“I don’t like being played with, Abel.”

Reed’s mouth curved. “You won’t know if I’m playing with you, unless you show up.”

***

“Mariel? Are you all right?”

Mariel pulled her gaze away from the party sitting on the patio of the House of Blues and returned it to her companion. The balcony of Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen was across the busy promenade from the other restaurant, but Mariel’s mal’akh hearing had no trouble picking up the treasonous conversation taking place there. Even from this distance, she could see the laser brightness of the demon’s eyes and hear the malevolence in his voice.

“No,” she replied in her Mark’s native Zulu. “I’m far from all right.”

“What—”

“Don’t.” She stayed Kobe Denner from turning his head with her hand atop his. “What you don’t know can save your life.”

Kobe frowned at her, his dark eyes concerned. One of her best Marks, he’d been with her for years. “What can I do?”

“I think we’re going to have to end our lunch early.”

He pushed his half-finished meal away. “Of course. Go, if you must.”

Mariel bunched up the napkin in her lap and set it on the table. “I’m going to shift you out of here. I don’t want you to be seen.”

Her urgency was conveyed in her tone. He stood quickly. She dug into her purse and left some cash on the table. They gave a quick explanation to the startled waiter before making their way down to the lower floor.

Ducking into the hallway that led to the bathrooms, Mariel quickly shifted them back to the tower.

Alec dragged Eve down the hail and around the corner. There was an alcove with a water fountain and he crowded her into it, pressing her into a corner and cupping her face in his hands.

“I’m fucked up,” he said bluntly.

“I’m not exactly prime goods either.” Her tone was dry, but her dark eyes glistened in the shadowy ha!!way.

“We need to talk about the personal stuff later.” He touched his forehead to hers, feeling as thrashed as he did after a particularly nasty vanquishing. “It’s ugly and painful, but we have something worth fighting for, if you give me a chance to fix this mess.”

He felt her fingers hook into the belt loops of his jeans. “Yes. We need to talk.”

Alec sensed a shiver of wariness move across her mind, but he couldn’t read the details. Still, that shiver was more than he’d been able to get out of her the last couple of days.

“Are you blocking me?” he asked harshly. “Or is my. . . condition causing a poor signal between us?”

“A little of both, maybe,” she confessed, tucking the necklace into his shirt. “When I tell you something, I want to do it the mortal way. You and me. Talking out loud. Unhurried and in private.”

“Okay. As soon as we get done here.” He tugged her out of the alcove with him.

“I have to go to the police station after this.”

As they hurried down the hallway, she filled him in.

“Okay.” His fingers tightened on hers. “We’ll go together.”

“Ishamel is going to take me. Part of his lawyer act. It might look weird if you came along.”

“Why?”

“Uh. . .“ Eve glanced aside at him and winced. “I kinda told them that we broke up.”

Alec was grateful his step didn’t falter, since he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He exhaled harshly. “That was quick.”

“Cut me some slack. Things are flying at me from all sides. I said what I needed to say at the time.”

He didn’t have a firm foundation to stand on, since he was the one who’d pushed her away. But that didn’t make things easier. “As long as you weren’t serious.”

She squeezed his hand back. “One thing at a time.”

His hand was on the knob to the infirmary when he heard Eve’s name being called. He looked around and saw Mariel approaching with an unusually brisk stride.

“Evangeline’ the handler called out. “Can you spare a minute of your time?”

Alec released the knob. “What do you need, Mariel?”

“Just Hollis.” Her smile was so slight it was more of a grimace. “Girl stuff, Cain. You know?”

“No, I don’t.” He glanced at Eve. “Come in as soon as you’re done.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

Feeling like something precious was slipping through his fingers, Alec left her in the hallway.

Eve didn’t need the ability to read minds to know that the mal‘akh was terribly upset. The fact that Alec didn’t fully pick up on his handler’s agitation was further proof that he was still seriously out of whack. Mariel knew it, too. Her gaze remained on the door until it closed with a firm click.

“He’s not well,” Eve said softly. “I’m guessing you feel it through the connection between handler and firm leader.”

