Athelas never wanted housemates. Now he has three: the gumiho for whom he provided an alibi, the tea-wielding housekeeper who poisoned him, and the young human who might pose the greatest danger of all.
All of Athelas's training tells him to kill small, soft things before something else does-or worse, before he grows fond of them and then something kills them. He should at least know better than to worry about the revenge-bent gumiho who is drawing the attention of every high-ranking Behindkind in Seoul Between.
Hot on the tails of the gumiho who slaughtered her family, YeoWoo instead stumbles over the battered and broken body of a merman who knows just a little bit too much about her quarry. It should be simple to keep Marazul both alive and useful, but although YeoWoo is successful in the former, the latter is a different tail.
YeoWoo has always taken what she wanted in blood and force. Athelas has always gained what he needed by deception and manipulation. With their usual methods failing at every turn and the investigation swiftly becoming deadly, it's time to make a few changes.
Athelas has begun to fear that if he does change, his life will forever spin out of his control . . .
When is a curse not a curse? How does a house become a prison? Why is a reformed murderer the only hope for a far-too-easily injured boy?
Athelas has always been opposed to having a small, possibly-cursed Australian boy in the kitchen. When that small boy disappears, however, and Athelas's housekeeper Camellia strongly encourages him to do something about it, he finds himself wavering.
YeoWoo wants nothing to do with the disappearing Harrow, cursed or otherwise. Caught up with her own investigation and preparations for revenge, she would prefer her housemates to remain unseen and unheard. Entirely absent is even better.
But Athelas and YeoWoo have something in common: they both tread warily when it comes to their housekeeper, who runs the house with a tea-scented, magic-laced rod of iron. Camellia holds the key to Athelas's pretensions of reformation being accepted-and blames him for Harrow's disappearance. And she is determined to save Harrow, no matter what it takes.
Life as a reformed murderer would be so much easier if the process didn't include so much . . . reformation.
Searching for redemption in the shifting realm between the human and fae worlds, not-so-reformed fae steward Athelas seems likely instead to find death, dismemberment, and deadly magic . . .
Exiled, excommunicated, and with a bounty on his head, Athelas is lying low in Seoul for exactly one reason: he has a wedding to attend. Whether or not he's welcome is another matter.
Luckily for Athelas, several bodies have turned up with their soft insides gnawed out, whether by magic or Behindkind-and the latest of those bodies is at the very wedding hall he has been staking out. The Behindkind investigators suspect one of Athelas's housemates: YeoWoo, a gumiho with a thirst for revenge and an even greater appetite for soft underbelly than Athelas. To buy herself time, YeoWoo barters alibis with the suspiciously quiet fae sharing her house, but to remain free, she must find the real murderer.
By joining the investigation, Athelas has exactly the chance he needs to prove that he is now a repentant, changed, and selfless fae, bent on atoning for former deeds . . . no matter how many Behindkind and humans he has to cut through to confirm that impression.
‘If you want adventure, you have to march right up to it and kick it in the shins...’
At fourteen, barefoot and running wild, Rose is delighted to be apprenticed to Akiva, the witch of the forest. She thinks it will be all enchantment and excitement, and not so much fuss about baths. The reality is much more sober and practical—that is, until she meets a mysterious wolf in the forest and is tricked into stepping off the path...
In young, naive Rose, Bastian sees a way of escape. Cursed to remain in the shape of a wolf after running afoul of a powerful enchantress, he has lived many decades under a spell, and now he is both desperate and ruthless. But by breaking part of Bastian’s curse, Rose has caught the attention of Cassandra, the enchantress who cursed him: and Cassandra is by no means ready to forgive and forget.
Meanwhile, wardens have been disappearing from the forest, one by one. Rose is certain that Cassandra is behind the disappearances, but can she and Bastian get to the bottom of the matter before Akiva disappears as well? And are Bastian’s motives entirely to be trusted?
Sometimes the girl in the red hood doesn’t get eaten, and sometimes the wolf isn’t the most frightening thing in the forest...
*Wolfskin is a Two Monarchies Companion Novel*
G'day. I'm Pet. Heirling. Biter of fae lords. Trouble.
I have a lot of names these days-including my own, real name. Unfortunately for me, someone else knows that name too; not to mention the names of my other heirling friends. Now those heirling friends have disappeared, stolen by the current King Behind for a fight to the death where only one contender to the throne remains.
