“I don’t think so,” Devlin said knowing the man thought he could beguile Devlin by staring into his eyes. But being a hybrid had its perks, among them, immunity to that death stare.
“Who are you?” the soulless asked. “You don’t look like Samuel.”
“I’m not. How do you know what Samuel looks like? I know for a fact if you’ve ever met him you wouldn’t be here having this discussion with me now.”
The man growled. “We have our ways.”
“Well, lucky for you, I’m Devlin. Your second worst nightmare.”
Devlin’s phone continued to ring. He knew it was Jason trying to reach him. They had gone farther away from the men, but he wasn’t taking his eyes off the prick to answer it. “Eva can you take the phone out of my front pocket and tell Jason or Tony, whichever one is calling, we’re fine and I’ll check in again in a couple of hours. If not, come looking for us.” He listened as she told them that and also described the area where they were as much as possible.
“Jason wants to know if they should come back you up now,” she said.
“Tell him no need. We can take care of this.” He waited until she got off the phone and returned it to his pocket. Then he shoved his short blade straight into the soulless’s neck.
“What the hell are you doing?” Evangeline screamed in shock to match the scream of the soulless on the ground.
“Come on that was just a little prick. Hardly hurts at all. But at least it got his attention. He’s less likely to try anything. With that piece of steel in so close to his neck, he should be more docile.” With his free hand, Devlin pulled out the gun he had strapped to his ankle and the other long sword he had in his jacket. He pointed both at the man. “Now get up and move. We’re headed for that boarded up house on the other side of the tracks.”
“You sonofabitch!” the man snarled.
“Now, now, none of that. There’s a lady present. Now get up and walk or I put a few rounds in you and just drag your ass.”
He could feel Evangeline’s eyes boring into him but he had no time to make nice with her or this bastard. They needed information and they needed the soulless in a state where he wouldn’t be trying to kill them so they’d be able to get the answers they needed. Simply talking to the bloodsucker and making nice wasn’t going to cut it.
The soulless got to his feet and staggered toward the building. Devlin’s blade stuck in his neck slowing him down. He also kept the second sword pricking the man’s side.
When they got to the boarded door, Evangeline moved to the front and tore the board off, kicking the door open.
Devlin grinned. “You’re strong.”
She shrugged and stepped across the threshold, not bothering to look at him.
He sighed, understanding she was still angry with him and the way he was handling the soulless. But damn, these weren’t beings you cuddled to your chest. He needed this one as incapacitated as possible. They were no longer angels but stone cold killers.
As if the guy could read his thoughts he turned and growled at him, but a firmer press of Devlin’s sword to his side halted any plans the soulless might have had to escape.
The house only had a partial roof over the top, but it wasn’t raining and he wasn’t planning on them being there for any length of time. There was no furniture left in the room they were in, just trash on the floor of a rotted carpet and evidence that rodents, both the four legged and two legged kinds, at some point had been there.
He found a somewhat clear area in one corner and prodded the soulless in that direction. Evangeline continued her inspection of the place but he had to keep his focus on the soulless. This being was far from helpless.
“Sit!” It was a command and the man knew it.
He slinked down with his back against the wall of what might have once been a dining area. The blood flow from the steel stuck through his neck was slowing. “Are you going to take this out any time soon?” the man rasped.
“Not just yet,” Devlin replied.
“We just need you to answer a few questions for us and then you’re free to leave,” Eva finally spoke.
He knew Eva stood behind him. His body always knew where she was in proportion to it. Devlin just wished she hadn’t said that. This bastard wasn’t going to talk unless he believed they were prepared to end his existence, which he was, even if Eva wasn’t. Damn.
The soulless gave a harsh bark, maybe it was a laugh, as much of a laugh as could get out of his throat with a sword taking up residence through it. “That’s rich. But you, you have got to be Evangeline. The Chronicler.”
Devlin’s blood ran cold. This confirmed his suspicions that the soulless here knew who she was, yet this one didn’t know who he was. So they were tracking her whereabouts, not his.
“You know who I am?” she asked.
“All soulless know who you are. We’re all out to bag you.”
This time, Devlin growled a warning, but Evangeline spoke again before he could say anything, “How do you know me?”
That was a good question. Yeah, by now, the soulless would know about the Chroniclers, but why specifically Evangeline?
“The hunter,” the man replied.
“Son of a bitch! Chris,” Devlin hissed.
“Yes. Him,” the man confirmed.
“So it’s true, he is working with you all,” Eva asked.
“Was there any doubt? You know his hate is most filling.” The soulless licked his lips. “As well as his lust.” The guy raised his head and those dark dead eyes stared right at him, bringing the full force of his power into play, he tried to pull Devlin down into the abyss. “Hmm, much like your own,” the man said then laughed.
“Stay the fuck away from my emotions,” Devlin growled.
The soulless shook his head and closed his eyes.
Dev wanted to gut the bastard for feeding off him, even if it was secondary. He raised the short sword in his hand to end the sonofabitch, but the feminine hand on his shoulder immediately calmed him.
