Read Online No Angel by Vivi Andrews - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Vivi Andrews
Tags: Romance, Paranormal
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demon cherubs? I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Light and dark can’t coexist together. You know the rules.” Verin smiled. “And she’ll make such a pretty whipping girl.”
Jay lunged up, snapping the chains taut, so quickly Verin barely had time to jerk out of his reach. Her back slammed against the far wall of the cell and she stayed there, only her eyes visible in the darkness, her breath coming fast. “Damn, you’re quick.” She crept back into the light and he heard the echo of her thoughts growing more arrogant with each step. “Harming me won’t do you any good, cousin. I’m not the one holding an ax over Sasha’s pretty head.”
No. That was his mother. Jay sagged back against the wall, letting the chains fall lax.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” Verin commented as she faded back into the shadows again. He heard a creaking groan, a heavy wooden door being opened. “Patience,” she said, the word sounding like a curse—and from Verin, Demon of Impatience, it could be.
The door rattled on its hinges when it slammed shut, leaving Jay alone with his thoughts. Chained in a holding cell, with only his doubts for company, awaiting Lucifer’s judgment on his truancy these last few months. Awaiting the arrival of the girlfriend his very existence had put in danger.
Just another sterling Christmas Eve.
***
Hell wasn’t at all what Sasha had expected. No fire. No brimstone. Just a series of empty beige halls permeated by the indefinable odor of the DMV, not quite masked by the scents of ammonia and lemon Pledge.
She’d imagined Hell as a crowded place, noisy with the screams of those burning in its fires, but the only sound was the constant hum of the air conditioners. She had yet to see a single demon, but an itching between her shoulder blades, the unmistakable sensation of being watched, had plagued her ever since she stepped through Geryon’s door.
She’d never felt so uncomfortable in someplace quite so innocuous. The dull corporate hallways had to be an illusion, a veil over the real Hell. What could be more deceptively innocent than unflattering fluorescent lighting?
Sasha navigated the maze of abandoned Hell halls, guided by nothing more than instinct, a gut feeling she was headed toward Jay. She’d always been hyperaware of him, from the first time they met.
She’d been feeding her fiction addiction at the Malibu public library when she felt a tingling wakefulness shiver through her thoughts, like a tuning fork ringing inside her mind. She’d looked up and he’d been standing right in front of her, a question in the bottomless black of his eyes.
Physically he was a god, but the mild-mannered library dweller had never been her type. He looked like Clark Kent, apologetic and shy, but she’d let herself be talked into grabbing an espresso at the Starbucks down the street, hoping Superman would make an appearance.
He’d talked about digging through old family records, looking for traces of aunts, uncles and cousins he’d never known. He was interesting, occasionally quite funny, but so tentative with her, like he expected her to reject him at any moment. Sasha didn’t understand how someone so pretty could be so insecure one second and then brash and confident the next.
He wasn’t the type of guy who usually flipped her switches, but she really liked him. It was hard not to. So when he asked if he could see her again, she said yes. And then outside the movie theater on their first date, she let him brush a hesitant kiss across her mouth and agreed to go out again.
Jay was a puzzle—capable but guarded—and she was intrigued. So she kept saying yes, because there was never a good reason to say no. She kept hoping the tingles, the humming awareness of him, would translate into wild passion, but even though she couldn’t complain in the bedroom department, she’d always been waiting for the fireworks that never came. There were hints of Superman lurking inside, but he never made
Jay lunged up, snapping the chains taut, so quickly Verin barely had time to jerk out of his reach. Her back slammed against the far wall of the cell and she stayed there, only her eyes visible in the darkness, her breath coming fast. “Damn, you’re quick.” She crept back into the light and he heard the echo of her thoughts growing more arrogant with each step. “Harming me won’t do you any good, cousin. I’m not the one holding an ax over Sasha’s pretty head.”
No. That was his mother. Jay sagged back against the wall, letting the chains fall lax.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” Verin commented as she faded back into the shadows again. He heard a creaking groan, a heavy wooden door being opened. “Patience,” she said, the word sounding like a curse—and from Verin, Demon of Impatience, it could be.
The door rattled on its hinges when it slammed shut, leaving Jay alone with his thoughts. Chained in a holding cell, with only his doubts for company, awaiting Lucifer’s judgment on his truancy these last few months. Awaiting the arrival of the girlfriend his very existence had put in danger.
Just another sterling Christmas Eve.
***
Hell wasn’t at all what Sasha had expected. No fire. No brimstone. Just a series of empty beige halls permeated by the indefinable odor of the DMV, not quite masked by the scents of ammonia and lemon Pledge.
She’d imagined Hell as a crowded place, noisy with the screams of those burning in its fires, but the only sound was the constant hum of the air conditioners. She had yet to see a single demon, but an itching between her shoulder blades, the unmistakable sensation of being watched, had plagued her ever since she stepped through Geryon’s door.
She’d never felt so uncomfortable in someplace quite so innocuous. The dull corporate hallways had to be an illusion, a veil over the real Hell. What could be more deceptively innocent than unflattering fluorescent lighting?
Sasha navigated the maze of abandoned Hell halls, guided by nothing more than instinct, a gut feeling she was headed toward Jay. She’d always been hyperaware of him, from the first time they met.
She’d been feeding her fiction addiction at the Malibu public library when she felt a tingling wakefulness shiver through her thoughts, like a tuning fork ringing inside her mind. She’d looked up and he’d been standing right in front of her, a question in the bottomless black of his eyes.
Physically he was a god, but the mild-mannered library dweller had never been her type. He looked like Clark Kent, apologetic and shy, but she’d let herself be talked into grabbing an espresso at the Starbucks down the street, hoping Superman would make an appearance.
He’d talked about digging through old family records, looking for traces of aunts, uncles and cousins he’d never known. He was interesting, occasionally quite funny, but so tentative with her, like he expected her to reject him at any moment. Sasha didn’t understand how someone so pretty could be so insecure one second and then brash and confident the next.
He wasn’t the type of guy who usually flipped her switches, but she really liked him. It was hard not to. So when he asked if he could see her again, she said yes. And then outside the movie theater on their first date, she let him brush a hesitant kiss across her mouth and agreed to go out again.
Jay was a puzzle—capable but guarded—and she was intrigued. So she kept saying yes, because there was never a good reason to say no. She kept hoping the tingles, the humming awareness of him, would translate into wild passion, but even though she couldn’t complain in the bedroom department, she’d always been waiting for the fireworks that never came. There were hints of Superman lurking inside, but he never made
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