Chapter Fourteen
“Come on,” Devlin said.
“Where are we going?”
“To those sites.”
“Palms Springs and Desert Hot Springs, but what about the hunters and helping keep things safe in the city?” Eva asked.
“I’m not sure this is over. We’ve got to take a look at ground zero or zeros. Where the blasts have been generated. We have to know for sure.”
“Will we even be able to get there?” she asked. “This kind of quake would have an impact on roadways. It’s probably crazy out there. Even if we can find the spots, will you be able to tell if the cause was deliberate?”
He nodded. “I will. Demolitions expert, remember?”
“How can I forget.” She shook her head. “You blew open the underground entrance to my aunt’s cavern in New York.”
“Yeah.”
“Still, what would it matter?”
“It might. I won’t know if I can do anything to stop any aftermath until I look at the sites. And I’m going to assume whatever was done might not be over.”
She nodded and followed him back upstairs to a darkened kitchen. “Damnit! The electricity is out up here.”
“Yeah, are you on a backup generator downstairs?” he asked.
“Yes. We’re off the grid there with enough juice to run for a year. Maybe more if I conserve. If the electricity comes back on, then I can siphon electricity to recharge my generator.”
“Impressive. You all think of everything.”
Eva nodded. It also helped to have a seer who prepared them for just such an occurrence whenever it happened. They didn’t know when, but fifty years ago, the seer for the Chroniclers had predicted an earthquake would annihilate all of Southern California destroying most of the state and have a far reaching impact on the surrounding states. In that respect, the house had been prepared and the Chronicles were safe. But in other respects, they hadn’t been prepared. Still other than the mirror, a few broken pictures and statues, she couldn’t see any other damage.
Devlin followed her to her bedroom but just waited by the door for her.
“I’ll be ready in five,” she told him, going into her walk-in closet, so she could get changed and armed. Some of her shoes from a top shelf had fallen to the floor but she stepped over them and headed toward the back wall. She had a safe with her firearms in there along with a satchel. She took out two of the firearms, one she put in the sleeve at her back the other she placed in the satchel with a few extra rounds for her gun and a knife. She stuck another knife in her boot. When she walked out of her closet, she was ready to do battle.
Devlin remained standing in the doorway to her bedroom with his arms folded, watching her. “Ready?”
They went down the hallway toward the front door, but she still had questions. “Even if we find out the quake and the release of the magma were deliberately caused, then what? Can you stop it?”
“I might be able to stop the aftershocks or make it so they’re not so strong. At the least, maybe redirect the lava flow.”
“How?”
“Like I said, I won’t know ‘til I have a look.”
When they stepped out the front door, they saw evidence all around them of the effects of the quake. The air was thick with sulfur, the sky was hazy, the sunlight muted. It wasn’t even ten in the morning yet.
“Oh my God!”
Her house was one of the few houses unaffected on the outside. Almost all the houses on either side of the block had some kind of damage. One the roof had caved in, in another the side of the house had sunken into the ground so the top of the window was now parallel with the front yard. There was a crack that ran down the center of the sidewalk and part of the street. The crack ran through some of the homes on the other side of the street. People were everywhere. The sound of sirens filled their ears and the scent of fire, dust, and smoke permeated the air.
His Jeep was parked in her driveway behind her car, she was glad it wasn’t a covered car park like the one two houses down from her. It had fallen on top of her neighbor’s car.
“Get in,” Devlin said to her taking out his keys and unlocking his car.
“I think I better drive.”
“Why?”
“I know my way around the area better in case our GPS doesn’t always work.”
He frowned. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
He tossed her his keys and opened his passenger door. “At least it’s more comfortable than that shoe box of yours.”
Eva chuckled as she got into the car. “Don’t go dissing my car.” She pulled out her phone placing it on the dash. “I sent the GPS coordinates to my phone, so we can find the points of the explosion.”
“Is it working?”
“For now, we’ll see as we continue. Maybe we should stop some place and get a map in case it stops working.”
She turned right out of her driveway, they got as far as the end of the block when they couldn’t go any farther. There was a crater in the middle of the street and an emergency vehicle blocked the only safe way around it. A wave of heat radiated from the open area. Eva backed up the car until she could turn it around and head in the other direction.
“This is a longer way but hopefully the road to the highway will be good,” she explained to Devlin.
“Even if it is, we’re going to run into a lot of traffic with people fleeing the area. The highway’s going to be clogged.”
“We don’t have much of a choice, unless we want to walk,” she advised.
“We may not have much choice. Or to use back roads.”
She glanced at him, knowing he spoke the truth. “Do you think Michael had something to do with this?”
“No,” Devlin’s response was firm.
“I agree, but I’m surprised you do. Why?”
