Finally, when dawn decided to put in an appearance, Devlin turned the bike toward home. It hadn’t been stolen after all. Eva was so tired she’d almost fallen off the bike. She woke up suddenly when she felt her butt was no longer being bounced around but she wasn’t falling. She felt strong arms around her.
“It’s okay. I got ya,” a deep voice murmured.
Eva tightened her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Not even realizing when he’d taken both of their helmets off.
“Keys?” Devlin asked.
She sighed. “Put me down.”
“I don’t think so. Are they in your purse? You can reach ‘em.”
She reached into her satchel dangling down the side of her body and found her keys. She twisted and inserted them into the lock but opened her eyes wide when she realized it wasn’t locked.
Her tenseness must have given Devlin pause. “What’s wrong?”
“I locked this door, it’s not locked. Put me down.” Suddenly, she was wide awake.
“You sure?”
“Yes, someone’s been here.”
He did, they both drew their swords. Devlin pushed the door open and entered. The alarm began beeping. She reached over beside the door and put in the code to shut it off.
“I don’t think anyone’s here now but someone was here,” she stated.
Devlin stiffened beside her. “Soulless. Fuck that bastard Michael.”
“Look.” She pointed down at the floor. They could see the soot-covered boot prints left behind. “No soulless did that. That’s a human.”
They searched her place room by room, other than the busted window and the dust where someone had entered and tracked through the house, they didn’t find anything out of place that the earthquake hadn’t done.
Lastly, Eva checked her hidden panel, it didn’t appear to have been tampered with, but something still seemed just a tad off. The last time it had been opened was when she’d opened it to show Devlin and the others. That meant it wasn’t Michael who’d come back. If he had, he’d have made his way straight for the underground library and he wouldn’t have closed the door. No, the soulless who’d been here wasn’t Michael. Yet, she had a sense of peacefulness, and for some reason she thought of Michael. But that’s not all she was sensing, another hunger was stronger. “Not sure it was Michael, someone else has been here though in the house.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. The essence I’m sensing is a lot darker. And I don’t think he was alone. I’m getting a lot of hate vibes. Too human an emotion to be a soulless, even one just fed. He’d be more satisfied. So the human was here with a soulless one,” Devlin stated.
“Well, no one’s here now.”
“I’m not liking the idea anyone was here at all. This means you’re no longer safe here.”
She wanted to argue with him but he might be right. But who came searching for her? Was it for the same reason Michael wanted her, because they thought she knew where the lost Chronicles were?
“You can’t stay here.” He held up his hand to stop her protest. “The underground library is safe for now. They didn’t find it, not sure they even know it’s there. But someone came looking for you. I can put some of my people to watch the place but right now with the disaster California is in, we’re spread thin. So I’m going to take you back to one of the hunter houses, Tony told me is in a safe zone. At least Michael doesn’t know where that is, so he can’t tell anyone else.”
“I don’t believe he told anyone where I live. This wasn’t Michael’s doing,” she reiterated.
“Not saying it was, but he might have been followed here. The soulless only recently started banding together, still doesn’t mean they’re all on the same page. Thalya taught us that. It’s not all black and white with them, there are shades of gray too.”
“Wow! Exactly what I’ve been trying to get through to you.” Glad that finally he’d begun thinking that way.
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her to his chest. “Maybe. So maybe one of Michael’s buddies is trying to undermine him. I’m not taking any chances with you.” He lowered his lips to hers and she relaxed into his embrace. Letting their tongues play for a moment. He was the one to end it. “Pack a bag and then we’ll go,” he said, releasing her as he stepped back.
“Since I can’t argue with your logic because I mostly agree, I’ll go with you. But this is temporary. I have a proposal we can talk about later. Tomorrow night I want to try to find Michael. He’d either go back to the coffee shop he knows I like to go to or he’d come here looking for me.”
“Maybe, but the coffee shop might be destroyed.”
“Still worth a shot. He might be able to let us know who’s been in my house. Besides, he also needs to know one of his own might be acting against him.”
Chapter Nineteen
Chris entered the residence and didn’t see Michael, but he hadn’t expected to. It had taken him the rest of the night and part of the morning to make it back to the house. Most of LA had to be evacuated, it was only a matter of time for all of it, same with the coastal cities. Shit was crazy out there. Michael must be loving it. Chris stripped off his clothes but left his underwear on, the way he usually did in the house. He’d just sat down on the couch when Scott walked into the room.
“Come with me,” Scott said to him. “Michael wants to see you.”
Chris jumped up quickly, grinning. Maybe this was it. Michael was ready to thank him for his role in bringing this catastrophe about.
Chris entered the room first and saw Michael spread naked on his bed, Chris’ cock stirred as he licked his lips. Like a magnet, he drew closer to the bed but noticed Michael’s cock was flaccid, well he’d fix that right up. He smiled as he looked at his master’s face. The soulless eyes were wide open and staring at him but there was nothing there, no love, no hate, nothing. For a moment, Chris hesitated, he seemed far more vacant than usual. “I’m here,” Chris whispered. But Michael didn’t respond. “What would you like me to do? How do you want me?”
