DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by Michelle L. Levigne

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by Michele L. Levigne

All's Fae In Love And Chocolate Book Four

The race is on to catch the Fae who poisoned the Queen's chocolate. For Epsi and Guber, the stakes are even higher and could lead to death, or love. What a choice!

Fae use dark chocolate as a cure-all, so how did the Queen die of eating too much? Epsi gave her former school chum a boatload (we're talking Cleopatra's barge here) of chocolate as a coronation present. Now she's a prime suspect. Where's a knight in shining armor when a Fae damsel in distress really needs one?

Enter Guber, Fae of royal blood, Human-phile and techno-geek. Mysteries and gizmos to test for substances harmful to Fae life and limb are right up his alley. Epsi is the prettiest damsel in distress that he's ever seen - and she doesn't think he's weird.

Guber has been living in the Human realms for decades to avoid both the Fae who want to reinstate the hereditary royalty and those who want to eradicate anyone with the slightest trace of royal purple blood. Both of them are on Guber's tail, and could focus on Epsi at any moment.

It's a good thing they have an entire warehouse of possibly poisoned chocolate to use as a weapon.

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~Excerpt~

Epsi had just finished sharing Will and Phill's revelation about carob--and how Humans used it as substitute chocolate in a ridiculous effort to convince themselves they were being healthy--when a communication globe shimmered into being directly in front of her. She had two seconds to read the message that she had visitors and was to report to the visitation dimension. The next moment, she blinked and found herself in the visitation dimension. It was a good thing she hadn't been taking a bath or changing her clothes or eating or something else that would put her in an embarrassing light.

"Harry?" She looked around the room, essentially featureless, with slowly churning lavender and pink walls and floor, and a conference table and chairs that oozed up from the floor. She was alone with her three visitors--Harry, and two Fae men who looked familiar in that "I've met you before, maybe centuries ago in a really, really crowded party" way.

One was dark-haired and handsome, polished in the hereditary advocate style and wearing the Fae knock-off of Armani. The other wore Army fatigue pants, and a baggy purple T-shirt with the Tasmanian Devil slavering on it. He had shaggy, dusty brown hair, a beaked nose and slightly bugged eyes. Despite that, there was something charming and little-boyish about him that had her smiling as soon as his gaze locked with hers. She liked his slowly dawning grin and the blue and green and gold sparkles in his big, chocolate-brown eyes.

Right now, she hated all mention or thought of chocolate, but she definitely liked this bit of chocolate in her life. Not that that made any sense.

"This is my distant cousin, Kevyn. He's an advocate," Harry said, pointing to the immaculately groomed one as they settled around the table. "And this is his buddy, Guber."

"Guber!" Epsi was so glad to remember him, she nearly leaped over the table to hug him. It had been years since she had seen him. If she remembered correctly, he had stood up to Theodosius with some really clever, messily nasty tricks. That made him her hero, even before the realization that he was probably here to help Harry in her defense.

"He's a tech wizard. Human tech is his specialty," Harry added.

"We're putting together a carob detector," Guber announced, eyes sparkling, his voice rich, as if this was all a fascinating adventure he was enjoying immensely.

Epsi kept her mouth pressed in a tight smile, to avoid blurting that he had no business having so much fun when her life and liberty were at stake. It took a few seconds for her to catch on to what he was saying, and it occurred to her that Harry couldn't have found anyone better suited to help her with her problem than someone who was totally immersed in all things Human and tech.

"A carob detector? Can you do that?"

"Better this way than doing it your way," Kevyn offered with a tip of his head.

"My way? Oh--getting sick. Yeah. Not cool." She decided maybe she was on the verge of being out of her depth, so she should just sit back and let the experts handle the problem.

At least she had someone helping her on the outside.

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SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE by Michelle L. Levigne

SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE by Michele L. Levigne

All's Fae In Love And Chocolate Book Three

Sophie's doctoral thesis stated magic was a psychosomatic phenomenon. Few took her seriously...she had a family reputation for strangeness and pointed ears to live down. In her research, she ran into Kevyn at a science fiction convention. When strange things happened, she slowly realized that she wasn't going insane...magic was real.

Kevyn was a Fae trying to avoid family traditions. He lived on the run in the Human realms, making his living as a day actor, staying under the radar. On an acting gig at a convention, he met up with Sophie and realized that she could not only see through his magic, she had magic. When Hunters showed up to drag Kevyn home and make him become an Advocate, he let Sophie capture him and take him home for research, thereby rescuing him from a fate worse than death...respectability and responsibility. Somewhere along the way, the lines between researcher and lab rat became blurred, then switched places, and the two of them discovered a magic of their own, and rescued each other.

