Aodhan had been able to tell that, newborn archangel or not, it went against Suyin’s territorial instincts to acquiesce to Raphael’s suggestion, but she had finally agreed. She’d accompanied Raphael to the chosen location, however, as had Aodhan—both of them staying in the air while Raphael landed.
Aodhan had hated seeing his sire disappearing into that murky place devoid of light, had been unable to stop himself from saying, Be careful, sire. How will I face Ellie if anything happens to you on my watch?
Do not worry, Aodhan. Elena has already threatened to kill me dead if I dare get hurt. I will take every care.
Raphael had confirmed that the toxic pocket held nothing of life. No animals, no insects, no plants, not even any moss. Everything was shriveled and dead. The tests on the soil had come back inconclusive but the general consensus was to treat it as poisonous. And even though animals seemed to avoid the areas, Suyin had declared that there was to be no hunting within a mile radius of each such spot.
No one dared defy her for the simple reason that they didn’t wish to be poisoned by the darkness. Not even Lijuan’s most ardent supporters.
“Will it be enough?” Aodhan took a critical look at the amount of food in the supply truck to which Jae had directed him.
Each supply truck held a portion of everything—food, weapons, other necessities—so that the loss of one vehicle wouldn’t threaten to wipe out an entire chunk of a certain item. Aodhan hadn’t been in charge of that aspect of things, now wondered if someone had made an error—the food stores were lower than he’d have thought prudent. “How fast is Suyin planning to travel?” He slotted the box of weapons securely in between two other boxes.
Jae dropped her bags on the ground, then jumped up into the truck. As Aodhan passed her the bags to stack into place, she said, “It’s all sorted. Vetra did a flyby during this most recent run of hers to confirm any toxic spots in our travel zones, so even with any new eruptions of the fog we should be fine to hunt to bolster our supplies. There’s no lack of game—and we’ve got the gear for winter hunting.”
True enough. Nature had responded to the mass disappearance of so many mortals and immortals by filling the gap with life. Rabbits, deer, and waterfowl were just a few of the species that teemed across the landscape. The rabbit population, in particular, had exploded with a vengeance.
As if she’d read his mind, Jae said, “That ecology scholar—Mila—she says we need to control the rabbits anyway, before they push out other species. We might get sick of eating rabbit, but it’ll keep us alive.”
Satisfied, Aodhan helped the vampire finish loading the truck, then the two of them moved to stack supplies into a carrier designed so six angels—three on each side—could carry it with ease. No reason for angels not to help out with carriage of goods, especially since it meant some of their supplies would be safe in the air and not subject to any sudden eruptions of the black fog.
Those eruptions weren’t exactly rare, the reason why Aodhan, Arzaleya, Xan, and Vetra had planned out multiple travel routes for when Suyin decided to move her people to the sea. The eruptions didn’t cover as large an area as the toxic patches, and it was possible to predict them through ground-sensing equipment—but the scholars manning the sensors had to be within meters of the oncoming eruption.
Aodhan’s respect for them was enormous.
Some of the eruptions turned into “stable” toxic patches, while others faded away after a few days. But regardless, the travelers would have to find an alternate route to avoid any such.
In terms of general safety, the angels would go first, with the mortals below the second half of the winged cohort. The vampires would bring up the rear, with an elite squadron above them. The strong bracketing and protecting the weak.
Aodhan had become used to seeing New York’s Guild Hunters as part of the strong—highly trained and lethal, they’d fought with Tower troops during the war. It was during the war that Aodhan had truly come to know and call a number of them friends. The cheerful and witty Demarco, for one, was one of his favorite hunters. Elena had grinned when she’d found the two of them talking, but she’d never tell Aodhan why she found their friendship so interesting.
Lijuan had, however, decimated China’s Guild.
Many had left prior to the final annihilation, pulled out by the worldwide leadership of their organization when it became clear that Lijuan was no longer paying any mind to the risks to hunters in the tasks being handed to them. Many, however, had stayed.
“To leave would’ve been to abandon the entire population to vampires gone bloodborn,” Elena had said when they’d spoken on the subject. “Hunters can be mercenary, no doubt about it, but most of us are driven to do what we do—especially the hunter-born. We want to protect mortals and weaker vampires. We want to hold the line.”
The end result of it all was that there were no living hunters of the Guild currently in China. Though the Guild had reviewed its stance against China after Lijuan’s death, there’d been no need for hunters in the immediate aftermath of the war—China’d had no real vampire problem, while other territories had been overrun by bloodborn. As if with the end of war had come a blood madness.
Add in the fact that Lijuan had siphoned all other trained humans into her army, and the vast majority of China’s surviving mortals were considered vulnerable. Prey to the toxic patches in the landscape as well as to animals emboldened by the dearth of a sprawling civilization. Tigers prowled abandoned cities and wolves howled in the night.
“Illium! Over here!”
He looked up to see wings of wild blue against the night sky, Illium diving in to assist a squadron as they finalized the balancing of another sling—which was currently swinging wildly. Moving quicker than any other angel Aodhan had ever met, Illium switched sides, spiraled up, and fixed the strap that was causing the problem.
Aodhan’s best friend had always been that: quick, dazzling, overwhelming in his drive and goals.
Aodhan hadn’t cared about that for a long time, content to be in his shadow. But things had changed.
16
Yesterday
Sharine was painting a meadow scene while the two boys played through the flowers, their laughter keeping her company, when she became aware of a sudden quiet. Mother’s instincts on alert at once, she looked around her canvas.
Illium was seated in among the bluebells, his wings a carpet of an even more vibrant blue. He was watching what was probably a bug. He was of an age to be fascinated by them—but he never hurt them, not ever.
Aodhan, however . . . was right beside her.
Hand pressed to her heart, she glanced down at the little boy who’d become as dear to her as her own son in a very short time. “What is it, little one?”