Eve of Chaos (25 page)

 
“What?” Eve hoped she was having a nightmare.
“Where are we?”

“Come now’ he
chastised, “your marked hearing works well enough to have heard me.”

He ignored her other
question. Was she in Hell? Or some other plane of existence? Her mind whirled
with the possibilities.

She turned
slowly, keeping pace with him as he circled her so that he never had her back.
“You want
Eve?”

He applauded as
if she was slow-witted and finally catching on. “Very good.”

Eve hated that
he moved so elegantly. Hated that he was so beautiful, so seductive, so much
more of both qualities in the light of the desert sun than he’d been under the
artificial brightness of the stadium lights. She was mesmerized by him, enough
that she sometimes lost touch with how terrified she was. It was a trick of
some sort, an illusion.

“She’s dead,”
she managed finally, her voice raspy from the dry air.

“And what is
death, Evangeline?” Satan continued his slow, steady walk around her perimeter
with hands clasped beneath his wings. “Mortals think of it as the end, like an
extinguished flame. But that is not the way of it. The worthy come to me, the
unworthy go to Jehovah. They all continue to exist, just in different places.”

“Don’t you have
that ‘worthy’ thing backward?”

He shook his
head. “I expected better of you. You are too intelligent to buy into Jehovah’s
lies. In fact, I was quite impressed with your argument regarding the wager.
How astute you are.”

Eve didn’t know
what to say. In her mind, she imagined that God must be every bit as
frightening as Satan. Who was the good guy? Were there any good guys in this
mess?

The Devil
watched her with a predatory intensity. “I confess, I regret that I was not the
first to get my hands on you.”

“I don’t feel
the same,” she muttered. “And I don’t see how I can help you.”

“You have
everything you need in that eager flesh between your legs.” His words were
crude, but his tone was conversational. “Spread them well enough, moan loud
enough, beg sweetly enough. . . Cain and Abel will give you whatever you want.”

“They’re not
going to give me their mother!”

Why were they so
damn silent? Had Satan cut her off from them? Was he powerful enough to impede
a God-given connection?

He gave an
offhanded shrug. “They can lead you to her, and you can lead her to me.”

 
“What
do you want with her?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“You’re asking the impossible.”

“I will give her back,” he said solicitously.
“I just want to borrow her for a short time.”

Eve’s eyes stung. Riesgo had been taken
because of her. She couldn’t abandon him and she couldn’t turn down an
opportunity to get close to Gadara. She also couldn’t do what Satan wanted in
return. Either way, she was seriously fucked. “I can’t trust you.”

“Can you trust anyone?”

He had a point.

“Evangeline, I have no need for lies. The
truth works well enough. Remember that I am not the one who created man and wanted
to keep him ignorant. I am not the one who commanded Abraham to kill his only
son to prove his devotion. I am not the one who burned, drowned, and buried
alive hundreds of thousands of mortals. I am not the one who demanded a man be
stoned to death because he collected wood on the day set aside for slavish
worship.” His head tilted slightly. “Did you know Jehovah almost killed Moses
because his son was not circumcised? Yet
I
am the monster?”

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 fingers 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?”