Luck of the Devil by Patricia Eimer

funny and a bit clever, but I still don’t think it was worth an apartment building.”
    “Enough with the apartment building already.”
    “Yeah.” Lisa nodded. “I mean, it’s not nearly as handy as the unlimited, never-needs-to-be-paid, emergency Visa he gave us.”
    I closed my eyes and squeezed my temples, shaking my head. When would she learn the art of not over-sharing? “Lisa?”
    She scooted away from Tolliver, bumping against the arm of the chair when he tried to sling his arm over her shoulder. He scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. “Yeah?”
    “So very much not helping right now.”
    “Sorry.”
    “How did you score a no-limit Visa?” Hope’s voice was flat. “I got a cult in Idaho and you got an open credit limit to buy shoes?”
    “There weren’t any cults available?” I gave Tolliver a quick wink and he buried his face in Lisa’s hair, shaking with silent laughter.
    “Oh, cry me a river of blood for the bodies of the damned to float down,” Hope snapped. Something wasn’t right about her. I mean, besides the fact she was one of the most inherently evil beings on the planet who used her looks and unholy charms to lure others into doing whatever she asked.
    “Hope?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Why are you here?”
    “I came to visit my kid sister.”
    “No, you didn’t.”
    “Yes, I did. So how’s work?”
    Way to change the subject. “A pain in the ass. Well, except for Lisa eating the head of pediatric surgery yesterday. That was actually kind of funny, now that it’s over. Except he was haunting us for a bit until Dad got his paperwork straightened out. I’m sure it’s handled, though, so no harm, no foul. Now what’s up?”
    “Who said anything was up? You let Lisa eat a doctor? Good job.”
    “Enough of the evasive, innocent, older sister bit. You hate flying, you’re not a morning person, and not once in our lives have you ever suggested we ‘visit’ unless there was something up. Last time it was to hunt for souls so you could take control over your group. What is it this time?”
    “Nothing.” She looked at Boris and shifted slightly. “Boris, you will not hear a word of this conversation until I let you hear it. Got it?”
    His pupils blacked out his brown eyes. “Yes, Hope.”
    The Queen of Haughty sighed with Oscar-worthy drama. “We were ousted, all right?”
    “Ousted?” I tried to come to grips with that. How the Hell did they get ousted from a cult?
    “Yes, ousted. As in, they threw us out and seized all our assets.”
    I blinked. No way. “So how did you get here?”
    Her blonde curls fell over her face when she ducked her head, and if I wasn’t mistaken, her cheeks had turned a lovely shade of crimson. “Mom loaned me the money to fly coach.”
    “Coach? You? You flew coach?” If she was flying on a public airline this was serious, especially if she was flying coach with the common mortals.
    “Let’s not dwell on it. I didn’t have much choice. We’re destitute.”
    “Why haven’t you harvested the souls?” They had lost everything? Absolutely everything? “I mean, you’ve been out there for years. Surely, you’ve got something to show for it.”
    She whispered her next confession: “They’ve been saved.”
    “Saved? As in saved saved?”
    Her eyes met mine, pleading for sympathy. “Don’t ask me how. One day everything is fine, and the next this new follower is moving up the ranks, offering ideas, making suggestions. Before you know it, everything we’ve put in place is gone.”
    “And?”
    “And, before I knew what hit me, this new nutbag was standing at the right ear of the Reverend Leader, and we found ourselves out of a con. They found all of it, every little bit of money we’d managed to fritter away. I would have been surprised, except for the worst part.”
    “What’s the worst part?” Tolliver asked.
    The look she shot her husband could’ve made him wither up and die. “Boris was the one who told them.”
    My