it. She always turned away when a Fae came into view. She had been doing that since she was a toddler—she was a Fios and couldn’t afford to give herself away to them.
Being a Fios meant she could see Fae whether or not they disguised themselves in human Glamour, as the ones she passed just now were doing. She could see Seelie Fae and Unseelie Fae through their Glamour, even through their Féth Fiada of invisibility. She could not be compelled by their mesmerizing gaze, and she was immune to their sexual ability called Lianhan that seduced human women and sent them into a rapture from which they could never emerge.
Her mother had taught her to never display that she saw them for what they were. The fear was ancient, but it was there, the belief that they would spirit her away to Faery and keep her imprisoned in their Realm so she could not give their secrets away—yeah, right, like anyone would believe her in this day and age.
She saw a cab, and luckily it was empty. She hailed it, it pulled up, and she jumped in, not aware she was holding her breath until she let it out inside the cab.
Damn, but the summer job she had taken would do her some good. She needed to get away; managing a tour group would keep her busy and earn her some much-needed money. Her job as a marine biologist was a dream job if you didn’t count the fact that the starting pay was beyond awful.
This would be great. She had been to Dublin with her parents a few years ago but never to Killarney.
She recalled Dublin and the time she had spent with her parents. She would treasure the memory forever. It had been their last vacation together before she lost them to a drunk driver. She had been with them, they were laughing, and her father had turned just a bit to tease her when it happened. A driver, passed out from intoxication, veered and hit them head on. She had been thrown clear of the wreckage and lived, but they had not.
Then Joe had entered her life, and she’d thought, wow! He turned out a ‘wow’ all right.
Tammy had tried to warn her off him, and Tammy had been right. Why couldn’t she see what her friend saw almost immediately?
Mooning over Joe when they first split had been stupid and a total waste of time. She was certainly over him; now she was very sure she would not allow herself to be swayed by a handsome face and a killer smile, ever again.
She knew now she had only been infatuated.
Her heart had always whispered that he was not the picture she had painted of him. He was and always would be a player. He had an eye for the ladies and did not even try to control himself.
She didn’t think it a total loss. When she’d met Joe she’d been so ready to spread her wings, and he had been all about that. For almost a year, it had been a thrilling ride.
He had never really loved her, and the truth she made herself face was that she hadn’t really loved him either. He had been fun.
Okay, chapter closed, and now she was off to her mother’s homeland with a group of seniors!
Just what she needed to relax—simple, easy, and no complications. Then in a couple of months, Charleston Aquarium, here I come!
After the love of her life is taken from her at Waterloo, Jenny is sure that joy and love are lost to her forever. But life has more in store for Jenny,
After the Storm
~ Prologue ~
Did ye not hear it? No: ’twas but the wind,
Or the car rattling o’er the stony street;
On with the dance! Let Joy be unconfined,
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet.
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet—
But Hark! That heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!
Arm! Arm! It is—it is—the CANNON’s opening
Roar!
—Lord Byron, 1816,