Shadow of the Apocalypse

by D. L. Harrison

  Jacob replied, “We found out what I wanted to tonight, there’s no reason to go to the ritual sites, we won’t learn anything more. We’ll go back to the hotel, eat, and hope the locals can point us in the right direction. Hopefully, one of the others will have something useful to report, to give us a lead.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  Carl said, “Then we’ll have to go to the other sites and look for more clues tomorrow. We’ll also have to patrol blindly and hope to run into them. That’s the final option though, we have other courses to take to at least narrow things down.”

  She nodded, and let it be.

  “Did you know them, this team?”

  Jacob shook his head, “No, but that doesn’t mean I won’t avenge their deaths.”

  She shivered at the tone of his voice, and the four of them returned to the SUV and headed back to the hotel. The drive was quiet, as she considered all she’d learned about warlocks in general, and the one they were hunting specifically. They really didn’t have any good leads, outside of the fact she existed, was clever enough not to get herself killed, and had more power than most warlocks ever amassed.

  She decided all of that wasn’t really too big of a surprise, since the bitch had managed to take out a whole team of hunters without a fight.

  Chapter Six

  She had rare steak and lobster for dinner, which was delicious. She also ate mashed potatoes, and almost a whole loaf of the bread at the meal. She was rather stuffed when she finished, and it was getting pretty late.

  Jacob said, “Alright, what did we learn?”

  He went on to share what we’d picked up at the house, before glancing at Caroline for her report.

  Caroline scowled, “The coven is laying low and staying out of it. They know nothing of use, except that there is a warlock somewhere in the city.”

  She got the feeling Caroline was ashamed of their cowardly behavior. She wasn’t so sure, if they didn’t feel the calling to help the shifters hunt it wasn’t a bit surprise they’d want to stay off the warlock’s radar. Especially given how powerful that warlock was. She was frightened herself more than a little bit, if it wasn’t for her strong conviction and drive to protect humanity and stop that sort of thing, she wasn’t so sure if the bravery in her would have won out. Being afraid of that sort of thing was just… smart.

  Cinna tilted her head, “I didn’t learn anything concrete, but they believed the warlock was in the northwest side of the city.”

  Jace added, “That’s just from the predation pattern of the sacrifices, they haven’t run into her or anything, they didn’t even know it was a female.”

  That made a certain amount of sense, even human serial killers that were aware of that foible still tended to leave a pattern behind. It was human nature, and even if they believed they were randomly picking out areas to kill it would eventually resolve into a pattern anyway. It always did.

  Cinna said, “Regardless, if we have no better leads we should get a map of the city and surrounding area and plot out the murder sites. See what that tells us.”

  It wasn’t a great lead, but it was better than randomly driving through and around the city. At the very least, it would narrow down the area to randomly patrol in the hopes of running into her or one of her demonic minions. Well, she’d known investigating to find the culprit wouldn’t be nearly as easy as just checking out the life-web for a rogue soul eater or witch, she just hadn’t realized how truly difficult it would be.

  Of course, worst case scenario, she could monitor the web for humans in distress, she already was, and imagined that would be effective. Except that meant waiting for another sacrificial death before they could locate the warlock, assuming they could get to the location before she finished and left.

  She reluctantly mentioned the possibility, and no one looked happy about it, but it was a final option.

  Carl said, “I’ll take care of the map idea first thing in the morning, while Jacob teaches Lily how to shoot. We can all take a look at it after they get back during breakfast.”

  Jacob nodded, “Good idea. Lily, five AM, we’ll head over to the local gun range.”

  Five in the morning? Good lord, she’d have to wake up at four thirty. She kind of understood though, and she agreed. He didn’t want to take any time away from looking for and chasing down leads just to get her up to speed on handling a firearm.

  “I’ll be in the lobby at five.”

  Dinner broke up then, and her and Meri returned to their room to get some sleep…

  The local range was a large building with a gun shop out front, with ammo for sale. Jacob bought a couple of boxes of normal nine-millimeter ammo, it wouldn’t do to waste the armor piercing ammunition she had on practice, so it made sense.

  They were alone, and as usual when they were alone without any of the others on the team as a foil she felt a little self-conscious in his presence, because their sexual tension went through the roof. It was a little distracting, but not distracting enough to keep her from focusing on what he was saying and teaching her.

  The first hour he taught her all about gun safety, and the proper way to hold it with her finger outside the guard unless she was ready to shoot. Always assume the gun was loaded, and never point it at anything she’d mind putting a hole in. They also went over breaking down the gun, how to clean it, and how to reassemble it. Then he taught how to load a magazine with the new ammunition, load it, and chamber a round.

  So it wasn’t until after six, before she actually held a loaded gun, and put in ear protection on the range. She felt a little awkward with the thing as she held it the way he taught her, and she aimed down range. It didn’t feel natural, she had no muscle memory for it, and no edge. That wasn’t surprising, if the legends were right, she’d already been long entombed before the first gun was made.

  Still, at least she was confident she wouldn’t hit anything she didn’t want to, she just wasn’t sure how good she’d be at hitting what she wanted.

