Eve of Chaos (39 page)

“Hmn. The
necklace might do the trick.”

Eve sat back.
“You think?”

“It’s a
possibility.”

“Okay, next
question. What happens to mortals who see things they shouldn’t?”

Hank’s
fingertips rubbed back and forth along a deep groove in the table. “Depends on
how credible the witness is and what proof they have, if any. It’s impossible
to say until it happens. You’ll have to take your chances.”

Ishamel picked
up a glass and swallowed tea in great big gulps. When he finished, he wiped his
mouth with the back of his hand and asked, “It just so happens that I might
have a use for a Nix attractant. You wouldn’t happen to have one, would you?”

“Why, yes.” Hank
smiled wide. “I have one. Glad you can use it, since our firm leader ordered me
not to give it to Evangeline.”

Fred reappeared
with a lovely green glass atomizer bottle, which she set down in front of
Ishamel. Eve studied the lili while she was close, looking beneath the
cosmetics to the delicate features beneath. Eve wondered how closely Fred
resembled her mother. She was a very pretty girl, with a delicate deportment
that effectively hid the nature of the beast within.

“Thank you,”
Ishamel said.

Eve’s lips
pursed.

“What troubles
you?” Hank asked.

“Would Lilith
have a reason for wanting to get her hands on Abel?”

Ishamel stared
hard at her. “You assume she is interested in him. Why not assume her
motivation is the resulting gain? I see him as a means to an end.”

“Perhaps it’s
you
she wants,” Hank suggested, catching up on the conversation by reading
Eve’s thoughts. “Perhaps she views you as a surrogate Eve, beloved wife of
Adam. She hates both of them with a passion.”

“Let’s skip that
avenue for now’ Eve said. “It’s a dead end. Lilith would either kill me or
torture me. Either way, end of story. But if she had Abel, what would she do
with him? Keep him or trade him, right? If she kept him, why? And if she traded
him, what would she trade him for? What does Satan have that she might want?”

Ishamel laughed,
a rusty unused sound. “Lilith wants everything. And she’s had pretty much
everything in Hell in her bed at some point or another. The earth is a
playground to her.”

Eve looked at
Hank, who tossed up his hands in a clueless gesture. “Ishamel’s right. Lilith
wants everything.”

“My mother.”
Fred said, lingering at the edge of the circle of light that hung over the
table, “is motivated by boredom. She does things for odd reasons and oftentimes
for no reason at all. I gave up trying to figure her out.”

“All right.” Eve
stood and yawned. “Thank you both for your help.”

Ishamel stood
along with her. Hank remained seated.

“You’re
determined to jump the gun and set this off tomorrow?” the occultist asked.

“I’m just
setting the stage.” Her smile was grim. “Whether the show starts or not.. . We’ll
have to wait and see.”

“Don’t get
yourself killed. I want to see you again”

Eve gave him a
mock salute.

“Good luck”, Fred
said.

“Thanks. We’re
going to need it.”

It was a little
past seven in the morning when Eve left her bedroom and moved down the hallway
to the living room. She checked on Montevista, usually the first one awake
while on watch, but presently the last one still sleeping. Sydney sat at the
kitchen island in a pale blue bathrobe and red slippers reading the newspaper
report of the Lamborghini wreck.

“Coffee?” Eve
asked, as she opened the freezer to grab the beans.

“Sure.” The Mark
smiled. “I love how normal you are.”

Eve snorted.
“This is normal? Shoot me now.”

Sydney abandoned
the newspaper. “When I was first marked, I didn’t know how to take it. It
seemed like such a huge responsibility to be a warrior for God. And everything
was so different. I used to love coffee. I drank it all day. But I gave it up,
thinking there was no point anymore since I couldn’t feel the buzz from the
caffeine. Because I changed so many things about my life, I felt like a
stranger in my own skin for a long time.”

Knowing that
feeling all too well, Eve nodded.

“Look on the
bright side, that dedication makes you a much better Mark than I am. I want to
be you when I grow up.”

Sydney slid off
the stool and moved to the cupboard. She grabbed three mugs. “I’m hoping to be
more like you.”

“Bad with a
sword and accident prone?”

“Shut up.
Killing things is just
part
of the job, not
all
of it. I actually
think your agnosticism gives you an advantage. You don’t take anything at face
value, so you see things the rest of us don’t. Since I met you, I’ve been
trying to reconnect with the things that used to define me. I bought
bookshelves last weekend and an outrageously expensive coffee station the week
before that. Sounds like nothing, I know—”

“No, I get it.
You’re building a future instead of living day to day. And you’re letting
yourself have fun with your life. Good for you.”

“Thanks.” Sydney
set the mugs on the counter. “I’m much happier now that you’ve rubbed off on me.”

Eve bumped
shoulders with her. “Here’s to hoping some of your kick-ass qualities rub off
on
me.”

There was a beat
of silence as Eve poured the beans into the grinder, then Sydney whispered, “I
guess the new me is more attractive, too. I’ve been working with Diego a long
time and he’s never paid any attention to me as a woman. In fact, he once said
I wasn’t his type.”

“I’d say that’s
changed.”

“You noticed it,
too?” Sydney’s eyes had a sparkle that warmed Eve’s heart. She liked both
Marks, and wanted them to be happy.

