She scrubbed at her tearing eyes, aware that she didn’t have time to be emotional if she was going to keep Alec alive. “So that’s your side of what’s going on — you wanted out of the advancement and your obligation to Sabrael, and you knew Gadara and Zaphiel would make it happen. But it’s looking like knocking you down isn’t enough for them. It makes sense now why Zaphiel made me drive him out to Adrian’s place. At the time, I figured he was just trying to mess with you or Reed by making me play chauffeur. Then this assignment came up and I reconsidered. Maybe he wanted me to know where Adrian lived or what he looked like. Maybe there was something he wanted me to see.”
“Maybe he wanted to insult Adrian by sending a Mark to do a job an elite seraph couldn’t manage.”
“I think it’s because I was supposed to be seen, by someone who’d follow me and find you stripped of the archangel gifts that help keep you safe.” She stopped moving and faced him dead-on. “Adrian Mitchell isn’t in hiding. I Googled him last night, because I knew that house he owns must have garnered some press. I found out he owns Mitchell Aviation, one of the largest aeronautical companies in the world. He’s been on the cover of Forbes and his home has been showcased in a dozen architectural magazines. The Fallen know exactly where he is and if they’re smart, they’re watching his place.”
Alec crossed his arms. “So we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the meantime. . Marry me, angel.”
“Alec—” She groaned and starting pacing again. “Are you paying attention to me at all?”
“Some things are still sacred. Marriage happens to be one of them. Whatever happens from this moment forward, no one could break vows we make before Jehovah.”
“ ‘Let’s get hitched before I die and lose the opportunity’? Is that what you’re saying?”
His smile was breathtaking. “You know I’m too valuable to kill, or I’d already be dead. They might want to see me knocked around a bit, just for shits and giggles, but it won’t go farther than that.”
“I’m already a huge liability to you. Moving me up in status from ‘piece-of-ass’ to ‘wife’ is just going to make that worse.”
“You’ve never been a piece of ass to me and everyone damn well knows that.” He caught her as she passed. “Right now, we can’t control whether or not Sabrael promotes me again. We can’t stop Raguel from yanking you around to piss me off. We can’t do a damn thing about Zaphiel hanging us out as bait. They’ve got all the power, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can make a commitment to each other that no one could break. If Sabrael promotes me again, he can’t take my love away. If Raguel wants to toy with you, he’d have to think twice about it, because interfering in a marriage is a damn sight trickier. And Zaphiel won’t let anything happen to you, knowing the censure he’d face from Jehovah.”
“So wedding vows supersede or take precedence over everything?”
“Always.” He let her go. “I was late getting here today, because I stopped by your parents’ place and talked to your dad. He gave me his blessing.”
Eve moved towards the fire, noting the blue at the heart of the gas flame, the same flame-blue she saw in the irises of cherubim and seraphim. The hue seemed murkier now, everything around her did except for Alec. The loss of the Mark was like listening through water, feeling through gloves and smelling through a head cold. Maybe she’d acclimatize to the loss of heightened sensation after a while, but for now, she felt disconnected and out of sorts. It would take her more time to be sure, but she was resigned to the fact that she’d turned a corner somewhere and she couldn’t go back. Without the Mark, she’d always be looking over her shoulder and second-guessing everyone she crossed paths with, wondering if they were an Infernal because she no longer possessed the senses required to identify them.
She heard him come up behind her. He set his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around.
Groaning, she dropped her forehead against his shoulder. “I need to talk to Reed. This is happening so fast and he needs to know what’s going on.”
“He knows. If you think he avoids eavesdropping for politeness, you’re way off base. I’ll admit that you’re probably the closest he’s ever come to caring more about someone else than himself, but that’s not your problem. You don’t have to be the only hope he’s got of being happy. He has to figure that out for himself.”
“I don’t think you know him as well as I do.”
“I know I’d kill him again before I’d let him have you,” he said fiercely. “See if he’ll make the same effort before you say your vows to me.”
Reed, she called out. Talk to me, please. We need to discuss this.
She waited for long moments, but he didn’t answer.
Alec dropped to one knee and her heart stopped beating. She forgot to breathe until the room tilted, then she sucked in air with a huge deep breath. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a ring box. The moment the lip snapped open, she covered her mouth with her hand. A solitary princess-cut diamond sat within a simple platinum band. Sized around two-carats, it so perfectly fit her tastes she wanted to weep at the sight of it. Her reaction to the ring was just as ferocious as the one she’d had the night before, but for a very different reason.
“Angel, would you—”
“Yes.”
The phone rang less than five minutes after Eve left a message with Adrian Mitchell’s secretary.
She answered immediately and shivered at the sound of the smooth, warm voice on the other end of the line. The power the man wielded caused a tangible response, even without the Mark’s enhancement to her senses.
“Eve,” he said. “Adrian Mitchell.”
“Hi. We’ve got trouble.” She explained how Zaphiel had stripped her of the Mark. She didn’t mention Alec’s lack of power, unable to say it aloud out of fear for his safety. If something happened to him. . “Assistance would be appreciated.”
“I already have someone on you, although I doubt Cain needs the help.”
“You do?” She looked at Alec with brows raised. “Did you have me followed?”
“Of course. Changing to the Jeep threw us off a bit, but as it turns out, I would have found you anyway.” His tone was wry. “I’m told you’re a former agnostic, but I’m sure you’ve learned by now that some things fall into place despite the odds.”
Since she was living that fact now, she couldn’t disagree. “Thank you.”
“Not necessary. You got stuck in the middle of a pissing match that has nothing to do with you.”
“Yeah,” she said wryly. “That happens to me a lot.”
It was five minutes after six when Alec rang the Andersons’ doorbell.
The smell of barbeque on the grill and the sounds of conversation and laughter had begun a half-hour before, but Eve and Alec had spent time getting the house ready for any unwanted visitors.
The door swung open and revealed Pam, who looked smart in a pair of white capris and a sage green shirt that matched her eyes. “Hey. Come on in. Terri’s in the kitchen being an overachiever.”
Eve held up a bottle of wine, Alec carried a six-pack of Blue Moon.
“My kind of neighbours,” Pam said, grinning. “Come this way, Eve. Alec, if you want to head outside, that’s where the men are.”
Eve followed Pam through the living room to the kitchen, while Alec headed out the sliding glass door that led to the back patio.
“I was hoping I could come by tomorrow,” Pam said, eyeing her avidly. “I have a new catalogue and some great samples.”