Paul grabbed the cushions and laid them on the floor on the other side of the couch, giving them some semblance of privacy.
“Should we have a watch?” Eva asked.
“We’ve locked the door and given the state of the complex, I doubt anyone is coming back anytime soon. The road here isn’t drivable because of the deep gashes in several spots. We should be fine for a couple of hours. We’re all exhausted and still have a long trek home.” Devlin blew out the candles they’d found earlier.
Then everyone settled down.
He took Eva in his arms, her back to his front and spooned her closer to him. He’d rather they were skin to skin but that wasn’t going to happen with their audience. She twined their fingers together and he had an overwhelming sense of contentment. From the way she sighed, he thought she might have felt the same way too. Exhausted, Devlin closed his eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Eva shifted her head to try to get away from the light but it didn’t seem to want to leave. She blinked and opened her eyes but found herself staring at a crack in an unfamiliar ceiling. She blinked again trying to process where she was but the feel of Devlin’s arms around her momentarily distracted her as she snuggled near to his hard body encasing her. As his hard cock pressed against her ass, and his hand cupped between her legs, she remembered where she was and why. “Crap,” she muttered. They could do nothing to sate their need for each other.
He kissed her ear. “Morning.”
They heard the other hunters in the room stirring. That was their cue to get up. She sat up dislodging Devlin, but she had no doubt he would let her rise.
He grasped her hand and she looked down at him, he gave her a faint smile and raised her hand to his mouth kissing her palm, then in one fluid movement he stood. He tugged on her hand pulling her to stand.
“Anybody thirsty? There’s still a jug of water in the fridge,” Paul said as he headed for the kitchen. “And I think there’s still a jar of peanut butter left that can be breakfast.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Devlin said.
“Can you hold that thought? I need a moment of privacy first,” Eva added. Her bladder was full, she needed to take a piss badly. She’d spied the powder room when they’d first broken in but Bobby had used it last night. She wasn’t sure what the state of it was going to be but when you had to go.
“Hey, you okay?” Devlin said when she went to the kitchen and took the cup of water he offered her.
First, she rinsed out her mouth with some of it then drank the rest. “Yeah, peachy.” She’d held her breath the entire time she’d been in the bathroom and touched nothing with her hands, but she took deep breaths as she stood there. Even if none of it was clean air even indoors, but carried more than a hint of dust and smoke in the air.
“You sure?” he asked, frowning at her.
“I’ll be fine.”
Paul offered her the jar of peanut butter and a spoon.
“What were you thinking?” she asked.
“Instead of heading back, maybe we should keep going. We can scavenge for supplies around here. This seems like a good place as any to hold up until the sun sets then we keep going.”
“I like that idea. I’d been thinking about that too. That we can’t give up yet,” she said.
“Have you heard from Tony?” Paul asked.
“No signal here. But I can step outside see if I can pick up one,” Devlin said.
“The tsunami should have hit the coastal areas hours ago, but Tony and the others should be safe. My area is outside of the flood plain and on higher ground,” Eva assured him.
“Let’s all go ahead and canvas the area see what we can find. Keep alert, stay away from any military out there, we don’t want them questioning why we’re here or trying to grab us and take us to any shelters. Be back in about an hour.” Devlin grabbed the mostly empty backpack except for his weapons and put it over his shoulder and took Eva’s hand.
They went in one direction, the guys another. He wasn’t able to get a signal in front of the house but he kept trying every now and again. They found a small shopping center but there was nothing left in the grocery store shelves or the fast food chains there.
“Parking lot,” Eva cried pointing at a building, but he wasn’t sure what it was she was trying to show him.
“A day care center,” she explained. “They might have food there. They’d keep snacks and things for the kids.
He smiled. She was brilliant. Something he would have never thought about. Kids and daycare. Even that brief thought of children almost had him breaking out in a sweat. Kids weren’t something he’d ever wanted to bring into his life. At least the thought had never occurred to him, until he’d met Evangeline. But right now, the world, at least this part of it had gone to hell and they were fighting to make sure the rest of the world didn’t suffer the same fate. He needed to get some condoms. There was no excuse why he wasn’t using them with her when he had all of his life, but he knew deep inside she was it for him.
They crossed the street and he checked out the place to make sure it was safe. He didn’t sense anything but he’d gotten a signal outside of the building. “Go on in,” he told Eva. “I’m going to try to reach Tony to see if I can get some information for us and to let him know we’re going to be a couple more days. I’ll be right there.” He handed her his backpack. She also had her saddlebag.
Devlin sat at the top of the stairs in front of the door and looked out at the devastation, the crumbled buildings, dust in the air, the sense of helplessness that would be their new reality. He hoped like hell it wasn’t a permanent one. But after talking to Tony, he wasn’t sure. He called Samuel and gave him an update. Samuel was sending Ray and his girlfriend with supplies for the hunters and to help out, they were also accompanying a friend there. They should arrive sometime tonight. They’d be landing at a private airfield. But who knew how long it would take them to get to Eva’s?
