his fingers drumming into the stained walnut top. “Didn’t I tell you that showing that video to Evangeline would be counterproductive?”
She stepped closer, her gaze moving to the computer monitor. She saw that the “sent” folder of her e-mail client was on display and murmured, “You go too far.”
“You think so? But I haven’t gone nearly as far as you have. For example, I haven’t yet offered to trade you to a king of Hell to be rid of you.”
Reed had to give her credit, she didn’t even blink.
“We match today, mon chéri. We look so good together. Perfect for one another.” Sara reached him and settled into his lap, her slim arms encircling his shoulders. “I would never wish to be rid of you.”
He caught her close and whispered, “I can’t say the same about you.”
An instant later, they occupied a sofa in Michael’s office. It was after six in the evening in Jerusalem, and the head of the Asian firm was literally on his way out the door when he spotted his visitors.
“Abel. Sarakiel.” The archangel paused and pushed his hands into the pockets of his Western business slacks. His voice was deeply resonant, powerful in a way even some seraphs never achieved. “I suggest you find another place to play your games.”
Reed pushed Sara unceremoniously onto the couch beside him and stood. He withdrew the jump drive he’d brought with him and tossed it. “Sara’s latest game is one you may not want her to continue playing.”
Michael caught the drive with a fluid outstretching of his arm. He looked at the item in his palm, then back at Reed. One dark brow arched in silent inquiry.
“It seems,” Reed explained, “that our lovely Sarakiel has taken to making deals with demons.”
Michael’s eyes shimmered with blue flame. He looked at Sara, who tilted her chin defiantly while tugging her skirt back into place.
Reed crossed his arms and prepared to enjoy the show. Then Eve hit him like a freight train. He stumbled from the blow.
“Gotta run,” he said.
Sara straightened. “You cannot leave me here! It will take at least a day to get back—”
He shifted away before she finished her sentence.
***
As Alec rolled out of his chair, Ingram yelled and reached into his jacket for his holstered gun. A bullet caught him in the back, exploding through his right shoulder in a shower of flesh and blood. His chair tumbled to the left. His arms flailed, then his skull hit the edge of a stucco planter with a sickening thud. He crumpled to the ground, still as death.
Eve slid under the table in a limbo like glide. Arching over the metal legs, she scrambled for Ingram’s gun. Her hand circled the grip and she yanked the weapon free of its shoulder holster. Another shot rang out and Jones jerked violently. He crashed headfirst into the tabletop, shattering the glass on impact. The slivers rained down on her, prickling across her bare arms and skittering along the patio.
A battle cry preceded the snapping deployment of Alec’s wings. He launched from the courtyard floor in a streak of ebony, his ascent propelled with such force that the downdraft shoved Eve into the planter.
As he targeted a marksman in an open third-floor window, she struggled to her knees. He disappeared into the building and a moment later, a horrendous scream cut off abruptly.
Sydney appeared at the end of the courtyard. She darted toward Eve, weaving around the obstacles between them. Bursts of green hellfire dotted the ground behind her, mimicking her footsteps and urging her to a faster pace. Montevista shouted and ran the length of the opposite side of the pool, deliberately drawing fire away from both Eve and his partner.
Eve scrambled out and upright, slipping in the blood pooling beneath Detective Jones. His body hung over the broken table, folded at the waist with his arms, torso, and head inverted inside the empty frame.
She hopped into the planter behind her and took cover behind a mature palm tree. Hugging the trunk, she aimed Ingram’s gun around it. Windows along the upper floor were dotted with demons. She and the two Mark guards were in a fishbowl, with enemies positioned all around the rim.
By clearing out the building to protect the mortals, they’d opened the entire complex to an Infernal infestation. Eve didn’t wonder how they’d gotten past the perimeter guards. She’d made it possible, after all.
Sydney jumped into the planter behind Eve, shielding her back with a flame-covered sword. Montevista