Angel Bait (Angel Assassins #1) by Tricia Skinner Read Free Book Online Page A

use a ladder,” she said. “Or a gentle shove.”
    She smiled then, with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes to match the twitch of her mouth. Why couldn’t he stop staring at her lips? Jarrid lowered his eyes. He was losing his mind.
    “Boy, you have to lighten up,” she said, huffing out a breath. “I have a sense of humor and enjoy a good laugh. You’re too serious.”
    “I’m in a serious line of work.”
    Ionie secured her seatbelt. “What exactly does a nephilim do for Heaven? Are you guys the celestial Marines, or something?”
    Jarrid considered his reply. He had his bait and now he needed to keep her mind focused anywhere but on those dead bodies. Cain had said to give her what she wanted. In a reporter’s case, what she wanted was information. A little couldn’t hurt, right?
    “We’re a type of Special Forces.”
    “You do stuff like the Navy S.E.A.L.S or Green Beret?”
    He struggled not to smile. Her curiosity was kind of cute. He left the question unanswered, hoping to make her eager to learn more. He was right. A second passed before she tried again.
    “Do you have any sisters?”
    “What?”
    “Sisters,” she said. “Female nephilim related to you. Are there any girls in the Eternal Order?”
    “No.”
    “No, there aren’t any women on the team, or no you don’t have a sister?”
    Jarrid darted a glance at Ionie. Secured in her seat, she twisted to the side to face him. The notepad in her hands contained several scribbled passages.
    “Is this an interview?” Somehow the notion disappointed him.
    She stared at her notepad and then back at him. “Does this bother you?”
    She was doing her job. He could get behind that. “No, there are no females among the nephilim. The Order is male.”
    “How do nephilim, um … ” Her voice dropped off.
    “Speak plainly.”
    Why do people always drag shit out?
    She sat up straight as if she bolstered the courage to follow his request. “Where do baby nephilim come from if there are no females among your kind? Plain enough for you?”
    Jarrid liked her grit. He didn’t like her question though. “Nephilim are no longer born.”
    “What? Impossible,” she said. “Everybody comes from somewhere. I had a mom and dad before she died and he split. You had to have parents too.”
    He clenched his jaw and tried to control the memory flood her words unleashed. He failed. His father, a Watcher sent to observe humans, foolishly fell in love with one. Jarrid’s birth brought pain to them both, and their deaths were his fault.
    “When an angel screws a human and produces an abomination, the child is nephilim.” He almost gagged on his own bitter words. “Such couplings were outlawed centuries ago. There are no children, no women, no parents, among the nephilim.”
    “My God,” Ionie said. He risked a look at her. A fan of lashes tempered the moisture threatening to spill from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jarrid. I didn’t know.”
    Holy hell. Did she feel sympathy — for him? “Why does it bother you?”
    “What a lonely way to grow up,” she said. “Did you know your parents?”
    He let her words linger. This time he didn’t feed her hunger for knowledge. He had no intention of dredging up those particular memories again. They would remain buried, never to surface while he lived. He revved the truck and sped up a more welcome road. In the distance, he spied the solace of Belle Isle.
    His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He wanted this assignment over.
    • • •
    Ionie stood on her toes outside a massive warehouse, straining to see past the imposing black-iron gate. “Where are we?”
    She knew they were on Belle Isle, but the small tract of land was private property. Nothing was welcoming about this place and a heavy chain barred her way. As sunlight slid beneath the horizon, no streetlights flickered on to brighten the landscape.
    “Jarrid?” Ionie said. The half-angel closed the truck door.
    “This way.”
    Ionie stared at his