No way would they be back in time to meet them. They were coming in farther north and would have to make their way to Eva’s but Tony would be at the house. He went back inside to help Eva and to let her know what he’d found out.
Eva took one look at his face and knew something was wrong.
“You okay in here?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Wow, you were right. You found a lot of stuff. Enough snacks and water to last us the trip back to your place and then some.” She’d been stuffing his backpack with water bottles and he finished doing that for her. There was still a case left. “I’ll see how Paul and Bobby fared. I might send them back over here to get the rest of this water. Clean drinking water is going to be in short supply for a while.”
She put her hand on his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve got to be. No choice. World needs us more than ever.”
Eva nodded. Yes, that was why she was falling hard for this man. He was her one. Damnit anyway.
“I was able to speak to both Tony and Samuel,” Devlin stated as he finished stuffing the backpack. “Tony said the tsunami hit the coastal areas a few hours ago, most of the beach areas are now underwater. Thank God those places had been evacuated in time. The good news is that the water managed to put out the rest of the fires caused by the quake. It will give the emergency personnel a chance to get into some areas now and assess the extent of the damage.”
“Well, that’s something at least.”
“Yeah, and Samuel’s sending Ray and his girlfriend and someone else to give us a hand and they’re bringing supplies. He can’t send any more hunters though. The soulless are restless in the city.”
“How are they going to be able to land at any airport? Or for that matter, get any supplies to us?” she asked.
“They’re flying in farther north and landing in a private airfield. Tony is going to try to go out to meet them partway. We won’t be back in time.”
“Oh, okay.”
As he glanced around the room, she could sti
ll sense his uneasiness, but was it from being in a daycare center? She too, looked around to see what he saw, from the dollhouses, toy trains, games, and even the small cots for the kids to nap, nothing alarming. Or was his discomfort from the fact the world had gone mad? She might as well find out which now. “This place is so cute, don’t you think? Just the kind of place kids would enjoy.”
He shrugged. “I guess.”
“Don’t you like kids?”
“Sure, as long as they belong to someone else.”
Well shit! Not quite what she wanted to hear.
“Come on let’s head back, see what the others found.” He shrugged into his backpack and moved over to the door. He’d just placed his hand on the door to push it open but paused. “Wait,” he whispered to Eva. Staying low, he went over to the window. The blinds were drawn but he stood to the side and looked out.
“What is it?” Eva whispered.
“Military truck. Two soldiers just jumped down and walked around to the front. They’re leaning against the fender. Looks like they’re just taking a break. We better wait for them to move on.”
“Do you think they’d come in here?”
“Hopefully not. Did you notice a back door?”
“I noticed another door but I don’t know if it leads outside.”
“Show me.”
The door led to an enclosed courtyard that was a playground for the kids. The walls were about seven feet high but they could easily scale them. He grabbed one of the toy giant blocks that seemed sturdy enough and stood up on it, so he could see the other side.
Eva joined him. The yard sat right on top a steep incline at the bottom of which was the freeway. One side faced the other end of the parking lot and the other led into a neighborhood.
“Let’s go see if they’re still there. If they are, we’ll hop the fence and just go around them,” he said.
The truck and the men were just pulling out when they checked. They waited a few minutes to make sure they’d cleared the area then Devlin opened the door again, and they stepped out. By the time they made it back to the apartment building, it was midday. They saw Paul and Bobby approaching from the other end of the street.
They too, had found water, so their backpacks were full as well. But they’d found more than just snacks. They found some packages of hard salami and bread. They had a feast for lunch, then on full stomachs, they all fell asleep.
They would have a long night ahead of them.
Nothing was working as Scott had planned. He’d starved Michael of all emotion, that and the special drops he added to the knife he carved his skin with kept him weak. Yet, still the soulless said nothing. Scott wasn’t sure how in his depleted state he could handle the pain. And he hadn’t been able to find that damn Chronicler.
The scent of despair grabbed his attention and he followed it. He raised his head and sniffed the air. The wind had blown in his direction. It wasn’t nearby, but just what he needed. He’d gorge himself and try one last time with Michael, then maybe he’d kill him and seek out Abel on his own. Or maybe just leave him in that weakened state enough that he’d wish for death.
Unlike Michael, he knew the answer to finding Abel was in New York. He just had to make sure that while he searched for him there, he avoided the first man and the master hunter. Maybe he’d create some havoc there to keep them distracted while he searched. Besides, the Chronicler here wasn’t the only one, he knew the location of another in New York.
Cigarette smoke tickled Scott’s nose, and he glanced in that direction. A policeman and a soldier stood near a cop car. Both were armed but that wouldn’t stop him. They never even felt his presence behind them. It wasn’t until he punched his hand through the chest of the cop and his fangs buried in the neck of the soldier did they realize death had come calling.
