Bedeviled (10 page)

“I’m
twelve
.”

Maggie laughed. “Sorry. My worries. Not yours.”

In the living room Sheba barked: three short, sharp bursts of sound that had Maggie leaping to her feet, with panic just a step behind taking hold of the base of her throat.

“Sheba never barks,” Eileen whispered, turning her head slowly toward the open doorway to the living room.

“I know.” Barking required energy, and all of Sheba’s was usually used to roll over during naps. Swallowing hard, Maggie turned, opened the pantry door and said, “Go. Go to your room, and stay there until I call you.”

“Maggie—”

“Eileen,
move
.” This secret passage snaked through most of the house, and her niece knew every inch of it. “Now.”

Sheba gave a low-throated snarl that wormed its way through the air.

Eileen scuttled through the pantry door and disappeared as Maggie closed it softly behind her.

Scanning the kitchen, Maggie thought,
Weapon, weapon, who has the weapon?
What did she have? Well, hell, she’d conked out Culhane with a gallon of milk, so just about anything would do. Quietly she moved to the closest drawer and pulled it open, hoping it wouldn’t make that squealy sound it sometimes did.

She was lucky. Grabbing up the first knife handle she found, she drew it out to discover she’d instinctively grabbed a cleaver. “Nice.” Not that she could see herself slicing and dicing anything, but she had to at least try. Eileen was her responsibility. And besides, this was
her
house.

Sheba’s snarls cut off abruptly and became whimpers and then what sounded like doggy moaning.
Oh, God.

Maggie crept to the doorway and peeked her head around the edge for a look at the lamplit room. Everything looked just as it should. Except for the tiny, ugly man who was bent over rubbing Sheba’s belly.

“Sheba, you slut.”

His head snapped up, and icy blue eyes pinned her in place as surely as if she’d been chained to the floor.

“About time you showed up,” he snapped. “I’m not getting any younger.”

“Or prettier,” Maggie sniped right back. “What the hell are you?”

The homely little man straightened up and lifted his chin until he was nearly three feet tall. Wizened, wrinkled cheeks made his face look as though it were falling, but those eyes of his were sharp and clear. His long silvery white hair streamed down past his shoulders, and the suit he wore looked to be green velvet, of all things.

“Not
what
.
Who.
The name’s Bezel. I’m a pixie, and Culhane sent me here to train you.”

“Why?” Maggie was really getting sick of people popping in and out of her house like she was the local bus station or something.

“I owe him a favor, okay? And pixies pay their debts, despite what the Fae think.”

“A pixie? How cool is
that
?”

Bezel spun in a tight circle, looking for the source of that voice, and then scowled when Eileen stepped out of a panel beside a bookcase.

“I told you—”

“I know, but he’s a pixie,” the girl said, walking closer. “They’re nice.”

“I am not,” he argued.

“How come you don’t have wings?” Eileen looked him over, as if trying to spot where he’d hidden them.

“
Wings?
What do you people read, anyway? Do I look like the kind of guy to have
wings
?”

“But you said you’re a pixie.”

“We don’t know what he is,” Maggie snapped, still holding the cleaver as she moved to grab Eileen’s arm and pull her up close. “Besides, does he look like Tinker Bell to you?”

“Tink.” Bezel spat the name. “That sellout.”

“Huh?” Was this happening? Was she really standing in her living room having a conversation with a pixie?

Sheba whined for his attention, and the pixie dipped his long, thin fingers into her fur again to scratch. “Tink wanted to be famous, so she used a glamour—”

“A what?”

“A spell,” Eileen provided.

“Oh.” Maggie stared at the girl. How did she know this stuff?

“Made that Disney guy think she was all tiny and pretty, when
I’m
prettier than she is.”

Good God.

“So he puts her in his stupid cartoon movie, and pretty soon the only pixie anybody’s ever heard of is Tink.” He lifted his gaze. “She never lets us forget it, either. Always sprinkling pixie dust like we don’t all shed the damn stuff ourselves . . .”

“Okay.” Maggie kept a grip on Eileen. “You say Culhane sent you?”

“Why the hell else would I be here?” He glanced around the cluttered, homey room and shuddered. “Mortals. Always living in boxes. How do you stand it?”

