"We are vacating the base," Gadara said.
"What if that was the goal of the attack?"
"Why?"
"I don"t know, but it"s a possibility."
"A far-reaching one," Reed interjected. "And regardless, it"s too dangerous for you to be here."
Gadara continued to watch her intensely. "I have already ordered an investigative team up here. They are far more qualified and are therefore at less risk."
Eve knew she couldn"t argue with that. She also knew that doing nothing at all wasn"t an option. "Will you let us partic.i.p.ate in the investigation from the safety of the tower? Studying evidence or whatever else can be done?"
A hint of a smile touched the archangel"s mouth, but she was too upset about Molenaar to chafe over playing into Gadara"s hands. So what if she was determined to partic.i.p.ate? That didn"t mean she was married to the idea of being a Mark.
"I am certain something can be arranged," Gadara said magnanimously.
Reed gestured for Eve to head toward the stairs. "I"ll take the cla.s.s back to the house."
Gadara nodded. "You can record your report and transfer it to my desk."
"I"ll be sticking around awhile."
"That will not be necessary."
"You haven"t heard my report."
Eve frowned. "You"re worried about something else?"
He caught her elbow as she came closer and started to escort her off the roof. "I"ll tell you later."
There was no way to avoid inhaling the unique scent of his skin. It was musky, exotic, seductive. It flowed through her senses, creating tingles where she didn"t need them and aches where she didn"t want them. The heat of his touch burned through her shirt to her flesh. Sweat dotted her upper lip. Her body remembered the feel of his. Craved to feel it again.
Reed glanced at her. She kept her own line of vision firmly on the ground. He opened the rooftop door and she was about to step inside when something long, gray, and quick darted past her booted foot. Eve yelped. The rat stilled halfway down the stairs. It turned its head, staring at her with teeny beaded eyes. Are you screaming "cuz of me? it asked.
A mental shudder rolled through her. The sight of the rodent"s long, ribbed tail was revolting. She swallowed back her disgust and asked, "Did you see anything when you were up there?"
Rearing up on its rear legs, the rat made a noise suspiciously like a laugh. I scared ya. Gotta love newbies. She aimed her gun. Reed chuckled and lounged into the stairwell railing. Take it easy, doll, the rat said hastily. Where"s your sense of humor?
"What"s your name?"
A loud screeching was his reply.
Eve cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Okay, let"s call you Templeton."
What kind of name is that?
"A rat"s name."
"Charlotte"s Web," Reed murmured.
Startled that he would know such trivia, Eve looked at him with a widening smile. "I"m impressed."
Who is Charlotte? Templeton barked.
"Never mind," Eve dismissed. "Did you see anything on the roof?"
Nope. Nada.
"You"re lying."
Prove it.
"Come on," she cajoled, firmly squelching the voice in her mind that shouted, You"re talking to a rat ! "You had to see something."
It"s not true.
"What"s not true?" She glanced at Reed, who shrugged and grinned boyishly, the combination briefly distracting her. She cursed her raging libido, which seemed to be fueled by her low-grade fever. What they say about rats. Templeton"s whiskers twitched in a manner that seemed . . . affronted. It"s pigs who squeal, the miserable b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They"ll do anything for food.
"I like pigs. They"re useful. They make bacon and ham. What have you got to offer?"
Entertainment?
She waved the gun carelessly. "I have to be honest, it"s not looking so good for you right now, Templeton. You"re giving me the w.i.l.l.i.e.s, not information."
You"d shoot an innocent rat? Man, that"s low.
"Gimme something, then."
Did you see the lip around the roof? It"s at least three feet high. I couldn"t see s.h.i.t. Eve considered that. "What did you hear?"
Struggling. Gurgling. Hammering.
She swallowed hard. "That"s not helpful."
Templeton dropped back down on all fours. Told ya. Can I go now?
Her gaze shot to Reed. He raised both brows and straightened. The air around him stirred, causing his scent to waft to her. She changed her line of questioning. "Did you smell anything?"
Nope. Nada.
"I don"t believe you."
Templeton looked at Reed. Tough crowd, Abel. You sure she"s worth the effort?
Reed looked at Eve, his dark eyes soft. "She"s worth it."
Eve forcibly ignored the physical response she had to his tone and words. "You"re a rat, Templeton-"
You"re brilliant.
"-which means you have a great sense of smell. You can tell me what kind of Infernal did . . . that. "
Templeton shook his head. I didn"t smell anything but Mark.
Her head tilted to the side. "I could maybe see that if there was blood everywhere, but there isn"t any."
Right, doll. So you tell me . . . No blood to stink up the air and a killer exerting himself strenuously, but all I could smell was Mark. How is that possible?
