Eve of Darkness

Her hands went to his waist and he released her, backing up. He pulled on his coat and waistcoat, then slipped on his shoes. “Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be.”



“It could be wonderfully simple,” Sara said. “We could work together.”



Reed paused in the act of buttoning his vest. Why would she offer help now when she wouldn’t before? “Doing what?”



“Getting Cain away from Raguel.” Her arms crossed. “It would leave the field open for you.”



Cain. Of course. Reed’s jaw clenched. Raguel would no longer have such a heavy advantage over Sara without him.



“I’ll think about it,” he said, then he shifted to Takeo.



Eve splashed water on her face, then leaned into the counter. Her eyes stayed fixed on her own reflection. It was safer than looking through the open bathroom door at Alec in the shower. They’d received a discount on the room because they didn’t need a bathtub. She hadn’t considered that they might get a glass-enclosed shower stall.



“Angel?”



Her fingers dug into the counter. “Yeah?”



“Can you hand me a washcloth?”



She looked at the towel rack on the wall next her. Pulling a rolled washcloth free, she took a deep breath and entered the bathroom. Alec stood with arms akimbo and feet planted slightly apart. He faced her head-on, his mouth curved in a wicked smile. Surrounded by steam and dripping with water, he was the embodiment of her hottest sexual fantasies. Ripples of lust flowed over her skin, building with every passing second.



“You’re rotten,” she scolded, tossing the washcloth over the glass.



He caught it with a wink. “Care to join me?”



“I showered this morning.” She set one hand on a cocked hip. “Besides, we’ve yet to have sex that didn’t last several hours. We don’t have that kind of time.”



“A quickie?”



“I’m marked, too, if you’ve forgotten.” Eve pulled open the glass door. She touched him reverently, brushing her fingertips over one dark nipple. His sharp inhalation made her smile. “I could probably ride you for days and call it a quickie.”



Alec caught her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll take a rain check.”



Revved up with nowhere to go, Eve returned to the bedroom. She busied herself with cleaning up the second bed, returning their convenience store purchases to the bag. That took about half a minute. Then she sank onto the mattress and gazed about the room.



“A stakeout.” She reached for the nightstand drawer. As was to be expected, a Bible waited there. Eve pulled it out with a resigned sigh. Part of her had always believed it was fiction, or at least highly fictionalized. More like fables than absolute truths. But it was hard to deny the whole of it, when part of it was naked in the shower.



Eve reached to close the drawer. She paused at the sight of the postcards inside. They were generic cards for the motel, worn from frequent handling and boasting a photo taken many years back, if the cars in the picture were any indication. But it wasn’t the image that arrested her, it was the card itself.



Alec came out of the bathroom whistling. He wore one towel low around his hips and used another to scrub at his hair.



“Hey.” She caught his gaze. “We never figured out what was up with that invitation I received for the tengu building.”



His arms lowered.



“You didn’t tell Gadara about it either,” she noted.



“I’m not used to sharing every little detail with someone.”



“Are you sure it’s not because you don’t fully trust him?”



“I’m sure.”



Her nose wrinkled. “Okay, so I’m playing devil’s advocate here—”



“Sammael doesn’t need any help.” Alec tossed one towel on the bed, then pushed the one around his waist to the floor.



Eve glanced at the window, wondering if the sheers covering the glass really offered any privacy, or if some lucky gal was getting an eyeful. During the day they were opaque, but it was the other side of dusk now and their lights were on.



“What if Gadara orchestrated the tengu thing?” she suggested.



“Why?” He tugged on a pair of boxer briefs. She took in the view with a smile. David Beckham would be out of an endorsement deal with Armani if the advertising team saw Alec in his skivvies.



“As an excuse to keep me out of training?”



“Why would he deliberately orchestrate things to keep you untrained? There’s no benefit to anyone.”



“You have a better idea?”



“Maybe a masked Infernal did it.”



“Why?” she tossed back at him. “Kind of stupid to draw attention to themselves, don’t you think?”



“Unless they wanted you out of the picture before you Changed. Dead men tell no tales.”



“Are you telling me that people in Heaven don’t spill their guts?”



