bedeviled & beyond 03 - bedeviled & beleaguered Read Online Free Page A

remembered Darma and me playing on the rocks along that river when we were growing up. It had been a simpler life then, for us anyway, and I cherished those memories. Particularly in juxtaposition to my current task. I was about to confront her for having some kind of relationship with a Royal Devil Prince, when all she’d done was chide, nag and generally make my life miserable over my similar relationship with his brother.
    The idea of talking to my older sister about her love life wasn’t very appetizing. Fighting nausea at the thought, I rubbed at a spot on my inner left wrist that had been aching for the last couple of days. The air around the house was heavy with moisture and almost sparked in the light of the day. It smelled like magic but not quite. I frowned at that thought and opened the door, entering my father’s cool, dimly lit castle.
    Darma was in the kitchen. She was sitting at the long, heavy wooden table in the center of the room, in front of one of the castle’s twelve fireplaces. She had a cup of tea between her hands and a contemplative look in her eye. Darma barely looked up when I walked into the room.
    “Where’s father?”
    She shrugged and sipped from the cup. I recognized it as one of our mother’s favorites, delicate elf-made porcelain, with real gold rimming the edges. “He’s at work.”
    “Work” was Darma’s euphemism for divine business. To my sister magic and magical creatures did not exist. This might seem like a strange mindset for someone who was born of the union between a Seraphim from God’s right hand and a Princess from the Royal Devil Court, but hey, nobody ever said my sister was logical.
    Nodding, I grabbed a larger and sturdier mug from the cabinet. I programmed a strong, black cup of coffee into the drink valet, and then carried it to the table. Sitting down across from my sister, I stared at her until she slid her blue gaze reluctantly to mine. “Talk to me, Darma. Why are you with Torre and why didn’t you tell me?” Unspoken in that question was the one about why she’d been sitting in supreme judgment for months over my relationship with Dialle while cavorting with his little bro.
    She shrugged, hiding behind her cup. “It was none of your business.”
    I arched a dark red eyebrow at her. “Really?”
    Her response was a glare. “I found someone who treasures me for what I am. I don’t need your permission to date...anyone.”
    “And what exactly are you, Darma?”
    Her head shot up in surprise. “What an odd thing to ask me, Astra.”
    I shook my head, “Not really. You’ve been denying your heritage since you were old enough to recognize it, so it seems logical to ask which you he treasures, the real you or the you that’s been made up in your head.”
    She scowled at me for a long moment and then, amazingly, shrugged. “I’m not sure actually. I’m still figuring it out.”
    I barely resisted the urge to offer her a smart retort. There was something in her eyes that I couldn’t remember ever having seen before and I just couldn’t do it. My bossy, bitchy older sister was feeling vulnerable.
    The world must be ending.
    Finally I sighed. “Do you love him?”
    She shrugged again, concentrating hard on her tea. “I’m not sure about that either, Astra.” She looked up at me, her blue eyes suddenly swimming in tears.
    I reached across the table and grabbed one of her hands. When I squeezed it gently she squeezed back and gave me a slight smile. “I’m kind of a mess right now.”
    I laughed, finding myself unsure how to treat her for the first time in our adult lives, “Finally!”
    She stared hard at me for a beat and then, incredibly, she smiled and even chuckled. “I know I’ve been hard on you...”
    “Mmm hmm.”
    “A little stern at times...”
    “A little, yes.”
    “But I thought I was doing what was best for you.”
    My gaze shot wide. “But you don’t think that anymore?”
    She shrugged, taking a long sip of her tea.