Page 98 of Shadows of Eternity

Josiah released her immediately, muttered an oath as Rohan sank his fangs into his back. And then he was gone.

Leia stared at Rohan. His eyes were red and angry, his lips stained with Josiah’s blood.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Are you?”

He regarded her through narrowed eyes. And then he grinned. “We make a hell of a team, you and I.”

“We do, don’t we?” she said, linking her arm with his.

“He’s not going to give up. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, But I’m not afraid anymore. Tomorrow’s supposed to be our wedding day,” Leia remarked. “I think we should run away and get married. Oh!” she exclaimed. “I have to call Rosemary and Bonnie and Helen and tell them tomorrow isn’t happening. How could I have forgotten? I hope Rosemary didn’t spend a lot of money on a new dress.”

“Too late to worry about that now. What about your folks?”

“We won’t tell them, or anyone else. It’ll be our secret.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Maybe I’ll ask Trent to be my best man.”

“I don’t guess it would be a good idea to invite Janae as long as there’s a chance Josiah might show up.”

“Probably not.”

“What if he does show up?”

“We beat him once. We’ll beat him again,” Rohan said with a careless shrug. And then he laughed. “It’ll be the most unusual wedding of the century. A hunter being a vampire’s best man.”

They were walking back the way they’d come when Rohan caught the scent of fresh blood. They found the young couple they had fed on earlier under a pile of seaweed.

“He loved her very much,” Leia murmured. “He proposed to her earlier tonight and she said yes. She was pregnant.”

“How do you know all that?” Rohan asked. He knew it, too, having read the girl’s mind.

“I don’t know. I just do.”

“You’re pretty powerful for a fledgling,” he remarked. “You read his mind while you were feeding without even realizing what you were doing. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because I carry Josiah’s blood and you carry his through mine. I think that’s why you didn’t crave blood the moment you woke up. Why you’ve accepted all of this so well.”

“Why did he kill them?” she asked, her voice tinged with sorrow. Three lives lost for no good reason. Tears stung her eyes as she thought about the baby that would never be born. “Why?” she asked again.

“It’s what he does.”

“You won’t ever let me do that, will you?” she asked, her eyes haunted.

“No, love,” he said, drawing her into the comfort of his arms. “But I doubt you’ll ever want to.”

“It’s so sad,” she murmured. “Shouldn’t we notify the police or something?”

“No. Someone else can do it.”

“I’d hate for a child to find them like that.”

Rohan grunted softly. “You’re right. I’ll give the cops a call when we get back to the house.”

After an anonymous phone call to the police, Rohan joined Trent in the Winchesters’ kitchen. Taking a seat across the table from the hunter, he said, “How would you like to be the best man at my wedding?”

“Are you serious?”

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