Eve of Chaos (19 page)

The shower came
on. Eve’s room was large, with vaulted ceilings and a door-less entry to the
bathroom that was several feet wide.

How long were
you with her?
she asked.

Reed slid out of
bed and followed her into the bathroom. “I know what you’re thinking, and it
wasn’t like that.”

He found Eve
standing with eyes closed and head tilted back beneath a massive showerhead.
The shower stall had been built with no door and only a slender floating glass
partition, which afforded him an unobstructed view of every inch of her.

What
was
it like, then?
she rejoined.

“A waste of
time.”

Eve straightened
and wiped the water from her eyelashes. “Some relationships end with feelings
like that, but they rarely begin with them.”

“I wouldn’t
know. I don’t do relationships.”

“Was she that
good in the sack?” She posed the question casually, but he sensed that her
interest in the answer was far from it.

“She was
convenient. No dating, no wooing, no foreplay. The less I cared about her pleasure,
the more she liked it.”

“Maybe because
she cares about you.”

Reed laughed.
“She’s an archangel, remember? There’s barely enough room in her heart for
God.”

“I’m not
kidding. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

“She wants my
cock. That’s not caring by any definition.”

Eve squirted
apple-scented soap into her palm and shot him a wry glance. “I know some men
have fantasies about penis-starved women, but that’s a bit much.”

He leaned his
hip into the counter and crossed his arms, watching her shampooing her long
hair with avid interest “That’s not what you were moaning thirty minutes ago.”

She paused long
enough to throw a loofah at him. Catching it neatly, he straightened and
approached her.

“I asked Sara to
do something for me,” he told her. “She strung me along for years before
admitting that she wasn’t going to follow through.”

“Maybe she
couldn’t
follow through.”

Reed tossed the
loofah back at her, then caught her hips and spun her out of the shower spray.

“Hey!” she
protested, as he stepped under the water. “The point is that she knew she
wasn’t going to help me. She just led me to believe otherwise.” Shaking out his
wet hair, he ceded the shower back to her and reached for her shampoo.

“I thought
archangels didn’t lie.”

He paused a second,
as if considering that, then began scrubbing his hair. “Why are we talking
about this?”

“I want to learn
more about you.” Shrugging, she began scrubbing at her skin, turning it a
lovely shade of soft pink.

“Then why are
you asking questions about someone else?”

“Fine. I’ll ask
a question about you: what did you want her to do for you?”

His hands moved
from his chest to hers. The look she gave him said she wouldn’t be distracted.

“It’s not
important now,” he said.

Suddenly, she smacked
him on the shoulder. “I was right,” she crowed. “You
do
want to be an
archangel.”

Reed growled and
tugged her soapy body against his. “I stayed out of your brain. You have no
business digging around in mine.”

“You
thought of it. It just popped into my head.” It hit
him that their newfound intimacy might open pathways he’d prefer stay closed.

As if she caught
his reluctance, Eve frowned. “What’s the big deal anyway?”

He felt her
begin to pull back, both physically and emotionally. His fingers flexed into
her buttocks.

“It’s a lofty
ambition,” he explained tightly, knowing that he was going to have to open up
at least a little if he hoped to keep her. “Not one you want to advertise.”

“I can
understand that. But you trusted Sara with it. When I asked you about it
before, you blew me off.”

Bending at the
knees, Reed fit his frame more perfectly to hers. “You share thoughts with my
brother, babe.”

“Why would he
care if you want to be promoted?”

His jaw
clenched. Talking about himself was one of his least favorite things to do. “In
the past,” he said carefully, “if Cain knew I wanted something, he would
usually get it first.”

“Oh.” Her arms
came around him and the loofah in her hand scratched his back deliciously.

“Scrub my back?”
he asked, kissing her forehead.

“Keep talking?”
she dickered.

“There are more
enjoyable ways to pay you in kind.”

“Deal or no
deal?”

Grumbling at his
inability to tell her no, he altered their positions so that she could stay
warm beneath the water while he stood outside of it. As she ran the loofah over
his skin, she asked, “Do you think Alec will interfere with your advancement
now? He’s already been promoted.”

“Yes, I think
he’d get in the way. He’s better at killing things, but that’s the only thing
he’s better at. He knows I’d surpass him.”

Eve’s movements
slowed, then stopped altogether. He waited, then looked over his shoulder.

Her gaze met
his. “You said you think he secured the endorsement he needed with a bargain.”

“I do. Hasn’t he
proven that’s the way he works? He bargained with God to mentor you. He
bargained with Grimshaw to get to you at the masonry. He bargained to resurrect
you after Asmodeus’s dragon killed you. Cain will break any rule, and he’s in
demand. Others barter with him to accomplish tasks they’re afraid to do
themselves.”

“The way you
bargained with Sara to get her guards to help me in Upland?”

Reed froze.
How
much did she know about
that
transaction?
“Is that what
you were digging around for earlier?”

Her gaze
lowered. “Did I get it wrong? Did you do it for her?”

He swallowed
hard, relieved by her apparent ignorance of his prostitution and terrified by
the sudden expectation between them. It felt like a turning point and he wasn’t
ready for it yet. Didn’t know how to get ready for it. “Not for her,” he
managed, finally.

The grateful
kiss she pressed to the wet skin of his biceps made him look away before she
saw whatever his face might reveal. She could bring him to his knees with a
look. It would be best if she didn’t know that.

She cleared her
throat. “It would have to be a seraph who helped your brother, right? They’re
the only ones who have the ear of God.”

