Pure & Sinful (Pure Souls) (23 page)

Riona gaped. “Vanquish? Angels can be vanquished?”

Ramiel nodded. “Not permanently like demons, but temporarily, yes.  I think it’s also safe to assume that Lucifer wouldn’t leave the area open to access. He’ll have some powerful magic wrapped around that place to make sure no one gets in without a fight.”

“Except me,” she realized. “Because I’m the one he’s after.”

The angel nodded. “Bingo.”

“You know the worst part of this?” Jerry spit out. “Marc’s going to be ruined for you for the rest of his mortal days on Earth, once you guys do hook up.” Both Riona and Ramiel glared at the demon, but he simply shrugged nonchalantly. “What? If he’s damned anyways, why wouldn’t you jump him? It’s not like sinning kills him instantly, and you can’t damn him again once the deed is done. Lucifer is still going to have to wait for his mortal body to die before he can reincarnate Marc’s soul in demon flesh in Hell. Assuming you still find a way to make it out of this and stay earthside, that is. You could… Well, you could really be with him then, build a life together.” Jerry’s voice and hope grew small. “If that’s what you want, I mean.”

“It wouldn’t be right,” Riona breathed out. “I respect his commitment to the church, and even damned, I don’t think his love for the role he serves there would be diminished. His commitment would probably grow even stronger.”

Jerry pushed himself off the desk and paced to Riona. He reached out, and though she flinched, she kept her place as his fingers trailed over her cheek, his fingertips tracing over her lips. “Then frankly, my dear, I don’t think he deserves you. Anybody who’d forgo the love of a woman like you for the sake of a fucked-up organization like his isn’t worth your time. Don’t look at me that way; it doesn’t change my mind. I’ll still help you save him, but you should know that half of me wants to see you in Hell. Then I can be with you and show you what a real man does for the woman he loves.”

Her eyes rolled like dice on a Vegas crap table. “You expect me to wilt or something?
Oh, Jerry
,” her voice mocked him as she acted the part of a swooning, lovesick Southern belle, “
how sweet. You tried to get me damned so we could spend an eternity in Hell making love...
Get real.”

Ramiel had seen and heard enough. Standing around listening to Jerry and Riona’s verbal sparring wasn’t doing shit to help Marc. He pulled them both by the arms and dragged them into the hall.

“Enough flirting, kids. We have a job to do. And since I can’t shift you there under the circumstances, I expect a lead foot, Riona.”

Outside, Riona’s hands flew up over her eyes, shielding them from the setting sun’s glare. Jerry sucked oxygen in through gritted teeth like he was a five-year-old, eating lime-flavored gelatin. For all his tough guy talk, he shriveled like a daisy as he fell into the passenger seat, inviting a very reluctant Riona into his lap.

“It’s not like the angel and Dionysus’s hulking body can both fit on this side of a Miata, darling.”

But she was
so
n
ot having any of that. “Ramiel, shift yourself to my building. You can do that, right? As long as you don’t interfere with our actions, you can stand there, right?”

His head bobbed. “Yeah.”

“Good, go then. We’ll be there as fast as I can drive it.”

“And leave you and him alone in a car together?” Ramiel barked. “Do I look like I was drawn from the ether yesterday? Helping us or not, Jerry’s still a demon, still a minion of Hell. Using Dee’s biceps and his own demon enchantments, he could overpower you in a second.”

Blanching like a slivered almond, the witch spluttered to explain. “I know, but I don’t think he will. I think… I trust him, Ramiel. I can’t explain why. And if anything does happen, I trust myself to be able to handle him, even if he is scum.”

“I’m standing right here, you know,” Jerry reminded them, his arms crossed over his chest. “I can hear everything you’re saying.”

Ramiel’s eyes shifted, first to Riona, then accusingly back at Jerry, then to Riona again. With a huff, the angel took a few steps away from the car, glaring in the demon’s direction. “You hurt one hair on her head, and I will personally redeliver the plagues upon your ass and send you packing back to Old Nick with a big red bow and a bottle of Dom, you got it?”

And with that, he was gone.

Shifting the car into fifth, Riona looked at the demon via the rearview mirror. “What kind of defenses will he have up?”

“The mother of all Morgana Boxes. Probably around the whole building.”

“Am I going to be able to break Lucifer’s Morgana Box?”  Despite her determination, she knew Jerry could hear the doubt in her voice.

