Suzanne McLeod - The Bitter Seed of Magic

I shot him a puzzled look, then opened it. I read it and looked up in shock. ‘This says that I’m the new owner of Spellcrackers?’ I checked the date. ‘Since two days ago?’

‘Aye, apparently you dinna like to be telt what’s what by your boss.’

‘I can’t take this,’ I said, holding it out to him. ‘Spellcrackers belongs to Finn.’

‘Och, doll, if you dinna take it, then the kid will nae have a thing to come back to.’ He pulled a disgusted face. ‘The herd will give it tae one of his prissy brothers.’

That didn’t sound good. ‘Well, in that case—’ I folded it up and slipped it in my pocket. ‘I’ll keep it for now.’

Tavish picked me up and swung me round, then planted a much-too-happy kiss on my mouth. ‘So, now you’re the new boss, I’m thinking you’re about tae give me a job and make things up t’me.’

‘You don’t need a job,’ I said drily, wondering what he was up to.

He chuckled. ‘What’s need got to do wi’ it, when you’ve a Chastity spell that needs cracking , and I’ve always had a hankering to be the fae’s Sam Spade.’ He flung an arm round my shoulders and winked. ‘But that’s for tomorrow, doll, for now, come and join in the celebrations.’

Writing a book is part fun, part challenge, part tearing-out-of-hair and all hard work, and this book turned out to be harder work than most. But any book isn’t just hard work for the author, but for all those folk who encourage and support it on its way from shiny new idea, through pounding of keyboards, those bad hair days and on to publication. My deepest thanks and appreciation to everyone who have helped this book on that journey; any errors are all my own.

Thanks to John Jarrold, my intrepid agent, for his belief in me, to the Gollancz crew for their support and commitment, and especially to Jo Fletcher, editor extraordinaire, for her patience and excellent work in continuing to make my books so much better; and for buying three more of Genny’s adventures. Yay!

Thanks to David ( Eagle Rising ) Devereux for letting me bend his ear about ‘dead bodies’; to Gareth Wilson ( Falcata Times ) for kindly lending his name to one of my characters; and a special shout-out to the wonderful Mardel ( Rabid Reader ) for all her epic emails, and for loving Genny & Co.

Thanks to Jaye (the Sabina Kane vampire series) Wells for not only being a stellar crit partner, and a brilliant, funny writer (go buy her books!), but for letting me ‘steal’— an apple a day keeps the vampires away . Thanks to my superb, superfast beta readers: Hasna Saadani (The Book Pushers) and Amanda Rutter (Floor to Ceiling Books), you ladies rock! And to Karen Duvall, to whom I owe thanks to for her insightful help with The Cold Kiss of Death (mea culpa).

Thanks to the Thursday Writers, a truly inspiring bunch for all their help and encouragement: Malcolm Angel, Alison Aquilina, Judy Monckton, and Doreen Cory, who have travelled this amazing journey with me from the start. And massive thanks to BFF Fiona Mackenzie for her endless suffering through many drafts, her dedication to Genny & Co., and her masterful debunking of the paranoia goblins when the muse deserts me.

To Norman, my love, my best friend, and the light in my life, without you the dreams would not be possible, or mean as much—thank you, now and always.

And last, but not least, to all those readers who have read, enjoyed, and taken my books into their hearts—I hope you enjoy this one, and a huge, huge ‘thank you’ to you all.

Suzanne McLeod

Dorset

August 2010