“Totally. He’s
got it bad.” Eve decided it was as good a time as any to broach a sensitive
topic. “Hey, do me a favor. Keep an especially close eye on him. I think he’s
too proud to admit that he’s not up to full speed yet.”

“Already on it.”

“Of course you
would be. You rock.”

Pressing on the
lid of the grinder, Eve turned the beans into fresh grounds. When she let go
and the racket died down, Montevista was clearly heard stirring on the couch.

“Time to get up,
sleepyhead,” Sydney called out, moving toward the living room. “We have to
clear the residents out of the building.”

Eve turned the
coffeepot on and washed her hands. Part of the plan she’d passed on to
Montevista included informing all the condo residents of a suspected (and
fictitious) gas leak. The Marks who’d been running guard duty around the perimeter
were gearing up to pose as local utility inspectors and firemen. In order to
keep the complaints down, Ishamel had arranged for Gadara Enterprises to foot
the bill for a local hotel stay and two-hour gondola rides. The last thing any
of them wanted was to catch some mortals in the crosshairs. Better to be safe
than sorry.

Moving to her
office, Eve sent an e-mail to her secretary, telling Candace that she wouldn’t
be coming in today. She would wait another hour, then call the detectives and
let them know. With her schedule set, she leaned back in her chair and stared
up at the ceiling.

What would
Gadara be like when he returned? He’d been gone so long.. . And Riesgo. How
would he be? Her heart ached for the both of them and what they must have
endured.

“So . .

Eve lifted her
head and discovered Reed in the doorway. “Hi.”

“I’m still
trying to decide how I should feel about sleeping alone last night.”

“We don’t live
together.”

He entered and
took a seat on the futon. His shirt was a deep red, perfectly pressed and left
open at the throat. Paired with black slacks and his dark hair, it was edgy in
a way that made her toes curl.

“So Cain calms
down a bit.” he said tightly, “and you throw me over, is that it?”

“No. That’s not
it.”

“Am I your dirty
little secret now, babe?” His dark eyes were hard and cold. “Are you going to
pretend that we didn’t happen?”

“I’m going to
pretend that you’re not insulting me now. I’m going to convince myself that
it’s because you like me so much that you’re being an asshole.”

“Are you going
to tell Cain about us?”

“I already did.
Well, I tried to,” she amended. “He didn’t want to hear it, but he knows.”

Reed’s entire
mien changed, softening to the point that it made her breath catch. He was as
vulnerable in that moment as he’d been with her in bed. It was somehow more
intimate with them both fully clothed and a room’s length away from each other.

“Is it over
between you?” he asked.

“Honestly?” She
rubbed her palms over the arms of her chair. “I don’t think it’ll ever be over.
I’m in love with him. I’ve been in love with him forever.”

Nodding slowly,
Reed’s gaze remained on her but it was distant. Unfocused.

“Thing is,” she
continued, “I’m pretty sure that I’m halfway in love with you, too.”

He stiffened,
now tensely alert. “Go on.”

“I have no idea
how that’s even possible, but there it is. I know you’re not good for me.
You’re needy and self-centered—”

“Eve. .

“—but I crave
you like chocolate.”

“And what do you
think Cain is?” he snapped. “Healthy for you? Gimme a fucking break.”

“He’s
heaithier
but I have a sweet tooth. That doesn’t mean you’re my guilty pleasure, so
don’t take it that way.”

“You don’t know
what you’re doing.”

“I know I can’t
have both of you. And I can’t choose between you. I guess that leaves me with
having neither of you.”

“Fuck that,” he
retorted without heat. “I’ve got you right where I want you now.”

“Is that so?”
Eve tried to hold back a smile, but felt her lips twitching anyway.

“Oh, yeah.”
Standing, Reed came toward her. He leaned over her and pressed his lips to her
forehead. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

He retreated
enough to meet her gaze. “For everything, really. Most especially for not
castrating me for offering to send you to Hell. You say you don’t trust me, but
you couldn’t prove more clearly that you do.”

 
“What’s your plan anyway? Get everyone here
tomorrow, then what? The way I understand it, you’d have to go into the trade
assuming they let Riesgo and Gadara escape. You know better than to trust a
demon.”

Reed’s mouth
curved in a slow, smug smile. “Ah, but they don’t know better than to trust me.
That’s the beauty of it. Asmodeus is worth a lot to Sammael. He’s one of only
seven kings in Hell. Once Asmodeus makes sure you and Cain are here on the
premises, he won’t be able to resist trying to nab you. He can only see things
from his perspective, and to him it must be a potent temptation to get rid of
Cain. It won’t even enter his head to think I’ll double-cross him and take him
prisoner instead.”

“And if things
go to shit, then what?”

“Cain would be
with you to protect you. For all his fuck-ups, I’m sure that when push comes to
shove, he’s got your back. And I’m confident that Sammael won’t kill him.

“That is
not
what
you were thinking when you offered him.”

Reed winked.
“Prove it.”

“Well, if
Sarakiel has her way, you’ll be there to protect me, too.”

He straightened
abruptly. “Sara?”

Eve explained
about the tape of Sarakiel’s meeting with Asmodeus. “My guess is, Asmodeus is
gambling that he can take all three of us at once. With Sara’s help, why not?”

“One day, you’re
telling me you think she loves me. The next, you say she wants me burning in
Hell.”

“It’s because
she loves you that she wants you to burn in Hell.”