“Like you said, he won’t be blocking you out. You’ll be able to get through the box just fine. That’s not what I’m worried about, though,” Jerry admitted. “He’ll have some of his private guard there, too. Demon soldiers, very lethal, but not too bright. I’m worried whether they’ll recognize you as off limits.”

“And if they don’t?”

He coughed a laugh. “Fortunately for me, I’m wielding the body of a demigod and have an archangel working with me. Ramiel can’t use his angelic charms, but he can use that mean left hook he has when things turn physical.”

“Will that be enough?”

She couldn’t help hearing the doubt in his voice. “It will have to be.”

It was as good of an answer as she could hope for. “Okay, what else can I do?”

“Is there a back entrance to your building?”

“Of course.”

Jerry nodded. “Good, we’ll avoid that and go in the front.” Her confused grimace forced him to clarify. “Lucifer will plan on you trying the less obvious thing. The best hope, then, is to do the most obvious thing. Reverse psych, and all that. Hopefully, that means the guard is lighter by the front. Damn, if only you could make yourself invisible.”

Finally, a bit of a break. “But, Jerry, I can!”

His eye roll would have put any teen drama queen’s to shame. “No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can,” she insisted. “I did it a few weeks ago at the club when Marc and I were in the hot tub together.” His eyes flashed confusion and jealousy. “It’s not what it sounds like. We were both naked and...”

“You were
what?!”
Red specks covered his cheeks. “You sure Marc’s still pure?”

“Yes, we didn’t do anything, not that it’s any of your business. Anyways. Invisibility? Si, se puede.”

“If that’s true, Riona, you and Ramiel need to have a heart-to-heart soon. Invisibility? Fuck, this is all beginning to make a whole lot more sense.” Jerry’s eyes flew up the direction of the heavens. “I’d like to know which one of you celestial bastards is responsible! See what you fucking wrought?”

“Jerry?”

But he only shook his head wildly. “We need to stay focused. Fine, you can be invisible? Prove it to me. Do it now.”

Without hesitation, she pulled the charm over herself. Looking down at the driver wheel, she saw the edges of her hand and arm becoming pale, then turning transparent. A few moments later, only the sleeve of her shirt was visible, looking as though it were floating in suspension.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Each profane utterance was accentuated with a pounding of Jerry’s fist against the door. “Shit. This just got a whole lot more serious.” He swallowed like he was trying to take down bad medicine. “Okay, okay, let’s just… not worry about that part right now. Focus, focus, focus… Riona, lose the clothes.”

“You never give up, do you?”

“Like the demons are going to miss a pair of purple yoga pants and a long-sleeved black tee walking towards them. With your permission…?” His voice trailed off. Reluctantly, she made no objection.
“
Eínai gymnós!
”

The chill of the leather seat on her backside told her without looking that Jerry’s abilities to strip her in no time flat were actually as magical as she recalled.

“I swear, I’m so not picturing you naked and driving a cherry red sports car at the moment,” he said in a tone that made it so obvious he was. “Now, once we get there, charge straight for the door. Ramiel and I will handle the minions, just in case you flicker back. And, oh… One last thing you should be cautious of.”

“What?”

“Me.” Somberness clouded his features. “I’m on your side, but Lucifer still owns my soul. The second he figures out I’ve sprung loose from Hell and taken this body, he’s going to be pissed. He might use me. My demon powers funneled through the body of a Pure Soul might be a temptation he’s unable to resist. If he catches on that it’s me, promise me you won’t let that happen. I couldn’t take it if I ever hurt you again. Promise me that if he makes a move, you’ll send me packing right back to Hell without a second thought.”

“But, Jerry…” Her mind was playing out the truth of what his being here meant. “You’ll have to go back to Hell eventually. What will he do to you? Won’t he be pissed?”

The demon exhaled loudly, running a hand through Dee’s silky, black locks. “Once you’re in Hell, what does it matter how far down you go? But yeah, once I get back, I’m fucked.”

A tiny bit of the tenderness she once felt for him crept up from the recesses of her heart. “I’m so sorry, Jerry.”

He grinned. “I’m not. If y’all come out of this, it will have been worth it.”

