Eve of Darkness (23 page)

“Alec!” she yelled, kicking the demon and sending her skidding through the growing lake of water. Eve was sick of being wet. Totally sick of it.

The tengu slid into the fire and popped up a moment later, laughing. Alec threw his tengu into the other one, causing a collision that cracked off the leg of one and the arm of the other. The two collected their missing appendages and leaped into the fire.

Standing over the gushing water, Alec made the sign of the cross. “
Commixtio salis et aquæ pariter fiat in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.”

His voice rose in volume, the words rolling off his tongue in a richly nuanced incantation. Eve turned to the broken air conditioner, hoping her superstrength was fully operational. She grabbed the end of the broken water pipe and yanked hard, ripping a piece free. Wielding the section like a bat, she pivoted. “Joey” barreled toward her and she dispatched him with a home run hit that sent him flying over the lip of the roof. The pipe was ruined by the impact. She dropped it with a curse and searched for a replacement.

“Eve!” Alec barked as a tremendous crashing noise was heard from the street below. “We need one of them.”

She winced. “Sorry. Don’t know my own strength.”

The one-legged tengu shrieked and hopped after Eve in retaliation, wielding her broken-off leg like a club. Alec lashed out with a fist, but haste threw off his aim. He struck the beast’s rear lower flank, sending her into a tailspin. Her velocity increased, then she struck Eve, knocking Eve to her back.

The tengu landed on her thighs. Stone arms rose to brain Eve with the leg. Eve screamed and recoiled, shielding her head with her forearms. Braced for the beating, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Then a hideous stench roiled over her, turning her stomach and making her choke.

A roar filled the air, like the sound of a mighty waterfall. The ground slithered beneath her back, dragging her several feet. Her eyes flew open and she watched the scene unfold as if in slow motion.

The water surged into a tidal wave. An all-too-recognizable face emerged within the center of the liquid wall. The tengu shrieked and dropped the leg.

“She’s mine!” the Nix roared.

In a churning, foaming mass, the Nix swept the tengu over the edge of the roof.

And took Eve with it.

Alec!”

Eve tumbled inside the wave like a wiped-out surfer. Her back hit the edge of the brick safety surround and she flipped over the top, arms and legs flailing. Her fingers grappled for purchase, one digit breaking in the effort. Then she was falling, weighted down by the tengu that clung to one leg and the Nix that was wrapped around her entire body in a swirling vortex of water.

As the lip of the roof escaped her vision, an arm reached over and clasped her wrist in a viselike hold. She glanced up, watching how her momentum and gravity pulled Alec inexorably until he dangled from the waist. She screamed. Not from the fear of falling, although she was deathly afraid of heights, but for Alec, who appeared ready to tumble over the edge with her.

“You’re going to die,” she yelled at Alec, kicking madly at the screeching tengu. “Let me go!”

“No way.” He clutched at her with both hands.
“Deus, invictæ virtutis auctor, et insuperabilis imperii rex, ac semper magnificus triumphator—”

As Alec continued to speak, Eve flopped from side to side. Her shoulders creaked with the tremendous weight of the beings hanging on to her. Her arms felt on the verge of ripping from their sockets. She was fairly certain that would have happened already if she weren’t superhuman.

She looked down, aiming at the tengu’s eyes with the heel of her boot and kicking at her with all her might. Alec slid farther over the ledge, his hips the only anchor keeping them from free-falling four stories to the ground.

“Per Dominum nostrum!”
Alec roared.

The water exploded outward with teeth-rattling violence, knocking the tengu free and slamming Eve into the brick facade. Alec yanked her up and over the top with such force that they both landed in an ignoble sprawl of tangled limbs. From below, the reverberation of the crashing tengu caused a car alarm to wail.

“What the fuck happened?” she gasped, pushing her soaked hair out of her face.

Alec lay beneath her, laughing. “I asked for a blessing of the water. God made it holy and it kicked the Nix out.”

