Page 25 of Lunar Diamonds (Celestial Magic #1)

RILEY

T his was bad. Really, really bad.

Erin believed Jonathon Aurora had faked his death and was using shadow magic mixed with celestial power. And that he might be messing with us through that blue orb.

If that were true, then he could go lick an electric fence.

But what about the bite mark? Why did it respond to the blue orb like that? It made no sense. I guess my uncle wanted it that way.

Dammit.

Apparently, if a new set of triplets was born while any of the previous set were still alive, the magic slowly transferred into the next generation, leaving a tiny trace behind.

The idea of my uncle’s trace powers blended with shadow magic wasn’t a fun prospect. Due to shadow grimoires being unreadable to non-shadow witches, we had nothing to go on. Erin had some knowledge of shadow magic she’d acquired over the years, but nothing to crack this. So, she made calls to the High Coven to see if they could help.

I shuddered as the sun set on the day, pulling on the black clothing April provided for the diamond mission. Combat trousers, beanie hat, balaclava—the works.

The lunar diamonds would soon be mine.

I sent positive vibes to Preston, willing my missing brother to come home. We had to find him, to be united against the rising tide.

Step by step, piece by piece, we’d all be under this roof. Drake had already begun helping Aaron with the search.

“The colors in the sky are amazing,” Drake said, standing at my balcony doors.

I pulled on my beanie, riddled with fear. “Yeah.” I glanced at the sunset orange, yellow, and red bleeding across the sky, finding no joy in it.

The pressures of my new life bore down on me with renewed aggression, and this uncle thing only made things worse.

I balled my hands into fists, remembering to be strong. Being afraid came with the territory. Fear kept a heavy boot on over-confidence. If I went into this whole thing believing I possessed brass balls, I’d soon trip up.

But why did fear have to come as a set of mean little jaws gnawing at my insides?

It’s not going to be dancing bunnies, is it?

Good. That sounded far too creepy for me.

Drake moved closer to me, placing a hand on my lower back. “Remember to breathe.”

I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Crap…”

He stroked me reassuringly. “I’m right here.”

Despite the licking heat coming from him, my naughty side took a back seat. He still tingled on my lips, the lingering taste of vodka and mint not enough to stir my desires again.

No sex before diamonds for us.

What were we doing here? Moving too fast, getting tangled up in our desires? Reason ringed my mind now, applying the brakes, helping me see a clearer picture without my cock in charge.

Yeah, I wanted him. No doubt about that. But slowing things down made the most sense. We’d only met yesterday afternoon, and that’d been tumultuous. Getting to know each other suited me much better. Anyway, this might only be a lust thing.

Ha! This denial bordered on comedy.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

I turned to face him, seeing glimmers of unease in his face. “About everything.” I went to take him by the hips, stopping myself.

What the hell? People who’d just met didn’t do things like that.

Oh, but they kiss, right?

Damn. I stepped back, my pulse too aggressive. “I just want this over with.”

“I know.”

As the sun disappeared, I gave myself to the full moon, the night sky clear again. Drawing down its energy, my bones humming, every inch of me alive with lunar power. It unknit the tension in my muscles, sharpening my focus, feeding me up like the best meal.

A lunar pizza. Ha! Imagine it.

I opened my eyes, juiced up and still afraid. “What a shame we have to go into those catacombs.”

Drake drew a shaky breath.

“I once read an article about the Paris catacombs—the non-touristy parts. They’re scarily big. Then I made the mistake of watching the movie As Above, So Below with my stepdad.” I shivered, rubbing my arms. “Sorry. Should’ve kept that to myself.”

Drake paled. “I’ve…I’ve never heard of that film.” So many cracks in his voice there.

“Are you?—”

“I’m fine.” He backed away, turning his back.

“Drake?”

He pulled out the ginkgo sniffer, inhaling deeply. “Shit…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He put the sniffer away, facing me again with that illuminating smile papering over the cracks.

I didn’t pry, but I’d definitely touched a nerve.

Goodness me, the temperature was mean. An unrelenting, bitter sea breeze penetrated the warmth of my clothing, setting my teeth to chatter.

