by S. J. Day
Because she was becoming disoriented, she stopped turning. Even after she stilled, the desert around her tipped and tilted. It was too hot now. Arid.
Satan smiled. There was a wealth of promise in the curve of his lips. Temptation. He was infamous for it.
Eve’s hand went to her throat, massaging it as if that would create the moisture she craved.
“Jehovah is the original spin doctor,” he continued, his voice lifting and falling in a soothing, lulling cadence
“I give him credit for his brilliance. Somehow, he became revered despite his cruelty. I, on the other hand, am reviled for my honesty.”
How the hell was she going to spin this to work in her favor? There had to be a way, but it was hard to think. Her mouth and throat were dry. She’d give anything for a drink of water...
“Call off your minions,” she said gruffly. “They’re complicating things.”
“Someone must earn the bounty,” he reminded, finally drawing to a halt. The spinning stopped along with him. “As I said, I always keep my promises.”
“How much am I worth?”
“Immunity. One get-out-of-Hell-free card.”
“Hmm. . .“ She wouldn’t have thought she’d be worth that much. When Infernals were killed, they stayed in Hell a few centuries. A rapid turnaround could make a demon pretty damn cocky and reckless, she’d guess. “Give the credit to Azazel. He’s the one who made the first move.”
Satan’s nose wrinkled slightly, which—insanely enough—humanized him. “Most would find that unfair. Azazel has always moved around freely.”
Her hands went to her hips. “I don’t give a shit if it’s fair or not. I’m a prisoner in my own house right now. Not very conducive to getting things done.”
“Fine. I will think of something suitable.” He was definitely amused now. She could see it in his eyes. “In return, you will say nothing of our bargain to anyone. You break your word, I am free to break mine... including keeping the priest and Raguel. Anything else?”
In hindsight, she realized she’d played right into his hands. He clearly wanted to keep her off-kilter by confusing everything in her head.
“Yeah, actually,” Eve began to circle him in a vain attempt to fight the feeling of a noose circling her neck. She felt manipulated and outmaneuvered. “I also have a Nix problem.”
She braced herself for whatever demand he would make in return.
“Ah, yes. You do.”
“Suck him back down with you when you go.”
“But Ulrich is doing so well,” There was a teasing note in the Devil’s voice. Again, it softened him.
It’s all a trick, she reminded herself.
Eve came to an abrupt stop, frustration riding her hard. “If he kills me, I won’t be of any use to you.”
Satan grinned. “I would have you full-time, then.”
“Cain and Abel would have me no-time,” she pointed out while fighting the urge to scream. Why was everyone betting that she’d go to Hell when she died?
“True.” He extended one hand to her. Nestled in his palm was a golden chain with a charm—an open circle with various lines and circles within it. “Wear this to protect yourself from the Nix. Put it around him to prevent him from shape-shifting into water.”
She stared at the necklace. Beware of demons bearing gifts. The thought of having something around her neck that came from Satan gave her the willies. “Isn’t there another way? Gold doesn’t look good on me.”
His brow arched, then he walked toward her. Eve wanted to back away, but was rooted in place by an unseen force. His fingers encircled the wrist of her injured hand and the lingering pain faded. “If you do what I say,” he murmured, “we can both get what we want.”
Satan released her arm, then draped the charm carefully around her neck. He tucked it inside her shirt with a humming sound of satisfaction. “There. Nix problem solved.”
He backed away. Her pent-up breath left her in a rush.
“You will have to kill him yourself, of course,” he added. “But without the ability to shift, he should be a much easier target for you. He can be mortally wounded then.”
“Gee, thanks,” she groused.
Their gazes met and held. Eve wondered if he truly believed that she would hand over Alec and Reed’s mother to him. If so, why did he believe that the priest and Gadara were so valuable to her? Worth enough to betray the men she loved.
She had to figure out what Satan was seeing that she was missing. Maybe he thought she’d be grateful to have him call off the bounty and help her with the Nix? He couldn’t be that vain. It was more convenient for her, yes. But no matter what, she would have dealt with the Nix and the bounty anyway.
“Are we clear about the terms, Evangeline?”
“Let me get this straight: you want Eve temporarily, in exchange for permanently returning Father Riesgo and Raguel?”
He nodded. “I will call off the bounty and in return, you agree to keep this matter private. I will know if you err. Unlike Jehovah, I keep my finger on the pulse.”
“What do you want for giving me the Nix on a silver platter?” she asked, suspicious.
“1 will get my reward in the entertainment value. The odds are being evened out, but he may kill you anyway. How can I take recompense for so little?”
With an offhand flick of his wrist, she was back on the baseball field and he was gone.
Eve spun, looking around, finding herself alone. She set off at a run toward the darkness beyond the athletic field lights, searching for Montevista and Sydney with a sickening feeling of dread.
***
“Is that where Evangeline lives?”
As Alec pushed his rarely used key into the lock of his front door, his head turned to follow the direction of his mother’s finger. It had been awhile since he’d used secular means to enter his condo, but his parents weren’t mal’akhs and what little gifts they had in Shamayim were stripped from them on Earth. They were mortal in every way but their age. “Yes.”
