Elf Saga: Bloodlines (Part 1: Curse of the Jaguar) Read Online Free Page A

Not just tucked into a braid or something. I’m pretty sure
the flowers are growing in her hair. And as she says hello, three
faeries fly up from behind her and perch on her shoulders and head,
clinging to her hair, their tiny naked bodies glowing softly with a
pale green light.
    She’s a Feyeri. I haven’t seen one of them in
years.
    “I, uh...” My head spins a little and my
stomach gurgles. I haven’t eaten today. Come to think of it, I
didn’t eat yesterday either. When did I last…? “Oh crap.”
    I remember falling. I don’t remember hitting
the floor. Which is probably for the best.
    I wake up in a bed, sweating under a ton of
blankets with a faerie sitting on my chest about an inch from my
nose, staring at me. I blow at it and it flies away.
    “Hello?” I sit up slowly, struggling to push
the covers off. “Ugh, what are these blankets made of, rocks?”
    “Oh hey!” The girl with the freckles and
flowers comes hurrying over with a steaming cup and a bright cheery
smile. “Oh good, you’re awake. I was so worried. I mean, I’m still
a little worried. You look terrible, honey. That forehead, you
really need to moisturize. What happened to you?”
    “A boat.” I take the cup and drink. It’s a
thick, soupy green tea with milk and lemon, and a dozen other
things that probably belong in a salad, which I would not eat. I
wince and set it aside. “A boat happened to me.”
    “Well, whatever hit you, it’s gone now.
Scurvy, red fever, no worries. All fixed now thanks to my little
green friends.”
    She’s got a faerie sitting on her necklace,
right in her cleavage, and she’s petting my hair like I’m a lost
puppy. And I wish she’d stop smiling. I also bite back the desire
to tell her she’s wrong, that her faerie magic didn’t fix anything,
not really. I’ve seen Feyeri healers before, when I was much
younger. It’s true they can fix almost anything, but my brothers
and I seem to be the exception.
    I pull my hair free of her, and she takes my
fingers in her pink-gloved hands, her smile even bigger than
before, and she whispers, “I know who you are!”
    “What?” I tense up. “You do?” This is how
fights start back home, but this time I don’t have a pronghorn to
get me out of here.
    “You’re Lozen’s daughter!” She looks like she
just discovered a new breed of kitten to snuggle with at night,
which is to say, too happy.
    I look down at my hand and see my jaguar
spots between her gloved fingers. “Uh, yeah. Genesee Marev. Nice to
meet you.”
    “Gen! Can I call you Gen? It’s so nice to
meet you!” She shakes my hand wildly. “I’m Rajani. Rajani dal
Rezhiri, at your service. Herbalist, barber, surgeon, gardener, and
Feyeri priestess extraordinaire!”
    ”Yeah, I guessed that last bit.” I nod at her
hair. “Dad told me about how it turns green when you join the
sisterhood.”
    “Your dad? Oh, Wolfram the chef! Little Mom
never stops talking about him. They were best friends!” Rajani
throws her arms around me for a long, bosomy hug. “This is so
exciting! Are your mom and dad here too?”
    “Uh, no. It’s just me.” I stand up to escape
any more hugs. The interior of the windmill is mostly one huge
empty tower with ledges and lofts connected by steps and ladders
all the way up to the top. I see beds and tables and lamps and
tools and potted plants all over the place. It’s all wires and
vines, strange machines and exotic herbs everywhere I look. So, a
mess. “What about your mom? Nadira, right? Is she here?”
    “No, sorry. My folks are off on another
honeymoon somewhere.”
    I stare at her. “Gone? For how long?”
    “Oh, who knows? It was a couple of months,
last time.”
    “Months?” I lean on the edge of a table. I
just can’t catch a break. Five weeks at sea, thousands of leagues
to the far side of the world, and all for nothing. Unless... “Do
you know if she still has her crystal ship?”
    “Of course!” Rajani beams. “They’re off on it
now,