The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,174

up, I told Luke to find whatever he thought would work - and he did. Half an hour later, I found myself wearing a deep purple dress shirt, a silver tie, and black pants called slacks. With a sly smile, Luke let me know that my Chuck Taylor's would work with the outfit.

Downstairs, the rest of the legion was sitting at the dining room table, trying to suck back as much of their morning coffee as possible. All of them were dressed just like me. We each had a slightly different color, and Beelzebub was wearing what looked like a sweater, but was cut like a vest. Seeing everyone together like this made me understand what people meant by dressing up. While we didn't match, we still looked good as a group.

Nick’s shirt was white and his tie royal blue. Sam wore a pale pink shirt with a neon pink tie. Beelzebub was in shades of gray, and Luke wore red with a blindingly white tie. But there was one person missing. I had just gotten my cup and sat down beside Bel when Sia finally made her appearance.

Her dress was navy blue with white piping. Her blocky heels were the same colors. Then there was her hair. She'd curled her wild orange locks so that they tumbled down her back like a waterfall. Her makeup was sultry but casual, defining her eyes and making her natural lip color look glossy. And while she looked exactly like herself, she looked like the best version I'd ever seen. Everything about her was feminine, soft, and perfectly beautiful.

"We ready?" she asked.

"No," Bel answered before I could say the exact same thing.

She just gave him a playful look. "Why not?"

In answer, Bel stood up. The fact that the crotch of his slacks was now standing out to make a triangle shape was impossible to miss. Sia glanced away and giggled, but it didn't hide the fact that her cheeks were turning pinker by the minute.

"Just think about Nick's ass or something," she teased.

Bel grunted, unimpressed. "Nick has a nice ass. That does not help."

"Then think about sucking off Abaddon," Nick said, "and let's get in the truck. We don't want to be late."

It was entirely possible that we spent the drive across campus laughing at Bel and his personal problems. It also kept the attention off the fact that I wasn't much better. Once we were there, Nick found a parking space close to the building that served as a church. It was really more of a student gathering hall, but the vinyl banner hanging out front proclaimed it as the Fellowship of Angels, hosted by Delta Phi. That meant we were in the right place.

Our group piled out of Luke's SUV and joined the crowd heading towards the doors. Overhead, the sky was dark and the clouds were thick, but it hadn't started raining yet. On either side of us, groups of students clustered together, talking amongst themselves. I strained my ears to listen.

"Did you hear about the people they found in the park the other night?" someone asked.

"Yeah. Sounds like some of them were grabbed from the Delta Phi rush party. Who would do such a thing?"

And on the other side of me, "Every week, after the morning service, a few people are allowed to actually see the angel."

"It's probably just frat boys dressing up in a costume."

"According to Sandra, it's a real angel. Wings and all. He blesses them!"

Then, up ahead of us, I heard, "I started coming when my roommate disappeared. The angel said that if I have hope, then her kidnappers will get caught."

"Then we'll keep praying."

Of course, there were other things, but they didn't stand out. People talking about classes, their friends, and other mundane things. Yet the fact that so many people were talking about an actual angel had my mind spinning. And while I could understand people looking to religion to make them feel better about their missing friends, why had they come here? Weren't there any other religious groups or churches on this campus?

So I moved closer to Luke and asked. "Is there another church on campus?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I don't really keep track of those things."

"Yes," Sia said, clearly having overheard. "The flyer said this one is nondenominational. There's an actual Catholic church on the far north side, two different Baptist groups spread through campus, a Methodist, Lutheran, and I think Presbyterian in the student union. Why?"

"Then why are they