  She aimed down the sights, paused her breath out half way, and then squeezed the trigger. She’d shifted her strength for the recoil, but it still took her by surprise. She aimed again, and squeezed off four more rounds, and then they retrieved the target.

  She frowned, she’d managed to hit the target, but they weren’t grouped very closely together, and had hit on the right side of it. Clearly, she wasn’t a natural.

  Jacob said, “Not bad for your first time. You won’t be making head shots, but if you aim at their center mass you’ll hit them.”

  Yeah, maybe if they stood still for her, gave her some time to breathe out and hold it, the paper target didn’t dodge or move, but she smiled confidently through those doubts for Jacob’s benefit. She had no doubt she’d get better, but it would take a lot more practice to get there. She certainly didn’t begrudge the hard work or effort that’d be required, she just wasn’t happy it was while on a hunt she’d likely need to use a gun.

  She shot several more clips for the rest of the second hour, and she slowly got a little better. Her groupings were tighter together and closer to center mass on the target, but over inches not centimeters, and she was at least accustomed to the noise and recoil now. Time would tell if she could hit a moving target or not. Of course, the chances weren’t quite that bad, she could enhance her speed greatly after all, which would help with that.

  Jacob said, “Better. We’ll go out once a week to practice back home, but it’s good enough to slow down if not kill a demon, and if you hit the warlock center mass she’ll just go down.”

  “Thanks. It’s not so bad, it just feels… not quite natural. Yet.”

  He had her clean the weapon then, and they didn’t leave until he was satisfied she’d done it correctly. At least she could shoot, break down, clean, and assemble a weapon at that point.

  She was fairly confident with it then, if not an excellent shot she was at least adequate. Still, she was much more comfortable with martial arts and her claws. She
shrugged it off, she couldn’t be great at everything, no one was, and she was sure she’d improve with it over time.

  It was close to seven-thirty before they got back to the hotel, and met the others for breakfast…

  When she got back to the table with her plate of bacon, eggs, and biscuits, Cinna was the only other one back from the breakfast bar.

  Cinna purred, “So… how was the lesson? Did he… teach you how to make his gun go off?” and then raised a naughty eyebrow.

  She laughed, “Behave, wicked woman.”

  Cinna snickered, “Sorry, I just don’t know how you two are resisting each other.”

  She lifted an eyebrow.

  Cinna shrugged, “He wants you just as badly, don’t tell me you can’t feel it.”

  Of course she could, his emotions and desires were quite clear to her given her soul eater gift of empathy.

  She sighed, “It’s complicated. I don’t feel all that thankful to him now for holding back on exploring our attraction and feelings, especially because the better I know him the more attractive he is, but I have a feeling I will thank him for it once I have my memories back.”

  Cinna smirked, “Chickens. Love is always a risk.”

  Maybe, sometimes she had the same thoughts, but that was usually when her libido was off the charts. She wouldn’t let her desire make decisions for her that way, no matter how sexy he was, or how much she wanted to climb him like a tree and feel his arms around her. Over the last two weeks it had developed into far more than just raw chemical attraction, even if it hadn’t gone anywhere yet, that attraction grew stronger as they grew to know more about each other and became true friends.

  She admired him, and who he was and what he stood for.

  “So, how’s Jace,” she deflected.

  Cinna snorted at the obvious change of subject, but then couldn’t help it as she smiled widely, “Wonderful. He loves and adores me, and of course all shifters are possessive and generous lovers, not to mention animals in bed.”

  Damn, why did she get the feeling they hadn’t really changed the subject after all.

  Cinna shrugged in faux innocence at the piercing look she gave her.

  “Just saying, you did ask after all. If you want my opinion, always jump in with both feet.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, but the point was moot. Even if she changed her mind, he was determined to wait until Lily had recovered both her memories and her true self. She didn’t think she’d be that different, morally speaking in the core of who she was as a person, but she supposed some things would change.

  Point was, even if she wanted to, she couldn’t force Jacob to stop holding her at arm’s length. She might get away with seducing him if she put her mind to it, but she got the idea that would backfire. Plus, she wanted to be chased, she wasn’t a predator in that way.

  It was with some relief Allison made it to the table, quickly followed by Jace and Carl, which meant their conversation was over. She wished her life wasn’t so damned complicated, but she knew she couldn’t really move forward until she’d put the past to bed, which would require remembering it.

  “How did he take the news?”

  It was kind of a vague question, but she imagined Allison would pick up on it. She was curious how her date took Allison breaking it, and imagined it wasn’t far from Allison’s mind.

  Allison frowned, “The usual way, he didn’t reschedule.”

  Ouch. Lily wasn’t the only one that didn’t have an easy personal life.

  Carl asked, “Usual way?”

  Allison blushed and shrugged, and she felt bad for even bringing it up.

  Meri said bluntly, “Men don’t like to come in second to a life calling, at least ones that don’t share that same calling themselves.”

  Allison nodded curtly in agreement, it was obvious that type of thing had happened again and again to the sweet witch, and the subject was dropped.

  Carl said tentatively, “The map is set up in my and Jacob’s room, I don’t want to shade anyone’s opinion before you see it, but it’s pretty obvious she’s somewhere in the northwest part of the city, like our friends suggested.”