Scott sucked in their fear and shock, and smiled. He turned toward the door of the church that hosted his real meal for the evening. When he first opened the door, he took it all in with one glance. There were two soldiers seated at a table in the small lobby of the church and another who was armed and standing on the other side. There were lots of bodies bursting with emotions of fear and despair inside. Straight ahead, he could see the altar that held a statue of Christ on the cross. As if that would keep him out. After all, wasn’t he an angel, fallen or not? This was his father’s house and he was merely looking for his sustenance that his god so kindly provided.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Evangeline and Devlin had been walking for over a couple of hours, they’d decided to split up from Bobby and Paul to try to cover more ground. If they couldn’t find Michael tonight, they’d head back to Eva’s home. Things were bad out there. Worse than before because the initial fright of the quake and then the burning ash was over. Desolation and loss were setting in and the human predators were out in full swing.
They followed signs on the road that gave directions to an emergency shelter at a local church. When Devlin suddenly reached for his gun, she did too, glancing around. “What?”
“Rear of the police car, front of the church.”
Eva glanced at the car he referred to parked near the church doors. That’s when she saw it, two pairs of boots, toes up by the wheels. She traced the lines to see legs. They were laid on the ground. Slowly, senses on alert, they advanced to the car. Devlin placed his hand on the first man’s neck but she didn’t need him shaking his head at her to know he was dead, same with the other man. There was blood on the side of his neck. Both men had been drained. Bloodsucker.
Carefully, they approached the door to the church, Devlin placed his hand on the knob, she took out a second gun, and nodded to him she was ready. She moved to the other side of the door and when Devlin pushed the door open she went in low as he held his gun high, ready to shot first at anything moving in there.
They were greeted with stillness.
“Oh my God!”
There were four men in the foyer, their bodies lay twisted in unnatural positions, some had their throats ripped out. The white tiled floor was awash in their blood. Eva had to swallow at the sight.
Devlin moved past them into the main area of the church. When she attempted to follow, he spun around quickly and placed his arm around her, gently pushing her back to the entrance.
“What the hell? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, baby, you don’t need to see what’s in there. Let me check things out. You stay outside and don’t let anyone in.”
She shook her head. “No, Devlin. This is my job. What I was born to do. Yes, as a Chronicler, I keep the histories but I am also to bear witness of the events of my time. I have to see. Have to know…need to know.”
“No, you don’t need to see this. I’ll tell you what I find in there. But like the men in the foyer I think everyone in there is dead. Drained by a bloodsucking soulless, I can sense his stench and the death he left behind.”
Eva grabbed his arms. She needed to make him understand. She was doing this for them both, she wanted to be by his side. To show him, she wasn’t weak and could do what needed to be done. “But you have to see, you have to deal with it. I don’t want you to go through it alone. Just as I can’t protect you, you cannot always protect me.”
“Babe, I won’t be alone. You’ll be right here waiting for me. That’s enough. You don’t need to see this.”
“But what about you? Once you see images like that, it can’t be undone.”
“Exactly why I don’t want you in there with me. I was born to this life. You weren’t. This is my job. I’ll let you know what I find.”
He was right, but still she ached for him, for everyone in the building. And the bastard did this horrendous act in a church. She was sure it wasn’t random. It was the kind of thing that would appeal to a sadistic mind. She knew Devlin thought her views on the soulless were too forgiving. But she held forgiveness for those who deserved it, those who were just trying to exist as peacefully as possible. She understood the difference betwe
en a soulless like Michael and the one who killed senselessly, as was done here. If everyone was dead, that’s what this bastard had done. There was no need to kill them all because she knew in her heart, Devlin would come out and tell her they were all dead. She could sense no life within.
Twenty minutes later, he did. She just wrapped her arms around him, he buried his face in her hair as they held on to each other tightly.
“There’re all dead,” he whispered after a while. “All dead. Most were drained completely. Some he just cut up and they bled to death. I’m sure he drank on their terror. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Come on let’s keep moving. Do you want to take the police car? I glanced in it and the keys are in the ignition.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good idea. Let’s put some distance from this. There’s nothing we can do for any of them. But we can’t leave them like this for anyone else to find.”
“What are you saying?”
“You know as well as I do, humans can’t know of the soulless, that the nightmares are real. There’s enough shit going on right now, that’s hard enough to deal with. We’ve got to burn the place down.”
She heard the sorrow in his voice and she couldn’t disagree with him. Pulling away slightly, she kept one arm around his waist as they turned and went over to the car.
“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll take care of this.”
“What are you going to do?”
He popped open the trunk of the police car and found a spare can of gasoline. “Use this.” Devlin moved the bodies of the two men into the church then came back out to get the gas. He went in and returned shortly, she could smell smoke already, he must have set the interior on fire. He splashed whatever remained of the gas along the door and tossed the can back into the foyer then shot at it.
Eva could see more flames.
He took her hand and moved toward the car. “Let’s go.”
She got in the car and they drove off. He didn’t say anything as he drove, she didn’t either, what was there to say? They didn’t get very far before the road was clogged with abandoned cars. He stopped the car and they got out. She met him around the front of the car and held out her hand to him, he twined their fingers together and squeezed. “You okay?” she asked. Her heart ached for what he had to do.
Angel Hunter- Redemption Book 2 Page 23