Page 10 of Protected in Darkness
Turning back, she frowned.
He offered a beaming smile. “Thank you.”
Confused that maybe she’d delivered the drinks to the wrong person, Penelope studied his face, because either he was Mr. Slot Machine’s nice twin or he’d received a personality overhaul in the few minutes since she’d walked away. Gone was his frustration, in its place a sense of remorse, as though he regretted how he’d treated her earlier.
“Here you are.” He held out two twenty-dollar bills.
Hesitantly, Penelope took them from his hand, offered a smile of her own feeling only a tad guilty about the extra water.
After placing the bills beneath the glass on her tray, Penelope peered around, noticed her mystery man was nowhere in sight.
Too bad. He’d been the highlight of her night.
Chapter Two
NOSOONERHADPENELOPERETURNEDTOHERsection than Obsidian’s neck began to itch, a sure sign that things were about to get ugly up in this bitch.
He scanned the interior with all his senses, seeking the anomaly as he moved along the wall, keeping to the peripheral of the humans.
It wasn’t like he could keep a low profile. By design he stood out, but he wasn’t concerned. The hundreds of cameras throughout weren’t capable of catching his image. In fact, he was only seen by the human eye because he chose to let them see him.
With the itch turning into a raging case of eczema, he called out to hisladearetelepathically. When it took more than a few seconds for Reidar to answer, he shot out another.
A little busy here,was Reidar’s clipped reply.
Obsidian’s gaze swept across the space, bouncing from one face to another as he strolled between machines. He came to a halt when he saw three large males circling the tables, clearly on a mission. To the humans, they looked like normal, everyday people. And whileimpietansdidn’t have demonic faces visible to angels as a true demon did, they lacked a heat signature because they were ultimately dead.
I’ve got a bead on someimpietans. Here in the casino.
Yeah?A soft chuckle sounded in Obsidian’s head.You and me both.
Son of a bitch.
Taayin?
Of course, he was offline, damn it.
Marching toward the threesome scanning the casino floor, Obsidian shot a mental command to the humans to keep their eyes averted. How long it would hold was beyond him considering his focus was for shit. Shielding the humans and keeping them unaware of the demons was usually his top priority. Right now, his only goal was to get these bastards out the door before they located their target. No doubt in Obsidian’s mind they were seeking Penelope.
With a shrill whistle that was beyond the capabilities of human hearing, Obsidian caught the demons’ attention, their beady eyes swinging around to locate the source.
Canting his head to the side, Obsidian smirked.
The one in the lead snarled as it began its march in his direction.
Never one to run from a fight, Obsidian took a leisurely stroll toward the doors leading out into the night, the things following at a fast clip.
Once outside, he glanced left, right. Content the humans weren’t looking his way, Obsidian led the band of merry assholes down the walkway in front of the casino. Rounding a corner, he started down a darkened drive separating one casino from the next.
“Come on, you jackasses,” he muttered, praying he’d keep their attention long enough to get them out of sight of the humans.
Withimpietans, it was hit or miss. The imbeciles weren’t capable of logical thought, so it was an effort just to maintain their focus for longer than a minute. These things were the most vicious of demons if for no other reason than they were idiots. Humans who were turned by a demon morphed into a mindless, soulless monster that couldn’t think for itself, unable to speak. It was used for one purpose, to perform a single task. Sometimes as labor for whatever the demons were working on, but usually instructed to kill. And it always left a path of destruction in its wake. The warriors had taken care of their fair share over the centuries.Impietanswere easy to eliminate because, again, they were idiots. It was the mess left behind that caused the biggest problem. Once stabbed, they dissolved into a thick black sludge that tainted everything.
Obsidian felt Taayin’s presence before he saw the male stepping out of the shadows.
“Sorry, boss man, got hung up with another one,” hislieterraexplained, moving around so that theimpietanswere between them. “These bastards are everywhere tonight.”
Which meant Perfidious was busy building an army. It didn’t surprise Obsidian. In fact, he’d go so far as to say the demon was behind schedule.
