“We’re going to hunt this one,” Alec said grimly.
“I’m going, too.” Eve wiped off her fingers. “If that thing had details, I want to see them.”
“It definitely had details, babe.” Reed picked up his beer. “There’s no doubt about that.”
“Says you,” she corrected. She looked at Alec. “What do you intend to do when you find him?”
Alec shrugged. “Shake him down and see what kind of information falls out.”
“Unless he has hidden talents, it doesn’t seem like a fair fight. He was small.”
“It’s the demon he works for that concerns me. The tengu are lesser demons who lack initiative and ambition. It’s out of character to risk bringing attention to himself. They like to cause trouble, but only indirectly.”
“It’s not going to be dangerous, is it?”
His gaze softened. “You’ll just point him out and get out of the way.”
“I can do that.” Eve picked up her fork, scooped up some rice, and tried to concentrate on eating. It wasn’t as easy as she would have wished.
She was too exhilarated, a response she found more disturbing than exciting.
“Now . . .” Alec’s voice was laden with frustration. “Tell me what happened with the Nix.”
CHAPTER 9
As Eve unlocked her front door, she took a moment to appreciate the speed with which it had been replaced. But when she stepped inside her condo, admiration gave way to trepidation.
Someone was inside her home.
Alec sensed her hesitation. He caught her arm and pulled her back, taking a defensive position in front of her. Then he sniffed the air and shot her a questioning glance.
She sighed. She didn’t need an enhanced sense of smell to recognize the scents of curry and freshly steamed rice. “It’s my mother.”
An odd look passed over his handsome features. Shock and wariness, perhaps. Then a dawning wonder.
It was the worst possible time for Miyoko Hollis to be visiting. She would view Alec’s presence in Eve’s house with more significance than Eve was presently prepared to give him. And he knew it, if the sudden mischievous grin he wore was any indication.
“Evie-san?” her mother called out.
“Yeah, it’s me, Mom.” Eve narrowed her eyes at Alec. She hoped like hell her father wasn’t here, because if he was and if he’d seen Alec’s belongings in her bedroom, he’d expect there to be a ring on her finger. Despite her traditional Japanese upbringing, Miyoko actually had less old-fashioned views of courtship.
“Behave,” Eve admonished.
“Of course.” But the gleam in Alec’s eyes belied the promise.
Her mother’s head peeked out from around the support pillar that anchored the end of the island. The same thick, inky black hair she’d passed on to Eve was permed into tight, short corkscrews that made her look as young as her daughter.
“Oh, hello,” her mother greeted, her face brightening at the sight of Alec. She appreciated a good-looking man as much as the next woman.
The rest of Miyoko’s four-foot eleven-inch frame appeared, revealing an apron that protected a lime-colored sweater tank and multihued skirt. A tiny, diamond-encrusted cross decorated her neck. The Hollises were Christian—Southern Baptist, to be precise, although they attended the occasional festival at the Orange County Buddhist Church for the food and entertainment. Eve had been baptized as a child, but broke free in junior high, refusing to accompany her family to any further church events. It was still a point of contention between her and the rest of the family. They didn’t understand her renouncement of organized religion, but then, they’d never tried to.
Eve made the introductions, her gaze darting to the end of the couch where two suitcases waited with feigned innocuousness.
“Where’s Dad?
“Fishing with his buddies again, near Acapulco.”
Damn.
Her mother was a caregiver by nature. When her husband was away, she needed someone to fuss over. Since Eve’s sister, Sophia, lived in Kentucky, Eve was the recipient of that fussing.
The whole day had been hell. Now, her mother and Alec were in her house at the same time. Eve cringed inwardly.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hollis,” Alec greeted her.
“Please. Call me Miyoko.”
“Konichiwa, Miyoko-san.” He bowed.
Eve watched startled pleasure pass over her mother’s face, but Alec’s charm wouldn’t be enough to make up for his bad-boy exterior. The slightly overlong hair, worn jeans, ripped physique, and scuffed biker boots made him unacceptable from the get-go. Her mother had impossible-to-meet standards for her daughters’ suitors. Reed’s exterior would be closer to passing muster, but his arrogance would never make the cut. In all of Eve’s years of dating, she had yet to meet a man her mother approved of for longer than five minutes.
“It smells wonderful in here,” Alec praised.
“Japanese curry.” Her mother beamed. “Have you tried it before?”
“Yes. It’s one of my favorites.”
For a moment, Eve was startled by the statement. Then she considered how long Alec had been living and how far he’d traveled.
“I made two flavors,” her mother said, returning to the kitchen where onions, carrots, and potatoes were in various stages of being peeled and cut. “Hot and mild.”
“Why mild?” Eve asked, going to the fridge for a can of soda. She lifted one up to her guests in silent query. They both nodded, so Eve pulled out three and kicked the door closed.
“I invited Mrs. Basso to have dinner with us. Poor dear. I can’t imagine living alone.”
“I’m glad she accepted.” Eve set the sodas on the counter and opened the dishwasher. It was empty.
“You shouldn’t live out of the dishwasher,” Miyoko admonished. “I put the dishes away for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t mind.”
Maybe her mother didn’t mind, Eve thought, but she’d never let Eve forget that she’d done it.
Eve turned to the cupboard that held her glasses and found Alec there before her, pulling them down. He handed her one, then pushed the other two—one at a time—under the fridge’s ice dispenser.
She watched with a mixture of horror and pleasure. This was the man who’d taken her virginity ten years ago. It seemed impossible that he was in her home, moving around as if he’d lived with her the whole time.
Their gazes met and held.
“How long are you visiting, Alec?” her mother asked.
“Actually, business has brought me into the area indefinitely,” Alec replied, setting both ice-filled glasses in front of Eve, and taking the empty one from her hand.
