The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

for both her and your safety and think that
it is time you bring her to the Grand Manor.
We believe with good reason that whoever is behind these terrible murders will
be coming for her next.
Please consider bringing her here. We have a place for you all.
    Yours sincerely,
     Estella and Leo Mayfire
      ‘Re-create me? What do they mean?’
  Laura’s head was swimming with unanswered questions and frightening thoughts.
Words like murder and Wicked flickered in the darkness of her
mind as she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the letter.
  Drew took the paper from her hands and read it. As he finished it, he shook
his head, raising his eyes to her, ‘I don’t know exactly what this means, but
I’ll take you to Stell and Leo and they’ll be able to explain everything, I’m
sure.’
  Drew stood easily and held out a hand to Laura. She took it gratefully and hoisted
herself up off the ground.
  All of a sudden a hot rush flooded through her body, prickling her skin and
obscuring her sight. It appeared as though the world was spinning around her
and her hand flew to her head as she tried to steady herself.
  ‘Ace?’
  Drew reached for her, but she lost her balance and fell backwards, unable to
right herself. He was behind her in a flash, lifting her up into his arms. Her
eyelids fluttered and she could see the spinning sky blurring at the edges of her
vision, the world around her growing darker.
  Then, the blackness swallowed her whole.

Chapter Three
When Reality Hits
    ‘Quick, lay
her down here,’ a woman’s panicked voice said, breaking through the hazy
darkness of Laura’s mind.
  She tried to open her eyes, but it was as though she were stuck underwater,
and she still hadn’t breached the surface.
  She was in agony, that she knew, but she couldn’t comprehend much else. She
could see pulsing red lines blaring against the lids of her eyes and she felt
as if there was a scorching fire burning through her veins.
  She registered the sound of mumbling people around her, but the water dragged
her back down into its murky depths before she could understand what was being
said.
  She drifted in and out of consciousness as she was worked on. Eventually the
pulsing subsided and once again her mind was consumed with black nothingness,
taking the pain with it.
    ‘She has
lost a substantial amount of blood,’ Laura heard the same woman from before say
as she regained consciousness. ‘Combined with the level of shock and trauma she
has experienced, it’s a wonder she isn’t in worse condition.’
  Gradually, she opened her eyes.
  ‘Hey look, she’s waking up,’ she heard Drew say.
  Drew?
  For a moment she was confused, wondering who Drew was. Then the green eyes
came back to her. She remembered him now. But that’s not all she remembered.
  At first her, vision was blurred, but slowly the musky bedroom came into
focus. Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling out over the foot of her
bed and illuminating the room enough for her to make out the oak wood dresser
and her sad pile of belongings resting atop it. Laura noticed a woman with hair
almost as white as the moonlight resting by her side, watching her with bright
blue eyes.
  ‘Laura, how are you feeling?’ She asked, her voice both gentle and motherly.
  ‘I feel confused.’ Laura finally said, ‘where am I?’
  ‘The Grand Manor,’ Drew answered before the woman could.
  Laura knew the Manor.
  She looked up at the woman, ‘who are you?’
  ‘I’m Estella Mayfire,’ she replied, resting a hand on Laura’s leg and giving
it a light, reassuring squeeze. ‘I knew your parents.’
  Knew. Past-tense.
  Anxiously, Laura swept her gaze across the room, ‘Dad?’ She whimpered, but
she already knew the answer.
  She remembered what happened.
  The sadness in Estella’s eyes made that moment all the more real for Laura,
and she choked up.
  ‘There was nothing you could do,’ Estella whispered,