“What’s your name?” Eva asked, stepping closer to the other male.
“Percy.”
“Percy. Why are the soulless seeking me?”
“Because you are the key.”
Hmm, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe they’d get the answers to their questions without having to threaten the bastard. Regardless of Eva’s preferences, whether he answered or not, this soulless wasn’t going to be leaving the building alive. Devlin would just have to steel himself against her hatred. It wouldn’t be the first time. The thought left him feeling hollow inside.
Chapter Nine
“Key?” Evangeline asked, confused. “For what?” She was the key for one thing, the continuance of the Chroniclers. But how would the soulless know that? It’s not in any of the Chronicles that had been shared with Samuel and Thalya back in New York. No, those were set in their most sacred place in Rome. Directly under the Vatican’s vaults. No, he could not be referring to her role.
“To the missing Chronicle.”
This took Eva aback. What did he know of the missing Chronicles? Did he know there were two that had been stolen? The lost one? Did he have anything to do with her mother’s death? Her aunt’s? Either woman would have tried to run with their work or fight. Which is what they did and both lost their lives, along with her siblings.
“What do you know of the missing Chronicle?” Devlin asked the very question she was just about to.
Eva didn’t dare remove her hand from Dev’s shoulder. The tension radiating off him burnt her skin. Knowing she was the only thing keeping him from ripping out the man’s throat. She had no doubt he’d kill Percy given half a chance. But she wasn’t going to let him. This soulless hadn’t killed anyone tonight, merely fed off the anger of others. There could be hope for him. If Percy knows about the hunters and Chroniclers, then he must know the rest of it. They were angels once. If Percy showed he could be saved, that he too would seek his redemption, they could releas
e him. Lots of ifs, Devlin would say.
Percy answered Devlin but his gaze remained on Eva, “I know that you seek two, we seek only one.”
Eva frowned. What did that mean? The soulless only wanted one of the Chronicles. Then who the hell had taken both, and more importantly, what did they contain? Both had gone missing long before the age of using computers to house data, and before the volumes could be copied. But the first writings, they’d only recently become aware of the lost Chronicle or writings.
“What’s so important about the one you seek?” Devlin asked.
Yes, she thought. Obviously, it contains information the soulless suspect would help them and want, but which one exactly were they seeking?
“It’s the book that promises the end of days. The end of our torment here on earth. The time when we will rule both heaven and earth.”
“What!” She was shocked. This wasn’t something she was aware they knew. Unless they had both missing books and were able to decipher them. A chill went down her spine.
“Armageddon,” Devlin stated.
“For some.”
“And Evangeline is the key?” Devlin asked. “How so?”
“That we do not know.”
Devlin raised his hand as if to twist the blade into Percy’s neck.
He tilted his head. “No torture or threat will make me tell you that which I do not know,” Percy snarled.
“I believe you,” Evangeline stated. The Chronicle he referred to had to be the lost one, the others may well contain information on how to locate it. Those missing books may confirm the existence of the lost Chronicle. They only knew about it because a few of the older books had cryptic hints at the existence of a first book. One penned by the Archangel Gabriel, placed in the care of the Chroniclers, but lost in the early times. “But who does know? And who told you of its existence?” And where are the other two books? She didn’t ask the last part if he really didn’t know about them.
Percy laughed. “Answer’s the same, Abel. So go fuck yourselves.”
“Abel?” Devlin said, they both ignored his comment. “He’s dead.”
Eva didn’t blink at Devlin’s blatant lie.
This time the soulless looked right at Dev. “You and I both know he’s not.” In spite of the blade stuck in his neck, he tilted his chin in Eva’s direction. “Her kind somehow have him bound and hidden somewhere.”
Evangeline had to struggle to make sure she inhaled calmly, thankful the soulless couldn’t read her thoughts. The fact they knew that much was very disturbing. At least, they didn’t know about Adam, and how much he really did control what happened to soulless here on earth. Even beyond the punishments he’d already dealt to his kind.
Adam was the one who had Abel bound, not the Chroniclers. Abel’s father was his jailer and keeper, not the Chroniclers. But what did any of this have to do with the lost Chronicle, or the two missing ones? She wondered if her aunt Wilhelmina could get a message to the first man, see if he could shed any light on this. Did Abel have any of the Chronicles on him when Adam found him? And if Abel did, would Adam tell them?
They played a very precise game with the first man, and he with them. She’d contact her aunt later to see what she could learn from Adam. But more importantly, how was it that she, Evangeline was the key? Then it hit her. There was another. She clamped the errant thought. Shut it down hard.
Devlin glanced over at her and frowned. She gave him a small smile, so he’d know she was fine. The man was way too in tune with her.
“Well, since you all have been seeking me, what did you plan on doing if you found me?” she asked continuing her questioning.
This time, he wasn’t so quick to answer. She thought she’d try a different tactic since she could feel Devlin tensing under her palm again. “Percy, I’m assuming you’re aware of your origins?”
Looking back and forth between them, he responded, “What of it?”
“You know there is another way for your kind?”
