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face daily. I am taking you to a place where fear will be your closest companion. You will learn to function at your best when confronted with the worst.”
    Alec felt Eve shiver.
    He reached for her hand and tugged it from the lip of the window ledge. His fingers linked with hers, a silent offer of comfort. To say he felt shitty for his part in her marking would be an understatement, but that wasn’t the worst of it. He couldn’t change what happened in the past. He could, however, change the future. But he wasn’t working as hard on that as he should be.
    Eve wanted him to help her shed the mark and he’d promised that he would. But her desire to be free competed with his need to keep her around long enough to learn the mark system from the ground up. It was the best way for him to position himself as the most obvious choice to head a new firm. The Infernal threat was growing and more Marks were needed. Alec wanted to step into position as soon as expansion was finalized. He couldn’t do that as the outsider he’d always been. The wanderer, cursed to roam. Through Eve, he was finally established in one place, watching Marks from their inception. Once he completed mentor training, he would have hands-on experience with every aspect of the system. No one would be better suited to lead than him.
    “You will learn to work together,” Raguel went on. “You are not in competition with one another, although some of you act as if you are. You are a team; your goal is the same. The loss of one weakens all of you. By the time we are done, you’ll have become accustomed to both surviving and helping your brethren survive as well.”
    “Sounds flash,” the princess—Ms. Hogan—said.
    “Sì
.” Romeo winked at her.
    Richens shifted uncomfortably. Izzie yawned.
    Edwards, however, drummed his fingertips into the tabletop. “I’ve been to Fort McCroskey. The place is a dump. Overgrown with weeds and crawling with vermin.”
    “Eww.” Laurel’s nose wrinkled. “I’ve changed my mind.”
    “I will protect you,
bella,”
Romeo drawled.
    “You will all protect each other,” Raguel corrected.
    Ken rubbed his hands together. “We can do this.”
    “Is there Wi-Fi?” Richens asked.
    “Of course.” Raguel smiled indulgently. “All the modern conveniences. I do not want to completely isolate you. The intent of this exercise is to simulate actual field situations.”
    “Simulate?” Eve’s fingers tightened on Alec’s. “Are the Infernals we’re hunting simulated, too?”
    “In a fashion. Your prey will be real Infernals. There’s nothing on Earth capable of reproducing their scent, so we have to use actual demons.”
    A ripple of laughter moved through the room.
    “But they work for me,” Raguel went on.
    “A pity that,” Ken muttered. “I was hoping we’d finally get to kick some demon arse.”
    “All in good time, Mr. Callaghan. Gather around the table, please. Let us pray for success in our endeavors before we depart.”
    The students stood, forming a motley group that made Alec ponder the future of the mark system. Eve freed her hand from his grip and slid off the ledge.
    His brows rose.
    “I’m going to step outside,” she whispered.
    Izzie approached. “I’ll join you.”
    “I would prefer you two remain,” Raguel called out, having picked up their exchange with his celestial hearing. “Whether you join us in prayer or not is moot. We need to act together in everything.”
    Alec caught Eve around the waist and drew her back against him. He said a prayer for both of them. With the way their luck had been so far, he knew they needed all the help they could get.

CHAPTER 3

 
    As her car approached the unguarded entrance of Fort McCroskey, Eve took in her surroundings. In the glow of the setting sun, the signage delineating the end of public land shimmered from a recent coat of fresh paint. The road beneath her tires darkened as she crossed the threshold, compliments of a new layer of