Read Online Pure & Sinful (Pure Souls) by Killian McRae - Free Book Online Page B

knows I can do that, okay? We demigods, we’re only supposed to have one gift. All part of the agreement with the Council of Seven not to lose our status, curb superhuman feats of power, etc. Mine’s my strength, but Dad had Panaceia sneak me the ability to heal on the side.”
    As a promise, Marc mimicked locking his lips and throwing away the key. “Well, I’ll take that as a message from the divine that I probably should just hit the showers.”
    “Yeah, Marc, it’s an immaculate suggestion.”
    Dee groaned as he entered his office a few minutes later. What a mess, he thought.  It wasn’t that Dee was an exceptionally disorganized person, but he did have a tendency to mark his territory in yellow: manila folders and sticky notes. Maybe being a Pure Soul had made him overly suspicious, but examining each and every new member file was an obsession, just to be sure no demons or other beasties masquerading as humans snuck their way onto his elliptical machines. Not that you could tell by a picture or an address, but street-class demons weren’t the brightest light bulbs. They normalized towards true stupidity, picking give-away human names. Like Damien. How freaking imbecilic were they that a third of them branded themselves with the archetypal moniker for evil?
    The last handful of newbies cleared his suspicions, though. A Phoebe, a Rachel, a Joey… What the hell, had the cast from Friends just moved into town?  There was a Lucien, but even the Big Bad Boss wouldn’t be so stupid to use anything so close to his real name. Not to mention, even a fallen angel didn’t have use for a gym. Angels altered their human forms to the purpose of their earthly missions, and if Lucifer wanted to fit in on Muscle Beach, it wasn’t a problem for him to look like a Kazakh weightlifter in his heyday on a whim.
    “Personally, if I were you…”
    Dee’s head shot up to find Riona Dade, disheveled and looking completely drained, leaning against his door frame.
    “… I’d fire your secretary, or pay her a hell of a lot more.”
    As she sauntered in and sat in the chair across the way, he took a good gander at her from head to foot. Her red hair gave greasy an updated look, and lay like saucy, sticky spaghetti clumps. Her fair skin, usually well-hydrated and powder smooth, sported blotches and paste as though hung in a modern art museum. Riona could at least boast clean clothes, but wrinkles creased the fabric as though she slept in that same exact Nike tee last night and hadn’t bothered to change.
    “How’re the luggage sales going?”
    Riona cocked her head to the side.
    “Sorry, but given those bags under your eyes, thought you opened up your own store.”
    She expelled a hefty sigh. “I wish.”  Her eyes lost focus as she looked away. “Haven’t been sleeping well. Bad dreams and stuff. And, oh yeah, then  Ramiel showed up.”
    Dee dropped his pencil, leaning back in his chair and treating her to a healthy chuckle. “Uh-oh, looks like they’ve decided you’re ready to assume your jurisdiction. You must have really knocked their socks off, going after your ex and all. So, what’s the job this time?”
    Her face screwed up. “Something we’re going to need Marc’s help with. A lot.”
    The witch fell silent, as though all her energy were being used just to breathe in and out.
    “Hey, Riona?” Slowly her eyes focused in on him. “Honey, really, you don’t look so good.”
    She threw her hands up and scoffed, “Dreams, Dee. The dreams are getting to me.”
    He nodded, like it wasn’t exactly news to him. “I know the fat load of good this doesn’t do to tell you, but being the Keystone, your dreams are going to be a lot more vivid now. Especially bad ones. You’re tapped into everyone’s psychic mojo, and your subconscious is going to try to sort all that out at night. Downside of magic. But you are still human. You’ve got to get a handle on this. Without sleep, you’re going to be useless.”
    Her