Where There's Smoke by Karen Kelley Page A

she dreamed about.
    She padded naked into the living room and opened one of the magazines, flipping through the pages until she came to a woman wearing a low-cut, deep red T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Destiny grew up in a backwater Texas town and hoped never to return. Dying hadn’t exactly been her idea of an escape route. She turned the magazine page and sighed. She’d only missed one thing, her jeans. And boots. She really liked the looks of the red ones the model wore.
    “Nice.” Destiny might not have many powers, but she planned on using the ones she did have.
    She laid the magazine on the coffee table and skimmed her hands over her sides. When she glanced down, she was wearing the sexy little number. She pulled her hair back with a red clip on each side, tagged a little black shoulder purse, and out the door she went.
    The world waited for her beyond the apartment and she planned to see everything she could before she had to leave. This was her time to play.
    “What are you doing?” a gravelly voice behind Destiny asked as she closed the door.
    Startled, Destiny jumped. The demons changed their minds and they were going to drag her back to Hell. It was too soon. She still needed a soul!
    Would she ever see Chance again? Have sex again? Was this the end?
    Quick, she had to think of something! Whatever she had to do, she would do it, even if it meant resorting to begging and pleading. She wasn’t ready to go!
    She swallowed past the lump that had lodged in her throat and turned.
    Eww, this was one ugly fucking demon.

Chapter 7
     
    Destiny was pretty sure the demon was female, but it was hard to tell. It had salt-and-pepper hair, wore a baggy blue shift bunched and belted at the waist. The creature’s skin was wrinkled and dry. The… thing… had a thin line of whiskers on its upper lip and one small mole on its chin that sprouted a long, black hair. The hair curled on the end and bounced around whenever the creature exhaled.
    The demon raised a wooden cane with a brass handle and shook the stick threateningly toward Destiny. “I asked, who the hell are you? What are you doing coming out of the Dunlops’ apartment?”
    Destiny watched in fascination as the long hair coming out of the mole bounced around on the creature’s chin.
    “They’re gone on a trip,” it continued in a scratchy voice. “Although how they could afford to take the prize of a trip to Hawaii beats the hell out of me. They should’ve cashed in their winnings and used the money to pay off their blasted bills.”
    Okay, maybe not a demon—not one from Hell, anyway.
    “Well, you just gonna stand there lookin’ like a dead frog on a tree stump or are you gonna answer me?” The sexless creature bounced the rubber end of the cane on the floor a few times to show its impatience.
    “Who are you ?” Destiny asked. The creature had boobs. She was nosy, too. Clearly female. The old hag didn’t know who she was talking to. If she didn’t watch out, Destiny would vaporize her. Actually, she couldn’t. It was the thought that counted, though.
    “I’m Beulah, the next door neighbor. I heard you and that man in there last night. You was hollerin’ like a banshee.” Her eyes narrowed. “Having sex, I suspect.”
    What a rude old biddy. “Yes, we fucked most of the night.” There, take that, you jealous old crone.
    The old lady opened her mouth, then snapped it closed, pursing her fat lips. “Shame on you…” Her words drifted away as the door on the other side opened.
    The woman’s demeanor instantly changed when a thin, older man stepped from the next apartment. He was bow-legged and wore a gray handlebar mustache and a worn cowboy hat that looked almost as old as him.
    Beulah didn’t seem quite as aggressive as a moment ago. Destiny had a feeling the man intimidated her.
    The old cowboy looked up and caught them staring. When his gaze landed on Destiny, he sucked in his slight paunch.
    “Well, bust my chops,” he said as he