Eva grabbed a spoon and filled it up with the goodness in front of her. The steam rising thick and fast off the top told her it was very hot. She blew on it for a bit to try to cool it down, but her stomach kept growling in a rush to be fed. Good thing her eyes were in control as they told her the chili was still a bit too hot to go down well. She continued to blow on it but paused to take a bite of cornbread, which didn’t seem as hot. “Damn this is good,” she told Mario. He smiled at her.
When Devlin got up, she glanced over at him. He bent down and opened what she noticed was a cooler. He took out a couple of beers. Tony already had one. He opened them both and handed her one.
“Thanks, just what I needed.” Eva took a long sip then blew on the chili again. She couldn’t wait anymore, she gingerly clamped her mouth around her spoon. After she swallowed she said, “Hmmm, this is delicious. Hits the spot.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Devlin had to pause as he caught a glimpse of Eva placing her full luscious lips around the spoon. He had to shift as his cock jerked at the sight. Then Mario said something to her and it snapped him out of his erotic thoughts. The world around them was going to shit, his people were dying and they needed to find Michael, so much to do, yet all he could think of was getting her alone and putting his mouth on her or hers on his.
Mario told them stories about the restaurant that had been in his family for generations. It was all gone now.
“I’ll front the money to help you rebuild man,” Devlin offered.
“I will too,” Eva added. “I’d love to invest in a restaurant.”
“That may be a long time in coming,” Tony stated. “The cities are still burning, and those that aren’t have been demolished one way or another by the quakes. Not to mention, the cracks in the streets make what’s left of any buildings still standing hard to access. It’s like something from a dystopian novel in some parts of California. We haven’t had any news for the last few hours about what’s going on in most of the state. Just reports from some of our people when we can get a cell signal or some of the people we’ve spoken to on the street on the way here.”
“This shit is bad,” Mario stated, taking a spoonful of his food.
“The fires will eventually be put out and once the cleanup starts, then we rebuild,” Devlin stated. At least that’s what he hoped they’d be able to do as he sat there and finished his beer. “It might just take a while.”
Tony chuckled. “Master of understatement.”
“Devlin, I need to check my equipment, see if everything has settled down now,” Eva said.
He glanced at her then at Mario, silently asking her if she wanted her hiding place made public. Tony hadn’t said a word and he wouldn’t, not unless Devlin told him it was okay.
She must have read his unspoken question because she shrugged. “If you all are now using this place as a base and some of your people are going to help with the database input, they might as well understand what’s so important about this location.”
“Okay.” What she failed to comprehend for him it wasn’t the Chronicles that were at the forefront of his mind. They were important to him yes, but she was even more so. He would do whatever it took to protect her. “Mario, there’s a reason you all are here and I want to thank you for helping me. Helping to protect the Chronicles.”
“It’s a pleasure. I’ve heard all about you all and your importance in our fight against the soulless,” Mario replied.
Devlin felt surprised Eva didn’t respond to his statement, but she did turn those amber eyes on him and raised one eyebrow as though waiting for him to correct what Mario said.
“The Chroniclers don’t exactly take sides,” Devlin explained. “They keep records and try to assist both sides in coming to a better understanding of each other.” The surprised look on her face at his statement had him smiling. Oh, he understood her and her aunts all right, he just didn’t agree with them. Not completely.
“Cool,” Mario said and raised his beer in salute to her.
“Well, I’ve got work to do. I’ll see you guys later. There’re two spare bedrooms, the two on the left if you all want to take turns using it.” She stood up and walked over to the oven, opening up the hidden panel.
Devlin was glad she didn’t imply that he take a room, there was only one bed he was sleeping in later this morning. When she began to descend the stairs to the library, he was already standing to follow her. “Keep sharp, guys. No one gets in here.” He pushed the lever he’d seen her touch to shut the door behind them closing the kitchen off.
She sat down at her console and turned on her machine, which immediately came to life. He really wished he knew what her power source was that worked the machines. The hunters could use it. “Seriously, what’s your power source?”
She sighed. “It’s not something that can be transferred. We figured out a long time ago that this property sits at a crossing of ley lines and these lines generate an energy we can tap into that acts like an electrical charge. It’s also how we can protect this underground area from any earthquakes. It’s like a bubble around this place.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty convenient.”
“Very.”
He walked around, looking at some of the volumes on the shelves but not wanting to touch anything. Most everything looked pretty ancient. He almost asked her for a pair of gloves, so he could check some of the books out. When he turned around to ask, she seemed to be frowning. He moved back toward her and stood over her shoulder. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Not sure. When I checked this last night after we set the counter explosions, it looked good. There weren’t any spikes or anything to indicate we’d have to worry about aftershocks strong enough to have much of an effect on us. The fissures have all stopped and there are no more eruptions of magma but look here.” She pointed toward what looked like the ocean.
“Is that the ocean?” he asked to be sure.
“Yeah, see these waves?”
“Yeah.”
