The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,124

the table beside us twisted in her seat and leaned my way. "Hey? Is he gay?"

"No," I told her, "he's bi."

"Your... boyfriend?"

"One of them," I explained.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Well, um, it sounds like you're working something out. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I just thought that if you need a place to get some advice, my church has some great options. It's right here on campus."

That had my complete attention. The only question was how I could play off what she'd heard without getting myself uninvited. Granted, it could be the wrong group, but for some reason, I doubted it. The fact that she'd been so willing to bring it up made it feel almost like a compulsion, and that was one thing angels were very good at.

"Which one?" I asked.

"The Fellowship of Angels," she said, reaching for her backpack. "Um, I have a flier in here, I think. It's a little wrinkled because I've been doing all of my orientation stuff this morning, but... Ah, there it is." And she pulled out a very nice-looking trifold brochure. "You can have it if you're interested."

I peeled myself out of the pillowy sofa and stretched to take it. "Thanks. So, um, is this one of those churches that's all 'gay is a sin' and preaching conversion?"

"No!" she promised. "It's a very open-minded group. One of the fraternities is actually organizing the prayer sessions, and they have a ton of them offered at all times. You know, since a lot of us end up working on Sundays and can't make it. It's more about how to find the path to God, and less about how many times we've, you know, gotten lost."

"Thanks," I said again, hoping to leave it at that.

It almost worked, but just as the girl turned back to her table, she sucked in a breath and started waving at the window. "That's one of the prayer leaders. I'm sure he can tell you more than I can."

From where she was sitting, I couldn't see who she was waving at until he took a few more steps, and then my stomach clenched. Even with his face obscured by the Karma Kafe logo on the window, I could tell that this was an angel, and she'd all but summoned him to come inside. Beautiful golden skin and brassy colored hair peeked above and below the strip across the window as he reached for the door. Then there was the shirt he wore with the obvious Delta Phi logo on the front. When it opened, I saw a face I recognized a little too well: the archangel Gabriel.

"Gabe," the girl said. "I was just telling this girl about our church." And she thrust her arm out to me.

His creepy green eyes followed, then widened. "Sienna," he all but purred. "Where are your... friends?"

Sam returned just in time to save me from answering. "Just a coffee date on campus," he told Gabriel as he passed me my caramel mocha. "You look good. Better than the last time I saw you."

Gabriel laughed once, the sound dry. "Funny how that works." Then he looked at the girl. "I'd love for you to do me a favor?"

"Anything," she promised.

And his eyes changed. It was almost like they spun, but that wasn't quite right. More like the green shifted in a hypnotic way, and I knew he'd just taken control of the girl's mind. Immediately, I braced for him to send her at me - but he didn't.

"Go somewhere else," he said, his voice calm and measured. "You don't want to be late for your next appointment, so you should wait there, not here. You're just glad I'm going to help you bring these two into the fold."

"I really am," she agreed. "Thank you, Gabe."

Then she started putting her things away and left without another word. I waited until the door closed behind her, then groaned in disgust and leaned back on my couch.

"Not cool, Gabe."

"Please," he grumbled. "You wanted her gone as much as I did." Then he claimed the chair beside our couch and leaned closer. "Let me make this clear. You can't touch me here. I can't touch you. If we start pulling out miracles, people will notice, and neither of us wants that. Me, because it would be a distraction. You, because religion is too strong in this area for anyone to believe what you say."

"And the world is no longer stuck in the Middle Ages," I reminded him.

Yet he