Read Online Views from the Tower by Jessica Grey - Free Book Online Page B

dizzy, like I’d stepped onto a carousel that was moving way too fast. I looked up and down the street again. No one.
    I should have broken the bottle. Should have smashed it against the pavement and let it splinter into a million pieces; let that blood red liquid leak out all over the concrete and run away.
    Instead I put it in my pocket, got into my vehicle and put the key in the ignition. I was tired and I wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and go to bed. There was no reason for me to go into the office again tonight. I had nothing to report.
     

Magical Spell Support
     
    I’d rigged the tower with a security system. I’d placed gems at various points throughout the large, circular room that the princess slept in, as well as down the winding staircase and around the front door. They were linked together, and through them I could see into the tower, monitoring it for signs of spell tampering. I could also keep track of the occasional knight who got the bright idea to hack his way through my forest of thorns in a vain attempt to wake the princess. It was always the same—they were out looking for a quest and the tower with its beautiful captive was too much for their little adventure-seeking hearts to resist.
    They almost always died in the thorn forest. In the last fifty years only two had made it through to the tower. Neither had made it past the front door, thanks to my little network of gems that acted like remote spies. Each gem’s view was reflected on my wall of mirrors so I never even had to leave my throne room.
    Some might call it obsessive. I thought of it as keeping tabs on my investment. A death spell was one thing, but when that meddling fairy godmother altered the enchantment, she’d cost me quite a bit. Her modification had made the original spell stretch, adding the weight of her magic. It pushed against my own power, fighting and clawing its way into my enchantment. A death spell was easy; set it up, put a timer on it, send it out. A sleeping spell was an altogether different beast. Especially one that hadn’t been designed as a sleeping spell.
    Why she’d made it so long I would never figure out. A hundred years? What was wrong with her? Was that the first number that popped into her addled little brain? Fairy godmothers. Stars above, they were a waste of time. Only one step above pixies. Dust-snuffing vermin in puffy dresses.
    So I’d spent way too much time in front of my wall of mirrors, watching the annoying little princess snoring her way through half a century. I suppose I could have just given up, let her wake, or let one of the knights make it through the door. Defeat didn’t look good on me though. Triumph—dark, evil, and flashy—was really more my style.
    At the moment, half of my mirrors were black and the other half were flashing an error message.
    There was nothing I hated more than wasting time with the morons at MSS, but I’d run out of options. A face flickered onto the largest mirror. “Thank you for contacting Magical Spell Support, this is Bill speaking. What is the nature of your magical malfunction?”
    I gaped at the screen. “They’ve outsourced MSS to trolls now? ‘Cause I don’t need an actual magical being to help me? I suppose you’re just going to read from a manual or something?”
    “Magical Spell Support has not been outsourced; we provide localized support,” the troll replied as if reading from a cue card. “How may I assist you today.”
    “You can’t claim to be localized support!” I was gobsmacked by his gall. “I recognize a troll when I see one. If your name is actually Bill, I’ll eat my hat.”
    “You’re not wearing a hat, Ma’am”
    I snorted. “I will conjure a hat and then eat it, Bill-Which-Is-Not-Really-Your-Name.”
    “I am more than qualified to assist you with any magical support issue. Please describe the nature of the malfunction.” The troll really was reading off a script! I considered pitching a fit and demanding