Calling Eira

  Calling Eira

  The Fae Queen Of Winter #3

  Laura Greenwood

  Contents

  What Happened Before

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Author Note

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  About the Author

  © 2020 Laura Greenwood

  * * *

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.

  Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:

  www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk

  Cover Design by Vampari Designs

  Calling Eira is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Blurb

  The age old battle of the Summer and Winter Fae is almost over...and Eira is the key.

  * * *

  With her position as the Fae Queen Of Winter secure, Eira must face the biggest challenge yet and unite the two Fae Courts for the first time in hundreds of years, while embarking on the next adventure with her family.

  -

  Calling Eira is the third and final book in the Fae Queen Of Winter series, a fae paranormal/fantasy with a reverse harem romance.

  What Happened Before

  Saving Eira

  * * *

  Eira is the descendent and heir of Jack Frost, and responsible for making sure the frosts come each winter. While living next door to her best friend, and crush, Josh (a witch), she finds herself also involved with a cheeky summer fae with a dislike of doors (Leth), and an old fashioned vampire, Rueben.

  Leth introduces Eira to the fae courts, where she meets his sister/heir to the Summer Throne, Rose, and the current Fae Princess Of Winter, Yuna, who have been together for a long time. Leth introduces Eira, as well as Josh and Rueben, to the Fae Queen Of Summer (his Mother), revealing that Eira is his fated mate, and that Josh and Rueben are also her fated mates. Eira discovers that she is part fae, and that her powers were granted to her via Jack Frost, who won them from a bet from the Fae Queen Of Winter at the time (Nieves)*

  Eira is followed by another vampire, Edward, who Rueben then attacks in retaliation.

  When the frosts don't come, the foursome find themselves having to work out what['s going on, and it is discovered that it is the Fae Queen Of Summer herself who is trying to steal the frosts as part of the age-old feud between the Summer and Winter courts. Eira uses her magic to do battle with the Queen, and manages to restore balance, leaving the Fae Queen Of Summer imprisoned and replaced with her daughter, Rose.

  Josh's sister, Reagan, visits and predicts that Eira's second daughter will be Rose's heir.

  * * *

  * The true events of Jack Frost gaining the Winter Fae powers are different to those the characters in the present day are aware of, and are detailed in the prequel to The Fae Queen Of Winter series, Frost's Forfeit, which follows Queen Nieves and Jack Frost.

  * * *

  Reigning Eira

  * * *

  The Fae Queen Of Winter has died, and her only daughter, Yuna, has abdicated so she can take her place as the fated mate and consort of the Fae Queen Of Summer (Rose). Despite believing herself to be part succubus like her Grandmother, Eira learns that she is in fact a full fae, and the next heir to the throne. She briefly suggests they ask her twin sister, Isolde (Izzy, whose story is told in Sight Of Change) but knows that it has to be her.

  Rueben is called before the Vampire Elders, of which he is one, to atone for what he did to Edward. Maurice, the head Elder, refuses to forgive him. Eira freezes him.

  Eira takes the crown and meets the other Queens, including Rose and Aledwen (The Fae Queen Of Spring, whose story is told in Chasing Aledwen).

  She takes the throne, and convinces the Winter Court that she's the rightful Queen by showing her power when her court is interrupted by an angry vampire.

  1

  The tingle of ice-cold magic on her fingers was oddly comforting by this point. It might only be Eira's second time calling the frosts as the Fae Queen Of Winter, but it made her feel like she deserved the crown that now graced her head. Most of the time, it was still too surreal to think of herself as Queen, but tonight wasn't one of those.

  Snowflakes and the glitter of frost magic swirled around her. Eira closed her eyes and breathed in, enjoying the cold tingle. It invigorated her, and brought back all the other times she'd done this. She might only have been the Queen for the last two years, but she'd called the frosts every year since she'd turned eighteen. At first, she'd thought she was merely the descendent of Jack Frost, and that was why she had to do this. That had gone out of the window soon after finding her three mates. She was fae.

  Not just fae either, but the descendent of Queen Nieves, the woman who had given away her powers to Jack Frost. In Eira, the royal Winter Fae line had finally regained the magic it was supposed to have.

  A tingle at her fingertips announced her witch magic trying to get free. She pushed it down. Now wasn't the time to let that loose. She had no idea what it would do to the changing seasons, but she didn't want to find out. If she failed to call the winter, then it could cause the apocalypse. Not that her family had known that. It was something she'd learned since meeting the other Queens.

