bedeviled & beyond 01 - bedeviled & beguiled Read Online Free

bed and pulled tall black boots with no heels over my bare legs. The politically incorrect leather of the boots melted around my calves and held them gently but firmly. No matter how hard it tried, humankind would never make a fake leather that rivaled the real, God-made stuff. I rubbed my hand up my right boot to smooth it and then shoved a long, thin stiletto type knife into the side, leaving just the top ridge of the handle exposed so I could grab it quickly if I needed to.
    “That isn’t important right now, I need to meet with you.”
    Frowning, I responded in as calm a manner as I could...which was way far from calm. “I’m sorry. I can’t meet with you if I don’t know who you are and why I’m meeting you. I’m sure you can understand how foolhardy that would be in my line of work.”
    When silence met my resistance, I briefly considered turning on the visual so I could glare at Mr. Elusive and snotty, but decided against it. I generally resisted using visual at home because I had a habit of forgetting it was on and embarrassing myself by answering naked.
    The silence grew longer as I waited for my sexy sounding antagonist to respond. I was damned if I was gonna talk again before he did. I used the time to put a vial of holy water into my purse and clasp a belt of gold crosses around my waist. A platinum dagger tipped with angel blood slid neatly into the sheath I strapped to one of my thighs and, though the dress was soft and draped nicely around my curves, the sheath hid the dagger nicely. I stood in front of my mirrored wall and made a few adjustments until everything was properly hidden.
    Just as I was about to think he’d hung up without my knowing it the voice said, “I guess you could call me Mx. Deaver’s problem. I need to talk to you before he fills your head with his lies and nonsense.”
    “You’re the advocate?”
    “I’m sending someone to pick you up.” And he was just...gone.
    “Shit!”
    I knew I couldn’t wait around and allow myself to get dragged to a meeting with some evil advocate before I knew what I was getting myself into. I grabbed my bag and left my living space.
    The Viper rose into the cool, clear night on nearly silent feet of air and tore away from home. I programmed in the location of the Church of the Twined Hands and heaved a sigh. I wasn’t exactly sure why I’d felt a stab of fear and dread as I’d spoken to Deaver’s Advocate, but I’d learned long ago to trust my instincts. They were almost always right on the mark.
    The televisual unit on the Viper’s control panel chirped twice and Emo’s devilish face filled the eight inch square screen. “Hey Astra, I just wanted to let you know you got a call from some scary sounding guy, I think it might have been your new client, that cultist, what was his name?”
    “Deaver?”
    “Yeah, him. I had a really weird feeling talking to him. He had visual blacked out and wouldn’t answer any of my questions. I don’t want you to meet with this guy alone.”
    “Yeah, I think I already talked to him, he called at my place. He was pretty pushy but I can handle him. Did you get somebody to fix the glass?”
    He frowned and opened his mouth but before he could speak his image wavered with some kind of weird interference and, as I was playing with the controls to bring him back into focus I suddenly realized that the Viper’s interior had grown much too cool. A prickle of fear sprung up between my shoulder blades and I cursed silently as the hair on my arms stood at attention again. The Viper jerked to a sudden stop as if someone had tied a rope to it. My ears picked up the remembered moaning noise outside my stalled vehicle.
    “Sonofabitch! I grabbed the cross I’d clasped around my neck as the Viper started to vibrate against the sucking power of the thing outside. I took the Viper off auto control and plunged it into hyperforward, feeling it strain against the grasping monster. The Viper bucked and swung violently