He had to weigh his options. Like Taayin, they were all frustrated and angry. Asmia was family, but no one … absolutely nofuckingone would threaten his mate. Not and live to remember it.
Obsidian hated to do it, but he knew Taayin needed the reprieve. Pressing the palm of his hand to Taayin’s forehead, Obsidian sent him into a deep sleep. One he wouldn’t come out of until Obsidian was ready for him to.
“Why’d you do that?” Penelope shouted, starting toward Taayin.
Obsidian stopped her with a firm hand on her arm. “Don’t touch him,ayreme,” he snarled. “If you do, I’ll kill him where he lies.”
She jerked back, clearly surprised by the rage in his voice. Hell, he’d surprised himself.
“Okay, why don’t we all take a second to breathe,” Stygian suggested, planting a firm hand on Obsidian’s shoulder. “We need to think rationally so we can get Asmia back. We all expected Taayin to take the news hard, and this could’ve been handled better, but for now, he’s right where he needs to be.” Stygian turned to Valterri. “Let’s get him to his room and I’ll throw up a barrier to keep him there in the event he manages to wake up again.”
The male nodded, then hefted Taayin’s lifeless body over his shoulder once more.
“Just out of curiosity, how exactly did he do that?” Stygian asked, motioning toward Eclipse as their brother appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Never underestimate the power of fear.” Especially when it came to a female. “I want everyone to meet in the bar. It should hold all of us. I want to know what the plan is to find Asmia. The minute the sun goes down, I want boots on the ground. Understood?”
A rumble of agreement sounded as everyone turned to head down to the main floor.
When Penelope was the only one remaining, Obsidian moved toward her. She stared up at him, eyes wide, and he felt like a complete ass for his reaction. He’d been out of line, but truth was, it was a natural response.
“I’m sorry,ayreme. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”
“We all want to find her,” she said, gripping his forearms.
“And we will,” he assured her.
“What about Taayin? You can’t just lock him up.”
“I can and I will. He’s no good to anyone right now. Least of all Asmia. Until he can calm down, he’s safer where he is.”
Obsidian could see she didn’t believe him.
He could feel her need to help find Asmia, her concern for the female. Every single soul in the mansion felt the same way. With the sun about to come over the horizon, they were trapped for the time being. But as soon as the sun went down tonight, Obsidian would have every able-bodied soul on the streets.
And they wouldn’t stop searching until they brought her home.
Michael hated to break up the party, but…
Okay, he didn’t so much hate it. And he knew it wasn’t a party. More like a wake based on all the frowns.
He could’ve told them all was not lost. Not completely. Yet.
Maybe tomorrow.
Fine. He wasn’t a pit of fucking sunshine. Never had been, never would be.
Though it wasn’t appropriate for the humans to see him, Michael made the trek through the main floor in his corporeal form while he peeked in the various rooms for Obsidian and his boys. While theheurospweren’t technically human anymore—it was a long story, really—he did his best not to interact, ignoring the deep bows and greetings.
Why couldn’t Obsidian simply tell him where he was going to be? That would make it significantly easier. On everyone.
Thankfully, he had unparalleled hearing and he pinpointed their location relatively easily. It wasn’t a picnic getting his wings down those damn stairs though, but the fault was on him. He’d opted to walk a few steps in their shoes, and by the time he reached the bottom, he was deeply regretting the mood he was in.
“Fucking hell,” he grumbled, stumbling out of the stairwell as he flapped one wing to bring it back to its uncrimped glory.
“Oh, my God,” a female voice squeaked.
“Not Him, sorry,” Michael rumbled, taking stock of all the souls in the room.