With a screeching halt, the car came to a rest on the curb. A flashing thought that she should care if any damage resulted ran through her mind, but her feet were hitting the pavement and on the run toward her building’s front door before she had the chance. Ramiel stood at the ready. Angels didn’t have heartbeats, but his face went ashen nonetheless when he realized she was cloaked. Her eyes caught a thin layer of disturbance crawling over the brick exterior. The Morgana Box shimmied like waves of heat off blacktop on a hot day, visible only to those with a mystic’s eye.

Ramiel began to pace, running a hand through his majestically perfect blonde hair. “This is like Jericho all the fuck over again.”

Jerry was unfettered. “Yeah, but they still brought down that Morgana Box then, and so are we. Riona, run. Now.”

She wasn’t about to wait for an invitation. But when she went for it, the box’s walls rebounded her. She landed flat on her ass with a huff.

“Riona?”

Jerry must have heard her cry out.

“I can’t get through.”

The demon took one assessment, then nodded. “That’s good. It means he’s trying to stall you, which means there’s still time. He hasn’t completely seduced Mark yet. Use your charms, Keystone. Rip a hole in that motherfucker.”

Fine, if Lucifer was going to play that way…

All her magic, all her concentration, and all her heart poured into her words as she expanded out her magic and poked and prodded. The box’s walls were the toughest enchantment she’d ever felt and her attempts were proving worthless. She’d have better luck puncturing a diamond with a tooth pick.

“It’s too strong.” Her arms fell to her side as the tears pricked the corner of her eyes. “I can’t do it. It’s impossible.”

She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders that squeezed reassuringly. How he could “see” her, she hadn’t a clue, but Jerry came straight to her side. The sensation sent her back to their showdown at Dante’s Inferno. Only then, it was Marc’s reassuring voice that calmed her, giving her strength. The memory made her heart ache. But this time, instead of the priest’s encouragement, it was Jerry’s voice that whispered into her ears.

“Feel my soul, Riona.” The heat of his breath fell upon her neck, sending shivers down her spine. “Feel my strength. Feel my power. Reach out and harness it. I give it to you willingly.”

Magic borrowing. She had heard of it, but it wasn’t possible.

Ramiel put his metaphorical foot down. “Jerry, you know a human can’t magic grab.”

Jerry’s demon nature reared its freckled head. He might not have horns while possessing Dee’s body, but his voice possessed sharp canines in folds. “And you fucking know that she can and why, don’t you, angel? Now, Riona, do it. It will smell like the sweetest roses you ever had, like sunshine through autumn leaves, like creation. Breathe it in, deep as you can, and use it.”

The scent tickled her senses, but she resisted. “Jerry, I can’t… What if it hurts you? What if it throws you out of Dee’s body? What if you wake up back in Hell?”

He kissed her cheek. “I’m already in Hell. Not because I’m a demon, but because I love you like you love him, and will never have you. You have my heart, now take my magic and punch through this bitch so you can save him.”

She didn’t want to cry. She refused to weep over any feelings she had for Jerry. He was a demon, and he tried to set her up to kill an innocent just so she’d be damned. But, damn… She wasn’t going to be able to hold up.

She stilled herself, then inhaled the deepest breath she ever took.

Her body hummed with power. It was a like reliving the Awakening all over again, only on a smaller scale.

And naked.

She stepped forward.

No enchantments this time; the Morgana Box parted before her, letting her pass unobstructed as its border waned.
What the f—?
Was Jerry’s magic that strong? Undoing the barrier felt no more taxing than shooing away a feather.

Riona’s mouth flickered with joy, her feet longing to alight and burn up the stairs. A quick look over her shoulder, however, distracted her.

“Jerry?”

Ramiel was helping the demon to his feet, the latter breathing heavy and red-faced.

“I’m fine, go on,” Jerry declared, though Riona couldn’t help but wonder, seeing his arm braced across his abdomen like someone had just delivered unto him the mother of all sucker punches.

The growl that erupted from the building’s entryway gave her only enough warning to turn her head. Horned demons with green skin and red eyes charged full force in her direction, and further up the corridor inside, she could see a half dozen following.

Jerry’s body flew full force into them just in time, Ramiel pulling up behind.

“Run, Riona!”

She knew she had to listen, no matter how the idea tugged at her that she should stay and fight. It might be too late already. She had to get to him. She had to save Marc.

Working her legs, Riona hit the stairs at a gallop, not bothering to look back.