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 Chronicle?”
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 people 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.
“I’d say we got lucky,” he said. He intended to get even luckier. There was a bench in there he planned on making use of. He placed the gun on the counter next to the candle she’d carried in there.
They both undressed but she was faster because he kept pausing to look at her. The glow from the muted light in the room highlighted her beautiful caramel skin. And Jesus, the woman was all slender curves but toned. She looked more like one of the hunters than someone who was a computer nerd, who spent most of her time seated in front of a computer. But he knew she also worked out. He’d seen her fight with the sword. He’d also seen the weights down in the library and swords on the wall. They weren’t merely for decoration.
She opened the door but no steam rushed out of the enclosed shower into the rest of the bathroom. He braced himself for the water to be cold. Eva stepped in. Devlin was right behind her. Shutting the door, he turned to her as the lukewarm water hit her skin. “Don’t worry. I’ll heat you up.”