designed to alleviate the firm leaders’ burdens. They had only twenty-one Marks to concern them; the archangels were responsible for thousands.
“They might find the donuts stereotypical and insulting,” she pointed out, shoving her phone into her pocket. She hunkered down in preparation of the trunk opening.
“Good. They should know better than to pick on my girl.” He hit the truck release.
The tengu burst free with a squeal. Eve caught him with a grunt, but the force of the little beast’s velocity knocked her on her ass.
“Pretty Mark!” he cried, snapping at her with his stone teeth.
She waited until Alec rounded the trunk. Then she threw the demon at him.
As usual, the vast lobby of Gadara Tower was congested with many business-minded Marks and mortals. The industrious whirring of the glass tube elevator motors and the steady hum of numerous conversations were now familiar and soothing to Eve. She felt safe here, cocooned from the world outside where demons ran amok.
Fifty floors above her, a massive skylight allowed natural illumination to flood the atrium. The gentle heat from the sun combined with the multitude of planters created a slight humidity. It emphasized the overwhelming scent of Marks to a near suffocating degree.
Beside her, Alec inhaled deeply, then exhaled in a sigh of pleasure. She felt echoes of the surge of power that hit him whenever he was in close proximity to multiple Marks. That charge was unique to him, the original and most badass Mark of them all. She wondered how he’d managed to remain autonomous for so long, considering how much strength he gained when around other Marks. There was a story there, but Alec wasn’t telling it.
As they weaved through the crowd, Marks paused to gape at the tengu. It was their first sighting of a masked Infernal. The ripple of unease that followed in her and Alec’s wake was tangible. Eve hoped the advent of the mask didn’t foster too much doubt. The last thing they needed was for frightened Marks to target mortals by accident.
They’ll be all right, Alec said, shaking the writhing tengu as admonishment to keep still. I’ll see to it.
Eve knew he would. His strength of conviction was powerful. She glanced at his profile and was struck by thoughts of Batman’s nemesis Two-Face and the dual sides of Alec’s personality. Alec killed with one hand, but worked to preserve life with the other.
Since his ascension to archangel, the division within him felt soul-deep to her. But maybe he had always been so divided and she just hadn’t known it. His promotion had come within hours of her Novium, which first established their connection. She hadn’t had time to dig into the brain of the old Cain before he became the new one.
They moved to a hidden bank of elevators that descended into off-limits areas of the building. She rarely saw her office on the forty-fifth floor. The majority of her business in Gadara Tower was conducted in the subterranean labyrinth of floors and corridors that housed Infernals both friendly and not.
“Pretty Mark not so nice,” the tengu complained as they stepped into the elevator car.
“You’re one to talk,” she scoffed. “You tried to brain me, tackle me, bite me—”
“Fun, fun!”
Eve flipped him the bird. He stuck his stone tongue out at her.
“Cut it out, kids,” Alec said, his dark eyes laughing.
She glared at the speaker in the corner. “What’s with the Barry Manilow? Every time I get in the elevator, it’s Manilow.”
“You’re just lucky. By the way, I’m going up with you.,,
“The detectives don’t know you work here.”
“So? It’s clear you’re coming in off the clock. Tell ‘em it’s your day off and you forgot something.”
She looked down and checked herself out. Her jeans were dirty, her boots were scuffed, and her shirt was torn at the hem.
Alec grinned. “Your hair needs help, too.” Turning, Eve looked at her reflection in the shiny brass of the elevator walls. Her ponytail was askew, odd loops of hair protruded all around the top of her head, and Infernal ash concealed its natural luster.
“Oh my god.” She hissed as her mark burned in chastisement. “You let me go around looking like this?”
“You’re still hot.”
She glared at him over her shoulder. “You suck.”
“Abel didn’t say anything either.”
“You both suck,” she qualified, pulling out her hair band.
I’d still do you, Reed said.
Gee, you ‘re a class act, she retorted.
The car came to a stop and the elevator doors opened with a ding. Immediately the stench of multiple Infernals filled