“I’m hoping he adjusts soon, but right now, his inability to read us is a blessing in disguise.” Mariel turned her attention to Eve. “We have a serious problem. I fear for his safety and Abel’s. You’re the only one I can trust to find a solution that keeps them both alive.”

“What’s going on?”

“Something isn’t right with Abel. He’s not himself. You’re not going to believe it when I tell you.”

Not himself..

Gripping Mariel’s elbow, Eve pulled her a short distance down the hall. “Tell me everything. . .

CHAPTER 17

I don’t remember much of anything,” Sydney said with a turned-down mouth and averted gaze. “I was eyeing some movement under the bleachers when Montevista tackled me. I must have been knocked out by the impact. The next thing I knew, you were waking me up, Cain.”

Alec turned his attention to Montevista, who looked as miserable as Sydney.

“I’ve got nothing,” the Mark said. “I don’t even remember that much. I was standing along the fence, mad dogging some Infernals. Then I was here in the tower.”

Both guards sat at a metal table dressed in pale blue hospital scrubs. Alec sat across from them, hyperaware of the pendant heating the skin between his pectorals. Something had to give, and fast. Lack of sleep was taking its toll, but he needed to be available to help Eve during the day and he had inquiries to make about his condition when she was sleeping at night.

He glanced at the witch doctor who ran the infirmary. The woman was short, no more than three feet tall, with cropped blonde curls, and a child’s features. “Any idea what happened to those two?”

“They both check out,” she said. “In Sydney’s case, I think she lost consciousness on impact, as she suggested. In Montevista’s . . . I’m not sure. I’m inclined to think he jumped in the way of a direct hit. Maybe an energy blast aimed at her. An impact to the back of the head would have knocked him out and caused him to crash into her. Something like that would explain the memory loss, especially if Azazel was the one attacking.”

“What are the aftereffects? Are there any?”

“Fatigue. Otherwise, no.”

“I’d like to get back to duty,” Montevista said.

“Me, too,” Sydney concurred.

“Are you sure you don’t want some time off?” Alec asked, probing their minds for any traces of trauma.

The search was difficult, mostly because of the suppression of the voices inside his head. Their absence left an odd quiet within him; not a departure, more an anticipation. He knew something wasn’t right. He was just waiting for the explosion to prove it.

Montevista nodded and spoke for both of them. “We’re sure.”

A brief knock came at the door, then it opened and Eve stepped in. She moved straight to the two guards with arms open. They stood, hugging her in return. It was her way. She was so open, so willing to connect to others. Eve let people in from the get-go and hoped they would turn out to be worthy friends. So opposite from him, who had learned to keep people at arm’s length until they proved they deserved otherwise.

She asked about their health and how they were feeling. When they requested to resume guarding her, she accepted readily. No recriminations, no guilt trips. The two Marks were clearly relieved.

Looking over her shoulder at Alec, she said, “Is that okay?”

For a second he tensed, expecting the compulsion to say something unkind. He’d begun to feel the way he imagined Tourette’s syndrome patients felt, spewing out words before his brain registered them. When the voices remained silent, he grinned.

“Whoa,” Sydney murmured.

“Yeah, sucker punches me, too,” Eve muttered.

As long as he could still get to her, all wasn’t lost.

“I have no objections, if you’re all okay with it,” he said. “But I want to keep you two out of the field for a couple days, at least.”

“Works for me,” Eve agreed. “After I hit the police station, I’m going home and staying there. How about they head over there with you now? They can rest in my place while you catch up on some downtime with your folks.”

“My folks?” He rose to his feet.

The knowing look in her eyes answered his unspoken question.

Alec looked at the Marks. “Get dressed. I’ll be back in a few.”

“We’ll be ready,” Montevista said gruffly.

Heading toward the door, Alec gestured with a jerk of his chin for Eve to come along. He caught her elbow at the threshold and urged her out ahead of him.

They passed neat rows of hospital beds, most of which were empty, and exited back out to the smoky hallway.

“You met my parents.”

“Yep. Your mom and dad came over last night.”

His jaw clenched. He’d known Ima wouldn’t let it go until she’d met Eve face to face. His mother wasn’t the type to wait until he was nearby to alleviate her curiosity. “Did you like them?”