Bewitched, Blooded and Bewildered Read Online Free PDF

the house could withstand a zombie apocalypse. Which might happen when I broke free from Team Evil and Zach threw an epic hissy fit. If I broke free… The leather creaked in protest as I leaned back against the cushions, but a dull ache throughout my body kept me from getting comfortable. Lex paced in front of the fireplace—another feature of the house that I didn’t like. Everything here still felt like it belonged to him, and I was just visiting. Not a good way to start a marriage. Then again, having your soul velcroed to another man wasn’t a good start either. Lex yanked out the tie that held his hair back and ran a hand through the long length of it. Even though he was furious, the gesture still made something flip, low in my gut. Lord and Lady, I loved his hair.
    “I hate this,” he growled.
    “I know.”
    “He’s using you.”
    “I know,” I repeated. This was not a new conversation. I heard the things he wasn’t saying as clearly as if he shouted them. If you’d called me, I could’ve helped you. If you’d trusted me, I could have protected you. If you’d have said no to him, this wouldn’t have happened.
    It was true. This was my fault, and I owned it. Well, Zach was also at fault for being an evil, manipulative bastard, but I doubt he lost any sleep over it.
    “I’m sorry,” I said for the millionth time. “Look, if you need to go pummel your punching bag, I won’t argue.”
    There was a gym in the basement, filled with mysterious machines I had no interest in learning how to use but was anyway. I am opposed to exercise that isn’t fun. Running with the dogs is fun. Running on the treadmill isn’t. Unfortunately I’d married a man who’d lived his entire life doing his best to be prepared to fight any of the potential battles a guardian could face at a moment’s notice. (Constant vigilance!) As a smoker—former smoker—who hadn’t put any real thought toward exercise since high-school gym class, I wasn’t thrilled about this exercise thing. I’d made a deal with Lex. I put forth an exercise effort, and he didn’t comment on my greasy, fried diet, because I’d made it very clear that if he wanted to take my French fries, he’d have to pry them from my cold, dead hand.
    Lex paused as he considered my offer. I bet it sounded real tempting. “You’re sure?” he asked, sounding skeptical.
    “Yup. Have at it. I’ll hang out up here.” He needed to burn off the anger, and I wasn’t up for our usual solution to the problem—hot, sweaty, possessive sex. As newlyweds, we had a lot of sex. As newlyweds with issues, we had epic amounts of sex. At least we were, until his little sister moved in two months ago.
    “Do you need anything?” he asked.
    “Aside from a new spleen, no.”
    Nodding, he stalked off, his coat billowing behind him. Was it designed to do that? Maybe dramatic-coat effect was included in the guardian abilities he’d been allowed to keep…another thing that was my fault. Lex’d given up his job as a guardian to be my Oberon, and now he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. The Titania and Oberon gig did keep us occupied, but it wasn’t the same. He was used to kicking butt for the higher powers, not undoing imp mischief and settling squabbles between faerie-blooded magicians. I wasn’t used to any of it. After being cast out of the witch clique, my only magician contact was my buddy Mac. Now I was all up in everyone’s business 24/7/365. Or I would be, if the majority of local faerie-blooded magicians weren’t avoiding me.
    Bubba, Lex’s German shepherd, trotted into the room, hopped up on the couch, and climbed into my lap. I grunted, wincing as he flattened my legs. A lap cat I didn’t mind, but over one hundred pounds of slobbery lapdog was something else. I scratched him behind his ears.
    “Did you miss Mama? How ’bout you go fetch Mama some aspirin?” I suggested. His ears pricked up at the idea, but he didn’t dart off like Rin-Tin-Tin. I