Eve of Chaos

“You think so? But I haven’t gone nearly as far as you have. For example, I haven’t yet offered to trade you to a king of Hell to be rid of you.”



Reed had to give her credit, she didn’t even blink.



“We match today, mon chéri. We look so good together. Perfect for one another.” Sara reached him and settled into his lap, her slim arms encircling his shoulders. “I would never wish to be rid of you.”



He caught her close and whispered, “I can’t say the same about you.”



An instant later, they occupied a sofa in Michael’s office. It was after six in the evening in Jerusalem, and the head of the Asian firm was literally on his way out the door when he spotted his visitors.



“Abel. Sarakiel.” The archangel paused and pushed his hands into the pockets of his Western business slacks. His voice was deeply resonant, powerful in a way even some seraphs never achieved. “I suggest you find another place to play your games.”



Reed pushed Sara unceremoniously onto the couch beside him and stood. He withdrew the jump drive he’d brought with him and tossed it. “Sara’s latest game is one you may not want her to continue playing.”



Michael caught the drive with a fluid outstretching of his arm. He looked at the item in his palm, then back at Reed. One dark brow arched in silent inquiry.



“It seems,” Reed explained, “that our lovely Sarakiel has taken to making deals with demons.”



Michael’s eyes shimmered with blue flame. He looked at Sara, who tilted her chin defiantly while tugging her skirt back into place.



Reed crossed his arms and prepared to enjoy the show. Then Eve hit him like a freight train. He stumbled from the blow.



“Gotta run,” he said.



Sara straightened. “You cannot leave me here! It will take at least a day to get back—”



He shifted away before she finished her sentence.



***



As Alec rolled out of his chair, Ingram yelled and reached into his jacket for his holstered gun. A bullet caught him in the back, exploding through his right shoulder in a shower of flesh and blood. His chair tumbled to the left. His arms flailed, then his skull hit the edge of a stucco planter with a sickening thud. He crumpled to the ground, still as death.



Eve slid under the table in a limbo like glide. Arching over the metal legs, she scrambled for Ingram’s gun. Her hand circled the grip and she yanked the weapon free of its shoulder holster. Another shot rang out and Jones jerked violently. He crashed headfirst into the tabletop, shattering the glass on impact. The slivers rained down on her, prickling across her bare arms and skittering along the patio.



A battle cry preceded the snapping deployment of Alec’s wings. He launched from the courtyard floor in a streak of ebony, his ascent propelled with such force that the downdraft shoved Eve into the planter.



As he targeted a marksman in an open third-floor window, she struggled to her knees. He disappeared into the building and a moment later, a horrendous scream cut off abruptly.



Sydney appeared at the end of the courtyard. She darted toward Eve, weaving around the obstacles between them. Bursts of green hellfire dotted the ground behind her, mimicking her footsteps and urging her to a faster pace. Montevista shouted and ran the length of the opposite side of the pool, deliberately drawing fire away from both Eve and his partner.



Eve scrambled out and upright, slipping in the blood pooling beneath Detective Jones. His body hung over the broken table, folded at the waist with his arms, torso, and head inverted inside the empty frame.



She hopped into the planter behind her and took cover behind a mature palm tree. Hugging the trunk, she aimed Ingram’s gun around it. Windows along the upper floor were dotted with demons. She and the two Mark guards were in a fishbowl, with enemies positioned all around the rim.



By clearing out the building to protect the mortals, they’d opened the entire complex to an Infernal infestation. Eve didn’t wonder how they’d gotten past the perimeter guards. She’d made it possible, after all.



Sydney jumped into the planter behind Eve, shielding her back with a flame-covered sword. Montevista was pinned behind a trash can, crouched low and holding two flameless daggers in his hands. He popped up occasionally, hurtling the weapons at strategic windows, then ducking to summon replacements for the next salvo.



“He’s covering us,” Eve bit out. “So we can get to the lobby.”



“On your count,” Sydney said. “We’ll make a run for it.”



Eve fought off the emotions she didn’t have time to feel and revealed the whole of her plan to her handler in one powerful surge of thought.



A massive shadow swept over the courtyard. Alec. Flying across the expanse from one window to another. Another scream rent the morning calm, followed by another trail of black as he darted back to the other side. Creating a canopy of sorts with his body, a barrier between her and the Infernals above.



As the Marks who’d been on watch on the Street joined the fray, flickers of flame could be seen behind many of the windows. Eve’s mark began to bum, pumping adrenaline and aggression like a cocktail through her veins. Her gaze met Sydney’s. On the silent count of three, they leaped out of the planter in unison.



