“And you’re telling me you didn’t know they were there?” Eclipse found that difficult to believe.
“I had no idea.” The acknowledgement seemed to bother Kaj as much as the idea bothered Eclipse. “Now, I’ve got to decide what to do about them.”
Eclipse stared at the vampire. “Seems pretty simple to me.”
Green eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re saying I should condemn them to die?”
“How else do you stop the bleeding?” Seemed pretty fucking rational to him. “You let them live, what’s to stop the others from doing it?”
“Loyalty,” Kaj said, glaring back at him.
Eclipse snorted. “Seems to be lacking for you right now.”
“Enough,” Obsidian bit out.
Eclipse spun to face his brother. “This female he’s referring to … she lured my amsouelot to the club.”
Concern replaced Obsidian’s frustrated expression. “That changes things.”
“I’d say it does.” Eclipse turned back to Kaj. “I’d bet money she lured Orianna in order to pass her off to Sirius.”
“He’s not our only problem,” Søren stated. “Word’s going around that Eevuhl’s here. In Darkness.”
“Fucking hell,” Eclipse growled.
“You and Orianna are grounded for the time being,” Obsidian commanded.
There was no reason for Eclipse to argue. The mansion was the safest place for Orianna right now. The demons would not get to her as long as she was within the walls. Of course, keeping him in was going to be an argument for a later time. No way would he sit back when there was a chance he could take the demons down once and for all. And a member of the trielair … no way would Eclipse let that opportunity pass him by.
“Her things should be here within the hour,” Miklós informed him.
“What’re you talking about?” Obsidian asked.
“I’m moving her into the mansion,” Eclipse explained, taking a deep breath as they shifted to a less heated topic. “And yes, before you ask, she agreed.”
Obsidian nodded, as though that made perfect sense. “Who’d you send?”
“Echo volunteered,” Miklós answered. “And Asmia asked to go with him.”
Eclipse’s head snapped over to his lieterra. “Asmia? She’s with him?”
Miklós nodded, his brows lowering. “Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Fucking hell,” Obsidian growled. “You”—his finger shot toward Zadok—“get Magnar up to speed. I want eyes on her ASAP. And tell him not to leave her side until she’s back here.”
“What’s going on?” Kaj asked, his confusion as potent as Miklós’s.
“Perfidious has a hard-on for Asmia,” Eclipse explained. “If he picks up her scent…” Yeah, there was no need to go any further than that.
“Oh, shit.” Miklós shot to his feet. “I’ll go with them.”
Eclipse shook his head. “No. I need you here.”
“But—”
He could see the male’s concern, felt it even. However, as Eclipse’s lieterra, they couldn’t risk Miklós or Zadok being intercepted by Perfidious or, worse, Eevuhl. The males knew too much, and the last thing they needed was an all-knowing angel in the hands of the trielair.
“I’ll keep you updated after I talk to Magnar,” Zadok told Miklós before he vanished.
“I didn’t think it would be a problem,” Miklós said, his eyes imploring Obsidian.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
Obsidian was right. Unfortunately, Asmia’s fate had already been decided. One way or another.
“Were you down for the evening meal?” Asmia asked Echo as she exited the truck they’d borrowed to carry Orianna’s things back to the mansion.
“I was, yeah.”
“What happened? Clearly, I missed the action,” she told him, leading the way down a dark, dingy corridor to apartment one-E.
“Winnie tore Reidar a new one.”
“That sucks.” Asmia stood to the side while Echo willed the door unlocked with his mind.
“Worse is it’s getting ridiculous. Can’t sleep with those two bitching at each other nonstop. Something’s going down with that human.”
“Is she okay?”
When the male stepped back, Asmia led the way inside, coming up short when she got a good look at Orianna’s digs. For whatever reason, she’d expected … something else. Based on the smell, the carpet hadn’t been cleaned since it was laid down probably two decades ago. The paint on the wall was probably at one point white but over time had turned a dingy yellow and had the faint scent of … cigarettes.
“She’s fine, but I can’t say the same for Reidar,” Echo said, dumping the small stack of boxes onto the counter. “Why don’t you take the bedroom. I’ll get what’s in here.”
