Hammer Down: Children of the Undying: Book 2 (2 page)

“Ten-four. I’ll try to calm the passengers down.”

“I’ll be back to help.” Devi dropped the handset and rubbed her hands over her face. “Try to find some cover, Tanner. Make it a little harder for the bastards to find us if they manage to sniff us out.” Even as she spoke, she recognized the futility of her request. This part of what used to be southern Minnesota bore mostly flat terrain.
Not exactly conducive to hiding two tractor-trailers.

Tanner downshifted and jerked the wheel, steering them toward the dubious cover of a small copse of trees. “Only thing in the world I like less than driving without an anti-demon signal is
stopping
without one.”

“We’ll be sitting still a lot longer than three minutes if that truck runs dry.”

“Point taken.” The large man blew out a breath and cast her a serious look. “If there was ever a time to summon one of your miracles,
chica
…”

“Tanner, you’ve got to learn to trust me.” The truck shuddered to a stop, and she shoved open the door and bounded out of the cab.

Chapter Two

Zel righted the table and spared a moment to marvel at the detail that went into the virtual setting. Somewhere out there, millions of the highest tech computers the human race could produce sucked in energy from vast solar panels and used it to store the grain of a crappy table in a crappy bar. The wood had split when it hit the ground, and a tiny sliver shoved under his nail as he dragged the shattered table back into place. Somewhere out there, one of those computers sent a signal and his chip triggered pain, insignificant compared to the burning discomfort of being uplinked to begin with, but it never failed to amaze him.

To the rest of the bar’s patrons, this miracle was nothing. As soon as the women left, the commotion died down, the humans in the room resuming whatever conversations had been interrupted by Devi’s abrupt departure. To them, the network was nothing to inspire awe—they lived inside it as often as not, unbothered by the signal that clashed with his magic like sandpaper scrubbing his skin.

He ignored the splinter under his nail and glanced at Trip. “Can we get the fuck out of here? I’m getting pissy.”

“Oh, are we pretending that’s new?”

“Hilarious.” He started toward the exit, trusting Trip would follow. “We’ll talk about this outside.”

“Talk about what? The foxy ladies, or whether they’re going to make it through their trouble?”

A snarl worked its way free, unbidden and unwelcome. He couldn’t afford to waste his concern on a trucker, one whose very willingness to do business with him proved she had something to hide. Upstanding haulers took their contracts from city leaders and followed the rules; the ones who smuggled people and property to outcasts were usually little better than criminals themselves. Hardhearted opportunists taking advantage of desperation, or the kind of sick vultures who preyed on those with no recourse in human law.

And yet… Memory summoned the image of tawny skin and wild curls, hair that seemed to defy gravity and breasts that might as well have. No weak, fragile woman—her clothes hadn’t hidden her muscled frame, and he doubted she was any softer in reality. Not with a reputation for running a tight, disciplined crew.

Devi was a hot, tempting package, and Zel had the sinking feeling he was about to drop back into a body with a raging hard-on just from watching the dim light play over her curves.

Sweet fuck, he needed to get laid.

He stepped through the exit and endured the miserable plunge out of the network, a jittery moment where his makeshift office superimposed itself over the bar he’d left behind. His stomach flipped, but the nausea faded under a wave of relief as the persistent pain from the Global’s anti-demon signal vanished.

By the time he blinked away the blurry remains of his disorientation, Trip was banging away at one of the computer terminals, a look of gleeful concentration on his face. “You wanted me to track them, right? I mean, I figured you did.”

“I wasn’t sure if you could.”

“Mmm. The techie has a messy chip. All kinds of completely traceable signal interference. You know, if you’re awesome like me.”

“Messy like black market?”

“It’s sure the hell not government-issue.”

There were only a few reasons for a supposedly legitimate human to have a black-market chip, and any of them would go a long way toward explaining Devi’s off-the-book missions. “You’ve run into her before, haven’t you? The techie. What’s her story?”

Trip spun in his chair and shrugged. “Never checked her out beyond the basics. I could figure it out, but it might take me a few hours.”

