“Actually, I can’t,” he muttered.
The flippant comment only pissed her off more, had her pivoting around and marching right up to him. He was tall, she’d give him that, which made her attempt to go nose to nose with him impossible.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” she ground out, nailing him in the chest with her finger. “You seduce me, then bring me here for what? You think I’ll just fall into your arms? Maybe break down into tears because you say vampires are after me and my sister’s dead? I’m not that girl, Eclipse. I don’t need or want your protection.”
He didn’t move, just stared back at her, those iridescent silver eyes so…
“I’m not that girl,” she repeated. “I’m not going to fall apart.” Even as the words slid past the lump in her throat, Orianna couldn’t stop the tears that formed. “Why would you say that? That my sister’s dead?”
Damn it.
His silver swirling eyes remained on her, and she could see his sympathy, knew somewhere deep down that he wasn’t lying.
Truth was, Orianna had suspected something had happened to Amber. She used to see visions of her sister all the time, but those had dried up sometime in the past two years. Every day she waited anxiously for another to appear, feeling defeated when it didn’t. But that didn’t mean she would give up. Not until she knew for certain.
“I’ll help you any way I can,” Eclipse whispered.
“You can still help me find her. Even if she’s … dead,” she forced out of her constricted throat.
Eclipse put his hands on her shoulders before pulling her into him.
Instinct made her want to pull away, but she couldn’t, her body drawn to him like a magnet, his warmth something she needed at the moment.
It felt strange to be held by anyone. She honestly hadn’t expected it, but now that she was in his arms, Orianna found it was the only place she wanted to be. No, it didn’t make any sense at all. She’d long ago stopped relying on people to provide comfort or safety. She’d spent far too much time alone in the world for that. But she wasn’t alone here, now, with him. Eclipse was … he was a comfort she had longed for and never expected to find.
“I’ve got you,sezari.” His arms tightened around her.
It was then Orianna realized her knees had weakened, the weight of the world she’d been carrying for so long finally too heavy. How long had it been since anyone had hugged her? Held her? Wanted to make her feel safe?
Forever and a day, she realized.
Was it such a bad thing to want someone to lean on? To know that there was a safe place to fall when she couldn’t keep going? It was such a pleasant thought, she wanted desperately for it to be real. Him, anyway. As for Amber…
“I know you think I’m in denial,” she said, her cheek pressed to his chest. “But until I see her for myself…”
Eclipse brushed his hand over her hair. “I know.” His lips touched her forehead. “Stay with me,sezari. Don’t go.”
She nodded, more to give herself permission than to tell him she would. The mere thought of going back to her cold, lonely apartment made her chest ache. Then, of course, there were the… God, was it true? Vampires were real? And now they were out to get her?
“Come on,sezari. I’ll take you upstairs and get you something to eat.”
Her legs felt strangely numb, but Orianna managed to walk as he steered her up the stairs into the main part of the house. Like before, there were people everywhere. Several like Jeffrey and Phillip, who she assumed were staff who took care of the house, all dressed in black and white, working diligently in the kitchen that seemed to be the heart of this home.
“Good, you’re here.” An enormous man wearing sunglasses identical to Eclipse’s marched toward them, his attention on his cell phone.
Orianna’s heart stopped beating for a second as he approached, her legs automatically shifting back until she banged into Eclipse. A strange tingle of awareness hummed beneath her skin. As though she’d met this man before. No. She hadn’t met him. She’d seen him. In a vision.
When he looked up, Orianna saw his expression change as though he was surprised to see her. She did her best to hide the slight tremor of fear that trickled down her spine. She had no idea what it was about him that stirred the trepidation.
“Obsidian, I’d like you to meet myamsouelot,Orianna McKay. Orianna, this is my brother Obsidian.”
“You recently mated with Penelope,” Orianna said, surprised as the words tumbled out of her mouth.
Obsidian’s shoulders squared as he went on the defensive. “How do you know that?”
Damn good question. “I … I don’t know.”
He regarded her for a moment, kept her locked in place. Orianna couldn’t see his eyes, but she got the feeling there was a lot of glaring going on behind those dark lenses.
