Page 57 of Sprite Wedding
“I didn’t do anything. Marty did.” She pointed to the sprite I had stunned.
“He can’t do that to anyone. It’s not right.”
“I know,” she agreed. “I told him that.”
“You have to free him.”
“You have to freethem,” she countered, using my same tone.
Other sprites flew up, protesting what I’d done. She raised her hand, motioning for them to hold on.
“They’ll be okay in an hour or so,” I said. “What about Lucas?”
She crossed her arms. “We’ll wait.”
I stared her down. She didn’t move. A stubborn little sprite.
“Fine,” I agreed.
She glared at my stunner. “Put that away.”
“How do I know you won’t do to me what he did to him?” I motioned to Lucas with a nod of my head.
She hovered, her tiny wings buzzing before she replied. “You have my word.”
“I don’t know if I can trust you.” I gestured with my free hand at the sprites hovering nearby with angry or accusatory expressions. “And what about them?”
“They’ll listen to me.”
I stared at her, assessing whether I should trust her. “How can I be sure?”
She huffed and put her tiny hands on her hips. “I’m their queen.”
That should hold some significant weight. “Why would you let him attack Lucas?”
“I didn’t know Marty did this until right before you came out. He said that Lucas was telling too many people about us and almost killed him with a shovel.”
“That had to be an accident,” I explained. “This is Lucas’s garden.”
“He also said Lucas was chasing him.”
I slanted my gaze. “Are you the sprites he encountered in Bermuda?”
“Yes. He mentioned this town being welcoming to supernaturals.” She pulled her tiny mouth into a grim line. “I haven’t seen any signs of that. They embrace witches, maybe, but the rest of us?” She hmphed with a doubtful sound. “We don’t look human.”
Right. Many supes who lived here had a human form that let them pass as one. And Salem was known for witches, which made it easier to live among them.
“What are you looking for?” I asked her.
“A place where we can live in peace.” She hovered in the air before me, her tiny wings buzzing.
“I can understand that.” Conflicted about helping beings who’d attacked Lucas, I also knew I couldn’t blame them all for the actions of one. “I work for a Network that helps supernaturals like us live in a world dominated by humans.”
Her mouth twitched into a scowl. “They destroy so much. So many of our beautiful forests.” She shook her head. “Wiped out.”
I glanced at Lucas. Could he hear this conversation? How strange it was for me to discuss him with a sprite while he stood nearby as a garden statue.
Returning my gaze to the sprite, I said, “I’m Zoe, an elf. I can connect you with a team that focuses on living arrangements. That is—if you want to stay here and live here in peace.”
