Thanks to Penelope’s drive and dedication, thefiestreighhad been hard at work, focused entirely on completing their priority mission so they could get back to what they’d initially been sent here to do: eliminate demons. As far as drill instructors, his female was quite the force to be reckoned with. Granted, she did it with grace, so no one seemed to mind that she’d taken charge. Not to mention, they were seeing progress, so she was obviously doing something right.
She’d even enlisted Winnie’s help, putting the female to work on what they were calling the “woman cave”. Using most of the furniture and decor they’d relocated from Penelope’s apartment in Vegas and Winnie’s in LA, the females had designed a space that was off-limits to the males in the household. According to Penelope, it was only fair that they had a quiet place to spend time together. Thanks to his keen sense of hearing, it hadn’t taken long to realize it was more a place for them to giggle and gossip and introduce the Fae to something they calledSupernatural.
But she was happy and he damn sure wasn’t going to interfere.
Obsidian briefly scanned all six enormous television screens mounted to the wall, noting the different information on each one. CNN, the local news, the rest reflecting the last known location of theamsouelotsthey were still searching for. Despite their best efforts, they’d yet to locate four of them, but based on what he could tell, they were getting closer.
“If you’ll look here”—Penelope motioned toward one of the screens on the wall—“I’m happy to say, we’ve narrowed down the location for Darina Azelmar.”
A.k.a. Stygian’samsouelot. Two weeks ago, Obsidian’s brother had thought he was closing in on her, only to find out his female was actually in hiding, slipping through his fingers at every turn.
“She was last seen in Salem,” Penelope explained. “That was three days ago. But she’s still there, and we believe she’s keeping a low profile for a reason.”
“Any ideas as to why?”
Penelope’s golden eyes locked with his. “Truth?”
He chuckled. “Can you tell me otherwise?”
She laughed. “Touché. Truth is, we’ve got reason to believe Darina’s a witch. Yes, a true-blue, queen-of-dark-and-light witch. As are her sisters and her mother.”
Interesting. Not surprising, either.
Obsidian nodded. “And the otheramsouelots?”
“We’ve successfully identified Orianna McKay’s apartment.” Penelope glanced across the room. “We have Oliver to thank for that.”
Turning his attention to the human sitting alone in the far corner, he watched the male. They’d given Oliver the opportunity to leave the mansion and the human had initially been ecstatic. Right up until he’d overheard Reidar and Søren talking about following a lead. Obsidian wasn’t quite clear on what had happened past that, but the next thing he knew Oliver Calazans had become an integral part of the undertaking to locate theamsouelots. Turned out, his computer skills rivaled Gryffyth’s.
“I’m sure Eclipse is thrilled about that,” he said, turning back to Penelope.
She peered up at him, worry glittering in her eyes. “You’d think that would be the case.”
More accurately, Obsidian had hoped. Eclipse seemed to be keeping his distance from the female. He only prayed that didn’t backfire on his brother. They were still under the gun, not sure when or if God would call an audible. It was the very reason Penelope had insisted they focus all efforts on locating the females while keeping an eye on the demons, but not engaging them if at all possible.
“Right now, we’ve got three teams out,” Penelope explained. “Rinc, Valterri, and Mordecai are in the field. Malak’s, Shiloh’s, and Magnar’s teams are in and resting. Reidar’s covering the techs.”
Obsidian was grateful to know Penelope had found a way to keep hisladearebusy, while not forcing him to go out in the field. Eventually, he’d have no choice, but for now, keeping Reidar close to Winnie was in everyone’s best interest.
“And Taayin?” Obsidian asked, curious as to how things were going for hislieterra.
Penelope sighed. “He’s with Aphotic in Texas. Giving Decebal a few days off.”
Obsidian knew Taayin was spending as much time away from the mansion as he could. Ever since the incident with Perfidious and Asmia, the male had been in a dark place. For whatever reason, he couldn’t seem to get past what had happened, though they’d all told him it wasn’t Asmia’s fault. As for the Fae, she was putting one foot in front of the other, pretending she wasn’t bothered by Taayin’s absence, but it was clear to them all that she was.
He turned to face Penelope. “Well, it sounds to me like you’ve got it all covered.”
“They do, actually.” She smiled. “I’m simply their cheerleader.”
Obsidian laughed. She was far more than a cheerleader even if she didn’t realize it.
“I was just thinking about going upstairs to grab lunch,” Penelope told him, linking her fingers with his.
“I was thinking along those same lines,” he said, leading her out of the war room. “Although, I had a different type of feeding in mind.”
“Did you now? And what? You were too good for my offer last night?”
When they reached the elevator that would take them up to the third floor, Obsidian leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “I recall a feisty female latching onto my neck when we woke up.”
