Free Luck of the Devil by Patricia Eimer

frequently,” she said, and patted my knee.
    I jerked my knee from under her hand. “Speaking of communing and harmony and all that good jazz, I was thinking, since you’ve already told Hope she can have an apartment in my building rent-free—”
    “That isn’t an issue, is it? I mean, you have an available apartment and she is your sister, not to mention she’s hit a rough patch and needs the support of her family.”
    “Like I said, since Hope is already moving in, I thought it would be great if you were there to provide her with all the maternal love and support she’s going to need by staying on her couch instead of mine.” Score one for Baby Sister.
    “Her couch?”
    “Well, yeah. There’s only a double bed up there, but I still think she and Boris would be more comfortable sleeping on it than on the couch. Meanwhile, it’s perfectly sized for you.”
    “But normally when I come to visit I sleep on your bed and you sleep on the couch so I can be more comfortable. You know I have a very sensitive back.” My mother’s eyes widened and she twisted a curl around her finger, trying to appear childlike and innocent.
    That wasn’t going to work on me, though. I was tough. I was powerful. I was going to get a chance to enjoy my vacation full of reality television reruns. “Yes, but with Hope suffering like she is, it really would be better if you stayed with her. To provide her with that motherly guidance you were talking about.”
    “But, but, but... ”
    “But?”
    “There’s no way your father will be comfortable on Hope’s couch. Especially as angry as he’s going to be when he finds out about Boris.”
    I pulled off the highway on two wheels and the car tilted sideways, screeching onto the exit ramp. “Dad’s coming?”
    “Well, of course he is. He’d have flown with me this morning, but there was a bit of a mix-up and he had to sort it out personally. He said it had something to do with a soul showing up unannounced, without paperwork. They thought they had it handled and all of a sudden, the soul disappeared again. He said something about it being banished into Purgatory. Everyone whines about having to go into Purgatory to get someone out of the waiting room, so your father decided to handle it himself. Besides, I’ve always thought he wasn’t all that comfortable with flying. Very protective of their space, those Hotakai Air Spirits.”
    “Of course they are, Mom.” I turned onto my street and spotted a black Lamborghini parked in front of my building. Leave it to Dad to be inconspicuous.
    “Oh, good!” My mother bounced happily in her seat when we pulled up behind the sports car and parked. “Your father made it.”

Chapter Six

    “Overcompensating much?” I leaned against the side of my practical little Civic and crossed my arms, watching Satan try to peel himself out of the tiny car. His preferred human form was well over six feet, and he was built like some Hollywood starlet’s bodyguard. Yeah, where my brother went for the tortured artist look, Dad decided to work the tall, dark, and muscular angle.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He opened his arms wide for a hug, his green eyes glittering mischievously. They were the only physical characteristic we shared, but where mine were a flat, mossy color, his glittered a brilliant shade of clover.
    “You need a can opener to get out of that thing.”
    “It’s a very cool car,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing. Even if I wasn’t going to hug him, God damn it, the Devil was going to hug me. “It keeps the persona going.”
    “It’s a cool car if you’re younger than thirty-five. Once you hit that mark, a Lamborghini says, ‘I have a tiny dick and no self-esteem.’ Not exactly the image I think you want to project, given your reputation.”
    If he was man enough to tell me green made me look jaundiced and I didn’t have the butt to pull off skinny jeans, I was woman enough to tell him