“So, this is the great Samuel, the so called hybrid,” the tallest of the trio sneered. “Don’t seem like much.”
The unknown men had dark hair, almond shaped eyes, and stocky bodies. They looked like they might have been of Ukrainian descent, but the tall one had no accent. The man from the park remained silent, but kept grinning at them.
“Who’s the babe?” the second one asked.
Thalya smiled. They no longer recognized her as an olden because she had a soul, but she wasn’t human either. “Why don’t you step forward and I’ll introduce myself, personally,” Thalya said, slapping her blades together so they sparked. “Oh, never mind.”
Samuel knew exactly what she would do and stepped forward with her. His steel met steel. He tried to enter the zone of calm that had seen him safely through other such encounters over time. He took on two of the soulless, the one he’d fought before and the tallest one. They thought him the greater threat.
His thoughts were fragmented, never a good thing in a fight. Unable to fully enter into his fight zone and block out everything but the movements of his opponents, some part of him remained focused on Thalya. The clang of her blades echoed in the alley as they met those of the remaining soulless. He worried about her. She no longer had the powers of the soulless, didn’t have the speed of a soulless, nor did she have the full powers of an angel. Could she bleed?
The distraction cost him. The cold bite of steel slid across his left arm, and the warm flow of his life’s blood trickled down his ripped sleeve onto his hand. Nothing like the sight and scent of your own blood to get you to focus.
The man he’d fought before in the park laughed, even though it had been his friend who’d drawn first blood.
Samuel would make sure it would also be his last. He immersed himself completely in the fight and his opponents. The blond had made a mistake. Samuel dodged the sword aimed for his head and did a back flip over the soulless just as his partner swung his blade. The blond stepped into the sword’s path. His friend took the hit meant for Samuel in his stomach. In mid-air Samuel turned his sword arm up, down, then across in a slashing rapid-fire motion. By the time he landed on his feet behind the soulless, the blond man’s head had rolled off his neck. Without pause, he spun and cut the head of the other soulless who remained too stunned to even remove his sword from the blond’s now headless body.
When both heads were on the ground, he turned to watch Thalya. At a glance, he could tell she did not need his help. The bodies of the soulless men he had killed turned to ash. The wind brushed past him and swirled over the ashes, carrying them away into the night. Taking them to whatever passed as hell for the soulless.
The remaining soulless fought on. “Don’t kill him,” Samuel said to Thalya.
“Oh, shoot,” she said. Like a dancer, she pivoted on the balls of her feet but changed direction mid-turn. The soulless had misread her move and left himself unprotected on one side. Thalya took advantage of it and cut off his sword arm. The man screamed as both his sword and arm fell to the dirt. He ran toward the wall, but before he could leap over it, Samuel grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him to the ground.
Straddling his stomach, Samuel put his blade to the man’s neck. “Where’s Chris?”
“Who?” the man snarled.
Samuel heard the sound of one of the doors opening in the alleyway and looked over at Thalya, but she’d already turned toward the disturbance. Knowing she would send out a suggestion to whoever came out to go back inside, he returned his attention to the soulless on the ground, confident Thalya would keep any more unwelcome eyes away.
“The human who was with you,” he said to the soulless.
“No human was with me.” The man snarled showing his fangs.
Samuel pricked his neck until he drew blood with his sword, but the man continued to snarl at him.
“Your compulsion doesn’t work on me asshole,” Samuel said when he felt the man’s mental probes trying to take control of his mind.
“But mine can work on him.” Thalya bent down and Samuel relaxed his blade as Thalya placed her hand on the soulless’ head.
The man began to talk, “I don’t know who he was, but he made a deal with us.”
“What kind of deal?” Samuel asked.
The man’s dark gaze shifted to Thalya beside him before returning his gaze to Samuel. He had no choice but to answer the question, “He’d help us pick off hunters by pointing them out to us. You especially,” he said, glaring at Samuel. “He told us how to find you.”
“Now, why the hell would he do that?” Samuel said.
“The man hates you and we feed on his hate. He traded his life for yours. You see, you Samuel, are legendary among the soulless. He promised us he could deliver you if we spared him. At first, we didn’t believe him. But once we fed from him, we knew he spoke true.”
“That’s really too bad for you. Where is he now?” Samuel asked.
“Don’t know. After he helped us get you to follow him he took off in a car parked on the other side of the wall.”
“Where did you find him?” Samuel asked.
The man’s lips curled into a vicious smile. “He found us.”
“Where?”
“He was waiting for us one night in front of the Hallow Souls.”
Samuel nodded. “Now, that wasn’t so hard.”
Thalya straightened and stepped back, expecting Samuel’s next step.
“Time to meet your creator.” He raised his sword arm and cut off the man’s head. The body disintegrated before he straightened his arm and another wind kicked up, carrying off the ashes.
“So, Chris is a traitor,” Thalya stated.
“I find it hard to believe.”
“But he did not lie. I would have sensed it.”