“Where do you live?” Eileen asked.

“We don’t care,” Maggie told her before the little man could get started. “Where is Culhane?”

“Hell if I know. Think the ‘mighty Fenian warrior’ lets me in on his plans? Not.”

“You’re awfully crabby for a pixie,” Eileen said.

“You’re awfully mouthy for a kid.”

“Teenager.” She shrugged. “Almost.”

“Well, that explains it.”

A ripple of movement rolled through the room.

“Finally,” Bezel said.

Culhane appeared out of nowhere to stand not a foot away from Maggie. She jumped a little, then smoothed herself out.
Honest to God.
Could her heart stand all this strain? “Did you really send this guy?”

“Bezel’s here to train you.” Culhane looked at the pixie. “Didn’t you tell her?”

“Haven’t had a chance. Just got here.”

Shaking his head, Culhane turned his gaze on Maggie. “Bezel will explain your new powers, show you how to control them. He’ll teach you what you need to know about the demons and how to protect yourself from them.”

“Uh-huh.” Maggie’s grip on Eileen loosened as the girl maneuvered her way closer to Bezel the Ugly. “And what are
you
going to do? Just sit back and give orders?”

The pixie laughed, and it was a scary sound.

Culhane wrapped one hand around Maggie’s upper arm, and instantly she felt a sizzle of something hot, delicious and just a little wicked dart up her arm and rocket around her chest like a crazed Ping-Pong ball. Then those sizzling sensations dipped lower, and everything inside her whooped with joy and expectation.
Sorry to disappoint,
she thought, and caught her breath as Culhane dragged her away from the others.

“I can’t be here to train you myself.” He looked past her to where Bezel and Eileen were having what sounded like a spirited conversation. “I have to stay mostly in Otherworld to keep Mab from finding out about you.”

“Okay, that’s probably good.” She remembered all too well the things Eileen had found out on the Internet. Maggie was in no hurry to face a Faery queen. In fact, she was still looking for a way around all this destiny crapola.

“You must learn,” he said, looming over her, fixing those pale green eyes on her face until Maggie could almost feel herself getting lost in them. “Listen to Bezel. I’ll come when I can.”

She shook her head to break whatever spell he held her in. “Just a minute. Look, I’m all for avoiding your queen, but it’s not like I can spend every spare minute listening to your pixie. I’ve got a life to take care of. There are things I have to do. Money to make. Bills to pay.”

“This is more important than you can imagine.”

Behind them Maggie could hear Eileen peppering the pixie with questions, and she almost pitied him. Almost. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of the front of Culhane’s shirt, pulled him down closer to her and caught the fresh, almost foresty scent of him. His face was just a breath away from hers, and for a second Maggie wasn’t sure if she wanted to yell at him or just kiss him until she passed out. A moment later, though, she got her wild imagination under control and said, “Trust me when I say I know it’s important. I saw a demon in the grocery store. He said something about taking my power.”

“They sense it,” he said, nodding. His eyes were solemn, his delicious-looking mouth flattened into a grim line. “This is why you must train. As time passes, more and more of them will come looking for you. Fae power strengthens a demon when he can capture it.”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “So I heard.”

“The demon you killed had a mate who is vowing revenge. He’s offering money to any demon who kills you.”

She sucked in a gulp of air and fought the need to put her head between her knees. “Oh, God.” Terror was ripe and rich inside her when a sudden, horrifying thought occurred. She shot a glance at her niece, still bothering the pixie, then dragged Culhane far enough away that she couldn’t be overheard.

“What about Eileen?” she asked, keeping her voice as low as possible. “Is she safe with me? Should I send her somewhere? Where can I send her? I’ll call Nora—”

“The child will be safe enough,” Culhane interrupted her rushed flow of words. “Her Fae blood is so diluted she won’t attract interest from demons, and it is one of the highest Fae laws that no child shall be harmed.”

“Are all of the Fae law-abiding citizens?” she asked, wanting to be reassured, but still scared.

“Most,” he said. “But even those that are not wouldn’t harm a child. Even Mab herself would never condone a child’s being harmed.”

So in some respects Fae society was a lot better than human, she thought. “But if Eileen’s with me, like today at the grocery store, won’t they come after her to get to me?”

