Eve of Chaos (40 page)

Snorting, he
said, “That’s female logic if I ever heard it.”

“What can I say?
We’re twisted.”

“Don’t lump
yourself in with Sara.” He licked the tip of her nose. “I’m going to deal with
her today. Right now, actually.”

“Then I need you
to round up Asmodeus.”

His gaze
narrowed. “Tomorrow. I need time to get things together.”

“I’ve already
got things together. Ishamel helped. You know how thorough he is.”

“Do you have any
idea of what kind of manpower we’re going to need to nab Asmodeus?”

“We’re not going
to nab him. We just want him here.”

Reed sank to a
crouch in front of her, leveling their gazes. “Spit it out. All of it.”

“You’re right,
Asmodeus is valuable to Satan, but not for the reason you think. Satan knows
your plan. He tried to act nonchalant about it. but I read between the lines.
He’s pissed, and he’s going to take Asmodeus down.”

“Good. Let him.”

“Sure,” Eve
agreed. She opened her mind to him, allowing him to see her conversations with
the Devil. “But not now. You’ve been bargaining with Asmodeus but really, the
deal is between me and Satan.”

“Babe. . .“ He
made an exasperated sound and dropped his head into her lap. “You’re a walking
disaster,” he mumbled.

 
“Listen.” She lifted his head with her hands.
“He promised me something, then reneged.”

“And that’s a
surprise to you? Come on, Eve—”

“He wouldn’t
renege with me, Reed,” she insisted. “For whatever reason, he wants me to trust
him. He’s going to fulfill his end of our agreement.”

“That’s not what
he said to you!”

“What he said
was that I’ll have to let the moves you and Sara made play out.”

“What he said,”
he retorted, “was that he can’t release what he doesn’t possess. A melodramatic
way to say he got what he wanted, and you’re on your own.”

“Or it’s a
roundabout way of saying someone stole from him.” Eve shot him a wry glance.
“Do you really think he’s just going to let that go?”

“He doesn’t need
you
to put Asmodeus in line.”

“Right. He just
needs to fulfill his end of the bargain. He gave me two choices—help you or
Sara with your plans, or leave the whole thing in the hands of God. But—” she
wagged a finger at him “—he knows I’m not a believer. He made a big deal out of
my agnosticism being one of the reasons he likes me. He appreciates my cynicism.”

“He’s always
trying to lure Marks to the dark side. He doesn’t
like
you. He doesn’t
give a shit about you, other than the fact that fucking with you fucks with a
lot of other people, too.”

She pressed on.
“I think his question was incomplete. I think what he was really saying is, ‘Will
you leave it in the hands of God. . . or
me.’
That was the basis of our
previous conversations. He says God isn’t going to give me what I need, but
he
will. This is his chance to prove it. I think he’s going to take it, if
only because he wants to knock Asmodeus down a notch in a major way.”

He gripped her
hands painfully tight. “You know.. . Marks spend their entire careers hoping
they never meet Sammael. But not you. No, you lack the self-preservation gene.”

She could feel
his fear for her in the connection between them. She was freaked out, too, but
things were getting out of hand—Gadara, the priest, Cain, the Nix, and Satan
running around as he pleased. It was time to set the world to rights.

Eve squeezed his
fingers. “Hank told me Satan’s using an emissary to be able to meet with me
face-to- face. We need to know who it is. I have a theory, and this is the way
to prove it.”

“What theory?”

“It’s too
dangerous to share until I know for sure.”

Reed’s jaw
tensed. “It’s Cain, isn’t it?”

“Just trust me,
okay. You get Asmodeus to show up, and we’ll see if the emissary passes the
news onto Satan so that
he
can show up.”

“You’re not
going to rest until I’m insane, right?” Tilting his head, Reed pressed his lips
to hers. The kiss started out short and sweet, but swiftly heated. When he
straightened, she made a small sound of protest.

“You owe me,” he
said. “Dinner. Hot dress. No underwear. High heels.”

“You’re a pig.”

“Can’t help it.
I think I’m in love. Why else would I agree to this shit?”

He shifted away
before she could reply. She sat there for a moment, considering. Another tall,
dark figure filled the doorway to her office.

Alec came in
with a mug of hot coffee and set it on her desk. From the café au lait
appearance, she knew he’d fixed it perfectly. From the look on his face, she
knew he’d heard Reed’s declaration.

“Good morning,”
he said.

“To you, too.”
She lifted the mug. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He
managed a ghost of a smile. “I thought I’d come over early. Get the day started.”

“You’re always
Welcome here.”

He moved to the
futon. “I followed your orders. Looks like I’m too valuable to kill.”

“I could have
told you that.” She smiled against the rim of her cup.

“But I would
lose the firm.”

Eve swallowed a
mouthful of perfectly creamed coffee, then set her mug down. “I’m sorry. I know
how much you wanted it.”

Alec sat back
and crossed his arms. “I want you, too. Can’t have both, so something’s got to
give.”

She knew what
that was like.

He sat with
widespread legs, his booted feet resting flat on the carpeted floor. His jeans
were worn in all the right places and the arms of his T-shirt stretched around
gorgeous biceps. He hadn’t aged a day in the ten years since she’d first seen
him.

“You’re not
upset?” She studied him for hints of underlying disappointment or frustration.

“You know I’m
not doing well with it,” he said gruffly. “I have to be collared like a dog to
get a grip on myself.”

“Did you talk
about that to whoever you went to see last night?”

Alec shook his
head.

“Why not?”

“I thought he
might change his mind and decide to knock me out of commission after all.”

