“Away from you two. I’ll take my food to go, then you can fight over which one of you will pay.”
“Sit down, angel.”
Alec’s voice arrested her, the tone of command undeniable. This was a different side of Alec. Even more delicious than the others.
Damned libido.
Angry with her unruly desires, Eve plopped back into her seat.
“Tell me everything that happened,” Alec said. “Every detail.”
When she finished, the two men exchanged glances.
“What?” Eve asked.
“The tengu went after you,” Reed said. “He shouldn’t have.”
“Tengu?”
“The demon you thought was a gargoyle.”
“I feel like the kid in school who has Kick Me taped to her back,” she muttered. She looked at Alec. His unwritten sign said Don’t Mess with Me. If she had to wear any sign, that was the one she wanted.
“We have to find him.” Alec’s fingers drummed atop the plastic table.
The server returned with their food and they all waited while the plates were set down. Alec ordered the same meal, then watched Eve closely as she began to eat.
“Why do we need to find him?” Eve asked between bites of her first taco.
“We need to know who he’s affiliated with.”
“By his details?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Alec’s mouth. “You sound grumpy.”
“Neither of you believe me. That thing was completely gray from head to toe. Not a speck of color or design on him.”
“Your senses probably didn’t kick in until you ran across the Nix on the beach,” Reed pointed out, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin. “They fluctuate quite a bit for the first couple of weeks.”
“A Nix?” Alec swore.
“Is that bad?” Eve glanced back and forth between the two.
“Hell yeah, that’s bad. And I bet you riled him up with that mouth of yours.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my mouth.”
Both men’s gazes dropped to her lips. They tingled in response. She cleared her throat.
“And the tengu is bad, too?” she asked in order to break the sudden tension.
“Any demon is bad,” Reed answered. “But as far as pests go, a tengu is a mosquito and a Nix is a rat. Our resources are strapped, so the tengu fall fairly low on the scale. We don’t hunt them as actively as we do some other Infernals.”
“We’re going to hunt this one,” Alec said grimly.
“I’m going, too.” Eve wiped off her fingers. “If that thing had details, I want to see them.”
“It definitely had details, babe.” Reed picked up his beer. “There’s no doubt about that.”
“Says you,” she corrected. She looked at Alec. “What do you intend to do when you find him?”
Alec shrugged. “Shake him down and see what kind of information falls out.”
“Unless he has hidden talents, it doesn’t seem like a fair fight. He was small.”
“It’s the demon he works for that concerns me. The tengu are lesser demons who lack initiative and ambition. It’s out of character to risk bringing attention to himself. They like to cause trouble, but only indirectly.”
“It’s not going to be dangerous, is it?”
His gaze softened. “You’ll just point him out and get out of the way.”
“I can do that.” Eve picked up her fork, scooped up some rice, and tried to concentrate on eating. It wasn’t as easy as she would have wished.
She was too exhilarated, a response she found more disturbing than exciting.
“Now . . .” Alec’s voice was laden with frustration. “Tell me what happened with the Nix.”
CHAPTER 9
As Eve unlocked her front door, she took a moment to appreciate the speed with which it had been replaced. But when she stepped inside her condo, admiration gave way to trepidation.
Someone was inside her home.
Alec sensed her hesitation. He caught her arm and pulled her back, taking a defensive position in front of her. Then he sniffed the air and shot her a questioning glance.
She sighed. She didn’t need an enhanced sense of smell to recognize the scents of curry and freshly steamed rice. “It’s my mother.”
An odd look passed over his handsome features. Shock and wariness, perhaps. Then a dawning wonder.
It was the worst possible time for Miyoko Hollis to be visiting. She would view Alec’s presence in Eve’s house with more significance than Eve was presently prepared to give him. And he knew it, if the sudden mischievous grin he wore was any indication.
“Evie-san?” her mother called out.
“Yeah, it’s me, Mom.” Eve narrowed her eyes at Alec. She hoped like hell her father wasn’t here, because if he was and if he’d seen Alec’s belongings in her bedroom, he’d expect there to be a ring on her finger. Despite her traditional Japanese upbringing, Miyoko actually had less old-fashioned views of courtship.
