Bedeviled by Maureen Child Read Free Book Online Page A

she’d be really freaked out right about now. “What did you do to her? Eileen’s never quiet or still—”
    “I silenced the child.”
    “You did what ?” Okay, gorgeous or not, this guy had to go.
    “It’s only momentary. She’s unharmed.”
    “She’d better be, buster, or when I finally get down from here I’m gonna make you sorry you ever heard of Maggie Donovan.”
    “Believe me, I already am.”
    “Well, that’s really nice!” She looked at Eileen again and worried. But she didn’t look injured. She just looked . . . stunned. Who was this guy? “I didn’t ask you here, you know. You’re the one who keeps popping up out of nowhere. I’ve had a completely crappy day, and instead of helping me, you look up my nightgown like a perv, put some kind of spell on my niece and scare my dog.”
    “ You scared your dog.”
    She huffed out an impatient breath. “Fine. I’ll give you that one.”
    “You are the most irritating woman I have ever known.”
    “Don’t I feel special?” She stuck her tongue out at him.
    “Hard to believe that you are the prophesied one.”
    “Can we have this conversation when I’m on the floor?”
    Without another word Culhane rose up, floating effortlessly and with a lot less flailing about than Maggie had. His long black hair ruffled in the slight breeze his motion created. His gaze was fixed on Maggie, his mouth set in a grim, straight line. He hung in the air beside her for a long moment, and Maggie couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to get better-looking the closer he got to her. Which really wasn’t the point at the moment.
    “Your destiny has arrived,” he said, “and I am here to see that you accept it. I am a warrior of the Fae, and you are the chosen one. The one who will defeat Queen Mab and free the males of the Otherworld.”
    Maggie’s head thumped into a beam on the ceiling. “Uh-huh. Chosen one. Like Buffy. Sure.” Scrambling to push herself down off the ceiling, she at last admitted, “Okay, I give you that something completely weird is going on. Obviously I’m floating, so yeah. Problem. But, chosen one? Come on.”
    “You don’t believe.”
    “Is that what you need to help me out here? Because if it is, then okay. I believe you,” she assured him.
    Culhane studied her for a long moment, then shook his head in disgust.
    “Give me your hand.” Not a request. An order.
    She’d have held hands with the devil himself if it would have gotten her back on the ground. Maggie held out one hand, and when Culhane’s fingers closed over hers, heat suffused her body. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, what felt like fire rushed through her veins, bubbling under her skin, and she had to wonder if holding hands with the devil wasn’t exactly what she was doing.
     

Chapter Three
    O nce safely on the floor again, she sat on the couch and held on to the arm to anchor herself. Her eyes were wide, and when the dog crawled into her lap looking for comfort, Maggie transferred her tight-fingered grip to the animal. “It’s okay, sweetie, I was scared, too.”
    “Your dog is a pitiful source of protection.” Culhane looked at the dog with disdain.
    “She’s sensitive.”
    “And a coward.” Sheba was sprawled across Maggie’s lap and looking pleased with herself. As Maggie’s fingers dug into the golden fur, Culhane almost envied the animal. Not a thought he enjoyed entertaining. Maggie was luscious and tempting and more infuriating than anyone he’d ever known. And she stirred something inside him. Something he preferred to ignore.
    “Wake Eileen up,” she commanded.
    Both black eyebrows lifted in surprise that she would think to order him to do anything. “In a moment.”
    “Now. No more talking until I see for myself that she’s all right.”
    Rather than drag this meeting out even further, he blew out a breath, waved one hand over the girl, and instantly she was back with them.
    “How’d you get down, Maggie? When did