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Excerpt:

"Don't bother trying to make me hallucinate or give me bad dreams or do anything to influence my mind." Sophie tugged on the collar of her shirt and revealed an ornate silver beaded choker with onyx, alabaster and amethyst beads in between. She laughed when Kevyn flinched at the recognizable pattern. "I'm prepared for you. Guess Great-aunt Serena wasn't as crazy as everyone thought."

She slammed the door as she left. Kevyn was amused to note that she didn't lock it. Because she didn't think he could break through the wall of magic she had woven, or because there was no lock? What had she used this room for, anyway? A pantry? A guest room that never materialized?

Great-aunt Serena had believed in her Fae blood and gathered information to pass to the next generation. Somehow, the old lady learned the sequence of those beads. They were real magic. Protective. Dispelling strong illusions that could influence the mind. Kevyn wondered if Sophie wore that necklace all the time, and that was how she had seen through his invisibility magic at the convention.

That arrangement of beads and the inherent magical power of those particular semi-precious stones also did more to put a damper on magic than anything else Sophie had done to this room. Kevyn sat down on the bed, propped his chin in his bound hands and settled down for some serious thinking. What if he got her to take that necklace off? Would Sophie's inborn magical potential break free and fly?

The door creaked open before he could get any further than that thought. Blushing, Sophie stepped into the room, holding out the key for the chains that bound his hands. Kevyn grinned, and she blushed more. He wisely said nothing as she unlocked his wrists and neck.

"You have to believe, I wouldn't do this if I wasn't so desperate," she whispered, and brushed her fingertips over his neck.

He flinched when her fingertips brushed the rash on his skin where the silver chain had touched. Then a tingle of soothing magic seeped from her gentle touch. Involuntary magic. On Sophie's part.

What could she do if she didn't wear that necklace, effectively blinding and binding herself? Kevyn knew there was far more to Sophie Hunter the Halfling than she could ever guess.

"You have no idea what desperation really means, sweetheart," he murmured.

"I won't hurt you. I promise. I know we'll never be friends now, but--" She shrugged and stepped backwards for the door.

"We can be friends. Just ask me to stay, instead of making me." He stayed seated on the bed.

Sophie said nothing, just reached behind herself for the doorknob.

"No? Well, maybe next time."

"Is there anything you're allergic to?" she asked, when she should have stepped out the door and closed it. "I mean…when I make dinner."

"You're not going to starve me? How nice." He settled back on the bed and crossed his arms under his head.

"Kevyn." She sighed and visibly fought down a flash of anger. He was glad to see that anger. She wasn't going to let guilt and fear and whatever other problems she had keep her prisoner. "What did you mean, about desperation?"

"This little room is no prison at all, compared to the life my family wants me to lead." He crossed his ankles. "You probably won't believe me, but you're doing me a favor, keeping me here."

"No, I don't believe you. Why would you try to make me feel better?" She stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

"Maybe because you're in a nastier prison than I am," Kevyn whispered. "And because I like you."

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DAY AND KNIGHT by Michele L. Levigne

DAY AND KNIGHT by Michele L. Levigne

~A Fae daycare teacher, and an exterminator under a family curse need each other more than they can guess when magic goes wonky.~

All's Fae in Love and Chocolate #1

Glori loved working with children--and not just because children produced magic that fed her own Fae magic. But when her magic started going wonky and all her maintenance spells for the daycare started working backwards, not even her Fae administrator could fix what was wrong.

Lance Knight faced a lonely future, thanks to a family curse that turned him into a mouse at the dark of the moon. Lonely, except for the ghosts of all his angry, misogynistic male ancestors. And he would join them someday, if he didn't find a woman to love him despite the curse.

He needed the kiss of a Faerie princess to break the spell. When he got called to Glori's daycare center to deal with an unbelievable bug problem, and realized she was a Fae, he thought his problems were solved.

Glori hated telling Lance that the Fae didn't have hereditary royalty anymore, but she promised she would try to find him a solution while they worked together to solve her problem. Things got sticky when she realized that she was going through the Fae equivalent of puberty, and Lance might just be the answer to her problem. If only his nasty, ghostly relatives wouldn't keep getting in the way.

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EXCERPT:

"Ah... If you'll come inside, maybe we can get started?" she managed to say in a reasonable tone of voice. Somehow, Glori slid her hand free of his grip and took a step backwards. She pulled the gate open and gestured for him to walk down the yellow brick walkway to the front door.

"Are you free for dinner, ma'am?"

"Mr. Knight--"

"Call me Lance." He offered up a grin that showed off nice, white teeth and a dimple in his left cheek.

"You might not be free. The bugs could keep you very busy." She turned her back on him in desperation. If she looked into his big cobalt blue eyes for a few seconds longer, they both might be frozen there until morning. That wouldn't look good for her business, would it?

"No bug ever kept me that busy," he mumbled, behind her.

