Could this be real? Or was it some elaborate hoax? Maybe cosplay. People did that, right? Didn’t have to be Halloween for people to dress up and pretend to be something they weren’t.
Of course, that didn’t explain the weirdness she’d witnessed tonight when the woman and man from the warehouses had disappeared in thin air.
A memory assaulted her. The night in the alley when Eclipse had killed the man who’d mistaken her for Amber. She remembered the moment he’d looked at her and she’d seen…
Orianna spun around in his arms, staring up into his face. She cupped his cheeks roughly and used her thumbs to shift his upper lip back.
His canines were strangely sharp, but not nearly as long as she’d— Holy shit. Right before her eyes, those fangs descended from his upper jaw, growing longer.
“You’re one of them,” she accused even though it sounded ridiculous. Vampires didn’t exist.
Did they?
“I assure you,sezari, I’m not a vampire.”
Before she could call him a liar, a body slammed into her from behind, forcing her to fall against Eclipse. Her natural reaction was to tear into the rude asshole, so she pivoted around to do just that and found herself face-to-face with the woman who’d told her about the place.
For a second, she was stunned into silence, but her brain finally kicked back online.
“Where’s my sister?” Orianna demanded, stepping forward into the woman’s personal space.
The woman responded with a flutter of thick, black lashes, a slight tilt of her lips. “Oh, sweetheart, I have no idea.”
Aware that several people had turned to watch them, Orianna wasn’t about to back down. “Then why’d you tell me she was here?”
A smile pulled the woman’s ruby-red lips back. “Why else?” She took a step closer, then lifted her gaze above Orianna’s head. “I’m sorry, lover. But she’s here for me tonight.”
“Actually, she’s not,” Eclipse said, his voice a deep, dark rumble.
The woman evidently took that as a dare, because she countered with, “Don’t worry. I’m more than happy to share.”
Share? What the hell was she talking about?
“I don’t share,” Eclipse stated, his big hands resting on her shoulders as he pressed against her once more. Even though she couldn’t see him behind her, she knew Eclipse had lost his playful air. There was no seduction in his tone or his tense body. He was in warrior mode and this woman was his target.
Stuck between the two warring … creatures, Orianna couldn’t seem to move. She was already pressed against Eclipse while the woman with the evil eyes closed in on her.
Screw this. She was not about to be some toy for them to fight over.
“You lied to me,” Orianna snarled.
“I like to refer to it as using information to my advantage.”
“How did you know about my sister?”
The woman smiled devilishly, then tapped a long black nail against her temple. “Hard to miss when she’s a constant thought in your head.”
Frowning, Orianna let the words come together, tried to make sense of them.
“So, what? You were reading my mind?” The woman’s expression appeared pleased, as though she’d wanted Orianna to come to that conclusion. “You bitch.”
“No need to get testy, honey.” The woman laughed softly. “By morning, none of this will even matter.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
As though in a trance, Orianna could do nothing when the woman lifted her hand, skinny fingers tipped with long, coffin-shaped black nails reaching out and teasing her hair. It was the same feeling she’d had outside, as though someone was controlling her movements, rearranging her thoughts. But rather than fear, this time she was overwhelmed with desire.
An animalistic growl sounded from behind her. “Last warning, vampire. Back. Off.”