  The magical sparks she'd gained when she mated with Josh withdrew into her. She could still feel them, but they rested and let her own magic fill every inch of her. Thankfully, her winter magic had cancelled out Leth's summer magic, and she hadn't gained any of his powers, unlike those of her other two mates. Using summer magic in the middle of trying to make winter happen was never going to end well. Ironically, it was just what her mother-in-law would have wanted. Not that anyone gave the former Fae Queen Of Summer any influence anymore. Eira wasn't even sure where she was being kept, other than in the Summer Kingdom.

  Eira closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensations her magic caused inside her. Nothing felt like this. Not even going to bed with all of her mates. There was something beautiful about this moment. It was peaceful, but full of power.

  Whenever she called on her frost magic, she felt like she was the Fae Queen of Winter more, and it helped her feel like less of an imposter. Even if the fae themselves had accepted her after her show of power, she still didn't completely feel like this position was hers. Especially when she was around the other Queens.

  The magic surged through her and burst out into the air around her. She didn't need to see the world as a whole to know that winter was about to fall. The last remaining brown leaves would drift away from their branches, to be replaced with the early morning frosts. People would breathe out clouds of
hot air when they talked.

  She wasn't sure exactly how it worked, or why she only had to do this once a year when winter started at different times around the world, but it was best not to question it too much. This was magic. And it kept the balance of power and the seasons in the world, which was the most important thing.

  The air began to settle, and she opened her eyes. The abandoned field around her was covered in a thin sheet of snow. It would melt away before anyone woke in the morning and wondered why it had come so early, but for now, she was pleased with it. A sign that she'd done her job, and all would be well that winter.

  A longing for home welled up within her. She could never spend too much time here, not when her mates were back at the palace waiting. They'd want to know that everything went okay, and that she was all right too. It was sweet of them, if a little misguided in part. She'd been doing this her entire adult life, she knew what she was doing.

  She turned around, her long gown swishing in the snow and leaving a trail behind her. It was cumbersome to wear things like this, but on certain occasions, her people expected it of her, and she wasn't brave enough to break away from that yet. Maybe in time she would be.

  With a quick flick of her wrist, she summoned the shimmering portal that would take her home. She took in a deep breath and stepped through. Her whole body tingled as she went from the snow covered field to a ballroom full of winter fae and their chosen consorts for the evening.

  But the only three people she had eyes for were her mates, the three men standing right in front of where the portal let out. She smiled at them all, but knew she had to finish her work before she could spend any time with them.

  "It is done," she called to the room. "The winter has been called and the season has begun."

  Cheers sounded from around the room.

  "Now, we celebrate," she shouted.

  The fae took that as their cue to start the party. The wine had no doubt already been flowing, but the dancing and music normally waited until after she'd confirmed she'd done her job.

  "Everything went okay?" Josh asked, stepping up and wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close.

  She closed her eyes in anticipation of the kiss to come. His lips met hers, causing her witch magic to break through its confines and spread over her skin, making her tingle from head to toe. She still hadn't learned to control it properly, even though she knew she was supposed to. But when it came to it, she needed to spend her time focusing on her royal duties over her private life.

  His lips met hers, soothing away all of her thoughts. She melted into him, wrapping her hand around his neck and pulling him closer.

  "Ahem." Leth coughed loudly. "That's enough, Frostie."

  Josh smiled against her lips before pulling back.

  "It's never enough," Eira promised, turning to her fae mate. "You should be glad of that."

  "Oh I am." He winked, making her giggle.

  Eira started to make her way towards him, but was overtaken by a sudden sense of dizziness. She swayed from side to side until everything went black.

  She was dimly aware of a pair of strong arms catching her, but couldn't think which of her mates was doing it.

  Someone grabbed her hand, and a shot of magic travelled through her body. That was Josh, then. Leth's magic would make her feel sick. She hated that it wasn't as easy for them to share as it was with the others.

  She opened her eyes, relieved to find all three of them standing around her with concerned expressions on their faces.

  "Did anyone see?" she whispered. The last thing she wanted was to weaken her position with the fae.

  Leth shook his head. "You're fine. They're all too busy."

  She turned into Rueben, unsurprised to find he was the one holding her. Josh would have wanted to be able to help her with magic, and Leth wouldn't want to risk making her reaction more severe by accident.

