Dressed in jeans and a white denim button-down shirt, he looked both handsome and leisurely. However, he definitely wasn’t the latter.
“You are a menace, Ms. Hollis,” he said grimly. “There is no other word for you.”
From her seat in front of the archangel’s desk, Eve glanced first at Alec, who sat on her left, and then Reed, who sat on her right. Two days had passed since the incident in Upland. Yesterday had been recovery time to make up for the twenty-four hours without sleep the day before. Today was the day of reckoning.
“You told us to take care of the tengu,” she reminded. “We did.”
“By destroying a brand-new air-conditioning unit and crushing a custom Lexus,” the archangel retorted. “You failed to mention that when you related the events a few days ago.”
“Think how much the tengu would have cost you over the long haul,” Alec suggested. “We saved you money.”
“And what is the benefit of the disaster in Upland?” Gadara queried crossly.
“You told me to get my hands dirty,” Eve said.
He paused, glaring. “You blew up an entire city block!”
“I didn’t, the Nix did.”
“How did you manage that, by the way?” Reed asked in a conversational tone. As usual, he was dressed to the nines and looked very divine.
“Jell-O.”
“Really? Clever.”
“Totally an accident. I didn’t think it would work.”
Alec reached over and picked up her hand. The complete opposite of his brother, he was wearing leather pants and a T-shirt. “But it did. It was brilliant.”
He didn’t say it wasn’t a coincidence that she had picked up instant gelatin in the convenience store, but she knew he was thinking it.
“Excuse me.” Gadara’s palms hit the desk and he leaned forward. “Are we done patting ourselves on the back?”
“Ya know,” Eve drawled. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you wanted us to fail.”
“Ridiculous,” he scoffed. “I benefit only when you succeed, but at this rate, you will drive the firm into bankruptcy.”
“I have a plan,” she said. “I’ll just stay home quietly until it’s time to start training.”
It took a moment for his glower to fade into a reluctant smile. “You start training next week.”
“Oh?” Reed straightened from his lounging position. “Whose rotation is it?”
“Mine”
Eve didn’t miss the sudden tension in the men on either side of her.
“Better me than Sara, yes?” Gadara asked, staring at Reed.
Reed made a choked noise. Alec shook his head.
“Rotation?” Eve asked.
“The archangels share training duties in a rotation,” Alec explained.
“Oh.” She looked at Gadara.
“I am the best,” he said modestly.
She laughed. “Of course you are.”
“Anything from Hank regarding the stuff Mariel brought back from the masonry?” Alec asked.
“Like Ms. Hollis’s gelatin idea,” the archangel said, sinking into his seat, “Hank says it is very clever. But there is something missing, and considering the creators are mages, Hank is certain there was an incantation of some sort involved.”
“I wonder how many people knew the recipe,” Reed said.
“Not many, would be my guess.”
“Mine, too,” Alec agreed. “The rarer it is, the more value it had to Malachai and his wife.”
“Hank believes it would have been a couple’s spell,” Gadara continued, “something a man and woman would cast together in order to affect the largest number. By your accounts, several types of Infernals were successfully able to use it.”
“Unless there were several kinds of masks,” Eve offered.
All three men looked at her.
She shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
“I killed Malachai,” Reed said. “The rest of the materials were destroyed in the explosion.”
“The house on Falcon Circle was raided,” Gadara finished, “and anything of interest was removed. I have a team investigating the various leads we found there.”
“The Alpha might be able to help us find the woman,” Reed suggested.
“I doubt it.” Alec’s face was grim. “We killed his son. He’s not going to be feeling too charitable.”
“If the grandparents hadn’t led the boy astray, he probably wouldn’t have attracted notice. The fault lies with them.”
“Try telling that to a grief-stricken parent,” Eve said. “They don’t always have their head on straight.”
“Right.” Alec squeezed her hand.
“Anything else?” she asked Gadara.
He reached into the wooden cigar box on his desk and withdrew one. She wondered what he did with them, since he didn’t smoke. Just gnaw on them until they got soggy? The thought grossed her out, so she pushed it aside.
The archangel studied her. “In a hurry to go?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Stay on the radar,” he admonished. “It is there to protect you.”
“No worries. I have a date with my couch and the first season of Dexter on DVD.”
“Odd viewing choice.”
Eve stood