Fairest 02 - The Frog Prince Read Online Free Page B

smooth expanse of his bright green skin. She gave him a smacking kiss on the top of his head.
    Then she passed out.
     
    ***
     
    “Huh,” Chris said slowly, his head angling to one side as he considered the softly snoring woman on the floor as he hovered on all fours over her. “I’m starting to notice a pattern,” he said with a nod. “I can’t say I like it too much.”
    He shook his head in disgust, mentally hoping that one day he’d be able to get his hands on Seraphim long enough to strangle the witch out of her. Groaning, he got to his feet. Bending down only long enough to lift the woman in his arms so that he could carry her back to the bed. This was obviously going to be a lot more complicated than he’d hoped. How the hell was she supposed to cure him if she couldn’t stay conscious as long as he was human and vice versa? Not to mention the giant lizard now living in the hallway and the fire that wanted to slow roast him over a pit.
    “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, laying her on the bed as gently as possible. “Son of a fucking bitch.” He brushed a curl from her forehead and swiped a thumb across the mole next to her eye. He’d like to see those wide hazel eyes once more, feel those lips against his own, if only long enough for her to smack him again.
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    There wasn’t any music. There never had to be. The thorns biting into her flesh swayed to a song only they could hear, and she simply hung amongst them, bending to their will. She was a marionette and her strings sucked the life from her as gracefully as they handled her limbs. She danced day and night, her feet moving tirelessly and her body heavy with the weight of the sleeping spell.
    She’d been dancing for days.
    Weeks.
    Months.
    Long, endless, dark months.
    Sometimes Danielle forgot about her and sometimes she would simply stand before Rachel and watch. For however long it took for her interest in the eternal ballet to fade. Her eyes unblinking as the vines pumped her full of the vitality they stole. Rachel’s shoes were filled with blood and something in her leg felt as if it were broken.
    But still she danced.
    She couldn’t scream. The sleeping spell wouldn’t allow it. But on a certain level, she was aware of what was happening to her. Danielle wanted it that way. Rachel could feel it. She cried. The tears were the only release she had and they came willingly, eagerly, to slip from her eyes and down her cheeks. The tears, she thought, was what Danielle seemed to enjoy the most. 
    ***
     
    Rachel awoke from the dream only when she realized that her soul was rising from her body. It was a subtle sensation, but distinct in its own way. Sort of like when you get your hair cut and you can feel the scissors biting through, the tear as bits of you fell away. This was like that, except all over. A tingle in her flesh as her spirit drifted towards the ceiling. She opened her eyes, unsurprised, but a little sad to look down at her own body. She was in the bed again. Probably all thanks to the man asleep at the foot of the mattress. She hovered just above him, enjoying the stubble that dusted his chin, the strong, clean lines of his face. He had auburn hair that waved gently about his ears. His body was large, wide shoulders, slim hips. If his chest was as muscled and toned as his back and ass were, then Rachel was in for a treat if he ever rolled over. She was about to whisper sweet nothings in his ear to see if she could convince him to do just that when she heard an all too familiar voice echoing through the castle.
    “Rachel.”
    She came to attention, gaze darting to the door.
    “Ray- chel.”
    Cursing beneath her breath, she sent the naked man in her bed a final glance before darting from the room. She sped down the stairs, blasting into the great hall and spinning this way and that as she searched for the tell-tale cloud of purple smog. She heard him chuckle from the shadows, and her hands curled into fists