An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) by Con Template Page B

mature, and more dangerous.
    My hands shook as I feigned courage and asked, “What do you want?”
    San grinned and crossed one leg over the other. “We thought we hit the jackpot when that evening crowd came in, but when you and your little boyfriend walked in, you definitely made our night. I only needed a whiff of the two of you to know that you have very special souls. It gave us more flexibility to”—he briefly paused to utilize the right words—“play with the other couples while we saved the two of you for last.”
    I froze the instant he mentioned Eclipse.
    “Where is he?” I asked immediately, anxiety settling into my stomach.
    I had been gone for far too long. Wherever Eclipse was, I knew that he had to be looking for me.
    “Blissfully unaware of where you are,” answered San. He flashed me his razor-sharp teeth. “Don’t worry. We’ll get to him as soon as we’re done with you.”
    My expression hardened. “What do you mean ‘blissfully unaware’?”
    At that moment, a male Demon with long brown hair moved behind me and pushed Phix and Demon Girl away. He wrapped several strands of my hair in his hand and started sniffing at it. His face twisted in mystification.
    “San,” he began softly, savoring in the scent. “Brother, why does she smell so good?”
    “He’s looking for you,” San said to me, ignoring the weird hair-sniffing idiot. He grinned. “But we’re not too worried. It’s a big inn. It will be a while before he finds you. And by the time he does, we’ll be done with you.”
    I swallowed apprehensively, sensing imminent danger in the way he dropped his words. I looked around once more and reluctantly asked the obvious questions. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
    San chuckled at the blatant fear emitting from me. Malice swam into his eyes as he leaned in closer. “Judging by your defense tactics, I presume that you’re already very much aware of what we are. We’ll definitely have to revisit the specifics as to how you know about us, but to answer your questions, you can look at us as recruiters of sorts. We scour the country looking for potential Demons. When we see potentials that we feel could benefit our cause, we get together to persuade them to give us their souls.”
    “You’re stealing souls and forcing humans to become Demons,” I corrected, horrified that there were Demons out there who were torturing humans in order to steal their souls and turn them into Demons.
    Now I knew why our cars broke down so abruptly. It was because of these Demons.
    “We’re recruiting and offering a better life,” he amended shamelessly.
    I scoffed. “Isn’t this job usually a solo job?”
    “Solo jobs take too long.” A cruel smile played on his lips as his eyes landed on the area where the dead couple once laid. “And we all want entertainment as well. The young couple that died here was very religious. Instead of forking over their souls like the good animals they should be, they decided to hold out, which of course meant extreme entertainment for me and my co-workers.” He laughed at the remembrance of the dead couple. “We were given the opportunity to use our persuasion skills, and as I’m sure you have already guessed, we’re very good at what we do.”
    “Did you get their souls?”
    “We had too much fun torturing them, so no, we didn’t. And you already know what happened to the other four.” His typically composed face darkened at the reminder of my intervention—that I was the one who set them free. After taking in a sharp breath to calm himself down, he turned back to me with a controlled smile. “They’re long gone now . . . very lucky, to say the least.” He rose from his seat and inched closer to me. His bloodied fingers ran through my wet hair, transferring the blood of my fellow humans onto me. “You’re our last hope tonight, pretty girl.”
    I whipped my head away, my heart thundering at the way he said this.
    “What were you