“He might be an ass, but I think you read him right. He’s not about mass destruction, selfish, yes, but not this. This smacks of Abel,” he said.
“But he’s still missing. No one’s seen him for months. Not since Samuel and Thalya stopped him back in New York.”
“That’s true but just because he hasn’t been seen doesn’t mean he’s not around.”
Eva couldn’t tell him while Abel may not have done this because he remained contained, he might still have orchestrated it. She kept driving, navigating her way around the cracks in the road and the destruction of the buildings they drove past. The winds picked up and along with it, burning ash blew all around them. She had to use her windshield wipers and in some spots, the ash covered the roads and crumbled buildings in layers. A few blocks over, they could see fires climbing toward the sky. The sound of sirens and honking becoming louder. A city out of control.
It took them forty minutes to navigate their way to the entrance ramp to the interstate, an otherwise five-minute drive. From a block away, they could see it was a parking lot. Eva did a U-turn and took the first side street she came to and backtracked. She looked over at Devlin as she pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant with a few cars covered in soot in the parking lot. “Walk it is.” As soon as she took a breath, she began to cough.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
Scott and Chris had set the timer for the explosions and made it back to the house just before sunrise. Scott couldn’t handle any sunlight. The house was already closed up tight for the day. No light filtered into the living room as Chris took his place on the floor in the corner by feel and familiarity. Good thing not a lot of furniture was in his way.
Tomorrow night in all the chaos, the hunters would be busy, too busy to watch over one stupid bitch. He’d be able to take her then. Get whatever information Michael needed out of her. Michael would be well sated too, from the fear of the earthquake and what they had triggered for the next day would generate. It was all coming together. Michael would be so pleased with him and he would see that he, Chris, was the one. When Scott had come to him with the plan of causing the mass destruction that would bring the city to its knees, he wanted to help. Begged him. Chris immediately saw a way to make it work to benefit himself.
The sun had been up for a while, so had Chris when the floor he slept on shook beneath him. He opened his eyes and smiled. Sitting up, he turned on the lamp he’d placed on the floor near him. It was a low wattage bulb and threw the room in shadows.
Michael came into the living room shortly after. “What the fuck was that?”
The lamp blinked then went out, plunging the room into darkness. Chris turned on the flashlight he’d placed near his spot just in case this happened. But he knew better than to shine it in the direction of the two soulless, instead he directed it at the floor near his feet.
“What the fuck you think?” Scott added as he stumbled in after Michael and lay on the couch. “The town’s going to reek with fear tonight. We’re going to have good hunting as soon as the sun sets.”
Michael turned around and went back to his room. The other soulless in the house never left their rooms. Scott glanced over at Chris. He didn’t smile but nodded his head.
Chris understood what he meant. Tonight was the night they’d take the woman.
Scott closed his eyes. He wasn’t strong enough yet to handle any sun but in a day or two, after he had both Chronicles, he might be. That fucktard Chris thought they were taking the woman tonight. She didn’t know shit. Scott knew more than she did, he knew where both Chronicles were. He had one and Michael had the other.
Abel was no fool, he’d given each one of them the location of one of the Chronicles to keep safe for him, but he didn’t quite trust Michael. Scott needed this hell on earth to fuel his power; tonight he was taking Michael on. Once he took the Chronicle from Michael, with both he’d be able to find the lost one Abel told him about and find Abel. Though he wasn’t quite sure how; he couldn’t read the Chronicle Abel had given him to safeguard. The language was older than he was, like none he’d ever seen. Didn’t matter, once he had both journals they were supposed to show him the way. Combined they were a sort of map.
Scott heard Chris snoring in the corner. The man had gone back to sleep, even as the house shook around them. He couldn’t wait to take in Chris’s emotions when he realized he’d been tricked as he slit the bastard’s throat and drank his blood. Tomorrow or rather tonight, a new world order would start and he would have been the one to light the match, so to speak. He’d done what Abel couldn’t do: start the end of days.
When he finally found Abel, the first son of man would be able to bathe in the human blood that Scott would spill in the streets for him. If Scott could feel emotion, he would have laughed with glee. As it was, perhaps he still could. “Chris!” he called.
The man had his back to him but turned over when he heard his name. “Yeah.”
“You know what I need.”
Chris got up and came over to the couch. He dropped to his knees and tilted his head to the side. Scott latched on to his neck and drank in his emotions as he took in his blood. Chris’ utter satisfaction over this night’s work and what was still to come satisfied Scott. Scott released him, shoving him away as he lay back down on the couch. He closed his eyes, but this time he’d taken in enough of Chris’ emotion to mimic the one he sought. A smile remained on his face even as he slept like the damned he was.