“How the f**k am I supposed to feel?” he barked, but it lacked bite. He scrubbed both hands over his face, as he did when first waking up in the morning.
“Not angry?” Eve suggested. “In control?”
Alec lifted the amulet and stared at it. “What is this?”
“A lucky charm.”
“Lucky for whom?” His gaze lifted and met hers. A pained look crossed his face. Guilt settled like a heavy stone in her gut. Not hers. His.
“Lucky for us,” she said. They’d deal with guilt later. “We need you on top of your game now. If decking you out in a pimp chain does the trick, I’m all for it.”
“Where did you get this?”
“I tossed it to her,” Hank improvised. “It’s something I’m working on.”
Eve shot him a grateful glance.
“Whatever it is,” Alec said, “it’s perfect. Glad something is working out for us in the experimental department.”
His head tilted to the side as if hearing something she couldn’t, then, “Montevista woke up. I need to talk to him.”
Hoping the guard would be able to tell Alec what she couldn’t, Eve said, “Go check it out.”
“You’re coming with me.” He gave her a stern look. “I need to talk to you, too. Best to get you, Sydney, and Montevista together, and see if we can figure out what happened last night.”
“I still have some business with Hank’ she protested. He looked at the occultist.
“He’s not making you anything to attract the Nix. That’s an order.”
Hank lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I have no idea if I can pull it off, but if I could, it can help you set the time and place of the showdown to your liking.”
“That could come in handy,” Eve pointed out.
“Like you don’t have enough Infernal trouble with the bounty?” Alec scoffed, tugging her toward the door.
She waved bye to Hank before they moved too far away and he was lost in the darkness.
If I could get Gadara back, she wondered, what would happen to Alec?
She’d like to ask whoever endorsed Alec’s promotion, but that could run the risk of them killing him. If Alec was the emissary, they wouldn’t hesitate.
He’s not the emissary, she scolded herself. Besides, she didn’t have a clue about who was responsible.
A sudden image of eyes the color of blue flame filled her mind. She almost set the thought aside, telling herself that of course she would think of him. He was the only seraph she’d ever met.
Then, she realized the thought came from Reed.
***
Chaney slumped back into the plastic chair, clearly taken aback. “I knew you hated your brother, but this. . . Aren’t you going to get in trouble for this?”
“Actually,” Reed picked up his beer, “I’m sanctioned.”
“Someone gave you the authority to get rid of Cain?” Asmodeus was clearly disbelieving.
Reed considered how much to reveal. “Something went wrong with the ascension. He’s a danger to himself and to others.”
“We could use a man like him.”
“He’ll be fatally wounded by the absence of God in his soul, I suspect. Worthless to everyone.”
Reed looked at the increasing number of tourists as the amount of Infernals grew in proportion. Casting a glance into the dark interior of the restaurant, he regretted his decision to sit outside. The same exposure that gave him a modicum of safety around Asmodeus also bared him to any of the dozens of Marks policing the overabundance of demons in the area. They were too visible out here.
“A fate worse than death for you guys, eh?” Chaney cut into his rare steak and bit into a piece with relish. “Hope I never get on your bad side.”
“Then don’t f**k up this exchange.”
“How do you propose we do this?” Asmodeus asked, poking at his VooDoo Shrimp appetizer with his fork.
“I need you to bring the Nix,” Reed murmured, twisting his beer bottle to catch the sunlight. “But rein him in. He needs to be a threat, nothing more. Cain will come to the rescue and I’ll make sure there’s no one around to get in the way.”
“What about Raguel and the priest?” Chaney licked blood off his lips. “Who’s going to play the hero? You?”
“No. Let them escape.”
“What are you getting out of this, then?”
“The seraph who endorsed Cain wants his mess disposed of,” he lied. “That’s a favor I can call in later. And without Cain, Evangeline Hollis serves no purpose. Raguel will appreciate both the loss of his replacement and the end of the bounty. Again, another favor to call in at a later date.”
“Lose one, save many.”
Asmodeus’s fork tapped against the edge of his plate. “I’ll need help to pull down Cain.”
“That’s your problem,” Reed dismissed. “Not mine. However you go about doing it, just show up the day after tomorrow at Hollis’s condominium complex. The Nix knows where she lives, if you don’t. Say.. . midafternoon? We’ll be out by the pool. I’ll open the water lines so the Nix can get in. He can be the distraction while you do whatever you have to do.”
“That place is a fortress,” Asmodeus growled. “It will be an all-out bloodbath.”
“Which is why you better make damn sure that Raguel and the priest are already on the move, if you want to avoid pegging yourself with a Vanquish Me sign.”
“Pick a different place,” Chaney said.
“Can’t,” Reed retorted curtly. “After the way the priest was snatched, Hollis is locked up tight. It’s either her home or work, and there’s no way you’re getting into Gadara Tower. We all know that.”
“Shit.”
“No.”, Asmodeus said. “I’ll wait until things settle down, then I’ll go after her when it’s more convenient.”
Reed’s foot tapped silently beneath the table. He’d prefer to wait, too, but the priest wouldn’t make it that long. And if the priest died, Eve would never forgive herself. “She and the priest might be dead by then.”
“I would rather lose them,” Asmodeus snapped, “than me.”
“You might lose Cain, too, if he doesn’t get his shit together.” Standing, Reed pulled his money clip from his pocket and tossed a couple of twenty-dollar bills onto the table. “You know where I’ll be, if you change your mind.”
“I don’t like being played with, Abel.”
Reed’s mouth curved. “You won’t know if I’m playing with you, unless you show up.”
***
“Mariel? Are you all right?”
