Page 64 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
Collective breaths around the table released.
Madeline took her hand, "Madeline Edney. I’m the one who cursed them."
"I heard." She made a tisking noise as she examined Madeline’s outfit. "How about we get you clothes suited for dinner tonight, which will be served in twenty minutes?" She waved a hand at the others. "Roman, get Shane and…" Her eyes narrowed as she took in Antonio. "Get the vampire some proper clothes."
"Mrs. Lanzo,un placer conocerte." A pleasure to meet you. Antonio stood and bowed at the waist.
Evie flattened her lips. "I’m not sure it’s a pleasure yet. We’ll find out at dinner. You’re not allowed to slither into the shadows on my island or bite anyone. If you do, I’ll give my people orders to execute you on sight. You’ll go where I say you can. For right now, stay in the house."
"Sí, señora." He bowed again.
"Mom, we’re not done here," Roman said. "I mean, we’re not done talking to her."
"I say you are." She pulled Madeline to a stand. "Come, my dear. You and I need a little girl time."
What was his mother going to do? She had to have overheard that she couldn’t kill Madeline, but she could hurt her in retaliation for all the latent anger simmering about what’d been done to them. He rose and growled out, "Mom—"
"Silenzio." She held up a finger in warning. "I saidgirltime."
He clamped his mouth shut.
"Last I checked you had a penis. Did that demon change that?" Evie gazed at his lap.
Ky and Flynn snickered.
Roman cracked a smile.
Shane shot them ashut upglare. Nothing could emasculate him faster than his mother in front of his brothers.
Evie glared at all of them. Humor disappeared. She waved at Nova and Vivi. "Get dressed, ladies. Behave yourselves. We’ll see everyone at dinner. No dillydallying."
* * *
Following Shane’s stylish mother,Madeline recognized this was about far more than clothes. No one as controlling as this lycan would allow someone to waltz into her home and mess with her sons without laying down ground rules. She’d be ramping up for attack if her bracelet was lit, but it wasn’t.
Evie led her through a lavish master bedroom, complete with a four-poster bed decorated in gauzy white fabrics, and into a second room that wasn’t simply a walk-in closet, but an entire room filled with clothes.
"I’m a bit of a clothes connoisseur," Evie said. "I see it in a store or online and I order it. Can’t help myself. I’m sure we can find you something to get you out of that. Any color preference?"
"I’m not sure," she muttered as she blinked, overwhelmed by the number of dresses and shoes lining the walls. There were sparkly, formal, sheer, risqué, and short. "I kind of wear whatever I come across." Cheap had been her style for decades, often secondhand store finds. A sparkly, see-through sequined dress caught her eye. All witches adored glam and beauty.
"When was the last time you wore something nice?" Evie pulled a silky blouse away from the rest and petted the fabric. "Something whose fabric caresses your skin and makes you feel sexy?"
She shrugged. It’d been so long ago she didn’t remember. Maybe even before she had Samuel? Maybe before her wedding? She’d never worn silky and sexy at the same time.
"You’re smaller than me so we need something clingy that…" Evie tapped her lip. "I think I might have something." She excavated a black, sleeveless cocktail dress with a daring dip to the back.
Madeline shook her head. She cleared the heaviness from her throat. "I only wear long sleeves. It also needs to provide good cover of my back."
"Why? You’d look fantastic in this. With your tiny waist? And you’ve got enough cleavage to fill the top? This would work." She shook the dress out for Madeline to take it.
"I’m not like you. If I get hurt, it scars. I’m going to guess you overheard before. I’ve been in a lot of life-or-death fights the past few decades. A dress like that is a no. I don’t like people judging me for the scars. Leads to conversations I won’t have."
"Couldn’t you make some sort of potion to heal them?"
"I’m not great at potions."
"I bet Shane doesn’t care about the scars. I don’t care." Evie blinked at her for a moment. "But you care. All right."
