And just like that, the feeling disappeared as though released like air from a balloon.
Exhaling heavily, Orianna shook off the weirdness. Likely some drunk guest using the foliage as the facilities, and here she was thinking it was something ominous.
The distinct thump of bass startled her, drawing her attention to the front doors.
It was now or never.
She was standing on the bottom step when one of the two doors flew open and a large guy stumbled out, laughing uproariously. His bloodshot eyes briefly met hers before another snort of laughter escaped.
Quick reflexes were the only thing to keep her from being trampled as he marched down the stairs at an angle. She turned to watch only to see him trip over one of the stone pavers surrounding the bushes. He nearly went ass over teakettle, saved when his palms crashed into the concrete.
Which seemed to amuse him all the more.
“It’s time to get you home, you jackass,” a man said, appearing in the door a second later. He smiled down at her, too. “Have fun in there. One hell of a party.”
Yeah, it looked like it.
“Come on, you lightweight,” the man said to the other. “Upsy daisy.”
While the two rambled incessantly on their way down the path, Orianna scaled the steps to the open door.
Once she’d cleared the threshold, she closed the door behind her and turned to survey the scene. The house looked nothing like she’d expected based on the exterior. There were stained concrete floors, huge stone pillars holding up the ceiling two stories above her. Oddly enough, there were no windows, only solid stone walls, which meant the exterior was merely a shell, a facade to hide the depravity that took place within.
The music blared, seeming to come from all directions, and there were people everywhere. Some lingering against the walls, engaged in God only knew what, while others swayed and gyrated on what she assumed was a dance floor.
Good news was, Orianna’s attire wouldn’t be an issue.
Her attention was drawn to the second level, only a few steps higher than the main floor. It seemed to span out around the space, offering the occupants a higher vantage point to watch the debauchery taking place. And that was the only way to describe the chaos. This was a den of seduction and sin, and those in residence were completely oblivious to everything except each other.
It felt like another dimension, and Orianna wondered how her sister had found this place.If, in fact, she was here.
Something told her the woman who’d given her the tip didn’t have a clue who Amber McKay was, but as she’d told her mother she would do, Orianna had no choice but to follow up.
After all, it seemed to be her destiny.
No matter how much it truly sucked.
Chapter Eight
As Eclipse stood near the back wall, surveying the humans and vampires, the hair on the back of his neck tingled with warning. As usual, he expanded his senses, allowing them to spread out over the twenty thousand square feet before him. He picked through the noises and smells until he located the anomaly. The instant he made the connection, his heart kicked in his chest.
Eclipse felt more than saw the female descend onto the club floor, smiling as though she belonged. She raptly held his attention as she moved with purpose toward the bar, flagged down a bartender, and ordered a gin and tonic.
She didn’t look like a gin girl. No. More like … hmm. He would’ve pegged her for one who liked a good, stout lager like he did. But, as they said, opposites did attract, right?
As he remained on the perimeter of the space, Eclipse wondered what the odds were that he would’ve stumbled upon her tonight. Here of all places. Hell, it wasn’t until a month ago that they’d managed to nail down an address for the elusive Orianna McKay. Then again, technically Orianna hadn’t had one until she moved into the five-hundred-square-foot furnished apartment in the heart of Telluride after taking a job at a local convenience store.
Now she was lingering in a vampire club.
Question was, how the hell had she found the place? More importantly, what were her intentions now that she was here? Clearly she didn’t realize what she’d stumbled upon; otherwise she would’ve run for her life.
With drink in hand, Orianna strolled through the mass of bodies, heads beginning to turn, nostrils flaring in anticipation. After all, vampires had a keen sense of smell to go along with their other heightened senses, and this female was fresh blood. His own fangs tingled with the urge to feed, something he’d put off for far too long. Considering he couldn’t stand the touch of another female, he didn’t have much of a choice, now did he?
As the female weaved through the masses, Eclipse admired her pouty lips, long lashes, a nose slightly tipped upward. Dressed more like a teenager than a grown woman in her short pleated black skirt and skintight, long-sleeve, red T-shirt, she made his mouth water. He even found the black leather tennis shoes an odd yet appealing accessory. She certainly wasn’t like the other females here, dressed in barely there dresses and four-inch heels. No, Orianna was far more alluring as she was.
Eclipse had to give her credit. She was quite adept at pretending to blend when she most definitely did not. Even her casual brush-offs seemed kind, though she couldn’t possibly know the male she’d just waved off wanted to sink his fangs into her neck.
Then again, it was good for all of them that she wasn’t cozying up to this crowd. Due to the fact he’d already bonded with her during their encounter in the alley two and a half months ago, Eclipse couldn’t promise he wouldn’t bring the place down in a crumble of rock and dust if he caught sight of a male getting handsy.
