Archangel's Light (Guild Hunter #14)(48)

Similar settlements existed in Raphael’s territory, usually made up of people who were self-sufficient and preferred to live off the grid. “I believed her when she said it, but I have to admit I still wasn’t expecting anything this normal.” He could see why she’d been so disconcerted.

“I, too, thought she must have missed some small sign of trouble since she was tired and on her way home from a long survey mission,” Aodhan admitted.

“I guess we both need to mentally apologize for our doubts. I’m going to land.”

“I’ll keep watch, see if your presence stirs up anything.”

With that, Illium arrowed himself to drop down in the center of the street. The susurration of his wings folding back was the loudest sound in the area. Even the trees had stopped rustling. It’s eerie, he thought to Aodhan. Like the world has stopped here.

I see movement to your left, near the yellow house.

Illium shifted his attention, didn’t see what had caught Aodhan’s eye. Walking closer while Aodhan shadowed him from above, he went to slide out his sword, when he heard a small sound.

He halted.

It came again.

A smile curving over his lips, he crouched down and looked under the raised porch to meet the scared eyes of a kitten so small she’d fit in the palm of his hand. “Hello there,” he murmured, and held out his hand for her to sniff.

She scrabbled back instead.

“Don’t blame you,” he murmured, “It’s creepy out here.” Aodhan, it’s safe. Our intruder is maybe eight inches long and probably weighs as much as a puff of air.

Aodhan joined him moments later. “Here,” he said, after digging into a wide side pocket of his rough canvas pants. “I grabbed a couple of packs of jerky on my way out of the kitchen, in case you got hungry later.”

When Illium scowled up at him, Aodhan a glittering silhouette against the sky, his face shadowed, Aodhan said, “You didn’t eat anywhere near enough to refill your energy reserves.”

Still annoyed, Illium grabbed the packet, and opened it to pull out a piece of dried meat. He put it where the kitten could get at it. Then he rose—while eating another slice. He slid the extra into a pocket. He wasn’t going to cut off his nose to spite his face—even if he really felt like it.

“Let’s leave her to decide whether to trust us or not. We can always bring some food out here for her if she stays skittish.” It was obvious from her skinny frame that she hadn’t been able to forage enough to thrive. Probably because she was too young to have those skills and had been someone’s pet.

Which made him frown. “Where are the chickens, the dogs, the goats?” The silence was absolute and he’d seen no other signs of life from above. “They took their animals with them, but the kitten escaped or got scared and bolted and so got left behind?”

“None of it makes sense.” Aodhan slid out one of his twin swords. “Let’s check the houses.”

They looked through eight different ones together, found clothes still hanging in the wardrobes, shoes sat by the front door, furniture standing unmolested, curtains neatly pulled or tied back. Other than large bags of rice and flour, there was no food except for the odd forgotten can in the back of a cupboard—but that could be explained by the residents taking all the easily transportable items with them.

To go where?

With no clothes or shoes or suitcases.

Standing in the center of the street again, surrounded by an echoing, inexplicable emptiness as clouds began to dim the sunlight, he said, “What are the chances Vetra looked in the same houses we did?”

Aodhan glanced at the homes they’d entered. “High,” he said after a while. “This is the logical place to land if you want to assess the situation. She also had no backup so wouldn’t have risked entering the houses that make a quick exit difficult.”

He touched the pocket of his cream-colored shirt with its raised collar and long sleeves. “I can call her.”

“The place isn’t that big. We could take a good look inside all the houses within the hour if we split up, take half each.”

“No splitting up,” Aodhan said at once. “Not here, Illium. China is . . . There are too many echoes.”

Illium had parted his lips to argue that he was fully capable of handling any random reborn that showed up, but shut his mouth on the second part of Aodhan’s statement. His friend had far more experience in this territory—and it was seriously creepy here.

Raphael would not be impressed if Illium got wounded because he’d gone off in a huff due to what was happening with Aodhan.

Instead, he just gave a nod, and the two of them began to go methodically through the houses. At some point, he heard a small meow and looked back to find the tiny gray-furred kitten following them—at a safe distance. Deciding to leave the scared creature to make up its mind about them without pressure, Illium kept watch while Aodhan searched, then they swapped.

It wasn’t something the two of them had to discuss. After so many centuries working side by side, they had a rhythm familiar and effective. So this entire operation was effortless . . . except for the tension that hummed beneath the surface. When their wings brushed as they passed in a hallway, Illium bit back his jerk and just continued on, not looking at Aodhan to see how he’d reacted.

He couldn’t bear to witness him pulling away again.