Eve of Chaos (26 page)

Alec ran a hand
through his hair. “Get her out of here.”

Abel stood and shifted
to her side. He glanced at Alec. “You got these two?”

“Yeah. Go.”

Eve shook her
head. “I’m not going to—” She was shifted away midsentence by a touch of Abel’s
fingertips to her crown.

The silence that
followed their departure was brief.

Montevista
groaned and rolled to his side. Sydney gasped and lifted her head.

“Where’s
Hollis?” she asked.

Alec knelt
beside them. “Safe.”

But for how
long? The assault on the priest had been too bold. Why not just take Eve?

He placed a hand
on both Marks, and shifted with them to Gadara Tower.

“—leave them
here like. . . What the hell?” Eve snapped, lurching as Reed returned her to
her living room. “I hate when you do that with no warning!”

“Sorry, babe.”
Reed steadied her with gentle hands. “But you had to know we weren’t going to
leave you out there.”

She glared at
him. “And you have to know that I’m going to be worried sick until I know
they’re all right.”

“I’ll find out
for you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. The moment they connected, the realization
of how close he’d come to losing her hit him right between the eyes. His hands
tightened on her biceps. She made a soft noise of protest and he released her
hastily.

He stepped back,
retreating to a safe distance.

“Hey,” Eve said
softly. “It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t.
Not for him.

She tapped her
temple with her finger. “Keep me in the loop.”

He managed a
smile.
Of course,
he assured her. “Get comfortable. When I get back,
I’ll start that dinner I promised.”

Eve opened her
mouth to say something, but he shifted away quickly. He went to the
subterranean floors of the tower and leaned heavily against the wall. As Marks
and Infernals rushed past him in the busy hallway, he took a moment to pull
himself together.

Jerk,
she scolded.
I was going to ask f I should get
anything ready for you.

Just
yourself. I’ll manage the rest.

“Abel.”

Reed’s gaze
lifted to watch Hank—guised in the Jessica Rabbit/Morticia Addams
getup—approach with a sex-kittenish sway to her hips.

“Hey, Hank.”

“How are you?”
The note of elation in the occultist’s gruff voice was unmistakable.

“Not nearly as
good as you, sounds like.” Reed straightened. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been
experimenting with the mask. I think I’m onto something.”

“Oh?”

Hank grinned.
“When you’re free, stop by and I’ll show you.”

“Will do.”

Shaking off his
lingering disquiet, Reed set off toward the main reception area where he could
inquire about the location of Montevista and Sydney. He was several feet away
from the end of the hallway when Sara rounded the corner. He almost shifted
away, but she spotted him and delayed him with an extension of her hand.

“Mon chéri.”
She smiled. “Do not rush off just yet. I have good
news for you.”

Reed stood
stiffly as she lifted to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

“Take us to my
office,” she murmured.

He conceded to
her request only because he didn’t want any interaction between them to be
witnessed. As soon as they arrived, he pushed her away. “Make it quick.”

“You never
answer your cell phone;” she complained, with an affected pout. “If you did, I
would not have to waylay you in this manner.”

The excitement
on her face kept him around when he would have shifted. His arms crossed.
“You’ve got my attention now.”

“I was right.
About Iselda and Cain.”

He stilled. “Go
on.”

As she backed up
toward her desk, her smile was wide and girlish. “Let me show you instead.”

Picking up the
remote that waited there, she activated the screen that lowered over the lone window.
Her office was much smaller than Cain’s but more elegant. Sara preferred damask
over leather and multi- hued over monochromatic.

The lights
dimmed and the show began. Reed looked away halfway through. By the time it was
over, he was sitting with his back to the screen in one of the chairs
positioned in front of the desk.

Sara took a seat
with a rapacious gleam in her blue eyes. She turned off the feed with the
remote. The screen retracted and the lights came back on. “I saved a copy on a
jump drive for you. All you have to do is find a way for Evangeline to see it.
Then sit back and watch the sparks fly.”

“I’m not showing
that to her,” he said tightly.

Her smile faded.
“Why not?”

Reed’s foot
tapped a silent but rapid staccato on the carpet. If Eve saw that tape.. . His
jaw tightened. It hurt
him
to watch it, and he could give a shit about
Cain or Izzie. Physically, they’d looked to be having a good time. Mentally. .
. the depth of anguish on his brother’s face would be painful for anyone to
watch. Considering how deeply Eve cared for Cain, it would kill her.

“Damn you,” she
breathed. “You are protecting her.”

“It would hinder
our cause.”

Her gaze
narrowed. “How so?”

He considered
the best way to answer. “She came to me this afternoon, insisting that
something’s wrong with Cain. She asked me to look into it and see if the
ascension is responsible for his behavior. If she gets a look at that video,
she’ll be sympathetic and even more determined. It’ll have the opposite
effect.”

Sara’s manicured
fingertips drummed atop the carved wooden chair arms. “You think you know her
so well?”

“She’s my
charge. Of course I know her. Besides, it’s no longer necessary to split them
up. Cain did the deed himself earlier today?”

“C’est des
conneries!
Cain’s reactions are
separate from hers.
She
needs to cooperate. He will want her back
eventually and when that happens, we have to be sure that she will refuse him.
That will be his breaking point. Not this—” she gestured to where the screen
had been “—temporary insanity.”

“So,” he
murmured, “you see it, too.”

“He is fine now.
I saw him a few moments ago when he brought the two guards in.”

“Did we just
watch the same video?”

