Eve of Chaos (43 page)

There was a
length of silence as the archangels flipped through copies of the various
reports in search of unasked questions. Eve waited for queries about Ima or the
necklace, but they didn’t come.

Sydney raised
her hand, which raised one of Gadara’s brows.

“Yes, Ms. Sydney?”

She cleared her
throat. “Montevista. . . Did he get in?”

“He committed
suicide,” Sarakiel said.

“I
know
that.
What does that mean?” Sydney’s gaze darted across the screen, then shot to
Gadara. “Diego did it for us. To save us. To save us all.”

“I testified
highly for him, Ms. Sydney’ Gadara murmured.

“As did I’ Alec
said.

“That’s it?” She
looked at Eve and tears welled. “That’s all?”

“I think we are
finished here;’ Michael said. “If we have further questions, we can revisit
this discussion.”

Eve quickly
found herself in the hallway outside the conference room. Sydney hurried off,
her shoulders tight and her posture defensive. Sarakiel, Gadara, and Reed
lingered behind, speaking in harsh tones.

Hank was walking
up to Eve when Alec appeared beside her. He caught her elbow and asked, “Can it
wait, Hank?”

“Certainly.” The
occultist smiled. “Good to have you back, Cain.”

Alec grinned.
One blink later, Eve found herself standing in the midst of a city at night.
The sights, sounds, and smells were foreign and exotic. Her disorientation
lasted a moment, then she tugged free of Alec’s grip and smacked him in the
arm. “Don’t do that without telling me first!”

He caught her
about the waist. “Have you ever been to Cairo before?”

“Cairo,” she
repeated. “No, I can’t say I have.”

“There’s a first
time for everything.” The glint in his eyes told her he was thinking of a more
intimate first time between them. “Are you hungry?”

 
“When am I not these days?”

“Good.” He held
her hand and tugged her out of the shadows. “There’s a great restaurant up the
street I’ve been dying to take you to…”

***

Lilith stood in
front of the window with her back to him, dressed in white from head to
toe—turtleneck, slacks, and high-heeled boots. Her waist-length hair was so
pale that it blended in with the rest. As a whole, her sleek alabaster form was
a stark contrast to the greens and blues Sammael had determined would showcase
her to perfection.

The same snap of
his fingers that had wrought the instantaneous change in the color palette also
urged her to turn around. She spotted him and her entire demeanor changed. Her
shoulders went back and her stance widened. Defensively aggressive.

“Lilith’ Sammael
murmured. “How good of you to come so quickly.”

“As if I had a
choice,” she retorted, but her breathless tone gave her away.

He terrified
her. He could make her tremble and cry, cower and beg. And she loved it, which
gave him power she’d rather not cede. She’d been grateful when he tired of her
so many, many centuries ago.

Which begged the
question: what had possessed her to incite his wrath, when even his amusement
was a horror to her?

“You did have a
choice.” He moved to the chaise by the fire and sprawled across it. “You chose
to barter something of mine for your own gain. Which is why you are here now.
Had you chosen to barter something of your own, you would not be.”

Her chin lifted.
“You have something that belongs to me.
I
needed something of yours to
entice you to give it back.”

“Hmm” His mouth
curved. “You speak in near riddle. I need to punish you soon, so hurry up and
tell me what you wanted.”

Lilith
hesitated, her gaze darting about as if she was trapped, which she was. He
couldn’t allow anyone to steal from him. Such offenses had to be dealt with
harshly and swiftly, as he’d proven to Asmodeus.

“I want Awan.”

Surprise
reverberated through him, followed by a growing delight. “I had forgotten about
her.”

“I haven’t.”

“You
could have just asked me.”

She clasped her
hands behind her back. “I knew you wouldn’t give her to me.”

“Did you? And
you reached that conclusion
how?”

“Because,” she
pouted. “You’ve always made certain that I never get what I want.”

Sammael propped
his head on one hand and looked into the fire. “You think too highly of
yourself, if you believe I deny you for the simple pleasure of it.”

“Prove me wrong.”

He raked her
with an insolent glance. “Nothing about you gives me pleasure… except this
request.”

Lilith stood
frozen, then a look of wonder crossed her beautiful face. “You’ll recycle her?”

“Yes, but you
will not be seeing her for a while.” He breathed on his claws, then buffed them
across the settee’s velvet. “You see, a prison cell that has recently become
vacant must be filled.”

She inhaled
sharply.

 
“Come now,” Sammael crooned. “You have been
missed around here. You should have many visitors. Most will be very eager to
reacquaint themselves with you. And have no fear, I will not be one of them.”

He waved her
away. Two demons emerged from the shadows to take her by the arms.

“I hate you,”
she spat.

“My dear
Lilith.” Sammael laughed. “I really would not have it any other way.”

***

“Are you okay?”

Eve glanced up
as Reed straddled the picnic bench beside her. The ocean breeze ruffled his
hair, giving him the deliciously disarrayed look of a man fresh out of bed.
She’d only seen that look on him a few times, but it was a look she loved.

“I miss
Montevista,” she admitted. “And I’m angry about it. It’s not fair.”

“Babe...” The
frown on display above his Armani sunglasses betrayed his concern. “He’s in a
better place. Trust me.”

“Look at
Sydney.” She jerked her chin toward the sullen Mark who sat at a table near the
grill where Alec flipped burgers. “She was just starting to get her mojo back.
Now she’s back to square one.”

