Scott looked over at him. “It took you long enough.”
Chris was covered in ash that had been falling from the sky. While the human had it in his hair and clothes none of it had settled on Scott. Chris glanced around as he brushed himself off. “Isn’t she here?”
“No, Mr. Obvious. She’s probably out with the hunters. I should have considered that.”
“Fuck. So what do we do?” Chris asked. “What if she doesn’t come back?”
“We can wait for a bit, if she still doesn’t show then we go back to the house and wait for Michael’s return.” He had planned on draining the Chronicler. They had abilities other humans didn’t. Taking her blood might also make him stronger than Michael. He patted his inner pocket, even without her, he would be stronger than a weakened Michael. He glanced over at Chris who stood by the window looking out. Yet, what he expected to see in the dark was questionable, as was the man. Yeah, he’d drain Chris too. His questionable usefulness was at an end.
“It looks like it’s getting worse out there. I spotted several fires on the way here, and it’s getting hotter than hell,” Chris said glancing at him.
Scott didn’t respond, he could feel it too, and savored the fear and despair. So much death. The house rocked. Something crashed to the floor, the sound came from one of the back bedrooms.
“Let’s head back.” Scott stood.
They both left through the front door. Scott didn’t give a shit if she knew someone had been in her house. He noticed her alarm system, for all the good it did against the soulless. For some reason, they didn’t work around them. Scott pulled the door shut, he’d be back for the woman after he’d dealt with Michael. He felt sure she would return. He took off, leaving Chris to make his own way to the house. It would probably take the human quite some time to return to their part of town. When he walked into the house he immediately knew none of the others had returned yet. Even if they had, none of them would interfere.
They followed the strongest, soon that would be him.
Michael wasn’t sure why he ended up at Evangeline’s place, yet here he was. He’d seen Chris’ car driving down the street. He’d find out what the man was doing there later, because he knew he’d been to her house. There was no other reason for him to be there. But before Michael rang her doorbell, he could tell she wasn’t there. He touched the door and it opened.
He went in and looked around. There were shoeprints of soot on the wooden floor from Chris’ boots. He’d come in through the bedroom. The place was a mess from the earthquake. However, he sensed Chris hadn’t been by himself in the house, another soulless had been with him. But Evangeline hadn’t been home. He would have known, been able to sense the remnants of fear or anger. He sensed none of her presence. But it still angered him that her home had been invaded and he intended to get to the bottom of it. Find out which of the bastards he ran with accompanied Chris.
Perhaps it was time to give Chris the peace he craved so desperately and send him to his god for judgment. Michael would take satisfaction in that. He’d sated himself well this night, perhaps that’s why he found himself in Evangeline’s home while his emotions were running high.
Michael found the lever that would access the hidden library under Evangeline’s home. It hadn’t been tampered with. It was strange Evangeline decided to trust him with this information. Perhaps he would trust her. He might not be an Olden but he had powers too. She’d used a ring, presumably one with a pattern on it. With his finger, he felt the indentations in the lever, using his powers he pushed at the groves. The wall swung open.
With each step farther into her underground refuge, he felt something in his core. An emotion unfamiliar to him. A feeling of rightness. Strange, but surely a result of his feeding. He stopped in front of her workstation and took out the slim cylinder containing something priceless. He laid it on the desk where she’d find it and walked out. He’d already memorized what the scroll said in all three pages, but they would both need the second Chronicle to find the first writings. He wasn’t sure if it would herald the end of days or not, but he did know it was something Abel wanted. Which he decided made more reason for Abel not to have it.
Michael made his way back to the house that was his base in this time and place. It served as good a place as any to house himself and those others that followed Abel and as a result, him. He’d first run across Abel a decade or so ago. The man’s power drew him. Abel had been the first Olden he’d met. He told Michael the soulless were meant to rule humans, but they needed to learn to work together to defeat the hunters. Abel made sense and Michael was hungry, his words sparked a response. So Michael, who’d always walked alone, began gathering others to him.
He stepped into the house and saw Scott on the couch waiting for him. Abel had brought Scott to him just before he’d disappeared. Michael had sensed something about the soulless, usually after he’d been sated. Michael sensed hate. The man hated and envied him. How could he though, when they didn’t feel emotion? But perhaps the emotion Scott craved most was hate. Michael had no shits to care.
Scott stood as Michael walked in.
“Where’s Chris?” His servant always met him at the door, because that’s what Chris was there to do—serve.
At first, Scott didn’t respond. “Probably on his way back here. But it may take him a while because the humans have lost their damn minds.”
Michael nodded and took his seat in the recliner. Scott moved past him, heading toward the back bedrooms. Something stung him. Michael raised his hand to touch the side of his neck. “What…” Then the room began spinning.
Michael’s body rested upon hardness and he was looking up into the dark depths of Scott’s dark eyes. Had he fallen?
Scott bent down and picked him up. Tossed him over his shoulder like a rag. Michael could do nothing to stop him. It was as though he were as weak as a human newborn. His limbs wouldn’t respond to his commands. He blinked, his mind processing information, but slowly and what he comprehended made no sense.