He snorted. “Lady, I may not be an Olden, but I’m still among the oldest beings in this city and there is no redemption for me.”
“Do you feed off hate?” she asked.
“That too.”
“What else?”
He inhaled. “Any emotion that dulls the hunger.” He glanced at Devlin. “Like his need for violence. His hate.”
She ignored his words knowing them for truth but there was nothing she could do about Devlin’s emotions. They weren’t the issue she needed to deal with right now. “Yes, I understand that. But all of you have one or two emotions of choice. Preferences, ones you can’t help but gravitate toward. Hate’s the easiest human emotion to manipulate, but what’s the one that really does it for you?”
Again, he was silent. At first, she didn’t think he was going to answer her but he began to talk. “Lust. That is my emotion of choice and when I take it through the blood it’s all the sweeter.” He licked his lips as his glance flicked toward Devlin before returning to her.
“What about love?” she asked before he could say anything else.
He started to shrug but the point of the blade stopped him, he shifted his gaze to look past her shoulder. “What about it? Still just lust humans pretty up.”
She wasn’t sure, but something in his manner led her to believe he was lying to her or himself. “And have you ever?”
“Ever what?” Percy asked.
“Fed on love,” she replied.
Devlin inclined his head a little to stare at her.
Eva could just guess at what was going on in his mind. Soulless don’t feel, therefore they cannot love and for them lust, love, makes no difference. But she and the other Chroniclers believed that wasn’t quite true. It was the basis for their redemption. The one thing left to them. It was all about choices and making the right ones. Devlin and Samuel, products of soulless that had found love were proof, the soulless could find redemption. Thalya, Samuel’s wife was a modern day example of redemption being possible.
It saddened her that Devlin knew all of this, yet he refused to believe it applied to all soulless. It was at the core of the problems in their relationship. She had to be realistic, there could be no relationship between them, if she couldn’t trust him to support her beliefs. How would they find their way to fall in love?
“So have you ever fed off someone in love with you?” she asked, bringing the focus back to Percy again.
His gaze swung back to her. “How could someone love a soulless?”
“She asked you a question,” Devlin growled.
“No. She wasn’t in love with me. It was lust. Just lust.”
“What happened?” Eva asked.
He gestured at his face. “Look at me. I’m a fucking walking wet dream. I walk into a room and I have women creaming at the sight of me. Present company excluded, apparently.” He grinned and for the first time flashed his dimples.
The soulless was right. He was a walking wet dream, but she was immune.
“Ya think,” Devlin growled.
Eva squeezed Devlin’s shoulder. Not wanting him to respond more to Percy’s subtle taunts. “So have you ever fed on someone in love with someone else?” she persisted.
“No, I have no use for those kind of emotions. I don’t do happy.”
“Then how would you know the difference between love and lust?” she asked.
“I—I just do.”
“What if I told you I happen to know there are some soulless who do feed off love. More than you think. The love someone has for them. They encourage the emotion and feed off it.” She was thinking of some of the soulless Wilhelmina had documented that ran a nightclub in Manhattan.
“So, they’d only drain it, then what?” Percy asked.
“They leave the woman drained and devastated, but no longer in love and go on to the next one. But for a moment, they can share her love and return it,” she countered.
He shook his head, she wasn’t sure if it was in denial of what
she’d just told him, but she knew her words gave him something to think about.
“What happened to the girl who was in love, sorry… lust with you?” Eva asked.
“What do you mean what happened?”
“Did you kill her?” Devlin clarified. “Did you drain her blood from her body to satisfy your need?”
“No. No. She didn’t die by my hand.”
“But you did feed off her?” Eva confirmed.
“Hell, yeah. But in the end, I let her go and I left her still breathing.”
“But you have killed others before?” Devlin asked.
“Sure, but not over lust.”
“Why not? Why didn’t you kill the woman who lusted after you?”
“I—hate tastes better. More fulfilling, she didn’t hate me, so I let her go.”
“Did you let all of those who lusted after you go?”
“Yeah, so.”
Eva smiled. Choices. It was all about choices. She was going to have to check the database and see if there was anything on Percy. She was pretty sure she’d seen his name and description come up before. She’d tried to check on all the soulless they were aware of who were in LA after she arrived. “You did the right thing with those people.” Eva said. “Now how do you feel about doing the right thing again?”
“Lady, I don’t fucking feel.” His gaze shifted downward on the blade. “Well, pain. The nerves do. But no emotions, remember?”
“What if I told you, you still retain some emotion, sometimes from the ones you’ve taken through the years. The positive as well as the negative ones.”
“So?” he scoffed. “Makes no damn difference.”
“So, what if there’s another way that can make a difference?”
“Such as?” Percy asked.
“What if I told you that the way to your redemption, the way to regain your soul is through love?”
Percy’s gaze shifted back to Devlin’s as if to say is she nuts or what?
She couldn’t see Dev’s expression but she wouldn’t be surprised if he was rolling his eyes. “Just think about it. You’re already drawn to lust, try love, see if you find that more filling. You’d lose nothing, at most you’d drain the emotion from the person.”
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 10
