They walked in silence, following the relatively flat, packed-earth, sandy trail as it wound around and under the hill below the sign. Up above, Dags could see the sign itself, lit by the last remnants of sunset light, which was already starting to fade.
The park technically closed at sunset.
Since pretty much everything they were going to do in here was illegal, that was the least of Dags’ worries. They just needed to be off the trail before it got dark for real, since this whole area was patrolled at night.
They passed two groups of hikers coming down off the hill.
Luckily, Asia had put on giant sunglasses, hiding most of her face under those and a hood she pulled over her dark, curly hair. Phoenix wore a hood of her own, and rubbed her face both times they passed hikers, looking away from the trail.
Karver wore a baseball hat pulled down over his eyes and stared at his shoes.
It helped that by the time the second group passed, it was already getting dark.
When they reached the first big curve on the packed dirt of the main trail, Dags came to a stop, looking up the hill at a thicket of oak trees climbing up the mountain in the direction of the sign.
“Okay,” Dags said, coming to a stop. “I think here is good.”
“I’m telling you, this is mondo-illegal,” Karver muttered. He gave Dags an annoyed look. “Maybe you’re used to getting arrested, Mr. P.I., but that’s not the kind of publicity I need right now. How do you plan to get us past the cameras? And that fence?”
Dags was already shaking his head.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said.
He glanced around at the three of them, seeing the doubtful looks on their faces. Like before, Phoenix stood out to his eyes.
“All right,” he said. “It’s up to you. You can wait here, if you want⏤”
“No,” Phoenix said, stepping forward. “No. We’re going with you.”
Looking at her, Dags nodded.
Turning towards the thicket of oak trees, he began to climb.
Chapter 29
Hollywood Sign
The hill was steep.
Dags heard them gasping behind him, especially Asia, and to a lesser extent, Karver.
Steve McQueen seemed happy enough, trotting up to Dags then back to the others as if to tell them to hurry up.
Phoenix was strangely quiet.
He could almost feel her following his footsteps, even in the dark. He did his best to lead them along the easiest routes, but a few times he hit sections of sliding dirt, places where he had to bend down, using rocks and roots to make his way up.
It seemed like they’d been walking too long.
Even as he thought it, Dags stopped short, face-to-face with a tall, heavy-looking chain-link fence. Up above, past the line of oak trees, on the other side the fence, the tall white letters of the Hollywood sign poked up from the steep slope of the hill.
Dags scanned the length of the fence.
He opened his powers just enough to look for electrical currents.
He found the first camera.
Holding out a hand briefly in that direction, he released a bolt of blue-green angel fire, feeling it leave his fingers and palm in a heated pulse. Something about the sound the thing made, the cracking pop he heard when the bolt rendered the camera inert, right before a curl of smoke rose off the black box, brought a hot pull of satisfaction to his belly.
Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head, only to find Phoenix staring.
Not at him.
She stared past him, at the smoking remains of the camera.
“Did you do that?” she whispered.
Dags felt his face warm.
He hadn’t actually thought any of them would see that. He honestly wasn’t sure what was visible and what wasn’t when it came to the angel thing.
He was about to answer her, when Asia reached Phoenix’s side, gripping her friend’s shoulder and using it to hold up her weight while she hunched over, fighting to catch her breath.
“Do what?” she panted, leaning a hand on her own thigh. “What did he do?”
Phoenix looked at Dags, then back at her.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s nothing.”
Asia nodded. She looked up at Phoenix, still gasping in breath.
“I think your new boyfriend’s trying to kill me⏤” she managed, her voice lower, even as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Karver didn’t hear.
Phoenix elbowed her friend in the gut.
“Ow,” Asia complained, but grinned up at Dags, winking at him good-naturedly.
Dags looked the other way, his eyes back to scanning the line of fence.
He saw something else.
Not a camera like the other one. Or maybe a different kind.
He suspected motion-sensor.
He tried to be more subtle that time. He turned his body so his hand wouldn’t be visible to Phoenix or Asia, aiming the blue-green light at the second surveillance device while Karver seemed to be looking the other way.
The pop and crack were softer that time.
Even so, Karver looked sharply in that direction, frowning.
“What the hell was that?” he whispered.
Asia stared at the dark line of fence with him. “I heard it, too.”
Steve McQueen stared in the same direction, but didn’t look overly alarmed.
Phoenix’s eyes never left Dags’ face.
“Probably a bird,” she said, her lips twitching in a kind of dark humor. Patting Steve McQueen on the head, she turned then, focusing on Karver and Asia. “Keep an eye out for coyotes, by the way. There’s supposedly a mountain lion living up here somewhere, too.”
“I think that’s the other side of the canyon,” Karver said.
“Still. They hunt at night.”
Phoenix returned her gaze to Dags’ face. He found himself looking back at her, although he couldn’t have said why.
Maybe he just wondered why she was protecting him.
