Vowed in Shadows by Jessa Slade

cinder-block building on the edge of the city proper.
    Nim stood with the open car door between her and their destination. “A church? You brought me to a church while I’m dressed like this?”
    â€œI was a churchgoing man.” He clipped the words off; whether he was dulling them for himself or sharpening them for her, she wasn’t sure. “And you dressed like that for me.”
    â€œYeah, but I’m offending you on purpose.” She clutched the doorframe. “Is this your church?”
    â€œNo. I don’t belong now.” And never would again. Thankfully, the reminder no longer had the power to wound him through the scars of years. He slammed his door and stalked around the front of the car.
    â€œRight. What with being possessed by a demon. That’d probably freak ’em out.”
    â€œMost, undoubtedly. But Nanette knows what we are. She is the wife of the pastor here, and is host to an angelic force.”
    Nim’s sneakers thudded on the concrete behind him as she scurried to catch up. “Angels? You didn’t tell me there are angels here on Earth.”
    â€œDidn’t it seem inevitable, once you knew demons existed?”
    â€œJust because brussels sprouts are healthy doesn’t mean they’re tasty.”
    He stopped in his tracks. “What?”
    â€œThere are all sorts of bad things with no corresponding good.”
    He shook his head and continued on. “Why do you insist on dwelling on the evil?”
    â€œBeing good is too hard. Doesn’t leave any room for failure. Speaking of failure, why’d you forget to tell me there’re good guys—real good guys, not good guys by comparison—in this fight?”
    â€œI didn’t forget. It’s just not relevant. They aren’t like us. They move in the human realm and live fragile, mortal, human lives. Most of the angelic forces don’t see fit to acknowledge our efforts. To them, a demon once, a demon forever.”
    â€œBut the first devil was a fallen angel, right? Or do the angels think once you’ve fallen you can’t get up?”
    â€œThere’s some question whether they might not be right.” He unlocked the double front door with a key from his ring and held it open for Nim.
    She regarded him suspiciously. “If demons are bad news, why did this Nanette chick give you a key to her place? And does her husband know?”
    â€œSince when does a stripper care about a betrayed spouse?”
    Nim stalked past him into the vestibule. “I don’t. I’ll just feel even less guilty now that I know you’re lying too.”
    â€œNanette is protecting her husband from knowledge that would destroy his world.”
    â€œHe’s a preacher, for God’s sake. He should already believe in good and evil.”
    â€œShe wants him to keep believing that good has a chance.”
    â€œHow nice for him that somebody cares enough to lie.”
    The lobby beyond was dark. Jonah’s vision flickered like a failing old television between black snow and grainy image as the demon swelled and short-circuited, struggling with its tricks in his broken body.
    â€œNanette has seen that the battle doesn’t always go to the righteous,” he said. “Sometimes strategy, guile, and luck win the day. She wants the powers of light to have every possible advantage.”
    â€œSo they have us, the wayward powers of darkness?” Her voice wavered, and he knew she was having as much difficulty as he adjusting her sight. But at least one day she would find her way through the demon’s conflicting energies.
    Cruelly, he didn’t turn on the light in the hallway, and only led her deeper into the church. “She hosts the weakest of angelic forces, and yet if more people were like her—kind, caring, loving—there’d be no room in this realm for demons.”
    Nim followed close behind him and stumbled on the stairs