“I’m going to comb through the Chronicles we have on him and any soulless we’ve ever seen him with, see if I find a direction to even look for him in.”
“Good idea. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll leave. I’ll check on you in a bit.” Devlin raced up the stairs.
Tony and Mario were spread out in the living room now in the sleeping bags. Devlin assumed the shifts had changed and the other guys who’d been outside were now inside. He heard snoring coming from down the hall from the bedrooms and assumed the others had the guest rooms. He hated to do it but he had no choice. He bent down near Tony and shook his shoulder.
“Mmm…” the younger man opened his eyes and focused on him. “Hey, what up?”
“Were you able to reach everyone?”
“Yeah, some already knew about the tidal wave headed their way and had already evacuated and started moving farther inland. The ones neither Mario nor I could reach, we tried leaving texts for. Only one responded. We hope the others get the text. By the way though, Coronado was already evacuated.”
“Okay, that’s good. At least it means the authorities might know what Eva just told me.”
“What’s that man?”
“The wave headed that way is going to be over one hundred feet high and stretched farther out along the coast than we first thought.”
“Damn!” Tony rubbed his hand over his face.
“Eva and I are going to head out in a bit and search for Michael.”
“Michael? Why?”
Devlin told him about what Michael had done. “Do you have any ideas as to where we should look for him? Where anyone’s seen him around?”
“No. Until you had us watching him after he made contact with Evangeline, he’d never crossed our radar. And the one time I tried to tail him after he met her at the coffee shop that last time, he moved like the wind and blew past me.”
“What about Chris? I know he’d been spied multiple times.”
“Yeah, but since the quake, no one’s seen his sorry ass. But the last few times he was spotted in West Hollywood and that area’s been burning over forty-eight hours, so if he was there he’s not anymore.”
“Shit. Almost all of LA is burning and what might not be has been evacuated,” Devlin added.
“Yes, so I’d suggest you look in the areas where folks most likely would have been evacuated to. The soulless would follow the humans, the ones most vulnerable. Probably farther east of San Bernadino. They wouldn’t go north, they’d have to worry about wild fires, they’d head east. That would be the most likely destination.”
“Hmm, most likely across the border out of the state. But I do think you’re right and it would be in that general direction.”
Tony sat up. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. You’ve been up all night. Are Paul and Bobby outside now?”
“Yes. Since it’s light out now, you shouldn’t have to worry about any visitors so I’ll take them with me. You guys stay here until we get back. I’ll try to keep you updated on our whereabouts.”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan. Jason should be here soon too,” Tony said.
“Set them up in one of the guest bedrooms. When we get back, Eva can sit down with Jeannie and let her know what help she needs entering the Chronicles into the database. Also, use the empty house next door on the left Eva owns. If the tenants on the right are still around when we get back we’ll see about getting rid of them. If they leave before we do, use that one too. But anyone that needs a place have them come here and they can camp out next door.”
“How long do you think you guys will be gone?”
“A day or two. I’ll try to keep checking in with you all.”
“Okay.”
“Do you mind if I use your backpack?” Devlin asked Tony, spying it on the floor next to his head.
“Sure.” Tony dumped the contents out which consisted of a change of clothes, a small case, a sheathed knife, another gun and four boxes of cartridges.
Tony and Mario had each already given him an extra change of clothes. So thanks to them, he wasn’t in the soot-covered shirt and jeans he wore earlier. He’d have to pick up more as he was out and about. “Can I have one of those?” Devlin asked pointing to one of the boxes of cartridges.
Tony picked one up and tossed it at him.
“Thanks, man. We’re going to need more of these.” Devlin left and went into the kitchen. He put the box Tony had given him into the bag. Then packed a few water bottles, packages of trail mix, and snacks he found in the cupboard. They’d been lucky so far being able to find food and water when they’d gone out, but he knew as more time passed, there’d be less of it, and he couldn’t count on luck. They’d take his Jeep and not Eva’s tiny car. Hopefully, they’d be able to get around but not all the roads were passable and they may have to travel on foot. He left the pack in the kitchen and went back downstairs to let Eva know what he’d decided. They had to move out now.
She agreed with him. “Let me grab a few things from my room, and I’ll meet you all at the car.”
They both returned upstairs and he showed her what he’d put in his backpack. She approved. She kissed him quickly then went to her room to get whatever she needed.
Devlin grinned because she felt comfortable enough with their relationship not to hide it. Not that he’d let her. He went over to the chair where he’d dropped his light jacket earlier. His sword was in the sheath created for it on the inside of the jacket and his Glock was in there along with an extra clip. He checked the gun to see it was full. He had a knife strapped to his calf and another 9mm handgun in a side holster. He checked the clip in there too. It was only half full. He opened up the box of cartridges and filled up his clip, returning it to the holster just as Eva came around the corner from the bedrooms.
She had on a pair of black Doc Martins, her hair in two braids, one hanging over each shoulder, and she wore a cap over her hair. She looked damned adorable. She smiled when she saw him and opened up the jacket she wore. She had two holsters holding guns at her sides.