  He hugged her close. "Do you need blood?" His breath fanned against her ear.

  "No, I'm okay." She straightened out, trying not to let them see how unsteady on her feet she was. The last time she'd felt like this was the last time she'd let alcohol affect her, which had been before she'd become the Queen. And she couldn't get sick, so it couldn't be that.

  Could it? Was there some kind of new disease that worked on fae? It didn't seem likely. The magic within paranormals kept sickness at bay, and that wasn't likely to have changed without anyone finding out about it.

  She plastered on a smile. "I'm fine. I must have just overused my magic and drained myself," she said to reassure them, even though she knew it was a lie. Like normal, using as much of her magic as she had left her feeling invigorated, not drained.

  Which only made her fainting more confusing. But all she had to do was get through the rest of the evening. She could try and work out what was wrong with her in the morning when she had less to worry about.

  2

  Eira stared into the mirror, leaning on the sink for support.

  "This can't be happening," she muttered.

  The test sat on the side of the sink, mocking her as she refused to look at it to see the results. She didn't even know if a human test would work for her, but it was the best she could do without revealing to the whole palace that she thought she might be pregnant. Especially because if she was, then her mates should be the first people to learn.

  The image of the three of them playing with their daughter entered her mind. Josh would no doubt be the one who held her hand while she learned to walk, while Leth would teach her to misbehave, and Rueben would do all of the boring etiquette stuff that had been all the rage when he'd been growing up. And necessary for a little girl who might be Queen one day.

  She pressed a hand against her stomach. The little one in there would be Queen one day. If she was a girl. But from what Josh's sister had said, she would be. Reagan was always talking about Eira's first and second daughters, and when a witch with the sight said something, it was best to believe them.

  "Pull yourself together," she muttered. "This isn't a bad thing. So what if you're not ready?"

  The universe had a strange way of working. If it thought Eira and her mates were ready to start their family, then they weren't going to be able to stop it.

  This was ridiculous. She had to check the test. She picked it up, unable to put it off any longer. If she didn't leave the bathroom soon, then her mates would be going about their days and she'd have to wait an entire day to tell them. The wait would be torture.

  Which was when she realised that she already knew what the result was going to be, though she had no idea how.

  Without looking at it, she turned and walked out of the room, determined to talk to her mates before she lost all of her resolve.

  "I need to talk to you," she announced as she made her way into her bedroom.

  Luckily, all three of them were there still. They didn't always all stay with her overnight, but each of them had gotten into the habit of coming and saying good morning.

  "What's up?" Leth asked, sitting up and letting the sheet slip away from him. She tried not to stare at his chest for too long, it would only distract her from what she had to say.

  Rueben and Josh were fully dressed at least. They'd been in their own rooms the night before, so didn't pose the same problem.

  Her whole body trembled with nerves. How were they going to react? They were serious about her, she knew that much. Otherwise they wouldn't have moved into the fae palace with her.

  Well, except for Leth. He liked to make his way into places he shouldn't be, and the winter palace was exactly that.

  "I'm pregnant," she blurted before she could chicken out.

  Eira bit her lip as her gaze flitted between the three men, trying to work out what they were thinking.

  "Oh, it's just that," Leth said, leaning back against the pillows with a self-satisfied grin.

  Her
eyes widened. "You knew?"

  He shrugged. "Your magic felt off a few weeks ago. I didn't work it out at first, but as much as it may surprise you, I do know how to count," he joked.

  "Oh."

  "That explains why your blood tasted different the other night," Rueben added quietly.

  "You couldn't tell she was pregnant from it?" Leth asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "I could, but that would involve knowing what pregnant women's blood tastes like, and that's something I pride myself in never having tasted," Rueben responded stiffly.

  "Until now," Leth muttered, but the smile on his face revealed he was simply trying to get a rise out of the vampire.

  Eira sighed and dropped down onto the bed. "Are we ready for this?" she asked them all, not caring which of them answered.

  "We have twice the advantage of most people going through this," Josh pointed out. "So yes, I think we can be ready for this."

  "I don't think the number of parents has anything to do with it," she muttered. "Plenty of people are great single parents."

  "You have a stable job," Leth suggested.

  Eira snorted, then covered her face with her hand. "I'd say that wasn't going to be the case, but we all know the fae will likely celebrate it even more than we will."

  "Oh, you have no idea what you have coming," Leth teased. "There are lots of ceremonies, and celebrations, and..."