Among the Unseen by Jodi McIsaac

wasn’t supposed to happen,” he muttered. “The queen. Please, I need to speak with her at once. How can I contact her?”
    “Cedar?” Jane asked in a plaintive voice. Why was Cedar always the center of attention? “You want to talk to Cedar? She’s nothing special, you know. I mean, sure, they made her the queen, but it’s really just because her father was king. She’s not even really in charge over there; the Council does most of the work. I don’t think she can help you. Why you don’t tell me what’s wrong? I’ll do anything .”
    He answered her through gritted teeth, as if speaking was causing him physical pain. “No. I need to speak to the queen and no one else. I’m sorry…I warned you not to touch me. I didn’t mean for this to happen. But…if you truly love me, you will take me to her.”
    “I do love you!” Jane exclaimed. “But I don’t understand why you keep talking about her ! She doesn’t have anything to do with us! And besides, I can’t take you to her. The sidhe are closed.”
    “But they’ve been reopened—at least, that’s the rumor. Logheryman told me you are her best friend. You must have a way of contacting her.”
    Jane felt hot tears pricking the corners of her eyes, and she began to sob. “Do you love her?” she wailed, her body convulsing.
    He ignored her. “What is that?” he asked, his eyes on the starstone attached to Jane’s wrist. “Is that…a starstone?”
    “This?” Jane said, tearing off the bracelet. “No, it’s nothing. Just a cheap trinket.”
    “It’s glowing,” he said. “Is the queen trying to contact you? Answer it!”
    Jane felt panic rising in her throat. She knew what the starstone meant—someone else was about to come between her and the man she loved. “I don’t want to answer it! I don’t want him to come here! He will just ruin everything!”
    “He? Who? Another of the Tuatha Dé Danann? Answer it!”
    “No!” Jane wailed, whipping the starstone across the room. “No one will come between us!”
    The man collapsed fully onto the ground and covered his face with his hands. “This isn’t happening,” he muttered. She flung herself onto him, wanting to feel that burst of sunlight again. He tried to fight her off, but she was stronger. She was about to bring her lips down to meet his when another person’s voice made her swivel around in surprise.
    “Jane?”
    Felix was standing in the living room, a bouquet of purple and yellow flowers in his hand, the shimmer of a sidh behind him. The look on his face was one of shock—and betrayal. But it had no impact on Jane, who shifted defensively in front of the man who was splayed across her floor.
    “What’s going on?” Felix asked, looking past Jane, who was still in her negligee, to the man behind her. The man started to speak, but Jane cut him off.
    “Get out,” she snarled at Felix, rising to her feet. “It’s over between us. I’ve found someone new, and we love each other very much. Now go .”
    Felix’s face twisted with pain, and his cheeks turned bright red. He tossed the flowers to the ground and opened his mouth to speak, but then he took another look at the figure lying on the floor. He stared at him for a long moment, then walked around Jane and peered down at the man’s face. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
    “Hello, Irial,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

CHAPTER 5
    C edar paused outside the door that led to the common room of her home, where the guests were already gathering for Eden’s birthday party. She had gone from the dungeons to her room so that she could swap her jeans and T-shirt for a light blue gown. She took a deep breath, trying to switch gears from queen and interrogator to mother of the birthday girl.
    “She’s telling the truth about Liam,” Rohan had pointed out as they left the dungeons, leaving a guard at Helen’s door. “She didn’t know what he was doing.”
    “They’re druids,” Cedar had retorted.