Eve of Darkness

Reed nodded grimly. “Thank you.”



Of course it would have to be Sara. God forbid his task should be easy for him.



As he prepared to shift from his present location to her office, Reed steeled himself for the task ahead. She’d want his blood.



It was true. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.



It was a thirty-minute drive to Upland from Anaheim on a good day. To say the freeway traffic in Southern California was horrendous would be an understatement. Stop-and-go speeds added hours to most trips, and accidents often turned highways into parking lots.



Today wasn’t too bad because it was still early afternoon, not yet the time when most residents began their commutes home. Alec stared out the passenger window, the fingers of his left hand brushing back and forth over the denim that covered his knee. He was quiet, contemplative.



He and Eve had left Gadara Tower through the subterranean parking complex using a Jeep Liberty that belonged to Gadara Enterprises. He hoped that move would throw anyone following Eve’s car off the trail, which still sat in the street level parking lot. With suspicious cops and an overzealous Nix, they couldn’t be too careful.



Eve drove to a strip mall and parked. Exiting through the rear door of a nail salon, they walked up the road to a Hertz rental car agency and picked up new wheels. Alec paid with cash rather than a traceable credit card. Now they were settled in a Ford Focus whose satellite transponder wasn’t monitored by Raguel—at least not at present. The archangel would catch on eventually and when he did he would tap into Hertz’s tracking system. For now, however, they were off the radar.



Not a word passed between them during the exchange; there was nothing to say. Eve didn’t trust Raguel and Alec couldn’t defend him. The entire situation was fucked six ways to Sunday.



“He who is a hired hand,” he murmured, “and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.”



“What?” Eve asked.



Alec glanced at her. “John 10:12.”



“You’re calling Gadara the hired hand? You think he’s tossed us to the wolves, too?”



“I don’t know what to think, angel.” He leaned his head back against the headrest. “I’m having a hard time understanding how he can be so cavalier about something so important.”



“He doesn’t believe us,” she said flatly. “It’s either that, or he believes it and wants the shit to hit the fan. Any idea what reasoning he would have to allow that to happen?”



“No.”



Alec had never liked the archangels. Similar to children, they curried the favor of their father. They competed with their siblings in the hopes of outshining them. Marks and their mentors and handlers were simply a means to that end. That was why Alec had come to appreciate his autonomy; it kept him far beyond their machinations.



“And that whole ‘get your hands dirty’ excuse is crap,” Eve said crossly. “I’m not buying it.”



“I’m not either.”



“So what’s the point?” She looked at him. “What could he possibly gain beyond pissing you off?”



“Are you asking me, or just talking out loud?”



“Of course I’m asking you.” Her eyes went back to the road. They were traveling a respectable seventy-five miles per hour on Route 60. The windows were up so they didn’t have to shout, but the air conditioner was on. The chilled air ruffled through Eve’s hair, blowing loose tendrils from her ponytail across her cheek. She swiped at them impatiently. “You know what’s going on better than I do.”



“Not really,” he said dryly. “That’s the problem. I’ve never had a handler or worked within a firm. My orders come directly from Jehovah. I have no idea how to function within a framework. You and I are completely in the dark with this.”



“Okay, then. How would you handle this if you were on your own?”



Alec didn’t hesitate to answer, because he’d been thinking of his options ever since the night before. “I would set up camp in Upland. Infernals can smell me coming, so I would stake out the masonry and break in during off hours. Then I’d dig around.”



“Let’s go back to the smell thing.” Her fingers flexed on the steering wheel. “If I was omnipotent and I created a legion of warriors to fight on my behalf, I wouldn’t advertise them with a unique scent. I’d want to keep them hidden.”



“Deer smell the wolves coming. This hunt isn’t any different from what you see in the animal kingdom.”



“It’s like he’s giving them a chance to get away with whatever they’re doing.”



“The Lord has a strong sense of fair play.”



“Or a sick sense of humor.”



“Angel—”



“So let’s follow your plan,” she said quickly. “We’ll grab a hotel room, then stake out the masonry.”



His eyes closed. He reached out blindly to set his hand on her thigh. “We don’t have a choice. I’m sorry.”