“Not the only
ones, no. The cherubim and thrones are also near Him. But the thrones are humble
angels. They lack the ambition to strike a devil’s bargain with Cain.”

Eve held up both
hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not in the right frame of mind to have a
lesson on the hierarchy of angels.”

“Good’ He
gestured at his back and gave her his best smile. “Please?”

As Eve resumed
scrubbing, Reed faced forward. “I’m really worried about Gadara,” she murmured.
“It’s driving me crazy that everyone seems to have written him off. I want
people running around, pushing for answers, hitting the pavement.
. .
something.”

He nodded.

“I have an
idea.”

Reed tensed at
Eve’s tone, which held a note of reluctance, as if she knew in advance that
what she was going to say would cause an unpleasant reaction. “What?”

“We want Gadara.
Satan wants me. Why don’t we offer a trade?”

He froze. His
chest lifted and fell in normal rhythm, but his heart raced. It shouldn’t. He
wasn’t aroused; he was horrified. “Are you insane?”

“Maybe.
Probably.”

Facing her, he
caught her by the hips. “No fucking way.”

“Come on.” Her
gaze was forthright and earnest. “If we put our heads together we can figure
out a way to pull it off without one of us getting killed.”

“Helllloooo?
Earth to Eve. This is Sammael we’re talking about. Aside from Jehovah, nothing
exists that can defeat him.”

Her jaw took on
a stubborn cant. “I’m not talking about defeating him. I’m talking about
tricking him.”

He shook her.
“And what do you think he’s going to do when all is said and done? He’s already
set a bounty on your head!”

“If he really
wanted me dead, I’d be dead.”

Convoluted logic
or not, she had a point. Still, the risk she was willing to take made Reed’s
gut churn. “He likes to play with his kills,” he bit out. “That’s all.”

“Just think
about it.”

“No”

“It’s the only
option we’ve got!”

“Bullshit.” He
had a much better trade in mind, but she wasn’t going to like the terms. “It’s
not an option at all.”

Eve opened her
mouth to argue, but he sealed his lips over hers and shut her up.

“I’ll cook
dinner tonight,” Reed offered. “And no, it won’t be Kung Pao chicken.”

Eve finished
pulling a T-shirt over her head, then glanced at him. His head was down, his
eyes on his belt buckle as he fastened it. Perfectly polished, as usual. She
took a good long look at him, appreciating his elegance even more for its
artlessness. He hadn’t primped when he exited the shower; didn’t even glance at
the mirror. A quick run of his hands through his hair was all that was needed
due to the precision of his cut.

This was what
she’d once thought her married life would be like. Great sex. Showering
together before work. A man she couldn’t get enough of looking at. She was
turned on by the dichotomy of Reed’s present composure contrasted against his
fervency in bed and the heat with which he’d rejected her suggestion of a trade
for Gadara.

Even knowing
that he wanted to advance to archangel and lose whatever feelings he had for
her, she still wanted him.

Eve sighed. It
had been clear from the beginning that she’d never be able to keep either
brother. Their purpose was infinite, hers was finite. She didn’t want to hold
either of them back and she wasn’t willing to give up her own dreams of
normalcy, which meant it was up to her to keep her heart out of it.

Reed was
reaching for his watch on the nightstand when he caught her staring. He paused,
his previously absorbed expression changing to one of bemusement. He really had
no idea what to make of her, and that told her that whatever she was to him, it
was unique.

She licked her
lower lip and watched his breathing quicken.

“Got a minute?”
she asked breathlessly.

His slow smile
made her toes curl. “I’ve got all the time you need.”

*
* *

“What the hell
am I looking at?” Alec asked, straightening from the microscope.

Hank smiled. “The
reason for your tengu friend’s doci1e behavior.”

“Explain.”

“The mask
suppresses aspects of Infernal genetic makeup, hence the reason for the change
in their scent and skin. I just adjusted the spell they used to alter emotions
instead. Think of it as Valium for demons.”

“But it requires
the same materials?”

“Yes.”

Alec made an
aggravated noise. The masking agent had been made with Mark blood and bone.
They had a limited stockpile that they’d confiscated from the masomy in Upland,
but once it was gone, there was no way to get more aside from killing Marks.
“Does it wear
off?”

“Don’t know yet,
but I would be surprised if it didn’t.” Hank gestured to the right and a sudden
light illuminated a kennel that contained the tengu. “I chipped a piece off his
heel and ran some tests. The masking agent was mixed with the cement. That
might have been the inspiration for the creation of the hell- hounds.”

“But even though
the mask was built into the tengu, you could still change its purpose?”

“The materials in
the tengu are immutable, but the magic isn’t. The damned creature was a
nuisance, so I cast a spell on it and—” Hank pointed at the tengu, “—that’s
what happened. So I began playing with the formula to see what variations I
could come up with.”

A movement by
the cage drew Alec’s gaze. Fred stood to the side, taking notes.

“It’s
interesting,” Alec conceded, looking back at Hank. “And Valium for demons could
come in handy, but considering the limited quantities of supplies, I don’t see
it being viable.”

“It’s the first
time anyone has subdued an Infernal’s base nature,” Hank huffed, clearly
affronted.

Alec patted her
on the shoulder. “Great job. Now…
can you make me something I can use? An antidote to the mask? A mask
for Marks that uses Infernal ash instead of Mark blood? Something along those
lines?”

“Those are not
the same lines. They are two very different things.”