Where Demons Fear to Tread Read Online Free PDF Page A

lost everything.
    At the time of his human death, he was thirty-two years old. A man in the prime of his life, on the verge of implementing the changes his father’s tenants so badly needed. A man enraged. Not only by the betrayal at the hands of a woman. But enraged also by the betrayal at the hands of God.
    Afterward, he wandered the realms of hell, tormented by the unrelenting heat and the perpetual regret. He became so miserable that he set about torturing other souls, without bidding from the demons. The Prince of Hell himself happened to pass by, and saw what Julian was doing. He was taken out of damnation and given a chance as a Gatekeeper, sent back to earth to do the devil’s work.
    He was spectacular at it. So spectacular that he rose through the ranking of demons like a flare fired into the night sky. The more souls he corrupted, the more powerful he became. He ascended to the position of Archdemon after a mere two hundred years, the blink of an eye in a demon’s lifespan. He would not stop until he reached the top of the hierarchy. Until he answered to no one but the devil himself.
    And after the disastrous way Julian’s human life had ended, he vowed that no woman would ever get the better of him again. Since then, none had.
    This woman, this angel …she would be no different.

Chapter Two
    S erena bolted. She fled out of Julian’s office, back down the hallway and out into the crowded club. Pushing through the crush of bodies, she headed toward the VIP lounge where she’d last searched for Nick. This time, she had no difficulty finding him.
    People were chanting his name, hundreds of voices shouting in unison: “Nick…Nick…Nick…Nick…”
    His height and his extraordinary good looks made him difficult to miss in any setting. But here in Devil’s Paradise, Nick was the epicenter of attention. Shirtless, with his tanned and muscular chest glistening under the nightclub lights, he danced on a table with a girl on each side of him. Surrounded by a tangle of snaking arms, a beer bottle dangled from his hand. Beneath him, the crowd basked in the glory of Nick’s celebrity.
    He threw back his head and howled, a long wolf cry that sent the crowd wild.
    The guys howled back. The girls screamed and squealed. With his free hand, Nick wiped the traces of white powder from the bottom of his nose. Serena trembled, watching him. Deep in her gut, she knew that nothing and nobody could save Nick from himself tonight.
    And if she stayed any longer, Julian would come for her. This time, he would not think twice. So she did the only thing she could. She ran.
    As she pushed her way out of the club, a man stood in her way, exhaling whisky-steeped breath into her face. “Aw, baby, lookin’ fine.”
    She veered hard left to avoid him. A cold wash of beer splashed down her arm and the side of her dress. Shivering with the shock of it, she pressed onward.
    “Watch where you’re going,” someone else growled.
    For once in her life, she didn’t care about being rude. The only thing she wanted was to get out of this hell-hole. She shoved her way toward the exit of the crowded club. Toward freedom. She headed toward the doorway, a beacon of light in the midst of the darkness. Heaving open the door, she made to bolt past the bouncer. As she looked at him, a word flashed in her mind: Gatekeeper . Like Guardians, Gatekeeper demons roamed the earth in human form, blending in seamlessly with humans. Unlike angels, they were nothing but trouble.
    He blocked her way, grinning. “Hey, darlin’. Where you goin’ in such a hurry?”
    She shoved past him and kept running.

    Julian grabbed the champagne bottle and a pair of flute glasses, and headed back to the VIP lounge to check on Nick.
    Hollywood’s latest train wreck was still there, all right—making a massive spectacle of himself. So pathetic, really. Everyone, even Julian, who did not follow celebrity gossip, knew Nick’s story. The son of a Brazilian financier and a