Still nothing.
Chris turned to glance back at Scott who he suddenly felt standing behind him instead of across the room. He could feel the hairs on his body standing on end from Scott’s nearness. At one time, he’d been a hunter, a damned good one and the senses he’d once used to hunt soulless screamed danger.
Before he could question the soulless, Scott had one arm wrapped around Chris’ waist the other around his neck as he twisted the man to face him. Chris had never feared the soulless taking his blood. In truth, it always made him hard. His cock stiffened as the male sank his fangs into his neck and Chris could feel his blood leaving his body and entering Scott’s.
Yet this time, the pleasure was laced with a shitload of fear.
Twisting a bit, Chris tried to keep his eyes fixed on Michael’s beautiful face. Finally, he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. It was then he realized Scott held him up, his legs were too weak to stand on their own. His cock had long deflated. Too much, the bastard was taking too much, but Chris had no strength to fight. When his eyes shut for that final time, the last thing he saw were the dark dead eyes of Michael.
“Ah, he tasted so good. The man’s lust for you was very appetizing,” Scott said as he dropped what was left of Chris onto the floor. “But still not as good as when he realized I was draining him dry. I got a hard on from his fear. Now, let’s begin again shall we?” He took out a jagged knife that curved to the pointed tip, the blade as long as his arm. Scott placed it on the bed between Michael’s legs. Then he took out the precious vial. Carefully, he placed two drops on the blade, one on the tip the other he tried to run down the blade, making sure none of it touched his own skin. The metal seemed to absorb the liquid. Scott smiled. “I’m going to enjoy your suffering now that I’m fully sated and can feel emotion.”
Scott placed the tip of the knife at Michael’s face and pressed lightly, blood was quick to drip down his cheek. “Where’s the Chro
nicle?”
Michael said nothing.
It didn’t matter. Scott took pleasure in pushing the knife down until it sliced his face open wide then he arched it downward cutting into part of his lip.
Michael screamed but there was no one to hear his cries.
“Well, he’s not here,” Devlin said, adjusting the bandana around his face. Those bandanas had come in very handy. Ash was no longer raining down from the sky but every time the wind blew, it would gush in their faces and the wind blew quite a bit. They’d been hiding behind a wall of what was left of the coffee shop near her house. The entire block had been destroyed. All the buildings were rubble, either because of the fire or imploded as a result of the quake. Only pieces of them were left. Even the road was mangled. They’d had to walk the last two blocks, scrambling over building materials to get there.
“Obviously,” Eva said.
“Look, I can call one of my people and have them watch for Michael, if he shows up here. But I think the best bet is he would show up at your house. Jason has Cora watching your place and so far, she hasn’t seen anything.”
“Alright, call your people and we’ll leave when one of them comes. Thank you.”
It took over an hour for Dev’s guy to reach them. Travel around the area wasn’t that easy. There were still unchecked fires with winds making it even worse. When they finally made it back to her place, he told Cora to maintain watch on the property and that she should be rotated.
Devlin still didn’t trust that whoever had entered Eva’s place the first time wouldn’t come back. The alarm system wasn’t working any more even on the backup battery power and almost all of the electricity in the area was out, but electronic equipment didn’t seem to work right around the soulless anyway. He didn’t want her to stay there but the woman was more stubborn than he was. At least she’d let him in. Thank Christ. In truth, he’d gotten a notification on his phone, his place in Hollywood Hills wasn’t safe either, the entire area had a mandatory evacuation. So her house was it for now and while she stayed here, he’d damned well make sure it was safe.
“At least there’ve been no aftershocks.” She yawned as she dropped her bag and scarf on a side table then headed toward the kitchen. She opened a drawer in the darkened room, pulled out a flashlight and some LED candles. She set one on a table.
“Smart not using real candles.”
“I have some but thought these might be better around the house at least at this level, in case of aftershocks.”
“Yeah, I hope what I’d done helped, so there won’t be any or if they are, they won’t be very strong.”
“I think it did, but I want to check my equipment and make some notes.” She placed the flashlight and the other candles on the counter then opened up the entrance to the library.
When she didn’t grab the flashlight he asked, “What about the flashlight?”
“Won’t need it. The electricity down there runs on a separate generator.”
“Cool.” He followed her into the subterranean level and with each step a spot of light the size of a dime a couple of inches apart came on at the side of the stairs. Just enough illumination so they could see the steps. When they reached the bottom, the lights in the room came on. “I still think it’s some kind of miracle this place is untouched. Even upstairs things fell but down here…” He glanced around. “Nothing. Not even the television you have mounted on the wall fell. I’d love to know more about those runes.”
“Family secret,” she said as she stopped in front of her work desk set in a small alcove. “Whoa!”
“What is it?” He rushed over to stand beside her looking at the worn brown leather bound scroll she held in her hand.
“This wasn’t here before.” She put it down on her desk and pulled out her chair. She opened up the drawer on the side, took out a pair of gloves, and put them on.
