Everything happened so fast after that.
The next thing she knew, the big man was behind her attacker, the asshole’s head bobbing before there was a hideous snap and his lifeless limbs were falling to the ground, limp and … dead.
Well, hell.
Later Orianna would be worried that her disappointed sigh likely wasn’t the appropriate response to seeing someone killed only a few feet away. For the time being, she would have to deal with the fact she would not be getting answers from this one.
Now that the dead guy was no longer a threat, her full attention went to the man standing just a few feet away. He was even bigger than she’d thought, clocking in a good foot taller than she was. Not sure what he wanted from her, Orianna kept with the frightened woman routine, locking her stare on his face. It would’ve been smart to take off, but her feet were rooted in place, palms flat against the scratchy bricks.
“Are you okay?” she asked, noticing the slight hitch in her words. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended. But it had nothing to do with the dead asshole and everything to do with the fact this man had been shot and he was acting as though it wasn’t a BFD.
His head lifted, attention on her once again.
Orianna couldn’t seem to move, but he wasn’t having the same problem. Before she knew it, he was only a breath away, his big body surrounding her. There was a strange detachment, as though she was watching this happen to someone else as he lifted his hand. His fingers were gentle where they swept over her temple, then around to the back of her head. Orianna flinched, pain blooming. When he pulled his fingers away, she realized there was blood. Likely from her little headbutt with the wall.
He hissed softly, as though the sight of her blood bothered him.
“Go,” he growled, his voice a dark rumble. “Run far and fast.”
This time her feet got with the program. She palmed the brick, moving sideways along the wall, keeping her eyes on him. Regret shot through her when she peered down at the dead asshole one more time. She’d wanted to question him, but now she needed to get gone or risk the police taking her into custody. Didn’t matter that she was a witness, she had no desire to mix it up with the cops.
When she reached the end of the alley, Orianna peered back once more. The enormous man with the sexy mohawk was still standing there, head turned, following her every move.
She could feel his eyes on her even when she finally turned and fled.
Chapter Two
Two months later…
“Hey, E-man! We’ve got incoming,” Miklóscalled out.
Eclipse let his eyes scan the room. Despite the fact hislieterra’sannouncement would’ve been more subtle if he’d used a glowing neon billboard, no one else moved. Not a muscle. He wouldn’t be surprised if the archangel Michael was peering down from Heaven wondering why the ruckus, or God was pausing in his daily … whatever it was he did … to see whether he needed to intervene.
Wait for it…
A sequence of vibrations, chimes, rings, and even a rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” sounded through the war room, signaling that a motion sensor on the property had been activated. Yep, and now everyone within twenty miles of the mansion had been notified, which meant the verbal outburst was merely wasted breath.
Yet it never failed. Thefiestreighwere like human children announcing the arrival of the ice cream truck.
Rather than remind hislieterraof that, Eclipse strolled through the rows of tables, coming to stand behind Miklós, who was currently staring at his laptop screen, deft fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Put it on the monitor,” Eclipse instructed.
Every time he caught sight of the six television screens mounted on the wall, Eclipse had to wonder where Penelope Calazans had been fifteen hundred years ago, back when they’d first tackled the task of protecting the humans from Lucifer’s evil bastards. Those fifty-inch monstrosities weren’t the only updates to their mission that Obsidian’sereswahad added in the past few weeks, either. Ever since she’d mated with Eclipse’s oldest brother, Penelope had decided she wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines while everyone else spent their nights working. And when the female put her mind to something, they’d learned right quick to step back and let her work her magic.
Not only had she offered them structure by designing a war room that allowed a space to work without distraction, she’d also implemented a schedule, giving thefiestreighsome downtime. They’d been at this gig for a millennium and a half, and Eclipse couldn’t help but wonder if they would’ve made more progress if she’d been along for the ride since the beginning.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Eclipse studied the image when it appeared on the screen. The black Cadillac Escalade was inching up the long drive toward the house, headlights cutting through the darkness, guiding the way. “How many are there?”
Miklós’s fingers never stopped typing, even when he said, “From what I can tell, two. One male, one female.”
Eclipse leaned closer, studied the green-tinged image. Although human technology had improved by leaps and bounds in the past century, it didn’t quite match up to angel eyesight. Had he been outside, he would’ve been able to see clearly without the strange alien glow distorting the features of the two approaching the mansion.
“Anyone know who this is?” Eclipse asked, squinting for a better look.
The conversation around the room disappeared instantly as everyone turned their attention to the screen.
“Looks like Kaj,” Reidar noted, moving to stand at Eclipse’s side.