“Behave,” Eve admonished.
“Of course.” But the gleam in Alec’s eyes belied the promise.
Her mother’s head peeked out from around the support pillar that anchored the end of the island. The same thick, inky black hair she’d passed on to Eve was permed into tight, short corkscrews that made her look as young as her daughter.
“Oh, hello,” her mother greeted, her face brightening at the sight of Alec. She appreciated a good-looking man as much as the next woman.
The rest of Miyoko’s four-foot eleven-inch frame appeared, revealing an apron that protected a lime-colored sweater tank and multihued skirt. A tiny, diamond-encrusted cross decorated her neck. The Hollises were Christian—Southern Baptist, to be precise, although they attended the occasional festival at the Orange County Buddhist Church for the food and entertainment. Eve had been baptized as a child, but broke free in junior high, refusing to accompany her family to any further church events. It was still a point of contention between her and the rest of the family. They didn’t understand her renouncement of organized religion, but then, they’d never tried to.
Eve made the introductions, her gaze darting to the end of the couch where two suitcases waited with feigned innocuousness.
“Where’s Dad?
“Fishing with his buddies again, near Acapulco.”
Damn.
Her mother was a caregiver by nature. When her husband was away, she needed someone to fuss over. Since Eve’s sister, Sophia, lived in Kentucky, Eve was the recipient of that fussing.
The whole day had been hell. Now, her mother and Alec were in her house at the same time. Eve cringed inwardly.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hollis,” Alec greeted her.
“Please. Call me Miyoko.”
“Konichiwa, Miyoko-san.” He bowed.
Eve watched startled pleasure pass over her mother’s face, but Alec’s charm wouldn’t be enough to make up for his bad-boy exterior. The slightly overlong hair, worn jeans, ripped physique, and scuffed biker boots made him unacceptable from the get-go. Her mother had impossible-to-meet standards for her daughters’ suitors. Reed’s exterior would be closer to passing muster, but his arrogance would never make the cut. In all of Eve’s years of dating, she had yet to meet a man her mother approved of for longer than five minutes.
“It smells wonderful in here,” Alec praised.
“Japanese curry.” Her mother beamed. “Have you tried it before?”
“Yes. It’s one of my favorites.”
For a moment, Eve was startled by the statement. Then she considered how long Alec had been living and how far he’d traveled.
“I made two flavors,” her mother said, returning to the kitchen where onions, carrots, and potatoes were in various stages of being peeled and cut. “Hot and mild.”
“Why mild?” Eve asked, going to the fridge for a can of soda. She lifted one up to her guests in silent query. They both nodded, so Eve pulled out three and kicked the door closed.
“I invited Mrs. Basso to have dinner with us. Poor dear. I can’t imagine living alone.”
“I’m glad she accepted.” Eve set the sodas on the counter and opened the dishwasher. It was empty.
“You shouldn’t live out of the dishwasher,” Miyoko admonished. “I put the dishes away for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t mind.”
Maybe her mother didn’t mind, Eve thought, but she’d never let Eve forget that she’d done it.
Eve turned to the cupboard that held her glasses and found Alec there before her, pulling them down. He handed her one, then pushed the other two—one at a time—under the fridge’s ice dispenser.
She watched with a mixture of horror and pleasure. This was the man who’d taken her virginity ten years ago. It seemed impossible that he was in her home, moving around as if he’d lived with her the whole time.
Their gazes met and held.
“How long are you visiting, Alec?” her mother asked.
“Actually, business has brought me into the area indefinitely,” Alec replied, setting both ice-filled glasses in front of Eve, and taking the empty one from her hand.
“Oh?” Wariness crept into Miyoko’s tone. “What do you do?”
“I’m a headhunter.”
“For what company?”
Alec smiled. “For Meggido Industries. We specialize in disaster avoidance.”
“How interesting.” Her mom’s eyes lit up.
As her mother reassessed Alec, Eve could practically see the wheels turning in her head. It wouldn’t go well if Miyoko researched Alec’s company and found it to be a fraud.
“How did you meet Evangeline?”
“It was years ago, when she was in—”
“—college,” Eve interjected, before gulping down her soda.