He smiled. She was one hell of a woman. Damned if he hadn’t loved her already, he would now. He was in for a world class hurting if she didn’t love him back.
They went out of the house and he opened up the passenger door for her. “I’ll just go get Paul and Bobby. They were the ones asleep on the floor earlier.” He’d already told her they’d be joining them. He wasn’t taking any chances with her safety, they’d run into enough to know it was the wild, wild west out there. The bonus was the more bodies searching, the more areas they could cover.
“Good idea. We have a better chance of finding Michael if more of us are looking. Do they know what he looks like?”
That’s not exactly why he was taking them along, but she had a point. “Yeah, they do. Tony’s a pretty good sketch artist and sent out an image to all the hunters of Michael. I’ll be right back.”
He returned a minute later with the other men, both had backpacks with them. He assumed they also carried a change of clothes and maybe more ammo or a gun or two. They hopped into the back seat.
“Eva, these scruffy guys are Paul Smith.”
Paul was the older of the two with a lot of gray in his short beard. “Pleasure,” he said.
“And the other one is Bobby Snesky.”
Bobby was the color of dark chocolate, he nodded and waved at Eva when she turned around. She said hello to both men.
“We ready to rock and roll?” Devlin asked.
“Hell, yeah!” Both men answered.
There was only one way out of her neighborhood but Devlin slowed to a stop when he spied something lying in the middle of the road. “Paul with me. Eva stay here.”
“Like hell.” She got out of the car with him.
It had only taken him a second to register what he was seeing, a bloodied, naked body in the center of the road.
“Oh my God! It’s a man,” Eva said as they neared.
“I think he’
s dead,” Paul added.
Devlin was the first to reach the person. His back was to them but his body was curled up into a fetal position. He could see bite marks all over his back, marks that were healed but not completely. This man had been fed on by the soulless and they didn’t hide it. Had he been enthralled? It sometimes happened with humans, but the human would have to supply the soulless with the emotion he or she needed. Still, the way this guy had been fed upon looked like multiple bastards. But the blood came from the words carved onto his back: ‘I’m coming for you.’
“What the fuck?” Paul stated.
He guessed he may have read the wording too. Devlin reached out and touched the man’s neck, seeing the puncture wounds there but none were still bleeding. He gently rolled the man over. “Fuck!” Devlin cried.
“Christ!” Paul added.
“What? What’s going on? Who is it?” Eva asked.
“Chris,” Devlin said.
“Who would do such a thing?” Eva asked.
“Whoever keeps coming back to the house after you.” He waved Bobby over who was standing by the car keeping an eye on their rear. “It’s Chris,” he warned the big man, as he got closer, since he might not have heard the exchange before.
“You’re shitting me?” Bobby asked.
“Wish I was,” Devlin replied.
“What do we do with his body? We can’t leave him out here like this,” Eva stated.
“I don’t want him in the house either,” Devlin said. “For now, we can at least wrap him up in a sheet or something and stash him out in the backyard. We’ll take care of finding a place to bury him after we get back or I can have Tony and Mario do that after they get up.”
“Yes, the latter, please,” Eva said.
“We’ll put him in the back,” Bobby said nodding in Paul’s direction. “And let Tony know.”
Devlin was glad the trunk part of the Jeep was open so there wasn’t a covered trunk. He pulled up to the house and Paul and Bobby took Chris’s body around back then came around front to let Tony know what was happening. Eva didn’t have a back door. He kept the engine running knowing the men wouldn’t be long. He turned to Eva and fear snaked down his spine knowing this asshole was after her.
She was watching Devlin; he took her hand resting on the center console and squeezed it. “I won’t let that son of a bitch get near you.”
Eva smiled. “I can handle myself.”
“I know that but doesn’t matter, I’ll be there so you won’t have to.”
Devlin didn’t say anymore because Paul and Bobby were walking back to the car. Yet the entire time they were driving, ice coated his heart at the thought of her being a target. He didn’t say anything to her, but he wasn’t only searching for Michael’s place but also the bastard who’d targeted her. Devlin was making it his business to kill the fucker.
Driving turned out to be even worse than the last couple of days. Instead of cars stuck in traffic jams, many were now abandoned on the roads. Devlin would have been hard pressed to even be able to navigate the streets or sidewalks with the motorcycle. There were about four inches of ash in some areas while brick and stone littered the sidewalks. The world was crumbling around them. Finally, their driving luck ran out.
“I’ve tried every which way. It’s a no go. There are either cracks too wide in the road to drive across or abandoned cars blocking the road.”
“So we walk,” Eva stated.
Devlin pulled over into someone’s driveway and killed the engine. “We walk.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Paul and Bobby both had long range automatic rifles and they walked holding them pointed down across their bodies. Still in a defensive position.
Eva wasn’t sure how she felt about this. They seemed more an armed escort, her bodyguards, rather than just additional bodies to help them find Michael. She’d noticed the way the men always seemed to flank her, yet paid no attention to Devlin’s position in their little group. She’d protest, but knew it would be pointless, since they were both stubborn people.
