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Chapter One

There was pixie dust in the air I could feel it seeping in froo Crescent, my bookshop, as it wafted up to tickle the back ofthe stuff; it was different froic there was Sparkling, the dust shi in that in-between place Not quite physical, not quite ethereal And yet pixie ic had more effect on humans and the human realm than it did on anybody else

Curious The fact that I could sense it all the way back in ic Otherworld ic, if I wasn't off my mark I hadn't seen an Earthside pixie near my shop since I'd been here Or at least, I didn't think any were around The creatures usually gave me a wide berth, partly because I was half-Fae and partly because I was a witch Either way, they didn't trust me

A nu pixies to harvest their dust The pixies weren't hurt, but they took a severe blow to the ego during the process, especially when some of their captors sold the dust for profits that would et one penny froether to raid a shop with some success But for the ether

Of course, I didn't trust them, either Pixies were born troublemakers, and they enjoyed every erous, not in the way your average pain-in-the-neck goblin was, but they were trouble all the same

I finished counting the receipts and tucked theit in the bottoo Crescent was having an off h new stock to draw in new customers

I gathered one for the day She ran a casual PI business upstairs from my shop, but she'd been out on a case most of the day and hadn't bothered with

Glancing aroundwas in order, I slipped on a light capelet My tastes ran toward bustiers, camisoles, and chiffon skirts, not exactly weather-appropriate wear, but I wasn't about to change my style because of a few storm clouds

We were nearing the vernal equinox, and Seattle was still chilly and overcast Roiling gray clouds seeded with fat, heavy raindrops hadup to splatter the sidewalks and roads

Granted, the trees around the city were vibrant with budding leaves, and thein western Washington was a far cry fro back in Otherworld By now, the skies over OW would be stained with thin rivulets of gold fro a watercolor wash as they blended into the indigo of the approaching twilight The warht-, and the sardens around our house

Singing, and a little bit hoht now—I set the alarm system and locked the door Tired or not, I'd better find out where the pixie dust was cohborhood, all the shops would be in for trouble

As I turned toward the sidewalk, a whinny caughtdown the ard pixie I glanced up the street and froze What the hell!

A unicorn was heading a's Deli, which had h for me to feel his breath on my face

With a nonchalant bob of the head, the unicorn said, "Good evening, Lady Camille"

I blinked, wondering if I'd been working a little too hard But no, he was still there His coat shiical creatures Robin's-egg blue eyes glinted with intelligence, and his horn sparkled a lustrous gold That's how I kneas a ns, which were most definitely in attendance Female unicorns have silver horns