Beguiled by Maureen Child

by another. Well, it took all kinds.
    “All I’m saying is, watch your back.” Then she slid Maggie’s paperwork toward her and said, “Here’s your temporary renewal. You’ll get the permanent one in a few weeks.”
    The Fae looked beyond her and shouted, “Next!” Then she slid one last glance at Maggie. “Oh, and Merry Christmas.”
    Ho ho ho.
    ♥ Uploaded by Coral ♥

Chapter Six

    Casia had its own beauty.
    Harsh and barren at first glance, there was also a stark grandeur to the continent at the far reaches of Otherworld. Snow and ice ruled here, with vicious winds and churning seas battering at the land mass continuously. White-topped mountains speared into the sky and in the valleys below, the twin suns of the Fae dimension shone brilliantly down on the villages sprawled across the frozen landscape.
    The worst of the rogue Fae lived here. Those who had, eons ago, sentenced themselves to an eternity of banishment. These Fae had committed crimes both against Otherworld and the mortal world and Mab herself had ordered their punishment. To be kept separate from the inhabitants of Otherworld by a shield of power. Here they lived out their eternities and for the most part, accepted their fates. Some had even, over eons, earned their way back into Fae society. But there were those who would never leave Casia. Those who were not to be trusted. Ever.
    Like the Dullahan. They were the things of nightmares. The source of terrifying legends handed down through generations of humans and told over campfires, the Dullahan were interested only in destruction for the sheer, wild joy they derived from the act. They hunted, they killed and if given the chance, would only rain down misery on any creature in their path.
    Culhane wiped blood from the blade of his sword and tossed his windblown hair out of his eyes to stare at Quinn when he materialized beside him. Already, the six Fae Warriors had battled the Dullahan for hours, but the beasts refused to be turned back. Instead, the creatures clung to the hope of escape.
    Culhane had known that this would be a hard fight, but took only the five warriors with him because he’d believed that the Dullahan had only begun to foment their rebellion. But the beasts were greater in number than he had anticipated and he and his warriors had been forced to fight like madmen.
    The howling, icy wind sliced into him as it pushed past, carrying away the nearly overpowering stench of blood that filled his nostrils. Culhane’s blood was still pumping hard and his heart jolting in his chest. Flashes of recent memories staggered through his mind. The beasts swooping down at the warriors from out of the sky. The Dullahan’s ability to fly had seriously hampered the warriors’ efforts to quell the uprising. But they had evened out the odds by shifting in and out of position, appearing astride the beasts, and then below them.
    The other denizens of Casia had kept to their homes, not wanting to be caught in the middle of the battle, which had been a lucky break for the warriors. In this icy prison, one inmate rarely considered risking his own neck for another. And the Dullahan had no friends among the Fae.
    Thankfully. If the Dullahan had gotten any support from the others imprisoned here, the battle might have turned out differently.
    “McCulloch?” Culhane demanded, needing to know how the other warriors had fared. The last time he’d seen McCulloch, the huge warrior had been hanging from the neck of a Dullahan in midflight, slicing at its throat with his blade.
    “Well.” Quinn turned his face into the bitter wind. “Mac shifted to safety before the beast fell.” Then he glanced down at the fallen Dullahan lying around them. “It was a good fight.”
    “A hard one, but perhaps it will be enough to quell any burgeoning thoughts of uprisings,” Culhane said, following his friend’s gaze.
    The enemy wasn’t dead, he knew. But the beasts were broken. It would take some time for them to