Eve stood and
moved to sit beside him. She set her hand on his thigh. “What is it with men
not wanting to ask for help?”

“I’ve been
asking for years, angel. No one’s talking.” His foot tapped restlessly atop the
carpet. “For a long time there’s been speculation that my mother was unfaithful
and the result was me.”

“Do you believe
that?”

He glanced aside
at her. “You won’t tell me about the necklace, and I couldn’t get anything out
of my parents either. It’s never good when you can’t get answers. If there was
nothing to worry about, there’d be nothing to hide.”

“Alec.” She
squeezed his leg, which was like stone beneath her hand. “What are you thinking?”

“You said this
necklace suppresses Infernal traits, and the ugliness inside me shuts up when I
wear it. What does that tell you?”

“That you think
you’re half-demon?”

“It’s not like
my mom had a lot of choice in men back then,” he said dryly. He leaned into
her. “Maybe the ascension triggered some repressed asshole genetics. What if
they can’t be locked up again? Like Pandora’s Box or something. I’d be too
great a threat to keep around.”

Wrapping her
arms around him, Eve pressed her lips to his forehead. The scent of his skin
and the feel of him beside her was familiar and beloved. “I don’t know the
answer to your question.”

“I can see
that,” he said, reminding her that if she didn’t work actively to keep him out
of her mind he had free access to everything.

She pushed him
out, gently but firmly. “If there’s a story there, it’s not mine to tell. And I
don’t want secrets like that between us.”

Alec slid an arm
between her and the futon, then tugged her into his lap. “I don’t want
anything
between us. I want to fix us. You and me.”

“Are we broken?”

“Abel slipped
into a crack, so we must be.”

“You wanted this
promotion. My understanding is that you had to bargain for it, probably with
unfavorable terms for you. Don’t give it up for me. I want you to be happy.”

“I’m unhappy
without you. We’ll get Raguel back, and life will return to the way it was
before and I’ll be okay with that. More than okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.”

The phone rang.
Eve scrambled off his lap and returned to her desk, picking up the cordless
handset. “Hello?”

“Ms. Hollis.
Detective Ingram here.”

“Good morning,
Detective.”

“Your secretary
told me you wouldn’t be in the office today. It was your boyfriend’s car that
was in that big wreck yesterday on Harbor, right? Shortly after you left the
station?”

“His car was in
a wreck, yes. Fortunately, neither of us was in it and he has good insurance.”
She rushed forward, waylaying any further questions on the matter. “I know you
need the rest of my statement, but you still have my car.”

“If you’re up to
it, we’ll come to you. The first forty-eight hours after a disappearance are
crucial, Ms. Hollis. You might have information we can use and not realize it.”

“When would be a
good time for you?”

“My partner and
I could come by in about an hour and a half, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine.
See you then.” She hung up and returned the receiver to its base. She looked at
Alec. “Visitors in ninety minutes.”

“You couldn’t
put them off?”

“They’re all
over me. If I delay any longer, it might get ugly.”

Asmodeus had
already stated his desire for the cleanest extraction possible. If he was
coming, he’d wait until the coast was clear.

“Angel—”

Eve stood.
“You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

“I hate this,”
he growled, rising in a fluid ripple of power. “I hate not knowing when to duck.”

“You love it,”
she retorted, stepping close enough to set one hand on the taut muscles of his
abdomen. “Unpredictability is your forte.”

“I’ve had enough
of that the last few weeks.” Alec caught her hand and moved it over his heart.
“I’m ready for stability.”

“Haven’t you
noticed that I’m normalcy- challenged? Chaos reigns in my life. If I’m your
best shot at stability, you’re in trouble.”

He grinned.
“Don’t I know it.”

* * *

The police
arrived before an hour had passed. Eve suspected they’d done so as a way to
keep her unnerved.

Montevista and
Sydney rode the elevator down with her and Alec, but they separated on the
ground floor. The guards headed toward the open-air courtyard where the pool
was. Eve and Alec went to the glass entrance door and let the detectives in.

“I hope you
don’t mind that we’re early.” Jones said as they stepped into the foyer. He was
sporting an avocado green suit and the grimly assessing gaze she was getting
too familiar with. “We were in the neighborhood.”

Ingram shook Eve’s
hand with a palm made cold and wet by the chilled water bottle he carried. He
shot a sidelong glance at her when he greeted Alec the same way, betraying his
dubious view of her dual boyfriend situation.

“I see firemen
around the building,” Jones noted. “What’s going on?”

“Suspected gas
leak on one of the floors,” she lied, becoming irritated when her mark burned.

Is that
really necessary?
she complained,
with a glare sent skyward.
It’s a white lie.

“Should we go
somewhere else?” Ingram asked.

“My floor is
clear, but we can sit in the courtyard.” She gestured in that direction and
they moved ahead of her. She and Alec exchanged glances.

They gathered
around a circular glass patio table, one of the few that lacked an umbrella
since the temperature was cool and the sun warm. The pool was being topped off.
A small spigot released a stream of tap water, raising the water level. The
tinkling sound created a tranquil atmosphere. Eve deliberately chose a seat
that kept her back to a planter bordering a wall. Montevista and Sydney,
professionals that they were, were inconspicuous.

Jones was
lugging around the briefcase Eve had come to dread. He set it on the pebbled
cement and withdrew her unfinished statement. After pushing it across the table
toward her, he leaned back in the cushioned metal chair.

“I’ve been going
over our previous discussions,” he said.

Eve picked up
the pen he provided. “Yes?”

“And I think—”