself another mate, marry, and maybe have children.
    The thought was like a red-hot poker to his chest. He snarled and marched faster.
    He’d made his choice, knowing the consequences of his actions. He had no regrets.  
    The shrill scream of twin crows forced him to glance up.
    So she knows.
    The knowledge did not come as a surprise.
    The birds circled him twice then landed silently by his feet. They cocked their heads in unison, their hard glares bored into him. Cian clenched his jaw and waited for the summons.
    Follow us.
    He didn’t hear the words so much as feel the push of their will against his mind. After what the witch had put him through, this push felt more like a stab. He winced.
    The birds winged toward the tree, their large bodies gradually shifted from normal to diminutive. A golden quickening surrounded the crows, the crackles of light appeared as a sunburst--variegated colors of red and gold cut through the fog.  
    The magick of the tree was that any fae could pass through its portal with the aid of its accommodation spell. Only the wee ones were exempt from the fiery display.
    The birds landed before the entrance of the tree and passed their feathered wings across the bark in unison. A loud creak, similar to the groaning of shifting earth, rumbled through the air, then smooth as silk the center of the tree separated.
    An enchantment wrought by the fae, the hollow tree encased a trove of glorious splendor-- rolling emerald hills, meandering streams of liquid crystal, and craggy cliffs. Thick, billowing mists sheathed the surroundings.
    This was truly a world within a world. To travel through the entirety of the kingdoms would take years. To the east lay the pigwidegon stronghold, to the west the sprites, to the south the brutish ogres, and to the north the docile hamadryads. A variance of other fae were scattered throughout.
    At the very center of the realm the Queen’s castle rose through the mists as a spiraling steeple.
    The crows cawed. Haunting, wispy calls echoed in return. The sylphs--winged beings resembling angels--flew overhead. None but immortals could ever see them. Their butterfly-like wings were a splash of glorious color against the gray of the sky.
    The closer Cian drew to his Queen’s side, the more he felt it--her fury. It boiled inside him like a festering wound. He grimaced, tasting the blood from where he’d bitten his cheek earlier and knew that bit of spilled scarlet would