Free Eve of Warefare by Sylvia Day Page A

relegated to the sidelines of her “real” job: demon bounty hunting.
    “Time to go, Evangeline,” Zaphiel said, jerking his head imperiously toward the private elevator that would take them down to the lobby level. The deliberate use of her name cemented the suspicion that she was – yet again – being used as a pawn in a bigger game.
    It was a game she didn’t play well; something the cherub would be figuring out soon.
    Eve stood. In her former life, she’d be sporting Jimmy Choo stilettos and a svelte pencil skirt. As a Mark – one of thousands of sinners cursed with the Mark of Cain – she was wearing Doc Martens and worn jeans. The thick, straight black hair she’d inherited from her Japanese mother was pulled back in a simple ponytail. Dressing for the job was 24/7; Marks never knew when they’d be called out to vanquish a rogue demon.
    She walked to the cherub, expecting him to shift/teleport them to wherever it was he wanted to go, but he just smiled smugly.
    “You will drive me,” he pronounced.
    “O-kay . . .” Moving on to the elevator, she pressed the call button.
    Within minutes, they were buckling into her red Chrysler 300. When she glanced at him for directions, he told her to drive toward Anaheim Hills. As he spoke, a pair of sunglasses appeared on his face, reminding her that he was yanking her chain by making her drive to their destination.
    She pulled out of the shadows of the subterranean parking lot and into the bright Southern California sunshine. Grabbing her Oakley sunglasses from the centre console, she put them on.
    “Why are you not with Cain?” he asked.
    “He’s busy and I’m babysitting you.”
    His lips pursed at the dig. “I am not speaking of the present moment. You are in love with him, yet you are not involved with him romantically.”
    She made no effort to deny her feelings. It would have been pointless, considering how pivotal her prior relationship with Alec was to the existing state of the Marked system. “It’s too complicated, and none of your business.”
    Cain was the original and most bad-assed Mark of them all. He functioned outside the Marked system hierarchy as an autonomous hunter taking orders directly from the Almighty. He was a revered and polarizing figure for other Marks, a lofty and undefeated ideal that each of the archangels longed to exploit for their own advancement. Eve’s attachment to Gadara’s firm came with Cain as a bonus. Cain gave the archangel a massive advantage over his fellow firm leaders.
    “I could further your cause,” the cherub said. “Cain’s advancement to archangel was only supposed to be temporary.”
    Her grip on the steering wheel whitened her knuckles. “Don’t you dare take that promotion away from him and blame it on me! Alec is right where he wants to be.”
    “Without you? The archangels are barred from feeling romantic love.”
    “I’m sure there’s a reason for that.” Her voice was tight and she made a concerted effort to relax. Zaphiel was rubbing salt in her wounds, knowing damn well that she’d broken things off with Alec because he was no longer capable of loving her the way he used to. He admired her, lusted after her and was determined to remain faithful to her, but her unreciprocated love was a huge liability to them both. “Killing demons has a high mortality rate, if you hadn’t noticed.”
    “That is not why you resist the attraction. Perhaps Abel’s affections are enough to console you?”
    She stomped on the brakes. The car behind them lay on the horn and swerved around her with tyres squealing.
    Don’t let him get to you, Reed Abel warned, his thoughts crossing over the connection that existed between Marks and the mal’akhs – common angels – who meted out their Infernal-hunting assignments. Like the American judicial system, there were bondsmen (the archangels), dispatchers (mal’akhs), and bounty hunters (Marks like her). It was a well-oiled system for the most part. It was