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Back Rituals
Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CAPRICIOUS
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. IN THE CARDS
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. LOVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. PHONE ISSUES
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY
  40. BONDING
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  48. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  49. SACRILEGE
  50. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  57. DEATH BY HELL-BIRD
  58. THE DARKNESS
  59. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  60. FINALLY
  61. THE PACT
  62. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  65. About the Author

“Ah.” He tried for a smile. “Inform the losing party first. Best they hear about it directly, and not through the crowing of the winners.” He shook his head and lowered himself to a chair. “No, that’s unkind. The Tylwyth Teg won’t crow. This isn’t that kind of battle. It may have been once, but it is no longer.”

When I sat on the sofa, he said, “If you’re going to apologize, don’t, Liv. You couldn’t make any other choice after what Ida did. I’d love to claim she snuck in and stole the banner after we’d won the war, but that, too, is unkind. We assisted. We did not win. We never could have won against that thing. She did.”

“She asked me to choose the Tylwyth Teg. Those were her final words.”

A sharp laugh. “Of course they were. While I’d like to fault her for that, I can honestly only say that I hope you agreed in time for her to hear it. She did deserve that.”

“I told her I wouldn’t turn my back on them. But I’m not turning my back on the Cŵn Annwn, either, Ioan. I can’t.”

He looked over at me, frowning. “You have to choose, Liv.”

“So I’ve heard. I’ve also heard that the Persephone solution isn’t an option. Too bad—I’m making it one. And yes, I know what that means—that neither of you gets the golden key to survival. If I split myself between you both, I split whatever power I have. The sum may not even equal the whole. Patrick has explained it. But that’s my choice. Live in Cainsville; hunt with the Cŵn Annwn. Give enough power to both sides to buy you time while you figure out your own survival plan. Because I’m not it. I won’t be it. Stick together—that was the lesson Gwynn and Arawn and Matilda taught us. That’s what I’m applying here. Matilda divided her time between the fae and the Hunt. That’s how it was. How it should have been. And how it will be. Even if it’s not what either side really wants.”

He rose and walked over, motioning for me to get up, and I braced for a lecture on how I had to choose.

“This is a choice,” I said. “It’s my choice.”

He reached out and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Then it’s the right one.”

—