As if Alec’s thoughts served as the archangel’s cue to appear, Raguel entered the room by floating through the glass door, displaying for one and all a small portion of his power. He was dressed casually in loose-fitting indigo linen pants and tunic, but the intensity that radiated from him belied the outward appearance of leisure.
A brief nod passed between Alec and the archangel, then Raguel looked around the conference room. His lyrical voice rolled though the room like smoke, “Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon,
moreh,”
the class greeted in unison, using the Hebrew word for “teacher.”
Raguel frowned. “Where is Molenaar?”
“He hasnae shown his face yet,” Ken answered.
Alec glanced at Eve, trying to remember which classmate was absent.
Her lips formed the words,
the Stoner.
Nodding, Alec wondered at the composition of students
in the class. Two former drug addicts, a teenager with poor motor skills, and an elderly gentleman most likely set in his ways. Marks came in all shapes, sizes, pasts, and temperaments. But only select Marks became hunters rather than behind-the-scenes personnel with occupations like personal assistant or travel coordinator.
It was Dubois and the absent stoner who most disturbed him. Addicts had the hardest time acclimating to the mark. In addition to the loss of their homes, family, and friends, they also lost their crutch. The mark was an instant cure, changing the body so that mind-altering substances were no longer effective. Some novice Marks went crazy facing reality. They hadn’t been capable of functioning without drugs in their ordinary mortal lives. It was impossible for some to cope with sobriety in an extraordinary world filled with demons who wanted them dead.
“We will leave on the hour,” Raguel said, “whether Molenaar is present or not.”
Eve raised her hand. “What is the purpose of this field trip?”
Raguel widened his stance and crossed his arms. He raked the room with a sweeping glance. “All of you carry fear. You must face it and learn to see past it. You have been tasked with eliminating the vilest of Hell’s denizens. The horror movies you enjoyed in the past are nothing compared to what you will face daily. I am taking you to a place where fear will be your closest companion. You will learn to function at your best when confronted with the worst.”
Alec felt Eve shiver.
He reached for her hand and tugged it from the lip of the window ledge. His fingers linked with hers, a silent offer of comfort. To say he felt shitty for his part in her marking would be an understatement, but that wasn’t the worst of it. He couldn’t change what happened in the past. He could, however, change the future. But he wasn’t working as hard on that as he should be.
Eve wanted him to help her shed the mark and he’d promised that he would. But her desire to be free competed with his need to keep her around long enough to learn the mark system from the ground up. It was the best way for him to position himself as the most obvious choice to head a new firm. The Infernal threat was growing and more Marks were needed. Alec wanted to step into position as soon as expansion was finalized. He couldn’t do that as the outsider he’d always been. The wanderer, cursed to roam. Through Eve, he was finally established in one place, watching Marks from their inception. Once he completed mentor training, he would have hands-on experience with every aspect of the system. No one would be better suited to lead than him.
“You will learn to work together,” Raguel went on. “You are not in competition with one another, although some of you act as if you are. You are a team; your goal is the same. The loss of one weakens all of you. By the time we are done, you’ll have become accustomed to both surviving and helping your brethren survive as well.”
“Sounds flash,” the princess—Ms. Hogan—said.
“Sì
.” Romeo winked at her.
Richens shifted uncomfortably. Izzie yawned.
Edwards, however, drummed his fingertips into the tabletop. “I’ve been to Fort McCroskey. The place is a dump. Overgrown with weeds and crawling with vermin.”
“Eww.” Laurel’s nose wrinkled. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“I will protect you,
bella,”
Romeo drawled.
“You will all protect each other,” Raguel corrected.
Ken rubbed his hands together. “We can do this.”
“Is there Wi-Fi?” Richens asked.
“Of course.” Raguel smiled indulgently. “All the modern conveniences. I do not want to completely isolate you. The intent of this exercise is to simulate actual field situations.”
“Simulate?” Eve’s fingers tightened on Alec’s. “Are the Infernals we’re hunting simulated, too?”
“In a fashion. Your prey will be real Infernals. There’s nothing on Earth capable of reproducing their scent, so we have to use actual demons.”
A ripple of laughter moved through the room.
“But they work for me,” Raguel went on.
“A pity that,” Ken muttered. “I was hoping we’d finally get to kick some demon arse.”
“All in good time, Mr. Callaghan. Gather around the table, please. Let us pray for success in our endeavors before we depart.”
The students stood, forming a motley group that made Alec ponder the future of the mark system. Eve freed her hand from his grip and slid off the ledge.
His brows rose.
“I’m going to step outside,” she whispered.
Izzie approached. “I’ll join you.”
“I would prefer you two remain,” Raguel called out, having picked up their exchange with his celestial hearing. “Whether you join us in prayer or not is moot. We need to act together in everything.”
Alec caught Eve around the waist and drew her back against him. He said a prayer for both of them. With the way their luck had been so far, he knew they needed all the help they could get.
As her car approached the unguarded entrance of Fort McCroskey, Eve took in her surroundings. In the glow of the setting sun, the signage delineating the end of public land shimmered from a recent coat of fresh paint. The road beneath her tires darkened as she crossed the threshold, compliments of a new layer of asphalt. Ahead, lights attracted customers to the commissary, the parking lot of which boasted more than a few cars.
“It doesn’t look abandoned to me,” she said. “Maybe I have an overactive imagination, but I pictured this place looking a lot different. Cobwebs and tumbleweeds. That sort of thing.”
Alec glanced at her from the passenger seat. “You haven’t seen the best parts yet.”
“Oh, great. Something to look forward to.”