“Oh?” Wariness crept into Miyoko’s tone. “What do you do?”
“I’m a headhunter.”
“For what company?”
Alec smiled. “For Meggido Industries. We specialize in disaster avoidance.”
“How interesting.” Her mom’s eyes lit up.
As her mother reassessed Alec, Eve could practically see the wheels turning in her head. It wouldn’t go well if Miyoko researched Alec’s company and found it to be a fraud.
“How did you meet Evangeline?”
“It was years ago, when she was in—”
“—college,” Eve interjected, before gulping down her soda.
Miyoko paused in the act of scooping up vegetables. She frowned. Alec rested his hip against the counter and smiled.
“I need a shower.” Eve set her empty glass on the counter.
“Don’t leave that there,” her mother scolded.
“It’s my house, Mom.” But she picked up the cup and carried it to the sink.
“Can I help with anything?” Alec asked as Eve left the room.
“Would you mind cutting the onions?” Miyoko asked. “They make me cry.”
As she traversed the length of the hallway, Eve forced herself to shake off the feeling of being invaded. Her mother had obviously been in her house for a while. The washing machine was running and the air smelled like floor cleaner, which made her wonder how long Alec had been out looking for her.
You’re lucky you’re not dead, he’d said when she finished telling him about the Nix.
She couldn’t imagine living a life where a walk on the beach was a death wish waiting to be fulfilled. Even church wasn’t sacred. Nothing was safe. A shiver moved through her.
After a very hot, very long shower, Eve felt slightly better. She pulled on a merlot velour jogging suit and left her hair down to dry naturally. When she exited to the hallway, she ran into Alec as he was stepping out of the guest bedroom. He had changed into a button-down shirt and loose slacks. He looked respectable and edible. She stared.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I have many sides that you haven’t yet seen, angel.”
“Not my fault.”
“No.” He stepped closer. “It isn’t.”
The scent of his skin intoxicated her. “I’m becoming a nymphomanic.”
“I’m available.”
“For how long?” she challenged. “I keep wondering when I’m going to look around and find you gone.”
“I’ll be with you until we find a way to free you.”
“So you’re temporary.”
“Do you want permanent?” His gaze was hot.
Eve debated that question for a long moment, then offered a weak shrug. She didn’t know what the hell she wanted. A week ago she would have said a successful career, a loving husband, two kids, and a dog. Normal. Comfortable.
“My mom is planning on staying the night,” she said instead.
He nodded, but his intensity didn’t diminish. “I noticed. I offered to find a hotel, but she absolutely refused the guest room. She says the futon in your office is fine.”
Eve sighed. “She doesn’t like sleeping in a big bed without my dad. She doesn’t even pull out the futon, she sleeps on it like a couch.”
“A wife after my own heart.”
“I can’t see you ever getting married.”
“Just because it didn’t work the first time, doesn’t mean it won’t ever work.”
She stilled.
“I told you,” he murmured, watching her with heavylidded eyes. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“I never got the chance to learn.”
“You have one now.”
Eve leaned back against the wall. Alec moved in, stepping closer and caging her with one hand beside her head. Memories of their recent night together flooded her mind. The desperate consuming lust. The gnawing hunger. The skill and passion with which he slaked both.
With only centimeters between them, she could feel the heat of his skin and if she listened with her new hearing, she could make out the steadily increasing beat of his heart.
“Your heart is starting to race,” she whispered.
“Because I’m with you. Sex is one of the rare times when we’re capable of experiencing the full force of our physical responses.”
“We’re not hav**g s*x.”
“In my head we are.”
Eve’s lower lip quivered. It would be so easy to turn to him for comfort and support, but that was what had landed her in trouble in the first place. And when she managed to shed the mark, he would leave along with it.
That didn’t stop her from wanting him. Badly.
Her stomach growled, breaking the moment.
“I cannot believe I’m hungry already,” she whispered, grateful for the intrusion, however embarrassing. “Those taco plates usually fill me up all day.”
“Your body is going through some pretty drastic changes. It requires fuel to manage it all.”
“Will my system revert when I’m . . . free?”
Alec sighed, his breath flowing across her lips like a feather light kiss. “I don’t know, angel. I’ve never met a former Mark.”
“Really?” She bit her lower lip.
“Really.” He pressed his temple to hers. She could sense his sexual hunger in the underlying tension of his powerful frame.
“I’ll find a way,” she promised, as much to herself as to him.
“I’ll help you.”
The doorbell rang, and they broke apart. She looked away first.
“What about the gargoyle?” she asked, as they moved into the living room.
“We’ll catch up with him tomorrow.” Alec noted her questioning glance and explained, “He can’t go far. Tengu draw their energy from the inhabitants of the building they decorate. They stir feelings of anxiety and unhappiness, and feed off of them. Straying too far is like starving.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“All Infernals have their preferences and vulnerabilities. The Nix have to stay near water, as do kappas. Trolls live near woods. When you start your classes, you’ll learn the vagaries of each branch. Knowledge is power. Exploiting a weakness can save your life.”
Eve reached for the doorknob. “How many branches are there?”
“A few hundred. But each has subdivisions that can number into the thousands.”
“Oh my G—” She caught herself.
“Watch it.”
She growled. “I’m trying.”
Pulling open the door, Eve felt her mood improving when she found Mrs. Basso on her doorstep. Tonight her neighbor wore olive slacks with a matching sweater vest and emerald necklace. A loose white blouse kept the ensemble feminine and casual.
Eve hugged her.
“You look gorgeous,” Mrs. Basso said.
“So do you,” she returned. Then she introduced her to Alec.
Mrs. Basso held a brown paper bag and a bottle of Chianti in her hands. Eve offered to take both from her, but she declined with a curious blush staining her cheeks.