Page 22

22

Vincent

I was drawn to Luna as I entered the tavern, like the tide to the shore.

She and Darius were finishing their meal.

I slid through the mass of people to get to the bar.

Someone was settling up, allowing me to snag an empty stool.

Seraphina gave me a look as I sat.

“I didn’t know you were coming.” She glanced pointedly at the table where Luna sat with Darius.

There were no tears.

Luna looked concerned, but that was to be expected.

Maybe things were going better than anticipated.

I shrugged.

“I wanted to be here if she needed me.”

Seraphina’s brow furrowed.

“If she needed to tell you she failed? So you can decide not to write her recommendation?” Her hands moved to her hips as she continued.

“Or if she needed you because she’s in tears, since you’re the one who made her confront the father who abandoned her?”

Her words stung, but they were no more than I deserved.

“I told Luna, and I’ll tell you, I didn’t know how bad her relationship with Darius was when I asked.” I held up my hands at her skeptical look.

“I knew it wasn’t great, but I had no idea…” I waved my hands in a general gesture of the mess Darius had created.

“I tried to get her to drop it, but she wouldn’t even discuss it. So now I’m here to do what I can for a person I care about, who I put in a terrible position.”

Seraphina’s eyes were still narrowed in my general direction, but the words that came out of her mouth made me feel like I’d passed a test.

“What can I get you?”

“A Solstice Sip, please.”

She shook her head.

“Now you’re sucking up.”

I laughed.

“I wouldn’t have recommended them if I didn’t think they were good.”

“You’re saying not all your recommendations are purchased with a bargain?”

“Not all.” I hedged, not wanting to relive the painful details to Seraphina.

“Desperate times and all.”

“Fine,” Seraphina said, mixing the drink.

“How did you two meet?” I asked.

Seraphina was awfully fond of Luna for a boss.

She also seemed to know quite a bit about her.

“She ended up here her first day in town. People weren’t traveling, and business wasn’t good.” Seraphina shrugged.

“We chatted all day. Luna is the most welcoming person I know, which is why it bothers me so much that someone has been anything less than welcoming to her.”

I nodded in understanding.

“I get that.”

“This is the first time he’s come here, though,” Seraphina said almost to herself as she passed me my drink.

“He only met her for moments at the inn when she arrived in town. He didn’t even take her to the cottage when she accepted. He let Byrd take care of it, a man who hated that anyone was there to watch him fail Cliff House. ”

“Well, here’s to him being more welcoming and Luna deciding if she’ll accept it.”

Seraphina glared at me as I raised my glass.

“She has to accept it to keep her deal with you.”

I sighed and took a drink.

She wasn’t wrong.

I’d tried to discuss breaking our agreement, but Luna hadn’t been interested.

I didn’t know what to say to her.

Part of me wanted to tell her to drop the whole thing.

I’d still write the article if we could get the blood magic taken care of, but as Ambrose had said, the article wouldn’t help if there was magic driving people away from the inn.

I didn’t need her to do this thing with Darius for the article.

I could find another way or wait for another feature piece.

When had I become so protective of her?

I’d been so incensed when I’d thought she was using me for the recommendation that I could admit I hadn’t cared what it would cost her to uphold her side of our bargain.

But I’d known I’d misjudged her even before I gathered the courage to ask her about it.

Luna wasn’t the type to so blatantly use people.

The memory of her slipping her arm around me in the dress shop came to mind.

All it had taken was a desperate plea from my sister, and Luna had feigned feelings for me to save my pride.

I’d never met someone so genuinely interested in helping others, sometimes at the expense of herself.

I was glad she had someone like Seraphina looking out for her.

Someone who helped keep her level while pushing her to take risks, like with the inn.

The light touch of a hand rested on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I wasn’t sure you’d make it,” Luna said.

I glanced at the table she’d been seated at with her father.

He was gone.

“I told you I would.” I searched her gaze.

She seemed alright, if a little dazed.

I wanted to know everything they’d spoken of.

I wanted to know everything about her life.

I swallowed.

That was new.

I’d been semi-aware that my feelings for Luna had shifted throughout this bargain, but I didn’t think I’d contemplated how drastically.

She smiled at me, and I knocked my glass backward, almost spilling it.

Seraphina laughed to herself as she cleaned a glass behind the bar, a knowing look in her eye.

I ran my hand through my hair, trying to gather my scattered thoughts.

I still had no idea where Luna stood.

“I’m glad you did,” she said earnestly.

“I need to talk to you.” Her face shifted.

I wanted to say it was with embarrassment, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Do you want to sit?” I asked, offering her the stool.

“No, I’ll wait for another to open.” She shifted on her feet.

“You can have mine, Luna.” An older man sitting on my left stood.

“Thanks, Earl. You sure?”

“Yeah, Daisy is expecting me.” He patted her shoulder while giving me a suspicious glare reminiscent of Seraphina’s.

I didn’t connect the dots until he was already gone.

“That’s Daisy’s husband? The Daisy I work with at the paper?”

Luna nodded, and Seraphina slid her a Solstice Sip.

Then Luna turned to me, her face serious.

“What is it?” I asked.