Glori closed her eyes as she gripped the door and spelled the lock open. She took a deep breath and braced herself to bolster the magic, altering it just enough to let them in without letting the bugs out. The door swung open. Every surface in the main room was...moving.

How could this have happened to her? It had never happened before, in all the years since she bought the building. How could so many bugs have showed up in just one weekend? It wasn't as if her children were messy. No more messy than any ordinary children. Just a few buckets of paint and modeling clay, two spilled glasses of juice, maybe a cup of cookie crumbs spread over a playroom thirty feet by thirty feet. Glori thought about it again, even knowing that considering her problem would create another headache--and she was totally out of chocolate.

No, the only explanation she could come up with was that her magic had decided to take a vacation without warning. And whatever "temporary" magic had come to take its place was working totally backwards!

Lance took one look, braced his arms on the doorframe, and went pale.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

The music whispering through the back of his mind, in time with his racing heart, didn't sound like the theme music from Jaws. But it came close.

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THE RIFT WAR by Michelle L. Levigne

THE RIFT WAR by Michelle L. Levigne

The final installment in the Zygradon Chronicles: Arthurian Fantasy

Emrillian Warhawk has been raised in the modern world, 2,000 years away from the Lygroes, hidden inside a dome of Threads. Now, she must return via the tunnel under the sea, to retrieve Braenlicah, find the lost Zygradon, and awaken Athrar Warhawk from his enchanted sleep to defend Quenlaque, Lygroes, and the world. An enemy and a war have arrived that could destroy all the Threads and magic itself.

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Excerpt:


When they were halfway across the glass-smooth floor, a sound like a sudden, soft gasp came from the two sleepers. The cloth covering their forms shifted slightly, and the sounds of breathing grew stronger, louder, more steady in a few heartbeats. As her eyes grew accustomed to the shifting haze of the light, Emrillian made out more details of the two people lying before her..

A man and a woman. Even with her fading memories of her last view of her parents, Emrillian somehow expected them both to be robed and crowned as king and queen. The man wore plain, faded, dark blue tunic and shirt. The kind of clothes a convalescent would wear, comfortable and warm, and easily laundered. .

He didn't wear a helmet or chain mail or armor. He didn't even hold an empty scabbard, as the tales and ballads popular among the Archaics pictured Athrar Warhawk in his mystical resting place. A quilt with a simple spiral pattern in blue and green covered him partway, as if he had moved in his sleep and dislodged it. Emrillian remembered her mother making that quilt when they lived in the Stronghold. She had promised to teach her daughter to make one just like it, when she was a little older..

Ynfara's deep golden hair was loosely bound in a simple matron's net at the back of her head. No gauzy scarves or jewels. The only jewelry visible were their marriage bands on their wrists, and Athrar's signet ring. They looked like ordinary folk, weary from long labors, in travel clothes. .

Emrillian remembered how pale and emaciated her father had been when they brought him to the tunnel and the Vale of Lanteer, to save his life through enchantment. Now, Athrar almost looked as he did from those short few moons of happy family life. He had color in his cheeks, and his beard and hair didn't look so drained of life and substance. But both her parents still looked tired, nothing at all like the triumphant king and queen, ready to leap from their bier, take up their magical weapons and lead in the defense of their kingdom..

"Grandfather--".

"Hush, my dear. Trust in the Estall. His timing is best.".

She studied her parents as she took the last few steps up to the bier, trying to decide what features she had inherited from whom. She had her father's upturned nose and strong, long-fingered hands. Mrillis had told her many times she had Athrar's grip and dexterity. She had inherited her mother's dainty chin and rounded brow and long, white neck. Any other features, she could not discern. The similarities were enough to comfort her..

Ynfara sighed loudly. The arm stretched across Athrar's chest twitched. She reached up to rub her nose, and snuggled down closer against his shoulder..

Emrillian couldn't help it. Her nerves snapped and she giggled..

"Who's there?" Ynfara whispered, and her eyes flickered open. A frown creased her forehead as she stared up into the pearly lights spinning around her. Those eyes were deep blue. Emrillian thought she could look into them and find the answers to questions only half-formed in her mind..

"Mama?" she whispered, her voice barely more than a squeak. She cleared her throat. "Mama.".

"Who--" She inhaled sharply. "Emmi?" She struggled to sit up. .

Emrillian hurried around the bier to offer her hand..

Ynfara shuddered and stared, wrapping her arms tight around herself. She began to shake her head, then moaned and pressed her fists against her temples..

"Slowly, my dear." Mrillis came to stand beside Emrillian. He rested a hand on Ynfara's head. A flash of green-tinted light made all four in the room flinch..

"Grandfather." Ynfara offered a trembling smile. Then a sob shook her and she stared at Emrillian. "What happened to my baby?".

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