Eve of Chaos (9 page)

With her chin
lifted, Eve descended the few steps between them. Frustrated by that hint of
reluctance, Alec caught her around the waist and pulled her flush against him.
He shifted so quickly that she was still midgasp when they alighted on a nearby
rooftop.

She smacked him
on the shoulder. “You could have warned me!”

He nipped the
end of her nose with a tiny love bite. “I could have. But this was more fun.”

“For who?”

“For both of us.
I know you, daredevil. You’re the type of girl who’d take off with a stranger
on a Harley just for the ride.”

Her nose
wrinided. “Where’s a stranger on a Harley when I need one?”

“What? And miss
this party?” He gestured to the roof of Gadara’s unfinished building.

A couple of
dozen tengu danced excitedly around the massive ventilation and
air-conditioning units dotting the shiny metal top. Each little gray stone
beast was the size of a gallon of milk. They sported tiny wings and broad
grins. Eve had once called them cute, although they were far from cuddly.

“Right,” she
said, hands going to her hips. “Figures it would have to be the roof again.”

“Tengu were the
original inspiration for gargoyles. What better place to hide than in plain
sight?”

“I don’t care
about that. I care about my fear of heights not meshing well with running
around on rooftops.”

Alec looked at
her. He knew she had a phobia about heights, but it didn’t affect her
decisiveness. Her features were set in her gearing-up-to-brawl look: pursed
lips, narrowed eyes, and a stubborn jawline. He didn’t like her being in the
line of fire, but he sure liked her game face.

“Look at the
little bastards,” she muttered, sending his gaze back to the tengu. “They’re
trying to brain us.”

Sure enough, the
tengu had formed a ladder of sorts by standing on each other’s shoulders. Other
tengu climbed up the backs of their brethren to reach the top of the stairwell
enclosure. They waited there for a chance to jump on whoever stepped onto the
roof, their hands clasped over their mouths to stem their incessant giggling.

“Why do you
think we’re over here?” he said. “I wanted you to see what we’re up against
before you barreled headfirst out the door and into danger.”

“I wouldn’t have
done that!”

“Would have been
the first time you held back.” Eve faced him. “As a warm-up to kicking their
asses, I’m about to kick
yours.
Why are you pushing me?”

“Because that’s
what mentors are supposed to do, angel.”

She exhaled
harshly. “Did you notice that it didn’t stink when the door was open? And look,
they don’t have any details.”

“I noticed.

“The mask is
supposed to wear off. Maybe we didn’t wipe out everyone who knew about the
formula.”

“Yep. Could be
trouble.”

“Or could be
they were made with the masking stuff mixed into the cement.”

Alec smiled.

She shot him a
wry glance. “You already thought of that.”

“Yes, but only a
second before you did.”

“We could also
have a leak somewhere in the firm.”

“It’s possible,”
he conceded, “but that would be my last guess.”

While most firms
had Infernals working within their ranks, they were rarely trusted with
sensitive information. Demons never fully acclimated to the celestial life and
the rules that came with it. Many considered their “conversion” temporary. They
secretly hoped to get their hands on valuable information or an object that
would prompt Sammael to take them back into the fold. However, both Raguel and
Alec trusted Hank—an occultist who specialized in the magical arts—to oversee
the investigation into the mask. Hank had been with the North American firm for
so long that he was a fixture. He was still inherently evil, but he was content
to be evil for the good guys.

“So how do we
want to do this?” Eve asked, tightening her ponytail. “I suppose we should keep
one of them to see what they’re made of.”

“If you can
manage it this time.” The last time they fought tengu on Gadara’s roof, she’d
vanquished both of them.

Shoving him
playfully in the shoulder, Eve said, “Bring it on. Let’s see which one of us
can catch one.”

“What’s the
ante?”

“Hmm.
.

“Sex.”

“With me? That’s
worth more than a tengu.” Alec laughed. “Agreed. But I’m hard up, 1 had to
try.”

“We’ll just keep
it on retainer.”

“Works for me.
Gives me time to come up with something really good.”

“Ha! Assuming
you’ll win, which you won’t.” He held out his hand to shake on it. “Bring it
on.” Eve accepted the handshake with a mischievous gleam in her dark eyes.
“I’ll take the lower left corner.”

“Upper right.
Meet in the middle?”

She nodded.

He snatched her
close and kissed her. A hot, wet, deep kiss that took advantage of her gasp to
sneak inside and lick. At the same time, he shifted them to the tengu-infested
roof, so it was over the moment it started. But it was great while it lasted.
He dropped her off, then shifted to the corner on the diagonal.

“Pretty Mark!”
an observant tengu cried, followed by excited squeals from the rest of the mob.
The few on the stairwell jumped down, one breaking off a leg in the process. It
collected its detached appendage and continued on with a one-legged hop.

“Hey,” Alec
roared as they all surged toward Eve.

“Cain!” several
yelled gleefully, separating from the mass and changing direction toward him.

Eve was already
in motion, darting to the side and catching a tengu by the arm. Swinging in a
wide arc, she gained velocity. She hurtled the demon into its brethren like a
bowling ball into pins. Some crashed into those behind them, some leaped over
the tumbling wave. She knocked one back with a roundhouse kick and feinted away
from another one. Her grim determination and unwavering focus arrested Alec.
When Marks were on a hunt, they were bolstered by the effects of the
mark—adrenaline, aggression, increased muscle mass. Fear was held at bay by
those things. But Eve wasn’t on a hunt, she was on her own. She managed it
beautifully.

