“Of course,phaal,” Romer stated, turning his attention back to the sink he was installing with the help of one of the angels.
While they worked diligently, Kaj led Acadia through the space, checking out the new walls that had been erected. He had to admit, they’d accomplished quite a bit in a short time. From what he understood, all the sleeping quarters had been completed, allowing them to alternate shifts, as Bijou had suggested. It seemed to be working but not quickly enough for his taste. Kaj knew that they needed to get moving with the actual training portion because they needed more boots on the ground, more competent fighters out taking down the demons who were hunting both humans and vampires. As long as they were here, installing sinks and walls, they were not building the skills necessary to be functional where they were needed.
However, Kaj trusted Obsidian knew what he was doing. And since the Zenith had thefiestreighto back them up, they were able to maintain a steady patrol of the neighboring cities. Speaking of…
“Has there been any updates on Asmia?” he asked Acadia when they were heading back through the tunnels.
“No.” The single word was laced with so much pain. “But Reidar is convinced she’s nearby.”
“And Taayin?”
“Obsidian has moved him back into the mansion, but they’re still keeping him sedated,” she said softly.
No sooner had they passed the entrance to Angel Central than Kaj’s cell phone chimed. He snagged it from his pocket and saw a 911 text from Kidel, urging him to come to the infirmary.
“This way,” he said, quickly turning around. Without waiting, Kaj took off in a jog. He hated to leave Acadia, but he knew an emergency text was never sent unless something critical was going on.
They burst through the doors to the infirmary and came to an immediate stop.
There on the floor was Khari, his enormous body flopping about like a fish out of water.
“What the hell’s going on? Is he seizing?”
Standing near the wall, her hand over her mouth, Bijou looked horrified as she watched Apollo and Amethyst attempt to hold Khari still so that he didn’t hurt himself.
“One minute they were walking, the next he was on the floor,” Kidel informed him.
“It’s not a seizure,” Apollo announced.
Then what the fuck?
Suddenly the vampire’s body went stone still, his eyes closed, arms flopping to his sides.
“Khari?” Bijou rasped, taking one hesitant step forward.
While Kaj wanted to hold her back, he found he couldn’t. She’d been down here with the male since his life force had been returned to his body. Being a male vampire with a mate, Kaj knew all too well what a male was capable of if someone attempted to interfere with hisnehadon. And though he wasn’t all that keen on the idea that Bijou was the intended mate for the original vampire, he couldn’t simply pretend it wasn’t the case.
His daughter went to her knees first, then shifted so she could lift Khari’s head and rest it on her legs.
“Khari?” she whispered again.
Apollo got to his feet and strolled toward Kaj.
“What’s going on?”
The male healer’s voice was low when he said, “I think that was him getting all his memories back.”
Kaj’s eyes jerked to Apollo’s.
The male nodded, the same trepidation in his eyes that Kaj felt.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on him for the past few hours,” the healer continued, “and it’s been like Oliver’s entire personality transferred. I didn’t notice anything different aside from the obvious. New body, different voice, et cetera.”
Shit.
Why Kaj had thought the male would simply exist as he had, he wasn’t sure. But it made sense that all those repressed memories would come flooding forward at some point. Ten thousand years’ worth…
“Where the fuck is Michael?” Kaj shouted.
