Page 1 of Sasquatch Love Spell

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Aoife had to get the fuck away.

That was all there was to it.

As soon as the head of her Order, her so-called sainted mother, had decided that she should be married to the high prince of the elves, she was done. No one was going to decide her fate. It was bad enough being a half human and banshee. She was a harbinger of other people’s fates. She was respected in the Tuatha Order, well, maybe notrespected.

Feared.

And she hated it.

She spent most of her life trying to please her mother but she wasn’t down for an arranged marriage, no matter what her mother thought.

It was sheer stupidity when they locked her up. The head priestess, aka her mother’s right hand, forgot that as part banshee, Aoife could turn into smoke. It was no problem to slip through the bars and head north.

Away from Toronto.

Away from the priestess, the Tuatha Order, the arranged marriage and all that other old-world shit that she was having nothing to do with.

If she got to Thunder Bay, there was a portal there and she could slip away so easily to the other side of the world. She knew her mother would have Order members watching for her at all the airports, as well as the urban portals. Once Aoife was outside the border of Tuatha’s jurisdiction, she’d be safe. The Order wouldn’t have power over her.

Or control.

And there was no way in hell she’d go back.

She thought she’d be safe on the train, but when she got to White River, she recognized Order members who got on. So she disembarked. Now, she was taking her long trek to the portal on foot.

The Order wouldn’t look for her travelling on foot. They would assume she’d transport herself to the nearest portal. Witches and warlocks they may be, but they weren’t the brightest bulbs in the pack.

Walking would be safer because it was unexpected. She’d try to lie low in the forest. Avoid members of the Order and humans. Humans and their world had to be shielded from the magical realms. Although, there was mixing from time to time. She was half human all because her great-great-great grandmother had been a very, very bad witch and fucked Death. Since then, women in her line would sometimes pop up with the banshee blood, making them extremely valuable and powerful in the Fae world, since her great-great-great grandfather was Death. Her ancestors still went to have visits when he popped up from time to time.

Direct descendants to a full-blown reaper. She was so lucky.

Not.

Aoife wasn’t stupid. She knew why the prince wanted to marry her—because she was one of the only banshee hybrids in the world and her death call could be used to take down powerful adversaries.

He didn’t want a wife. He wanted an assassin.

Aoife wished she could hide out in the forest. She always loved being out in the woods, away from people. Maybe she could find a nice solitary forest in another realm and just spend the rest of her life there.

Alone.

She hated the Tuatha Order and the fact her mother ran it. It was all because of her mother she was sucked into their lot. Every one of her mother’s family had been a part of the Order and she was so tired of people controlling her life.

The Order wanted her powers.

Every witch and warlock, every hybrid, was sworn to obey. There was no choice. You were owned by the Order. Branded by blood.

What about what she wanted? She just wanted to be free.

Aoife sighed and sat down on a log and wrapped her cloak around her tighter, just taking a moment to breathe and watch the golden birch leaves drift down slowly from the dappled sunlight of the forest canopy. Autumn was her favorite time.

This was heaven. It was so peaceful. Maybe she could have a moment to think and regroup.

“Fuck!”

Aoife was startled by the large grunt that echoed through the forest. It was followed by a thwack, like the sound of an axe. There was a distinct creak and crash.

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