“Not so fast.”



Eve turned. A three-headed. . . thing galloped toward her on mismatched animal limbs. She aimed and squeezed the trigger. It feinted fast as lightning, dodging the bullet before lunging. Eve was propelled into the pool, striking the water on her back. The massive demon pushed her beneath the surface, weighting her down in a rapid descent to the bottom.



The shock of the water caused Eve to drop the gun. The weapon hit the bottom with a muffled thud and skittered away. She couldn’t retrieve it while pinned nine feet down.



The necklace.



The moment the thought entered her mind, a shadow blotted the sun. An object struck the water and sank quickly. As Alec moved out of the way of the light, the gold chain glittered, catching a ray of sunshine. The necklace arrowed its way toward Eve as if she were a magnet.



The demon released her in a panicked scramble that tore flesh from her thigh, bolting from the pool like a missile. The amulet settled around her neck and she clawed her way upward, breaking through the surface with great, burning gasps.



“Hollis!”



Sydney stood at the pool edge, one shirt sleeve bloodied but the other arm extended. With a mark- fueled kick, Eve surged up and toward her, catching Sydney’s hand and gripping it tightly. The Mark hauled her out with a violent yank, dropping her on the ground in a bleeding, sputtering pile.



Eve gained her hands and knees, then ducked as a flame-covered dagger flew over her head. Her gaze lifted to Sydney’s, but the Mark was looking beyond her, tossing blades in a barrage.



Eve looked over her shoulder. A massive man stalked toward her, wet and naked, with dripping black hair and laser-bright red eyes.



One by one, he gripped the dagger hilts from where they protruded from his chest and ripped them free, stomping forward with a ferocious, relentless stride.



Alec swept down in a potent gust of wind, alighting on the path between them and roaring like a beast. Many beasts. A sound so fearsome the walls shook with it and the pool water sloshed up and over the rim in a wave.



She had the necklace. There was nothing reining him back now.



His thirty-foot wingspan refolded into his back as if it had never been. The demon hunkered down before quickening into a full-bore run, fisting bloodied daggers with upraised arms, blades leading the way.



His forward momentum was awesome, each footfall shaking the ground like aftershocks. Alec crouched, visibly braced for the impact.



“Cain!” the demon bellowed, leaping high and hurtling downward.



He was directly above Alec when he stopped abruptly, momentarily hovering before snapping backward as if retrieved by a rubber band.



The demon’s flight was halted by a brutal collision with something on the walkway. His body slid down, revealing Satan standing rigidly behind him. Claws formed from the Devil’s hands and dug deep into the demon’s torso, arresting the downward slide in a vicious semblance of an embrace.



Eve glanced at the detectives, but they lay unmoving. Were they both dead? Casualties of a war they didn’t know was being waged?



She looked back at Satan and found him staring at her.



“Took you long enough to step in,” she muttered.



Alec backed up in deliberate steps, forcing Eve to clamber to her feet to get out of his way. She was behind him one second, then tossed over Reed’s shoulder the next. “This was your plan?” he bit out.



He shifted her near a body lying prone on the ground.



Montevista. Felled like a cut tree with his eyes open and sightless. The whites swallowed by black.



“Damn it,” she breathed, hating that she’d been right. She grabbed the Mark’s shoulder and rolled him into her lap on his back. She brushed his dark hair back from his forehead and hunched over him protectively, linking her fingers with his and holding his hand to her chest. Alec shifted Sydney over a split-second later.



From their position on the opposite side of the pool, she watched in horror as Satan reaffirmed his dominance.



“You want what’s mine, Asmodeus?” the Devil hissed. His claws rent through the demon’s torso, eliciting screams so agonized tears came to Eve’s eyes. Through the lacerations in his mortal skin, Asmodeus’s true shape could be seen. The monstrous many-limbed body writhed and sizzled within the torn flesh. Smoke poured from the widening cavity and filled the air with the stench of rotten soul.



“It will cost you,” Satan crooned with his lips to the demon’s ear as if they were lovers.



The Prince of Hell threw the decimated body into the swimming pool like rubbish. The water shuddered in response, bubbling red and churning, boiling and hissing steam. A geyser erupted from the center, spewing into the air in a twenty-foot tower.



Eve looked at Satan, who smiled his gorgeous smile. Dressed in black velvet vest and pants, he was classically and elegantly beautiful.



Something flitted across his features. A wince, then widened eyes. He clutched at his chest, hunching over with a groan.