way.”
“Kept?” Eve took in her surroundings with an examining eye. The lower level of Gadara Tower reminded her of a fifties film noir with its muted lighting, inlaid glass doors, and smoky air.
“Some are held against their will,” Alec clarified, “others come by choice, because they want protection. There’s no such thing as honor among the damned. If you piss off the wrong guy, they’ll hunt you down.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” she muttered, noting the occasional alcoves that boasted widows featuring a nighttime view of a metropolis. It was amazingly believable, but it was still daylight up above. “Is that real?”
“No. Most Infernals go nuts if they feel confined in any way. They prefer night to day, so that’s what Raguel went with.” Alec paused before a new door labeled Orange County Power and Water Management. Eve frowned, knowing that there was no such entity. He knocked and they waited. “The illusion of being topside keeps them functioning properly.”
The door swung open, revealing a young, lanky man standing behind a desk situated directly before the door. He wore gray overalls with his last name—Wilson—embroidered on the breast and military-grade “birth control” glasses; nicknamed for their ability to make anyone look like shit. Beyond him, a partition blocked the view of the rest of the interior. Filing cabinets flanked his left and a large potted palm tree flanked his right. The air escaping the room smelled like cotton candy, which told Eve the man was a Mark and not an Infernal.
“Cain,” Wilson said, smiling. “What can I do for you?”
Eve snorted softly. Alec entered a room and everyone started kowtowing. With every day that passed, the image she’d long held of an evil, reviled Cain wore away.
She was bringing up the rear when a group of three Marks rounded the corner—two females and one male. The girls were sporting an odd sort of look consisting of jungle boots, black parachute pants, and strategically ripped tanks in bright colors. The man wore jeans and a baby blue polo shirt. In unison, their gazes raked her from head to toe.
“She’s not all that,” one gal said to the other with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Cain gets all the pussy,” the male said. “I hear Asian chicks are hot in bed.”
“Excuse me?” Eve said.
“There’s no excuse for sleeping your way to the top,” hissed the second girl as they passed.
Eve turned to watch them go, feeling an odd mixture of anger and nausea. “There’s no excuse for those clothes you’re wearing either,” she called after them. “News flash: the eighties ended a couple decades ago.”
“Angel?” Alec’s voice drew her gaze. He held a clipboard in his hands. “What are you doing?”
“Lagging.” She left the hallway and the door clicked shut behind her.
“Come on.” Alec held the paperwork out to her. “Fill out your parents’ information. And yours.”
She looked at the form, noting that it asked for name, address, and phone number for up to three individuals. “Okay.”
He smiled. His expression was warm and pleased, telling her how much he appreciated her obedience. That surprised her, considering how easily he accepted the same from everyone else. He seemed more comfortable in command than Gadara did. Gadara manipulated to get what he wanted; Alec simply expected that his orders would be followed.
Alec looked at Wilson. “We have a Nix problem.”
“We’ll take care of it.”
Eve looked up at him. “How?”
“As with any possible infestation,” Wilson said, “we prevent the pest from gaining access in the first place. In the case of Nixes, we insert a deterrent into the main water pipe to the residence.”
“After you do that, can I take down the crosses I have hanging in my showers?”
“You could.” Wilson smiled. “It would only be a benefit to you, though, to keep them up.”
She looked at Alec. “Since I’m living in a Gadaramanaged building, why didn’t I have something like that in place to begin with? It would have saved Mrs. Basso’s life.”
“We don’t work like that.” He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Imagine if Infernals set up a barrier in the town of Baker, California. It would effectively prevent Marks from traveling between Nevada and California. We have to work case by case, Infernal by Infernal. Otherwise, we’d end up battling for territory, which would put mortals in the crossfire. We—Marks and Infernals both—need mortals to survive. Since we have a mutual need, we make certain concessions.”
Her pen tapped against the clipboard.
He rocked back on his heels. “When, in the