Her hand settled over his much larger one. Eve was slender and delicate, far too precious to risk so pointlessly. “One step at a time.”



“You sound good,” he murmured. “Focused.”



“I know what we saw, or more aptly what we didn’t see.” Her voice flowed over his skin like sun-warmed honey. “I’ve never had aspirations of saving the world, but obviously I am not going to turn my back and pretend nothing is happening.”



Alec opened one eye and turned his head. “Don’t let what Raguel said get to you.”



“That’s easier said than done.” The corners of her mouth took on a downward curve. “He’s right. It’s one thing to be ignorant by accident; it is completely different to be ignorant by choice. I wanted to go to the damn movies, Alec, when all Hell has broken loose—literally. What is the matter with me?”



“I understand why you wanted some time alone today. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I could be normal for even an hour. That doesn’t make you a coward and it doesn’t make you wrong.”



“Doesn’t make me right either.”



Eve looked at him. The sadness in her eyes combined with the determined set of her jaw hit his gut like a blow. He was struck with the knowledge that more than one woman had died today. The young girl he had known and loved was gone, never to return. She had been ripped from her safe, orderly life and thrust into a world where demons hunted her and dear friends paid the price.



Scrubbing a hand over his face, Alec tried to hide his disquiet from Eve. As he mourned the loss of his first love, fury and frustration ate at him. In only a matter of days it had become too late to save her.



Yet it wasn’t too late to save the woman sitting beside him now, the woman holding his hand and suggesting she stand with him as he tackled an assignment unlike any he had ever faced before.



“This isn’t your fault, Alec.”



A dry laugh rasped from his throat. “Are you trying to comfort me? After what you’ve been through?”



“This hasn’t been easy on you either. You’ve given up a lot for me.”



He stood to gain a lot more. But she didn’t know that.



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man’s goddess was another man’s nightmare. Sara Kiel, however, was beautiful to all who saw her. Tall, willowy, yet fully curved, Sara was physically perfect in a way that plastic surgeons would sell their souls to replicate. There had been a time when the mere sight of her could make Reed’s blood heat dangerously. Now, he watched her with an indifferent eye, admiring her with only a vague interest.



“I find it nearly impossible to believe that Raguel has not acted on this information,” she said, pacing gracefully. She reminded him of a tigress—golden, lithe, predatory. “Perhaps he knows something that you do not.”



“Or perhaps he wants to keep the information as contained as possible,” Reed countered.



Sipping from a glass of icy water, he lounged on the golden velvet chaise in Sara’s Parisian office with one arm slung over the back. The head of the European firm of Marks was often assumed by theologians to be a male. They couldn’t be more wrong. Sarakiel was a woman in every sense of the word.



Today she wore a pinstriped pantsuit and tie, an ensemble that might have made some women look masculine. On Sara, it only emphasized her divinely enhanced femininity. Her pale blonde hair was pulled into a classic chignon and her face was devoid of the makeup that funded her firm. Sara Kiel Cosmetics was a worldwide phenomenon, with sales inspired by the unequaled face of its owner.



There had been a time when Reed thought they were exceptionally suited to one another, but that was long ago. He had become jaded enough to admit that an outward sense of style and a mutual fondness for rough sex was not enough of a foundation for any sort of lasting relationship.



“Raguel knows,” Reed continued, “that Cain is too much of a loner to approach anyone else for help and Evangeline is too green to do anything on her own.”



“Ah, the notorious Evangeline,” Sara cooed. “I plan to visit Raguel soon. I am dying of curiosity about Cain’s woman. In fact, I sent a team to California yesterday to prepare for my arrival.”



Notorious. Reed’s jaw tightened. “She’s just like any other woman.”



“Is she? She is the only thing besides blood that you have shared with your brother.” Sara’s smile turned brittle. “Tell me, mon chéri, what is it like fucking a woman who bears your mother’s name?”



“Who says I fucked her?”



“There is no way you could resist. And certainly she would not be able to refuse you.”



He shrugged.



Sara returned to the topic at hand. “I am certain Raguel expected you to keep the news quiet, because doing so places your brother in jeopardy.”



“Who knows what he thinks?” Reed dismissed.