Pure & Sinful (Pure Souls) - By Killian McRae Page 0,3

to a teenage girl being told “yes, that dress does make your butt look big,” filtered through the room, mixed equally with Riona’s coughing and the other demons’ jeering as she tried to reclaim the air her lungs so desperately needed.

Marc watched with a fretful lip as Riona struggled to form words, a twenty-demon variety pack seeing their chance to pounce, slowly closing in on her. If she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t focus her magic. Her self-defense instinct might kick in and manage to pull something off, but in that circumstance, she was as likely to take out her teammates as well as her enemies.

“We’ve got to do something,” he shot at the demigod.

Dee turned to him, one eyebrow raised, a “What you talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” expression on his face. “We don’t stand a chance against a gaggle of goblins this big. Riona? Yes. Us?” He shrugged, “Toast.”

The priest rapidly indexed their options. True, with their magic, they could maybe dish out a few a bad cases of PMS, or perhaps athlete’s foot (or was it athlete’s hooves with this crowd? He’d have to check on that later), but banish or destroy them, they could not. That was a Keystone’s job. Always the resourceful one, however, Marc widened his vision and surveyed the room. Not much to work with, and quite a bit more to work against. Their backs were more or less against the wall. It would be easier to flee than fight. Seeing this out to its end, however, was critical for Riona. Having a demon on the loose that had the ability to read her mind and wreak havoc was too dangerous.

Not to mention, he didn’t like the way that asshole looked at her. Jerry had to be dealt with. Now.

The tips of Marc’s ears went crimson. “Damn it all to hell!”

“And this from a priest,” Dee quipped.

Marc knew Dee registered as their resident pragmatist. No doubt, they were both surfing the same wave on this one, trying to find a solution. As a demigod, Dee’s muscles could out-whip any mortal born to the ranks of man, and he was nearly as strong as any demon divo in this joint. But could they really take on a horde of this fortitude?

Seemed Dee concluded they could. Without another word, Marc watched as his best friend picked up a nearby chair and turned it over, gripping the back like a handle of a true weapon.

“You know what they say, Father,” he proclaimed as he took three measured steps and landed the lounger over the head of a warthog demon, passed out cold. “God helps those who help themselves.”

Marc made his standard preemptive sign of the cross before lunging for a barstool and joining the action.

At the back of the bar, Jerry recovered much more quickly than Riona. It looked to her like he didn’t like being kicked in his favorite body part — next to his hair, of course. Not by a long shot. “That’s going to cost you, witch. Infuita permuter!”

She nearly doubled over in fear. Nearly. She hadn’t a clue what an infuita permuter charm did, but if it was demon magic, probably nothing good. The smug look on Jerry’s face confirmed she was likely in a heap of trouble. Her fight or flight instincts kicked in, and ratcheted her into high gear. She needed to know what she was up against. She needed Dee and Marc. Without another moment’s hesitation, she leapt to the left, spanning a distance that would have made a bullfrog jealous. Despite the circle of demons playing audience, probably savoring every lame quip Jerry spouted, she thought there was enough of a gap between two in that direction to break through.

But when her body slammed into some sort of invisible brick wall, the answer to “What does infuita permuter do?” was all too clear. And painful as a bitch. Trapped. In every direction she ran, the barrier bounced her like a basketball. Confirming her suspicions, Jerry made no effort to stop her attempts to escape. Her battle with him would be mano a mucus.

Riona turned back around, trying to manufacture some confidence in her features if it wasn’t in her heart. “Looks like you got me all alone now. So I guess we’re not doing the group thing today?”

Jerry froze. “Would you have… gone for that? Damn, talk about a missed opportunity.”

She nearly choked on her own words. “Come on, Jerry. You know me better than that. I’m much too greedy to