“About Oliver?”
“Yes.”
Acadia wiped her eyes. “Of course I’ll go with you.”
While he was grateful to have his female at his side, Kaj wasn’t looking forward to the next part. He wasn’t one to ever anticipate drama, but there seemed to be a lack of it right now. Surely something was going to blow up in a big way. The question was when.
The answer, apparently, was today.
Kaj stood in the third-floor conference room with its big table and office-like decor while Penelope lost her shit.
Like, seriously, lost. Her. Shit.
Needless to say, she hadn’t taken the news well, but then again, had he really expected her to? It wasn’t every day you learned that the male you thought you were related to turned out to be some random child who’d been placed in your family because an archangel had manipulated it to be so. Oh, and on top of that, that male you considered a brother … he had a vampire inside him.
“He’s not my brother?”
“Biologically, no,” Obsidian explained, clearly having gotten all the deets from Michael.
“And you’re telling me … the guy I’ve known my whole life is the original vampire?”
“Camping out in Oliver’s body, yes,” Kaj confirmed.
“So when we talk to him … who are we speaking to?”
“That’s the part I’m not exactly sure on,” he told her. “I believe when Khari emerges, he’ll maintain all of Oliver’s memories.”
“Meaning my brother will be what? An empty husk?” Her golden eyes were brighter than before.
Kaj shot a quick look at Obsidian.
The male shrugged in response. He looked as lost as Kaj felt.
“I want to speak to Michael,” Penelope insisted. “Right now.”
Obsidian turned away from her, probably summoning the archangel for his female.
Personally, Kaj didn’t care to be in attendance for this part. It was hard enough having all those eyes pinned on him, waiting for him to bring forth some more disturbing news.
Before he could come up with an excuse to leave, there was a flutter of wings and Michael appeared, his strangely swirling eyes darting over every face before coming to rest on Obsidian.
“You rang?”
Though the female was a good foot shorter than the archangel, she stood tall when she marched right up to Michael and squared off with him.
“What have you done?”
Michael frowned. “I’m sorry?”
“My brother.”
As though a light went on in his head, Michael’s eyes drifted away from her face. “Coulda warned me.”
Penelope didn’t seem to realize he’d spoken. “Why him? Why did you pick Oliver?”
Kaj could’ve told her it seemed incredibly obvious. In fact, twofold. It was Michael’s way of keeping an eye on the female who would eventually mate Obsidian as well as keeping ties to the original vampire.
Of course, Michael being Michael, he didn’t answer her question. Or he tried not to. Right up until Obsidian came to stand behind Penelope, his hands curling over her shoulders.
“I thought it was the best place for him,” Michael said on a sigh.
“You knew who Obsidian’s mate was?” Acadia asked.
Wow. Good question.
“I might’ve taken a peek.”
“But those lists are supposed to be sealed,” Obsidian argued.
“They are.”
Clearly not concerned about that, Penelope cleared her throat, drawing all attention back to her. “What happens to Oliver when you separate him and the vampire?”
Right to the point. Kaj knew he liked her.
“He’ll be the same as he is now.”
“You mean physically,” Obsidian stated.
“Correct. Physically, he’ll remain human.” Michael’s gaze shot to Kaj. “Immortal, of course, but still human. Mostly.”
“And his memories?”
“Well, technically…” Michael’s eyes shifted around the room once more. “Those aren’t his memories. The human has been repressed.”
Penelope’s eyebrows shot downward. “So what? He won’t know how to walk or talk if you retrieve Khari?”
Kaj wondered if anyone else noticed her use of if not when.
“He’ll retain all his motor skills. And more than likely, some of the memories will still be imbedded. He simply won’t know how to retrieve them.”
“And Khari?” Kaj had to know what they would be dealing with.
“He’ll possess all his memories from every vessel he’s been in.”
“So he’ll be confused?” Acadia asked.
“It might take him some time to get oriented.”
“How much time?” Kaj inquired.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“I can’t believe you did this,” Penelope said, her tone rich with defeat as she turned toward Obsidian, burying her face in his chest.
“Why? Because I chose the male you were raised with as the vessel? Would it be so impossible to understand if it were a stranger? Would you even care?”
Penelope spun around to face him. “But you didn’t pick a stranger. You picked my brother.”
“He’s of no relation to you,” Michael said calmly. “You were both merely raised to believe otherwise.”
For a second, Kaj thought Penelope was going to incinerate the archangel with a glare. He must have thought so, too, because Michael took a step back and held up his hands in the universal sign of surrender.
“What if I don’t agree with this?” Penelope prompted. “What if I refuse to let you … take out the vampire?”
Michael’s gaze shot to Kaj, which had Penelope looking over as well.
“Then it’s highly possible my race will die out.” He didn’t bother to tell her that Oliver would likely die because Khari was insistent.
The pain that triggered in her eyes made Kaj like her all the more. She wasn’t a selfish female, that much was a given. He’d been around her enough to see she had a pure heart. Which explained her reasons for wanting to protect Oliver, even if he wasn’t related to her by blood.
