Under His Spell Read Online Free Page B

frame built up on a platform. Carved wooden posts had been kept polished, though the style was obviously dated.
    Valerie switched on a lamp and crawled into bed still wearing her clothes.
    Snuggling under the blankets, she pulled them over the back of her head and stared at the bottom edge of the door. Her breathing sounded abnormally loud with the way her ears were covered.
    A high-pitched ring sounded in her ears, growing steadily. It was the same noise she’d heard when she’d climaxed. She cupped her hands over her ears, rubbing them to get it to stop.
    “Would you mind turning that down a little?” A small voice yelled.
    Valerie screamed in fright, whipping the covers off of her head to look behind her on the bed. A creature, no bigger than a child, sat cross-legged next to her. Small pointed ears and the blue tint of her flesh were the only indications that this child was not human. The ringing stopped.
    “Much better,” the creature said.
    Valerie screamed again. Whatever spell Troy wove over her had kept her from freaking out when the demon manifested. Now that she was alone, she wasn’t so brave.
    The creature tilted her head and then screamed back at Valerie, a much louder, more terrifying sound than Valerie had managed.
    “What…what…what…wh…?” Valerie tried to ask.
    “Me sprite. You angel-tainted human. We good.” The sprite pointed down to the floor. “Him demon. Other him demon-tainted human. They bad.”
    “Wh…?”
    “Angel-tainted and demon-tainted must,” the sprite clapped her hands together, “join.”
    “You’re here about the prophecy.” Valerie forced herself to relax.
    “Oh, you speak. I wasn’t sure. Sometimes tainted-bloods get a little dodgy in the brainpan.” The creature hopped to her feet to stand on the bed. Though she had the body of a child, her voice and eyes were much older.
    “Are you…Seri?”
    “Seri? I’m afraid that soul has long ascended. We had nothing to do with taking it. Such grim deeds are not tasked to our side.”
    “Ascended?”
    “Of course. Evil cannot keep innocent souls. That wouldn’t make sense.” The sprite paced over the bed, looking around. “I like this place. Too bad you’re so close to the doorway. All this evil makes me itchy.”
    Valerie glanced at the door.
    “The cottage,” the sprite said. She circled around and perched her feet on the edge of the mattress. “So, you’ll marry the other tainted-blood?”
    “No.” Valerie looked down at the webbed toes curling along the side of the mattress.
    “They will be happy to hear—” The sprite stiffened. “No? Did you say no?”
    “No,” Valerie repeated. “I’m not going to marry.”
    “But, you have copulated.” The sprite gave her a shaming once over.
    “That’s none of your business.” Valerie crossed her arms over her chest. “Were you watching us?”
    The sprite turned her eyes away briefly and ran her finger over a polished knot in the bed frame. “Since this has to do with me and my people, it is my business. You have a prophecy to fulfill. That is your purpose.”
    “I have a life to live. I didn’t sign up to be a part of your prophecy. Nobody asked me if I wanted to suffer through my family dying and then be forced to marry a stranger. I didn’t ask for any of this. And as far as I know, Troy didn’t ask for it either. If you wanted us to do something, you should have asked us.”
    “Of course you weren’t asked. That would be foolish, wouldn’t it?” The sprite laughed. “If people had to be asked to fulfill their destiny nothing would be done. Whoever heard of asking people to balance the forces?”
    “Find someone else. We are not your pawns.” Valerie was getting tired of these creatures belittling Troy and her losses.
    “There is no one else. You’re our representative. You must marry theirs.”
    “If you’re so worried about it, why don’t you marry one of theirs? A fetching devil of a man was just down stairs if you get over