Page 51 of Shadows of Eternity

Leia frowned when she woke in the morning, surprised to find the room still dark, until she glanced at the windows. Sometime during the night, Rohan had used her spare blankets to block the sun’s light.

“Looks like I’ll be needing some black-out curtains,” she murmured, wondering what other changes she might have to make to accommodate her new roommate.

She showered and dressed, then tiptoed out of the bedroom. There was a whole new feel to the apartment, she mused, though she couldn’t explain the difference. Was it merely the presence of another person? Or that dark aura Janae had so often mentioned? It didn’t matter, she decided, as she scrambled two eggs, then popped a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. Her life shouldn’t change too much, she thought. After all, he slept half the day and didn’t eat.

Smiling, she dished up her breakfast and sat at the table. Later today, she’d go shopping for curtains, and maybe a sexy new nightgown or two. Or three.

Leia was looking at nightgowns when she saw Janae in the adjoining aisle. “Janae, hi!”

“Hi! If I’d known you were coming to the mall, we could have ridden together.”

“It was kind of a spur of the moment decision,” Leia said. “Wanna grab some lunch later?”

“Sure.” Janae waggled her brows at the nightgown in Leia’s hand. “Sexy.”

Leia felt a blush climb into her cheeks. “I hope Rohan thinks so.” She frowned as a shadow passed behind her friend’s eyes. “Learn to live with it, girlfriend. He’s moving in with me.”

Janae blew out a long sigh. “Oh, Leia.”

Leia frowned. Since Rohan had wiped Janae’s memory of what he was, she hadn’t expected her friend to still object to her dating him.

Janae came around the end of the rack. Lowering her voice, she said, “You need to dump him. Now.”

“Why would I do that? I’ve never been happier.”

Janae glanced around. The store was having a lingerie sale and there were women young and old alike pawing through bras and panties and nightgowns as if they were going out of style. “We can’t talk about it here. Are you almost done?”

“I guess so.” Curious now, Leia quickly paid for the three nightgowns she’d decided on. They took the escalator up to the food court, ordered Chinese food, and eventually found a table for two.

“So, what’s going on?” Leia asked, setting her packages on an empty chair.

“I can’t tell you anything except he isn’t who you think he is, and you’re in danger every minute you spend with him.”

Leia sat back, stunned by what Janae had said. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Janae said earnestly. “But I promised Trent I wouldn’t tell anyone. Not even you.”

As soon as Janae mentioned Trent, Leia blew out a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what Trent had told his wife, but she was pretty sure he hadn’t told Janae that Rohan was a vampire.

Rohan was still at rest when Leia got home. She unwrapped the new blackout curtains and spread them over the back of the sofa. Maybe he would help her hang them later. She left the nightgowns in the bag so as not to ruin the surprise.

It was hours until sunset. Maybe he’d rise early. He had often done so in the past. What was it like to go to asleep and never dream? To just fall into oblivion? She shivered, thinking it would be scary to be awake and aware one minute and trapped in utter darkness the next. He’d mentioned he used to sleep in a coffin. Why did he stop? Thank goodness he had. That was just too creepy to even think about.

After grabbing a soda out of the fridge, Leia sank down on the sofa and switched on the TV. She had just found a movie she wanted to see when the station broke in with a news alert.

She was about to change the channel when the reporter said, “ … completely drained of blood, the body was found in a culvert. The victim had no identification. If you have any information, please notify the police immediately. In other news … ”

Leia sat back, chilled to the bone. A body. Drained of blood. Oh, Lord. She switched the TV off, not wanting to hear more.

Forty minutes later, she was still sitting there when Rohan, clad in black jeans and shirtless, entered the room. He stared at her face, listened to the erratic beat of her heart, and wonderedwhat the hell had upset her. “Leia?” He repeated her name when she didn’t respond. “What’s happened?”

She looked up at him then, and quickly looked away.

What the hell?He let his mind brush hers and then he knew. Some vampire had left his kill where it could be found.Dammit.That was going to put Trent Frumusanu on his tail like a redbone hound on the scent of a coon, sure as hell and damnation. “Leia, I swear on my love for you, it wasn’t me.”

She didn’t say anything, but the relief on her face was evident. “I didn’t really think it was, but … ” She looked away but not before he saw the guilt in her eyes. Not that he could blame her. As far as she knew, he was the only vampire in town. He’d thought so, too, but apparently that had changed.

He was about to ask if she wanted to talk about it when the doorbell rang. A vicious oath escaped his lips as he caught Frumusanu’s scent.Well, hell, he thought irritably.That didn’t take long.“I’ll get it,” Rohan said. “It’s Janae’s husband.”

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