bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled (2 page)

“Cut to the chase. How would the actual change happen?”

His gaze slipped away and I knew his response wasn’t going to take me to my happy place. “Just spit it out, Ralph.”

He sighed, tugged at a hole in his jeans, and scratched his chin.

“Ralph.”

“The magic is passed on through the carnal act.”

I blinked. Frowned. Swallowed. “By carnal you mean what exactly?”

“Sex, Astra. The old horizontal two step. The hubba hubba rumba. The delicious dance of decadence—”

“Okay. I got it.” Shaking my head, I stood up. “Thanks for the offer, Ralph. I can’t go there.”

He stood too and nodded. “I figured that was what you’d say but I wanted to make the offer. You could do it with Bob instead if that would make you happier.”

The absurdity of the thing suddenly washed over me, spurring a strange sort of mania. I started to laugh, feeling my face heat in an embarrassed blush. “It’s not you. I’m... I just can’t go there. I’m not sure I could do my job in that form anyway...” My voice trailed away as hysteria bubbled in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine, Astra. I understand. I just want to help.” He stepped close. “You’ll ask, right? If there’s some way I can help?”

I nodded and he reached out, touching my cheek with an impossibly warm finger. He held my gaze for a long moment and then turned away, pain etched deep into his handsome face.

I watched him leave, feeling responsible for that pain and for the pain of everyone around me. It was exactly what I didn’t need. More pressure. More guilt. More reason to succumb to bone-deep sadness.

It worried me how comfortable I was becoming with that sadness.

Not for the first time it occurred to me that I should just leave. Go away. And let the people I loved go on with their lives. It was nearly impossible for them to heal with me hanging around. A constant reminder of what we’d all lost when the evil bitch Crisanne had magic-raped me.

Expelling a breath in frustration, I dropped back into my chair and considered where I could go if I left. Olympus was a possibility. The dragons would welcome me there. And I could still function as a warrior if I had dragon brawn to help me fight.

Then I thought of Slayer and that option slipped away. He used to live on Olympus. For all I knew he still did. I knew he wouldn’t let me hide out. He’d pester me.

I couldn’t go to another dimension without the help of someone with the power to shift. Maybe off planet somewhere. That thought had possibilities.

Sighing, I reached for my ankle-length leather coat, preparing to leave. The air thickened a few feet away and two forms shimmered directly into my office. My aunt Myra and my new guardian Aubrey. I cringed when I saw them. No two creatures had ever been better equipped or more motivated to piss me off.

Adding to my discomfort was the fear that they were there to give me news on how Emo’s Settling had turned out. I had a very bad feeling about my friend and former partner and I was uncharacteristically reluctant to face the bad news. So much so that I was considering making a run for it before either of the two bossy guardians opened their mouths and rained on my day...maybe even my life.

Despite my fears, however, they didn’t launch right into the ruination of my life. In fact, my aunt Myra looked just a little too pink cheeked and smiley for my comfort. I hoped like hell it didn’t have anything to do with the tall, sexy blond god of a guardian angel standing next to her. The thought made me grimace. I mean, really, clocking in at a couple thousand years between them, weren’t they just a little too old to be doing the nasty together?

Bleurgh.

“Hello, Aubrey. Auntie. To what do I owe the...erm...pleasure?”

Aubrey lifted a sculpted white-blond eyebrow and gave me the once over. I stood my ground, refusing to look down to see if my inadequacies were hanging out or my ineptitude was unbuttoned. I already knew they were. Instead, I lifted an eyebrow right back at him.

Tit for tat.

“We came to see how you fare, Astra.”

Sexy Aubrey might be—and a truly fine guardian for a girl who finds trouble more easily than the Plutonian Star Polo team on vacation on sunny Mercury—I was beginning to suspect he had even a longer stick up his ass than my aunt Myra.

“I fare just about as well as could be expected.”

My non-answer brought clouds to Auntie Myra’s sunny skies. “There’s no need to be flip, Astra.”

I shrugged. “I’m not trying to be flip, Auntie. Just honest. My life pretty much sucks without a straw these days. I’m barely surviving from day to day.”

Aubrey frowned. “Straw? What is this?”

