The Witch and the Huntsman Read Online Free

not nice to mess with Mother Gaia. I’d read about a magic spell called the “Curse of a Hundred Small Things” in one of my Wicca books, so I started daydreaming about all the nasty little booboos I could bring down on that bitch right now, like paper cuts, runs in her stocking, coffee spills in her lap, maybe a bright blue screen on her computer...
    Suddenly I heard the faintest of whispers: “ Beware of what you wish for, child... ”
    “ Millicent !” My innermost thoughts replied to her, not my vocal cords. “You’re back! Wow, am I ever glad to hear your voice! So much has been happening—and I really need your help.”
    By now, I was so used to having my dead friend’s voice in my head that it was like having a part of myself restored to me again. But her words, when they came, were still as quiet and distant as a wind from the far side of the moon. A place Sam Moon knew well. Long story, and one I’m still not one hundred percent sure I believed.
    “ When you open yourself up to magic, Allison, it is not just the light that comes in. The dark is waiting, too...”
    Hey, the dark can feel pretty damn good sometimes , I thought.
    “ Allison! The dark side can corrupt you, can make you do its bidding. You’ve glimpsed the demon that Samantha wrestles with daily—you’ve seen the evil that can possess and destroy those you care about.”
    Yeah, okay, I guess I had. And a little too intimately, sometimes, like when I’d witnessed the Englishman Billy and his daughter being taken over by the creature from hell that had haunted their house. I suppressed an involuntary shudder.
    “ It can begin so innocently, just by being selfish and using your gifts to punish those who would help you.”
    “ Huh? You mean, Donna ? She’s helping me by laying me off for a week?” I snorted. This time I really did do it aloud, and the noise startled the guy in the seat next to me, even though he was wearing headphones.
    “ Yes, she is, dear. What you did to those girls at the slumber party was wrong, and you know it. They were little more than children. With magical powers such as yours comes great responsibility. A witch who becomes corrupted by evil can become greater and more powerful than any demon.”
    “ Wait—you know about that? I thought you were still keeping radio silence then.”
    “ You forget I can always read your mind. But Allison, that isn’t why I’m reaching out to you now—I need to warn you. This...this...journey you are undertaking...” but her voice was weakening again. It really was like trying to tune in my dad’s old transistor radio in the garage.
    “ ...you must not...there is great danger, Alli...so much darkness ahead...”
    But then the captain’s voice came over the loudspeakers in the cabin and drowned out Millicent’s words inside my head. Great. His totally useless warning had kicked Millicent out of my head completely. At least, for now.
    Portland International Airport smelled like mildew and was filled with surprisingly dark and malign vibrations, like it was built on a Native American burial ground or something. Maybe I should go freelance, I thought. Maybe I could get hired to turn Oregon ghost-free...
    Instead, I took the Dollar bus to my Kia rental car and drove up the Mt. Hood Highway, through the little town of Sandy to the even littler town of Government Camp in the gathering gloom. I couldn’t raise Millicent again, no matter how hard I tried. She was already right about one thing, though; there was much darkness ahead. It was almost pitch-black by the time I got to La Chasse Lodge. Only the snow glowed faintly gray all around me as I followed the little two-lane Snowline Highway that snaked steeply up the mountain. The road surface was covered with a slick sugary sprinkling that reflected my headlights, even though it was midsummer.
    I’m not in Los Angeles anymore...
    Anyway, I was the only driver on the road for those last few miles before the highway ended and