The Shadow Girls Saga follows Áine from the world of the fey, into our world, and then back into the Otherlands. The Shadow Girls series is steeped in folklore and mythology, as we learn who these women are, and who they will become.
Shadow Girl tells the story of fairy teen Áine, who is haunted by a fiery dream, where her mother loses her mind and her father makes a devastating choice. Áine escapes into the Shadowlands to discover the secrets of her family and her past. But the moment her foot crosses the threshold, Áine is thrust into a war that has been raging for centuries. Guardians, fire fey, and a rising darkness threaten the light, and Áine must learn to fight in the shadows — or die in the flames. Find out more about Shadow Girl here, or purchase the book here.
In the next book in the Shadow Girls series, a queene shall rise: A Shadow Queene.
Just when her dreams are about to come true, Hennessey’s world is torn apart. She is dragged into the Shadowlands, while Áine is forced into the light. But in a world of magic and darkness, where the fae whither and monsters reign, Hennessey finds a power all her own. She embraces the shadows and enters the endless night.
You can purchase Shadow Queene here, or find out more about the story here.
Stay tuned for the next book in the Shadow Girls Saga!
Read the beginning of Shadow Girls…
Áine’s foot crossed the threshold and darkness consumed her. She put her hands out, afraid she’d fall face-first into the void. But the shadows tricked her, and she stumbled onto solid ground.
She laughed and pushed herself back up, wiping the dust off her cloak.
Her voice echoed in the dark, spitting her laugh back at her, and then disappeared into the eerie silence.
She straightened up and stood there a moment, squinting hard into the blackened tunnel, but nothing stared back at her. In fact, it just seemed darker than before. She took a deep breath to clear her head.
It didn’t work. Everything became even more jumbled. Confused. Why was she here in the first place? And why was it so dark? The Crossing. She was crossing into the Shadowlands. Was she already through? She couldn’t tell. It felt like the ground was shifting even though she was standing still. She reached forward, searching for something to hold onto.
Her hand grazed the inside of the tree, the rough bark catching underneath her fingernails. A splinter of pain shot through her hand and she pulled her finger back and sucked on it.
Of course, with everything she had been through, everything it took to get here, she would hurt herself on a stupid tree. If Ciaran saw this, he’d never let her live it down. Baby, he would call her. Thumbsucker. She’d never hear the end of it.
Even now, she couldn’t get him out of her head.
“Come back soon,” he had said. “Don’t make me wait too long.”
“I will.” Áine smiled.
“You’ll make me wait?”
“No, I’ll be back soon.”
“Good.” He pulled her face up to meet his own. “Safe travels.”
“I’ll see you in the Fairerlands.”
So much between them remained unsaid, and so much more had already been whispered. She didn’t know what came next.
The darkness closed in and her smile faded. Maybe he wouldn’t be making fun of her right there—in the middle of the Crossing. Even smiling felt wrong in the emptiness. It was the type of place where even Ciaran would swallow his jokes.
Áine took another step, hoping it would get easier, hoping her eyes would adjust, but the darkness grew deeper, and her chest started to tighten. She rubbed her hand along her ribs and tried to take a deeper breath, but the air was heavy and sharp. It scraped at her lungs, sending shivers up and down her arms. She shuddered and jerked her legs forward. She had to keep moving.
She took another step, then gasped as her stomach twisted and cramped. She staggered forward, reaching her hands out toward the wall, and collapsed against it, falling to her knees and shaking violently as waves of pain crashed through her.
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. She should have already made it through. The wards… They were strengthening. Refusing to let her cross. Not letting her go. She’d be trapped between worlds forever.
She flexed her fingers, trying to hold onto the heat, trying to hold onto anything. But the cold flashed through her, slicing away at her arms. Her hands seized and stopped, frozen in front of her face. She couldn’t move.
Her breath stuck in her throat. She couldn’t breathe.
This was it then. The last of it. She wasn’t going to make it. Her eyes burned—she just wanted air. She searched wildly for something—anything—to help her. Some way to change what was happening. To stop it. Something that could—Oberon, she had no idea what she needed.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, that she would die unless she took another breath, she realized she was blinking. Just a twitch. She focused on her fluttering eyelashes and nearly screamed when warm air slipped back into her lungs.
Air. Her mind spun around the word as she breathed in and out, pushing the air into her lungs over and over again.She fell to her knees, her face in the dirt. Finally, she could move. She could breathe. She sighed with pleasure as she felt the warm air course through her, then laughed into the dirt underneath her lips. Finger-sucking didn’t matter anymore. She was on her hands and knees like a dog, panting and lapping in each breath like it was fresh churned butter. Áine already knew what her nickname would be. Cú-Sídhe—the ultimate insult, that shaggy fairy mutt who was not even terrifying anymore. He just smelled like old fish.
Áine held onto the wall and dragged herself up to her feet. She could do better than that. She would do better.
She saw a sudden flicker of light ahead and her breath quickened. She staggered toward it. The glimmer became a twinkle, then brightened to a glow, and then it formed a dazzling outline against the darkness.
The end of the Crossing. The Threshold. She was almost there. Just a few more steps.
By the time she reached the end of the tunnel, she could have danced into the night. Twirled into another world. All that stopped her was a thin sparkling sheath that clung to the end of the tunnel.
The final test.
Áine raised her hand toward that dying light and with one swift stroke, she broke the barrier between the worlds. As she crossed into the Shadowlands, the wind whipped against her face. It smelled like rosemary, like salt, like freedom.
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You can find more of Shadow Girls here.