“This is beautiful too…” Eric murmured.
The amethyst sparkled as he rolled it in his palm. It seemed to absorb the cold moonlight, turning the jewel a deep, dark violet.
“Uh, thanks,” Melody replied.
He fingered the amulet almost lovingly, running his thumb over the intricate golden setting. Eventually she rolled off of him, pulling it gently from his grasp.
“Let’s sleep,” she said, snuggling against him again. “Big day tomorrow. Lots to do.”
Eric nodded and pulled the covers back over them both. His warm, heaving body was as comforting as ever.
Melody was asleep in a matter of seconds, not minutes.
She woke at the crack of dawn. Or what seemed like dawn, anyway.
Looking out the window, Melody could see the sun’s rays diffused with a strange greenish hue. It was a slight tinge, just enough to be noticeable. Just weird enough to cast bizarre shadows over the manor house grounds and plantation fields.
None of it mattered. She couldn’t wait to get started.
Extracting herself carefully from Eric’s sleeping form, she slipped back into her undergarments and snuck out of the bedroom.
But not without first swiping his key.
She figured it was old enough, and close enough, that if she jiggled it around enough it might also open her door. Luckily, she never had to find out. Standing practically naked out in the dimly lit hallway, the doorknob to her room turned the second she placed her hand on it.
Somehow, it had been unlocked.
“Thank heaven for small favors?” she muttered under her breath.
She was sure it’d been locked last night. Then again, she was frantic. Not thinking straight.
Back in her own room, Melody’s ball gown still hung from the same wooden peg. She shimmed into it reluctantly. It was better than nothing.
Get looking, the little voice in her head went off. Now, while everyone’s still asleep.
She left the shoes. They’d be too loud against the manor’s hardwood floors, plus they hurt like hell. A stream of forbidden acts ran through her mind, and Melody began picking out the ones she’d do right now for some jeans, a T-shirt, and a comfortable pair of sneakers.
The hallways was empty again, both sides. She wondered where Lurch had gone, and almost laughed as the hilarious image of him wearing an apron and cooking breakfast popped into her head.
“I’ll have three eggs, Lurch,” she snickered. “Sunny side up.”
Treading lightly, she made her way back down the staircase. She wanted to finish searching the conservatory first, and then go from there. Room by room was her best chance of finding the egg. She’d do the bedrooms last, hopefully later on, when no one was using them.
Melody turned the corner into the conservatory and stopped dead.
The piano was gone.
It seemed strange, almost impossible, that it had been moved sometime during the night. Then again, Evermoore was shaping up to be strange in every way. Its halls, its occupants, and especially its guests.
Hey, you’re one of its guests too, she reminded herself with a smile.
Last night had been crazy. Sleeping with Eric, even crazier. One night stands were never her thing, and she wasn’t even sure that’s what this was. It was more like she’d been terrified, chased through the manor’s darkened halls, and Eric’s strong arms had been her salvation. Her refuge.
“Any port in a storm,” she shrugged, gliding barefoot across the big room.
You did a little more than just pull into port, though.
She sighed. Yeah, going forward it was definitely going to be awkward. Melody certainly wasn’t looking for a relationship, especially given her past track record. Almost every guy she dated ended up disappointing her, and usually in the most cataclysmic of ways.