bedeviled & beyond 05 - bedeviled & besmirched (11 page)

I frowned. “You sure?”

He hesitated just a beat before nodding. “Yeah, just a little old lady.” He grinned. “I’m sorry to report.”

I snorted. “Yeah.” Bob would have been able to interpret my discomfort with Mx. Diamon. And it would be hard not to read something into the fit I pitched when they told me I needed to stay with her for a couple of days. “Thanks.”

I disconnected and lay there, thinking. Where was my client Betty Davis and how was the scary, wrinkly, cookie-baking monster in the house keeping her hidden?

I decided to have another look around and check on said monster, so I started to climb out of the bed. Unfortunately the succubus arms of the old lady mattress weren’t quite ready to let me go. Pushing and shoving, I finally managed to get myself into an upright position. I sat on the edge of the bed, panting from my efforts, and decided I’d be sleeping on the floor that night. I couldn’t be wallowing around on that damn mattress like an entrenched Venusian hippopotamus if the bird demons returned. Standing up, I started for the door. I didn’t get far.

The air before me started to thicken and shimmer and I pulled my power forward.

The shimmering air darkened and solidified into a tall form with long, thick, black hair, broad shoulders and narrow hips. For just a beat in time I thought it was Dialle.

By the time I realized it wasn’t him it was too late for me to fling a power arrow at the son of a bitch.

A large, square hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, putting the magical smack-down on my powers before I could crack him between the eyes with them. He yanked me up close. Way too close. Close enough to feel the suspiciously hard ridge of flesh under his pants.

“Is that a pickle demon in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

He lowered his head and dragged me up his body until the handsome face was a mere breath away from mine, the deep-set eyes surrounded by a thick fringe of midnight lashes. His cruel mouth was turned up in a smile that made my knees weaken.

Unfortunately for me, my Settling roared, sending waves of heat and lust roiling through me. My channel clenched, drenching my panties, and my nipples turned to hard peaks beneath my sweater.

Milc’s nostrils flared in recognition of my lust. “You appear very happy to see
me
, my queen.”

My fingers twitched in a desire to blast him, but his hand on my wrist made that impossible. My body swayed toward him, my hips arching to increase contact with the enormous ridge beneath his tight, soft pants.

The cruel mouth lowered to find my throat, tasting me with lips, tongue, and teeth and, against my will, my traitorous head dropped back, giving him free access to the starving flesh.

He wrapped an arm like an iron band around my waist, sliding heated fingertips along my hip and up the side of my body, to skim along the rounded edge of my breast. I sucked in a breath and his mouth captured mine, sending me into sensual overload with a seriously heated kiss. His tongue swept out and tangled with mine. His hand lowered to cup my buttocks, dragging me up tight against his rigid shaft. When he ground himself against me, my Settling exploded, making the air spark in multi-hued flame and the nerve endings in my skin fire with need. A tight coil of lust blossomed in my belly, cranking tighter with every touch of his hot tongue against my skin.

I managed to retain a tiny corner of sanity under the sensual onslaught, but I couldn’t do anything about it because of the hand clamped, unyielding, around my wrist. So as my mind screamed in refusal of the sensations the evil advocate was creating in my traitorous body, my happy place throbbed with need and my lips sought his hungrily.

His body pressed closer to mine, his hand on my back sliding across my buttocks and over my thighs, teasing me with quick forays into the throbbing place between them.

He deepened the kiss until his lips bruised mine, his sharp teeth nipping at the tender flesh of my mouth and piercing it in his fervor. As he sucked the resulting beads of blood, Milc growled low in his throat and jerked his lips from mine. His dark eyes spun with the vivid colors of passion and his wide, cruel mouth was swollen from the violence of our kisses.

Even through the haze of lust consuming me, I could see that he was alarmed by his reaction.

“I don’t know why I did that, scrawny halfling. I don’t even find you all that attractive.”

I frowned, feeling strangely insulted.

His nostrils flared. “It must be the Settling that draws me.”

I knew he was right. It wasn’t that I was so irresistible to everybody I met, but my body was throwing off “come hither” pheromones in massive amounts. No male in his right mind would voluntarily walk away from that.

