Free Eve of Chaos by S.J. Day

leaped over
the tumbling wave. She knocked one back with a roundhouse kick and feinted away
from another one. Her grim determination and unwavering focus arrested Alec.
When Marks were on a hunt, they were bolstered by the effects of the
mark—adrenaline, aggression, increased muscle mass. Fear was held at bay by
those things. But Eve wasn’t on a hunt, she was on her own. She managed it
beautifully.
    Two tengu
launched a third one at Alec like a missile. He ducked. Like Eve, he used rapid
kicks to keep his immediate perimeter clear, but maintenance wasn’t the goal.
Eradication was. A loud crash and high-pitched shouts of dismay on the other
side of the roof told him Eve had just smashed one. Tengu were all for having a
little evil fun, but not if it meant getting hurt.
    Catching a tengu
in each hand, he bashed them together. Debris exploded outward and turned to
ash before hitting the ground. “Two down. Ten more to go.”
    “Cain can’t save
pretty Mark,” a tengu sang, flapping its stone wings. “Sammael gets what
Sammael wants.”
    “Sammael is
going to get me,” he barked back, “if he doesn’t keep his minions to
himself.”
    Laughing, the
tengu regrouped and rushed him. He waited until the last minute, then shifted
away. The converging tengu collided. Two overzealous ones hit each other with
enough force to wipe each other out. A cloud of ash plumed upward and
dissipated in the gentle breeze.
    The sound of
thick metal sheeting bending in ways it shouldn’t turned his head toward Eve.
His gaze found little cement feet protruding from a hole in the
air-conditioning unit. They’d already repaired the massive and expensive system
once before, due to their last altercation with tengu on this roof.
    Hang in
there, he said, sensing Eve’s
strength was strained by the heavy beasts.
    Don’t worry
about me. Take care of yourself.
    Alec wondered if
she knew that she was the only person in existence who worried over him. He
stepped up his pace. He snatched up any tengu unfortunate enough to get too
close and used them to crush their friends. As he worked, he crossed the roof,
closing the distance between him and Eve. She was still several tengu deep, but
seemed to be holding her own.
    I’m winning, he taunted.
    In response to
his challenge, she became more aggressive, lunging and catching the little
demons just like he was. Considering her much smaller size, he was impressed
with her ability to keep up.
    They should
have backed off by now, she grunted.
Eve was right. Tengu liked to play, but when the tide turned against them, they
ran.
    They want
you, he explained.
    Huh?
    I’m thinking
the ice bitch wasn’t kidding.
    Fucking
fabulous, she muttered, hefting a
tengu overhead and braining another with it. Both burst into ash.
    Alec grabbed two
tengu by the backs of their skulls and pounded them together. Then he moved
toward Eve.
    Back off,
hero, she said, kicking another into
a ventilation turbine. I’ve got this.
    Grinning, he
stepped back and crossed his arms. There’s one to your left. Right. Left.
Behind you. Ooh, great shot. Kick it again. Duck!
    I’m going to
kill you next, she bit out,
struggling to shake off a tengu clinging to her back.
    You’d miss
me. He rubbed at his chest and the
swelling pride that made it ache.
    Not right
now. She snatched at the demon and
yanked it over her head. She swung it like a golf club into the one wrapped around
her leg, knocking both free and sending them flying. With anus splayed, Alec
caught them in each hand and launched them discus-
    style into the
heavy stairwell door. Stumbling from the blow to her leg, Eve faced the last
tengu standing.
    “Sammael wants
you, pretty Mark,” the Infernal said, hopping.
    Eve regained her
balance and pushed a few stray stands of hair back from her face. “He’ll have
to take a number.”
    “You can’t run,
you can’t hide.”
    “You can’t scare
me,” she sang back with a humorless smile.
    “Sammael will.”
    He dashed