Page 7 of Haunted Eclipse

But, as always, there was only silence.

I set the picture back on the nightstand and, sliding out of my robe, I settled back to watch Allison DuBois use her psychic powers to solve mysteries for the district attorney. And, as I did every single time, I wondered why the hell she didn’t ward herself and her family.

CHAPTER THREE

I wokeup to Miss P. kneading my stomach. All twenty pounds of her. It was her way of saying, “Wake up! I’m hungry!” I let out an ‘oof’ and eased her off of me. She curled up in the crook of my arm and I rubbed her belly.

“What shall we do today?” I asked, yawning.

“Mrrrr…” Miss P. purred, pawing my hand so I’d rub behind her ears.

I finally pushed myself up against my headboard and picked up my phone, checking my messages. I’d finally changed my relationship status on TouchLine—the social networking site that I had signed up for years ago. I had a few friends there, one or two from my time with Dan, but most were people I’d met online.

“Hey, Miss P.…what do you think? Should I start a page for my business?”

I sighed. Ten new messages. Two were legit—from net-friends who wanted to know how I was doing now that I was back in Midnight Point. The other were from cheesy men with really bad pickup lines. Most were probably scammers, and the ones that weren’t were pathetic. I deleted and blocked those, then answered Connie and Jocko.

After I finished, I closed the app, then slid out from under the covers and padded to the shower. Miss P. let out a miffed snort, then jumped off the bed and sashayed out the door. We’d installed a cat door on my bedroom door so I could close it at night, but Miss P. could still come and go.

I opened my phone and linked it to my Wavez speaker, then hit my morning wake-up playlist, starting with the Scorpions wailing outThe Zoo. I’d developed a lot of my taste in music from my aunts. Astra never minded when I blasted my music, unless she had a migraine, and that wasn’t all that often, luckily.

When Astra had renovated her house a few years back, she had updated all the bathrooms and turned the guest room into a second en suite. Hence, I had a gorgeous full-size walk in shower with shower seat, rainforest shower head, and jets spraying from both back and front.

I slipped off my robe and sleep shirt, then turned on the water and waited for it to heat up. Auntie had upgraded the bathrooms, and she also installed radiant floor heating. So now the floors were lovely and warm. Both Miss P. and Dahlia loved sprawling on them.

As I lathered up, the smell of Vanilla Woodland filled the room. I loved vanilla scents, and spicy, woodsy scents, and the combo was the best. I washed my hair, which hung down to my shoulder blades. It was caramel brown with gold highlights. I’d started highlighting it after Dan died. It felt like body armor—like the tattoo that covered my left upper arm.

The dark red rose with green leaves that covered my upper arm was a tribute to Dan, though nobody but Crystal and my aunt knew that. I wouldn’t have to explain it if I ever decided to date again, because I could say that I loved roses. But it kept Dan close to me every day. I had another tattoo—a pair of wedding bands, interlocked, on my left inner wrist, honoringmy powers as a matchmaker, and on the right inner wrist, a pentacle, symbolizing the magic that flowed through my veins.

After I rinsed off, I stood in front of my mirror. By now, White Zombie was playingMore Human Than Human. As I stared at my clothes, I realized I was bored. I was bored with my clothes, with the sedate cocoon I’d woven around me over the past couple of years. I wasn’t sure what I wanted—I wasn’t even sure how I felt about my feelings.

With a sigh, I shook off my thoughts and pulled out a green sweater dress, a pair of gold sparkly leggings, and my knee high black boots. They were low-heeled, so I could walk on snow and ice, but I hadn’t worn them in a long time. As I dressed, I decided that I’d talk to Astra later. She was always a good sounding board.

As I applied my makeup, I decided to start breaking out of my rut and I went for color instead of neutrals. I sat back, staring at the green and gold eye shadow. It worked, even though I wasn’t used to it. I applied a thicker coat of liner, then mascara. Instead of using a neutral pink for my lips, I found an old bronze lipstick and tried that.

“Well, you wash up pretty good,” I said. Then, deciding to leave it at that, I headed downstairs.

Astra was drinking coffee in the kitchen, glaring at the screen of her laptop. “Fucking assholes. The HSL is at it again.”

My aunts had both been activists, involved in politics and social causes, and Astra still was. They’d brought me up to value the beautiful diversity of the world, and that belief had never left me. I peeked over her shoulder. Sure enough, the Human Supremacy League was once again trying to sponsor a bill to roll back rights for vampires.

“First the vamps, then the shifters and witches…but once they get to the Fae, it will be fuck around and find out,” Astra said. “This bill won’t get anywhere, but we have to be vigilant.It’s so easy for corruption to slide into power, and they usually do so through the ignorance of a subset of the population.” She shut the laptop with a disgusted snort. “Anyway, how are you doing this morning?” She did a double-take. “Wow, you look great.”

“You think so?” I glanced down at my outfit. “I just…wanted to try something different.”

“Well, it works.” She stood. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“I’m not that hungry, so just something light,” I said. “I’m thinking of signing up for a gym membership,” I said.

Astra narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on, love?”

I shrugged. “I’m restless. I woke up this morning feeling like I was a shadow. I thought it might be nice to get out of my rut.”

She nodded, looking like she wanted to say something, but then she moved over to the counter. “Latte or mocha?”

“Iced caramel latte, quad shot.” I hopped up to sit on the counter next to her. “I think for breakfast…some peanut butter on toast and a banana.”

“Sounds good,” she said. “I already ate. I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep.” As she popped a couple slices of bread in the toaster, I flipped on the espresso machine.

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