bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled Read Free Page A

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