Obsidian managed to get to the thirdfloor with the help of Rinc and Zadok. As soon as they made it through the door, he nodded toward the living room sofa, needing a minute before he made the trek down the hall. If it weren’t for the fact he’d pulled a lightning bolt out of the heavens, he probably would’ve felt like a pussy. Then again, he wanted to see them pull that shit off.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and he felt the presence of hisereswabefore she appeared. Simply knowing she’d felt his need for her warmed him immensely.
“What happened?” Penelope came to an abrupt halt when she stepped around the corner.
“Damned if I know,” he grumbled, exhaustion pulling at him from all directions. Summoning a lightning bolt wasn’t as easy as it appeared, likely the reason he hadn’t resorted to doing it in over two hundred years or so.
Clearly in tune with his physical state, Penelope hurried over. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head, met her worried gaze to assure her. “Just physically drained. It’ll pass.”
“Kaj is requesting to come up,” Reidar announced from where he stood near the door.
“It’s fine. But I want you three to stay,” he told Rinc, Zadok, and Reidar. “Get Malak and Magnar. And thelieterraswho’re here. We need to talk.”
“Will do,” Reidar said before disappearing.
Obsidian turned his attention to Penelope. “Come here,ayreme.”
She settled at his side without hesitation, her hands moving over his chest, his neck in her attempt to find out for herself if he was injured. The heat of her body worked wonders to replenish his strength.
“I’m fine. I promise.”
Her golden eyes caressed his face. “You need to feed.”
“I will. In a few minutes.”
She didn’t seem happy that he was putting it off, but Obsidian knew she understood.
He peered over at Stygian. “You good?”
The male chuckled. “Been better, but I’ll live, sure.”
When Reidar returned, Malak, Magnar, Søren, and Miklós were with him, all with mirroring expressions of concern.
“Tell us what happened before you summoned me,” Obsidian instructed as he put his arm over Penelope’s shoulders, pulling her against his side.
“Weirdest damn thing,” Zadok said, perching on the arm of the sofa Stygian had fallen onto. “Found four demons cornering some humans. Rinc and I corralled three of them. Reidar went after the one who’d trapped one of the males. Seemed good and fine.”
“Right up until they multiplied,” Rinc added, eyes wide. “No bullshit. Dagger pierced its chest cavity and the bastard doubled. No matter what we hit them with or where, they kept coming, one after another.”
“Rather than die, they doubled,” Reidar explained. “Which was when I called you. You know the rest.”
Kaj appeared, strolling through the door to join them. “You got a firsthand glimpse at their newest trick, huh? We’ve been having this issue with shadow beasts for the past few months.”
“Those were shadow beasts?” Rinc muttered. “Fucking hell.”
Obsidian sighed. He hadn’t encountered a shadow beast in a decade or so. Last he’d heard, they’d been sent back to Hell. He’d only heard of their return from Kaj, and unfortunately, now he’d seen it for himself.
“I assume they just keep multiplying?” Stygian asked, his voice guttural, as though it strained just to pass his vocal cords.
Kaj nodded. “It’s why we’ve had to go into hiding.”
“Because you can’t fight them,” Zadok mused.
“Exactly.” Kaj peered at all the faces staring back at him. “We don’t have the same abilities you do. They’re slaughtering my people because they can. We’re no match when they multiply. At first, they caught us by surprise, wiped out two entire clans in the northeast, including the females and their young. They’re responsible for taking down Kardobahn, as well.”
“The previous vampire Alpha,” Obsidian explained when half a dozen eyebrows rose in curiosity.