It was an inexcusable breach of trust against someone he was trying to forge a business relationship with, but that wouldn’t stop Zel. Not if he was going to entrust Devi’s crew with the life and well-being of his sister’s eldest child. “First find out where they are. Then find out everything you can about why that girl’s got a black-market chip. Hell, find out everything you can about all of them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zel snagged his handheld from his desk and shoved it into his pocket as he rose. “Ping me when you have their location. I’m going to gather Lorenzo and a few soldiers. They’ve got relatives of three of our people on board those trucks, and if there
is
trouble…” It was Zel’s responsibility to see them safe.

Trip had already turned back to his task, but there was a smile in his voice when he spoke. “I’ll find them for you, boss.”

He’d find them because he was the best, but Zel couldn’t resist prodding him as he strode toward the door. “You’d better. No letting an uppity kid with purple hair outwit you.”

“Hey, you just make sure the diesel queen doesn’t dazzle you stupid with her big baby blues.”

Zel walked backward toward the door so he could flip Trip his middle finger. “Less talk, more walk, buddy.”

Trip took the rude gesture with another broad smile. “Your heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketed.” He nodded to the desk. “Telemetry doesn’t lie.”

Figured Trip would get pushy. “Get your nose out of my vitals and track down your little playmate.”

“Got five searches running right now. You’re the one making small talk.”

As soon as he was out into the narrow hallway, Zel dragged his tablet out of his pocket and brought up the display. Concentrating on the glowing screen made it easier to ignore the way the sloping concrete walls seemed to close in on him as he walked. Fifty years ago, his office had been a security hub, a windowless, claustrophobic room buried in an underground maze. Fifty years before that, it had been dirt, the ground on which one of the country’s top hospitals stood.

A hundred years ago a lot had been different.

As he shoved through the double doors that led to the wider corridor, his tablet beeped, indicating a connection. “Lorenzo, you better be wearing pants, because we’re about to go topside.”

There was no answer for a few moments, and Lorenzo laughed. “Okay, now I am.” He sounded a little winded, and a woman giggled in the background. “What’s going on, Zel?”

“The truckers out of Nicollet freaked out in the middle of our meeting, started wiggling their fingers at each other in some sort of secret code and dropped out of the network.”

“Hmm. If I believed in omens, I think I’d be concerned right about now.”

“Unless you want me sending the people whose relatives are on that truck after you, I suggest you and your newfound concern meet me in the weapons locker.”

A door chime echoed over the connection, and Lorenzo sighed. “I’m already on my way. We heading out to find them?”

Zel reached the concrete stairs and took them two at a time. “She said they were two hours out, but I’m guessing she meant to get there early so she’d have a chance to scout. Trip’s tracking down their exact coordinates now.”

“And she didn’t say what was happening?”

“She didn’t seem the trusting type.”

“Then what makes you think she won’t shoot us on sight if we show up, all in her business?”

He’d gotten the distinct impression that Devi never shot without considering her actions and making a reasonable business decision…and if he admitted as much to Lorenzo, he’d have two jackasses ragging on him. “Good point. I’ll send you in first.”

“As long as she’s got eyes, we should be reasonably safe, then.”

The thought of Devi laying those big blue eyes on Lorenzo and liking what she saw brought jealousy to a low boil. Zel’s demon heritage afforded him an array of skills suited to killing, whereas Lorenzo’s demonic parentage had given him the preternatural ability to seduce damn near anyone. His friend’s cocky assertion was more fact than ego, and Zel didn’t like it.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use it—or at least redirect it. “Forget about the leader. If you feel like charming someone, see if you can sweet-talk their techie into spilling some dirt. Trip said she’s got a black-market chip.”

“You’re no fun.” The transmission cut out, and Lorenzo joined him as he rounded the corner. “Have I told you that lately? How you’ve lost every single bit of personality you used to have?”

“Depends on your definition of lately.” Zel tucked his tablet back into his pocket as they bypassed a group of sleepy-looking women herding their toddlers toward the nursery. A little boy with corkscrew curls and eyes like cut emeralds broke free of his mother and charged at them on stocky legs, arms wide open and face full of glee.

He pounced on Lorenzo, who swept the boy up and over his shoulder. “Oh, I caught him. That’s a good thirty pounds of kid, Zel. What do we do with him?”

