Part 3 (1/2)
”Liar,” he murmured.
”Let's just say I would prefer to go camping with a different crew, if I had a choice.”
His hand wrapped around her nape and pulled her closer. He nuzzled his nose against hers. ”I'll miss you.”
An impatient thumping upon Eve's trunk shook the car and drew his attention to the rear window.
”No place for muckin' aboot!” a masculine voice shouted.
Alec pushed up his sungla.s.ses, noting that the heckler was one of a group of three people walking by. He was tanned, blond, and looked to be in his early thirties.
”That's Ken,” Eve said with laughter in her voice.
Ken's eyes darted between them, widening with horrified recognition. He quickly retreated, holding both hands up in a gesture of surrender. He had a duffel bag draped over one shoulder and teeth white enough to blind. ”Sorry, Cain. I didnae ken it was you.”
”Smooth move, a.r.s.ehat,” one of his companions muttered, shoving him.
”Ken, huh?” Alec grinned. ”I was just thinking he looks like a Barbie doll.”
”Don't let that pretty-boy exterior fool you. He's the best in the cla.s.s.”
Alec climbed out of the driver's seat and rounded the trunk. Opening the pa.s.senger door, he helped her out and asked, ”What's his nickname?”
Eve had a.s.signed names to all the Marks in her cla.s.s. He thought he knew why. A nickname could serve two purposes: it could dehumanize a subject or it could personalize them. Alec suspected Eve's use of nicknames was due to both reasons.
”Just Ken,” she said, ”since he does look like a Ken doll.”
Catching her elbow, Alec led her toward the elevators.
She shot him a wry glance. ”You know, Gadara isn't going to like me riding up to Monterey with you instead of with the others.”
”Gadara could use one of his planes to transport you all up there. Since he doesn't want to make life easy for you, we're not going out of our way to make life easy for him.”
”You keep breaking rules for me.”
He shrugged it off.
She looked at him in a way that made him want to take her back to bed. ”The wolf in the bathroom told me you made a deal for my life. Then broke it.”
”You believe everything an Infernal tells you?” He didn't want her grat.i.tude. Not when he was the reason she was marked to begin with, and certainly not when he was hoping she would learn to like being a Mark.
”Thank you,” she said softly, killing him.
They rode the elevator up to the atrium level.
Eve's nose wrinkled. ”I don't think I'll ever get used to the smell of so many Marks in one enclosed s.p.a.ce.”
”You have to admit, it's more pleasant than the stench of rotting Infernal souls.”
”Yeah, but it's too much. Makes it hard to breathe.”
The lush vegetation in the atrium planters created a humidity that intensified the sweet smell created when a hundred-plus Marks gathered. The effect was pleasant to Alec, as was the surge of power he felt whenever he was surrounded by Marks. Stepping into a firm was always a heady rush, no matter which firm he visited or where it was located. His blood thrummed with energy and his heart rate lurched into an elevated rhythm, as if the other Marks shared their energy with him. But Eve's senses were still very sensitive. He wondered how long that would last. Since he'd never mentored before and had yet to be trained for the task, he had no benchmark to compare her to.
They crossed the marble lobby to a recessed hallway where a private set of elevators would take them to the bowels of the building.
”What do you know about this fort we're going to?” Eve asked. ”Anything?”
”Fort McCroskey was closed in 1991. There are some services still available-a commissary and some family housing for the students of a nearby military school-but otherwise it's a ghost town.”
”Why are we going there?”
”There's enough infrastructure left to facilitate training. The Army still uses it for that reason on occasion and since our purpose is the same-the defeat of an enemy through force-it serves our needs just as well.”
”Fun.”
Alec linked his fingers with Eve's. The next week would be rough for her. ”I'll be back before you even have a chance to miss me.”
The cast of her features changed from disgruntlement to worry. ”I'm an idiot. b.i.t.c.hing about learning how to defend myself while you're on a.s.signment.”
”I'll be fine. You just take care of yourself.”
Eve eyed him carefully. ”But it's not going to be easy, right? He has subordinate wolves to protect him; you're alone.”
”It's no fun when it's easy.”
”I wish I felt that way.” She leaned against the metal handrail that surrounded the elevator car and crossed her arms. It was her you-are-not-going-to-bulls.h.i.+t-me pose. ”Have you done this before? Gone after an Alpha while he's home with his pack?”
”Piece of cake.”
”Now who's lying?”
Alec grinned and took in the view from the top of her head down to the combat boots on her feet. Eve was the type of exotic beauty people looked more than twice at. Creamy skin, inky dark tresses, red lips. His own paradise, his refuge from the rigors of his life.
It had been l.u.s.t at first sight ten years ago and nothing had changed since then, despite being apart the entire time. She was his apple, his temptation. He was her downfall. Talk about a s.h.i.+tty foundation for a relations.h.i.+p. They had baggage, hurt feelings, regrets. Eve was the kind of woman a man married. White picket fence, kids, and a dog. Alec was aiming for advancement to archangel and heading his own firm. The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the training center. The entire floor was dedicated to creating the best fighting force of Marks possible. There were cla.s.srooms with desks as well as dojos, indoor firing ranges, weight rooms, and fencing studios. Alec sometimes stayed to watch the instructions, impressed with the level of efficiency. As the original Mark, he'd been forced to survive by the skin of his teeth. Some said he was born to kill, built for it, and he agreed.
Eve led the way to a gla.s.s-enclosed conference room. As they entered, the conversation died and all eyes turned toward them. There were a handful of people in the room, ranging in age from late teens to middle age, male and female. Some sat around the long table that dominated the center of the room, others sat atop it with their legs dangling over the sides. Ken was pouring himself a gla.s.s of water from the silver pitcher on a nearby console. They all looked at Eve, then glanced furtively at Alec except for a nearby blonde who a.s.sessed him boldly from head to toe.
”How are you feeling, Hollis?” asked a dark-haired Hispanic man in jeans and b.u.t.ton-down flannel s.h.i.+rt.
”Good. Thanks for asking.”
As Alec joined Eve in the far corner, he returned every stare. Eve hopped onto the widow ledge, her lithe legs dangling and her fingers curled around the lip. They were white knuckled, betraying her unease. The tension in the room was thick and it p.i.s.sed him off.
He leaned back and crossed his arms, facing the room dead-on. Uncomfortable shuffling ensued, then a return to the previous discussion.
Ken cleared his throat. ”I cannae wait to get started.”
”You're two sammies short of a picnic,” a pet.i.te redhead said derisively, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
”Well,” Alec murmured for Eve's ears only. ”The girls are easily pegged with their nicknames, I think. 'Goth Girl' especially. I'm a.s.suming the redhead is 'Princess,' since she's covered in glitter.”