Soul Ink Read Online Free PDF

avoidable. Another cherub screamed, but this time, I knew the rules of the game and was ready.
    I once went to a party where they had piñatas. If you whacked them open, you got candy. My piñata had turned out to contain a swarm of bees, but the principle remained the same. Pick something and whack it till its insides came out. My next swing sent two more crashing to the floor. With my blessings yanking them like balloons on strings and me playing batter up, we smashed cherubs until I could barely stand, and my entire arm was covered in a purple swirl the color of a rotten blueberry.
    When I could swing no more, I called off Blessing and Curse, sank to my knees and took careful aim with my gun. The best shots went to clusters of cherubs. Then one by one, I picked them off.
    “You see any more?”
    “One,” said Ari. “Hiding on the chandelier.”
    I checked my gun. Last magazine, only two shots. “Why are they sticking to the ceilings?”
    “Fear of heights? I mean, lows? You ready?” Ari rose, reaching out with both hands. “He’s slippery.”
    “Just need a clear shot.”
    Ari pulled at the cherub, miming climbing a rope, and with each yank it slipped farther down. I waited patiently. Grimm could say what he wanted about cherubs. Heaven’s pigeons they might be, but the last one had watched us obliterate the entire flock. It clung to the chandelier with all its might.
    Which, for a puffy little baby thing, was a lot of might. Ari, on the other hand, grew weaker by the moment. Each pull she gave moved it only a speck farther. I took a deep breath and lined up a shot, timing it—and pulled.
    A burst of feathers blew out, but the little bastard jerked to one side.
    Ari flung her hands toward the ceiling and shrieked, clawing at the air. It came flying away, spinning through the air toward her, mouth gaping.
    I stepped into line and fired, blasting a hole through it at point-blank range. Its pooched belly exploded, showering us with translucent goo.
    And the chapel from hell (not literally, but close enough) finally fell silent.
    Ari lay on the ground, gasping for breath, but she wiped her eyes. “I hate mana. I swear if I ever see it served again, I’m going to tell them where it comes from.”
    After scrounging in the pantry, I came up with a silver platter and called Grimm. “It’s done. The cherubs are all dead. I don’t know how much you earned from that, but it wasn’t enough.”
    Grimm nodded. “Arianna, are you unwell?”
    “Tired,” said Ari. “Too much magic at once.” She sat up and squeezed the goop from what remained of her hair. “Look at me.”
    “You used magic?” The note of concern in Grimm’s voice became a symphony of worry. “What have I told you?”
    I stepped in to intervene before Ari decided to kill him. “You were just letting her do magic outside.”
    “Under my supervision. When you return to the Agency, we’ll need to examine you. As for the hair, princess, time heals all wounds.” He glanced to me. “Marissa, I’d like you to arrange a barbecue.”
    Arson was such an ugly word, but everyone loved barbecues. “Got it. Though I have a request. Could I have one more look? At how it really is?”
    Grimm sighed. “Now that the Paradisians have been removed, the attraction will fade. I suppose it won’t hurt.” With a shimmer, sickly yellow and grays faded away, replaced with soft white hues and muted light.
    The vision of beauty had lost its shine now. Some essence, like the shine of oil, had leaked away. Also, the mounds of dead cherub flesh didn’t contribute to the ambience.
    “Grimm, I want to see everything,” said Ari as she climbed the stairs of the church to look around.
    “Then open your eyes. I’m no longer interceding.”
    Ari knelt and brushed the stone. “Then this is real?”
    With only a glance, Grimm and I agreed. I carried the platter over to where Ari waited. A charred ring of carpet stood in the center of the chapel. Pumice stone lay in