“How can you laugh?” She smacked his shoulder. “This job sucks. And we’re empty-handed.”

“We’re alive. And you were right.” He cupped the back of her neck and gave her a quick, hard kiss. She cried out at the unintentional jarring of her broken finger. He set her beside him, then sat up. Catching her hand, he looked it over. “Angel . . .”

She couldn’t look. Regardless of whether or not she was capable of physically vomiting, the thought of seeing her distorted finger made her sick.

“Come here,” he murmured. Bending forward, Alec took her mouth, first gently and sweetly, then deeper. So startled was she by the action and the first tendrils of desire that she failed to register his changed grip until he yanked her finger into place.

Eve screamed just as the door to the stairwell burst open and the two security guards rushed out to the roof. Slipping in the water, they skid several feet before falling on their asses.

“My life just keeps getting better,” she groused.

 
As Eve traversed the distance from the elevator in her condominium complex to her front door, she left a trail of droplets in her wake. From behind her, the sloshing of water in Alec’s boots was clearly audible. It had taken a direct phone call to Gadara to get them off the hook with security. That had taken longer than she would have liked. She couldn’t even think about the fact that he’d lagged on getting to the phone because he was schmoozing in Las Vegas while she waited sopping and sore: it pissed her off too much.

She was cold. She couldn’t shiver and her teeth didn’t rattle, but she was a Popsicle nevertheless. Her attire didn’t help matters. When wet, her sweater coat had weighed a ton. She’d been forced to take it, and her shirt, off. Unfortunately, the only garment she’d had in the car was a black leather trench coat. Paired with her black lace bra and low-rise jeans, she looked like a prostitute, which wasn’t conducive to improving her mood. Alec had tried to cheer her up, but finally realized that silence was wiser.

Eve looked at her once-broken finger. It was fully healed now, with no bruising or swelling to bear witness to the injury. If only her psyche could be set right so easily. There were some things a person shouldn’t have to experience. Tidal waves on roofs, attacks by ghoulish creatures, and being suspended fifty-three feet above the ground were some of them.

“Got your keys?” Alec asked.

“Yep.”

As they passed Mrs. Basso’s door, it opened. She took in their appearances with one wide, sweeping glance. “You look like drowned rats.”

“I feel like one,” Eve muttered, though she managed a tight smile.

“What the hell were you doing if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Uh . . . surfing?”

“With those clothes on?”

“It was spontaneous.”

Mrs. Basso looked at Alec, who shrugged. She shook her head. “Young people these days. I get worn out just thinking about your courtship rituals. Whatever happened to drugstore chocolate shakes and drive-in movies?”

Eve laughed softly. Mrs. Basso reminded her that life was normal for some people. She wanted to feel that way again, if only for a short time. “I’m worn out, too, so you’re not alone. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Mr. Cain,” Mrs. Basso said. “Could I talk to you a moment?”

Alec’s brows rose, but he nodded. “Sure. Let me get out of these clothes.”

“Of course.”

“Want to come over in about five minutes?”

Mrs. Basso glanced at Eve, who got the impression that she shouldn’t be around when Mrs. Basso talked to Alec.

“I’m going to take a long, hot bath,” Eve said, moving to her condo. It was ironic that she would want to sit in water after days of being soaked with it, but she couldn’t imagine a faster way to warm up.

Once she was inside the sanctity and comfort of her home, she began to strip her way down the hall. She opened the louvered doors that hid the laundry alcove and shoved her wet clothes into the washing machine. A low whistle turned her head. Alec stood at the end of the hallway where it emptied into the living room. If the heat of his gaze had been less than tangible, she might have been embarrassed at her blatant display of nakedness. She was certain Mrs. Basso’s likening of her appearance to a drowned rat was apt.

His voice came low and husky. “Your place has a great view.”

“You got a thing for wet rodents?”

“I’ve got a thing for you. Hot, wet, and naked.”

“Charmer.” Her voice was come-hither husky. “No way you can start and finish anything in less than five minutes.”