“This job is
rough.” Reed surreptitiously stroked the side of her pinky finger. “I worry
about what it’ll do to you.”

Eve worried,
too, which was why she’d brought her parents along today. They kept her
grounded. Her dad sat at a table with Kobe Denner and Ken Callaghan, one of her
marked training classmates. Her mom was working her way through the gathering
with a tray of mini sushi and her shockingly naughty sense of humor. If some of
the Marks were jealous that Eve still had her folks in her life, they weren’t
showing it today. Montevista was on everyone’s mind and grief trumped envy
every time.

“I’m going to go
sit with her,” Eve said, climbing off the bench. Reed came with her.

Sydney was
accepting a plate from Alec when they joined her. The grill he manned was
massive; large enough to cook hamburgers for a dozen oversized Mark appetites
at a time. It had taken a trailer to get it out here—a tailgate party done on a
Gadara Enterprises scale. Eve had mentioned her desire to do something for the
Marks who’d come under fire because of the bounty, and Ishamel had swiftly
taken it to the next level.

“Hey, you.” Alec
leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. “You feeling medium, or
medium-well today?”

She was about to
reply when the distant rumble of a Harley gave her pause. Pulling tendrils of
windblown hair out of her lip gloss, she watched through her sunglasses as a
platinum blonde on a hog maneuvered into the parking lot. Dressed in a black
leather halter vest and chaps, the rider drew every eye except for Alec’s.

The bike rolled
to a halt beside the trailer as Alec turned his head. The pretty blonde winked
at Eve. then blew a kiss at Alec.

The spatula in
his hand clattered onto the cement.

Eve looked at
Reed. “Who’s that?”

“Awan.” He
grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Cain’s wife.”

“Ex-wife,” Alec
correctly swiftly.

Awan licked her
lips and purred, “Hi, honey. I’m home.”

She was a lili.
The demonic green eyes gave her away. They were laser-bright and filled with
mischief.

Eve stood. This
was the mother of Alec’s children; the only progeny he would ever have. She had
a piece of him that no one else ever would.

Eve’s turmoil
must have reached Alec, because his fists clenched. Awan laughed. With a saucy
wave, the lili roared off as quickly as she’d appeared.

For a long
moment, no one said a word.

Then, Sydney
broke the tense silence. “Uh. . . I thought your wife was your sister.”

Alec snatched
the spatula off the ground and threw it into the back of the trailer. “My
father kicked Lilith to the curb long before I was born. There’s no relation
between me and her kids.”

Eve cleared her
throat. “Your c-children were half demon?”

His shoved his
hands through his thick hair. “One quarter demon.”

What could she
say to that?
Her mom walked up with an empty tray and a bright smile. “What a great party!”

Reed tapped his
steepled fingertips together and kept on grinning.

***

Tossing her bath
towel over the hamper, Eve left her bathroom. A quick glance at the clock told
her it was nearing eight o’clock in the evening. She pulled on her favorite
pajamas and shook out her damp hair, contemplating how best to spend her
evening. A feel- good movie while curled up on the couch sounded like heaven to
her. She usually preferred blow’em up action flicks, but she’d had enough
explosions for a while. Maybe
Becoming Jane
would do the trick or
something stupidly funny like
Blades of Glory.

She moved down
the hallway toward the kitchen, seeking comfort food. Hot coffee, maybe. And
something sweet. She deserved it after today.

Straight ahead,
the balcony door was closed. It was starting to get cold at night. Summer
slowly turning into autumn. What a year it had been so far. Last Christmas
she’d grumbled at RSVPing to the Weisenberg Group’s company party without a
date. Now, she had her dream job at Gadara Enterprises and two determined men
she couldn’t resist.

Admittedly, the
dream job was more of a nightmare and the two men were both in the off stage of
the on-and-off relationships she had with each of them, but she wasn’t going to
think about that now.

Eve was turning
into the kitchen when Stevie Nicks’s beautiful “Crystal” replaced the silence.
She stopped midstride. Then cautiously started forward again, continuing to
where the hall emptied into the living room.

On the coffee
table, a silver champagne bucket held a napkin-wrapped bottle next to two
half-full flutes. The man at her entertainment center felt her gaze and turned
to face her. Although he appeared casual and relaxed, his dark gaze was avid.

“Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.”

He approached,
picking up the glasses along the way. “I hope you don’t mind that I popped in.”

“You’re always
welcome. Nothing is going to change that.”

A cool flute was
pressed into her hand. She looked down, catching sight of something circular
glittering at the bottom. Her breath caught.

“I’m glad to
hear that.” he murmured with his warm fingers wrapped around hers. “Because I
have a question to ask you…”

THE SEVEN ARCHANGELS

1 These are the
names of the angels who watch.

2 Uriel, one of
the holy angels, who presides over clamor and terror.

3 Raphael, one
of the holy angels, who presides over the spirits of men.

4 Raguel, one of
the holy angels, who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries.

5
Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he that is
set over the best part of mankind and over chaos.

6 Sarakiel, one
of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit.

7 Gabriel, one
of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim.

8 Remiel, one of
the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.

—The Book of Enoch 20:1—8

THE CHRISTIAN HIERARCHY OF ANGELS

First Sphere:
Angels who function as guardians of
God’s

throne.

• Seraphim

• Cherubim

•
Ophanim/Thrones/Wheels
(Erelim)

Second Sphere:
Angels who function as governors.

•
Dominions/Leaders
(Hashmallim)