Yep. Obsidian was handling the news about as well as Kaj had. No surprise there.
But unlike Kaj, Michael knew what was coming from Obsidian next.
Wait for it.
Three…
Two…
“You fucking knew she was my mate. And you put the vampire in her twin? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Spinning around, Michael kept his grin in place. “Technically, he’s not her twin. They weren’t even conceived by the same male and female.”
Obsidian’s brows slammed down. “What did you say?”
“I did what was necessary to protect the vampires. I won’t apologize for it.”
“So you manipulated humans?”
“In my defense, they’re relatively easy to manipulate. Plus, the little boy had been abandoned by his birth mother. I merely gave him a loving home.”
Although, now that he thought about it, Oliver Calazans had never seemed all that happy. Perhaps he’d overestimated the family cohesiveness.
“Penelope’s parents agreed to raise them as twins. They knew nothing of Khari.” It still amazed him what humans were willing to do for money. No questions asked. And Penelope’s greedy parents had been no exception.
“And what? You just want to pop him out of the human and … what, Michael? How the hell do you resurrect an ancient vampire who’s been riding shotgun in humans for centuries?”
Try millennia, Michael thought, but kept that one to himself. No sense adding to the tension.
“It gets better,” Kaj groused. “Khari is to mate my daughter.”
Obsidian threw up his arms and began to pace, huffing as he did. “This is bullshit, Michael. You’ve outdone yourself. Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more underhanded than you already were.”
He knew there was no reasoning with Obsidian. Telling the male that this was the only way he’d seen to keep the race alive would only be met with argument. And he didn’t necessarily blame him. Michael had utilized various human vessels over the millennia, keeping Khari safe. And yes, he’d long ago defied the rules and identified who Obsidian’samsouelotwas. He had bided his time, awaiting her birth, and the moment he’d learned of her existence, he’d done what he had to do to ensure Obsidian’s path would eventually cross with Khari’s.
Would he ever tell Obsidian as much? Nope. Nuh-uh. He had enough to atone for as it was. Did he think his deceit had contributed to the leak of theamsouelots’names? No. Of that much he was certain. However, he had yet to figure out who was behind it, but he wasn’t giving up. Not until he nailed that bastard to the wall.
Ew. Bad turn of phrase. Humans and their strange idioms.
“What happens to Oliver when you extract the vampire?” Kaj inquired. “Will he have any memories of the first twenty-eight years of his life?”
“No.” That part Michael felt bad about but it couldn’t be helped.
“So Khari will have those memories?” Obsidian asked.
“Correct.”
“Fucking fantastic.”
“I thought so,” Michael said before he realized that had been sarcasm.
More hands thrown in the air and finally Obsidian stormed out.
“That went well,” Kaj grumbled.
“You were waiting in an effort to avoid that,” Michael mused.
“It definitely could’ve been handled better, yes.”
