Archangel's Light (Guild Hunter #14)(27)

No one expected war, not now, but it would be foolish to go out unprepared when so many of Lijuan’s sympathizers still called China home.

“Of course,” he said, and picked up the box.

Jae herself was laden with two bags, one on either shoulder.

“Food,” she said to him. “Emergency supplies in case the hunting fails or we hit one of the toxic areas.”

Those areas were dead patches in the landscape where it was as if Lijuan’s death fog had permanently settled, turning the soil black and the area shadowy even on the brightest summer’s day. Suyin had banned angels from landing in those areas, while mortals and vampires hadn’t needed her order—they refused to go near the tainted sections.

Rii, the forty-something man who spoke for the mortals, had shivered when he told Aodhan of one such patch he’d passed on his journey to Suyin. “It smells of the dead.” Then he’d muttered prayers to a god older than Lijuan had ever been.

Despite Suyin’s order banning angels from making contact with the blackened and dead surface, Suyin had planned to land herself, to bring back samples for the scientists.

It was Raphael who’d talked her out of that. “We know I’m immune to Lijuan’s poison,” he’d pointed out at the time. “Why should you take the risk when I can do the same task without risk? Remember, Suyin, the Cadre is already down multiple members, with more than one either not at full strength or with no willingness to be in the world.”

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.