Soul Survivor Read Online Free Page A

“Actually, it is.”
    He paused, looking me over from my bedhead-styled hair to my open-toed kitten heels. “I see you’re . . . embracing your succubus nature. Quite the change, isn’t it?” He tipped his chin up, looking down at me through half-open eyelids.
    â€œYep. You could say that.” I grabbed my purse, pretending to be fascinated by which lipstick to take with me. Something we both knew was bullshit since I could affect any shade I wanted. I slid my arm through the purse strap and stood taller, all my weight shifted onto one foot. “Why fight a losing battle?”
    His face remained stoic and he nodded. “I believe in you. You’ll come out of this.”
    â€œSure you do. Why don’t you go work with your replacement Monica. Better keep her away from any vampires . . . it would probably inhibit your chances of being promoted to ArchAngel if you lost another angel mentee to lust. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” I fumbled around my purse for my keys and when I looked up again, Jules was already gone.
    Â 
    I arrived at the cafe already in a bad mood. Boo-fucking-hoo, Adrienne. Your Heavenly existence is so hard.
    So you can imagine just how excited I was to see Adrienne and Damien sitting together having a cup of coffee. Drew stood next to Adrienne’s chair, his hand resting lightly on her back. They all looked up as the bells over the door announced my entrance. Mine and Drew’s eyes connected, the muscles in his neck tightening.
    So much for just slinking past them. I cleared my throat and found the courage somewhere down deep to approach. “Hey, guys.” My voice sounded rough, like I had swallowed a fistful of gravel.
    Drew nodded with a single head tilt.
    Adrienne’s smile was brittle. “Hi, Monica.”
    Damien simply stared, amusement twitching at the corners of his mouth. His olive skin smelled of aftershave and his dark hair looked as though he had recently trimmed it. The layers fell on each other with a precision that looked both sexy and expensive. Gray eyes regarded me with a warmth I couldn’t help but feel skeptical about.
    I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “So—you two working?”
    Adrienne nodded. “Yeah, we just got a call about another out-of-town case. This one’s in Utah, and we thought”—her eyes shifted to Drew—“you might have a little insight on it.”
    â€œMe?” I raised my eyebrows and then looked over at Damien.
    He raised his hands in an “I surrender” sort of position. “Wasn’t my idea.”
    Drew chuckled and rubbed his forefinger across his top lip. “I don’t think Monica’s the right person to help in an investigation,” he said quietly as if remembering a fonder time. “Remember when she cut her leg a while ago? The slightest bit of blood and smack .” He clicked his tongue with a quick twitch of his head motioning to the floor. “She was out.”
    I glared at Drew, jaw clenched.
    At this, Damien leaned back, arms crossing his chest. “Oh yeah? I wouldn’t picture you as being one to pass out after a little blood.”
    â€œI’m not ,” I said, the heat rising to my cheeks. “That was . . . an extraordinary . . . circumstance. It had been a rough week.”
    Damien’s twitch of a smile was officially a full smirk now.
    â€œWhatever. I need to get to work.” I swung around and headed to the back to put my stuff away.
    When I finished, I spun around to find Adrienne there with a file in her hand, long acrylic fingernails clutching it tightly. “Please,” she said. “Just take a look at this. Any insight you can offer would be helpful. Our chief is on us to help out this other precinct and so far, D and I can’t come up with anything new.”
    I took the file, halfheartedly flipping through it, not even bothering to read. “And why