Page 212 of Moon's Promise

Glancing toward the front door, she wondered what was taking Moon so long. He’d been working with Train; wouldn’t they have gotten off at the same time?

Unless …

Larissa worried at her bottom lip, skimming her eyes over the crowd to a covered head in the middle of the room.

Could the warlord be Moon? She had thought his gray sweatpants influencer idea was crazy. Was it to throw her off?

But why keep his identify a secret?

Navigating her way through the crowd, she saw the warlord was talking to the Phantom of the Opera. If she could get close enough to hear, she would recognize Moon’s voice.

“Hi, Larissa?”

“Hi, Lily.”

Dressed in all white, Lily was easily recognizable, despite the mask. Long black hair fell to the middle of her back. She carried herself with the grace of a model and had the height and beauty which made Lily stand out, regardless of how many beautiful women were around.

“You look lovely tonight,” Larissa complimented her.

“Thank you. I wouldn’t have recognized you if Winter hadn’t told me. You look beautiful.”

“Thanks to Killyama. She hooked me up.”

Drawn into conversation with Lily about going on a shopping trip and lunch with Killyama and her sister, Beth, when they were available, Larissa agreed, letting Lily continue to talk while she tried to listen to the warlord and the phantom. So far, the only one talking was the phantom …

“All right, it’s settled then.”

Realizing too late that Lily was walking off and she had inadvertently agreed to a girls’ day out without paying attention to the date, she figured she would have to call Lily tomorrow to find out when.

She twisted to the side and moved around a woman who was dressed like Cat Woman without the ears and another in a sequin gown that reflected the lights from the ceiling. Lowering her gaze at the glare coming off the shimmering gown, she accidentally plowed into a hard body coming from the other direction.

“Excuse”—she instantly became tongue-tied at seeing she had bumped into the warlord—“me.”

She hoped to hear his voice but was disappointed when he only nodded his head.

The warlord’s hands had come to her forearms in reflex when she stumbled into him. Expecting him to release her, she frowned as she tried to look through the mesh of his mask to at least determine his eye color. It was a useless endeavor.

Biting her lip, she took a chance. “Is that you, Moon?”

The gloved hands on her arms tightened.

Was that a yes or a no? Couldn’t he talk in that getup?

Before she could ask again, someone dressed like a pirate came up to the warlord, hitting him on the shoulder.

“Cool costume, Moon. You seen Wizard? He blocked my car, and Willa’s ready to go.”

Stunned that the town’s preacher was dressed as a pirate at The Last Riders’ clubhouse, and his wife was there, too, she reexamined everyone she had met in town since she had moved here. Was everyone in town a Last Rider or joining?

The warlord shook his head yet pointed off in the distance.

“Thanks, anyway.”

The town’s preacher took off in the direction Moon had pointed.

“What happened to the gray sweatpants?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice low. “If you didn’t want to come with me, you just should have said so.” Hurt, she jerked herself free of Moon’s arms. Spinning around, she then found herself caged in by the massive amount of partygoers who were still coming through the door. She squeezed past one masked man, who nearly took her out with his long, pointed nose, and found herself hemmed in at the bar.

Killyama studied her face then looked behind her. “You find out who he is?”

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