Shadow Magic by Cheyenne McCray Page B

eyes dark with undisguised fury. He bent where he stood and placed his palms on the table. “You have made this decision without our counsel.”

    â€œI find your disrespectfulness intolerable.” Garran steeled his own gaze. “I am king. It is best you all remember this.” He looked at Vidar, who now had a shrewd gleam in his eyes that made Garran pause.
    He didn’t have time to second-guess himself, but he intended to have a stern and frank talk with Vidar before he left for the San Francisco Otherworld. “Have Carden prepare the army,” Garran continued. “I will give word when it is time for battle.”
    â€œYes, my king,” Vidar said, this time without as much heat in his voice.
    After looking to the members of the Directorate and holding each member’s gaze for a firm moment, Garran said, “I must rest as I have much to attend to before I leave.”
    His mind already churning over what needed to be accomplished prior to his departure, Garran turned and strode out the door.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    HANNAH WOKE TO THE feeling that someone was watching her. For a moment she lay still and kept her eyes shut and her breathing steady. The drum of the waterfall was all she heard, but a presence nearby caused her to shiver.
    â€œYou are awake,” came a man’s smooth, rich voice. “It is time for us to go.” A laugh, then he added, “Unless you prefer I join you in bed?”
    Garran.
    She opened her eyes to see him standing over her, his usual teasing smile on his face.
    â€œIn your dreams, blue boy.” Hannah pushed herself to a sitting position on the bed. She’d lain down moments after Garran had left her. The bed was so comfortable it had drawn her into sleep as soon as she settled on the mattress and she felt as if she’d slept forever.
    â€œGo where?” she asked, holding back a yawn.
    He extended his hand. “To see my daughter and her people. Your people.”
    Rumpled, irritated, and in need of a bath, Hannah ignored his hand. Even though she’d been tired, she hated that she’d fallen asleep in her clothing. Ugh. It didn’t matter to her the warrior gear was Fae made and all she had to do was think the Fae word for “clean” and it would be as good as new again. She preferred to sleep in something soft and silky and bathe first thing in the morning.

    She sighed. Soft and silky. Otherworld was sorely lacking a Victoria’s Secret.
    Goddess, what she would give to be in her own bed and take a shower in her own bathroom. Then perhaps putting on a Chloé blouse and her Jean-Paul Gaultier pinstriped jacket and slacks.
    â€œWell?” Garran’s lips were still quirked into a smile. “Must I carry you out of your chamber so that we might make our way to the village?”
    She glared at him before she cast a glance to the corner where the waterfall tumbled from a rock shelf into a pool. Two fat pottery containers sat on a flat stone to the side, probably some kind of bathing gel. The slight tang of sulfur hung in the room and she assumed the water was from an underground hot spring.
    Thank the Ancestors.
    Hannah pushed the covers aside and was just about to climb out of bed when it occurred to her. She met Garran’s gaze. “You didn’t tell me what your decision is.”
    â€œYou didn’t ask.” His expression grew serious. “But yes, my people will join yours in the battle against Ceithlenn and the Fomorii.
    Relief swept through Hannah. “Thank the goddess.”
    â€œNow we go to your people,” he said.
    â€œBefore I go anywhere ”—she swung her legs over the side of the bed—“I’m taking a shower.”
    His teasing smile returned. “Would you like—”
    â€œNo.” Hannah got to her feet and ignored his sexy grin. “I don’t need your ‘help.’ I need you to get out of the room, let me take my shower, and