once where they’d served the fish still breathing. Slit down the belly, mouth gasping. He felt like that fish.
“Can he?” she asked quietly. “Is he allowed?”
“One of two things is happening here: either he’s a rogue who hopes he can justify the kill after the fact, or he’s sanctioned.”
“Which is worse?”
“They’re both fucking bad.”
“I get that.”
“Why did you have to leave the house, Eve?”
“This is my fault?” She stood. “You really want to blame me for this?”
Alec scrubbed a hand over his face. “No. Damn it, I don’t blame you.”
Her chin lifted. Despite her slender five-foot-four frame dressed in Betty Boop flannel pajama pants and matching tank, she looked formidable. She was formidable. Eve could knock him on his ass with a scowl.
“I left the house,” she said, “because I needed a Bible for research. That’s how I met the tengu. I hit the beach because I needed air after the tengu incident. That’s how I met the Nix.”
He blew out his breath. “Shit.”
“Nothing is coincidence, you said.”
“Right.”
“So what is going on?”
“I wish I knew.” The possibilities were many; none of them were good. “Did you find a Bible?”
“Yes.”
“Are you scared?”
“Terrified.”
“Good. You’ll keep your guard up, then.” He held his arms out to her. Eve hesitated, then stepped into his embrace.
The safest thing to do would be to get far away from her, to allow his scent to fade from her skin so that she couldn’t be used against him. But there wasn’t a soul he trusted to keep her as safe as he would. If she had to be out in the field, he had to be there with her. It was the only way he’d keep his sanity.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“If the Nix is rogue, killing him will end this. If he’s sanctioned, we’ll get one of two possible results—either the hunt was labeled personal, which would end with his death, or it was considered an affront to his whole unit and someone else will step in to finish what he couldn’t.”
“Yikes.” She looked up at him. “How can I help?”
“You never leave my side. We’ll watch your back. I’ll make inquiries and see what turns up.”
“We hunt him.”
“I hunt him.”
“I can’t go into this blind.”
“Angel—”
Her mouth took on a mulish cast. “I need to know what I’m up against, Alec, and I need to be more than a pain in your ass.”
“You are not asking me to let you handle this as my partner.”
“Of course not.” She smiled and his breathing faltered. In that moment she was very much like the girl she’d been when they’d first met. “I’m just telling you that I need information, as well as your willingness to use me if you need me. Just promise me that you won’t be stubborn enough to keep me in the dark.”
Alec’s instinctive response was to shelter Eve as much as possible. But he knew that would only alienate her and make her more stubborn, although it wouldn’t make her foolish. Her quest for a Bible told him she still researched everything to a fault, a proclivity he’d noted the first time he made love to her. She had recited the pros and cons of several over-the-counter birth control methods before he managed to stop laughing and occupied her thoughts with something else instead.
“It’s my job to lead, angel. I need to know that you’ll follow, even if following means staying out of the way. And, for now, I don’t want you leaving the condo without me.”
She pondered that a moment. “What are we to each other?”
His brow arched, even as his hands slid down her back and cupped her buttocks.
“Behave,” she admonished.
“You like me when I’m naughty,” he purred, nuzzling his lips against her ear. He felt her shiver, even as she pushed against him. It was a bad idea to get more deeply involved with her when their parting was certain, but he couldn’t resist.
When he let her go, she couldn’t come back to him even if she wanted to. Yet if he kept her, if he tried to work off their penance in unison in the hope that one day he could be what she needed, he would lose her.
Evangeline Hollis had family written all over her. Husband, two and a half kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. Her sister was married with children. Her parents had passed their silver anniversary. The fact that she rarely dated wasn’t so much a fear of commitment as it was a fear