Changeling by Katherine Wilburn

 

Title – Changeling 

Series – The Siofra Chronicles 

Author – K.R. Wilburn 

Genre – YA Urban Fantasy 

Publication Date – 5/2/14 

Length (Pages/# Words) – 239/ 80k words 

Publisher – Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing

Cover Artist – Stephanie White of Steph’s Cover Designs

All college Freshman Cassie Marshall has ever wanted was to be brave enough to find her own place in the world without her friends or family choosing for her. When she wakes up on her nineteenth birthday in a parallel world she feels she may have finally glimpsed her true purpose. She learns that she is a Changeling with the ability to pass through the Dreaming and into the Otherworld. Now she has one year to decide whether to forsake her destiny and remain a mortal, or to sever her ties to become an immortal Fae, standing guard over the dreams of sleeping humans.

When other changelings go missing, whispers of a dark and shadowy threat begin to spread through the Fae courts. There is an Erlking, an elf twisted by thousands of years trapped in the mortal world, hunting down the changelings where the Fae can’t protect them and draining the magic from their souls. Cassie is thrown into a race against time to decide what she wants most before it finds her and devours her soul and takes away her choices for good.

AMAZON KINDLE /  GOODREADS

     

EXCERPT –

"Cassandra," the strange man called, his voice deep and melodic at the same time. My heart skipped a beat when I heard my name on his lips. "I am so glad you’re finally here." He walked toward me, all grace and easiness, and I had to remind myself to breathe, chiding myself for being nervous about a strange man in a dream.

"Do I know you?" I asked as he stopped in front of me and smiled down at me familiarly. I frowned at him. He was taller than I was, my head not quite reaching his chin, and I had to look up at him, resisting the urge to stretch onto my toes to get a better look at his eyes.

"Not yet," he admitted, "but I have been waiting for you nonetheless. My name is Aleksander. I am your Caomhnóir."

"My what? What’s a kweevrore?" I stumbled over the unfamiliar word, trying to mimic the way it had rolled off his tongue.

"Your Caomhnóir. Like a guardian or protector," he said, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth from the way I’d tested out the unfamiliar word.

"And what is it exactly you think you are guarding me from?” I asked, my eyes glancing suspiciously over the trees as the branches rustled with a breeze.

"I am not your guard, Cassandra.”  He smirked at me as if the thought of guarding me was somehow amusing. "I am your guardian, your mentor. I am here to guide you during your time here in Otherworld." He spread his arms wide and gestured to the lush landscape surrounding us.

I scowled. "Please don't call me Cassandra. Only my grandfather calls me Cassandra. "

"What would you like to be called then?"

"Call me Cassie," I said. "What is Otherworld?"

"All right then, Cassie. It’s hard to describe in mortal terms, but I will try," he said with a grin, reaching out and taking my hand in his.

I inhaled sharply when his hand touched mine. My palm tingled strangely, and a strange heat passed briefly between us. I wondered if he had felt it as well. He caught my gaze, his startled green eyes mirroring my own before he looked down at our hands, studying them.

I was sure he had felt that sizzle too.  I was starting to get curious. I couldn't recall ever actually feeling in my dreams before. Unless you counted my nightmares.  Somehow I always felt those as if they were real. Was this a nightmare?

When I thought about it, I realized that I shouldn't be able to taste the salt in the air or smell the woodsy aroma of the trees around us. I frowned with confusion. This dream was far too real for my taste, and it was starting to make my head hurt.

"The Otherworld is the land of the Fae," Aleksander explained patiently. He tucked my arm under his, turning and leading me down the beach. The waves swept gently up the beach and over my feet, deliciously warm and again bothering me because I knew that I shouldn't be able to feel the warmth.

"The Fae? You mean like faeries?” I asked finally, trying not to think too much about how disturbingly real it all was even as I relished the feeling of the warm water and the sand.  It had been so long since I had seen the ocean, and strange as this all was, I wasn’t in that dark clearing sniveling and waiting to be killed.

"The Fae are...well, for lack of a better term, yes, Faeries. We are what is left of the guardians of the realms of dreams."

He must have seen the look of confusion on my face because he patted my hand reassuringly, drawing me closer to his side as he led me across the glittering sand. My breath caught in my throat. Under any other circumstance, strolling down a beautiful beach hand in hand with a gorgeous man would be happy dream. Instead, I was overwhelmed and felt panic starting to build within me. My heart beat rapidly and my breath sped up as if adrenaline were beginning to flow.

"This place is our home. It lies outside of the mortal realm, on a different plane of existence, but one that runs parallel to it. I know that probably doesn't make any sense to you yet, but it will with time.”

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that I'm in some kind of alternate dimension here?” I asked, frustrated and confused.  “Oh man, I've got to lay off the Supernatural reruns before bed."

A different realm of existence? Those cheap grocery store cakes were off the shopping list permanently. All those preservatives had probably fried my brain. Becca was right. It was time to go organic. Science fiction and junk food obviously had dire consequences when combined.

"You are a Síofra,” he said, ignoring my outburst.

“Sheefra?” I repeated, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.  What weird language was he speaking?

He stopped and turned to face me so quickly that I walked into him. I could feel his breath on my cheeks as he looked down at me, bringing his hands to my upper arms and holding them gently as if bracing me for something important.

"You, Cassandra Matthews, are a changeling."

 

Check out these character bios! We love it when we get to know the characters a little more!

KR Wilburn was born in Northern California and has traveled the world with her family but currently calls Fairbanks Alaska home. A veteran of the United States Army, she began writing as stress relief and found she truly enjoyed it. As the mother of six children and the wife of her childhood best friend Ben she enjoys being able to hide away in the other worlds she creates. When she isn't writing, she is busy reading everything she can get her hands on and counting down the moments until she can find inspiration capturing the perfect Aurora through the lens of her Camera

 

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