title: Selfish Fate
author: Batts, Taylor
description: Reaching maturity doesn't mean much when you haven't aged in years. Enlilith is and has been, by all definition, a fae woman. If that is true, then why is her family making such a big deal of her upcoming birthday, calling it the marker of her maturity? It becomes obvious that a secret has been kept from her for her whole life, a revelation of which must be had before a guest arrives on the island, a guest that will reveal the secret if no one else does first.  One human lives on the island with the fae, a young man named James. James is Enlilith's Watcher, a Bond that keeps young fae grounded until they can bind their spirit to the earth. That's what Enlilith has been told her whole life, anyway. Not only is that not true, but Enlilith isn't even fully fae. There is another human on the island: her mother. Enlilith is only half fae which makes turning sixteen, an age that means nothing to fae, seem a bit more complicated. If that wasn't enough, James decides to confess everything at once, telling Enlilith that she's his soulmate. Only, although he understands perfectly, he can't seem to explain to Enlilith exactly what that means.  There has never been a guest on the family's secluded island but, for Enlilith's birthday, a man named Cinaed has been invited, the only other half-fae in the world. Instead of complicating circumstances, however, Cinaed offers a companionship to Enlilith and an honesty that her family has failed to provide. Despite having been surrounded by people her whole life, Enlilith never realized, until meeting Cinaed, how alone she really felt. Cinaed has been alone, too, living a long life of solitude, something he never minded until he met Enliltih, a woman who is taking him by storm.  Enlilith begs James for clarity, anything to tell her that James being her soulmate means that she can fall in love with only him. That isn't something James can offer her, though. That means that she's free to fall in love with someone else, right?  Is it possible for Enlilith to form a new connection and keep the bond she has with James?