Scott took him to his room and tossed him on the bed.
Michael merely lay there staring at the familiar ceiling, unable to even move his head.
The bastard yanked off his jacket and searched through the pockets. Tossing his blades onto the floor. He didn’t appear to find whatever it was he was looking for. Then he proceeded to strip him and search every inch of Michael. It was then Michael realized what it was Scott must be searching for. But how did he know? Of course—Abel.
“Where is it? What the fuck did you do with it?”
Michael tried to talk but he couldn’t. His mouth wouldn’t move. How was this possible? What the hell did Scott do to him? It didn’t matter, Michael wanted to tell Scott to go fuck himself. If he could smile, he would because the Chronicle would be safe from Scott and Abel. His instincts had been correct.
“Shit!” Scott punched Michael in the face. “Abel charged me with locating the first Chronicle, not you. He told me you had one of the Chronicles he stole from those bitches. He gave me the other one. He told me if he went missing for any length of time, I should let you know and then together, we were to find the lost Chronicle and him. There’s information on his whereabouts in both of them that would help us find him. But I decided I didn’t feel like sharing power with you. I would keep it all for myself. I would be the one Abel rewarded. I know you can’t move or talk right now. Don’t worry, the effect will wear off by tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I know how to keep you weak and you will tell me what I want to know.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Good God! Has the world gone mad?” Eva asked as they made their way back to San Bernardino.
The city was coated in darkness, there were no stars in the sky to navigate by. Only the flames that rose up at various points in the night to illuminate the skyline. The scent of smoke and fear were even more pronounced. They both had the bandanas she’d picked up at the Harley dealership wrapped around their faces to cover their noses and
mouths. Light winds still blew ash all around and lined the roadway two inches thick in some spots like gray snow. The power grids had gone out. Only emergency lights seemed to be on here and there. It was after midnight and they’d spent most of it fighting their way back. It was easier returning to town than it was leaving. Most had already gotten out of the area, but there were still some trying to leave. They’d passed military buses evacuating civilians. It was still chaotic. Eva had read a report on her phone they were expecting aftershocks and more eruptions of magma. She hoped what they’d done helped.
The police and emergency personal had their hands full. The governor had declared martial law hours ago and the National Guard was helping to evacuate people. LA had a mandatory evacuation, as did parts of San Bernardino and most of Southern Cali, other parts it was voluntary but that could change. Of course, some refused to leave but were being told to stay off the streets. There was a mandatory curfew. They’d evaded armed soldiers, some were apprehending looters. The lowlifes were taking full advantage. “Where are we heading?”
“The last text I got from Tony said Samuel managed to get some people here and they’re concentrated on the outskirts of LA. The city is pretty much one giant fire pit, but they have the area under control. The soulless seemed to be congregated more around the area where there are some survivors. I thought we could lend Tony some support.”
“Okay, do you think we stopped them? Stopped whatever else the soulless planned from happening?” She could feel him sigh since she had her arms wrapped around him.
“I’m not sure. My gut tells me to brace for it. There’s more. I think we need to go pay a visit to your friend Michael, see what he knows.”
“You can’t believe he had anything to do with this?’
“I don’t not believe it. Look, at the very least he can point us in the direction of the ones who did. Because what was done was done by two people. The timing of the blasts were too perfect. They had to have been simultaneously linked in such a way it had to have been done by two people. I know the soulless can move fast, but not that fast.
“All right.”
They parked the bike in a loading zone around the side of a store whose roof had caved in. Eva doubted they’d be getting a ticket. “I hope the bike will still be here when we get back,” she spoke her thought aloud as she glanced around. The street wasn’t exactly deserted but she doubted the moving shadows she spied in the distance were just taking an innocent stroll among the damaged buildings at almost two in the morning.
“Yeah, me too.” Devlin checked his phone and took her hand. “Come on. This way.
Tony sent them directions only ten minutes ago. She wasn’t sure if he and the other hunters would still be at the location. They stopped in front of an apartment building.
“I think this is it,” he said.
She frowned. “You sure?”
He glanced at his phone again. “Yeah.” Devlin easily pulled the door open, the lock sticking out of the wood showed it had been broken. The lobby area was dark, only wide enough for two people to reach out and touch the walls, but there was a sharp corner. When they rounded it, there was a hallway twice the length of the lobby. A single door stood straight ahead but two elevator doors next to each other were to their left. Devlin pushed the button. Nothing happened. He shrugged. “Had to try. Could have had a backup generator.”
She glanced at the door. “Let’s try this one.” She tugged on the knob, the door opened to reveal a staircase and they began to climb. It would have been pitch black but the emergency lights were on over the door, giving the stairwell an eerie reddish glow. “Did Tony happen to say what floor they were on?”
“No, he’d just sent the coordinates.”
“Well, it’s eight floors, so we can search floor by floor, see if we sense anything but it’s going to take us some time.”
“True. They may be in any of the apartments. I’d say we should check the lower level but I’m not sure there is one. So floor by floor it is.”