Two tengu
launched a third one at Alec like a missile. He ducked. Like Eve, he used rapid
kicks to keep his immediate perimeter clear, but maintenance wasn’t the goal.
Eradication was. A loud crash and high-pitched shouts of dismay on the other
side of the roof told him Eve had just smashed one. Tengu were all for having a
little evil fun, but not if it meant getting hurt.

Catching a tengu
in each hand, he bashed them together. Debris exploded outward and turned to
ash before hitting the ground. “Two down. Ten more to go.”

“Cain can’t save
pretty Mark,” a tengu sang, flapping its stone wings. “Sammael gets what
Sammael wants.”

“Sammael is
going to get
me,”
he barked back, “if he doesn’t keep his minions to
himself.”

Laughing, the
tengu regrouped and rushed him. He waited until the last minute, then shifted
away. The converging tengu collided. Two overzealous ones hit each other with
enough force to wipe each other out. A cloud of ash plumed upward and
dissipated in the gentle breeze.

The sound of
thick metal sheeting bending in ways it shouldn’t turned his head toward Eve.
His gaze found little cement feet protruding from a hole in the
air-conditioning unit. They’d already repaired the massive and expensive system
once before, due to their last altercation with tengu on this roof.

Hang in
there,
he said, sensing Eve’s
strength was strained by the heavy beasts.

Don’t worry
about me. Take care of yourself.

Alec wondered if
she knew that she was the only person in existence who worried over him. He
stepped up his pace. He snatched up any tengu unfortunate enough to get too
close and used them to crush their friends. As he worked, he crossed the roof,
closing the distance between him and Eve. She was still several tengu deep, but
seemed to be holding her own.

I’m winning,
he taunted.

In response to
his challenge, she became more aggressive, lunging and catching the little
demons just like he was. Considering her much smaller size, he was impressed
with her ability to keep up.

They should
have backed off by now,
she grunted.
Eve was right. Tengu liked to play, but when the tide turned against them, they
ran.

They want
you,
he explained.

Huh?

I’m thinking
the ice bitch wasn’t kidding.

Fucking
fabulous,
she muttered, hefting a
tengu overhead and braining another with it. Both burst into ash.

Alec grabbed two
tengu by the backs of their skulls and pounded them together. Then he moved
toward Eve.

Back off,
hero,
she said, kicking another into
a ventilation turbine.
I’ve got this.

Grinning, he
stepped back and crossed his arms.
There’s one to your left. Right. Left.
Behind you. Ooh, great shot. Kick it again. Duck!

I’m going to
kill you next,
she bit out,
struggling to shake off a tengu clinging to her back.

You’d miss
me.
He rubbed at his chest and the
swelling pride that made it ache.

Not right
now.
She snatched at the demon and
yanked it over her head. She swung it like a golf club into the one wrapped around
her leg, knocking both free and sending them flying. With anus splayed, Alec
caught them in each hand and launched them discus-

style into the
heavy stairwell door. Stumbling from the blow to her leg, Eve faced the last
tengu standing.

“Sammael wants
you, pretty Mark,” the Infernal said, hopping.

Eve regained her
balance and pushed a few stray stands of hair back from her face. “He’ll have
to take a number.”

“You can’t run,
you can’t hide.”

“You can’t scare
me,” she sang back with a humorless smile.

“Sammael will.”

He dashed toward
her with a growl. Alec straightened abruptly, prepared to leap in. Eve feinted
to the side, catching the demon’s arm as he passed. She swung him up, then
hammered him down into the rooftop. Ash mushroomed and hovered for a heartbeat
in a pocket of still air, then burst free in a sudden breeze.

Alec applauded.
He doubted many novices would have handled multiple opponents with as much
aplomb.

It took her a
moment to shake off the bloodlust brought on by the lingering effects of the
Novium. But when she did, she smiled sheepishly and sketched a quick,
exaggerated bow. He loved the bow and the strength of character that made it
possible for her to dust herself off so quickly.

He glanced at
the kicking feet of the tengu stuck in the side of the van-sized AC unit. “You
win.”

“Damn straight.”

“Of course, you
have a great mentor.”

The wry look she
shot him made him laugh, something he only ever did around her.

“That—” she
pointed a finger at the writhing tengu, “—isn’t going to fit on your bike.”

“Right. Do you
want to go back for the car? Or have me do it?” He could shift with mortals and
Marks, but not with demons. “I’ll have to drive back, so it won’t be quick.”

“Quicker than me.
You can shift to the garage. I have to drive both ways.”

“You sure?”

“Sure.” Her gaze
narrowed on the wriggling cement buttocks. “If it acts up, I’ll spank it.”

“Lucky tengu.”

With a wink, he
shifted away.

Less than half
an hour later, Eve and Alec were exiting the elevators on the lobby level of
Olivet Place with the tengu tucked under Alec’s arm. To mortal eyes the little
beast appeared as rigid as its stone imitators, but it was in fact wriggling
madly.