that Sammael won’t kill him.
“That is not what you were thinking when you offered him.”
Reed winked. “Prove it.”
“Well, if Sarakiel has her way, you’ll be there to protect me, too.”
He straightened abruptly. “Sara?”
Eve explained about the tape of Sarakiel’s meeting with Asmodeus. “My guess is, Asmodeus is gambling that he can take all three of us at once. With Sara’s help, why not?”
“One day, you’re telling me you think she loves me. The next, you say she wants me burning in Hell.”
“It’s because she loves you that she wants you to burn in Hell.”
Snorting, he said, “That’s female logic if I ever heard it.”
“What can I say? We’re twisted.”
“Don’t lump yourself in with Sara.” He licked the tip of her nose. “I’m going to deal with her today. Right now, actually.”
“Then I need you to round up Asmodeus.”
His gaze narrowed. “Tomorrow. I need time to get things together.”
“I’ve already got things together. Ishamel helped. You know how thorough he is.”
“Do you have any idea of what kind of manpower we’re going to need to nab Asmodeus?”
“We’re not going to nab him. We just want him here.”
Reed sank to a crouch in front of her, leveling their gazes. “Spit it out. All of it.”
“You’re right, Asmodeus is valuable to Satan, but not for the reason you think. Satan knows your plan. He tried to act nonchalant about it. but I read between the lines. He’s pissed, and he’s going to take Asmodeus down.”
“Good. Let him.”
“Sure,” Eve agreed. She opened her mind to him, allowing him to see her conversations with the Devil. “But not now. You’ve been bargaining with Asmodeus but really, the deal is between me and Satan.”
“Babe. . .“ He made an exasperated sound and dropped his head into her lap. “You’re a walking disaster,” he mumbled.
“Listen.” She lifted his head with her hands. “He promised me something, then reneged.”
“And that’s a surprise to you? Come on, Eve—”
“He wouldn’t renege with me, Reed,” she insisted. “For whatever reason, he wants me to trust him. He’s going to fulfill his end of our agreement.”
“That’s not what he said to you!”
“What he said was that I’ll have to let the moves you and Sara made play out.”
“What he said,” he retorted, “was that he can’t release what he doesn’t possess. A melodramatic way to say he got what he wanted, and you’re on your own.”
“Or it’s a roundabout way of saying someone stole from him.” Eve shot him a wry glance. “Do you really think he’s just going to let that go?”
“He doesn’t need you to put Asmodeus in line.”
“Right. He just needs to fulfill his end of the bargain. He gave me two choices—help you or Sara with your plans, or leave the whole thing in the hands of God. But—” she wagged a finger at him “—he knows I’m not a believer. He made a big deal out of my agnosticism being one of the reasons he likes me. He appreciates my cynicism.”
“He’s always trying to lure Marks to the dark side. He doesn’t like you. He doesn’t give a shit about you, other than the fact that fucking with you fucks with a lot of other people, too.”
She pressed on. “I think his question was incomplete. I think what he was really saying is, ‘Will you leave it in the hands of God. . . or me.’ That was the basis of our previous conversations. He says God isn’t going to give me what I need, but he will. This is his chance to prove it. I think he’s going to take it, if only because he wants to knock Asmodeus down a notch in a major way.”
He gripped her hands painfully tight. “You know.. . Marks spend their entire careers hoping they never meet Sammael. But not you. No, you lack the self-preservation gene.”
She could feel his fear for her in the connection between them. She was freaked out, too, but things were getting out of hand—Gadara, the priest, Cain, the Nix, and Satan running around as he pleased. It was time to set the world to rights.
Eve squeezed his fingers. “Hank told me Satan’s using an emissary to be able to meet with me face-to- face. We need to know who it is. I have a theory, and this is the way to prove it.”
“What theory?”
“It’s too dangerous to share until I know for sure.”
Reed’s jaw tensed. “It’s Cain, isn’t it?”
“Just trust me, okay. You get Asmodeus to show up, and we’ll see if the emissary