Eve of Darkness - By S. J. Day Page 0,41
heated asphalt, someone’s fresh coffee, a rotting soul . . .
“German shepherd,” she blurted, startled by the surety she felt in identifying the dog she smelled.
“Good job. The guy across the street with the Starbucks cup. What flavor?”
She sniffed, sifting through perfumes and fabric softeners. “None. It’s black.”
“Excellent.” Alec jerked his chin down the street. “Can you read the headline of the newspaper in that stand?”
“No. It’s lying down, smart ass.” She narrowed her gaze. “But I can see that brick building about a mile away with a tiny gargoyle on the corner of the fourth floor.”
He smiled. His expectation was tangible, thrumming across the space between them.
“You enjoy this,” she accused, trying to ignore how infectious his excitement was.
“I’m good at it,” he corrected. “Don’t you enjoy being good at something, regardless of what that something happens to be?”
Eve released his hand, caught his elbow, and tugged him across the street. Two things astonished her by the time they reached the other side—one, that she’d been strong enough to veer him off course, and two, that they crossed the street before the pedestrian crossing countdown timer had ticked off more than two seconds.
No one could walk that fast. It wasn’t humanly possible.
She paused, her brain trying to catch up with her body. “Whoa.”
“Your Change is coming along,” Alec said with his hand on her back and his gaze trained down the road. “But you’ll have to learn how to keep a lid on your skills in public. We can move too fast to be seen, but it’s still risky. If we aren’t careful, it won’t be long before we have widespread panic. Infernals feed off negativity, and they don’t need any more fuel.”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“I know. Just sayin’.”
Straightening, Eve blew out her breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”
They continued at a more leisurely pace, but there was nothing else casual about them. The closer they drew to the building, the edgier she became and the more focused Alec appeared to be. Sounds and smells washed over her like lapping waves, sometimes intensely, at other times muted. The effect was disorienting and by the time they reached their destination, Eve wanted to lie down.
“It’s still under construction,” she said, noting that some of the upper windows still had the manufacturer’s stickers on them.
“And I don’t smell anything. This can’t be the building.”
“Alec, gargoyles aren’t exactly a dime a dozen around here and the ones on this building are identical to the one I saw.”
“If there was a tengu here the whole place would reek. Just like you can smell fish blocks away from a wharf.”
She crossed her arms. “Okay, fine.”
“Fine.” He reached for the door, rattling it. “It’s locked.”
Eve peered through the window. The basic setup for a welcome/security desk and an occupant directory were in place but unfinished. There was a sign of some sort lying facedown inside the window. She suspected it was the property management company’s contact information.
She cocked her head. “Hear that?”
“What?”
“Sounds like an air compressor.” She stepped back to the very edge of the sidewalk. Leaning against a parking meter, she looked up.
“We’ll need to get on the roof.”
“Right, but how do we get up there?” Eve looked at him. “With a bionic leap or something?”
Alec glanced over his shoulder with a wry curve to his mouth. “No.”
“Good.” A sigh of relief escaped her. “I’m afraid of heights.”
“We’re climbing up the outside.”
“Four stories?” She hugged the meter. “That’s fifty-three feet above the ground. Are you insane?”
“No, I’m kidding.” He winked and held out his hand. “Let’s head around back and see if we can get in that way.”
Growling under her breath, Eve walked past him and searched for a walkthrough that would lead them to the alley at the rear of the building. She found one just beyond the athletic shoe store, a few doors down.
After they made it to the other side, they discovered a chain-link fence protecting a makeshift construction site at the soon-to-be entrance of a subterranean parking garage. A dozen men in tool belts and hard hats littered the area. The sign on the fence said they worked for D&L Construction.
“Looks like they have a guard at the gate,” she pointed out, referencing the man with a clipboard who was checking off who entered and left.
“Is that usual for a construction site?”
“Sometimes. Depends on how hazardous the site is and the expense of the decor. You want to limit your liability against injury and prevent theft of certain decorative items.” She took stock