“It means there might be an aftershock forming out there. If it’s strong enough, it could generate a tsunami.”
“Well, LA and some of the coastal cities can use some water to help put out some of those fires. There were reports of wildfires breaking out up North too, even before the quake. I don’t think that got any better.”
“This water can put out some fires, but it isn’t going to really help; it might be too strong.”
“How strong?”
“Strong enough to take buildings down closer to the coast. The emergency personal are already stressed. This is going to add to a disaster that’s already of epic proportions.”
“Well, shit. How soon?”
“A few hours.”
“We’re on high ground here, and we should be too far inland for any problems,” Devlin said.
“We should be okay, but not everyone will be. Some people were evacuated to the coastal towns, thinking they’d be safer there away from the falling ash and fires.”
“We’ve got to find some way to alert the authorities,” Devlin stated.
“I’m pretty sure the NEIC, National Earthquake Information Center is monitoring it. They do twenty-four seven. I’m sure they are well aware of this, I’m just not sure more can be done than what’s already being done.”
He wove his fingers through his hair. “Shit.” He pulled out his phone and tried to send a text but got no signal. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got to try to alert our hunters, get them out of those areas. It’s no longer the night dwellers we’ve got to worry about now, we’re going to have to be ready to deal with whatever comes during the daylight hours too.”
He went upstairs and found Mario and Tony where he’d left them, but the food was put away and the dishes gone.
“Heads up. We need to let all the hunters know to evacuate all the coastal regions. They need to move farther inland and bring in as many people as they can.”
Tony frowned. “What’s up
man?”
“There’s a tsunami heading their way.”
“Fuck!” Mario exclaimed.
“How bad are we talking?” Tony asked.
“Unclear, but I don’t want to take any chances. So there’ll be no resting during the day. How many of our people do we have along the coast?” Devlin asked.
“Not many, most places were evacuated but maybe a couple in Malibu, one at Coronado.”
“Steve is down in Santa Monica visiting his sister and decided to stay,” Mario added.
“We need to get them all out of there. Who’s in Coronado?”
“Phillip and Lars. They’d been on lockdown at the base. Although, I haven’t been able to reach either, they may have been ordered to the outskirts of LA to help evacuate the city and keep the peace.”
“Okay, I’m going to try to reach Samuel and have you two contact everyone, tell them get off the beach. Get to higher ground. If you don’t get a signal in the house, try outside but stay in sight of Elles. We still have about thirty minutes of night left. I don’t want anyone taking any chances.”
The other men got up and came into the kitchen. Devlin filled them in on what was going on as Tony left the room to make his calls. Mario seemed able to get a signal. Devlin moved away from the kitchen and opened up his phone, he had one bar. He walked over to the front window and got a better signal. Samuel was already listed in his favorites, he touched his name, and the phone began to ring.
“Fuck!” Nothing was working exactly the way Scott needed things to go. But it was at least going in the right direction. “Burn, baby, burn.” He stood on the top of a building and watched the fire in the distance. He’d placed his bomb earlier off the coast and set it off. The effect would be slow but it would build and gain momentum. The final results would be spectacular.
Let the humans think everything was going to calm down and the worst was over. He’d only just begun. Little did they know their new reality started a few days ago, a reality where soon the soulless wouldn’t have to hide in the shadows anymore. He just needed that damn second Chronicle. That fucker Michael had said nothing. Even though surely, the pain was enough for him to want to cease his existence. But Scott wouldn’t kill him. Abel wanted them to work together. Well this was him working with Michael, it was Michael who wouldn’t work with him.
He turned away from the horizon of flame and glanced in the direction of that bitch’s house. There’d been too many hunters around when he’d gone back to take her. Perhaps the new hunter Chris had told them about, the one who now led the hunters in LA, was smarter than he gave him credit for. For a human. Didn’t matter, sooner or later, Scott would find a way. The same way he’d left them a present. If only he had a soul, he would smile with satisfaction at their reaction when they discovered it.
He finally figured it out. The woman was the key. He’d mentioned her name once while he was slicing Michael’s stomach open and for the first time, the man gritted his teeth in an effort to swallow his scream. Still, it was his eyes that gave him away, for a split second, Michael’s eyes widened a fraction yes, but movement nonetheless when he’d had none at all. So either the woman knew where the Chronicle was or Michael might protect her from Scott. Didn’t matter, Scott would get what he wanted.
Jumping down from the building, he landed on the street in front of two human soldiers. They were shocked to suddenly see a man literally fall out of the sky in front of them. His lips curled up into a semblance of a smile as he grabbed both men around their necks, holding one at bay while he clamped his fangs into the throat of first one man and then the other. Drained them both of their life liquid. He dropped the dead bodies into a crack in the broken sidewalk at his feet. Stepping over them as he made his way to his residence, he entered the house just as the first ray of sun touched the top of the step. He shut the door.