The rules say there's no way in and only one way out of that fight, but I've always preferred to work outside the rules. I just have to trust my friends to help each other stay alive long enough for me to get them out-without becoming a contender for the throne myself.
Because one thing is for sure: I am absolutely not planning on being the next King Behind.
What is a maiden to do when her prince is not a prince, her hair won’t stop growing, and someone has cursed her to sleep for 300 years?
In Polyhymnia’s case, it seems expedient to get up with the help of a kiss or two, trailing her hair behind her, and find out who did it. Nothing quite works out as planned, however, and Poly can’t be sure if that’s because she never seems to be able to remember things like the mysterious spindle that keeps showing up around her, or if it’s the fault of the wizard who woke her but never stops long enough to explain anything.
Poly is determined in two things: One, that she will find out who cursed her to sleep and meddled with her memories. Two: that she will absolutely not fall in love with the irritating wizard who seems to need to keep kissing her back into the real world…
When someone tries to threaten me by telling me they know my name, I take that personally.
G'day. I'm not really a pet anymore, but you might as well keep calling me Pet. It's not like I'm gunna tell you my name anyway. And if I sound stroppy, well, I am. First, I was threatened. Now, someone has cut off my house from the human world and left my emotional support vampire on the human side. On the inside, it's just me and an emotionally compromised fae; outside, a closed arena in the world Behind, where everyone is out to kill us and a few of that everyone might actually be capable of it.
Yep. The Heirling Trials have begun, and it seems like it's either be king or be dead when it comes to the world Behind . . .
Life is complicated.
I mean, life has always been complicated, but there's a difference between monsters-are-trying-to-kill-you complications and monsters-are-in-love-with-you complications. I'm still not sure which is more dangerous.
G'day. I'm Pet. Two-thirds of a pet, anyway: the vampire isn't claiming ownership these days, but he's definitely encroaching. On the list of other encroaching complications is the threat of heirling trials, a certain fae lord, and a mysterious librarian-not to mention the thing that's killing people on Hobart's waterfront . . .
One day, I'll have a normal life. Today is not that day.
Don't get too close to humans.
That's rule number one. Well, it is if you're an emotionally constipated fae lord. As far as I'm concerned, the vampire could do a better job of keeping his distance, but he's never been that good at following the rules.
G'day. I'm Pet. Schrödinger's Pet, these days; depends who's asking.
I'm human, but when you hang around with enough Behindkind, it starts getting dangerous for the other humans around you. Humans like my friend Morgana. I tried to stay away, but now she needs my help and don't get too close to humans isn't exactly gunna cut it anymore.
I've got the feeling I'm about to find out why it's such a bad idea.
G'day. I'm still here. Still Pet.
Well, I'm only two thirds of a Pet these days, but you might as well call me Pet anyway. Everyone does: everyone but the vampire, that is.
Life is more unbalanced these days-cases are cutting closer to home than usual. I thought I was the only one, but there are others like me: kids whose parents were murdered just like mine. Stuff that never fit into place before is beginning fall into place.
And my psychos are getting really weird. I mean, they've always been weird, but now they're getting weirder.
Why would a fae lord decide to collaborate with humans?
Why has the fae steward started sneaking out at night?
And why is the vampire reading romance novels?
G'day. I'm Pet. Not, not Pet-I am a pet.
Well, I was a pet: I used to belong to two fae and a stroppy vampire. Now I'm homeless. I mean, I was always technically homeless, but this time it's different.
I just got used to having some kind of family, and now we're back to everyone wanting to kill each other-and guess who the weak link is?
I'll give you a hint: it's not the vampire, and it's sure as heck not the fae.
Two fae is company, but a company of fae is trouble.
Which is exactly what we've got. Trouble, I mean. Well, and fae. Lots of fae.
Something or someone is stalking and killing high-level fae around Hobart-tearing out hearts and leaving a trail of bloody bodies behind. Fae don't like it when they're the ones getting killed, so of course they came to hire my owners.
Owners, you ask?
Hi. I'm Pet. No, that's not my name. I am a pet.
My owners? They're fae. Well, two fae and one stroppy vampire.
Welcome to the world Between.
