Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt

Author:Lindsey Leavitt [Leavitt, Lindsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-03-21T22:25:32+00:00

Chapter

13

“Tree spirits? Oh, please.”

I squinted through the agony. My super-understanding and empathetic agent had come to save me.

“It’s one rib. Maybe two.” Meredith wiped some slime from her brown crocodile boots. Her green A-line skirt, white blouse, and enormous sunglasses were more New Yorker than Amazon adventurer, but the heat didn’t faze her. “Once, I broke both legs in a malfunctioning bubble crash. Here.” She plucked a gnarled stick out of her green briefcase and waved it over me. The pain eased.

“Magic wand?” I spit out a bug.

“Amazon healing stick. Useful little souvenir.” She pulled me up and led me into her bubble. It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, although I could have done without the chartreuse. I’d gone greener than Greenpeace in that jungle.

“You can sit at my desk.”

“I’d rather lie down.”

“Fine. But try not to bleed or throw up on the upholstery. It’s Italian and I just got it cleaned.”

Ignoring her, I collapsed onto the couch. “I hope I earned a break before the next job. Where are we going anyway?”

“We aren’t going anywhere. You are going home.”

“Really? When’s my next assignment?”

“You really think I’m giving you another job after that disaster? Leaving the gig before I got there is bad enough, but destroying an emergency bubble is in clear violation of Item Six of your contract. Oh, and I found your manual and rouge. Anyone could have, thanks to your arrow, which would have been yet another mess to clean up.”

“Um, hello? I was naked! No private, safe places. What did you want me to do with my stuff? And I didn’t destroy a bubble! It malfunctioned! They were shooting blow darts at me. The contract said mortal danger is an exception, remember?”

Meredith fixed me with a hard stare. “But you did run out of that village early. Got spotted with your client. True, you didn’t have your timer, but that emergency bubble got there fast enough. You would have been fine if you hadn’t hung around chatting. Luckily, the villagers believed you were a spirit, and you got off without a Sub Spotting on your record. But the blow darts wouldn’t have happened if you’d done your job. So it’s on you.”

On me. On me? I’m a responsible teenager. I got a job before I’d even started high school. I do my homework every night. I help old ladies cross the street. I brush AND floss. I am willing to accept when I make a bad choice, like the time I wore leggings with my SPROUTVILLE SUPERHERO shirt and everyone called me Captain Toothpick for a week. But I was not about to take responsibility for this.

“So we’ll agree to disagree on the bubble thing. I still think…I want to stay, Meredith. Please.”

“You’re a liability, Desi. Shaking things up for Simmy, and now running away from the village and right into your client? Talking to her?”

“Of course I ran. You said we don’t do major life moments, and there I was doing a Becoming a Woman tribal dance.

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