As Above

As Above (An M/M Demon Angel Romance) Julie Mannino Copyright Ⓒ 2023 by Julie Mannino Published 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieved system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review to print in a magazine, newspaper, or blog post. Julie Mannino Author’s Note Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two So Below Other works by Julie Mannino Author’s Note This novel is intended for mature readers only. This is dark, and demons aren’t made of rainbows and fairy dust. A full list of cw can be found in Castle Village on the pinned post. It also contains consensual kinks including bondage, bdsm, slavery, tail action, sounding, magical e-stim, canes, whips, canes, strappado, enemies to lovers, lovers to enemies, and sex-based magic system. This trilogy contains a HEA. Castle Village For info on the latest books, sign up here for the Newsletter This is the life and the way that was chosen "As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth." Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled (1877) Prologue Riley broke into a smile when he saw Eren in the bushes. “You’re here!” “Didn’t I say I’ll always find you?” Eren crawled out to stand. “You won't have to move again, right?” Riley fiddled with a thread on his sleeve. “Uncle said we’ll only stay here for two or three years.” Eren looked him up and down. “Maybe you’ll start growing real fast.” Riley didn’t see how. Uncle said that at eight, Riley should be taller, but he’d always grown slowly, and he was the height of a child who was only four or so. That must mean he was a dwarf, and people could be mean to others who were different. Uncle Grevin had seen a dwarf one time in his youth, and the townspeople had treated him as lesser. It was better to move and pretend that Riley was still just a small child. They could lie about his age in a new place because who would know? “If anybody ever makes fun of you, I promise I’ll beat them up.” Eren punched at the air. “I’m not going to let any monsters hurt you.” “But you’re a fairy. It’s different, and besides, you have to stay hidden.” “Not from you, and you’re my friend, so I have to protect you.” Eren smiled and showed his little fangs before he took Riley’s hand. “If you do move again, I’ll always find you. I found you this time, didn’t I?” Riley kissed his cheek. “You did.” Eren was his secret best friend, the one he couldn’t tell others about besides Uncle, who didn’t believe him. When he heard about the little boy in the woods who had fangs, floppy black hair with silver streaks, different colored eyes, and a red, barbed tail, Grevin shook his head and said that sounded like a fun imaginary friend. Riley didn’t understand why Grevin didn’t believe him. If he saw Eren, he would, but Riley’s friend never left the woods because fairies had to Chapter One Riley tipped his chair back and wished the women would go away. The baker’s wife nattered on while her daughter gave Riley the big eyes and leaned on the porch railing so he could take a peek down the front of her dress if he felt like it. He didn’t. “You should come down to our Church this Sunday,” said the Mother. “We just got lovely new glass windows in.” “I’ll think about it,” said Riley. The two women finally said bye and headed off. Riley waited until they were out of sight and earshot before he groaned and let his head fall back. “Whhhhyy?” He’d been back in his old childhood town of Fathing for only a couple of months, and some woman already had her eye on him, thinking he’d be a good husband for her daughter. The daughter was pretty, but Riley certainly didn’t want to marry her. Her brother was better looking, not that he’d admit it out loud. Maybe he shouldn’t have come back. The first house Riley and Grevin had lived in had been available, but it wasn’t the same without Uncle. Riley propped his feet up on the railing. It turned out he wasn’t a dwarf. He just grew slowly as a child, and Grevin had later figured it was some odd health condition that wasn’t harmful. At six feet, Riley appeared normal if one didn’t see his eyes. Whatever his condition was, he certainly wasn’t typical. At forty, he looked to be around twenty. He didn’t feel forty either. Some around that age already started getting aches and minor health issues. Of course, not everyone did, but they also usually had lines around their eyes and looked their age. Riley didn’t have any of that, and he wasn’t sure what he’d be like in another forty years. Old and grey like Grevin when he hit seventy-five and passed? Or would Riley finally look like a forty-year-old man? He lifted his head and shifted