Eclipse

7.

Drink

I sat in astonishment, unsure of what to do, when a raging flame of anger seared through my body, almost convincing me to attempt to fight through the crowd and follow him. A deep-rooted fear then began to spread as I looked down at the source of the tingling. Above the circle that the bouncer had branded me with was a small rust coloured star enclosed within a circle, each point branching off into delicate wisps. I frowned, running my fingers over the star, but they instantly jerked away at the strange heat that warmed my fingertips, but my arm itself couldn't feel it.

"You're one of his new specimens, aren't you?"

My head whipped up to see a curvaceous blonde woman with sapphire eyes rimmed with thick black lashes that seemed to have microscopic flecks of silver caught in it.

"Who're you?" I asked warily, trying to hide my arm as succinctly as possible.

"Lexie," she replied cheerfully. "And you're Megan, right?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, a frown forming on my forehead. "How...?"

"I've been assigned as your babysitter, if you'd like to call it that. Don't even bother trying to follow him, there's no way you can find him in this crowd. He's got business to handle."

"But—but why—" I stuttered in confusion. If I was to be safe, why would he leave me with a complete stranger?

"Look, Kieran came here to sort out some problems with someone here in private, and I just so happen to be a friend indebted to him, so I'm doing him a favour. Can't you be satisfied with that?"

"Obviously not," I muttered, fingering the pentacle inscribed into my arm. The heat that it radiated had substantially reduced.

Lexie sighed in frustration and poured a coppery liquid into a tall glass before sliding it to me. The rusty fluid seemed to give off a light of its own, shining in the dim lighting. "Drink this," she said with such danger infused in her voice that I found myself instantly sipping the bittersweet drink, the effect immediate.

I nearly slumped forward in a wave of giddiness, and a thought flew loop-the-loops through my mind. Kieran was right... I am a lightweight, I thought dazedly, giggling foolishly without a defined reason.

"Lightweight," Lexie muttered, voicing my thoughts with derision.

"Are you a mindreader or something?" I slurred, leaning over the bar precariously to squint at her face, enough for my breath to dislodge to glitter decorating her lashes.

"No, sugar bun, I'm Nephilim. Mind reading doesn't feature on the catalogue, I'm afraid," she replied blandly. She turned to the side and shouted over the music, "Hey, Jace! Get over here!"

I twisted around to see who she was talking to, when a lanky young man who couldn't be older than nineteen ambled our way, with blonde hair and lively blue eyes similar Lexie's.

"Yeah?" he asked, giving me a dismissive once-over.

"Keep an eye on her. She's with Kieran."

"What's a Lupi doing with him?" the man—Jace—asked with a confused frown.

"Don't know, don't care. Keep her occupied, would you? And be careful, she's a lightweight," Lexie added with a smug smile as she headed towards another customer.

"Who're you, gorgeous?" I asked curiously, cocking my head to the side. Jace stared at me for a long moment, appalled, before glaring at Lexie, who was talking to her customer in a flirtatious manner, with her shirt unbuttoned to show maximum cleavage.