Free Eve of Destruction by S. J. Day Page B

way?”
    “I’m hot.”
    His brows rose.
    “Hot flashes. Intermittent fevers. That sort of thing.”
    “That is impossible.”
    “Tell that to my body.”
    “You are under stress, Ms. Hollis, and experiencing dramatic and rapid change. It is not surprising that your mind would expect your body to have physical responses to such extreme pressures . . . even to the point of phantom maladies.”
    “Which is just a convoluted way of saying it’s all in my head.” She dismissed him with a frustrated wave of her hand. The
persuasive
undertone in his voice wasn’t lost on her, but it wasn’t effective either. “My on-the-fritz brain and I will just run along now.”
    He dismissed her as easily, turning his back to her and levitating over the remains of the stray. As he spoke a foreign language in a low tone, his arm made a wide gesture over the gore, turning it into ash, which sank into the earth.
    Eve was depressed by the waste and tantalized by the tiny bit of information the poodle had managed to impart before dying.
    . . . those around you. You feel it, too. You’re smack dab in the middle—
    Smack dab in the middle of what? And what did the people around her have to do with it?

CHAPTER 5

 
    Alec made it as far as Santa Cruz before he pulled off Highway 1 and secured a motel room. He didn’t want to travel any farther in Eve’s car. The Alpha had obviously sent his dogs to track her, hence the attack at Qualcomm Stadium. Alec would need to switch to a rental to avoid being recognized before he drove into Brentwood—the Black Diamond Pack’s den.
    As he pushed his key card into the door lock, Alec thought about Eve at Fort McCroskey. Frustrated by circumstances he had long ago lost control over, he pushed the door open with undue force. She wouldn’t be the same person by the end of the week. The experiences that came from being marked changed people in both drastic and subtle ways. He loved who Eve was and that wasn’t going to change, but he alsomissed the eighteen-year-old girl who’d given her innocence to him. That was one of the penalties for his sin, the same penalty his parents had paid when they gave in to temptation—you can take what you shouldn’t, but in the end you still won’t get what you wanted.
    I’m coming for you, Charles,
he thought, looking around the motel room with distaste.
If you had left well enough alone, I wouldn’t have to be here.
    Unfortunately, the Alpha’s death would set off a chain of events that could ripple outward, affecting other packs and creating room for new—possibly more dangerous—Alphas.
    “Better the demon you know,” Alec muttered.
    When Charles was gone, his Beta would step up. Pack members would scatter, reinforcing other packs or creating new ones. Charles, for all his many faults, was familiar and—previously—fairly cooperative. His demise would most likely give birth to greater threats, since the inheritance of power was often accompanied by an initial display of force, not goodwill toward the enemy.
    Alec stepped deeper into the room. The door shut behind him. For years he’d lived on the road like this. A new town every few days. A different motel room. Another forgettable girl to screw when the need to do so distracted from the hunt. There had been no one to worry about him and no one for him to look forward to going home to. He’d spent thousands of nights lying in the dark, watching the glare of vehicle headlights drifting across unfamiliar ceilings. Nowadays,he had a sweet condo on Pacific Coast Highway, right next to his dream girl, and he resented having to settle for less.
    Eve was in his life full time now, and he spent many of his nights in her bed. Sometimes she sent him home, but he knew she wanted him to stay. She hoped it would make it easier to say good-bye to him if she practiced doing it now. But Jehovah’s intent was to make choices difficult and nothing she could do would change that.
    Restless, Alec hit the