Faery Unpredictable

Chapter 1

Iremember when my worst problem was that my parents were headed to the French Riviera without me. Boy, those were the good old days!

Back then — we’re talking three months ago! — I had a mother and father who loved me, a decidedly weird grandmother who told tall tales, and Lexie, my very best friend who stood beside me as we started high school. So what if the parental units took a super fabulous vacation without me? We were a perfectly normal American family.

At least, I thought so at the time.

Turns out, we were as far from normal as it was possible to get, and now it was time to put on my big girl panties and walk straight into the lion’s den of what I’d discovered was the other side of my heritage.

Because I’m definitely not just a typical American teen. I’m not even human anymore.

Nope, I’m a faery princess.

Truly.

For real.

My transformation began on my fifteenth birthday when Gran introduced me to our family’s guardian dragon, Roddy, and ended with my presentation to the King of Faery, Alberic, my too-many-greats-to-count grandpa on Halloween, or Samhain as the faery folk call it.

Yep. It’s been a weird few months, but I’m adjusting … I think.

The doorbell rang, a five note fanfare that Dad had programmed when we bought this house. I took a deep breath, grabbed my powder blue fleece jacket from the back of the couch, and stepped to answer the summons. Roddy stood on the other side, his dark blond hair shining gold even in the dim winter sun that filtered through the shade of our wide front porch. Who knew jeans, hiking boots and a black leather jacket could look so sexy on a guy?

The sight of him warmed my heart and made me smile. Only six weeks ago he’d been a dragon, exiled from Faery since Rhiannon, the Faery king’s daughter, had chosen to marry a mortal. King Alberic blamed Roddy for his daughter’s defection. He cursed Roddy to life as a dragon and forced him to guard Rhiannon’s family until her true heir should appear.

And who was that true heir? Why me, of course.

I’ll never understand why fate chose me, or why it took as many centuries as it did for this heir-thing to materialize. I just know that I’m her heir and it’s a genetic reality, not simply a political title I can decline.

On my fifteenth birthday, Roddy transferred his allegiance from my grandmother to me, and I discovered the truth about my heritage, that I was destined to not only take Rhiannon’s place as Princess of Faery, but to become a full faery myself. Once I was presented to the royal court, I would no longer be human.

Great. Just what I always wanted: to lose my humanity and become part of a species I knew nothing about.

Roddy, in his guise of dragon, tried to prepare me for my presentation to the king, but he failed to mention that once I arrived in Faery, the king never intended for me to return to the mortal world. Of course, he also failed to mention that he, Roddy, was under a death sentence. Once I took my place in the royal court, his duty would be complete and the execution that had been deferred while the king awaited my arrival would be carried out.

It looked like King Alberic held all the power, but he hadn’t reckoned on me.

I wasn’t raised as a good citizen of Faery. I didn’t know I was supposed to instantly obey the king’s every whim. No sir! I grew up as a 21st century American woman. No king was going to dictate my life … or my dragon’s death. I rebelled, and my rebellion nearly cost my life.

Incredibly, my bond with Roddy saved me, and Alberic, having nearly lost me before he’d even met me, released Roddy from his curse.

You can’t begin to imagine my surprise when I discovered that my erstwhile dragon was actually a faery prince … and a really handsome one at that. Unbelievable!

And now the prince who had guarded my family as a dragon for generations stood on my front porch, ready to escort me to Faery. Christmas break had arrived and, according to the pact I’d negotiated with my many-times-removed grandfather, it was