Glancing over, he smiled as Stygian slammed his shoulder into the wall, successfully driving it back in its socket.
“Thank you,” Obsidian told him.
“For what?” Stygian hissed, rolling his shoulder as he bent at the waist. “Kicking your ass?”
Obsidian grinned, looked back up at the ceiling. “Yes.”
“You’re welcome.” He chuckled, his gaze sliding to the door. “If you don’t let him in, you’re going to give the male a heart attack.”
With a heavy sigh, Obsidian willed the door to release.
As expected, it flew open, Taayin marching in with Miklós and Søren flanking him. Thelieterrasglowered down at them, evidently not impressed.
“We don’t need a referee,” Obsidian informed them, sitting up.
Stygian appeared before him, holding out his hand to help him to his feet. Obsidian accepted. Already, the wounds were healing on his body and Stygian’s. They would all be gone before they made it to the third floor. One of the benefits of being an all-powerful angel of God. Rapid mending.
Taayin glared at the two of them, as though he had any say in what Obsidian did or didn’t do. The truth was, he held the ultimate power, even above his brothers, though he maintained an even keel between them. He had no need for power or dominance where they were concerned and they knew it. But every faction had a leader, and somewhere along the way, they’d all looked to Obsidian.
“One of these days, you’re not going to get back up,” Taayin grumbled.
“It would take tremendous effort,” Obsidian remarked as he started back through the tunnels.
“Maybe. But that doesn’t make it smart,” Taayin countered.
Evidently the male had never had to deal with the terror that came along with wanting to protect the one thing that meant more than anything else.
“Obsidian…”
“Let it go, Taayin,” he told him.
“We need to talk,” the male countered. “About—”
Spinning around, Obsidian got up in his face.
Though he had eight inches on him and probably a hundred pounds of solid muscle, Taayin didn’t back down.
“I said let it go,” Obsidian snarled.
Stygian’s hand squeezed his arm. “Let’s walk, brother.”
With a grunt, he backed off, took a deep breath.
“We need to figure out our next steps,” Stygian said. “We’re all on edge, and rightfully so.”
Before he could say anything, Obsidian was slammed with a tremendous heat. It moved through him, had him stumbling back against the wall.
“You all right?” Stygian asked, the concern on his face evident.
Obsidian shook his head. “Penelope. I have to get to her.”
It took two tries before he managed to dematerialize, but he finally did, resuming his physical form on the third floor.
WHILEOBSIDIANWASOFFDOINGHISOWNthing, Penelope was left to explore his private quarters, her thoughts racing a mile a minute after the conversation with the others earlier. It wasn’t like she had any idea how to handle a situation of this magnitude. Howdidyou deal with demons who were out to kill you?
Hell, a week ago, she’d been oblivious to the fact thereweredemons. Or angels, for that matter.
In fact, a week ago, she’d been living her normal, mundane life, traipsing across the floor of Caesar’s offering free drinks and accepting whatever measly tips they were willing to offer.