Mariel pulled her gaze away from the party sitting on the patio of the House of Blues and returned it to her companion. The balcony of Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen was across the busy promenade from the other restaurant, but Mariel’s mal’akh hearing had no trouble picking up the treasonous conversation taking place there. Even from this distance, she could see the laser brightness of the demon’s eyes and hear the malevolence in his voice.
“No,” she replied in her Mark’s native Zulu. “I’m far from all right.”
“What—”
“Don’t.” She stayed Kobe Denner from turning his head with her hand atop his. “What you don’t know can save your life.”
Kobe frowned at her, his dark eyes concerned. One of her best Marks, he’d been with her for years. “What can I do?”
“I think we’re going to have to end our lunch early.”
He pushed his half-finished meal away. “Of course. Go, if you must.”
Mariel bunched up the napkin in her lap and set it on the table. “I’m going to shift you out of here. I don’t want you to be seen.”
Her urgency was conveyed in her tone. He stood quickly. She dug into her purse and left some cash on the table. They gave a quick explanation to the startled waiter before making their way down to the lower floor.
Ducking into the hallway that led to the bathrooms, Mariel quickly shifted them back to the tower.
Alec dragged Eve down the hail and around the corner. There was an alcove with a water fountain and he crowded her into it, pressing her into a corner and cupping her face in his hands.
“I’m f**ked up,” he said bluntly.
“I’m not exactly prime goods either.” Her tone was dry, but her dark eyes glistened in the shadowy ha!!way.
“We need to talk about the personal stuff later.” He touched his forehead to hers, feeling as thrashed as he did after a particularly nasty vanquishing. “It’s ugly and painful, but we have something worth fighting for, if you give me a chance to fix this mess.”
He felt her fingers hook into the belt loops of his jeans. “Yes. We need to talk.”
Alec sensed a shiver of wariness move across her mind, but he couldn’t read the details. Still, that shiver was more than he’d been able to get out of her the last couple of days.
“Are you blocking me?” he asked harshly. “Or is my. . . condition causing a poor signal between us?”
“A little of both, maybe,” she confessed, tucking the necklace into his shirt. “When I tell you something, I want to do it the mortal way. You and me. Talking out loud. Unhurried and in private.”
“Okay. As soon as we get done here.” He tugged her out of the alcove with him.
“I have to go to the police station after this.”
As they hurried down the hallway, she filled him in.
“Okay.” His fingers tightened on hers. “We’ll go together.”
“Ishamel is going to take me. Part of his lawyer act. It might look weird if you came along.”
“Why?”
“Uh. . .“ Eve glanced aside at him and winced. “I kinda told them that we broke up.”
Alec was grateful his step didn’t falter, since he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He exhaled harshly. “That was quick.”
“Cut me some slack. Things are flying at me from all sides. I said what I needed to say at the time.”
He didn’t have a firm foundation to stand on, since he was the one who’d pushed her away. But that didn’t make things easier. “As long as you weren’t serious.”
She squeezed his hand back. “One thing at a time.”
His hand was on the knob to the infirmary when he heard Eve’s name being called. He looked around and saw Mariel approaching with an unusually brisk stride.
“Evangeline’ the handler called out. “Can you spare a minute of your time?”
Alec released the knob. “What do you need, Mariel?”
“Just Hollis.” Her smile was so slight it was more of a grimace. “Girl stuff, Cain. You know?”
“No, I don’t.” He glanced at Eve. “Come in as soon as you’re done.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
Feeling like something precious was slipping through his fingers, Alec left her in the hallway.
Eve didn’t need the ability to read minds to know that the mal‘akh was terribly upset. The fact that Alec didn’t fully pick up on his handler’s agitation was further proof that he was still seriously out of whack. Mariel knew it, too. Her gaze remained on the door until it closed with a firm click.
“He’s not well,” Eve said softly. “I’m guessing you feel it through the connection between handler and firm leader.”
“I’m hoping he adjusts soon, but right now, his inability to read us is a blessing in disguise.” Mariel turned her attention to Eve. “We have a serious problem. I fear for his safety and Abel’s. You’re the only one I can trust to find a solution that keeps them both alive.”
“What’s going on?”
“Something isn’t right with Abel. He’s not himself. You’re not going to believe it when I tell you.”
Not himself..
Gripping Mariel’s elbow, Eve pulled her a short distance down the hall. “Tell me everything. . .
CHAPTER 17
I don’t remember much of anything,” Sydney said with a turned-down mouth and averted gaze. “I was eyeing some movement under the bleachers when Montevista tackled me. I must have been knocked out by the impact. The next thing I knew, you were waking me up, Cain.”
Alec turned his attention to Montevista, who looked as miserable as Sydney.
“I’ve got nothing,” the Mark said. “I don’t even remember that much. I was standing along the fence, mad dogging some Infernals. Then I was here in the tower.”
Both guards sat at a metal table dressed in pale blue hospital scrubs. Alec sat across from them, hyperaware of the pendant heating the skin between his pectorals. Something had to give, and fast. Lack of sleep was taking its toll, but he needed to be available to help Eve during the day and he had inquiries to make about his condition when she was sleeping at night.
He glanced at the witch doctor who ran the infirmary. The woman was short, no more than three feet tall, with cropped blonde curls, and a child’s features. “Any idea what happened to those two?”
“They both check out,” she said. “In Sydney’s case, I think she lost consciousness on impact, as she suggested. In Montevista’s . . . I’m not sure. I’m inclined to think he jumped in the way of a direct hit. Maybe an energy blast aimed at her. An impact to the back of the head would have knocked him out and caused him to crash into her. Something like that would explain the memory loss, especially if Azazel was the one attacking.”
“What are the aftereffects? Are there any?”
“Fatigue. Otherwise, no.”
“I’d like to get back to duty,” Montevista said.
“Me, too,” Sydney concurred.