Read Online Spellbound: The Awakening of Aislin Collins by Margeaux Laurent - Free Book Online

through his words.
    I searched his eyes and saw no deception in
them. If anything in my life was real, it was that fact that I knew him. We had met before.
    I understood what he said and I remembered
reading about this in the book. Perhaps we were soul mates,
eternally bound to each other’s side . As these thoughts passed
through my mind, I knew deep within my heart that they were
true.
    Greer leaned in close to me and placed a
gentle kiss upon my forehead. His lips were soft, full, and cool on
my skin. He moved toward my lips but stopped, his eyes resting on
my bottom lip. His eyes widened and changed a bit… they looked
slightly darker and what looked like panic shown across his
face.
    “You are bleeding, we must get you home.” He
wasted no time, bent over and picked me up as though I weighed
nothing more than a feather pillow.
    “Can we stay a little longer?” I
pleaded.
    He shook his head fervently, “No, you are
not safe here. We cannot afford to delay.”
    I then remembered how my blood had drawn the
creature to me once before and I understood. I reached into my
pocket and pulled out the bell, holding it in my hand just
incase.
    Greer carried me and we swiftly moved
through the woods, with Sneachta expertly leading the way. Within
only moments, we were at the threshold of my home. He placed me
down gently and knocked on the door. My mother swung it open and
rushed over to me, pulling me tightly into her arms.
    “Thank God you are alright,” she said while
leading me into the house.
    I struggled to free myself and introduce her
to Greer, but as I turned to where he had stood I only saw
emptiness, for he had gone.
    If it had not been for Greer’s wet cloth
that I still held in my right hand, I would have thought our visit
was merely a hallucination or a dream. I hesitated in the doorway,
but my mother drew me into the house and locked the door behind
me.
    “That horrible man,” she gasped when she saw
the red marks on my cheek and my bloody lip. She yanked the cloth
from my hand and brought it to the kitchen where she dipped it into
a basin of water and then placed it again on my face.
    “Where did you get this kerchief?” she
asked, “I have not seen it before.” She looked frightened, her face
was taught and all her mannerisms restricted.
    I hesitated before I answered. “My protector
found me in the woods. He used it to put cold water on my face.” I
was afraid of what her reaction might be. Would she forbid my
meeting with him?
    “He must be wealthy,” she said while
touching the lace that bordered the edges of the cloth, “Do you
think you may be in love with him Aislin?”
    I was taken aback by her inquiry. It seemed
rather inappropriate for her to ask me such questions when I barely
knew Greer, but in truth, I already knew the answer, “I… yes, I
love him,” I replied quietly.
    “Then it is a good thing that he is wealthy.
He will need to prove that he can provide for you in a way that
Zachariah cannot.”
    “What?” Surely, after today’s events, the
Marthalers were done with me?
    My mother looked sad but there was anger in
her voice. “I do not blame you for what you did Aislin. Martha was
proud of you too. Unfortunately, it did not have a pleasing affect
on Zachariah or his father. You challenged their position of power
by what you did, and now they need to tame you in the same way they
would a wild horse. After they left you, they went straight away to
your father at his shop and they proposed that you should marry
Zachariah lest you become a social outcast. ‘ A girl who communes
with slaves and behaves in an undesirable fashion, ’ they called
you. They said that ‘you are a girl who brings shame to her
family’s household ’ and they greatly grieved your father. They
are meeting here tonight to discuss the arrangement of your
marriage to Zachariah.” I watched a single tear drift down her
cheek and landed on her bottom lip.
    “Father will never allow this.” I could