“When?” she asked, her voice softer and a tad wobbly.
“Friday,” Kaj told her. “I’ve requested Khari’s body be brought here so we can have your healers available for the human should it be necessary.”
She nodded, then turned to Obsidian. Their eyes met briefly before she stepped around him and left the room.
Kaj hated that this had to be done, and he would’ve argued for more time, but in the grand scheme of things, he did have to put the lives of his race over that of a human vessel. Not to mention, they were in a race against time to save said vessel.
It wasn’t the perfect answer, but it was the only one he seemed to have.
Which meant, resurrecting the original vampire was inevitable.
While the vampires and angels were dealing with their own crisis, Perfidious was but a few miles away reaping the rewards of his actions.
“Come here, gorgeous,” he crooned to the female standing before him.
After he had introduced his Fae to the shadow beasts, he’d noticed a significant change in their demeanor. It was quite possible they didn’t completely trust him, but they did hold him in high esteem. So much so, they were still congregating within the mountain, more being drawn here every night. It wasn’t every day, after all, that a demon came into possession of a Fae and they were all eager to see her.
Yet here she was.
“How may I serve you, my king?”
Perfidious watched her, admiring her beauty while assessing the minute details of her reaction to him.
Since he’d shed the last human husk, he hadn’t bothered with another choosing rather to maintain his demon form. And over the course of the past five days, he’d found he preferred it this way. He had missed being himself. There was a freedom to be had when one wasn’t ensconced in the vessel of another.
“Kneel
before me,” he instructed.
Asmia was naked, as had been the case since the meeting with the shadow beasts. He preferred her this way, in fact. Not only did it give him access to her body, it kept her vulnerable to him, something he enjoyed immensely.
Not that she cared. That was the one thing he’d noticed about the female, she didn’t seem to care one way or another about anything. It was as though she was merely a vessel for him to use however he saw fit. And use her he had. Many times, including in front of the shadow beasts, Perfidious had claimed what belonged to him. He’d taken her in whatever manner that struck his fancy at the time and she was always willing, bending this way and that, never fighting him off as he penetrated her, using every one of her orifices for his pleasure.
Admittedly, he would’ve preferred to get some sort of reaction from her. Perhaps a mirroring desire of some sort.
However, he’d known from the beginning that she wasn’t here because she wanted to be here. Asmia was here because he demanded it and Perfidious had decided that would have to do.
Before him, Asmia went to her knees, bowing her head and placing her hands on her thighs. She’d become rather adept at that position, as though she preferred it because it allowed her to keep her distance from him. Without eye contact, he had no idea what she was thinking. Then again, Perfidious wasn’t sure she was thinking at all. It was as though she’d disappeared inside her own head, her body the only thing available to him.
And that was starting to piss him off.
“Look at me,” he demanded.
Her black eyes lifted to his face, her expression as blank as her stare.
Perfidious took his cock in hand, stroked himself, watching for any reaction. Nothing.
He recalled the way Seraphina used to lick her lips with greed when he touched himself like this. That demon was always eager to get him off, to worship him however he saw fit. He couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her. Eevuhl had taken her with him when he left and now that Eevuhl was dead, he wondered if Seraphina was still here on Earth or if she’d been taken back to Hell.
No one seemed to know anything about what happened to Eevuhl, either. Nothing was coming out of Hell right now. Not a peep.
“Stand up,” Perfidious barked.
He continued to stroke himself as Asmia gracefully got to her feet, her long, lithe body giving away nothing.
Hmm.
Perhaps he’d gone about this all wrong. Controlling her mind, forcing her to submit… Without meaning to, he had created something that merely performed for him. What he wanted was the female he’d fallen for.
He smiled as he got to his feet. “Turn around.”
Asmia turned around.
“Bend over.”
She did.
He stepped up behind her, planted one hand in the center of her back, and used the other to guide his cock between her thighs.
Before he rammed himself inside her, Perfidious leaned over her, placed his mouth beside her ear.
“Sweet Asmia. I think it’s time we take this to another level.”
He was looking for some sort of reaction, so very tempted to release the hold on her mind. Something held him back. Not yet. He wanted an audience. Yes. The shadow beasts deserved to witness this. Soon.
Very, very soon.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Penelope didn’t understand.
She never would.
Didn’t matter how many times she tossed it around in her head, no matter how many angles she attempted to view it, the fact of the matter, the brother she’d thought was her twin was in fact… Well, he wasn’t her twin, she knew that much for certain. The rest of it was a bit of a tangled mess.
A soft knock sounded on her bedroom door seconds before it opened. She looked up to see Obsidian standing there.
“Mind if I come in?”
Some semblance of a smile formed. “It’s your bedroom, too.”
“I figured you needed some space.”
No, what she needed was an explanation that made sense. Or better yet, if she could wake up now from this truly messed-up dream, that would be fantastic.
