Queen of The Hill (Knight Games) Read Online Free Page B

lips said, and then a shoulder burst from the wood followed by a woman’s body.
    “Tree sprite,” Rick whispered.
    “Obviously,” I deadpanned.
    Once out of her tree, her skin took on the grain of birch wood; her hair, oak bark; and her dress, layers of green leaves. She bolted past us dancing, leaping, and twirling between the branches. She brought company. Sprites hatched all around us, giggling and bounding between the trees.
    “She is coming. She is coming,” they sang as they flit by.
    “Isn’t it early for them to awaken?” I asked Rick. It was twenty degrees outside. I wasn’t familiar with tree sprites, but I was fairly sure they should be sleeping when the trees were sleeping. In fact, I was almost positive Soleil had told me as much when explaining why her fae cousins hadn’t come to our aid during the winter solstice.
    Rick didn’t answer me. His brows knit, and his head dropped forward. I followed his line of sight and watched the snow melt beneath our boots.
    “What the fuck is going on?” It was like spring was tearing through winter from the inside out.
    “She’s come,” he said.
    “Who?”
    “Allow me to introduce myself, sister .”
    I turned toward the potent voice. A tall figure in a hooded cloak stood in a warm space of her making. A large scarab brooch fastened the cloth at her neck, the same scarab beetle I’d seen imprinted on the candle Rick was trying to tell me about. Her boots were tall. Her skirt, red leather. A black corset emphasized her sleek figure. As her long, graceful fingers brushed her hood back from her raven-black hair, my mouth fell open. The woman was stunning. She looked like Cleopatra—dramatically dark with flawless olive skin.
    Her full red lips completed her introduction. “I am Tabetha.”

CHAPTER 3
The Debt
    “W hat brings you here, Tabetha?” Rick’s voice was firm but not threatening. It resonated with professional politeness.
    I was too taken aback to speak. Tabetha was everything I wasn’t. To my short and curvy, she was tall and lanky, like a ballerina. I was blonde; she was dark. In her hand, she cradled a jagged twig that glowed purple at the tip. A wand. She had a magic wand. I didn’t have a wand. Why did she get a wand and I didn’t?
    Pointing the purple glow in Rick’s direction, Tabetha stated her purpose in a voice thick with power and lacking the politeness Rick had shown her. “We had an agreement, caretaker. I’ve come for payment.” Her eyes flicked toward me. “When the magic of my candle called to me, I expected you to seek me out, as we agreed. I did not think I’d have to retrieve you.”
    Rick shifted a fraction of an inch, placing himself between Tabetha and me. “I apologize for the confusion. The spell was not completed. I am as I was before.”
    Tabetha stepped closer, sending the tree sprites swirling and leaping in the warm spring air that followed her. “That was not our agreement. Our arrangement was clear: if you used the candle, I would receive payment.”
    Finally, I found my voice. “What the hell is going on?”
    “ Mi cielo —”
    “Sister,” Tabetha interrupted, holding her wand hand up to Rick. I cringed at her familial label for me. While it was true the goddess Hecate was the mother of our magical selves, I had a family, and Tabetha was not part of it.
    “What do you want here, sister ?” I said the last through my teeth, like a curse. She didn’t seem to notice.
    “It is a shame such awkward circumstances have brought about our first meeting, Grateful Knight, but you should know your caretaker promised himself to me in return for the use of my candle, and I am here to collect.” Power rolled off her, sending goose bumps marching across my arms.
    My insides twisted at her use of my name, again an unearned familiarity in her tone. “What exactly do you mean by ‘he promised himself’?” I asked.
    “As my caretaker,” she said with a throaty laugh. “Once he was human, I planned to claim