Asmia slowly spun around the space. “I don’t think there’s a bedroom.”
“Okay, the bathroom then.”
Asmia nodded. After she’d formed the box and taped the bottom, she carried it with her to the bathroom. As she moved through Orianna’s private space, she glanced around, attempted to picture the female living here. It wasn’t easy.
Granted, she didn’t know Orianna well. They’d talked on occasion, but Asmia was the one keeping her distance. Not because she didn’t like the human. She seemed nice enough. But as had been the case for weeks, Asmia wasn’t feeling much like entertaining.
She perched the box on the closed lid of the toilet, then began filling it with the few things she found in the medicine cabinet. Next came toothbrush and toothpaste, followed by shower essentials. By the time she was done, the bottom of the box wasn’t even covered. Girl lived simply, that was for sure.
She returned to the living room—or was it a bedroom?—and headed for the drawers in the table. When she uncovered Orianna’s personal toy, she wrapped it in one of the threadbare towels and discreetly tucked it into the box. Next to join the personal items were the few outfits Asmia uncovered in the one and only closet in the space.
“She travels light,” Asmia said as she pulled out two pairs of shoes, three pairs of socks, a couple of skirts, three T-shirts, and two pairs of jeans, which seemed to be the extent of Orianna’s wardrobe. Not even a coat.
Once the closet was empty, Asmia lifted her box and got to her feet. She closed the closet door and turned to check on Echo.
“Where’d you go?” she called out, clearing the few feet to the small galley kitchen, expecting to see him kneeling to empty the cabinets.
Nope. Not there.
Seeing that the bathroom door was open, she headed that way, intending to tell him she was done. Before she got there, a ruckus sounded out in the corridor.
“Echo?”
As she headed for the open front door, she wished she had a weapon of some sort. Probably would’ve made sense to come armed considering all that was going on these days. They weren’t safe outside of the mansion, certainly not with the demons circling Darkness. Yet she’d been so eager to get out of there, she hadn’t thought about bringing anything with her.
With an odd sense of trepidation, Asmia stuck her head out into the hallway. She glanced left, then right, but saw no one.
Relieved that there were no humans being attacked in the hallway, she spun around to grab the box, intending to give Echo shit for abandoning her. He could’ve at least told her he was leav—
“The lovely Asmia graces me with her presence.”
The voice drew her up short, had fear replacing the air in her lungs. With dread washing over her, Asmia slowly pivoted, her brain working overtime to identify something she could use as a weapon. Considering the closest thing was the vibrator in the bottom of the box, it wasn’t looking good for her.
A dark-haired male with bright blue eyes was standing in the doorway, blocking the exit. She didn’t recognize him, but she sensed the evil within. Definitely not human despite the meat suit he wore.
“Do I know you?”
“You’ve no idea who I am, d
o you?”
Hearing the menace in his words, she swallowed hard, then willed herself out of there.
Nothing happened.
Asmia tried again, desperate to dematerialize. The only thing that happened was her panic ratcheted up a notch or ten.
“Sorry, gorgeous. It won’t work.”
The male stepped closer, his eyes locked with hers. It was then she saw past the facade, beyond the glittering, clear blue eyes, and into the soul of the demon.
“Perfidious.”
He smirked. “In the flesh.” He chuckled, tugging at the lapels on his fancy suit. “Well, technically, not my own, but it works nicely, don’t you think? I’ve upgraded since last I saw you.”
Asmia tried to back away, but her feet wouldn’t move. He was holding her there with the power of his mind.
“What do you want from me?” she hissed.
Another smirk. “Not from you, gorgeous. It’s you I want.”
She frowned, attempting to process his words.
“Asmia!”
She heard Echo’s voice coming from outside, the shout bouncing off the concrete.
“Go, Echo! Run!”
Of course the male wasn’t going to listen. He was a soldier, not a pansy.
Echo’s response was a grunt.
It was Perfidious’s demonic laugh that amped up her fear.
“What did you do to him?”
“Don’t worry. As long as you do what I say, he’ll be fine.”
“Let him go,” she insisted.