I grinned. “I guess you’ve been skipping your Human Pop Culture Orientation workshops?”

Aubrey’s fine, straight nose lifted a notch and his celestial arrogance came out to play. “I can’t possibly keep up with all the human weirdisms, past and present. I’ll let you focus on that since you live down here among them.”

I grabbed the small bag I’d started carrying since I’d lost my ability to shift from place to place. Turns out magic comes in handy for lots of things besides kicking demon ass. Who knew? “Yeah, and besides, now I’m one of them, so...” I threw him a glare and started out the door.

I could almost hear the double-barreled air-sucking as the two snotty celestials realized Aubrey’s mistake. The air shifted and Myra was suddenly standing directly in front of me, blocking my exit.

“Get out of the way, angel. I’m going home to drown my sorrows in a hot shower and as much frozen milk sugar as I can stuff down.”

She glared down at me. Funny, I would have thought contrition and apology would have looked a lot less hostile. “Astra, stop being such a baby. We’re going to find a way around this little problem, and until we do, we need you to stay positive.”

“Good, because I’m positive there’s no way I’ll get my magic back.”

Myra crossed her arms over her chest and her face pinkened with pique. I was pretty sure she grew an inch or two, as warrior angels tended to do when they were pissed off. “Despite your defeatist attitude, Aubrey and I have come to make you a proposition. Are you going to listen to us or not?”

I groaned. “Not. I’m full up on propositions today, angel. How about we pick this up again tomorrow...or next millennia?”

Queue the good cop-angel. Aubrey touched my arm. “Astra, I’m sorry. My remark was insensitive and—”

“Insufferably snotty?”

His frown slipped away and he actually smiled. It was one of Aubrey’s better things...his ability to laugh at himself. It was a trait Auntie Myra didn’t share. “Yes. That too. But none of us think of you as a human. You’re a magical creature of great power. You’re just currently a little low on voltage.” His smile widened.

Despite my foul humor I couldn’t help smiling back. “Okay. Got it. You haven’t given up on me. I appreciate that. I really do. But you need to understand that this is really hard and I’m dealing with it as best I can.”

“We do understand that,” Aubrey said. He even seemed sincere. “Which is why we’re offering you some help.”

Uh oh. “What kind of help...exactly?”

“We want you to come up for some celestial counseling.”

My shocked gaze flew to my aunt. “You what?”

“Our trainers have actually had considerable success helping magic users through their rough spots,” Aubrey assured me.

“Hello. Earth to angels. This isn’t a rough spot folks, this is a dead zone.”

“We don’t actually know what’s going on,” Myra informed me. “For all we know your magic is still in there, hidden behind some kind of wall—”

“That would be a hell of a wall, Auntie.”

“Yes. It would. But...” Her pretty face finally softened and she reached to touch my arm. I flinched, scarred from years of being force-shifted all over the place by my pushy guardians. She sighed, letting her hand drop without touching me. “We think it’s worth a try. Will you let us help you?”

“Worst case is that we can help you figure out how to deal emotionally with this issue, Astra. That’s not all bad, is it?” Aubrey’s impossibly handsome face clearly showed his concern.

My mind raced. Heaven. Ugh. I was pretty much allergic to white. Even the silver and gold of the higher angels’ wings couldn’t do much to take the sting out of a world that was almost entirely white. I wondered if I could smuggle some red or blue into the place. On the other hand... I
had
been considering going away for a while. The Celestial Realm was definitely away. “It’s worth thinking about,” I finally allowed.

I was rewarded for this reasonableness by being the unlucky recipient of two wide, happy, angel smiles. “Good.” Myra nodded as if it was decided.

“I said I’d think, Auntie.”

Myra opened her mouth to argue but Aubrey reached out and gently clasped her arm. “We’ll give you time then, child.” He fixed my aunt with a look that took the militant starch right out of her wings.

I wondered if he could bottle that look and sell me a case of it. I’d been trying to introduce my aunt to the concept of capitulation for almost two decades.

She finally nodded. “We’ll check back tomorrow and get your response.”

I was on the verge of asking for more time but then decided I’d pushed her enough. “Tomorrow works.”

Aubrey nodded and stepped back. “Good. We’ll see you then, Astra.”