"What are you-" Reed"s hand came to rest at the small of her back. She swallowed hard. "Are you saying there wasn"t an Infernal down there when Molenaar was killed?"
Seems that way.
The chill in her gut spread. "Then who did it?"
Templeton"s whiskers twitched. That"s the question, isn"t it?
"Who was the last person tae see Molenaar?" Ken asked, his gaze raking over the other Marks. They were waiting in the men"s side of the duplex for Gadara to return from Anytown and the tension was thick as fog. Eve stood on the open threshold between the dining and living rooms. Reed leaned a shoulder into the wall beside her, a causal pose she knew was only a facade. She was unusually antsy, with a simmering need to move. The itch to leap into offensive action crawled over her skin like a thousand tiny ants.
The smell of mold and decay in the house was more p.r.o.nounced now, almost oppressively so. The weak rays of sunlight shining through the windows showcased every flaw the moonlight had concealed: the stained and warped hardwood floors, the crumbling walls, the scuffed baseboards. The air was choked with the proliferation of dust that swirled around them like tendrils of smoke. Eve found herself becoming more agitated by the moment.
Inside her mind, Reed murmured words she couldn"t understand in a soothing tone. Their connection was too weak to convey more than impressions, but she got the gist. He wanted her to take it down a notch. She was hot and irritable, and she wanted to cry but her eyes were dry as bone.
"Well?" Ken demanded, looking oddly fierce in his ski cap, like a bank-robbing felon. "The last time I saw him was when we entered Anytown. I went tae the left. I saw Hollis, Edwards, and Richens go intae the office building. Who went tae the right with Molenaar?"
Claire raised her hand. She stood with feet wide and arm wrapped around her waist in a defensive posture that belied the aggressive tilt of her chin. "I did, in the beginning. We separated when I entered a video rental store. He continued without me."
"What time was that?"
"Half past eight?" She muttered something in French. "Maybe eight. What does it matter?"
"What about you?" Ken directed his question to Romeo.
"I was with Laurel."
Ken stared a moment at the pretty Kiwi, who looked chagrined and might have blushed if she wasn"t a Mark. "You two make me sick," he bit out.
Laurel blinked, then recovered. "f.u.c.k you, Callaghan."
"Isnae that what he was doing?" Ken jerked his chin toward Romeo. "While Molenaar was losing his head, you two were houghmagandying on a training mission!"
"You didn"t save him either," Laurel snapped. "What were you doing?"
"Where was Seiler?" Edwards interjected.
"She was following us," Eve said.
"I was not!" Izzie protested.
"You came onto the scene awfully quick," Eve drawled, deliberately goading.
"I am fast. That"s all. I do not care about what you are doing. You have problems if you think I would."
"Since you and Richens keep contradicting each other, it"s clear that one of you is a liar. Which one of you is it?"
"I am confused," Romeo said, frowning.
Izzie palmed her blade and spoke with dangerous softness. "Do not call me a liar."
Eve crossed her arms. "We don"t have time for these games you and Richens are playing. Until one of you admits that you told me a lie, I"m not going to believe either of you."
"Sod off, Hollis," Richens bit out. "My a.r.s.e still hurts, you know. I told you to pick the knife!"
"I shot you on purpose," she said wryly.
Reed"s hand touched her elbow. She caught his frown and shrugged it off. Ken stepped closer. "What are you talking about, Hollis? What lies?"
"They know what I"m talking about. Let"s go back to what happened to Molenaar. Did anyone else notice the lack of Infernal stench around Molenaar"s body?"
A stillness came over the group, then a cl.u.s.ter of protests. Eve cut them all off with a wave of her hand. "I understand you were all freaked out. I am, too, but we need to stop thinking about how we feel about this and do something about it instead."
"I didnae smell anything but Mark blood," Ken said.
The others quickly concurred.
"Right." Eve"s gaze raked over everyone, searching. "So what does that mean?"
"We weren"t paying attention?" Edwards suggested gruffly.
"Or maybe the only thing to smell was Mark. Maybe there was never an Infernal there."
"You accuse one of us?" Romeo cried, dark eyes wide. "Sei matta! Come puoi dire una cosa del genere?"
"I have no idea what he said," Laurel snapped. "But I agree!"
Reed"s grip on her arm tightened. "Come with me." He dragged her toward the door.
"She is lying," Izzie said with a smile in her voice. "I think it was the faery."
Pausing, Reed faced them. "Leave this matter to Raguel and his team."
"If there"s a traitor among us," Richens said, "we have a lot to worry about."
Reed snapped his fingers at the two guards standing watch just outside the front door. "No one leaves."
Without waiting for their acquiescence, he yanked Eve down the steps and away.