devil 02 - tween a devil and his hard place by sam cheever Page A

appeared my aunt had been very busy for a dead woman. I nodded. “Go on.”
    “She says your mother’s sphere is opening and growing and it approaches yours. Deirdre fears your mother will pull you into something you cannot escape and she will pull you from the side of good.”
    I shrugged, trying to act unconcerned when I was actually very concerned. “She can’t pull me where I don’t wish to go, Father. I’ve grown a lot in strength since last she saw me.”
    He fixed me with a clear blue gaze. “Yes, you are much stronger, Astra but your powers come from her and she knows that. She has had centuries to perfect her strength—to grow it—you have only recently been enhancing your abilities.” He looked down and I could visualize his long, pale hands in his lap, being wrung for all they were worth. It was something he’d always done when he was upset. “I blame myself for that. I shouldn’t have stopped Deirdre teaching you when you were a child.”
    It was a thought I’d had countless times over the last couple of decades but I was reluctant to let him take the burden for it now. “Nonsense. You did what you felt you needed to do to protect me. Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for the power then. I am now and I can stand against Mother if need be. I don’t want you and Myra to worry about me.”
    I wished I felt as strong as I sounded. But, for whatever reason, it was important to me to soothe my father on that particular subject. He had long been a pawn in my mother’s intricate and selfish schemes. I would not let that pattern continue if I could stop it.
    I disconnected after promising him that I would be very careful and instructed the televisual to contact my sister.
    Darma’s pretty face swam into view almost immediately, as if she’d been waiting for the televisual’s summons. “Hello, Astra.”
    Darma was older than me by five years. She had served as both sister and mother to me throughout my childhood. Since our real mother had led a busy and secretive life, which apparently hadn’t been entirely compatible with her role as a mother, Darma’s inclination toward mothering had worked out fine for everybody but me. She’d always felt she was within her rights to tell me how to live my life. And she’d always been dead set against the way I make my living.
    Darma’s the sturdy, serious, dependable daughter. I’m the hotheaded, passionate and borderline psychotic spawn. I’m the dark side of a pairing between a devil and an angel. Darma is the cranky and all too serious but light side. She has no powers and, with her size nine feet resolutely planted on terra firma , she appears to have a severe allergy to all things unearthly and magical. I think she must have been adopted but my parents won’t admit it.
    However, at the moment, she bore a startling resemblance to my father as she tilted her red-blonde head at me and frowned slightly. “What have you gotten yourself into this time, Astra?”
    I took a mental deep breath and smiled at her. “It’s nice to see you too, Darma.”
    This only deepened the frown. But she said nothing more, apparently waiting for me to open my mouth and seal my own fate. Her judgment awaited.
    “I just wanted to say hello and see how you were, sister. We haven’t spoken in a while.”
    The frown turned into a scowl. “Mmm-hmm.”
    “And… I wanted to find out if you’d spoken to Mother lately.”
    The scowl deepened. “You aren’t cavorting with her and her playmates are you, Astra? That would be serious bad news.”
    I shook my head. “I haven’t spoken to Mother for three years. But everybody is suddenly telling me to stay away from her.”
    Darma’s face relaxed just a titch. “Good advice. I’d take it if I were you.”
    But you aren’t me are you Darma? I couldn’t help the wayward thought.
    The scowl returned. “Who has been warning you against Mother?”
    I paused, reluctant to tell her about my visitation from Aunt Deirdre. I knew she