Before he could stop her, his mother was striding down the hall and knocking on Eve’s door. He steeled himself to see Eve again. Everything knotted up inside him, except for the voices that relished chaos.
No one answered Eve’s door.
His mother frowned at him. “I thought you said it wasn’t safe for her to be out.”
His father stood at her back, hovering and watchful. Alec unlocked his dead bolt for his parents, then shifted into Eve’s house. It was dark and quiet as a tomb. Standing in her living room, he reached out to her and was met with an eerie silence.
Eve. Where are you?
She hit him in a rush, a full-throttle blindside of fear and worry that knocked him back a step. He growled and shifted to her.
She screamed when he arrived beside her, recoiling from his sudden appearance. Alec caught her by the back of the neck and clasped her to him. “Shh... I’m here.”
As she trembled against him, a rapid-fire series of images hit his brain. Montevista. Sydney. The priest. Azazel.
Fury churned inside him.
Abel!
His brother’s name was a roar. Once again, Abel had left Eve hanging in the wind.
It would be the last time.
Setting Eve away from him, Alec’s fingers linked with hers. He pulled her along the length of the chain link fence, searching for any signs of blood, torn clothing, or a scuffle.
Then he felt the Marks. Faint, but nearby. He shifted Eve to -the parking lot on the other side of La Palma. The open space was poorly lit, but his enhanced vision picked up two forms crumpled atop each other in the distance.
He shifted again, moving them closer more swiftly. He stabilized Eve when she stumbled from disorientation.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. Her hand tightened on his, then she released him and knelt beside the fallen guards.
Montevista sprawled atop his partner, almost as if he’d shielded her body with his own. Eve reached out and brushed her fi
ngers across his cheek. He groaned, then stirred.
“They’re alive,” she said.
As their firm leader, Alec knew that, but he didn’t belabor the point. Instead, he stood behind Eve, wondering why it had taken a few moments for their connection to be reestablished.
Abel appeared on the other side of the two prone figures on the ground. “What the hell happened?”
“If you’d been doing your job,” Alec snapped, “you would know.”
Eve growled. “If you two start fighting—”
“Where the fuck were you?” Abel challenged.
“With Ima and Abba.”
His brother’s eyes widened. “Why?”
“Don’t worry about my business. Worry about hers—” Alec jerked his chin toward Eve, “—and how Azazel snatched the priest right in front of her.”
“I can see that” Abel stared at Eve with a frown, getting caught up to speed by sifting through her thoughts.
“You both suck,” she groused. “These two are hurt and you’re going to stand there bitching at each other?”
Alec ran a hand through his hair. “Get her out of here.”
Abel stood and shifted to her side. He glanced at Alec. “You got these two?”
“Yeah. Go.”
Eve shook her head. “I’m not going to—” She was shifted away midsentence by a touch of Abel’s fingertips to her crown.
The silence that followed their departure was brief.
Montevista groaned and rolled to his side. Sydney gasped and lifted her head.
“Where’s Hollis?” she asked.
Alec knelt beside them. “Safe.”
But for how long? The assault on the priest had been too bold. Why not just take Eve?
He placed a hand on both Marks, and shifted with them to Gadara Tower.
“—leave them here like. . . What the hell?” Eve snapped, lurching as Reed returned her to her living room. “I hate when you do that with no warning!”
“Sorry, babe.” Reed steadied her with gentle hands. “But you had to know we weren’t going to leave you out there.”
She glared at him. “And you have to know that I’m going to be worried sick until I know they’re all right.”
“I’ll find out for you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. The moment they connected, the realization of how close he’d come to losing her hit him right between the eyes. His hands tightened on her biceps. She made a soft noise of protest and he released her hastily.
He stepped back, retreating to a safe distance.
“Hey,” Eve said softly. “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t. Not for him.
She tapped her temple with her finger. “Keep me in the loop.”
He managed a smile. Of course, he assured her. “Get comfortable. When I get back, I’ll start that dinner I promised.”
Eve opened her mouth to say something, but he shifted away quickly. He went to the subterranean floors of the tower and leaned heavily against the wall. As Marks and Infernals rushed past him in the busy hallway, he took a moment to pull himself together.
Jerk, she scolded. I was going to ask f I should get anything ready for you.
Just yourself. I’ll manage the rest.
“Abel.”
Reed’s gaze lifted to watch Hank—guised in the Jessica Rabbit/Morticia Addams getup—approach with a sex-kittenish sway to her hips.
“Hey, Hank.”
“How are you?” The note of elation in the occultist’s gruff voice was unmistakable.
“Not nearly as good as you, sounds like.” Reed straightened. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been experimenting with the mask. I think I’m onto something.”
“Oh?”
Hank grinned. “When you’re free, stop by and I’ll show you.”
“Will do.”
Shaking off his lingering disquiet, Reed set off toward the main reception area where he could inquire about the location of Montevista and Sydney. He was several feet away from the end of the hallway when Sara rounded the corner. He almost shifted away, but she spotted him and delayed him with an extension of her hand.