A slow, lazy smile curved his mouth. “I can make your bathwater safe.”

She sighed. “That’s not as sexy as what I was thinking.”

“Hold that thought.” He approached with the sultry stride she’d always drooled over. Catching her elbow, he led her through her bedroom to the bathroom, which was separated from the sleeping area by her closets. There, her sunken whirl pool tub waited to froth her worries away.

If only it could be so easy.

Alec plugged the drain, turned the taps, and blessed the water. Eve found herself swaying to the lulling cadence of his words.

“You better hop in,” he drawled when the tub was full and he was done, “before you fall asleep standing up.”

“Shouldn’t the mark cure exhaustion?”

“Sleep reminds us that we’re not invincible.”

“Whatever.”

He kissed the tip of her nose and cupped her bare breast. “You need to move out to the boonies,” he whispered, the pad of his thumb brushing over her taut nipple. “No meddling neighbors.”

“I’ll get right on that. But she’s not a meddler. She just worries.”

Smiling, he left her and she sank into the steaming water with a sigh of relief. The sight of the cross hanging off the adjacent showerhead made her grumpy so she closed her eyes. A few moments later she heard a knock at the front door, a sound that would have been impossible to detect before having her super hearing.

The vague whisper of subdued voices reached her ears. She concentrated hard, trying to hone in on the individual syllables. The Change was like putting a stethoscope to her ears.

“Mr. Basso saw it on TV one night a year or so ago,” Mrs. Basso was saying, “and he started a monthly subscription. Now that he’s gone, I have no use for them.”

“I don’t understand,” Alec murmured.

“Take the box.” Eve heard something rattle as it exchanged hands. “You’re a fit young man, but swimming with your clothes on at night . . . and that business in the carport . . .”

Mrs. Basso cleared her throat. “Oh, this is terrible. I should learn to leave well enough alone.”

Again the rattle came, like beans in a jar, and Eve frowned.

“Male enhancement?” Alec croaked.

Eve sat up so fast, water sloshed over the rim of the tub.

“The walls are thin,” Mrs. Basso muttered. “A couple nights ago . . . No man can keep that pace indefinitely.”

The silence from Alec was deafening. Eve bit her lip. He was speechless, and she was going to burst.

“You can’t be any more embarrassed than I am,” Mrs. Basso said. “Hear me out and I promise never to interfere again. Women with drive make the best wives, my late husband used to say. I know it can be exhausting, though, and intimidating. Just don’t give her up without a fight. Don’t give up, period. You’ll never find another girl like Evangeline.”

“I know.” Despite how low Alec’s voice was, Eve heard it clear as day. Her throat tightened and her eyes stung.

She grabbed her terry-cloth-covered inflatable headrest and leaned back with her eyes closed. Fact was, life wasn’t bad when you had good friends, which brought her best friend, Janice, to mind.

Eve hoped her trip to Europe was fulfilling its purpose. They had both spent a year bitching about feeling stagnant. First, they’d blamed it on a lack of good men. Then, they’d realized that was just a tried-and-true excuse for the real problem—themselves. Janice had decided a complete change of scene would give her a new perspective and as a bartender, she could easily take her livelihood with her. Eve had said her job prevented her from going, but that wasn’t entirely true. She just hadn’t known how to break the news to her parents, and the idea of backpacking seemed so far out of line with her desire to put down roots.

“Hey.” Alec’s voice penetrated her thoughts at the same moment she registered the shutting off of the spa jets.

She blinked sleepily up at him. “Hmm?”

“You have to get out, angel.” He reached for her. “You’ve been in here so long, your skin is pruning. Considering you’re a Mark, that’s saying something.”

“What?”

“You fell asleep.” He plucked her out of the deep tub as if she was a child, heedless of how her wet body soaked his boxers. He was naked otherwise, and mouthwatering. She knew she had to be half dead with exhaustion, because her super libido could only manage a slight twitch of interest.