Free Dirty Angel (Sainted Sinners #1) by Vivian Wood Page A

concern,” he said, crossing his arms. “I just want you to understand, before we walk inside, that you cannot mention my Task to the others. Not to anyone, ever.”
    “Ooookay….” Vesper said, pulling a face. “Gotcha.”
    “The less you have to say to any of them, the better,” he said, turning toward the house again.
    Vesper stuck out her tongue at his back, but he was already halfway to the front door, leaving her to catch up. She hustled to follow him inside as he swung open the ornate stained-glass front door and headed in.
    “Whoa…” Vesper said, staring around in wonder. The whole place was done in stunning antiques, contrasting beautifully with a wealth of African tribal art. Whoever’d done the decorating here had distinctive but wonderful taste.
    “Take off your shoes,” Kirael told her, bending down to unlace and pull off his boots.
    Vesper did the same, still gawking. “This is where you live?”
    “No. Each of the Fallen maintains his own residence. This is… a gathering place.”
    He led her down a long hallway and into a formal dining room, where three other people awaited.
    “We were starting to wonder where you were,” said a beautiful older Creole woman, dressed in white robes and a towering purple head wrap. When the woman’s coffee-colored gaze pinned Vesper, there was a distinct spark of interest. “What have we here? Kirael, you’ve brought us a guest.”
    “Mere Marie,” Kirael said, “this is Vesper. Vesper, meet Mere Marie, Ezra, and Lucan.”
    Mere Marie offered a handshake, though the touch of her skin sent an uncomfortable little jolt through Vesper’s hand. Precisely like touching a doorknob after walking across a carpet, though this was Mere Marie’s magic at work, not static.
    The other two didn’t move from their seats, regarding her silently. Ezra had dark hair, classically handsome Mediterranean sort of good looks. Lucan was had dirty blond hair and piercing green eyes, and he was looking at Vesper as though she were some kind of strange beetle crawling around the room.
    “Here,” Kirael said, pulling out a chair at the table for Vesper.
    Vesper took it, not missing the look that went between Lucan and Ezra. Disdain? Concern?
    The two Fallen were hard to read, that was sure enough.
    When they were all seated, Mere Marie at the head of the table, Vesper and Kirael across from Ezra and Lucan, there was a long beat of silence.
    “You’ve brought a human here,” Lucan said to Kirael, sounding displeased.
    “And she can hear you,” Vesper said, raising a hand and wiggling her fingers at him. “You can talk to me, too.”
    “Circumstances are… unusual,” Kirael said. “She has information.”
    Ezra’s dismissive snort was hard not to take personally.
    “He’s right,” Mere Marie said, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “She knows the location of a Null.”
    The whole room went silent as a tomb. Tension built as the silence played out for almost a minute, everyone looking at everyone else for cues.
    “Can’t be,” Lucan said at last. “They’ve all died out, or gone so deep into other Kith worlds that they can’t be brought up again.”
    “I know one,” Vesper said, shaking her head. “Sort of… hiding in plain sight, if you will.”
    The feel of Lucan and Ezra’s gazes as they stared her down began to feel unnerving. Slowly, everyone shifted their attention to Ezra.
    “She’s telling the truth,” Ezra said. “Or at least she believes she is.”
    The angels’ cold, imperious attitude gave Vesper a little more insight into Kirael’s personality. He might be gruff, but at least he wasn’t as haughty as these two.
    “Again, I’m right here,” she said, crossing her arms.
    Ezra’s smirk was so infuriating, Vesper wanted to slap it right off his damn face.
    “So?” Lucan asked, leaning back in his chair. “What’s the discussion to be had?”
    “I need something in return,” Vesper said, though Lucan had addressed