Read Online Bewitched, Blooded and Bewildered by Robyn Bachar - Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t see where the family had been taken. I was impressed by what she’d managed to uncover, and the bit about the fact that the hunters were specifically interested in children was very important. And terrifying.
    Marie stayed behind to wait for representatives from the librarian council to arrive and take the body of the mother away. We all thanked Emily profusely, and she hugged me before we parted ways. The drive home was silent—what could we say, really? Then my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Zach’s number glowing on the display. I scowled, but I answered it.
    “Now what?”
    “Did you learn anything from your investigation?” Zach asked.
    “They’re after kids now. It’s a whole new world of bad. And there was a demon involved, like in Oak Glen.” He swore, and I silently agreed with the sentiment. “Have you been talking to the shifters lately?”
    “Yes, I have.”
    “Do they have any new leads on a possible base? We have to get those kids out.”
    “Agreed. I will speak with them again tonight…this would be easier if we could speak in person,” he suggested.
    “No,” I replied without hesitation.
    “If we want to solve this problem, we all need to work together.”
    “Uh huh. How ’bout you work on getting all the councils in one room, if you’re looking for an activity.”
    “It would be easier with your help.”
    “Yeah right, because I’m just Mrs. Popularity right now. Listen, if you find something, let me know,” I said, preparing to hang up on him.
    “Wait! I would still like to speak with you. We need to discuss tactics for the next gathering.”
    Oh no, we don’t, buddy. You won’t be my problem anymore then. I hoped he hadn’t overheard that. “Not tonight, we don’t. Go snack on a bimbo or something.”
    “I’d rather snack on you,” he said suggestively. I snarled like an angry dog and hung up on him.
    “Problem?” Lex asked. He tried to keep the question light, but his knuckles were white where they gripped the wheel.
    “Not for much longer. We’re going to meet with Patience tomorrow, right?”
    “Right,” he said.
    I smiled at him, but then the car disappeared from around us, and Lex and I found ourselves standing in an echoing audience chamber, staring at the faerie council.

Chapter Five
    “Kitty!” Portia squealed. She threw her arms around me as though she hadn’t seen me in a year, when really it had only been three days. You’d think an immortal race would have a better memory than a goldfish.
    “Hi. This isn’t a good time for Titania drama. Can we do whatever this is later?” I asked. The room wasn’t familiar. An earth faerie clan, maybe, judging by the browns and reds of the surrounding marble walls and floor.
    “No, the council says this has to be now,” Portia replied.
    “What does?” Lex asked. His arms were folded across his chest, and from his frown it looked like he was ready for a fight. I hoped a fight wasn’t on the schedule.
    A loud clanging noise sounded from behind us, and we all turned to see a ginormous set of wooden doors ponderously swinging open into the room. Two figures walked through them, a man and a woman. It took me a few moments to recognize them as Jeremiah Galestrom and Riley O’Driscoll. He was tall and lanky, a blond, pretty boy in faded jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Where Jeremiah was light, Riley was dark. Her black hair was braided into two sleek pigtails. She wore high-heeled, black shoes and a little black dress, and she looked confident and defiant. The pair of them moved with the easy, liquid grace only shapeshifters can manage. Like dancers, except these dancers might leap on you and try to claw your face off at any moment. I wondered if she saw the change in herself. Riley hadn’t been furry for long. I assumed that was why she hadn’t had the good sense to bow out of challenging my position yet. She didn’t understand that she was a pariah now.
    Two faeries