Anne Stuart's Out-of-Print Gems by Anne Stuart

keeping out of her way as she stepped into the fitful sunlight. Her first view of the pastor wasn’t encouraging.
    He was a tall man, thin, with a prominent Adam’s apple. Dressed appropriately enough in black, he had thinning gray hair and surprisingly cherubic pink cheeks. He also had the faintly bulging eyes of a fanatic.
    â€œSister!” he cried when he saw her. “God has sent me to deliver you from this house of evil, to bring you to the bosom of the Holy One and wash away your sins. Give me your hand and I will lead you from this unclean place.”
    â€œActually, the house is spotless,” Meg couldn’t resist remarking. She’d grown up in a nice, liberal, Protestant church, and fanaticism always made her uncomfortable. At his sudden frown, she realized how foolish she was being, throwing away her best chance of rescue because she didn’t happen to like the man’s style, and she quickly managed to look demure. “I would appreciate a ride out of here. My car…” She looked to the driveway where her rental Ford had last been seen mired in the mud. In its place was the pastor’s form of transportation, a rusting old mini school bus with the legend God Sees All, Judges All, Punishes All on the side. It didn’t look promising.
    â€œThat evil spawn of Satan has destroyed it with a thunderbolt,” Pastor Lincoln announced. “Come away with me, now, before he turns you into one of his unholy ones.”
    She almost wanted to refuse, which would have been madness of the highest order. “You can give me a ride to the nearest town?”
    â€œOf course, my child. To Oak Grove.”
    â€œBut I need to get back to Chicago, to my family….”
    â€œYour only family is God’s!” he declaimed. “We’ll do all we can, but first we must purify you….”
    She started backing away at that. “What denomination are you, Pastor Lincoln? I’m United Church of Christ myself, and—”
    â€œThose sects are all unknowing,” he said loftily. “I follow the true way, like my father and grandfather before me.”
    â€œBut you must have been trained—”
    â€œDon’t need training, sister, when you have a calling.” He clamped a hand down on her arm, and she was surprised by the steely strength in those skinny fingers. “Come with me, child. We’ll teach you about the real God.”
    â€œNo, thanks,” she said hastily, pulling away. He was too surprised to hold on, otherwise she might have had difficulty escaping. “I think I’ll stay here for now. But thanks for the offer.”
    â€œEvil!” Pastor Lincoln screeched, pointing his finger at her. His entire body was vibrating with outrage. “It’s too late for you. He’s taken you, made you one of his succubi….”
    â€œOne of his what?” she demanded, not knowing whether to be amused or outraged.
    â€œThere’ll be no cleansing of your sins, short of fire. You’re one with the evil, lost in the sins of the flesh, rioting in fatness and sensuality!” He ran down the steps to his school bus, still shrieking.
    â€œGuess you made an enemy of that one,” Salvatore said with a smirk.
    â€œHe made an enemy of me with that crack about fatness,” Meg snapped back. “Is everyone around here loony tunes?”
    â€œJust about,” Sal said. “Ready to go back to your room?”
    The enormity of what she’d just done hit her. She whirled around for one last wistful glance at the school bus as it jolted and jarred its way back down the road. Repent or Perish, it said on the back. Her only chance of escape and she’d thrown it away. So what if he’d wanted to purify her? It probably wouldn’t have been any worse than what Ethan Winslowe had in mind for her.
    She turned back to Salvatore, keeping her back straight. If one opportunity came, another would come.