“Perhaps that is
just the way he likes to flick.”

“Now who’s
talking bullshit? What the hell is wrong with him? Is Eve right? Did the
ascension screw him up?”

“How would I
know?” she said crossly. “The rest of us were created as we are. Stop worrying
about Cain, and give me a better reason for why Evangeline should not see that
tape.”

“You know.. .“
Reed lounged, but stayed watchful. “Despite your animosity toward her, Eve
spoke on your behalf today.”

“Vraiment?”
Sara tried to sound nonchalant, but failed.

“I told her you
were a lying, self-centered bitch.” Rage shimmered in her eyes.

“I have never
lied to you.”

“You knew I
wanted to advance. You let me believe that you would help me do that.”

“You used me,
too.”

He heard the
bitterness in her tone and stood, rounding the desk with a deliberate stride.
“Eve suggested that maybe you didn’t help me not because you
wouldn’t,
but
because you
couldn’t?”

“I do not need
her to speak for me.” Sara swiveled her chair to face him and crossed her long
legs. The red pantsuit gave her a seductive, wicked edge. The wary look she
wore softened the image and reminded him that at one time he’d thought they
were perfect for one another.

Placing his
hands atop hers, Reed bent over her. She licked her lower lip and stared at his
throat.

“At first,” he
went on, “I thought she was being overly kind by attributing qualities to you
that you don’t have. But I have considered it a little more, and you know what
conclusion I’ve come to? I think you’d rather lose me than admit there’s
something you can’t do.”

Her shoulders pressed
more firmly against the seat back. “Did I ever really have you,
mon chéri?”

“For a while
there, you did. Because of that, you owe me the truth, Sara. If you’d wanted to
help me ascend.. . could you have? Or was it impossible?”

She swallowed,
then answered, “I wanted to help you.”

The knot in his
gut loosened. “Why didn’t you just point me in the right direction? Tell me to
go higher?”

“I went higher,”
she snapped. “I spoke with Jehovah himself. I had to hide the request from the
others. If Gabriel or Michael knew, they would stop me. But in the end, it was
pointless.”

“Why?” Reed
straightened. Running his hands through his hair, he asked, “Why was it
possible for Cain, but not for me?”

He moved away,
needing space, and heard her stand behind him.

“Think of that
game,” she said softly. “The one where you try and spot the things that are
missing from a second picture that were in the first. What is missing now, that
was here before?”

“Raguel.”
Rounding on her, he said, “He’s dead, isn’t he? That’s why none of you are
actively pursuing him.”

“Look on the
bright side,” she evaded. “Would you want to suffer like Cain is?”

“Cain’s issues
might be unique to him and you know it. And what if you’re all wrong? What if
Raguel is alive and we can get him back?”

Sara’s knuckles
whitened. “Then one of us would have to cede territory for the establishment of
a new firm.”

Reed moved to
the window. He stared out at the nocturnal cityscape, but didn’t register the
view.

Cede territory.
For the first time, he wondered if the archangels had cannibalized their
numbers. Survival of the fittest, perhaps. Could they be affecting Cain in some
way? Corrupting him? Pushing him into madness? Sara was supposed to be
mentoring him, yet she was actively working to sabotage him.

Even though Reed
had turned away from the screen when the video was on, he’d still heard
everything. Cain had spoken in tongues. They both knew every language ever
created, so that was not a surprise. It was the words themselves that chilled
him.

I command
you, unclean spirit, whoever you are, along with all your minions now attacking
this servant of God—
The Rite of Exorcism. While
fucking?
It was perverse, and so bizarre Reed couldn’t begin to guess why the words
were spoken.

Why did Azazel
take Riesgo and not Eve? Why would Cain break up with Eve—then turn to Izzie of
all people?

Cursing
inwardly, Reed knew that he could trust only a handful of people now. They all
had something they wanted, and were all ruthless about getting it.

Who could Cain
trust since he’d alienated Eve?

Reed smiled
grimly.
Their parents.

He was
surprisingly soothed by the thought. if Cain was aware of what was happening to
himself, he’d be working to fix it.

Fixing it. . .
Alienating Eve...

“Shit’ he
breathed, considering that Cain might have pushed Eve away not because he
didn’t care about her anymore, but because the reverse was true.

Reed looked over
his shoulder and met Sara’s gaze dead-on. “Find out who helped Cain ascend. I
don’t care how you do it, but make it quick.”

Sara nodded.
“What does this mean for us? You and me? Anything?”

She couldn’t
love him. He wasn’t sure why she bothered to act as if she cared.

“Not now.”
Withdrawing his cell phone from his pocket, he prepared to shift. “My phone is
on. Call me when you know something.”

He left to
search for his brother.

Sara stared at
the spot where Abel had been. There was something different about him, a change
profound enough to make a noticeable difference since she’d spoken to him in
Cain’s office that morning.

Suspecting it
was connected to Evangeline Hollis, she woke her computer and tapped out a
rapid series of keystrokes, pulling up the recorded feeds from the Mark’s home
made earlier in the day. She stiffened when she found what she’d been desperately
hoping she wouldn’t.

“Abel’ she
whispered, hating him with a passion that equaled her lust for him.

She forwarded
the video to Cain’s e-mail account.

For good
measure, she sent a copy of Cain’s video to Evangeline.

Then, smiling,
Sara left her office to set her backup plan in motion. If Abel didn’t have
balls enough to get things back to normal, she would simply have to do it
herself.