She looked frustrated now, like she really wanted to talk to him, or maybe just to tell him something. She bit her lip, staring at his eyes, as if trying to read his thoughts through the expression on his face. Whatever it was she wanted to say, she clearly couldn’t say it here.
He fought not to care.
He fought not to care why she couldn’t say it now, in front of Asia⏤or, more likely, in front of Karver. He fought not to react to the intensity he saw behind that stare.
He wished he knew what kind of relationship she had with Karver. Had she really cheated on Karver with Dags? If so, he didn’t exactly feel great about that, either. He should have asked her when he had her alone.
Forcing his eyes off her, he faced the fence.
This part, he couldn’t really hide.
“Okay,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the three of them. “You better back up. Give me some space. This’ll only take a minute.” He glanced at Phoenix. “Keep ahold of Steve McQueen for me, okay? Don’t let him get too close.”
She nodded, gripping the dog’s collar in one hand as she backed up.
He probably should have told her not to bother lying for him.
Dags had already more or less decided to toss all his usual rules for the night.
Karver might not know anything yet, but both women knew there was something damned weird about Dags Jourdain. They might not know exactly what that something was, or what it meant, but neither did Dags himself really, so that didn’t really mean much.
Hopefully, none of them would freak out.
He didn’t let himself think too deeply about his reasons for outing himself, or if the excuses he came up with were his real reasons. He didn’t let himself think about whether he might have just decided to out himself to these people because he wanted to, or why he might want to do something so insane.
Glancing at Phoenix, he felt his jaw harden.
Jerking his eyes off those green and gold-flecked ir
ises⏤which were back to watching him, studying him really⏤Dags focused back on the chain-link fence.
Feeling self-conscious, he held out a hand. Slowly, carefully, he relaxed his hold on the blue-green angel fire.
This time, he needed more of it.
Like before, however, with the cameras, the challenge was holding it back. The charge there was even stronger than usual, forcing him to concentrate.
He didn’t really want to think about why that was.
He didn’t really want to think about why he was running hotter than usual.
His eyes darted to Phoenix again.
Looking back at the fence, he aimed the blue-green fire at the nearest link.
Once he had a directed stream flowing more or less steadily from the palm of his hand, he began cutting out the shape of an arched doorway, big enough for the four of them to walk through. He took his time, trying to be precise as he wielded the hot, fire-like charge like a cutting tool.
A few minutes later, he finished.
Stepping forward, he kicked at the section of fence he’d cut out. It toppled away from him, landing with a vibrating, twanging sound on the slope.
“Jesus,” Asia breathed behind him.
Dags didn’t look at her. Exhaling slowly, he pulled the blue light back just as carefully as he’d extended it.
Once he had it completely under control, he exhaled for real.
There was a soft whump sound.
…and the dry grass at the base of one side of the fence hole caught on fire.
Steve McQueen let out single, alarmed bark.
Cursing, Dags stomped out the fire he’d started with his motorcycle boots. He stamped it out around the hot edge of the fence, making sure he didn’t miss any of the smoldering embers. Once he got it completely out, he felt his shoulders relax again.
He’d managed to not start any major wildfires in the years since the Change, but he’d had a few close calls.
Reason #10,293 why alcohol and Dags no longer mixed.
Noticing suddenly just how quiet the three people behind him had gotten, Dags turned, still standing on top of the piece of metal he’d cut out of the chain-link fence.
He found all three of them staring at him, eyes wide, their jaws loose.
Only Steve McQueen looked completely relaxed. His tongue lolled in a doggy grin as Phoenix gripped his collar, his ears pricked forward as he looked up the hill.
Karver looked pale.
Dags briefly worried the other man might really pass out.
“Hey,” he said. “You knew there was something different about me. I wanted you to see it before we got up there. I might be the least-weird thing you encounter tonight.”
At their collective silence, Dags scowled.
“Are you coming?” he said. “Or not?”
Asia and Karver exchanged looks.
Phoenix’s eyes remained on Dags, a kind of wonder in her expression. She only looked away when Karver nudged her with his hand.
When Karver finally spoke, he sounded angry.
“Did you know about this?” the actor said, his voice still low, still nearly a whisper, despite the accusation in it. He motioned sharply towards Dags. “You don’t look all that surprised, ‘Nix. Did you know this guy was some kind of freak?”
Phoenix looked at Karver, blinked.
The expression in her eyes verged on incomprehension.
“He’s the guy who saved our lives last night,” she said, her mouth tilting in a frown. “And you don’t have to come, Karver. Wait for us here, if you want. Or go back down to the car. We shouldn’t be long, like he said⏤”
“Sure,” Karver snapped. “Just leave my girlfriend with the crazy fuck who shoots lightning bolts out of his hands. Who claims he’s looking for demons. Sure, ‘Nix. I’ll definitely be doing that… any minute now…”
“Are you coming?” Dags growled. “Or not? Because I’d rather do this now. Before the cops come and find us breaking in here illegally.”
They all fell silent, looking at him.
From their expressions, they’d forgotten he was standing there, listening to them talk about him.
