An Eternity of Eclipse (30 page)

“Let’s have fun,” Ara toasted, laughing while the bass from the music reverberated around us. “Screw the stress of school, screw our work problems, screw our boyfriend issues, screw family drama, and screw life. We may think our lives suck, but at the end of the day, at least our names aren’t DonKi Kong!”

The girls and I laughed and raised our shot glasses higher to that toast.

“Amen to that!” we all cheered.

I took a swig from the shot glass and felt the alcohol burn my throat on the way down. I couldn’t have felt better.
So this is why people have girls’ night out
, I mused. I had never truly understood why people depended on friends so much, but tonight, I got a small taste of it—how much sanity it could bring to one’s chaotic and drama-filled life—and I felt thankful to have this outlet in my life.

People were smiling, laughing, swaying to the music, and I couldn’t help but revel in this upbeat environment by swaying to the music as well. I, along with everyone else in the club, was having a wonderful time getting lost in our own deliriously fun world when a sudden hush presided over the club. It happened as soon as someone stepped into the venue and turned our ordinary world upside down.

Eclipse.

Our small world stopped on its axis when he stepped onto the platform of the club. The spotlight caught him at the right moment, pausing on him and bringing our unwavering attention onto him. Akin to being the only existing sun in our galaxy, our lives at that instant revolved around him and only him.

Tall and powerfully built, with a face crafted to perfection and an aura unmatched by any other, Eclipse stood at the entrance of the club like he was a gift from God to us lowly humans—a gift to showcase what perfection looked like. With his chocolate brown eyes shimmering even under the shadows of the club, his black dress shirt showcasing a hint of his chiseled chest, his dark pants accentuating the impressive length of his tall figure, and a cigarette hanging from his kissable lips, Eclipse couldn’t have looked more like a beautiful Angel come to life.

I had always known that Eclipse had a powerful aura, but at that instant, I felt like I was staring at him through the eyes of everyone in the club. Because of this, I felt even more infatuated by him. Never in my life had I seen someone hold such attention over a room. Though there were several guys in the club who were bigger than him, some who were just as tall as him, and some who were even a bit taller, Eclipse seemed to have dwarfed everyone in sight. If our society didn’t nurture us to be so prideful, then I would be willing to bet that many individuals in the club wouldn’t have any issue with getting on their knees and worshipping him like a God.
That
was how powerful his aura was.

All eyes were on him, and as his eyes searched the room, I felt my heart stop when his gaze found mine. I was sitting in the far corner, hidden under the veil of shadows, but I knew he saw me. With a slow, enticing smile as his brief greeting to me, he took a puff of his cigarette and then took his eyes off me. Exhibiting the grace of a tiger, he glided across the room, sped up the VIP upstairs area as though it was his playroom, and was instantly enveloped in a crowd of beautiful people in the exclusive VIP balconies that adorned the club.

And then just like that, when the sun left us and disappeared into his own exclusive world, the spell was broken and us insignificant humans were allowed to return to our mundane lives. The crazy part about that hypnotic state was that although it felt like we were mesmerized for an eternity, it had actually only been several seconds!

“Oh my God, who was that?” Ara chirped dramatically.

Excited chattering began to reverberate around the club. Although everyone went back to their own world, everyone was now talking about the beautiful eye candy who had gifted us with his appearance.

“You guys felt that too, right? Oh my goodness, I have a boyfriend, but I felt like I cheated on him because I was staring for so long!” Dawn squeaked, nervously sipping from her martini glass.

“Oh my, that was really hot,” Missy remarked breathlessly, fanning herself with her left hand before drinking her next shot.

“A guy like that is dangerous,” Kina commented, taking a sip from her martini as well.

“You got that right,” I replied grumpily, watching as swarms of beautiful girls on the VIP balcony surrounded Eclipse, each giving him bedroom eyes.

