Read The Goddess Redemption #2 - Spellbound (a Paranormal Romance) for Free Online

not him. And why hunt these creatures? Why risk his life for strangers? Perhaps he was mad.
    Swing, whoosh, thunk. Still though, he couldn’t have taken a step away from the place , his feet would refuse. He was in denial, he knew. It wasn’t his feet holding him there. If he was honest, it was his heart that wouldn’t cooperate. From the moment he had laid eyes on her, he had been filled with joy. It sounded insane to admit, but he had never really been happy until that day.
    Swing, whoosh, thunk. He was drawn to her. And he had caught her looking out the window a few times. She was drawn to him, also. It was almost as if he was trying to recall something he had done after consuming too much wine. The wood split and he sunk the axe into the large log below and left it there. Grabbed the split pieces and started stacking them.
    “You’re very good at that ,” Meg said from behind him and he nearly jumped. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn’t heard her footfalls. He turned and smiled at her. She was lovely. It was hard not to appreciate such beauty. But, she was also kind. She handed him a cup of water. His shirt was soaking with sweat.
    “Thank you.” He set the cup down on the log beside the axe and pulled his shirt over his head then hung it on the axe handle. It was unseasonably warm down in the valley and the hard work was heating him too.
    “It would take me all day to chop that much wood.” Victor didn’t doubt it; Meg looked as if she had never held an axe. Victor could tell by the look in her eyes that she had other reasons for starting the conversation, so he picked up the glass of water and sat down on the ground for a rest. He wouldn’t learn what it was, though. Their attention was shifted by the calls of a woman, shuffling down the path. In her arms was a small girl no more than four or five years old.
    “Oh no ,” was all he heard Meg say as she ran towards them.
    “It was just a scratch!” the woman wailed , as Meg took the child from her and rushed inside the cabin. From the torment in the woman’s voice, Victor could tell the child was her own. He had seen it all before, with men. Anger filled him that the beasts would attack a child. He followed the women inside.
    ****
    Sara looked out the window. Victor was smiling at Meg. When he took his shirt off, she threw the curtain closed with angry force. The man was not only filling her head with visions of him, but he was placing other thoughts in there as well, ones that were unexpected. She didn’t like the feeling of jealousy she had every time the man spoke to her sister or smiled at her. She tried to tell herself that he was just being nice, but who was she trying to fool? Even women found Meg to be breathtaking.
    She tried to push the jealousy from her mind. The barrier potion was nearly done , but still needed time and time was running short with the day drawing to an end. It would be close.
    Sara was about to add the final ingredients, when she heard the woman cry out. She got to the door just in time to open it for Meg. She was carrying the butcher’s daughter. Seline was only four years old, but she had been a difficult birth. The child had been small and wouldn’t eat. Sara had worked with her, mixing herbs and honey. Making healing potions to keep the child alive while she worked to cure her. Her efforts had been rewarded a hundredfold.
    She had wilted flowers by her bed, given to her by Seline the last time she had seen her. She had a painted rock she kept on her windowsill. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered, Seline covered in splotches of paint. There was more on the child than on the rock. The gods were cruel. Any other child , she cried out in her mind.
    “We need a fire, a hot fire, hot enough to melt silver ,” Sara barked the commands.
     

Chapter Four
     
    The potion was finished just as the sun dipped below the tree line. The silver had melted easier than she had thought and the color was a