Obsidian Music (Lion Security Book 3) by Scarlett Dawn

because that was the understatement of the century.
    Pulling into the parking garage of the hospital, I vaguely wondered what the staff would think of us. We hadn’t been to this hospital before. No one had changed, so we all wore blood on us somewhere since we had checked the pulses of the dead men, even when it was obvious they were goners. I fumbled inside a side compartment, hoping…yes, there were some moist toilettes there. Most of the cars at our house had them since Nikki and Beth always seemed to have sticky hands.
    We hopped out of the car, and I took a few and passed the package along to Daniil first since his face had blood splattered all over it and more disturbing things in his hair from when Ember had blown away the last guy.
    He blinked at me, and I muttered, “Your face. The nurses will think you need help if they see you like that.” Our clothes couldn’t be helped. I had a streak of blood on each pant leg Ember had touched, but we could at least clean our skin. Thankfully, my boots were black so nothing I had stepped in would show too bad.
    He nodded mutely, pulling a few out and handing it off to Eva as the other vehicles pulled up next to us. And so the moist toilettes were passed to each individual that got out of the cars, all of us cleaning ourselves the best we could without a mirror as we walked toward the stairs, not even going to the elevator since our group was too big. We dumped the now rust colored moist toilettes in the trashcan by the steel door and made our way up the stairs.
    I glanced back and turned back around, walking next to Daniil. This was one hell of a group. Everyone looked scary as hell, rightly so, with almost all of them trained killers and half the group with mobster to their name. I was betting the receptionist was going to hit the ‘oh shit’ button.
    I was right.
    About ten cops showed up immediately after we entered the hospital, following us as we made our way through the hallways to the waiting room where the freaked out nurse had pointed a finger toward. It surprised me the cops were already here. I figured it would take at least five minutes for them to arrive. I tried to look as harmless as possible, but it didn’t help much. Only a heavy dose of miracle would help our group.
    And then, I saw why we already had ten cops on us as we rounded a corner to a large open sterile area with seats spread all over, only two of them occupied—one with an old man and the other with a teenage boy. They both looked freaked. As did the other five cops—new ones—who were already standing against the walls of the waiting area.
    They all stared at the lone man who paced back and forth from one wall to the other, his muscles bulging on his bare torso, his arms crossed, his black cargos riding low on his waist, and his black army boots pounding against the floor. His face was turned down toward the ground, his red-streaked black hair dangling around his face, hiding his features. It didn’t help much that he had blood all over his hands, forearms, chest, and stomach, stalking the floor like a caged lion.
    Grigori.
    Our group stopped in our tracks, everyone bumping into each other. I got an elbow in my back, but ignored it, wondering where I could sit that would be farthest away from him. I wasn’t the only one with that idea because, suddenly, a portion of our group darted away before I could and took all the chairs that seemed like a safe distance.
    Daniil leaned down and pressed a kiss to my temple. “I need to speak with my son. Stay with Roman and Zane while I do.”
    I sighed and stayed close to Roman and Zane, as he said. The three of us waited for Grigori to pass in his stalk before we darted behind him to chairs against the wall in the middle of the room, facing outward, giving us a fine view of everyone. The ten cops added their numbers to the other five, standing around the square room, taking us all in, looking dazed and frightened.
    Their faces became even more