Read Online Payable On Death: A Jax Rhodes Novel, Book One (The Jax Rhodes Series 1) by Rachel Rawlings - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Rachel Rawlings
Ads: Link
know."
"Before she committed the ultimate sin."
"She killed someone?" I found it hard to believe the frail woman would've had the strength to take someone's life.
"She killed herself. It's the same thing, really. She extinguished a soul that didn't truly belong to her—whether it was someone else's life or her own is actually irrelevant. The end result is the same." Dane cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had gone. "Listen, I wouldn't put too much thought into anything Joan said. The woman had serious mental issues, she was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic before she managed to escape the hospital."
"She seemed to know an awful lot about me, Dane."
"I didn't hear what she said to you. Still, I'm willing to bet it was stuff she could have said to anyone. Like what fortune tellers do. She was crazy, Jax. I chased her for a long time. Believe me."
"I'm not betting with you again. Ever. I lost the last time."
Dane's laughter almost distracted me from the ominous thoughts swirling in my head. I wanted to believe Joan performed some cheap parlor trick with every fiber of my being but I couldn't. Dane didn't have a clue about the things which followed me around. Joan did. Joan was about to unlock the secret to saving my soul before something terrifying found her and death was her only escape. If I'd only gotten to her a few minutes sooner.
"Listen, think about what she said. If you still think it's really about you, we can figure it out together over dinner." Dane filled the silence I'd let grow until it bordered on awkward, lost in my thoughts.
"Dinner?"
"Yes, dinner. That meal after lunch and before midnight snack. The one you're supposed to be having with me. Tonight."
Shit. I'd completely forgotten when that was. So much had happened since I'd seen him the day before. Part of me wanted to back out and stay home with Google and a container of Combination Lo Mein. The other part wanted to take him up on his offer to figure it out. To tell him the truth and see if he'd run.
"Oh, yeah. Umm, seven o'clock, right?"
"I can hear the excitement in your voice. Don't worry, Jax, you'll change your tune before dessert. I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"I never do. See you at seven."
He hung up before I had a chance to say goodbye. The rarest of genuine smiles crept across my face when I set down my phone. I silently promised myself to tread carefully and not get in over my head with Dane. It seemed we both had our share of secrets. It was time for a little quid pro quo.
I went back to my quest for answers to the questions Joan raised in my mind about the night I'd sold my soul. My chance encounter with the Devil hadn't been chance at all according to her. She said he sought me out, coveted my soul above all others.
Why? What made me so special?
I ran my search on Elioud, scrolling through the links. As usual, Wikipedia was the most reliable source. After a left click, I took a swig of my coffee and waited for the page to load.
The results brought more questions than answers. Elioud were the children of Nephilim. I'd heard the word somewhere before, but didn't know what it meant, so I followed the blue link to another page on the site. What I found nearly blew my mind. I probably should have paid more attention at Sunday school.
Of course that meant I would have had to actually go to Sunday school. My mother brought me to church a few times when I was little, though she never took to religion until she ended up in prison.
Children of angels and mortal women, the Nephilim were only mentioned a handful of times in the Bible, the Elioud fewer than that. According to the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, the Egregoroi—or Watchers—were the ones who fathered the first race of halflings. From their vantage point in the heavens, they looked down on mortal women and found themselves desiring them. They made a pact and in that moment, two hundred angels became
"Before she committed the ultimate sin."
"She killed someone?" I found it hard to believe the frail woman would've had the strength to take someone's life.
"She killed herself. It's the same thing, really. She extinguished a soul that didn't truly belong to her—whether it was someone else's life or her own is actually irrelevant. The end result is the same." Dane cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had gone. "Listen, I wouldn't put too much thought into anything Joan said. The woman had serious mental issues, she was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic before she managed to escape the hospital."
"She seemed to know an awful lot about me, Dane."
"I didn't hear what she said to you. Still, I'm willing to bet it was stuff she could have said to anyone. Like what fortune tellers do. She was crazy, Jax. I chased her for a long time. Believe me."
"I'm not betting with you again. Ever. I lost the last time."
Dane's laughter almost distracted me from the ominous thoughts swirling in my head. I wanted to believe Joan performed some cheap parlor trick with every fiber of my being but I couldn't. Dane didn't have a clue about the things which followed me around. Joan did. Joan was about to unlock the secret to saving my soul before something terrifying found her and death was her only escape. If I'd only gotten to her a few minutes sooner.
"Listen, think about what she said. If you still think it's really about you, we can figure it out together over dinner." Dane filled the silence I'd let grow until it bordered on awkward, lost in my thoughts.
"Dinner?"
"Yes, dinner. That meal after lunch and before midnight snack. The one you're supposed to be having with me. Tonight."
Shit. I'd completely forgotten when that was. So much had happened since I'd seen him the day before. Part of me wanted to back out and stay home with Google and a container of Combination Lo Mein. The other part wanted to take him up on his offer to figure it out. To tell him the truth and see if he'd run.
"Oh, yeah. Umm, seven o'clock, right?"
"I can hear the excitement in your voice. Don't worry, Jax, you'll change your tune before dessert. I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"I never do. See you at seven."
He hung up before I had a chance to say goodbye. The rarest of genuine smiles crept across my face when I set down my phone. I silently promised myself to tread carefully and not get in over my head with Dane. It seemed we both had our share of secrets. It was time for a little quid pro quo.
I went back to my quest for answers to the questions Joan raised in my mind about the night I'd sold my soul. My chance encounter with the Devil hadn't been chance at all according to her. She said he sought me out, coveted my soul above all others.
Why? What made me so special?
I ran my search on Elioud, scrolling through the links. As usual, Wikipedia was the most reliable source. After a left click, I took a swig of my coffee and waited for the page to load.
The results brought more questions than answers. Elioud were the children of Nephilim. I'd heard the word somewhere before, but didn't know what it meant, so I followed the blue link to another page on the site. What I found nearly blew my mind. I probably should have paid more attention at Sunday school.
Of course that meant I would have had to actually go to Sunday school. My mother brought me to church a few times when I was little, though she never took to religion until she ended up in prison.
Children of angels and mortal women, the Nephilim were only mentioned a handful of times in the Bible, the Elioud fewer than that. According to the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, the Egregoroi—or Watchers—were the ones who fathered the first race of halflings. From their vantage point in the heavens, they looked down on mortal women and found themselves desiring them. They made a pact and in that moment, two hundred angels became
Similar Books