“Mon chéri.” She smiled. “Do not rush off just yet. I have good news for you.”
Reed stood stiffly as she lifted to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
“Take us to my office,” she murmured.
He conceded to her request only because he didn’t want any interaction between them to be witnessed. As soon as they arrived, he pushed her away. “Make it quick.”
“You never answer your cell phone;” she complained, with an affected pout. “If you did, I would not have to waylay you in this manner.”
The excitement on her face kept him around when he would have shifted. His arms crossed. “You’ve got my attention now.”
“I was right. About Iselda and Cain.”
He stilled. “Go on.”
As she backed up toward her desk, her smile was wide and girlish. “Let me show you instead.”
Picking up the remote that waited there, she activated the screen that lowered over the lone window. Her office was much smaller than Cain’s but more elegant. Sara preferred damask over leather and multi- hued over monochromatic.
The lights dimmed and the show began. Reed looked away halfway through. By the time it was over, he was sitting with his back to the screen in one of the chairs positioned in front of the desk.
Sara took a seat with a rapacious gleam in her blue eyes. She turned off the feed with the remote. The screen retracted and the lights came back on. “I saved a copy on a jump drive for you. All you have to do is find a way for Evangeline to see it. Then sit back and watch the sparks fly.”
“I’m not showing that to her,” he said tightly.
Her smile faded. “Why not?”
Reed’s foot tapped a silent but rapid staccato on the carpet. If Eve saw that tape.. . His jaw tightened. It hurt him to watch it, and he could give a shit about Cain or Izzie. Physically, they’d looked to be having a good time. Mentally. . . the depth of anguish on his brother’s face would be painful for anyone to watch. Considering how deeply Eve cared for Cain, it would kill her.
“Damn you,” she breathed. “You are protecting her.”
“It would hinder our cause.”
Her gaze narrowed. “How so?”
He considered the best way to answer. “She came to me this afternoon, insisting that something’s wrong with Cain. She asked me to look into it and see if the ascension is responsible for his behavior. If she gets a look at that video, she’ll be sympathetic and even more determined. It’ll have the opposite effect.”
Sara’s manicured fingertips drummed atop the carved wooden chair arms. “You think you know her so well?”
“She’s my charge. Of course I know her. Besides, it’s no longer necessary to split them up. Cain did the deed himself earlier today?”
“C’est des conneries! Cain’s reactions are separate from hers. She needs to cooperate. He will want her back eventually and when that happens, we have to be sure that she will refuse him. That will be his breaking point. Not this—” she gestured to where the screen had been “—temporary insanity.”
“So,” he murmured, “you see it, too.”
“He is fine now. I saw him a few moments ago when he brought the two guards in.”
“Did we just watch the same video?”
“Perhaps that is just the way he likes to flick.”
“Now who’s talking bullshit? What the hell is wrong with him? Is Eve right? Did the ascension screw him up?”
“How would I know?” she said crossly. “The rest of us were created as we are. Stop worrying about Cain, and give me a better reason for why Evangeline should not see that tape.”
“You know.. .“ Reed lounged, but stayed watchful. “Despite your animosity toward her, Eve spoke on your behalf today.”
“Vraiment?” Sara tried to sound nonchalant, but failed.
“I told h
er you were a lying, self-centered bitch.” Rage shimmered in her eyes.
“I have never lied to you.”
“You knew I wanted to advance. You let me believe that you would help me do that.”
“You used me, too.”
He heard the bitterness in her tone and stood, rounding the desk with a deliberate stride. “Eve suggested that maybe you didn’t help me not because you wouldn’t, but because you couldn’t?”
“I do not need her to speak for me.” Sara swiveled her chair to face him and crossed her long legs. The red pantsuit gave her a seductive, wicked edge. The wary look she wore softened the image and reminded him that at one time he’d thought they were perfect for one another.
Placing his hands atop hers, Reed bent over her. She licked her lower lip and stared at his throat.
“At first,” he went on, “I thought she was being overly kind by attributing qualities to you that you don’t have. But I have considered it a little more, and you know what conclusion I’ve come to? I think you’d rather lose me than admit there’s something you can’t do.”
Her shoulders pressed more firmly against the seat back. “Did I ever really have you, mon chéri?”
“For a while there, you did. Because of that, you owe me the truth, Sara. If you’d wanted to help me ascend.. . could you have? Or was it impossible?”
She swallowed, then answered, “I wanted to help you.”
The knot in his gut loosened. “Why didn’t you just point me in the right direction? Tell me to go higher?”
“I went higher,” she snapped. “I spoke with Jehovah himself. I had to hide the request from the others. If Gabriel or Michael knew, they would stop me. But in the end, it was pointless.”
“Why?” Reed straightened. Running his hands through his hair, he asked, “Why was it possible for Cain, but not for me?”
He moved away, needing space, and heard her stand behind him.
“Think of that game,” she said softly. “The one where you try and spot the things that are missing from a second picture that were in the first. What is missing now, that was here before?”