“The demons wouldn’t bother,” he said. “Easy enough to take the power from a recently turned human without involving a child and drawing unnecessary attention from the mortal police.”

That was good to know, she thought, and her heartbeat settled down a little. At least Eileen was relatively safe. She, on the other hand . . . “Recently turned human. That’s what I am?”

“Yes, that’s why you must learn, Maggie—to protect yourself. To protect those who will need you.” He lifted one hand to softly stroke her cheek with the tips of his fingers.

Was that magic she felt zooming around inside her? Or was it something more elemental? Whatever it was, she really liked it, and it was a great distraction from the all-encompassing
fear
threatening to overtake her.

Her body was humming and her mind was blurry. As she stared up at him, his mouth curved into a small smile that just barely tipped the corners of his lips. Funny, with him this close to her she forgot about danger, forgot about the misery that was currently her life. . . . She even managed to forget that her niece was just a few feet away from her. All she could think of was Culhane and what he did to her system with a simple glance out of those eyes. She swallowed hard and leaned in closer. He moved, too, and his scent wrapped itself around her, drawing her in, making her want. Need.

Then he disappeared in a ripple of motion, and Maggie’s hopes dissolved along with her balance. She fell forward a step before she could catch herself, and only hoped no one noticed. When she turned around there was a smirk on the pixie’s face, but he didn’t say anything.

“You said you owed Culhane a favor,” she said.

“Yeah.” He looked disgusted by the admission, which only made Maggie more curious.

“What’d he do for you?”

Bezel stroked the straggly hairs on his chin. “He introduced me to my wife.”

“Isn’t that nice?” Eileen asked nobody.

“Your
wife
?” Maggie goggled at the hideous little man.

This mean little pixie had a wife? And Maggie couldn’t find a man who wasn’t a bum, a liar or a Happy Meal? That hardly seemed fair.

“You want to dial the shrieking down a notch?” He reached up and rubbed his ears. “I got sensitive hearing.”

“Wow.” Eileen was loving this.

“Great.” Maggie slumped down to the couch and gave in to the urge to put her head between her knees at last. While she concentrated on her breathing, the pixie kept talking.

“Just so you know,” he said in that scratchy voice, “pixies and Faeries don’t really get along, so I don’t want to be here any more than you want me to be.”

“I’m not a Faery.” Her voice was muffled.

“Not yet.”

That got her head up fast. “What?”

“You’re changing. Turning. Hell, don’t you listen? Culhane just told you that. And as much as I hate most Faeries, they’re still better than humans, so it’s a good thing, as far as I can see.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re turning into a Faery?” Eileen’s eyes went wild and wide as she looked at her. “This is so huge, Aunt Maggie! When you’re a Faery can you make me one?”

“Oh, for . . .” Bezel shot the girl a glare, then fixed those chilling eyes on Maggie again. “Listen up, lady. I’m here to train you, and I will. But that doesn’t mean I have to like you. So I’ll teach, you listen, everything’ll work out. Until some demon kills you.”

Maggie just sat there staring at him.

“So where do I sleep? You got a good-size tree out back?”

“An oak,” Eileen said.

“Show me.”

The girl and the pixie left together, with Sheba right behind them. Maggie slumped onto the couch and didn’t even try to fight it when she started floating.

Could her life suck any worse?

She closed her eyes as she hit the ceiling and bobbed there like a pool toy. “This is just fabulous,” she muttered. “I’ve got the hots for a Faery warrior, a pixie with a grudge is here to teach me how to use powers he doesn’t think I should have so I can fight a queen I don’t want to fight. Oh, and a pissed-off demon husband wants me dead.”

Good times.

“Wake
up
!”

“Huh? What?”

Nora Donovan shook her sister’s shoulder again and gave her a pinch just for good measure.

“Hey!” Maggie’s eyes flew open and she looked blearily up at her. “Nora? You’re home early?”

“Of course I’m home early,” she said, dropping onto the side of Maggie’s bed. “Eileen texted me last night about what’s been happening, and I cannot
believe
that you didn’t tell me!”

“Um, uh, Nora . . .” Maggie pushed herself up on her elbows and frowned at the pale wash of light outside her window. “It’s not even morning yet. God.” She dropped back onto her pillow with a groan and closed her eyes again.