Something heavy and warm brushed against my calf and I looked down. The fat, orange cat swirled around our legs, dancing out of the way with a yowl as Milc tried to kick her. The cat crouched next to the bed and spit at my unwelcome visitor, angrily snapping her short tail.

Without warning she leapt at him, sinking small, sharp teeth into his leg.

Milc growled and snapped his leg, sending the cat flying across the room. The lithe creature landed on its feet and slipped quickly through the door, unharmed.

“I hate furry things,” Milc offered unnecessarily.

Jerking my arm hard, I finally won release. I immediately stepped back and pulled my power forward, allowing it to dance in the palms of my hands like a deadly promise. “It appears the feeling is mutual, Advocate.”

He leaned against the tall, wooden footboard of the bed, crossing his long arms over his chest.

“Now tell me what you want and get the hell out of here.”

“I’ve come to warn you that you cannot trust the werewolves. I have reason to believe that they conspire with the demons to harm you. You must come with me so I can keep you safe.”

My answering snort was not ladylike, but it was representative of my feelings regarding that statement.

“Those are my friends, Advocate. You are not my friend. In a choice between them and you I choose them. You can leave now.”

He glared at me. “How am I to protect you if you will not listen to me?”

“Simple. You aren’t. I don’t need or want your protection. I’ll figure this out on my own.”

“You’ve done an exemplary job thus far.”

“Nobody’s died in a few days. I think I’m doing pretty well.”

Milc stared hard at me for a long moment and then, in the blink of an eye, was suddenly standing a fraction of an inch away from me, the heat of his long body pulsing toward me like an overcharged aura.

He didn’t touch me, though his lips were so close to mine that I inhaled his breath with every flare of my nostrils.

I just barely kept from sending everything I had into him. “You live dangerously, devil.”

His smile didn’t do anything to warm the cold expression. “Yes, danger makes me hard. Very hard.” When he spoke, his breath touched my lips in invigorating little puffs. “Take care, my queen. It seems there are many who wish you dead. I cannot say I blame them.”

I reached down and sent a jolt into his happy place, causing him to jump away with a growl of alarm. “Get the Hades out of here, devil, before I start to believe you’re behind all these attempts on my life. It won’t go well for you if that’s the case.”

He showed me his teeth in a snarl and then popped away. As he left, his cold, smooth voice slid across my mind.
You are not a worthy queen for our court, halfling. And I would replace you if I could. Trust that I am looking for ways to do that. And never lower your guard.

When I was sure he was gone, I dropped to the edge of the bed, my knees suddenly feeling like water. Why was my life so damn complex? I always had impossible tasks to perform and never knew who I could trust and who wanted me dead or worse.

I knew one thing for sure, Dialle was gonna get an earful about siccing that monster advocate on me...as soon as I could find him...and get him to listen to me.

~SC~

After trying one last time to contact Dialle through the usual methods, I gave up and shimmered into his quarters at the Royal Court, bypassing the guards and other royals in the halls of the cavernous warehouse they’d transformed into a comfy Hell on earth.

At first I thought the rooms were empty. Not a sound disrupted the stark silence of the lush space. But the soft sound of a sigh made my head jerk around and I saw them tucked into a shadowed corner of the rooms.

Dialle and Astis. In a clench.

She was pressed up against a wall, her arms held over her head by an invisible force and her slender wrists shackled with power cuffs, which sparked silver and gold in the air around her hands. Her coldly beautiful face was fixed in a rapturous expression. Her pretty eyes were wide with emotion and her chest heaved with excitement. Her back was pressed against the wall but her legs, under the usual gauzy, ankle-length skirt, were spread wide, her hips arching toward Dialle.

He held her throat in one large hand and his knuckles were white from squeezing it. His head was bent toward her, his lips very close to her ear and he appeared to be whispering something. His stance was aggressive, even possessive, toward the beautiful witch.

I must have made a small sound in my throat because Dialle’s head shot around. His gorgeous face darkened when he spotted me, his swirling gaze changed from the reds and oranges of passion to cool blue in the blink of an eye. His lush lips opened and he stepped away from the witch, looking decidedly guilty.

Anger flooded me, tightening my chest and making it hard to breathe. Power surged through my body and my fingers twitched with the need to spray it around the room.