Heading for the back bedroom, he stood in front of Michael. His stolen emotions allowed him to smile this time. He preferred to work on Michael after he’d fed, so he could enjoy it. Michael’s body wasn’t healing properly, or rather just barely, but enough to keep him in constant pain. And weak. The drops from the vial he’d coated the knife with and used to carve Michael up ensured that. Next time he saw Abel, he would ask him what the hell was in that vial. And he wondered if it would work on Abel. Something to think on.
Scott pulled out his hooked knife. “Shall we begin again?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Come on, you can barely keep your eyes open,” Devlin urged when he finally went back down into the library and found Eva with her head bowed and eyes shut.
She straightened up and blinked at him. “I’m running some calculations. Trying to get a better time frame of when the tsunami will hit the coastal areas.”
“How long will it take?”
“An hour maybe.”
“Okay, well didn’t you say that couch over there is a pull out?” he inclined his head in the corner.
“Yes.”
Devlin moved over to it pulled the pillows off and tossed them onto the floor. Eva came over and helped him pull the bed part of the couch out. It looked comfortable. He touched it. It was firm and soft at the same time.
Eva took off her boots and laid down. “At least our clothes aren’t covered in soot and ash. Being in the car tonight helped.”
“It’s also slowing down. The fire departments seem to be fighting nonstop to get it under control as best they can but it’s difficult to get the trucks into some areas. I saw a few trucks from Nevada, so we’re getting help from out of state.”
“Yeah, but still not sure how much good, like you said, that it’s really doing.”
He grabbed two of the throw pillows off the floor, gave her one, and placed the other one next to her head for them to use as pillows. He pulled his own boots off, removed the gun at his side and the knife at his calf, then placed them on the floor within easy reach. Then he laid down next to Eva. She scooted over until she was in his arms. He held onto her and kissed her forehead.
“I tried to reach my aunt but no go. Were you able to reach your people?” she asked.
“Yeah and I spoke at length with Samuel, so I’m sure he’ll pass it all on to your aunt. I told him everything we’ve found out. I also told him about the lost Chronicle and Michael. He said he’d see if your aunt has any information on him we might not have. He’s also going to try to check the real estate records to see if he can find where he might own property and could be holed up.”
“Good idea.” She yawned.
“Go on and shut your eyes. Once your program runs, you can get up and check it but then we both go upstairs and get a couple hours of rest. We’re going to need it, babe. We’re going to have to be ready for most anything.”
Even though he’d told her to sleep, he didn’t, not right away. He rested beside her, holding her in his arms, but he was unable to sleep. Samuel had told him the quake was felt as far away as Washington, D.C. Some buildings in New York lost a few bricks and the subway system came to a halt. The quake registered a 5 there. He wasn’t sure what it all meant but none of it would be good.
A beeping sound woke him up.
Eva turned just as he did and opened her eyes. “Crap, I guess that means it’s time to get up. I’m so damn tired. I can sleep for a week.” She snuggled closer to him. “How long were we out anyway?”
“Sleep is overrated.” He rubbed her arm and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. He could do with some more sleep himself. But it wasn’t happening. He glanced at the clock on her wall, they’d slept for a little over two hours. “Come on, check your equipment. The sooner you can, the sooner we can go upstairs and get in a real bed. This one isn’t quite as comfortable as I’d first thought.”
Evangeline sat up and stretched. “True.” She turned around to get up.
Suddenly, he grabbed her from behind and pulled her back down on the couch. Planting a kiss on her lips before releasing her. He stood up and stretched then sat back d
own to put on his boots. By the time he’d moved over to stand by her side, she was frowning again. “What is it? What’s wrong now?” He’d gotten to the point where he cringed to ask her those kinds of questions as nothing she would say was good.
“I’m not sure. See this spike here.” She pointed at an area on the graph that showed an outline of the coast and what he thought might be the ocean floor.
“Yeah.”
“That’s where an anomaly was detected, an explosion of sorts and see how it spirals out toward the California coast. Well, it’s more spread out than it had been before.”
“What does that mean?”
“Not sure how it happened but according to these projections, not only will a wave hit a wider area along the coast, but while it’s slowing down, it is building in intensity, in energy which would push it farther inland.” She turned around to face him. “Devlin, it’s going to be at least one hundred feet high.”
“Holy fuck! Let me see if Tony was able to reach anyone. Will that group who monitors earthquake be aware of this?”
“Yeah, they should be. Hopefully the authorities know and are already evacuating everyone.”
“I’ll check with Tony. How long?”
“If it stays at this rate, three maybe four hours.”
“Okay.”
“And Devlin, I think we’re going to need to find Michael. We don’t know where he is and if he’s got the other Chronicle, which I don’t think he does, otherwise he’d have given it to us, but he might know who does. I’m worried that with all this crap going on, it might get lost. If it does, then the lost Chronicle will stay that way.”
“Will that be such a bad thing?” he asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is the soulless shouldn’t be in possession of any of it.”
“Then we’re going to have to look harder for Michael.” There went any more sleep, good thing he could function on very little.
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 21
