The Devil You Need Read Free Page A

the…erm…pleasure?”
    Aubrey lifted a sculpted blond eyebrow and gave me the once-over.
I stood my ground, refusing to look down to see if my inadequacies were hanging
out or my ineptitude was unbuttoned. I already knew they were. Instead, I
lifted an eyebrow right back at him.
    Tit for tat.
    “We came to see how you fare, Astra.”
    Sexy Aubrey might be—and a truly fine guardian for a girl
who finds trouble more easily than the Plutonian Star Polo team on vacation on
sunny Mercury—I was beginning to suspect he had even a longer stick up his ass
than my aunt Myra.
    “I fare just about as well as could be expected.”
    This non-answer brought clouds to Auntie Myra’s sunny skies.
“There’s no need to be flip, Astra.”
    I shrugged. “I’m not trying to be flip, Auntie. Just honest.
My life pretty much sucks without a straw these days. I’m barely surviving from
day to day.”
    Aubrey frowned. “Straw? What is this?”
    I grinned. “I guess you’ve been skipping your Human Pop
Culture Orientation workshops?”
    Aubrey’s fine, straight nose lifted a notch and his
celestial arrogance came out to play. “I can’t possibly keep up with all the
human weirdisms, past and present. I’ll let you focus on that since you live
down here among them.”
    I grabbed the small bag I’d started carrying since I’d lost
my ability to shift from place to place. Turns out magic comes in handy for
lots of things besides kicking demon ass. Who knew? “Yeah, and besides, now I’m
one of them, so…” I threw him a glare and started out the door.
    I could almost hear the double-barreled air-sucking as the
two snotty celestials realized Aubrey’s mistake. The air shifted and Myra was
suddenly standing directly in front of me, blocking my exit.
    “Get out of the way, angel. I’m going home to drown my
sorrows in a hot shower and as much frozen milk sugar as I can stuff down.”
    She glared down at me. Funny, I would have thought
contrition and apology would have looked a lot less hostile. “Astra, stop being
such a baby. We’re going to find a way around this little problem, and until we
do, we need you to stay positive.”
    “Good, because I’m positive there’s no way I’ll get my magic
back.”
    Myra crossed her arms over her chest and her face pinkened
with pique. I was pretty sure she grew an inch or two, as warrior angels tended
to do when they were pissed off. “Despite your defeatist attitude, Aubrey and I
have come to make you a proposition. Are you going to listen to us or not?”
    I groaned. “Not. I’m full up on propositions today, angel.
How about we pick this up again tomorrow…or next millennia?”
    Cue the good cop-angel. Aubrey touched my arm. “Astra, I’m
sorry. My remark was heartless and—”
    “Insufferably snotty?”
    His frown slipped away and he actually smiled at me. It was
one of Aubrey’s better things…his ability to laugh at himself. It was a trait
Auntie Myra didn’t share. “Yes. That too. But none of us think of you as a human.
You’re a magical creature of great power. You’re just currently a little low on
voltage.” His smile widened.
    Despite my foul humor I couldn’t help smiling back. “Okay.
Got it. You haven’t given up on me. I appreciate that. I really do. But you
need to understand that this is really hard and I’m dealing with it as best I
can.”
    “We do understand that,” Aubrey said. He even seemed
sincere. “Which is why we’re offering you some help.”
    Uh oh. “What kind of help…exactly?”
    “We want you to come up for some celestial counseling.”
    My shocked gaze flew to my aunt. “You what?”
    “Our trainers have actually had considerable success helping
magic users through their rough spots,” Aubrey assured me.
    “Hello. Earth to angels. This isn’t a rough spot folks, this
is a dead zone.”
    “We don’t actually know what’s going on,” Myra informed me.
“For all we know your magic is still in there, hidden behind