Her amethyst eyes met his briefly and there was a flash of something. Regret, fear? He didn’t fucking know, and he didn’t have it in him to figure it out now.
“Go!” he barked, fearful if she stayed for one more second he would strip them both and give in to that overwhelming urge.
Finally she slipped out, the door closing quietly behind her.
Mirakel stared at the wood for the longest time, trying to figure out if any of that had actually happened or if he’d been dreaming. Based on the strength he felt flooding him, he knew it had been real. He’d fed from her then physically assaulted her. Didn’t matter that she’d offered when she’d come into the room. That wasn’t his style.
That was… What. The. Fuck?
Chapter Forty-Four
Another week under their belt.
Forty-seven days since Asmia was taken right out from under their noses, and a full week since Winnie had gone back to California, resuming a life she had no clue had been on an entirely different course just a few days prior.
While they were no closer to locating Asmia, a fact that irked the shit out of Reidar, he felt as though he was back on track, his mind once again settled, not in flux now that the Winnie situation was settled.
Except, one of their own was still missing, and they couldn’t do a goddamn thing to find her. No matter how hard they tried, every fucking lead led absolutely nowhere. He wasn’t sure why he’d thought all would be right once he had a chance to get his head back in the game. Turned out, he wasn’t a one-man show, and his distraction hadn’t helped the situation, nor had it hurt. Unfortunately.
Needless to say, tensions were high at the mansion. Between that damngathenyathat had settled like a fog because it was obvious Eclipse and Orianna needed to fucking mate and get it over with, and the loss of one of their own, everyone was getting antsy. Likely worse because no one had the ability to control either.
Of course, Reidar had never been the sort to deal well with that sort of pressure. Didn’t help that Winnie was gone and, in her absence, there was an ache that had settled within him. He hadn’t thought it possible, but he actually missed her. More accurately, he missed what he’d thought they had. He’d thought she was hisamsouelot,but he had been sadly mistaken. The connection they’d shared when he met her … Reidar had been positive she was his other half.
How could he have been so wrong about her?
Truth was, Reidar didn’t know the first thing about tethered souls, but he’d undoubtedly jumped the gun on that one. Wishful thinking, that was what it had been. He’d held on to the hope that there was a female slated for him and there was more to his cold, lonely existence than fighting demons. Live and learn, right? Oh, yeah, he had lived, and he had most certainly learned, and he would be damned if he ever let that happen again. Until there was a bright neon sign flashingshe’s the one, Reidar was going to stick with sating his baser urges with the Fae and moving on with his life. Much less complicated.
“Anyone seen Kaj?”
Reidar pulled his attention away from the computer screen as Obsidian’s heavy footfalls moved closer.
“Last time I talked to him, we were going over the plans for the tunnels that connected his residence to ours,” Reidar informed him.
“Was there an issue?”
Reidar stood, wanting to be on a more even level with the male. “He wanted some additional safeguards in place to ensure no one could get through unless he’d cleared them personally. We’re installing a fingerprint scanner and voice recognition for the locking system. We agreed he would give us the approval and we would put them into the system, ensuring we’re all aware of who has access. So far, he’s only given permission for Mirakel to come and go as necessary.”
Obsidian nodded. “He’s a good male. I trust him.”
“Who, Mirakel? Or Kaj?” Reidar joked, knowing he was referring to the vampire Alpha. After just a short conversation with Kaj, Reidar had understood the male’s need to keep Bijou and Acadia safe. Since both females resided here, it made sense he didn’t want just anyone to slip past their defenses.
“I think I’ll head over there, see where they are with getting settled,” Obsidian said.
Reidar nodded, glanced down at his computer screen. “Mind if I go with you?”
Obsidian’s silver eyes settled on his face. “Come on. We’ll walk the tunnels.”
Clearly he’d sensed that Reidar didn’t need to spend too much time locked in his own head. Didn’t surprise him. Obsidian was astute, not to mention always keeping an eye out for them, though their job was to do that for him.
“Apollo and Amethyst should be arriving in a couple of days,” Obsidian told him.
Reidar nodded, falling into step with him. “Penelope’s already working to get everything they’ll need. She’s going off the list Michael provided. And we’ve sectioned off a portion of the underground rooms to use as their medical facility. They’ve requested to have their rooms down here, as well.”
Obsidian nodded. “God knows we’ve got enough space.”
That they did. But then that had been the intention when they’d built the new fortress they now resided in. They had been determined they would not outgrow it for quite some time.
They traversed the winding tunnels beneath the mansion, the gas-powered lamps igniting when the motion sensors detected their presence.
