Eve of Destruction by S. J. Day Page B

kitchen. Richens was leaning against the counter and speaking in rapid, heavily accented British English that was unintelligible to her. He acknowledged her with a jerk of his chin, then looked back at Edwards, who was examining her with an assessing glance.
    She fought the urge to flip them the bird.
    “Everything is as it should be,” Gadara said into the phone. “Yes, there was a disturbance . . . Fine. In fact, she is extraordinary. I am quite impressed . . . Yes, I told her you would. Just a moment.”
    The archangel held the phone out to her. Accepting it, Eve moved to the far corner of the living room where a massive spider web occupied much of the space.
    “Hi,” she said in a subdued tone that made her feel better but wouldn’t prevent mark-enhanced eavesdropping.
    “Hey.” The sound of Alec’s gruff, purring voice filled her with relief. “You’re not answering your phone.”
    “I had to turn it off so it didn’t disturb my roommate.”
    He growled. “Put it on vibrate and keep it on you.”
    “I tried that, but then I left the damn thing under my pillow when I couldn’t sleep.”
    “What’s going on, angel? Are you hurt?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Raguel cut me off, and you weren’t answering. Scared the shit out of me.”
    “It was a stupid misunderstanding.”
    “Couldn’t have been that stupid. You impressed Raguel.”
    “What can I say?” She shrugged. “He’s easily amused.”
    “Does he have you training already? It’s after two in the morning.”
    “I told you, I couldn’t sleep.”
    “You miss me.” There was a smile in his voice.
    “That, and it’s too hot to nod off.”
    “Hot? In Monterey at night?”
    Eve rubbed at the space between her brows. “Ithink I’m coming down with something. I’m pretty sure I have a fever.”
    There was a long pause. “You can’t get sick.”
    “You have to believe me, I’m not giving you a choice. Gadara won’t listen to me and—”
    “I’m going to take a shower.”
    She stiffened at the sound of a woman’s voice in the background on the other end of the phone. It was throaty and seductive, as if the speaker had just woken up . . . or just had a screaming orgasm. “Who is that?”
    Alec groaned. “A mess.”
    “Sounds like a woman.”
    “She’s a Mare.”
    Eve’s foot tapped against the hardwood, her earlier feelings rushing to the fore. “She doesn’t sound like a horse to me. I bet she doesn’t look like one either. Where are you?”
    He laughed, the low rumble as enticing when she was mad as when she was completely besotted. “She’s a Mare, as in
night
mare. And I’m in my room. It’s the middle of the night, where else would I be?”
    “You have a naked woman in your room in the middle of the night.”
    Edwards gave a low whistle. Eve turned around and flipped him the bird.
    “She’s not naked yet,” Alec said calmly.
    “Well, I don’t want to hold you up so I’ll let you go.”
    There was a pregnant pause, then, “Tell me you’re kidding.”
    “Sounds as if the joke’s on me.”
    “Give me a fucking break.”
    Eve pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ignore me. I’m not feeling well.”
    “She’s an Infernal.”
    “I’m not rational.”
    “She’s not you.”
    “Got it.”
    “Nothing to worry about. Understand? And anyway, you don’t strike me as the jealous type.”
    “I’m not jealous of you, I’m jealous of her. She’s naked with you. Call me back when I’m shacked up in a motel with a naked guy and see how you feel about it.”
    “I’m not shacked up, and she’s not naked within eyesight. But . . . point taken.”
    A reluctant smile curved her mouth. “Why do you have an Infernal taking a shower in your room?”
    “Bad luck?” He exhaled his frustration. “Something is really screwed up around here. She offered information if I’d get her out of the area.”
    “Like Hank?”
    The Exceptional Projects Department—located in the subterranean floors of Gadara