Part 36 (1/2)

”I'm going to get a car out of my dad for this.” His dead eyes brightened at the thought. ”A Porsche like the one in the driveway. The b.i.t.c.hes will love it.”

She'd love to run him over with it, the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. She tossed a flaming dagger at his right side just for the h.e.l.l of it, then followed it up with another to the left. When he ducked away from the first, the second nicked him on the shoulder. Then it smashed into a jar of something on a crate behind him that exploded into flames. The ignited liquid splattered on him and he cursed, tamping the fire out with swats of his hands.

Eve raised her arms in triumph, relis.h.i.+ng the wild aggressive energy the mark was pumping through her veins. ”Yes!”

”Stupid wh.o.r.e.” His lips curled back from his teeth.

”a.s.shole,” she countered.

He feinted to the left, then the right, trying to psych her out. She laughed instead. It was a shaky, rather unconvincing sound, but it was still a shock to hear, which was the point. Sometimes bulls.h.i.+t was all a Mark had to keep the tension even.

The wolf growled and shoved the table at her, prompting her to jump back. Richens's body tumbled to her feet.

Then she realized she had a weapon after all-his temper. She'd seen it before, the last time they met. When she provoked him, he'd become careless and violent. He'd run straight into her roundhouse kick and gotten his dumb a.s.s knocked out.

The house is on fire, Alec said.

No s.h.i.+t? I thought it smelled like barbeque.

You're going to be barbequed, Reed snapped, if you don't get the h.e.l.l out of there. From the ruckus outside, she guessed they were brawling. Hopefully against the Infernals and not with each other.

b.u.mmer, she thought, I was hoping to hang out here awhile. It's so pleasant and- Eve! they shouted in unison.

”You should have dropped the glamour before you killed Laurel,” she said to the wolf, ”let her see what she's been f.u.c.king the last three weeks. Or were you afraid to?”

”I'm not afraid of anything! I've done what no other Infernal ever has.”

The smoke began to thicken and lower from the ceiling, swirling around their heads and blistering their breathing pa.s.sages.

”She said you sucked in bed,” she went on. ”No finesse. But the Antonio glamour was hot enough to make it bearable. Wonder what she would have thought if she'd seen that you're just a kid.”

”I'm not a f.u.c.king kid!”

Eve opened her mouth to continue, but he threw a bluish glowing ball straight into her sternum. The impact lifted her feet from the floor and slammed her into a crate the size of a refrigerator. She crashed through plywood and into sawdust, the room spinning from the force of the blow.

”Is that all you've got?” she wheezed. ”No wonder Laurel was bored.”

He leaped across the overturned gurney and landed in a crouch. ”You should have heard her begging for it,”

he snarled. ”She couldn't get enough.”

She squirmed free of the crate and fell to her knees, sucking scorching, ashy air into beleaguered lungs. The mark helped her to heal fast, but it didn't make her invincible. At least there was less smoke closer to the floor. ”So you say . . . but that's not what she told me.”

His fingers and toes lengthened into claws. The skin across his back rippled with fur, then returned to skin.

”I'll show you,” he growled, stalking forward. ”I'll f.u.c.k you till you scream.”

The ground fell away. Eve found herself levitating a foot above the hardwood floor, then slammed backward into it, splayed. Magic stayed her. She couldn't move more than her head, fingers, and toes. Fear coiled insidiously through her gut, despite the steady pumping of adrenaline and bloodl.u.s.t through her veins. The wolf came closer, half boy and half beast. He was leering, his eyes triumphant, his c.o.c.k hard. Eve laughed softly, knowing she was either going to succeed beautifully or fail miserably. ”Do your worst,”

she taunted. ”With a d.i.c.k that small, I won't even feel it.”

He pounced, altering into his wolf form midleap.

She waited, holding off until the last possible moment, shaking like a leaf and grateful she couldn't vomit. As if in slow motion, he came at her, hovering over her. His mouth was wide, his teeth bared.

”Now,” she whispered, crossing her fingers that she wouldn't be denied. A flame-covered silver sword appeared in her hand, facing upward and ready.

He speared himself cleanly, the blade sliding through fur and flesh like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter. A horrendous howl turned into a sick gurgling. As the magical hold he'd had on her released, Eve rolled, taking the top. She lurched to her feet, yanking the blade free and swinging it downward with all her might. The instant the tip hit hardwood, both the severed head and body disintegrated into ash.

”Eve!”

”Angel.”

She spun to face the two men who charged into the house. Freed from the necessity of watching the wolf, Eve took in the state of the house. Fire licked along the walls from the hallway, rus.h.i.+ng toward the fresh air introduced through the front door. The blaze she'd started in the living room had spread to the kitchen. The whole house creaked in protest, shuddering at its impending collapse.

Alec reached her first, s.n.a.t.c.hing her up and tossing her over his shoulder. The sword clattered to the floor.

”Time to go,” he muttered.

The next instant she found herself by the Porsche, disoriented and barely breathing. Around her was chaos. Twin piles of ash dotted the lawn, as did the bodies of two Mark guards. Two wolves fought with those who remained standing. The dragon was acting as cover for the Marks, spewing fire according to the directions shouted from the gwyllion, who stood on the roof of the van.

”Is he d-dead?” she gasped, clinging to Alec as the sky swirled madly above her. ”Is the wolf really dead this time?”

Reed's voice came clipped and furious, ”I'd say so.”

”Are you sure?” she persisted. ”We burned him up before and the son of a b.i.t.c.h came back.”

Alec pressed his lips to her forehead and released her. ”Ash is ash, there's no coming back from that. Can you get Montevista out of here?”

Eve blinked. ”What?”

He gestured to the pa.s.senger seat where the guard laid crumbled, his black s.h.i.+rt glistening wetly, his throat torn and gus.h.i.+ng. If he were mortal, he'd be long dead. As a Mark, he was d.a.m.n close to it. Defenseless and vulnerable.

Reed pressed keys into her palm. ”Go.”

A piercing howl rent the air. They turned their heads, saw a ma.s.sive wolf on the front steps. It stared at them with bared teeth and glowing red eyes. The white diamond on its forehead told her who it was, but she asked anyway, ”Is that Daddy?”

”Get the f.u.c.k out of here!” Alec yelled, his wings snapping free with such force, Eve was plastered to the hood. Reed joined the fray, the two brothers launching forward, intercepting the wolf, who charged at her full-bore while flanked on either side by two wolves.

Black and white wings, powerful masculine bodies, ferocious beasts . . . She was arrested by the sight. The eternal conflict between angel and demon. The battle cries and howls of pain. The smell of fire and ash, of blood and urine.

”Hollis . . .”

Montevista's weak voice snapped her back to reality. Eve slid off the hood. She leaped over the driver's-side door of the open convertible and hopped into the seat. She turned the key in the ignition and the powerful engine roared like a dream. She squealed out of the driveway in reverse, running over an attacking wolf in the process.

Gripping the stick s.h.i.+ft, she slammed the transmission into gear and punched the gas. She adjusted the rearview mirror, trying to see the fracas behind her. Montevista yelled in terror. Eve's gaze shot forward and she screamed, too. She stood on the brake. The Porsche's rear end fishtailed wildly, the car skidding down the street pa.s.senger side first . . .