Full Moon by W.J. May Page B

of strappy sandals
from a second-hand shop.
    She traced her
fingers along her collar bone. “Something’s missing.” Snapping her
fingers, she disappeared out of the room.
    I stared down at my red polished toe nails and leaned against
the doorframe. Grace had found a gladiator costume on eBay in
Michael’s size. The thought of his body in a fighter’s outfit
created a tingling in my lower abdomen. I was willing to bet
Spartacus had nothing on Michael. Hopefully I didn’t embarrass
myself with staring, or even worse if I’d start
salivating .
    “ Wear this.” Grace held something shiny in her hand. “It’s not
a choker, but we can link the clasp on a shorter part of the chain
and make it look like one.
    The necklace,
beautiful and obviously antique, was made of sterling and shone
like Grace had just polished it. “I can’t wear that.”
    “ I know Roman slaves wore copper, but this is so perfect.
It’s--”
    “ Too expensive.” My fingers had a will of their own and
reached for the silver. The chain was cool, but the aged Celtic
pendant had a unique feel. Heavy but…different. I couldn’t tell if
it was hot or cold. I held it up to the light. The pendant turned
out to actually be some sort of vial with a ruby inside. “Is this
some kind of family heirloom?” I’m not
wearing this -- my luck it belonged to Caleb’s mother.
    “ Just try it on.” Grace took it from my hand and clipped the
chilly metal around my neck. Against my skin, the pendant gave me
goose bumps but warmed instantly. How in
the world did it do that?
    “ Don’t you look adorable, little sis,” Michael said
sarcastically from the hall doorway. “Apparently your idea of
tragedy is quite different than the rest of the worlds.”
    Grace’s
bouffant hairdo blocked my view of Michael’s face. A round shield
covered his body, except for his bare legs and sandaled feet.
    “ Hardy-har-har.” Grace faked a girly laugh. “My shopping
helped you though. You’re quite dashing.”
    “ Half naked in October? Don’t you th—” He froze as I stepped
beside Grace.
    Grace grinned,
a wacky, I-got-you-good smile totally meant for her brother. “Come
on, don’t look so serious. It’s Halloween! Let her be your slave
for a night.”
    Hot. Very hot. Muscles and flesh and
metal everywhere. No wonder the Romans loved their gladiators. He
could have been a god. However, the scowl on his face stopped me
from sharing my thoughts.
    He glanced
back and forth between the two of us. His face then broke into a
half-smile. “You do make a sexy slave.” He walked over and reached
for the necklace’s pendant. It seemed to burn with his touch. His
fingers cooled the skin against my collar and neck.
    My breath
caught. “This isn’t Caleb’s, is it?”
    He chuckled.
Leaning forward, he gave me a tender kiss on the forehead. “It’s
definitely not Caleb’s.” He tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
    My head spun.
I wasn’t sure if it was from the moment as it seemed like something
deeper than just words were being said, or if it was Michael’s
close proximity, or the fact I’d forgotten to breathe.
    Grace sighed
quietly. I guess we should get going.”
    We headed down
the stairs. I stared at Michael’s almost bare back. Nice tight
muscles, smooth skin with slightly protruding boney shoulders. The
guy probably had zero body fat.
    Sarah waited at the bottom with a digital camera. She snapped
a photo and looked at the screen. “There’s a back flash from
Rouge.” Sarah glanced up and stared at my neck, her eyes grew big.
“Michael, did you put the Siorghra on her?” She sounded…almost hopeful.
    I stopped on the second to last step. What the heck’s going on? These
people seemed to be leaving half their sentences inside their
heads. What’s a Senora, or whatever they
called it? There was obviously some hidden
meaning. More strange secrets. I intended to find out, after I
knocked the necklace against the back of the head of
Grace.
    “ Grace put