They kept to alleys and in the shadows. Because even though it was still several hours before the sun set, it looked like dusk in the sky, like the sun was a bit muted. It seemed to appear in patches. While most soulless might not be able to stand even that little bit of sun, Michael might be able to since he’d shown up at the coffee shop during daylight. But he did tend to sit in a corner away from the window. He wasn’t an Olden, the records for him only went back a few hundred years, but he was powerful.
“I think we need to take a break,” Devlin stated.
They’d been walking for the last three hours with only one short break, avoiding any of the military or National Guard they ran into. They didn’t see many people, which meant the area they were in had been cleared. They needed to keep going.
“I’m all for that. And let’s see if we get a signal,” Eva replied. “See if we can figure out a direction to go in. The soulless will need bodies to feed from.”
“How about over there?” Paul suggested pointing to what looked like a pizza restaurant.
“As good a spot as any,” Eva replied and meant it.
The glass in the window was already broken but Eva tried the door and it wasn’t locked. She pushed the door open and drew her gun, holding it out in front of her as she’d been taught. Devlin came in after her and angled to the other side of the room. She felt Paul and Bobby bringing up the rear.
The place was empty. Some of the tables and chairs had been toppled over. Eva moved passed them and headed for the open kitchen area. She could see drawers and cabinets ajar and empty. She opened the refrigerator and that too was empty. The open brick oven had nothing but ashes in it. There were a stack of pizza boxes piled at one end.
Devlin picked up one of the tables on its side and straightened it up. Bobby picked up two chairs and placed them around the table. Eva came around and grabbed two others when the sound of Paul’s “Bingo!” had her spinning around.
“What is it?” Devlin asked.
Paul was holding one of the boxes and came over to them. He placed it on the table and opened it up. There was a pepperoni and sausage pizza in there.
“Dude,” Bobby said. “That thing is a couple of days old and hard.”
Paul turned around and glanced over at the oven. “That’s a gas wood burning oven. I bet I can get it started and heat this baby up.”
Devlin shrugged and inclined his hand toward the kitchen area. “Knock yourself out.”
An hour later, they were back out on foot but at least their bellies were full of stale pizza. They’d run into an armored car of soldiers but instead of all of them hiding, she and Devlin stepped out to ask questions. Like what was the best place to find shelter, a safe place to go. The soldier in charge was more than happy to point them in the right direction, assuming they were looking for shelter. Now at least they had a loose destination.
“You sure about this?” Paul asked.
He’d only asked what she’d been thinking already. She couldn’t help but feel they’d been lucky so far. She was surprised to see how far out beyond LA the devastation reached, but still the farther east they went, the more intact the buildings. Then they started seeing small pockets of people while searching among some of the more intact buildings. Even a couple of houses in neighborhoods with candlelight flashing in the windows.
“We need to spread out in this area,” Devlin suggested. “Paul and Bobby take the right side of the street, Eva and I will take this side. Keep sharp for both human and soulless. This would be good hunting grounds for them.”
“We should also be on the lookout for a place to get some rest come the dawn before we start back to Eva’s,” Bobby added.
“Good idea, we’ve got a long way to go to get back to the Jeep and that’s assuming it’s still even there,” Devlin agreed. He pulled out his phone and turned it on to see if he had a signal. He did. They’d been keeping their phones turned off to save their bat
tery lives. “See if you all have signals. We’ll search for an hour but fan out and keep heading east and stay on your side of the street. Check any pockets of humanity you come across look for signs of soulless influence. Check in every twenty minutes or if you run into anything. Then we meet up again in an hour and find a place to get a little sleep.
Devlin and Eva searched but they found no sign of Michael or any other soulless and neither did the others. Eva found a garden apartment building where it had been partially caved in, so the building was deserted. Paul picked the lock on one of the ground floor apartments. The second floor apartment had fallen into one of the back bedrooms but most of the apartment was intact and appeared to be safe enough for them to spend a few hours in. They raided the pantry for food and water, the supply they had before was mostly depleted. They found a lot of canned goods and made themselves a meal.
“We should probably all stay together in the living room,” Devlin said. “Eva can take the couch.”
“I can pull the cushions off the couch and put them on the floor for you all,” she offered.
“Not necessary, I spied a bed in the bedroom still intact. I can grab the mattress and Eva can use it. It might be more comfortable and I can take the couch,” Bobby offered.
“That’s not necessary,” Eva said.
“It’s no problem,” Bobby replied.
“Okay, thanks.”
“Why should you get the couch?” Paul asked Bobby. “What are you, soft?” He laughed.
“We can flip for it,” Bobby countered.
“Nah it’s okay, just teasing. Let me see if I can salvage anything from the other room. If not, you can give me the cushions on the couch,” Paul said, “Because these old bones are soft.” Everyone laughed.
Devlin moved the furniture around a bit while the guys were getting the mattress. When they came back, he took it from Bobby and placed it at the foot of the couch lengthwise, so his and Eva’s heads would be hidden by the side of the couch and only their feet would show beyond it. Because he had every intention of sharing the mattress with Eva.
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 22