Page 36 of Lunar Desires (Celestial Magic #2)

DRAKE

B lue Orchard sucked Riley’s loving warmth from my body.

Shit. What now?

I faced the cottage as heavy snow fell silently around me. The front door hung open, the top hinge ready to break.

“Come inside, Sweetvoice.” The fae woman’s voice crawled through the air.

Shivering, I did as she asked. There might finally be an answer as to who she was waiting for me.

Dust and cobwebs choked the cottage, every wall lined with shelves filled with rotting apples, rusted pots and pans, and the odd book.

The rest of the cramped space hid in the shadows, only the light of a dying fire providing illumination.

What a shit hole.

I walked through a small corridor with gaps in the floorboards, a couple of dripping candles on rickety-looking shelves lighting the way.

“In here, Sweetvoice.”

I saw two doors, but only one was open. I took that one, finding Jonathon on the bed as before, a pink stone sitting on the mattress, the air cloyed with the stink of rotting flowers.

Three lanterns hung from the ceiling, bathing him in a circle of anemic light, the rest of the room hidden in darkness.

I heard the fae woman breathing.

“What do you want?” I asked.

Shuffling feet, followed by a few seconds of heavy breaths. “To talk. To show you something.”

I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Like your face?”

She tittered. “Patience, witch. The time will come for us to meet.”

Yes. I looked forward to the day I could stick a screwdriver in her eye. “What do you want to tell me?”

“Many things, but tonight I’d like to tell you not to concern yourself with this useless pile of gnome shit.”

“Gnome shit?”

“I take it back. Gnome shit serves a purpose. Not this thing.”

Jonathon let out a whine, his eyes rolling in his head.

“He has been careless, Sweetvoice,” the fae continued. “I warned him to think before he acted. Yet his stupid desperation got the better of him.” She sighed as Jonathon whimpered again. “He promised me moonlight.”

Anger slithered through me. “Moon?”

She laughed again. “The Moon, I should say. My apparent path. The one I smell on your body.”

I cracked my knuckles. “You’ll never lay your hands on him.”

Path. The blue figure referred to Riley as a path.

Shit. What if she was the blue figure, wearing Daniel Croft’s features?

“This cretin was wrong,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

More laughter. “All in good time, my sweet-voiced witch. For now, I will give you a gift.”

Silence followed for a few beats before she spoke again.

Man, I wanted her dead. Fuck the answers. She meant harm, offered dangerous stones to dangerous men. End of story.

“I gave him great power,” she finally said. “And he squandered it. He is nothing but a charlatan, an irrelevant fool I misplaced my trust with.”

I kept quiet, making mental notes as she spoke. Maybe she’d reveal her identity by mistake.

“I told him to be smart. I told him to care for the stones. To rein in his murderous intentions. At least for now. But he almost killed you. He almost killed—” She laughed. “My tongue is too loose.”

Before I could press her to continue, Jonathon rolled onto his back. No, was forced onto his back. Shaking, his arms by his sides. He stared up at the ceiling with terrified eyes, his mouth hanging open.

“What I will tell you, Sweetvoice, is this pathetic man came to me in desperation. Stinking of rotten magic and the faint trace of The Moon. Filthy, full of promises. And I took pity on him because of my, to be frank, equally pathetic situation. Yet it is always the same with these men. Always meek to begin with until you give them a hint of power.”

I heard the drawing of a blade, metal scraping on leather.

“What—”

“Enough chatter,” she cut me off. “Enjoy. Celebrate. Make the most of the days you have without me. For I am coming.”

An invisible blade struck Jonathon in the stomach with a sickening squelch. He sucked in a raspy breath, his head tilting back, mouth stretching in a silent scream, followed by wet sounds, a line slicing through him as the fae woman gutted him.

He coughed up blood, barely moving or making a sound.

Shit. This was grim.

She kept slicing him, tearing into him until his intestines glistened in the hole she’d made.

“Dinner tonight,” she muttered, pulling them out, the tubes hovering morbidly in the air, blood dripping everywhere.

I turned my back, closing my eyes and trying to ignore the disgusting killing noises, focused on returning to Riley, his body heat, and our bed.

Safety. Haven. Love.

“I shall eat well,” the fae woman intoned behind me.

I prided myself on a pretty strong stomach, but the horrible sounds pushed me to my limits. Gagging, I headed for the door.

“You won’t stay?” She cackled, the volume disturbing some of the dust around me. “Suit yourself! Suit yourself! Suit yourself!” Her laughter became a howl, a powerful force propelling me forward in a spin, sending me back into my world.

My eyes shot open, my head throbbing. Drenched in sweat.

Riley stirred, lifting his head off my chest. “What happened?”

I caught my breath, grounding myself back in the room. Early morning light slipped through the gap in the curtains, creating a glowing pool on the bed.

“Drake?” my boyfriend whispered. “Are you okay?”

I kept my eyes on the pool, reaching to stroke his face. “It’s…” A nauseous pulse from the butchering of Jonathon passed over me. “Your uncle’s dead.”

He sat up fully, suddenly very awake. “What happened?”

I told him. Double checked after, but my magic didn’t find him.

He really was gone.

I held Riley tightly as he processed the information. Deep under the duvet, away from Blue Orchard and the horrors of the world.

This fae woman wanted him, but I’d slice her up before she laid so much as her little finger on him. No one would hurt him. No one would ever have him.

Yet my steely words failed to comfort me against the repeated threat echoing in my head.

“Make the most of the days you have without me. For I am coming.”

Shit.