Free UNDER HIS SPELL by Rachel Carrington Page B

the thick knot of fear settling in the
pit of her stomach.   He’d made the rules
clear when he’d propositioned her.   Succeed and she would be the most powerful witch in the universe.   Fail and she would die.   “These things take time.”
    A pale hand sliced the air and Sabrina saw the curled fingernails
draw in toward his palm.   “Do not speak
to me of time.   All I have is time.”   He whipped around and for the first time,
Sabrina saw his face.   She recoiled
instantly.
    Hideously grotesque, the master’s
visage was a combination of ghostly white skin with sunken eyes and light pink
lips.   His skin was drawn so tightly over
his cheekbones that Sabrina was sure no tissue existed beneath.   And when he opened his mouth again, black
stumps caught her attention.
    Shaking, she lowered her gaze and tried not to retch.  
    “Yes.   Horrible, isn’t
it?”   The insidiously calm voice reached
out to her and Sabrina held her breath.   She pleaded with Mother Earth, all goddesses she knew, to spare her from
his touch.
    He moved into position in front of her, so close his foul breath
bathed her face.   Her stomach rolled and
tumbled and she covered it with one hand.   “Would you like to know how I got this way, my pet?”   He lifted one gnarled hand and caressed her
hair.  
    Sabrina swallowed a wave of bile.   “If you’d like to tell me.”   In
reality, she could give a rat’s ass how he’d gotten that way.   She simply wanted to get away from him, to
wash the stench of his breath off her skin and attempt to erase the memory of
his face.  
    “Ingrid.”   The name came out
on a blast of pure fury.   “Your
enemy.”   His eyes darkened.   He backed away from Sabrina and began
pacing.   “She thought I was a danger to
her child, her beautiful young daughter, Skye.   I only wanted to touch her, to take some of the power the little girl
possessed.   It would have been enough to
make me happy, but once Ingrid saw me, she cursed me, taking away my own beauty
and replacing it with this, this,” he swept his hands down his body, “vile
creature you see standing in front of you.”   His breath spewed out in liquid drops.   “She would not have been able to doom me like this were it not for the
help of the wizards.   They intervened and
gave her the ability to take away everything that I was.”

Fascinated in spite of her self, Sabrina watched him circle the
room.   “That’s why you want to destroy
the Assembly.”
    “Yesss,” he hissed.   “And I
almost succeeded a few months ago, but I aimed too high.”   He chuckled and Sabrina thought the sound was
out of place.   He waggled a finger in
admonition.   “Never attempt to best one
whose magic is more powerful than your own.”   His smile faded.   “So now I target
the younger wizards.   With the death of
Rane, Skye Logan will surely die and with it, this curse will be broken.”   He lifted his arms toward the ceiling.   “And I will take the Assembly apart a piece
at a time.”
    Sabrina frowned.   “I think
this sounds a little like one of those old fairy tales.”
    The master whipped around and glared at her.   “You think this is funny?”
    She held up both hands.   “Never funny, Master, but you have to admit, it is rather odd that
Ingrid could have cursed you this way.”
    “I told you she had help from the wizards.”
    Sabrina tapped her chin.   “Then why don’t you just let me kill the wizards along with Skye?”
    The master’s eyes lit up.   “Why would you want to take on the Assembly?   They are a powerful lot of people.”
    Sabrina smiled.   “Let’s just
say we have a history.”
    “I do not believe you will be able to kill them.   They always manage to win in the end.”
    “Then how do you know you can kill them this time around?”
    His eyes glittered.   “I just
know.”   He came to a stop in front of her
and his jaw hardened.   “I want the wizard
dead by the end of