“What’s up with you?”
“I’m researching the mason who created the tengu.” Eve’s gaze returned to the monitor.
“How’s it coming?”
“Fine. It’s hard to know if you’ve found what you’re looking for when you don’t know what it is.” She watched him enter the room with that delicious stride that was just short of a swagger. The brothers moved so differently, yet they affected her equally. “Where’s Alec?”
“Checking the balcony for any water leaks.”
“Because of the Nix?”
“Yes.”
“Can he get in that way?”
“He can get in anywhere there’s a water source.” Reed stood beside her, staring down. He watched her with that indecipherable look she was becoming familiar with but didn’t understand. She got the “I want to jump your bones” part of it, but the rest—the confusion, regret, and sympathy—she didn’t understand those.
Eve turned in her chair and leaned back to look up at him. She kept her exterior cool and unaffected, even though he presented an intimidating sight. With the planes of his face lit only by the glow from the monitor, he looked more devil than angel. “Gehenna is a relatively local company,” she said. “They’re based in Upland, California.”
“That’s what? Forty-five minutes from here?”
“Depending on traffic.”
He nodded.
“Their web domain name is only a few years old,” she continued. “They’re obviously a new company, but they became solvent quickly from the looks of it.”
The light came on and Alec walked into the room.
“We need to go there.” He directed a narrowed glare at his brother. “Take a look around. See what they’ve got going on.”
“Go yourself,” Reed argued. “I’ll stay with her. No need to endanger her unnecessarily.”
“Bullshit.” Alec approached the desk. “You should’ve considered that before you assigned her to this. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I assigned her?” The incredulity in Reed’s voice was undeniable.
Eve’s gaze darted to him, trying to visually verify the surprise she heard in his voice. She caught him quickly adopting a frozen mien that gave nothing away. But the brief glimpse of astonishment was enough to spark the suspicion that Reed wasn’t as in charge of things as he should be.
“Didn’t you?” she queried.
“He won’t tell you the truth,” Alec scoffed.
Reed’s arms crossed. “Don’t speak for me.”
“You’re a one-hit loser, bro. Better get that into your head. You’re never going to be alone with her again.”
Eve stood. “Enough. I find the ‘hit’ reference offensive.”
Alec muttered, “Sorry, angel.”
“I make my own choices,” she said. “And right now, I’d really like to go back to that building with the gargoyles and take a closer look at them.”
“Why?”
“Because we can’t go out to Upland tonight; it’s already too late. And I feel restless, as if I should be doing something. I don’t like that feeling.” She looked at both men. “It can’t hurt.”
“It’s not going to be open.”
“Is that normally a deterrent to you?” she challenged.
“It’ll be guarded,” Reed interjected. “But you should have a Gadara Enterprises badge. As one of his employees, any guards should let you in with no problem.”
He glanced at Alec with eyes lit with triumph. “You’ve got a lot to learn, bro.”
Turning to the black lacquered box that had been left for her earlier, Eve lifted the hinged lid with its inlaid ivory cross and rummaged inside.
“They left a box for you, too, Alec,” she said, gesturing to a cardboard packing box waiting on the sofa. “It’s in there.”
“Fuck that,” he snapped. “Raguel only wishes he could file me into his ranks.”
Eve’s box was the size of a large shoe box and it was filled with a haphazard collection of items ranging from some type of pepper spray to lip balm. She dug out a leather wallet-looking thing and flipped it open. Inside was a picture ID featuring the photo taken of her when she went in for the initial interview. She shivered thinking about how everyone had known she was minutes away from being marked, yet no one said anything or interceded in any way. If it had been the other way around, she would have told the recruit to run like hell and don’t stop.
“That’s it,” Reed acknowledged, looking over her shoulder.
Eve’s fingertips traced over the embossed Gadara logo. Reflective watermarks caught the light and prevented easy duplication. The symbols were a combination of familiar images—such as a cross—and others that looked like hieroglyphs. “I thought all of Gadara’s employees were Marks. Can’t they smell what I am? What’s the point of this badge?”
“The employees who work in Gadara Tower are Marks,” Reed explained. “They act as an early warning system to keep Raguel safe. It would be impossible for an Infernal to infiltrate the building undetected. But subsidiary companies and satellite buildings have some mortal employees.”
“Keep him safe? I thought he was an archangel. Who would mess with him?”
“An Infernal looking for a major promotion.”
“Couldn’t an archangel kick their ass?”
“If they saw the hit coming. The seven firm leaders live temporal lives, aside from seven weeks a year when they are free to use their powers while training Marks.”
“They lose their powers?”
“They have a choice,” Alec corrected. “They can use their gifts, but every time they do, there’s a consequence. It’s up to them to decide whether the transgression is worth it.”
She snorted. “Another example of God trying to drive someone crazy.”
“How else would they sympathize with mortals, angel? The archangels need empathy and understanding in order to maintain their motivation. They refused to bow to man as God ordered. What better way to see the error of their ways than to walk a mile in mortal shoes?”
“Empathy and understanding?” Eve smiled without humor. “Frankly, I would be tempted to be frustrated and resentful. Why should I have to lose the privilege of using my powers to protect people that don’t give a crap about me? Unless the archangels are truly angelic—which Gadara certainly didn’t seem to be—the whole power-versus-punishment deal is just stirring the pot.”
“‘Angelic’ and ‘devilish’ are mortal constructs,” Reed pointed out.
“I caught that earlier. Gadara said demons pull their tricks from the same bag as angels. They’re brethren, right? Fruit of the same tree, borne of the same father? It stands to reason that they’d be prone to the same vices, including getting pissed off that they’re denied something through no fault of their own.”