Samuel nodded. “I know. I’m going to have to warn the others.” He pulled out his phone and saw he had a message from Wilhelmina. He called Ray first to make sure the word got passed about Chris helping the soulless target hunters. They’d all be on alert now, even more than they’d already been. Then he listened to Wilhelmina’s message and hung up the phone. “Wilhelmina left me a message. She reminded me we were supposed to meet with her today. She left me her niece’s address where she’s staying. How do you feel about heading over there now?”
She hesitated in her response. “…Shouldn’t we see about your arm first?”
“It’s nothing, just a scratch. Besides, I heal fast. But the bastard did ruin one of my favorite jackets.”
“Jackets can be replaced.”
He grinned. “Come on let’s go.” He held out his hand to her but she didn’t take it. His grin faded. Lowering his arm, the first root of real fear found fertile ground in his consciousness.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked hesitant. “I’ll meet you there.”
He glanced away from her then back. “Are you feeling a call?”
“Yes.”
“Can I come with you?” Did he come off as begging? God, how pathetic. But fear of losing her drove him. The muscles in his chest tightened. He couldn’t expand his lungs to take in enough air no matter how much he inhaled as he waited for her answer.
She smiled sadly. “Where I go, you cannot follow.”
The hurt stabbing at him would not heal as easily as the cut on his flesh. She must have known because her next words were meant to soothe him, “I promise I’ll be right behind you.”
“Will you?” He stared at her but couldn’t bring himself to touch her. He feared if he did, he’d never be able to let her go.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“What about the next time?”
This time, she looked away from him. “I promise I will not leave without—without telling you first.”
He swallowed his pride. “What if I don’t want you to go?”
With a cry, she unfolded her wings and rose off the ground. “I must.”
“Wait!”
She hovered above h
im. The moon behind her casting her in a glow, illuminating her wings even more. Showing him, as nothing else could, she did not belong in this world. She was so gloriously beautiful. He could see the tears in her eyes. Somehow, it didn’t seem right, an angel crying. He had to force the tears not to fall from his own. Something he hadn’t done since his sister died, six hundred years ago. “Promise, you’ll come back to me.”
“I promise.”
Then she left, but he knew what she hadn’t said. This time. Then he lost the battle, and the tear he’d willed not to fall…did.
Chapter Twenty-Five
He walked the New York streets, purposely leaving his mind blank of everything and everyone around him. Samuel focused only on putting one foot in front of the other to get back to Thalya’s condo to retrieve his car. Somehow, afterward, he made his way to the trendy section of Chelsea. Because of the heavy traffic it took a little longer than normal to get there, not that he really allowed himself to care either way. Wilhelmina had given him an address for one of the renovated high rise condos, just blocks away from the warehouse the hunters used. He wondered if the chroniclers lived so close to a hunter enclave to keep tabs on them. For now, he didn’t care.
At least he had good parking luck. Samuel found a spot a few blocks away, opting not to park at his warehouse because the odds were high he would run into one of his hunters. He didn’t want to deal with them now, so he had to walk a little further to get to the front of the building. He pressed the intercom button and Evangeline answered.
“It’s me,” he said. He didn’t ask if Thalya beat him there. But he couldn’t help but wonder, not sure if she would be, but not daring to think what he would do if she didn’t show. After all, he only had her promise she would meet him here. He held onto it to keep himself together. Whatever lay ahead for them he had no choice but to steel himself to face it.
When the elevator door slid open, Thalya stood there in the hallway. Waiting for him.
For the first time since she’d left him in the alley, his heart beat again and his lungs took in precious air, breathing in her sweet scent. He stepped off the elevator and she stepped into his arms. Burying his face in her hair, he only wanted to hold her. She felt so good.
“I’m here,” she said holding onto him just as tightly as he held her.
Samuel straightened up to look at her but kept his arms around her. “Yes, but for how much longer? I thought I could let you go but I don’t think I can.” He couldn’t go through this again.
Before either could say more, they heard a door open down the hall. They pulled apart, turning toward the sound just as Eva poked her head out of the open door and saw them. Reluctantly, Samuel let her go but continued to hold her hand.
Eva waited as they walked toward her. “Thank you so much for coming,” she said to them.
He continued to hold onto Thalya as they walked toward the woman.
Eva gestured for them to enter, and they moved past her further into the apartment. They were in a short hallway that opened up on both sides into sitting rooms.
Wilhelmina stepped out of the opening on the right side. “There you are. Come in have a seat.” She patted the arm of the long sofa she stood in front of before moving around it. She was the only one in the room.
“Is everything all right?” Samuel asked before sitting down. He noticed Evangeline didn’t follow them into the room but continued past it down the hall. “I know my people saw to getting the books moved and stored at the warehouse.”
“Yes. Thank you. We know they’re safe. Eva’s already been over there today working on transferring the books to our database. We thought now would be a good time to go over a few housekeeping things first, and then we have a proposition for you.”
Winifred entered the room at the end of Wilhelmina’s statement carrying a large book in her hand, similar to what they’d taken from the cavern but the binding looked newer. “Oh, good. I’m so glad you came. Have you told them yet?” She glanced at her sister with a gleam in her eyes and hugged the thick book to her bosom.
Wilhelmina smiled. “No, they just sat down. Now come in and let me finish.”
“Oh, sorry.”
