Page 40 of Shadows of Eternity

“I’m not really a Spiderman fan,” Leia remarked as she fastened her seatbelt, “so this better be good. What’s wrong?” she asked when Janae didn’t reply.

“You’re with him again, aren’t you?”

Leia stared at her. “How can you possibly know that?”

“Dark aura,” Janae said curtly. “Do you have a death wish, or what?”

“Let’s not start all thatdark aurastuff again,” Leia said. And then, unable to help herself, she asked, “What do you think it means?”

“That he’s dangerous. Maybe not to you, but then again … ” Janae shrugged. “Just be careful.”

“Are we going to the movies or not?”

With an aggrieved sigh, Janae pulled out of the parking lot onto the street.

“I asked him to come with us,” Leia said, after a moment.

“Well, I’m glad he didn’t.” Janae paused. “Why didn’t he?”

“He said he didn’t want to interfere in my life or keep me from seeing my friends.”

“Well, that was darn nice of him,” Janae said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. You haven’t slept with him, have you?”

Leia felt her cheeks heat as she struggled for an answer.

“You have, haven’t you?”

“Just once.”

Janae sighed as she pulled into the theater parking lot. “You’ll never leave him now,” she muttered darkly.

Later, on the way home, Leia wondered if either of them had paid any attention to the movie. She had felt Janae worrying about her the whole time, imagining the worst. Good thing Janae had blown her off when she’d told her the truth about Rohan. If Janae had believed her, she would probably come running over with a wooden stake in one hand and a bottle of holy water in the other as soon as they got home. Since neither of them had ever mentioned Rohan’s being a vampire again, perhaps her psychic friend had forgotten about it. Either way, she certainly wasn’t going to bring it up now.

“I’ll call you soon,” Janae said.

“Why don’t the four of us go out to dinner when Trent gets home?” Leia suggested. “It will give the guys a chance to get to know each other, and you’ll realize you’re all wrong about Rohan.”

“I’ll ask him,” Janae said. “In the meantime, you be careful, girlfriend.”

“Yes, Mother. Good night.”

Leia found her vampire reclining on the sofa when she entered her apartment. He’d kicked off his shoes and looked right at home.

“How was the movie?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Spiderman saved the day.”

He sat up, beckoning for her to join him. When she did, he slipped his arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Janae. She keeps warning me about you.” She bit down on her lower lip. “A while back I told her something I shouldn’t have.”

Shit.He had a bad feeling about this. “Let me guess. You told her what I am?”

Leia nodded. “But she didn’t believe me, and she hasn’t mentioned it since. I think she forgot about it.”

“Maybe.” But he doubted it. Later tonight, after Leia had gone to bed, he would go to Janae’s house and wipe that little bit of damning information from her mind while she slept. Erasing what he was from her memory would be safer for him. And for her. Fortunately he could manipulate her mind from outside the house, since she wasn’t likely to invite him in.

And while he was at it, he would prevent Janae from seeing that damn, dark aura around Leia.

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