“Look forward to me coming back,” he purred, giving her one of his looks. He was, quite simply, ferociously sexy. And he knew it, which made him even more dangerous.
She jerked her attention back to the road. “You’re going to get us into an accident. It’s hard to drive when your toes are curled.”
Eve slowed to maintain the distance between the front of her car and the white van carrying the other Marks. The white Chevy Suburban behind her carried six of Gadara’s personal guards, as well as a week’s worth of provisions and all of their equipment.
Occasionally, some of her classmates looked back at her, but never with any show of friendliness. She probably should have ridden with the group to foster solidarity, but she didn’t have the energy. She didn’t know if coming back from the dead was supposed to feel like killer PMS or not, but she was seriously cranky and sluggish.
They drove down streets lined with homes whose architecture ranged from 1950s duplexes to 1980s single-family dwellings. The residences were all well lit, with cars in the carports and large manicured yards. She’d done some research on the place and learned that it had been established in 1917, became an official fort in 1940, and closed in 1994. Nowadays, it still served a variety of uses, both civilian and military. The homes they passed now were occupied by married soldiers attending the nearby Defense Language Institute and the Naval Postgraduate School.
Eve lowered the window and let the crisp, salt-tinged air into the vehicle. Although the base hugged the same Pacific Coast as her condominium, the northern climate was very different. The temperature was cooler, the sky more overcast, and the trees were pines instead of palms. She wished they were riding Alec’s Harley instead, but the seven-hour ride would have been tough even for a mark-enhanced body.
“I bet the soldiers who were stationed here loved it,” Alec said.
“It’s a shame it’s closed. I had a friend whose brother was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He called it ‘Fort Lost in the Woods, Misery.’ I’m sure he would much rather be here.”
“No doubt.”
They followed the van around a bend in the road. Eve caught sight of a building with boarded-up windows and butterflies took flight in her stomach. She told herself it was a mental thing—her body wasn’t supposed to react to stress—but that didn’t help. She was nervous and scared. “So . . . Do you know anything about the training that goes on here?”
He reached over and squeezed her knee. “I checked around while they were loading up the Suburban. Raguel has only used McCroskey a couple times so it was difficult to find anyone who has been through the experience. The two Marks I spoke with said it was a pivotal assignment for them, one that changed their perception of everything.”
“For the better?”
“So they say.”
“Only two Marks?” She swallowed hard. “What happened to the rest of them?”
Alec shot her a wry look. “They’re out in the field, doing their job. They’re not dead.”
Eve exhaled in a rush. “Good to know.”
“I
will
get you out of this before it kills you,” he vowed, looking grim and determined. “You’re not going to end your days marked.”
Her reaction to his promise was so mixed, Eve couldn’t decide how she felt about it. Three weeks ago, her reply would have been, “You bet your ass.” Now, she was ambivalent. She had never in her life quit something because she didn’t like it. She made it to the end before saying she’d given it her all.
“You know,” she began, “I’ve gone through this training with a ‘one-day-at-a-time’ attitude.”
“That’s not a bad attitude to have, angel. Sometimes, it’s the only way to get by.”
“Yes, but in this case, I think I need to see the bigger picture.”
Alec pivoted in his seat. His movement was fluid despite his size. At six feet four inches and two hundred and twenty pounds of lean, mean muscle, Alec had a body that was coveted by both men and women. Even with the mark—which made him preternaturally powerful—he worked out regularly to maintain his prime physical condition. He took his work very seriously and she admired him for that, even as she chastised herself for being far less committed.
“And what would you do with the bigger picture?” he asked.
“Hell if I know.” Her shoulders lifted lamely. “I
just can’t help feeling as if throwing myself headfirst into the whole marked business makes it easier for God to keep me here for a while.”
His fingertips stroked down her forearm. “Jehovah doesn’t recognize easy or hard. He does what he thinks is best.”
“Well,
I
recognize easy and hard,” she retorted. “And what used to be hard is becoming easier and sometimes it’s not so bad. But then sometimes—like dying in a dirty men’s restroom—it’s really fucking awful.”
“So try it out this week,” he suggested. “Give it your all for seven days and see what happens.”
Eve’s fingers wrapped tighter around the steering wheel. “I don’t want to like this, Alec. I don’t want to become comfortable.”
The van turned a corner, taking them into a less-populated area. The homes on this street were dark, the yards yellowed. The sun was setting, adding shadows to the mix. Suburbia faded into desolation and Eve shivered.
“What do you want, angel?”
“I want normal. I want marriage and kids. I want to grow old.” Eve glanced aside at him. “And I want you. Most of the time.”
When the van pulled into one of two parking spots in front of a darkened duplex, she stopped in the street and stared at the home. The Suburban passed her and took the remaining space.
Alec’s head turned away from her. “I don’t come with normal,” he murmured.
“I know.”
The van rear door slid open and Ken leaped out, stretching. Then he set his hands on either side of the frame and leaned in, appearing to listen to instructions passed along from someone inside. He glanced at Eve idling in the street and gestured for her to park at the curb.
She sighed. “Here goes.”
After parking the car, Eve climbed out of the driver’s seat and joined the others. The rest of the group poured out of the van. Gadara stood between the two vehicles and waved his arm in a sweeping motion. The exterior lights blazed to life.
“Brilliant,” Laurel said, popping her chewing gum.
Shedding some light on the situation didn’t ease Eve’s discomfort. Instead, it brought the disrepair of their living quarters into stark relief. Paint peeled from the siding and trim, cracks marred the cement walkway, and the asphalt in the drive was crumbling. A cockroach ran between the two cars and Laurel screamed.