“Astra, this is not as it looks.”

And there it was. The age-old start to the male’s I-didn’t-mean-to-sleep-with-her speech. My lip curled and my teeth ground together. Next he’d be telling me it meant nothing. “Don’t,” I told him. “Don’t even go there, Dialle!”

He took a step toward me and I pulled my power forward, prepared to flee.

“Wait, don’t go! Let me explain.”

Something in his tone made me hesitate. He sounded terrified, sincerely scared that I might leave that room without letting him defend himself.

But then my gaze slipped to Astis. She stared at me through lust-filled, hooded eyes and offered a sensual grin. As she caught my gaze she licked her lips and threw me a kiss.

A ball of power appeared in my palm and I lifted it, my muscles tensing to fling it at her hated face.

“Don’t!” Dialle was suddenly standing in front of me, his hand wrapped around my wrist. “Don’t kill her, Astra.”

It was hard to speak with my teeth grinding together and my lip curled but somehow I managed to growl out a few words. “Protecting your girlfriend, Dialle?”

He tensed. “She’s not my girl—”

I jerked my hand from his grip. “Yeah, I know... It was just one time...it didn’t mean anything...you don’t love her. You’re pathetic, Dialle.”

With a thought I shimmered out of there, back to Mx. Diamon’s nightmare house. I hit the floor in the room I was temporarily inhabiting and started to pace. My stomach roiled and my chest actually hurt. Stars burst before my eyes and I realized I wasn’t breathing.

I stopped, closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, feeling the dizziness recede as my heart rate slowed. Unfortunately the nausea didn’t go away.

A knock on my door reminded me that I was supposed to be on the job. I would be lucky if my client hadn’t been kidnapped or eaten while I was gone having my heart ripped out of my chest. I strode to the door and flung it open, finding the surprised, worried face of my client on the other side.

“Are you all right, dear?”

I wasn’t of course, but I didn’t want her to know that. “I’m fine. Did you need something? Is something wrong?” I dispatched my sensing power and assessed the house. I didn’t sense anything other than my hostess and her friend’s cat.

“I don’t know. I just have this feeling...” Her wrinkled face folded into a frown. “Like I did when my husband was taken.” She fixed me with a worried gaze. “I think the demon is about to return.”

The fat feline skittered quickly down the hallway and dove between my legs, scurrying into my room and disappearing under the bed. The low-pitched sound of a feline growl emerged from the place where she’d hidden.

Grabbing Mx. Diamon’s bony arm, I dragged her behind me, shoving her into the room where the cat was hiding, and pulled my power forward. My nostrils flared as a familiar, feral scent wafted over me. The beast from Betty Davis’ house was nearby.

“Shit!”

I pulled the door closed, sliding a magical lock over it before moving away. If something tried to break that lock from the outside I’d know it immediately.

Reaching down, I pulled a long bladed knife from my boot. As I straightened, I wrapped myself in a protective bubble of power. The bubble would keep me in one piece until I figured out what was stalking my client.

A soft, whirring sound came from the kitchen, the sound of tiny wings on the air. I relaxed slightly. If all I was dealing with was the bird demon, I would have no trouble. A single power arrow between the thing’s beady, red eyes and I’d be done.

I slid silently along the wall, listening for the whirring noise. It had stopped, so I stopped, imagining the demon listening for the sound of my approach as I was listening for him.

Without warning, the tiny demon burst through the kitchen door and flew straight at me, its beady eyes looking terrified and slightly dazed. A memory flashed across my mind but I didn’t have time to explore it. The demon hit my power bubble at full speed and stuck, caught by the power like a bidgie bug in a back yard laser zapper. As it hung there fizzling and jerking in the force of my magic, I stared into the tiny creature’s blank eyes and wondered why it had basically committed suicide.

I dropped my bubble and the demon plunged to the floor at my feet. Its head hung at a weird angle and its tiny wings were tangled and broken.

Something didn’t feel right.

That was when I noticed the feral smell again.

My pulse picked up, pounding hard in my head as I finally realized what was wrong. Too late. I hadn’t seen the trap in time. I was in danger. The air changed at my back, sending the electronic fizz of magic to pulse against my skin. Pulling my power forward, I started to turn.