He stopped the car in front of her building, then glanced over. Eclipse raised his eyebrows, waited for her to elaborate.
“Deflecting. You do it so easily.”
He could’ve made light of the situation, come up with a dozen redirects, but he knew it would only delay the inevitable.
“There’re some things you need to know about me,” he told her.
“Oh, good. Since you seem to knoweverythingabout me.” She smacked her hands against her legs. “But what’s to know? I’ve already learned you’re an angel who likes to hang out in vampire bars. What else is there?”
Before he could launch into the basics, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Reaching out with all his senses, he scanned the surrounding area, locking on the vampires approaching from the east. So much for being in the clear. There were three of them, two males and the female from the bar, and they were teleporting rapidly and closing in fast.
“Hold on.”
Orianna let out a muted squeal when Eclipse put his foot to the floor. The tires skidded on loose gravel but got purchase as he steered out of the lot and back onto the street. Rather than go away from the threat, Eclipse headed toward the vampires, the Bugatti taking off at warp speed.
“What are you doing?”
“Outrunning a vampire,” he told her, hands on the wheel, eyes on the road.
“Are you serious?” Her head turned as though she was attempting to peer behind them.
“She’s on foot,” he told her.
As though he’d summoned her with his thoughts, the female appeared directly in front of them.
Orianna shrieked at the same time Eclipse muttered, “Shit.”
A quick change of plans had them barreling into a corner. Thankfully the car was made for speed, which he figured was the biggest advantage he had over the vampire. Only her ability to dematerialize could allow for her to stay close on their tail and even then, she wouldn’t be able to keep up.
“Is that the woman from the club?”
Despite the fear he detected in Orianna’s voice, Eclipse kept his eyes on the road. “Like I said, she’s no woman.”
Another hairpin curve appeared up ahead, and Eclipse turned into it with ease. When they hit the straightaway, he put the pedal to the floor, sending Orianna back into her seat from the G-force.
“What does she … it … whatever.” Orianna huffed her frustration. “What does she want?”
“You.”
Another quick turn had them heading northwest, in the direction of the mansion. He hated the idea of luring the vampire there, but once they hit thedhira, she’d get turned around. At this point, he was out of options, and keeping Orianna safe was his only objective.
“I don’t understand. Why did she say she knew my sister?”
“She probably read your thoughts. Figured it was an easy lure.”
“For what? So she could get me to the club and feed on me? Seems a bit over the top, don’t you think?”
Yes, in fact, he did. Eclipse made a mental note to talk to Kaj, to see if they could get a bead on the rogue vampires. From what Eclipse could tell, they were much closer to home than he would’ve liked.
“What the hell?” Orianna leaned forward, tried to see in front of them. “What’s going on? Why can’t I see anything?”
“It’s calleddhira.” Eclipse reached over, pressed two fingers to her temple. “It’s a darkness cloak that we erected to shield ourselves.”
Orianna’s eyes widened, likely surprised that she could see through the darkness with no problem. When he removed his fingers, she sat back, expression one of disbelief.
“Who could you possibly need to hide from?”
“Lucifer.”
