Part 17 (1/2)
CHAPTER 10.
Eve stumbled after Reed as they rounded the driveway corner and stepped out of sight. He tugged her around the hedges that separated the duplex driveway from the drive next door and faced her, scowling.
”What are you doing?”
”Talking.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t. You're instigating infighting on purpose.”
”I have a really good reason,” she said. ”Maybe they'll wake up and smell the stench.”
”You aren't in any position to train others.”
”This is just a game to them. Richens acts as if we're playing for points and not lives. Ken chose bra.s.s knuckles for his weapon. Bra.s.s-f.u.c.king-knuckles, against Infernals? And Romeo and Laurel were s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g for christsakes- ow! ” She glared at the sky and rubbed her mark through her armband. ”That doesn't count!”
Reed's mouth thinned into a disapproving line. ”You should be working together, not fighting among yourselves. You know none of them did it.”
”Says who?” she challenged, spoiling for a fight. ”We can't rule anyone out. We need to be looking very closely at everything and everyone around us. We can't afford any blind spots.”
”Marks don't do s.h.i.+t like this, Eve! They're not capable of it.”
”And demons don't exist. Sometimes what we think is an absolute truth is completely false.” Eve stabbed a finger viciously toward the house. ”They have to step outside of the coc.o.o.n they're living in and face facts. You can't trust anyone, and if you turn your back, don't be surprised to find a knife in it.”
He growled. ”Not the conspiracy theory again.”
”Gadara has wiretaps in my condo and cameras on every floor of my building. You think he doesn't have Anytown scoped out?” Eve ripped off the Velcro-secured armband. ”We're all wearing these. They're supposed to simulate a call, but I would be willing to bet they have GPS locaters in them and maybe bugs, too.”
”Will you listen to yourself? You're nuts, and you're driving me nuts, too. Gadara wouldn't let a Mark die, Eve.”
”Why? Because he's an archangel?”
”Because losing a Mark during training looks bad,” he bit out, his powerful frame taut with frustration.
”Really, really bad. It will take Raguel centuries to regain the standing he lost today.”
Eve's hands went to her hips. ”Then why didn't he stop it from happening?”
A muscle in Reed's jaw ticced. He knelt down to get the armband. ”You're leaping to conclusions based on a.s.sumptions. Look-” he straightened and snapped the metal plate of the band in half, ”-there's nothing in here. It's solid. Raguel's running on full power now; he doesn't need secular electronics. These are for your benefit. The pressure on your arm keeps you focused and the metal gives Raguel a concentrated area to heat.”
”Are you telling me there's no way Gadara could have known about the attack and prevented it?”
”He's an archangel. Not G.o.d.”
”I don't see how-”
”Do you think he's evil?” Reed demanded, shoving the destroyed band into his pocket. ”Is that what this boils down to? You think he watched your cla.s.smate getting butchered on a live feed and ate popcorn?”
She rubbed at the bead of sweat that ran down her nape. Said in that manner, it did sound implausible.
”No.”
”Everything happens for a reason.” His voice softened. ”You have to believe that.”
”I don't believe, Reed. I'm agnostic.”
”You're a pain in the a.s.s.” He caught her face in his hands and tilted it up. With his thumbs brus.h.i.+ng over her cheekbones, he examined her. ”s.h.i.+t. You're burning up. Why didn't you say anything?”
”I did say something,” she groused, ”to both Gadara and Alec. One says it's all in my head, the other says it's just my body adjusting to the mark.”
He snarled something in a foreign language. Eve meant to ask what it was but was distracted by the feel of his touch, which cooled her. The scent of his skin filled her nostrils, altering the tension that gripped her from anger to something far more dangerous.
She caught his wrists and tried to pull his hands away. ”Uh . . . Maybe you shouldn't touch me right now.”
”No wonder you're so combative,” he said roughly. ”The Novium is on you.”
”You sure that's what it is?” Her voice was a whisper, her throat clogged by the images that filled her mind of him on her.
”Oh, yeah. No doubt.” He released her abruptly. His gaze was sharp . . . and frighteningly fervent. ”You're crawling out of your skin. Marks don't reach this stage until much later, but you're primed like a veteran.”
Her hand lifted to her face, coming to rest over the spot where he had touched her. The skin tingled and was cooler. ”Why?”
”You were made for this work, babe. It's just that simple.”
”No, I wasn't. You said it yourself; I wouldn't be here if Alec had kept his d.i.c.k in his pants.”
”I said that to f.u.c.k with you and get you p.i.s.sed off at Cain.”
”This isn't me,” Eve argued. She couldn't face days on end of this job. She would lose her sanity.
”Remember? I'm the one who screams at the idiots in horror movies who grab a weapon and pursue the maniacal killer instead of running for help.”
The negating shake of his head infuriated her as much as if he had covered his ears with his hands.
”I didn't commit a sin worthy of being marked,” she insisted. ”This is all just a monumental f.u.c.k-up to punish your brother.”
”You know how many mortal women have f.u.c.ked Cain?” Reed's smile was tinged with malice. ”And of those, how many of them have ended up where you are now?”
Her chin lifted. ”He loves me. I can be used to hurt him. That's the difference.”
”You want to toss around theories and conjecture?” He advanced. ”Let's take it further. What if Cain is in this mess because of you, instead of the reverse? I've been watching you, babe. You're a natural. What if you two met because you have the inherent skill to rival him and no one else could mentor you as well as he can?”
”That's r-ridiculous.”
”No, that's a possibility.” His quiet conviction sent a chill down her spine. ”You've survived demons no untrained Mark should have.”
Eve took a step forward. Reed's suggestion pounded through her skull like a migraine. Her skin and muscles ached as if she had the flu. Even the roots of her hair tingled with a p.r.i.c.kling that maddened her. Don't kill the messenger, or so the saying went. But she wanted to. Unease slid sinuously around her insides, hissing like a serpent. ”I love how you all conveniently forget that I was dead just a few days ago!”