Perfidious stepped out of the apartment, turned, looking down the hall as he lifted his hand. Suddenly Echo was standing before him, Perfidious’s hand buried deep in the male’s chest.
No! God, no! Asmia sucked in air, tried to scream but nothing came out.
The demon’s gaze returned to her. “I’ll make this simple, sweetheart. You have two choices. You take a little trip with me and the male walks away unscathed. Or…”
Echo groaned, eyes squeezing shut as agony ripped through him.
Perfidious chuckled. “Or I rip his heart out of his chest and you can mourn his dead corpse. Your choice.”
“Let him go,” she insisted. The rage built inside her, but she was unable to move, frozen from Perfidious’s control.
“Asmia, no,” Echo hissed. “Don’t you dare go with him.”
Unable to look anywhere except into Perfidious’s eyes, she saw his intentions as clear as day. He gave her a glimpse into the future. Echo lying on the ground, his heart cast aside, lifeless eyes staring up and seeing nothing.
She would not be the reason for his death.
“I’ll go with you,” she ground out. “But you have to swear to leave him alone.”
Perfidious’s hand retreated from Echo’s chest, the male falling to the ground in a heap. The demon held it up to show he wasn’t holding Echo’s heart.
“It’s time we made our exit,” Perfidious stated, holding out his hand for her.
This time when she tried to move, her legs worked. Knowing Echo’s life was at stake, Asmia didn’t attempt to escape, rather walked up to Perfidious and placed her hand in his. She shivered when he touched her, hatred boiling deep in her gut.
“Care to say goodbye?” Perfidious taunted as they stepped over Echo’s body.
“We will find you,” Echo declared, his voice so low she could hardly hear him. “I promise you, Asmia. We will find you.”
She nodded, holding the male’s gaze. Asmia could see the pain there, and it made her chest ache. He felt responsible though he shouldn’t. This was clearly her destiny, likely long ago etched in stone.
“It’s okay, Echo. I’ll be fine,” she said, oddly thinking that was the first and only time she’d ever lied to him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Where is she?” Eclipse asked when he joined 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 the fiestreigh for 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 the amsouelots, 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.”
�
��I’ll hit him up and give him something to do.”
When he was satisfied they’d covered all their bases, Eclipse headed up to the main house, glancing from room to room in search of his lieterra. When he reached the third floor, Eclipse made a detour to his private quarters but stopped in the living room when he saw Orianna kneeling on the floor, petting Zeus while Aphrodite fought for her affections.
He took a moment to drink her in, grateful that she was there with him, safe in the mansion. He didn’t want to think about the horror show Asmia was privy to now that Perfidious had her in his grimy paws.
Orianna looked up at him with a smile so bright Eclipse was grateful he had on his shades.
“I was about to come down and find you,” she said. “Then I found these two and we got a little sidetracked.” Her eyes landed on his face. “Uh-oh. Is something wrong?”
Eclipse went on to explain the incidents with Asmia and Perfidious—both past and present.
“Oh, my God. She was kidnapped by a demon?”
He nodded, watching her face. Orianna seemed to sort through the information before narrowing her eyes on him. “What can I do to help?”
Honestly, he’d expected a few more questions. Such as since when are demons real? Or how on earth did angels get mixed up with Fae? Then again, this was Orianna. His female seemed to take things at face value, even if they defied everything she’d ever been taught. Perhaps one of these days she’d pelt him with all those inquiries, but for now, he would gladly take her up on her offer to assist.
“I’ve got all available fiestreigh out looking for her. I’m waiting for my brothers and the rest of the fiestreigh to get back to the mansion. Once they’re here, we can double our efforts to locate her. In the meantime, we need to man the message boards.”
Orianna gave Zeus and Aphrodite one last pat on the head before coming to stand in front of him. “I can definitely help with that. But I’ve got another idea. I mean, it’s not foolproof, but from time to time, I can get a vision of a specific person if I can touch an object they’ve touched. Preferably something they use often. A hairbrush, razor, that sort of thing.”
“It’s worth a shot,” he told her. “I’ll show you to Asmia’s room.”
Salvation in Darkness (Misplaced Halos Book 2) Page 23