“If it didn’t work, it doesn’t matter. We don’t have to try again.” Her lip curved into a hesitant smile, and she twisted one of the silver strands around her finger.

I’d never seen her look so nervous.

“You’re killing me, Luna. What happened?”

She laughed, which seemed to finally break her nerves.

Taking a big gulp of her drink, she explained, “Well, he offered exactly what I needed before I could even ask. My name day is next week, a day I’ve never spent with him, but he asked me to come to Pierce House for a celebratory meal.”

“That’s great, right?” I asked.

Seraphina was listening over Luna’s shoulder.

I glanced at her.

“Isn’t that great? ”

Seraphina’s glare still cut deep, even with our tacit peace.

Then Luna’s hand was on my cheek, pulling my face back to hers.

“Focus, Vincent.” She seemed to realize she was touching me quite familiarly and snapped her hand back to her glass.

My hand raised of its own accord to touch the place her palm had been.

Seraphina groaned.

“Keep telling the story before I lose my appetite.”

Luna’s face reddened.

“Well, I said I’d accept, but I wanted to bring someone. He seemed to know who you were, or at least your surname. Anyway, he asked who you were to me that you’d be invited to this event.” She coughed, her nerves showing again.

“And, well, I told you I was a terrible liar. The only thing I could come up with was to say you were important to me and that you would be reassuring to have with me when I didn’t know what to expect from him and my grandmother.” She paused, taking another long sip of her drink.

“Anyway, I’m pretty sure he now believes you and I are seeing each other…romantically.”

Seraphina laughed, leaning forward on the bar before I could say anything.

“Why does he believe that, Luna?”

The glare Luna leveled at Seraphina was just shy of adorable.

She tried her best to look menacing but couldn’t hide her affection for even a moment.

“Fine!” She waved her hands around.

“He believes that because that’s what I told him. I told him we’ve been seeing each other.”

Seraphina’s cackle echoed off the rafters as she headed to the kitchen, likely to check on an order.

This left Luna and me staring at each other.

I didn’t say anything, and her cheeks flushed again.

Words still eluded me.

I knew I needed to find some soon but couldn’t decide which ones.

She said she didn’t like to lie, so she’d said we were together because it felt close to true.

What did it mean that saying we were seeing each other didn’t feel like a lie to her?

Hadn’t I been thinking the same?

Too many words were fighting for space, and none of them made it out.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to go under such circumstances,” she stammered.

“I can look for evidence for you.”

I reached for her hand and her gaze focused solely on where our skin touched.

“You will not go alone,” I said.

“I will happily take you—be your date for your name day meal. Are you sure you want to search his office? We don’t have to…”

She squeezed my hand.

“I have to. He said he wants to start fresh.” That was nice, but it seemed oddly out of the blue given what she’d told me about the last twenty-some years of her relationship with him.

She must have seen the questions on my face.

“I need to know if I can trust it.”

That, I understood.

“If he’s trying to change the course of our relationship, I need to know if he’s secretly working against half-fae and their magic.”

“Of course, Luna. We’ll do whatever you want.”

Her returning smile was shy as her hand fell to her lap, breaking our contact.

I hoped my intention was clear, but I also was not prepared to scare her off with some declaration of my feelings.

That was what I’d been trying to get to the first time I’d tried to break our bargain.

I wanted to tell her that she meant more to me than our stupid deal.

If we could move past our disastrous first meeting, whatever we might have was worth more.

She’d had no interest in the topic then.

You didn’t say any of that.

My wind swirled in my chest as if helping me see the obvious.

Well, that was a good point.

I didn’t think I had any better words now to express myself, and I didn’t have time to find them as she continued.

“Wonderful,” she said.

“The meal is next week. ”

I nodded.

“Are we still good to come by and test your magic tomorrow?” Ambrose and Evelyn had made this particular plan with her, but I wanted to be there.

As before, I wasn’t sure either of the academics were best suited for tests where the expected outcome was outside their control.

“Yes, I’ll have a fresh loaf of bread ready for everyone, and we’ll see what we can do.” She smoothed her skirt as if in reassurance.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll head home. It’s been a long day.”

“Do you want me to walk with you?”

She waved me off.

“No, you stay. It’s a quarter moon tonight. I need the walk and the moonlight to clear my head. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I wasn’t sure how things had worked out the way they had, but I couldn’t help but think they’d gone entirely in my favor.

It only occurred to me after Luna left what we’d actually need to do at Darius’s house.

She was bringing me to snoop.

At least, that had been the original plan.

We’d need to get into his study and search for any evidence of his attempt to bribe the governor to stop the school from being built.

Luna said she still wanted to do it, no matter her father’s apparent change of heart.

That part, I understood.

I’d want to know, too, if he were being nice to my face but secretly tearing down everything I believed in behind my back.

Luna’s words about wanting me there with her warmed my heart as much as they sent chills down my spine.

She wanted me there in case she learned the worst.

She wanted someone who cared about her to be with her if the worst was true.

I downed the rest of my drink.

I’d do it, of course; I’d prioritize her, but if that occurred, it would also mean I had what I needed to expose him.