“Of course not.” Penelope grinned. “Remember, you still owe me a movie.”
Orianna got to her feet. “That I do. How about Friday?”
“That’s a date.”
Eclipse was shaking his head.
“What?”
“I don’t understand how women can spend five minutes together and become best friends.”
“It’s been more than five minutes,” Acadia said with a smirk. “At least six.”
Orianna laughed. “Definitely six.”
Admittedly, it was a bit odd for her to have forged a bond so quickly, but Orianna couldn’t deny the fact she enjoyed Penelope’s and Acadia’s company. The two women had been persistent, something Orianna wasn’t used to. In fact, aside from Amber, Orianna had never really had any close friends. It was rather nice.
“Well, she’s mine for the time being,” Eclipse told them, linking his fingers with hers.
“See you at morning meal.” Penelope nodded, as though that was a definitive, not a question.
“Yes, you will. I promise.”
Orianna allowed Eclipse to lead her out of the kitchen, then down the hallway to the elevator that led to the third floor.
“I can walk up the stairs,” she assured him.
“Not necessary. That’s what the elevator’s for.”
Funny he should say that. For the first full day she’d been down, Eclipse had insisted on carrying her up and down the stairs. At least he now allowed her to walk on her own.
When they stepped out of the elevator onto the third floor, Zeus was snoozing on the sofa. As soon as he heard them, his head popped up and his tongue lolled out of his mouth.
“Hey, buddy.” Orianna went straight for him, perching on the cushion beside him so she could give him some love. It was the least she could do considering he’d been keeping her company while Eclipse was working.
“This way,” Eclipse said. “He can come with you.”
Orianna smiled at the dog. “You hear that? We get to hang out some more.”
When she got to her feet, Zeus did the same, falling into step with her.
“Where’re we going?”
“Conference room.”
Turned out the conference room was down the hall to the left, beyond a couple of doors and what appeared to be a laundry facility. From what she’d seen, the mansion was more the size of a resort hotel than a residence. Based on what Penelope had told her, it housed seventy people and employed another couple of dozen. Made sense they’d have laundry rooms on every floor.
Eclipse led the way into a large room complete with a conference table that seated ten people. On one wall was a projection screen, and on the table there was a triangular telephone.
“It’s just decor,” Eclipse said, nodding at the phone. “Cimmerian said it made us official. Apparently, humans prefer those things.”
Orianna smiled. “Telephones?”
“That fancy conference shit.”
Chuckling, Orianna skimmed the rest of the room, a little surprised there weren’t motivational posters on the wall. Not that she’d ever visited a conference room before, but she’d watched plenty of television. She knew the drill.
At the far end of the table, there was a laptop, which seemed to be where Eclipse was headed.