A round of drinks was bestowed to the VIP’s, and Eclipse was in the center of all this excitement. Regally, he raised his glass, making an unintelligible toast to everyone up there. The crowd, boys and girls alike, cheered and drank with him like they were all one big happy family. Though there were other guys on that VIP balcony, it seemed that Eclipse was the favorite of the girls. I felt a glare glisten over my eyes while I watched him. That bastard. He wasn’t pushing any of them off of him either! He was just standing there, enjoying their company.

I was fuming. Right when I was beginning to enjoy my night, he decided to dramatically crush my girls’ night. Not only that, but he was also parading a bunch of girls in front of me, not even giving me the time of day while I sat there in silence, staring up at him in misery.

I bit my lower lip.

I didn’t understand the emotions whirling inside me; I didn’t understand why I was so angry to see Eclipse surrounded by other girls. All I knew was that because I felt so infuriated by the scene, I actually excused myself from the table, faked going to the bathroom, and hurried out the backdoor for some fresh air.

“What’s wrong with me tonight?” I muttered to myself, breathing in the cold air. Why did I care so much about what he did? Shouldn’t I be grateful that he was leaving me alone and paying attention to other people? Why was I feeling so territorial and so aggravated? Honestly, what was wrong with me?

I was trying to categorize my thoughts, attempting to calm myself down and preserve some semblance of sanity. Much like all things in my screwed up life, all of that was shot to hell when I heard the door to the club creak open.

“You shouldn’t be outside by yourself.”

I whipped around to find Eclipse standing there behind me, studying me with concern because of the chilly air and soft mist cascading around us.

“It’s freezing out here, and it’s going to rain again soon.” He inclined his head towards the club. It was apparent that he followed me out with the sole purpose of reeling me back inside so that I wouldn’t catch a cold. After disclosing to me the prospect of how I would die, I knew that Eclipse was hell-bent on making sure that I didn’t get sick. “Come back inside. I don’t want you to catch anything.”  

“What are you even doing here?” I asked at once, ignoring his concern about my well-being. The residual anger I harbored for him throbbed within the intonation of my voice.

Even though he appeared slightly put off by my tone of voice, Eclipse maintained his composure. He dutifully pardoned me for my rudeness. With a pleasant smile, he simply answered, “Working.”

I gazed at him bizarrely. “Working?”

He smirked coyly, sparing a glance at the closed club door where the undulating music could be heard. “Clubs are notorious for fucking up inhibitions and letting lust fall loose. It’s ground zero for people giving into their indulgences.”

It hit me when I recalled all those beautiful people he went upstairs to hang out with.

“Those VIP people,” I prompted slowly, all the cards falling into place. “Are they your workers?”

“Co-workers,” he amended.

I arched a curious brow. “Aren’t you a Prince?”

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “They do not know who I am.”

I gaped at him peculiarly, momentarily distracted with this new topic of conversation. “Why don’t they know you? Aren’t you famous or something?”

Eclipse released a patient chuckle. He must have perceived my question as being naïve. “You think every Demon under my rule is gifted with the honor of meeting me or knowing what I look like?” He shook his head. Wind coursed around us, gliding his smoke in my direction. “No, these kids are new. They are baby Demons, and they think I’m new as well. That’s why they were all toasting to me up there. I prefer to lay low and mix in with the crowd as best as I can when I want to relax in a hotspot.”

I gasped loudly when I registered what was happening in that once seemingly innocent club.

“You guys are wreaking havoc over innocent party-goers!” I accused.

“No, my workers are having fun and so are the humans,” Eclipse corrected tightly, showing an unusually protective side over the “baby Demons” under his rule. “Trust me, there are worse in my species and worse hotspots for your fellow human beings. Those kids in there are the safest ones. They are not hurting nor harming anyone. They are just having fun. And as it would appear, your humans are having the time of their lives admiring them.”

I opened my mouth to argue against his point. No intelligible retort came out because what he said was true. Everyone in that club adored the beautiful VIPs in the upstairs balcony, and no one appeared to be getting hurt.

