You can also find the titular couple of Pride & Justice in Kinktober2023 and on Tumblr.

excerpt from Pride & Justice by Annika Sage Ellis

Like wandering in a dream, Pride paced the little dirt path that wound around the grassy field. Humans went about their little human tasks, the human spawn shrieked and ran around the brightly colored plastic castle. They didn’t notice him, their eyes clouding with a convenient fog of forgetfulness when they tried. Pride swung his tail side to side while he aimlessly walked, painting a curious arc. He hadn’t been to Earth since… how long had it been?

A human man stomped down the footpath toward him. A deep scowl marred his face, leash clutched in a tight fist, attached to a bouncing straw-colored dog that couldn’t have been happier. The closer he got, a tingling sensation on the tip of Pride’s tongue grew. Appearing out of nowhere, a tart flavor washed through his mouth, puckeringly sour and saccharine sweet all at once. Pride grinned through the overwhelming taste, relishing a feeling long unfelt. The taste of the sin of pride, and a soul that needed a bit of a nudge down the stairs.

Pride stopped walking. The human approached, marching along with his dog, oblivious to the demon lying in wait. The closer he got, the stronger the sharp taste of his uncommitted sin. As if he wasn’t there at all, the man stalked right past Pride, not even sparing him a glance. Pivoting on his heel, Pride followed until they were step-in-step, until the smoke curling off his horns tickled the human’s nose. No reaction to that either. Pride forgot how fun it was to be able to hide in plain sight.

“Alright, buddy,” he said, giving the man a friendly clap on the shoulder. “What’s going on?”

For a split second, the man looked bewildered to be addressed. Pride pushed out with his tendrils of influence, latching onto the potential to sin that radiated from his soul. The confusion evaporated as his eyes flashed a crimson red, matching the glow of Pride’s and the flickering flames of Hell.

“Trouble in paradise,” the human grumbled, talking to him as if he were an old friend. “Can’t get two seconds into the weekend before my wife starts bombarding me with a list of chores to do.” The dog trotting at his heels whined, tugging on its leash. He made a harsh noise and pulled it back.

“She wants you to do chores?” Pride repeated. “After everything you do for the family already?”

“That’s what I said! I work all goddamn week to provide for my goddamn family—the least a guy can do is get a break every once in a while.”

“It’s awful that she can’t see everything you do for her. For your kids.”

“The kids—that’s another thing. She said I need to be spending more time with the kids, but how am I supposed to do that when she’s giving me all this extra work? I’m in the office enough as it is. For the family.”

“Isn’t that enough? You’re putting a roof over their heads, aren’t you?” 

“Not sure who’d be paying the bills without me, I’ll tell you that.”

“Exactly. And she’s not grateful? She wants you to do more work?” Pride clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You’re not getting the appreciation you deserve, my friend.”

The dog barked, low and aggressive, tugging back on the leash again. “Hey!” the man barked back. “No, Butterscotch, sit.”

Butterscotch did not sit, stopping in its tracks and growling. Pride jumped in front of the human, putting space between himself and the animal that was too smart for its own good.

“You want to know what I think?” he asked, and the man faced him with rapt attention. “I think you should tell her everything you’re thinking. You’re the reason they have it so good. You don’t deserve to be treated with all this disrespect.”

“You know what I think?” the man asked in kind, digging his phone out of his pocket. “I think I will.”

And oh what a sweet thing it was for a sin to be realized and acted upon, to see a soul condemn itself in real time. Pride grinned ear to ear.

“And hey,” he said, leaning in to make one last suggestion, “just between us?”

The man paused, watching him intently. His dog barked and tugged.

Pride put a hand to the side of his mouth and pretended to whisper. “She’s kind of a bitch.”

Butterscotch tore free of its leash and lunged for him. Pride jumped off the path into the grass and snapped the cord of his power short. The red glow vanished.

Phone pressed to his ear, the man stopped seeing him, eyes clouding once again. The dog continued to bark up a storm, but aimlessly, unable to find the target it once despised. It wheeled all around searching, until the human jogged over, empty collar and leash dangling from his fist.

“Come here, Butterscotch,” he scolded. Butterscotch dashed to his feet, whining and hopping on its back legs. The man wrestled the collar back on, phone pinched between his ear and shoulder. “Yeah—I’m still here, honey, the dog got loose. ”

Pride slipped away, a new spring in his step. It had been so long since he flexed his muscles up here, face-to-face with potential sinners. All he had to do was convince them their worst instincts were good ideas, and suddenly there was nothing even God could do to stop them. It wasn’t even that hard. He forgot how much fun it was to urge them into their egos, to be the whisper in their minds, and disappear without a trace. As far as they knew, he never existed.

The plastic castle squatted in the distance, crawling with humans and their offspring. Teeming with potential, if Pride had to guess, for sins of all kinds. And as the root of all sin himself, how could he possibly refuse?