Myra stared at me for a long moment and then, seemingly on impulse, stepped in and gave me a hug. I almost swallowed my tongue.

First Darma was nice and now my acid-tongued aunt was going all mushy on me. I figured I only had a few hours to live.

“Please let us do this, Astra. I think we can help.”

I was too shocked even to say something snarky. So I just watched them blip away. I stood there for several moments before I found the energy to move again. Then I went in search of Bob and Ralph. Maybe Bob could do an empathic read on me and discover if I’d lost my mind or something. The Big Guy knew I must be in dire straits if my family was being nice to me.

CHAPTER TWO

Decisions, Decisions

To the celestial shrink or no, young miss has not a clue,

But if she should decide to go, with her tender mind he’ll screw.

Slayer’s sword arm sliced downward, cleaving the air a breath away from my cheek. A ribbon of my long, auburn hair hit the ground at my feet. I danced backward, too late, and hit the wall hard. Slayer slammed up against me, his sword arm pressed against my throat. His other hand grabbed my wrist, halting my reflexive strike.

I rested my head against the wall and lowered my sword, feeling tears prick the inside of my lids as I closed my eyes.

“You’re not even trying, Astra.”

Anger brought heat to my face...or embarrassment...I wasn’t sure which. I opened my eyes and glared at the other halfling. “I see you and my sister went to the same motivational seminar.”

He frowned down at me. “My friend, this is life or death. If you don’t give this training everything you’ve got you’ll soon be an attractive but leaking pile of flesh on the floor. Can you at least try to fight with some enthusiasm?”

I sniffed, and jerked my wrist from his grasp. “I am trying. I’m just a little—”

“Distracted?” He lifted a perfect eyebrow, fixing me with a sexy golden gaze. “Really?”

“Shut up.”

He stepped back and I moved around him, grabbing a white towel from the top of my desk. I found the towel much more effective than drying spray during my training sessions with Slayer, because he always made me sweat copious amounts. The current session was no different. I apparently didn’t sweat any less when I sucked than when I was at the top of my game.

“Tell me what’s going on, Astra.”

I draped the towel around the back of my neck and grabbed the polish for my blade. Though I gave some thought to ignoring him, I knew it wouldn’t work. He was very stubborn and it hadn’t been a request.

“Astra?”

Glancing in his direction, I dabbed polishing paste on my sword blade. “I have a decision to make.” He leaned on his sword and waited. “Myra and Aubrey came by yesterday.”

Two dark eyebrows arched skyward on that piece of information. “Yeah? What did they want?”

I expelled a breath. Despite my expectation that they would be showing up at any moment, I still wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to their offer. “They want me to submit to celestial counseling.”

Slayer didn’t say anything for so long that I stopped polishing and looked up at him. He was frowning, looking down at the floor. I realized he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea either. “What would you do?”

He shook his head, his sexy, golden gaze finally sliding toward my face. “I’m not sure it will help, Astra. I think you need to start getting used to not having your powers...just in case.” His guilty gaze slipped away again, unable to meet my pain-filled one. It had been Slayer’s girlfriend—ex-girlfriend actually—who had magic-raped me. I didn’t blame him, he hadn’t seen her for months and he couldn’t control her actions, but he definitely still blamed himself.

“That’s what I told them. But they said they could help me deal with not having my magic anymore. You know, emotionally.” I grabbed the sheath for my sword and slid it carefully inside, settling it onto the top of my cluttered desk. Turning away, I settled my butt on the edge of the desk and crossed my arms, watching Slayer until he looked up.

His gaze was filled with such pain it made me want to hug him and tell him it was okay. But I’d learned that only made it worse. “Well, then I guess you should do it. If they can help you move beyond the loss so you can focus on getting your fighting skills back to the level they were before.” He sighed, knowing my non-magic fighting skills would never take the place of the ability to shift around at will and fling power at my enemies from a safe distance. My agility, brains and aptitude with martial and blade arts had been great assets to have along with my magic. But alone they were a poor substitute.

“Good.” I nodded, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. I suddenly wanted to be alone. Slayer was depressing me. Lately he’d been a worse sourpuss than I was. “I’ll do it then. So...I guess you should leave. I need to get ready to go.”