Reed scowled. “Why are we talking about this?”
Eve dropped the badge on her desk and stood. “Because it needs to be talked about. When do the archangels regain full use of their powers?”
“After Armageddon.” Alec’s arms crossed and his stance widened. It was a battle pose, one of readiness.
“So might it be possible that they’d like to hurry that along a bit?” she suggested.
“You’re thinking like a mortal,” Reed bit out.
“News flash: I am a mortal. This mark on my arm isn’t going to change that. Tell me you haven’t thought about the firm leaders playing outside the rules.”
Reed’s brows arched. “I haven’t.”
She rounded on Alec. “I know you have. You don’t like to wear blinders.”
“What are you implying?” Reed snapped.
“Gadara says you’re a company man, Reed. You toe the line.” Eve shrugged. “You want things to be a certain way and that’s the only way you allow yourself to perceive them.”
He took a step closer. “Don’t try to analyze me! If you want to shrink someone’s head, why don’t you try the homicidal maniac you’re f**king?”
“I touched a nerve,” she drawled.
“You’re talking smack. Want me to turn it around and see how you like it?”
“Step off,” Alec warned. “Keep pushing her, and I’ll push you back.”
“Shut up.” Reed’s fists clenched. “If she wants to make wild conspiracy theories, she’ll have to manage the aftermath on her own.”
Eve studied the violence of Reed’s response with a calculating eye. Alec was taking her questions with only minor tension, but Reed was strung tight as a bow. She looked at Alec. “So outside of the Gadara Tower, some of the employees are mortal.”
He nodded.
“And if I flash this badge, they let me in, but they’ll also record that we came by, right? And the company credit card, listening devices, video cameras . . . it’s all cyberstalking in lieu of the divinely powered kind, right?”
“Sure. What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.” Eve stepped around her desk. She’d said enough for the benefit of whoever might be listening through the bugs in her house. The rest she would keep to herself until she felt that she could speak freely. “Let me get ready and we’ll go.”
Reed moved to follow. Alec stepped in his path. “Leave her alone,” he warned.
“I’m doing my job.” Reed’s voice was dangerously soft.
“Relax, Alec,” she admonished.
A low, predatory rumble filled the air. She exited the room with a shake of her head. Those two were going to have to figure out on their own how to work together.
Eve was shutting her bedroom door when it was halted midswing and pushed back in. Reed entered, his gaze sweeping around the room and coming to rest on the bed.
“Feng shui,” he murmured. “There’s at least a little bit of believer in you.”
“What does feng shui have to do with anything?” She watched him close the door, secretly impressed with his observational skills.
“You’re trying to tap into energies you can’t see or prove. Whether you think they come from God or not isn’t as important as the fact that you acknowledge forces outside of yourself.”
“You’re giving me a headache.”
He laughed, the velvet-rough sound flowing over her skin. “You can’t have headaches anymore.”
“That’s what you think.” She went to her closet and pushed the hanging wooden door along its track. It had taken her a long time to find two matching bleached pine panels of suitable size, but the effort was worth it. When she lay in bed, she studied the grain of the wood as she drifted to sleep.
“Listen.” His tone was so grave that it drew her gaze to him again. “When Marks go on the hunt, they change.”
“Change?”
“Their senses hone. You’ll experience a kind of tunnel vision. You see it in felines when they crouch low and prepare to pounce. They’re so absorbed in what they’re doing, they don’t register anything else.”
“I think I caught a bit of that before.”
“You might have. All mentors are specially trained to widen their focus to encompass their charges. Much like using bright headlights versus the regular ones.”
Eve pulled out her most worn pair of jeans. “And Alec hasn’t had this training.”
“Right. He’s really good at what he does, but I’m afraid he’s going to leave you unprotected. You have to be extra vigilant. Somehow, you’re going to have to remind yourself to take in everything.”
“Are you telling me this to make your brother look bad, or are you serious?”
“I only wish I could make up stuff this good.” He leaned back against the door. “You’re going to have to trust me, babe. It’s my job to keep you alive and working off your penance.”
“I wouldn’t say that assigning me to kill things prior to being trained is a good way to keep me breathing,” she said wryly.
The tightening of his jaw was nearly imperceptible, but Eve was looking for it. Gadara was yanking them all around. She knew what leverage he had on Alec—her. But what was Reed getting out of this? Perhaps Gadara was holding something over him, too? It was in her best interests to find out.
Reed’s glance moved back to her beautifully made bed and a smile curved his mouth. “You’re not sleeping with Cain.”
“How would you know?”
“His scent is fainter in here than in the rest of the condo.”
“My mom just washed and made the bed.”
“Uh-huh . . .” He looked at her with dark, slumberous eyes. Reed was like a firecracker, hot and explosive. The part of Eve that craved quiet evenings at home was shocked by how attractive she found that quality.
She turned away, determined to get ready for the task ahead and stop thinking about sex. “Don’t get cocky and think his absence has anything to do with you.”
“It has to do with something. You’ve been thinking about him for ten years, but now that he’s here, you’re keeping him at arm’s distance?”
She thought of the make-out session in the parking garage and smiled. “My personal life is none of your business.”
“Keep telling yourself that. Eventually you might believe it. But it still won’t be true.”
“Whatever. Got anything else for me?”
“Oh yeah, I got something for you, babe. Come and get it.”
“Eww.” Eve tossed an arch glance over her shoulder. “You just crossed the line from arrogant to crass.”