The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,168

first time on Vesdar," she snapped. "So sue me if the second time I happened to have just completed a veil on my own. I was a little short on resources and unwilling to reap the sentient species for their lives like you are."

Gabriel just huffed and shook his head. "And even if we're not here, we’ll still have religion doing all of our work for us. While we hammer at the veil, slowly breaking any protections you can come up with, our little myths will be spread from person to person, making us even more powerful. That's the part you're missing, Muse. Your lives are short enough, and religion ensures that we don't even need to be here to train you to behave properly. Just have to dangle a little carrot in front of you humans, and you follow along just like a donkey."

"And religions evolve," she told him. "What worked a few thousand years ago is not going to fly today. Every year, God hates these people a little less. The Pope becomes a little more liberal to make sure that his version of your faith doesn't grow outdated. Things that were once considered abhorrent are now completely normal. Divorce, as an example. Religions evolve, and I'm going to do everything in my little musey power to make sure that this evolution isn't of any benefit to you. I mean, what else am I going to inspire people to do?"

"Good luck with that," he snarled.

Which meant she'd hit the nail on the head. Or at least one of them, because there was still a bit of a twinkle in his eye. A hint of that smugness that only angels could wear so naturally. Maybe Sia was pressing his buttons, but she wasn't pressing all of them. So what else was he hiding?

"I don't need luck," she told him. "I have God on my side." Then she turned and grabbed the heels she'd just been looking at off the floor, snagged a second box, and tilted her head at me. "Come on, Sam. I think I'm done shopping. Seems this store attracts the wrong kind of people."

I just wiggled my fingers at Gabriel in the gayest little wave I could manage. "Bad time to mention that pissing her off is usually when y'all get fucked up the most?"

Behind us, Gabriel just growled in frustration.

38

Sienna

I was so pissed off at Gabriel that I didn't even care that Sam bought my clothes for me. After that, a trip around the grocery store gave me a little time to cool off. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. By the time we got back home, I was still annoyed at the arrogance of those angels. Who did they think they were anyway?

And while the Porsche was a lot of fun to drive, it wasn't really the best choice for grocery shopping. Thankfully, we hadn't picked up a whole lot. Just enough to feed six people three meals a day for an entire week. In other words, we had to play a little Tetris to make everything fit. Sam and I had a collection of plastic bags hanging from our arms as we headed to the back door, but inside I heard voices. Not just my legion's.

Glancing back at Sam in confusion, I cracked open the door and carefully made my way in. I still couldn't tell who it was, but since no one could get inside without passing the wards, I shrugged it off. Between the sound of the door and the rustling of the plastic bags, our company fell silent, proving our arrival had been noticed.

"Sia," Bel said, hurrying up the hall to help me with the bags.

I just tilted my head out towards the garage. "There's more in the car. I'll put these up."

"Let Ron," Bel said. "You have company."

Me? Company? Who in their right mind would want to see me - and even more confusing, who would know I lived here? But when I stepped into the dining room, it all made sense. The man sitting at the dining room table had his back to me, and while he looked to be the same age as most college students, the bright orangey-red hair spoke volumes.

"Uriel?" I asked.

He turned in his chair with a smile. "I go by Yuri here." Then he stood and reached for my bags the same way Bel had. "Tends to draw a little less attention than my real name. Tell me where I’m putting these."

"The kitchen," Sam answered