A Risky Proposition Read Online Free PDF Page B

mind,” she said with a pleased expression, “Just a friendly wager between sprites.”
    “Sprites?” I repeated questioningly.
    “Yes, sprites,” she replied in exasperation.  “That’s what we…what I am.”
    I kneaded my forehead.  “I thought you were a faerie.”
    “A sprite is a type of faerie.”  She scoffed.  “But I’m not here to give you a lesson on the faerie races.  What we need to be discussing is this rather nasty situation you’ve gotten yourself into with Balthus.  I tried to warn you about him, you know…several times, in fact!”
    I sighed in frustration.  “I knew something wasn’t right with him.  There was a kind of prickle in my spine when he said certain things to me, but I didn’t want to believe it.”
    She nodded at me reprovingly.  “You, of all people, should know better than to ignore that sort of intuition, Sydney.”
    “Yeah,” I grumbled.  “I remember feeling it the day of that accident, when I decided to get out of the turning lane for the interstate.  I wish I’d…”  My thought was interrupted by a violent sneeze.
    “Shhh…Hush Sydney!” Lorien admonished in alarm, a sparkling red cloud of faerie dust drifting behind her as she flitted away from my nose and back to her perch above the pillow.
    I sent her a watery glare.
    “No more wishes for you,” she announced, returning my glower.
    “I doubt there’s a death djinn hiding in the closet,” I sniffed crossly.
    “It doesn’t matter!  There might not be one for ten miles or there might be one ten feet away!  The point is—you won’t know until it’s too late.  You need to remove that word from your vocabulary until we figure out how to get this situation under control.”  She shook one tiny forefinger at me, her wings buzzing in agitation.
    I pursed my lips sullenly and nodded in grudging agreement.  I knew she was right, but being told what to do always activated my stubborn streak.
    “I still don’t think it was a fair contract,” I grumped.
    “Fair?  Hello—death djinn!  Since when has anyone trying to gain possession of someone’s immortal soul ever played fair?”
    She zoomed to the foot of the bed and looked back at me with a grin.  “It’s not all bad though; just look at this place!” she exclaimed, trailing iridescent green fairy dust around the room.
    “It is pretty cool,” I admitted.
    “Oh, it’s better than that!” she teased.  “And you’ve not only wished yourself into physical luxury, but you did a pretty decent job of wishing yourself into an equally satisfactory mental state,” she giggled.
    “What does that mean?” I demanded, pushing myself upright again and fighting the bed’s cushy invitation of softness.
    She clasped her hands behind her back, her expression mischievous as she recited my forgotten words to Balthus, “I wish I could forget about my problems, even if only for a night.”
    I stared at her blankly.  “What did I forget?”
    Lorien bit her lip.  “You spent a wish on forgetting it.  Far be it from me to force the memory back on you.” 
    “But what if it’s important?” I argued with a pleading look.
    Her gaze softened.  “It’s nothing you need to think about tonight, I promise.  And the way you worded the wish means tonight is probably the only reprieve you’ll get from it.”
    A weight settled in the pit of my stomach and an inexplicable wave of depression moved through me.
    “It’s no good worrying about it now,” she said with a sad smile.  “You made two rather clever wishes, I thought.  You mortals have a nasty habit of creating pandemonium when given the freedom to make three wishes come true.  But you’ve done amazingly well so far.”
    “Well, I guess I could have done worse than to lose a memory and gain a penthouse,” I muttered.
    “That’s the spirit,” she agreed merrily.  “Just remember not to make any more wishes.”
    I frowned at the remnants of red dust on the comforter.