“Look,” Dags said, now verging on annoyed. “We can argue about what a freak I am later. And for the record, I wanted all of you to stay at the hotel and wait for me.” He glanced around at their pale faces. “If you’re serious about coming along, I need you to stay behind me. Let me protect you. If not, you can go back to the hotel now. Just bring my dog with you⏤”
“No,” Phoenix blurted. “I mean, Asia and Karver can, but those people by the pool said I have to be here. With you. I’m not going back to the hotel.”
Karver glared at her.
Then he aimed that look at Dags.
Dags fought to ignore the rage that flared in the other man’s aura.
There was a silence.
Then Asia nodded, sighing.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m in, too.”
Karver stared at her, incredulous. “Seriously? You too, Asia? What the hell is up with the two of you? Did he dose you while I was gone? Because I’m really not getting why in God’s name you’d trust this guy. Or what we’re even doing up here.”
Phoenix didn’t answer.
Without so much as a glance at her movie star boyfriend, she released Steve McQueen’s collar and walked up to Dags, picking her way carefully through the hole he’d created in the chain-link fence. Dags saw her looking at the metal, which still glowed bright red in parts from where he’d cut the links.
The dog trotted easily at her heels. Dags noticed him sniffing the metal as he passed, even as he stepped around and avoided the hot spots.
Asia and Karver were already following.
Karver didn’t look too happy about it.
Dags could live with that.
He was a lot more worried about what they might find in those trees.
Chapter 30
The Hollow Oak
It has to be that, Dags thought to himself.
He came to a stop on the slope, frowning.
Steve McQueen stopped next to him, panting as he sat on the dry grass.
The Hollywood sign loomed directly above them now, looking weirdly huge, even in the dark, now that they were directly under it.
Dags had led them in a zig-zagging line through the trees up to the area right underneath the sign, trying not to waste time even as he did his best to keep them from being too visible. That meant sticking to the darkest parts of the mountain, which was easier on a night with only a few-days-old moon and not a ton of stars.
He could see the moon now, rising up over the back of the mountain, barely a sliver in the sky. It didn’t help much with visibility. Dags had to rely on his night vision⏤which, granted, was better since the Change⏤bolstered by the ambient light from the houses below, and the light from the city, reflecting dimly off the tall white letters of the Hollywood sign itself.
He heard the others stumbling around behind him in the dark.
While he brought them up the mountain, he tried to be careful not to get too far ahead. He hoped they could follow his moving outline, even if they couldn’t see much of the ground or the hillside under the trees. Steve McQueen helped the most, running back to them periodically and letting Asia use him as a seeing-eye dog in the dark.
Flashlights were obviously out of the question.
It crossed Dags’ mind to wonder, not for the first time, if maybe this was nuts.
Here he was, dragging three movie stars around the semi-wilderness of Griffith Park, in the dark⏤illegally, no less⏤looking for what amounted to a demon’s lair.
Now he might have found what he was looking for.
It was just a tree.
They’d passed a lot of trees, but Dags found himself staring at this one, sure he was in the right place. A huge oak, it had branches that curved down strangely from the top, making it appear almost round. Those branches and leaves formed an upside-down bowl, impenetrable to
the eye, even for Dags with his cat-like night vision.
When he looked down, he saw Steve McQueen staring at the same tree.
Thankfully, the dog had been quiet up here.
Asia, Phoenix, and Karver caught up with them a few seconds later, and now all five of them stood at the edge of another thicket of trees, a smaller one than what they’d first walked through above the main trail.
A small stretch of open hillside stood between them and the hollow oak.
“What’s the hold-up?” Karver hissed. “Why the hell are we even up here still? There’s obviously nothing here⏤”
“It’s there,” Dags said, nodding towards the tree.
Glancing at the three movie stars clustered behind him in the trees, he hesitated, wondering if he should say more.
He decided against it.
He left the shadows of the trees, aiming his feet for the large oak.
Moving as silently as he could, he crossed the grassy knoll, and now the others kept up with him easily, their path illuminated by moonlight on the open part of the hill.
Of course, that also made them all super-visible, if anyone happened to be watching.
When he reached the massive oak tree, Dags didn’t wait. He walked right up to one of the branches, pushing it aside so he could peer into the strange canopy formed by the way the tree had grown.
It was dark under there.
So dark, even Dags, with his enhanced eyes, had trouble seeing much.
He did see one thing.
A structure stood directly in front of the tree’s trunk, built into the tree itself.
Well, it was less a structure⏤more like a door.
Made of white stone, the structure’s color made it slightly more visible than everything else under the dark tent created by the leaves and branches. Beyond that doorway, Dags saw white stone stairs leading down, into the ground.
He didn’t know she was beside him until she spoke.
“Is most of it below-ground?” Phoenix murmured.
He jumped, looking at her.
Then, thinking about her question, he nodded.
“I think so,” he said. “I don’t see anything above ground. Just the tree.”
I, Angel Page 23