Zel’s joking retort died on his tongue as silence swept through the hallway. Too many eyes watched him, some set in faces made old from stress and some heartbreakingly young—and not just the kids. The little boy’s mother was barely more than a girl herself. Only a few years older than Zel’s niece, yet Kaya’s hand curled around the swell of another pregnancy and the green eyes she’d passed onto her son looked hard in her young face.

So many fragile lives, all his responsibility now.
And Lorenzo wonders why I don’t have any fun.

Kaya was the one to break the uneasy silence, stepping forward with a nervous smile. “Come on, honey. We can’t be bothering the warrior.”

“Pretty ladies and cute kids are never a bother.” But Lorenzo tickled the boy’s chin and lowered him to the floor. “Run on. Your mama says it’s time to go.”

The boy grinned and scampered back to the safety of Kaya’s arms, and Zel turned his attention to his destination: a pair of glass doors emblazoned with a blue and red logo that had once marked this sector as a bank, a place to store valuable things.

Which it still was—if you found weapons valuable.

Lorenzo headed for the vault. “What do we think this is? A little mishap or a full-fledged shitty situation?”

“I think we’d better plan for the worst.” Devi hadn’t seemed like a woman who spooked easily, but something about the hand-signs her tech had flashed had put nervousness in her eyes.

“If this woman runs her own hauling crew, she can probably shrug off the occasional demon attack,” Lorenzo said matter-of-factly. “Assuming it’s just some random thugs and not a warrior clan.”

“She’s not usually hauling our people or their loved ones.”

Lorenzo said nothing, and Zel glanced over to find the younger man watching him closely. “Transport’s always a risk,” he said finally. “Everyone knows that, Zel. No one would blame you if this run went south.”

Zel shrugged off the words as they reached the vault. He pressed his hand to the clear plastic bioscan pad next to the door to disengage the locks, then hauled the solid steel door open. “You trying to make me feel better, or asking if I’m thinking with my dick?”

His companion barked out a short laugh. “The second option would never have occurred to me. Now that you mention it, though, I’m pretty damn sure I know what the answer is.”

Fuck.
“I’m not. Tempting, but it’s not that. A few months ago, no one would have blamed me if this delivery went south. But, in case you haven’t noticed, shit’s gone to hell. And we
need
that shipment of fiber optic cable, or we’re going to end up cut off.”

Lorenzo seemed to accept the explanation, and he nodded as he pulled open a locker and retrieved a shotgun. “You think we get a discount if we save her ass?”

“Better.” Zel was still wearing his shoulder rig, but he snatched up an automatic rifle and a backup knife for good measure. “I think she might be able to get Rosa up north in one piece. If we could get her trained up, let everyone know we have our own healer…” The boost in morale alone would be worth it.

“You’re the boss. Wouldn’t be if we didn’t trust you.”

“I’m the boss because Oliver Wetzel married my mother.” Zel swung his new weapon over his shoulder and reached for a duffel bag packed with backup weapons and ammunition. “Or are you trying to say you just haven’t bothered to overthrow me yet?”

“I happen to like my leisure time. You work too damn hard.”

Zel choked back a laugh as they started for the elevators. “You get much more leisure time and you’re going to run out of playmates. There are a finite number of adults in this settlement, you know.”

“Didn’t you hear? Lovers are recyclable.” Lorenzo grinned. “Some simply aren’t satisfied with one night.”

Zel was saved from the obligation of coming up with a suitable retort when his handheld beeped. He tapped the side of his earpiece with one hand and jabbed the button for the elevator with the other. “Trip? Tell me you got a location.”

“Yes and no.” The boy sounded frazzled. “Well, yeah, I did, but you’re going to hope I’m wrong.”

The elevator was too damn slow, so Zel broke into a jog and kicked open the door to the stairs. “Spill it.”

“They’re less than an hour out, which is good.” Trip paused. “But they’re also stopped, which is
bad
.”

“Fuck. Track them and tell me if they start moving again. And keep digging for info.”

“Got it.”

Zel waited until they’d reached the top of the staircase and were already headed for the lobby before speaking. “They’re not moving. We need to take one of the Jeeps with an ADS.”