don’t believe you.”
He looked at her, then resumed staring at the squad car behind them. “It had everything to do with the Change. You were agnostic. Appealing to your secular talents was a substitution for appealing to your faith, which is why Raguel scheduled a job interview with you. The postcard was meant to be a follow-up, an added lure. But Raguel was called away and Abel was. . . impatient. You were marked before it reached you.”
The opposing traffic light changed, turning yellow. Eve prepared to hit the gas. “What about the tengu?”
“I didn’t know about the tengu. As I said, perhaps it was a divine compulsion. Not all coincidences are bad, after all.”
An eighteen-wheel barreled west down Katella. As the pedestrian countdown timer began to flash red, the semi’s front tires crossed over the line.
The demon revved his engine again. She pretended to run her hand over her chignon to disguise flipping him the bird. He slammed into her, shoving her forward into the middle of the intersection.
The semi hit its horn. Eve saw her reflection in the chrome grill and screamed.
CHAPTER 18
Look at that car, Adam. There’s nothing left of it’ Alec kept his eyes closed and pretended he
was sleeping. His mother’s fascination with the news and daytime drama programming was beyond his understanding. Why couldn’t she watch chick flicks or the action movies Eve favored? Instead, she’d been surfing through cable news stations since the soap operas had ended, switching channels whenever a commercial popped up.
A soft snore from the opposite couch told Alec that his dad had managed to crash. Alec couldn’t, and not just because his mother insisted he hang out in the living room with them. His hand kept straying to his chest, rubbing at the amulet even as his mind pondered how the thing worked. Good luck charm? Bullshit. It was designed to repress something, and he wanted to know what it was. What was in him that was affected by the amulet, and how did Hank create the suppressant?
“Those expensive sports cars fall apart when they get hit,” his mother continued. “If Abel wasn’t a mal’akh, I’d make him get rid of that car of his. The one on TV is just like his and look at it now, you can’t even tell it used to be car. I can’t believe a police office was responsible for such a horrible accident
Alec opened one eye and glanced at the TV. The reporter stood on the corner, pointing at the vehicle splattered like a bug against the grill of an eighteen- wheeler truck.
“. . there are said to have been several repair requests on file for the police cruiser—a Ford Crown Victoria—involved in this accident. It is not yet known whether the patrol car malfunctioned or if driver error played a part in this tragedy. The name of the officer involved and the identities of the occupants of the Lamborghini convertible have not yet been released.”
Alec froze, realizing that the twisted and charred metal on the screen was silver not due to chipped paint, but because silver had been the color of the car.
He bolted upright. Abel!
What? his brother snapped in reply.
Leaping out of the recliner, Alec startled his mother into a screech, which in turn caused his dad to roll off the sofa.
Where is your car? he asked carefully.
In the driveway of the tower
His eyes squeezed shut, along with his throat. Where is Eve?
She’s at—
The sudden silence was ominous. Broken by a sudden banging on his front door.
“Cain”
Recognizing Ishamel’s voice, Alec shifted out to the hallway, pushing the mal’akh aside to look left and right. When he didn’t see Eve, he set off toward her condo. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know”
Alec spun about. “Say that again.”
“I had her wrist in my hand before I shifted out of the car.” Isharnel’s voice had a slight, uncustomary rasp. “But when I reached the tower, she wasn’t with me.”
***
Beyond closing his eyes, Raguel hadn’t moved since a pair of Infernals had taken the priest out of their cell. He barely had the energy to reopen them when Riesgo was returned. Maintaining the guise of a mortal was draining. Unfortunately, he didn’t need his eyesight to see that the priest was badly shaken.
Still, he watched Riesgo retreat to a corner and sit. The priest’s arms wrapped around his knees and he curled into a ball. It was alarming to sense such vulnerability in so proud and strong a man. Sammael intended to break them both, and