Abrupt anger overtook me. I was instantly reminded of why I was standing outside in the first place. I jarred myself out of the tangent we were on and glared at him again. I couldn’t believe he had pranced around with girls in his arms and was now trying to act like nothing had happened.

“Well, you shouldn’t be here,” I stated, giving him a cold stare. “You should leave right now.”

“Why do you dislike me so much?” he suddenly asked, his face mirroring the same offended expression he had in the apartment. “Am I really that despicable that you can’t even stand to be around me?”

Although his question was like a punch to my gut, I kept myself from reeling.

Why did I dislike him so much?
Did
I dislike him? I knew that I did, but I didn’t find him to be despicable. I only found him to be overbearing, tempting . . . and incredibly threatening.

Unsure of my own thoughts on this, I did what I did best: I feigned nonchalance and simply gave him an emotionless stare. “I think my reaction to you every time I see you speaks for itself, doesn't it?” I jutted my chin at him. “Now I really think you should leave.”

His jaw tightened at my command. He did not appreciate my rude tone. Standing tall and proud, Eclipse gave me a regal stare that was reminiscent of a King who wouldn’t even answer to God, much less a human like me. There was only so much insolence he could tolerate before he was at his wits end. It appeared that the prelude of the end had come for Eclipse in regards to me.

“You don’t tell me what to do, Teacup,” he commanded evenly, steel underlying his calm voice. “No one tells me what to do. Don’t mistake my strong liking to you to me being whipped by you in any way. It would be a terrible mistake for a human like yourself to make in regards to a powerful entity like myself.”

“Why are you here when I specifically asked you not to come and crash my girls’ night? Didn’t you agree to my demands at the apartment to leave me alone tonight?” After I voiced this, fear speared through me. Concern pulsed in my eyes when I realized that he had abandoned something to come here and bother me. “And if you’re here, then who’s watching that oversized ball of fluff?”

OinkOink wasn’t necessarily my most favorite living creature in the world, but he was loyal. I hadn’t forgotten that he was there for me when I was depressed about my impending death. I felt an attachment slowly growing towards him and did not find it amusing that Eclipse was here when he was supposed to be watching the puppy. What if something happened to OinkOink because of Eclipse’s abandonment?

“I came to hang out and relax. I didn’t do anything to you and your friends nor did I crash your night,” he answered swiftly. His face softened slightly at the reminder of OinkOink. “And I tucked OinkOink in. I poked him several times to make sure he was really asleep. He’s completely knocked out. He won’t be up and running again until morning comes. You don’t have to worry about him getting into any type of trouble.”

I nodded in approval at his answer about OinkOink. I, however, didn’t let him off the hook with crashing my girls’ night.

“Hanging out in front of me with other girls counts as crashing my girls’ night,” I told him critically. “You should be ashamed of yourself for not giving me the space I asked for and parading around with a bunch of bimbos in front of me.”

A sardonic brow raised up. “Are you jealous?”

“
What?
” I reacted, flabbergasted by the sudden prompt. I gaped at him in bewilderment. “Of what? You with a bunch of girls? Who are you to me? Why would I be jealous?” I swallowed uncomfortably once I saw the offended glint in his eyes. If I didn’t know better (and if he actually had human emotions), then I would have thought that he was feeling hurt that I could say this to him.

“Did you put a spell over everyone by the way?” I added distractedly, dismissing the hurt look on his face. “Why was everyone so entranced by you when you walked in?”

“No, those are my natural charms,” he said firmly, clearly maintaining composure despite the fact that muscles were now straining beneath his body. He looked tense, aggravated, and extremely pissed off. “I have a very magnetic presence, one that a certain hardheaded girl takes for granted.” He scoffed grudgingly and then, as if insulted by the thought of what I had said to him, his eyes darkened. “You know what, Teacup? I think that you’ve been too spoiled by me.”