Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong Read Free Book Online

angel.
    If a demon did manage to destroy the physical body of an angel, most likely she would be reprocessed. Sent back in her human body to continue her work where she had left off. Recycling, Gabriel called it, which caused the angels to thunder with laughter in the stands of the amphitheater. Serena hadn’t found it that funny, but apparently they had a different sense of humor here in the divine realms.
    For both Serena and Meredith, the choice was clear. There were so many souls who needed guidance here on earth. In these challenging times, humans needed help.
    And so Gabriel continued to lecture, outlining their duties and responsibilities. At the end of it, he explained, “Every soul has free will. Every soul has choices. In the material world as it currently exists, there are consequences to these choices.”
    What he meant was falling. If an angel fell, she risked going to hell. Just like any other soul. No being, including an angel, was immune from the consequences of free will. And plenty had fallen. Every last one of them, from the most exalted Seraph to the newest Guardian, was responsible for the consequences of her deeds. Gabriel delivered that last point slowly, his face stoic with the gravity of his message. Every angel in the amphitheater stilled, the stirring of wings silenced as he spoke. It was a warning, Serena knew, as she and Meredith stood trembling before the immense power of the divine.
    Staring up at the shadows shifting across her bedroom ceiling now, Serena understood the reason she had felt so afraid tonight. Not because she feared death. No. She feared Julian because of the possibility of going to hell.
    Just a kiss. She tried to comfort herself with that thought as she lay in bed, remembering the delicious heaviness of Julian’s body weighing down on her and trying not to think about falling.

Chapter Three
    S hame. Sunday morning, the memory of Julian’s touch still hovered over the surface of her skin. Serena dealt with her shame in the way she always handled such emotions—she took it to the yoga mat. Nick won’t show up, she thought as she drove to the studio. After last night, there was no way he’d make it to his private lesson scheduled this morning.
    God only knows what that bastard Julian did to him.
    But Nick was leaning in the studio’s doorway, waiting for her with his rolled-up mat tucked under his arm. He was hiding behind silver aviator sunglasses and a baseball cap, with a scruff of beard stubble on his face. But he was here nonetheless.
    When he took off the sunglasses, she saw the dark circles beneath his eyes. “You came to Devil’s Paradise last night. I’m sorry I missed you,” he said, his voice still hoarse.
    In his raspy apology, she detected genuine regret. There was something else, something different in his soulful brown gaze. Perhaps a little more tenderness, almost as though he… She gave a little shake of her head, refusing to think about it.
    “That’s okay. I’m glad you made it this morning. It’s good to see you,” she said brightly.
    She unlocked the door and led him into the studio, exhaling a sigh of relief as she passed beneath the vibrantly colored Indian scarves hanging from the ceiling. Inhaled the faint trace of incense that lingered in the air. Nick grinned, and it was almost enough to make her forget what had happened last night. It was his smile that set him apart from all the other hot young actors in Hollywood. His smile that made young girls scream hysterically when he walked down the street. Made grown women contemplate shameless acts.
    She unrolled her mat on the hardwood floor. If she’d been human, she would have melted, too. But as his Guardian, what she felt was an overwhelming sense of platonic love, an emotion verging on the maternal. She wanted to protect Nick. He was here, back under her watch. Far from the grasping hands of Julian Ascher. Safe. She would do what she had to do to keep him that way.
    They began to flow