  She frowned, “You look younger.”

  He did, Carl looked about thirty now, she wondered if that meant he was almost done grieving his lost mate who’d been killed during a hunt. Another reminder she was hardly the only one that had relationship issues and angst to deal with.

  Carl nodded, “Generally, we don’t talk about that, the grieving process is private for us by tradition, but yes.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  Carl scowled, “I don’t have my eye on anyone particular, but I suppose I’m opening up to the possibility, can we talk about something else?”

  She teased, “We could paint our toenails while we share our feelings.”

  Carl barked a laugh.

  Cinna dropped a conversation bomb.

  “Jace and I are expecting.”

  The table grew very quiet for a moment, and then everyone started to congratulate them at once.

  Cinna grinned, “So I’m off the sparring roster, but I don’t mind throwing emotions during training.”

  “You’re staying?”

  She thought pregnant females went to the supernatural town, or was that only shifter females? She didn’t imagine a sole soul eater would feel all that comfortable in a town full of nothing but other shifters, even if she was an ally.

  Cinna shrugged, “The town in Montana is just for the shifters, their grandparents and retired relatives are there and can help. You people are my family, and I don’t go on hunts so I’m relatively safe.”

  She felt a little relieved at that, she’d have missed Cinna if she left, Jace too. Cinna also had a point, her, Allison, and Caroline would stay in the hotel, the latter two keeping an eye on them and the web, while the other five of them went hunting. Being a community contact was fairly safe as well, compared to actively hunting.

  It brought up other questions though, would their child go to school with humans, or need to at least visit the town to get to know other shifter children his age? She pushed down her curiosity, she’d figure it all out eventually. She’d only been part of their world for two weeks, and she wasn’t going to question her friends about everything she didn’t know like an insatiably curious kid, it’d be rude and never ending.

  Well, at least two of them had it figured out, three with Meri being mated, their personal lives that is…

  Chapter Seven

  The map was pinned up to a cork board. She wondered where Carl got it all from, maybe the hotel supplied it. There were eleven red tacks in the board. They were positioned in a very rough circle, but it was obvious all the murder sites were about a mile away from the northwest side of the city in just about every direction. It didn’t make the enemy stupid, it’s just what humans did when they tried to be random, they made a pattern.

  Carl said, “I also made a call, our spy network is researching missing person reports over the last couple of months for the area, and they’ll send me the list when I have it. Those will be harder to pin down though, there’s a large indigent population in the city and where the others lived if they had homes may not be where they were taken and killed. Especially since she didn’t have to worry about evidence and could simply turn the bodies into dust after the kill. Still, we might find a clue in the data somewhere, if she was sloppy about it in the choosing if not the coverup.”

  Jacob grunted, “Good. Allison, Caroline, and Cinna can gather that data and get it mapped if possible. The five of us will check out the area with the windows down. Maybe we’ll get lucky and pick up a scent, or Lily will pick up their magic or lack of being on the life-web. It’s still a large area to search.”

  She frowned, “The college is right in the middle of that mess. She’s young and smart right? I know it’s a stretch, but… Cinna, see if you can locate any reports about a young woman killing an attacker in self-defense, that’s how these
guys are triggered right? They figure out they have power after their first kill? She’s smart, so go back a few years, I bet she didn’t die from stupidity or get caught sooner because she moved slowly and carefully.”

  She wasn’t sure where those leaps of intuition came from, maybe this wasn’t her first investigation after all, she just couldn’t remember all the other ones. Of course, her intuition could be completely wrong, only time would tell.

  Jacob nodded, “Good ideas, go ahead and do that Cinna.”

  She blushed, as she realized she’d just been giving them orders, as if she was in charge. Worse, it’d felt natural, right. As if it was her place, and her right to do so. The same way she’d always felt they were hers to protect and watch over.

  “Sorry.”

  Cinna winked, which made her feel a bit better about it. Jacob didn’t look all that fussed by it either, so she let it go. She just hoped she wasn’t a bossy overbearing bitch when she got her memories back, she kind of doubted it though. Or at least, that was the hope.

  Jacob ordered, “Alright, Carl and I will go driving in the streets, we’ll drop Jace, Meri, and Lily at the college, the campus is huge and we can’t cover it well from inside a car. We’re in search mode right now, if you find any indication of her or a demon, back off immediately and call us in. Don’t engage if you can help it.”

  Jace replied, “Got it. No heroics, we’ll be outnumbered twelve to three.”

  Yeah, twelve to five didn’t sound much better, but it was clear they needed to bring their best against this warlock if they intended to take her down and all survive. That thought startled her and alarmed her a bit. One of them could die.

  Like hell, she wouldn’t allow it. That kind of thinking hadn’t saved her last team, but then this bitch was no Samael either.

  Cinna said, “Good luck.”

  It was her turn to wink at the exquisitely beautiful soul eater, and then they got to work…

  The main campus of the college was huge as they started to wander around. The sky was a little overcast and it was in the low sixties, but she thought the sun would burn it up and warm things up soon enough. It was still pretty early in the morning.