A writing desk and chair stood in one corner of the room. Winifred headed for them and put the book on the desk before she sat. After opening the chronicle, she turned her chair slightly, so she faced him and Thalya on the sofa.
“As I was saying, some housekeeping first. Can you tell us again about how the two of you met and how you, Thalya, came to have a soul? About Samuel being your redemption?” Wilhelmina glanced over at her sister. “Winifred here will record it in this book. We’re starting a new volume dedicated to you two.”
“Why should we do that?” Samuel asked. He shouldn’t be surprised they’d want to know details. They did after all, chronicle the lives of both soulless and hunter. But up until a week ago, he didn’t know this group existed and though no one had acknowledged it, it seemed clear some of the information they probably had in their records could destroy hunter and soulless alike if it got into the wrong hands.
“Because we have very few chances to get events right from the horse’s mouth, if you will.” She grinned. “This is an opportunity we can’t let pass.”
“But aren’t you just supposed to be objective here and observe? So, just write your observations.”
Thalya put her hand on his thigh. “I will tell you what you want to know.”
Samuel stared at Thalya’s hand on his leg. Her light touch burnt through to his core. He covered her hand with his and peace infused him. He couldn’t focus on his frustration with their relationship or take it out on Wilhelmina by being difficult. He stifled a snort. The fact he and Thalya had no relationship was the problem. He turned his attention back to the other women in the room. If their story would help others, so be it. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell them. I just wanted to understand why they want the information. The attack on Wilhelmina shows someone out there is aware of the chronicles and wants those records destroyed,” he said, pointing in the direction of the book on the desk. “And doesn’t much care if Wilhelmina and her kin or anyone else is hurt or killed in the process.”
“We know,” Winifred stated. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been targeted. Sometimes, humans and soulless both have tried to steal the chronicles from us. Luckily, over the ages, we’ve only lost two volumes. It’s a miracle we’ve been able to keep almost all of our works intact. But then again, we believe our work has been sanctioned by a greater power. In all our history, we’ve only lost two chroniclers. The ones entrusted with the missing volumes gave their lives to save the other books in their care. But we’re in a new age.”
The couple sat and listened.
Winifred glanced at her sister before returning her attention to them. “We must recognize that. Even though we still record by hand, we know we must make changes. That includes digitizing the chronicles as well as not being as neutral as we were in the past. Wilhelmina and I spoke to our sisters earlier and we have a proposition for you. We think it is a good compromise.”
“But first, the accounting please,” Wilhelmina insisted, tapping her hand on the sofa for emphasis.
“Why do you not use a computer or one of those other electronic devices to record the information?” Thalya asked.
Eva entered the room carrying a plate loaded with sugar cookies and slices of marble cake then placed it on the coffee table in front of them and answered her question. “They’re still old school but no worries, all of my entries are done on my computer and placed on my hard drive and backed up. We don’t place information on digital devices that might be compromised. But yeah, I am slowly getting them to use the computer but it’s slow going. Be right back,” she said. “Don’t start without me.”
“Do you need any help, dear?” Wilhelmina called out to her retreating back.
“No, I’m good,” her niece said over her shoulder.
They waited just a few mome
nts before Eva came back into the room with a tray.
Wilhelmina stepped forward and took the jug of what looked like lemonade off the tray, leaving five glasses.
Eva placed these on the coffee table and Wilhelmina replaced the jug. “Help yourselves,” Eva prompted and sat down on the chair beside them.
“Thank you.” Thalya leaned forward and poured herself a glass of lemonade. She sniffed it first and smiled.
Samuel could both see and sense her eagerness to taste.
“Now Samuel, start by telling us how you came to meet Thalya?” Wilhelmina began.
On one level, he’d heard Wilhelmina, but at first he couldn’t answer the question. Not because he didn’t want to, but because the sight of Thalya taking pleasure from her first taste of lemonade amused him.
After the initial sip, she’d closed her eyes, her avid enjoyment at the taste brought pleasure to his senses.
“Is it good?” he asked.
“Mmm, yes. Very. Here, try some.” She raised the glass to his lips and he took a sip.
“Yes, you’re right it is good.” Like a thirsty man drawn to a drop of water, he leaned toward Thalya and kissed the side of her cheek.
“Oh, you all are so cute,” Wilhelmina said. “See, I told you all it was the best thing for us.”
That got Samuel’s attention. He straightened up and turned his gaze to Wilhelmina’s. “What would be best for whom?”
“First the accounting, then the proposition.”
“Some of us are sensitive to soulless, such as myself and we patrol various areas. But all the hunters are trained on what to look for. The dead eyes are a giveaway,” Samuel said, glancing around the room. “Also by monitoring police scanners we find areas of unusual violent activities, and/or the escalation of violence over a short period of time in a given area. This time I saw a pattern that differed from past ones. There’d been a few reports of unusual things happening in certain areas of Central Park or the surrounding area. Nothing really alarming, just folks wondering around lost and confused,” he paused to stare at everyone around the room and grinned. “I know, not so rare in NY, but it happened a little too often at somewhat regular intervals and I had a hunch. We decided to investigate.”
Angel Rising Page 26