Continuing her efforts to wear the hardwood thin, she paced across the room, past the foot of the bed, over to the bathroom doors. She pivoted, returned.
“I guess in a way, it does explain why I’ve always felt a disconnect with Oliver,” she mused, still trying to make sense of this. “Everyone always asked about our twin bond, which we’ve never had. Now I know why.” She shook her head. “Because he’s not even related.”
Obsidian took a seat on the love seat, crossing his ankle over his knee. She glanced at him, smiled to herself. He was enormous. To the point it was amusing to see him sit on that little couch. To a normal-sized person, she figured the furniture wasn’t all that small. However, with his six-foot-ten-inch frame, it looked as though it belonged in a doll house.
Returning her attention to the problem, she kept moving. “And maybe it’s part of the reason he’s always been so angry. I mean, if Khari is aware of what’s happening to him, that he’s been trapped for centuries, you can’t really blame him for being pissed.” She continued her trek. “But I don’t understand why Oliver has to be left with no memories. Some poor boy’s been repressed for twenty-eight years? Has he any idea what’s been going on? And even if he did, will he have memories of what’s happened to him?”
Penelope knew Obsidian didn’t have the answers just as he knew she wasn’t expecting any. She simply needed to talk it out, and she appreciated that he understood her so well.
“What if the original Oliver emerges … pissed off, too? What do we do then?” She stopped, turned toward Obsidian. “Or what if Oliver’s scared because he has no idea where he is or what’s happened to him?”
“Then we help him,” her reuthet replied as though it were that simple. “The human boy was brought to your parents to raise. Therefore, he’s still your brother. Regardless of whether it’s biological.”
He had a point there. “So we help him,” she echoed. “We bring him into this family like we would anyone else.”
“It’s up to you whether you let him know he’s not your brother,” Obsidian said. “You could share all your memories with him, of the times you had with him.”
Penelope nodded. It made sense. Only it would take effort to dig out the good ones. For as long as she could remember, Oliver had hated her. Or so it had seemed.
“What about Khari?”
“He’s not really our problem,” he replied with a casual shrug of his shoulder. “However, we’re here for Kaj, so we’ll help however he needs us.”
“Who requested Oliver be made immortal?” she asked.
“Kaj. Completely his idea. He said it was about the only thing he had to offer you, so he wanted to ensure you wouldn’t outlive your brother.”
The notion had tears prickling her eyes. Though she knew Obsidian and Kaj were extremely close, she hadn’t spent much time with the vampire. These days, she didn’t spend much time with anyone except for Ari’el and Obsidian. They kept her plenty busy.
Exhaling heavily, Penelope walked over to Obsidian. When he held out his arms to her, she settled on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and burrowing in close. She loved him so much, more than she’d ever expected to love anyone. These past few months had been chaotic, but she wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Well, maybe this whole Oliver debacle. She could’ve happily lived the rest of her life without her brother being inhabited by a vampire.
Shaking off the thought, she tried to focus on something else.
“Do you know if Eclipse and Orianna have decided to build a house for Elizabeth or not?” she asked, relaxing into his warmth.
“They’re leaving the decision up to her.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I think for the first time in a long time, Elizabeth’s at peace.”
“I hate that she lost a child, but yeah, I can see how the not knowing wo
uld’ve been so much harder. I think it’s good she’s taken to Bijou. Sort of a surrogate daughter in a way.”
“Speaking of Bijou…” Obsidian’s hand began to gently rub her back. “Kaj told me she’s to mate Khari.”
Penelope lifted her head. “Does she know this?”
He shook his head.
She sighed, dropped her head again. “In my opinion, Michael made a mess of this.”
“That he did.”
And she would’ve hated the archangel if it weren’t for the fact he had single-handedly saved their daughter’s life. Had he not intervened when Eevuhl attacked the mansion, chances were good none of them would be here now. And since that evil demon had come for Ari’el, Penelope figured he would’ve disposed of her once she’d given birth. A chill ran down her spine the same way it did whenever she thought about it.
“I want to be there,” she told Obsidian. “When they do whatever they do to return Khari to his body.”
“Of course.” He kissed her head again. “Oliver will need you.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but Penelope would be there anyway.
Just in case.
“Hey, Em,” Oliver said in greeting as he stepped into the kitchen.
“Good evening, sire. I mean … Oliver.” The smile she gifted him was like the sun, he thought as he made his way over to the refrigerator. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” And it was mostly true. He’d felt immensely better once those damn healers had stopped poking and prodding at him. They’d been reluctant to let him leave the infirmary, but thankfully, they’d eventually grown tired of his constant pestering and sent him on his way.
“I saved you some waffles,” Emily told him.
“With whipped cream?”
Her smile widened. “Of course. And strawberries.”
Oliver honestly wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve Emily’s kindness, but he couldn’t deny he looked forward to their interactions every day. In a, you know, completely platonic manner, of course.
“Has anyone seen Bijou?” Kaj called out as he strolled into the kitchen.
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