They stopped at the first exit door, an emergency light was on above this door also and the number 2 was painted on the door. They stepped through and walked slowly down the darkened hallway, she turned on the LED light she carried. While her night vision was better than most they needed to stay alert to get a sense of either the hunters or soulless in the building. They stopped a couple of times and put their ears to an apartment or touched the door but kept going. The apartments felt empty. They made it to the end of the hall, there was an exit sign over another door. They stopped in front of it and Devlin turned to her. “Anything?”
She shook her head. “This could take a long, long time. Try texting him, see if it goes through.”
He took out his phone and sent. “Am in building, where are you?”
“Roof.”
Devlin pushed the exit door open it led to another set of stairs. When he raced up them, Eva ran after him. She wasn’t quite as fast as he was, but she only lagged a set of stairs behind him. When she finally reached the roof, Devlin was already engaged in battle next to Tony and a couple of other hunters. Two hunters were on the ground, she couldn’t tell if they were breathing or not. She rushed toward them confident now that Devlin was there, he would help Tony and the remaining hunters take care of the two soulless.
Eva was bending over the closest hunter checking for a pulse when a head rolled in her direction before turning to dust. The odds suddenly must have not been to the liking of the remaining soulless because he turned and leapt off the side of the building.
She was shocked when Devlin went running after him and jumped over the side behind him. “Devlin,” she cried, running to the edge and looking down. Desperate to make sure he was all right. She spotted him running full out after the soulless but the man was moving way too fast for Devlin to catch. He must have realized that because he stopped a couple of blocks away. Taking in a breath, she hadn’t known she held, she turned back to the fallen hunters. One had no pulse and the other one was losing blood from a knife wound and needed medical attention.
Tony knelt down beside the wounded man but stared up at her. “We need to get Paulie to a hospital, but the way the city’s all messed up I doubt we’d get to one any time soon.”
“Why don’t we try Doc Plumer?” the tall dark skinned hunter asked. “She’s not that far from here. Maybe we can get him to her.”
“That’s a good idea,” Tony replied. “And maybe his best chance.”
“Who’s Doc Plumer?” Eva asked.
Tony answered, “She’s not exactly a hunter, her father was one, so she knows about us. Sometimes she helps out the hunters when it’s best we don’t go to a hospital to answer questions about knife or sword wounds. She stayed behind to help if we needed her.”
“I see.”
The hunter who had spoken pointed to one of the other hunters who was cradling his arm. Blood ran down his bicep. “Lou’s going to need stitches too.”
“But we also need to take care of Darren. We can’t leave him here,” Tony added.
“Let’s get Paulie down first, then we can come back for Darren,” the tall hunter suggested.
“I can help,” the guy holding his arm offered.
Tony shook his head. “No. You’re hurt too. We’ll come back. Elles, help me pick Paulie up.” Tony lifted the wounded man under the shoulders, the other hunter picked up his legs.
Eva spotted the man’s sword on the ground and grabbed it. She followed them to the exit but jumped in front of them to open the door. They started down the stairs, moving slowly in an effort not to jar their comrade any more than necessary. Eva followed behind them. They hadn’t made it very far when they all heard footsteps bounding up the stairs. Eva moved in front of them to protect them but as soon as she did, she also realized she knew who was coming toward them. Devlin. She glanced down the stairwell and saw his multicolored blond hair.
As soon as he saw them, he stopped. “Shit. Darren?” he asked.
Tony shook his head.
“Is he still on the roof?” Devlin asked.
“Yeah, we were going to get Paulie in the car, then come back for him.”
“I’ll get him and catch up to you.”
“I’m parked around back.”
Devlin raced back up the stairs. By the time they were half way down, Devlin had caught up to them with the fallen man. They followed the other men carrying Paulie all the way down the stairs. These set of stairs led them to the back of the building where there was a parking lot. They put the men in the SUV Tony had there, then he turned to Devlin.
“I’ll take care of this, man. It’s crazy town right now and there are other soulless running loose out there and even with Samuel’s people, we need all the hunters out and about until sunrise we can get.”
“You sure?” Devlin asked.
“Yes. Nothing you can do. I’ll let you know what happens as soon as the doc has a look at him.”
“Okay. I’ll be at Eva’s later.”
They fist bumped then did that funny shoulder bump men sometimes do instead of a hug.
Eva and Devlin watched as they drove off. Then she glanced at him. “Now what?”
“Now we try to find that fucker.”
“Any ideas where to look?”
He glanced in the direction of the blazing skyline. “I’m thinking to follow the flames.”
“At some point, I have to try to check on the new store location, but since it was in downtown Los Angeles, something tells me I’ll be looking for another location.” All of LA had been evacuated by now. The vast majority of the city was either still burning or ash.
They followed the worst of the fires, staying around the edges but never found the soulless they were hunting. They did cross paths with a few other hunters and managed to help some of the humans who were being preyed upon by other humans or just trying to escape the flames. Sometimes there wasn’t much difference between the soulless angels and humans without souls. Both seemed bent on destruction tonight. But as bad as it was, it could have been worse. A lot of people were able to get out in time.
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 17
