bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled by sam cheever Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: sam cheever
snorted. “Yeah, like you always mind your own business where my life is concerned.”
“That’s different. I’m your elder.”
“My point exactly. You’re way too elder to be thinking about doing the chunky monkey with old Aubrey here.” I grimaced, shaking my head. Her outraged gasp nearly made me laugh out loud. I was having way too much fun, despite the fact that their amorous embrace was burned inexorably into my poor retinas...never to be scoured off.
Aubrey touched Myra’s hand. “I’ll see you later, Myra.”
Despite her anger at me, my auntie favored her hot boyfriend with a soft smile before he blipped away. There was no trace of it left on her face, however, when she turned to me a second later. “That was uncalled for, Astra.”
“What was uncalled for, Auntie? Me catching you in the act or daring to admit I caught you in the act?”
Her glare deepened. “Never mind. Let’s get started.”
I shook my head. “I just came to tell you I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave. We’re just getting started.”
“I know. But I’m running out of time. I need to get back to Earth.”
She stared at me for along moment and then sighed. “Dialle?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on but he’s changing and it scares me.”
She expelled another breath and indicated the seating area at the front of the large space. We walked over and sat down on a couch together. She grabbed my hand and, without my having to ask, proceeded to amp me up.
The process hurt less than it had in the beginning. Gus had shown me some tricks to make it easier, but talking helped keep my mind off what essentially felt like fingernails scraping over my aura. “Do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?”
Myra shook her head. “I can only guess. This is all uncharted waters for us. Your father and I have talked about what’s going on at the court—”
“Wait! You guys know what’s going on there? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you haven’t been in a position to do anything about it, Astra. Knowing would have just made you feel worse. You didn’t need any more pressure.”
I suddenly felt bad about teasing Myra. Despite her innate and unrelenting crankiness, she’d always had my best interests at heart and I’d counted on her help all my life. With a start I realized that was a very mature thought I’d just had. Apparently, despite all my most determined efforts, I was growing up.
Well shit. That just sucketh.
“But now that you have some of your magic ability back, maybe you can help Dialle work through his issue.”
“What exactly is his issue, angel?”
She finished topping off my battery and pulled her hand back. “I don’t know as much about it as your father does, but the gist of it is that, without your light magic connection to tether him, he’s falling prey to the darkness.”
“You mean the loss of my daemon hickey is turning him toward the dark world?”
“It appears that way.”
I stood. “I need to get back to Earth.”
Myra stood too, grabbing my wrist. “Before you go to the court, you need to visit your father.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have time. I’ll visit with him after I see Dialle. I need to make this right somehow.”
Her hand tightened on my wrist when I started to shimmer. “Dialle can wait a while longer. You need to go to the castle before setting off to help the royals. It’s important, Astra.”
I held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. “Okay. I’ll go to castle Phelps before I go to Dialle.”
“Promise?”
My gaze slid toward her hand on my wrist. “I promise.”
She looked at me a moment longer and then her pretty pink lips tipped upward in a smile. “You always were a terrible liar, Astra.”
And just like that we were locked in a space shift and I was unable to even scream at my damnable angel as she space-napped me to my father’s house.
~SC~
We landed in the kitchen and I opened my mouth to scour her with
“That’s different. I’m your elder.”
“My point exactly. You’re way too elder to be thinking about doing the chunky monkey with old Aubrey here.” I grimaced, shaking my head. Her outraged gasp nearly made me laugh out loud. I was having way too much fun, despite the fact that their amorous embrace was burned inexorably into my poor retinas...never to be scoured off.
Aubrey touched Myra’s hand. “I’ll see you later, Myra.”
Despite her anger at me, my auntie favored her hot boyfriend with a soft smile before he blipped away. There was no trace of it left on her face, however, when she turned to me a second later. “That was uncalled for, Astra.”
“What was uncalled for, Auntie? Me catching you in the act or daring to admit I caught you in the act?”
Her glare deepened. “Never mind. Let’s get started.”
I shook my head. “I just came to tell you I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave. We’re just getting started.”
“I know. But I’m running out of time. I need to get back to Earth.”
She stared at me for along moment and then sighed. “Dialle?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on but he’s changing and it scares me.”
She expelled another breath and indicated the seating area at the front of the large space. We walked over and sat down on a couch together. She grabbed my hand and, without my having to ask, proceeded to amp me up.
The process hurt less than it had in the beginning. Gus had shown me some tricks to make it easier, but talking helped keep my mind off what essentially felt like fingernails scraping over my aura. “Do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?”
Myra shook her head. “I can only guess. This is all uncharted waters for us. Your father and I have talked about what’s going on at the court—”
“Wait! You guys know what’s going on there? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you haven’t been in a position to do anything about it, Astra. Knowing would have just made you feel worse. You didn’t need any more pressure.”
I suddenly felt bad about teasing Myra. Despite her innate and unrelenting crankiness, she’d always had my best interests at heart and I’d counted on her help all my life. With a start I realized that was a very mature thought I’d just had. Apparently, despite all my most determined efforts, I was growing up.
Well shit. That just sucketh.
“But now that you have some of your magic ability back, maybe you can help Dialle work through his issue.”
“What exactly is his issue, angel?”
She finished topping off my battery and pulled her hand back. “I don’t know as much about it as your father does, but the gist of it is that, without your light magic connection to tether him, he’s falling prey to the darkness.”
“You mean the loss of my daemon hickey is turning him toward the dark world?”
“It appears that way.”
I stood. “I need to get back to Earth.”
Myra stood too, grabbing my wrist. “Before you go to the court, you need to visit your father.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have time. I’ll visit with him after I see Dialle. I need to make this right somehow.”
Her hand tightened on my wrist when I started to shimmer. “Dialle can wait a while longer. You need to go to the castle before setting off to help the royals. It’s important, Astra.”
I held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. “Okay. I’ll go to castle Phelps before I go to Dialle.”
“Promise?”
My gaze slid toward her hand on my wrist. “I promise.”
She looked at me a moment longer and then her pretty pink lips tipped upward in a smile. “You always were a terrible liar, Astra.”
And just like that we were locked in a space shift and I was unable to even scream at my damnable angel as she space-napped me to my father’s house.
~SC~
We landed in the kitchen and I opened my mouth to scour her with