“What is it and how’d it get here?” he asked.
“If it’s what I think it is, it’s from Michael.” She glanced up at him. “He’s the only one who would have left it here.” Carefully, she unrolled the scroll. It was really three pages of parchment attached, she carefully let them re-roll.
“Holy shit! It looks ancient, like it would tear if you touch it,” Devlin stated, his hand reached out as if to touch the parchment but he pulled it back.
“Hence the gloves.” Eva opened the drawer again and rifled through it. Then she stood up and walked over to a cabinet in the corner he hadn’t even realized was a cabinet until she touched the wall and it slid open revealing shelves and drawers. She came back to the table carrying a flat cardboard package.
“What’s that?” he asked curiously.
“The scrolls are old, very, this environment was created to protect the Chronicles but still doesn’t mean I don’t have to be careful when handling one. And I believe this is one of the missing Chronicles. It has to be delicately handled more so than usual. It’s most likely the oldest document here, so it needs to be treated so it doesn’t fall apart. And moved immediately to the top of the list to be entered into the database. In fact, I’m going to enter it right after I have a look at it.”
He watched her pull thin sheets of glass out of the package. She placed them down on her desk and laid one scroll on each piece of glass then covered each scroll with another sheet of glass so it lay flat on the desk. The edges were a bit worn but whatever ink had been used to write with was clear.
He stood over the first one and tried to read the script but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “Can you read this? I can’t even identify the language.”
“No, but my Aunt Winifred might be able to and there are notes in the database that can help with the translation. But this is only one of the two missing scrolls my family had. When the two are together, placed side by side, then the language becomes easier to read, or so I’ve been told.” She yawned, not for the first time and stretched her arms over her head.
Devlin rubbed her shoulders. “You’re exhausted. It’s been a long day. You need to get some rest so you can be sharp to do what you need to do, and I’ll help you search the database, but first you need to get some sleep. The scroll will still be here in a few hours. And I can have Jason’s sister come and help with entries.” At least they’d had a chance to eat as they’d waited at the coffee shop, Jason had brought them some sandwiches.
She glanced up at him. “You’re right but first…” She took out a camera and took pictures of the scrolls. “There now, I’ve got copies of them. I sent these shots to the database. It can be accessed from both here and in New York.”
“Good.” He held out his hand to her and she placed hers in it. He pulled her up toward him. Kissing her forehead.
“We can stay down here, there’s a pull out couch.”
Devlin moved his head slowly from side to side. “No, I need room.”
She grinned. They went upstairs and she secured the entrance to the library. “Can you grab the flashlight for me? I’ll get the candles. We’ll need them for the bedroom.”
He did as she asked and then they made their way to her room. The window in there had been broken as a result of the earthquake and the break-in. He made a mental note to fix it as soon as possible, then he placed the flashlight on the nightstand. Picking up the pillow, he put his gun under it and his sword against the side of the nightstand within easy reach.
When they’d first gotten back, a neighbor had stopped them and told Eva about the evacuations in some of the surrounding areas. Her neighborhood had not been mandatorily evacuated but quite a few people left as a precaution even though all but four of the homes on the block were fine to remain in. A few cracks mostly at one end but no fires erupted in her area. Unlike some of the places she and Devlin had traveled through.
Still, Devlin couldn’t blame those who’d refused to leave. Scared of leaving their home to the asswipes taking advantage of the situation. He wasn’t sure when the emergency personnel they’d run into would begin letting peop
le back into any of the areas. Some places he was sure would be condemned. They hadn’t bothered to stop to ask permission when they were out there, but went around any roadblocks not willing to risk not being let through at all. From the looks of things, it would be weeks before most of the electric grids were back online and months before it would be safe for people to return to some areas. For those in LA or like him in the Hills, that might be anywhere from years to never.
He looked at his phone to try to check in with Cora who was watching the house but had no signal. At least the battery was good. They’d both been able to charge their phones on the bike and in her underground area. All day long signals would come and go.
Eva placed one of the candles on her side of the bed and turned it on. He smiled as he saw the way it illuminated her in her dark t-shirt and jeans. She had soot all over everything, he was sure his clothes didn’t fare any better. He was going to have to ask Jason or Tony to bring him something. He came over to her side of the bed and touched her face. She had ash in her hair and some dirt on her cheek, he wiped it off.
“How bad is it?” she asked raising her hand to wipe off his face.
He grinned. “Adorable. But I’m sure I’m worse, so I think I need a shower before I get into that bed.”
“Hmm, yeah you do, so do I.” She turned and taking his hand pulled him toward the bathroom. “So let’s go.”
He wasn’t about to argue but he did say, “One sec.” He let her hand go to lean over the bed and reach for the gun he’d placed under the pillow.
“You take no chances I see,” Eva said.
“Not with you.” He took her hand again, unable to not touch her. She’d been plastered against his back now for the last 24 hours. She’d become a fixture for him, a part of him.
She let go of his hand to turn on her shower. At first nothing happened then it sputtered and the water came out. “For a minute there I thought we’d lost water here too,” she said.
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 18