“You’re agnostic, angel. Are you sure that’s where you would go?”



Eve blinked at him. “Yikes.”



He held both hands up in a defensive gesture. “Just sayin’. An Infernal would think similarly.”



“The card was mailed the day before I was marked. That’s cutting it close, don’t you think? Why use the postal service? Wouldn’t it have been safer to slip it under my door or something?”



Alec stepped into his jeans. “Good point.”



“Okay, let’s run with your idea. I’m harmless, so they weren’t after me per se; they wanted to get to you. How did they know I was going to be marked? How did they know God had agreed to allow you to mentor me? No matter what—whether it was a masked Infernal or Gadara—it would have to be an inside job.”



“Or a mystery.” He straightened. The hair on his chest and abs was still damp. Eve fought the urge to lick him like a Popsicle. “Don’t forget: Marks are trying to save their souls.”



Eve smiled. “I didn’t say a Mark did it. But you’re thinking it’s a possibility.”



“Did I say that?”



“I’m learning to read between the lines with you. Maybe the situation is something like the Infernals working for Gadara? Satan has to have something to offer, right? And Marks are made up of sinners, not the pillars of society.”



“I’m following, but where is this leading?” Alec pulled his shirt over his head.



“We’re just speculating.”



“I’m not a speculative thinker. Give me facts and proof.”



“I’m a creative thinker. I like to explore all the possibilities.”



“Okay, then.” His arms crossed. “How about the possibility that God sent you to that church for a reason? And maybe that reason was to discover that Infernals were masking themselves. After all, you went there before the invitation ever had a chance to be put into play.”



Her nose wrinkled. “What kind of facts are involved in that theory?”



“The spiritual kind.”



Alec sat on the bed and reached for his socks. He shifted, pulling the wet towel out from under his ass and tossing it into the corner under the sink.



“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to put wet towels on the bed?” she asked wryly. Her gaze lowered. “Or the floor?”



“It’s a guy thing.”



“I don’t think so. It’s an Alec thing.”



His dark eyes sparkled with laughter. “You’ve never had a boyfriend leave his towels lying around?”



“No.”



“Bullshit.”



She laughed. “I’m serious.”



“You have obviously never lived with a man.”



“With parents like mine? Are you kidding?” Eve shook her head. “My dad is the quiet type, but he has old-fashioned values. And my mom is a fan of Dr. Laura. Shacking up before marriage is a big no-no in my family.”



Smiling, he stood and held out a hand to help her up. She accepted, then turned to put the Bible in the bag with their purchases. She was taking it with her to pass the time and the last thing she needed was for a motel employee to think she was stealing it.



Alec closed the blackout curtains and went to the door. “Ready?”



“As I’ll ever be.”



“What do you mean they are gone?” Raguel barked, glaring across his desk at Ms. Bowes.



“I’m s-sorry.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I said that incorrectly, sir. They ditched the Jeep at a strip mall. A nearby rental car agency recognized their photos, so we know they aren’t on foot.”



“Of course they are not on foot! They went to Upland. They just wanted privacy while getting there.” Which infuriated Raguel to no end. They could not be allowed to become a self-contained unit. “Abel knows where they are.”



“He hasn’t checked in since the herald.”



Raguel sent an order through the celestial lines of communication that existed between the archangels and the mal’akhs beneath them. He was met with silence. “Get him on his cell phone.”



“I’ve tried. It goes directly to voicemail.”



Raguel stood and stepped out from behind his desk. The secretary backed up warily.



He told himself the three—Cain, Abel, and Eve—couldn’t be working together. There was too much enmity between the two brothers. But what would explain how they all fell off the radar at the same time? What could they be thinking . . . planning? He couldn’t afford to lose control of their trinity. He needed them to achieve his aims.



For the space of several heartbeats, Raguel considered using his gifts to find them. But in the end, he resisted the prod of impatience. He had enough transgressions to pay for and there were other ways to gather the information he needed. Although Abel was presently ignoring him—an aberrance of behavior that increased Raguel’s alarm—the other handlers would not.



“I will send Mariel after Abel,” he said, running a hand over his short, coarse hair. He had sprinkled it with gray about five years past, to simulate mortal aging.