"It's a more accurate term," Logan shrugged. "We learned it in one of my religion electives.""Alright then," Logan's dad said, still a little confused. "Let's dig in!"First up was the age-old classic, spaghetti. The noodles themselves were store-bought, but they were the premium kind that had Italian seasoning and parsley baked right into the gourmet dough. As for the sauce, it was Logan's mom's special recipe, cooked and canned right there in her kitchen. The concoction was dark red, and the aromatic smell of tomatoes, garlic, and parmesan wafted off as Logan poured it onto his noodles."Is that sausage?" Abina's perky voice asked. "I love sausage!"Oh no. Logan slowly turned to look at the elves who was now holding a half-sausage with her hand firmly gripped around the base. As much as he wanted to see what happened next, he really didn't want it to happen in front of his parents."Why, yes, dear," Mom explained, "but you're going to want to mix that in with the r

“It’s gonna be just like the good ol’ days, bro,” Rafe mused as they pulled up to the dark gates of the nature park. “We can sneak in after hours, smoke a few joints, shoot the shit, and then crash under the stars.” “Don’t forget about getting shitfaced,” Logan said with a chuckle.“And fornicating,” Beth added.“I might just sit that part out,” Rafe gagged.Their old stomping grounds were only about twenty minutes north of Logan's parent’s house, on the outskirts of the K.C. metropolitan area. Logan and Rafe had made the drive so many times that it was still practically ingrained in Logan's muscle memory, and he basically auto-piloted through the entire journey. The only time he actually had to focus was when they stopped by a local liquor store and bought up what felt like their entire stock of beer.You couldn’t go out into the woods with your friends in the middle of the night and not bring beer.“It looks like they’re closed,” Abina observed sadly as their headlights il

“That’s just the alcohol talking.” Logan laughed and ran his hand through the elves’ hair.“I agree with Kelda,” Beth added. “This is a great moment, and I don’t want it to ever end. I wish we could do this kind of thing every single day.”“You don’t get it, sisters,” Abina said firmly. “That is why we are fighting. Now, more than ever, the forces of darkness are gathering and preparing to launch an assault on the Divine. If they win, everybody loses. They’ll kill Logan and Rafe, take us back to Hell, and enslave every mortal on Earth until the end of time. As much as I’d love to simply lay here with my best friends and keep having a good time, we cannot ignore our destiny.” “Destiny?” Kelda let out a mixture between a laugh and a slur and then rolled over so that she could face her sister. “Listen to this, Abina gets a few drinks in her, and suddenly, she gets all self-righteous and starts talking about things like ‘destiny’ and the difference between ‘good and e

“I never would have guessed.” Logan snickered as they pulled back onto the interstate.“I know, right?” Rafe giggled. “I’m a model citizen.”“So,” Beth’s voice spoke up, “what is the first order of business when they get to D.C.? We know that Ira and Franklin are currently residing there, but we don’t have an address or anything of that sort.”“Well, Franklin is easy,” Logan said as he looked back at the redhead in the rearview mirror. “He works in one of the most famous buildings in all of America. Of course, getting to him is another story.” “Washington’s a hotbed of surveillance,” Rafe added. “You got the FBI, the CIA, the NCA, and, most horrifyingly, the DEA. I feel like I’m walking straight into the lion’s den.”“It won’t be as difficult as you think,” Kelda spoke up. “We may not be able to brandish our weapons and our regular powers openly, but we still have two things that even the most well-trained mortals won’t see coming.”“What’s that?” Abina questioned

“Even the room service at this place is fit for a king,” Rafe belched proudly from the sleek gray couch in the living room. “President, you mean,” Abina groggily corrected. “Right, Logan?” All I could manage was a muffled “mhmmm” through a final mouthful of fluffy, syrup-drenched pancakes. “Ha!” The curvy woman giggled. “I’m getting good at understanding your Earth Realm’s hierarchy. Maybe someday I could run for Congress.” “You’d probably fit right in on Capitol Hill,” Rafe moaned. “I swear half of our elected officials are demons, anyway.” “I’d vote for you, Abina,” Logan said earnestly as he wiped the sticky maple syrup off of his face.After the long night they had yesterday, the very first thing Logan did this morning was to order room service for breakfast. He didn’t go all-out as he normally did, but there were still mountains of doughy pancakes, plump smoky sausages, crispy and smoky bacon, and an entire box of Grape Nuts. It wasn’t much for five people, but i