“Where is she?” Eclipse asked when hejoined the others in the war room, having been summoned by Obsidian with news on Asmia.
He hoped that meant they’d found her, because the males they’d sent to retrieve her hadn’t been gone long. Not even long enough for Eclipse to make his way back to his room to check on Orianna or to fill her in on what was going on.
Obsidian nodded to Echo, who was sitting in a leather chair, head hanging down, looking defeated. It wasn’t a look he usually sported. Echo had been with thefiestreighfor going on five centuries now, and for the past few months, he’d been allocated to Eclipse. Like the others, Eclipse and his brothers had come to trust Echo with their lives. The male had proven his worth time and again, always forging headlong into battle and never—not one fucking time—leaving anyone behind.
From Echo’s expression, that wasn’t the case this time.
“Perfidious took her,” Obsidian said softly, motioning Eclipse to the other side of the room. “Threatened to kill Echo if she didn’t go with him.”
Of course she went with him. Asmia would do whatever it took to protect those she cared about.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled, following his brother. His shoulders were tense, worry flooding him as he thought about the Fae and what that fucking demon was doing with her. “What are we going to do? Have you notified the others?”
“Not yet.”
“You should.”
Obsidian nodded. “I agree.”
While it wasn’t ideal to bring their brothers in and pause the search for theamsouelots, Asmia was a member of their family. Finding her and bringing her home needed to be their top priority. No doubt their brothers would feel the same way.
“Have you told Taayin?”
Obsidian removed his dark glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a sure sign he was at a loss. There was pain in his eyes, warring with concern. “I don’t know how to tell him.”
Didn’t matter how they relayed the information, Taayin was going to lose his shit. Not that Eclipse would blame the male if he did. God knew Eclipse would’ve gone ballistic if those fucking vampires had managed to get their hands on Orianna.
“Does Penelope know?”
Obsidian shook his head. “I’m not sure she can handle the stress. What with the baby and all.”
Made sense on some level. Penelope was in week eleven of her pregnancy. With nine weeks at best—more like six in actuality—left, they were keeping a close eye on her. In the last few days, Obsidian’s tension had skyrocketed, his concern for her evident, and this couldn’t be helping.
“She’s going to find out.” If she hadn’t already.
“I know.”
“You have to tell her before that happens, Obsidian. Why don’t you take care of that? Perhaps you and Penelope can relay the news to Taayin. I’ll take care of rounding everyone up and getting them back to the mansion.”
Clearly Obsidian had needed that subtle push, because he didn’t bother walking out, he vanished, something he was not apt to do most of the time.
Turning to Reidar, Eclipse asked, “Where’s Miklós?”
The male shrugged. “He was here when Echo showed up, but then he disappeared.”
Son of a bitch.
Just what they didn’t need today, two males carrying the weight of this on their shoulders. If he had to guess, like Echo, Miklós was likely bearing the brunt of the blame. But they didn’t have time for the who-done-it game. The ideal thing to do would be to hit the streets, find Asmia, and bring her home. Sooner rather than later.
“All right. Here’s what I need you to do…” Eclipse barked out orders, delegating to the others so he could follow up with Miklós and find Orianna. He assigned every soldier a task, not stopping until the war room had cleared out with the exception of Reidar.
“I want you to get the message boards updated. Put up a reward for any information leading to her safe return.”
Reidar nodded. “Good idea.”
Eclipse doubted it would help, but at this point, he was willing to try anything.
“And check with Oliver. See if he wants in on this mission. We could use all hands on deck right now.”