We walked toward an area of the beach far away from Rainbow Mile—the main entertainment area of Coldharbour, exactly a mile long. Drake led the way with me behind him, Isaac and Alice making up the rear while April and Aaron kept watch.

Cloaking potion rolled inside me. It’d tasted like sour apples and would last for a month.

Handy.

Ahead of us was a rocky outcrop, the waves crashing into it, spraying foam into the air. At the center, its dark maw barely visible, a dark cave waited to welcome us into a potential nightmare.

I don’t want to go in there…

The air slapped at me like a hundred icy hands. A sprinkle of stars glittered in the rich blackness of the sky, the moon flooding the beach with lunar night. I sucked it down like lemonade, the cup bottomless.

I can do this…

“Sorry for the evil look earlier,” Isaac said behind me.

“What look?” I questioned.

“You don’t remember?”

“Oh, yeah. The glower. Don’t worry about it.”

He clapped his gloved hands together, shivering. “I run hot sometimes. Unlike now.” He groaned. “It’s fucking freezing.”

We reached the rocks, slowly climbing up toward the cave. I kept steady, paying the least amount of attention to the sea’s uncompromising spray. It churned below me, furious and cold and dark.

Drake and I arrived at the cave entrance first with no hiccups. Rather than have Isaac use his sunlight to light the way and possibly overheat the caves, we flipped on our headtorches.

Drake’s breathing seemed labored, the beam of his torch trembling.

I moved up beside him. “Are you okay?”

He turned his head away, sniffing ginkgo. “Yes. Ready?” He wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

Ginkgo powder was safe to use. You couldn’t overdose on it or lose your mind to its effects. It purely served to ease the burden of suffering.

What was Drake suffering with?

“Are you sure?” I asked him. “We don’t have to rush this.”

His forehead creased slightly, no verbal response coming.

“If you need a minute, we can?—”

“I don’t need a minute.” His eyes narrowed as he dipped his head.

“Everything good?” Isaac inquired.

“Yes,” Drake answered curtly.

Crap. I’d upset him. It was becoming clear he didn’t relish the thought of going into these catacombs. More afraid than me.

Did he have a fear of the dark? Small spaces? Should I ask him?

Isaac patted my shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah.”

Drake moved forward. I followed, Isaac and Alice forming a line behind me as we moved through a narrow tunnel. The rocks were slippery and slimy, so we took our time navigating the darkness.

Step by step, the temperature warmed, the roar of the sea falling behind us. The black rocks around me closed in, the ceiling becoming lower. I ducked as we turned a corner, keeping my eyes on Drake for any signs of panic. He appeared to be fine, determined even.

Ginkgo powder worked miracles.

As the walls and ceiling widened again, we were stopped by a heavy iron gate halfway down the curving tunnel. A heavy, padlocked chain strangled the bolt.

Drake stepped aside to allow Alice to pick the lock. She did so with impressive speed, pulling the gate open with a dramatic flourish.

“After thee. Or is it thou?” she said.

Isaac snorted with laughter. “Fuck knows.”

It squeaked and scraped along the ground, my teeth on edge from the sound.

A series of anemic yellow lights lit the rest of the route beyond the gate. At the end of a long stretch of tunnel, we reached a hub area with a metal door and a second tunnel.

The door was heavily locked and bolted with a load of warnings plastered across it. Closed access to the sewers, apparently. Strictly prohibited. A gray power box sat beside it, humming gently, a single Hecate Crystal beside it.

“Why bother providing energy to a disused area?” Isaac asked.

“The city council aren’t known for managing their yearly budget well,” Alice answered. “Stupid dinosaurs can’t find their way around a decent policy.”

She sounded like my stepdad.

I expected Drake to nod at the other, open tunnel. But he passed a hand over a section of wall close to the sewer entrance. “This way.”

It just looked like wall to me, no matter how hard I stared. “Is there something there?”

“Magic,” he said.

I moved closer, Isaac grabbing my arm. “Be careful. We don’t know what it is.”

Drake crouched, touching the ground, his fingertips turning bright blue. “Give me a minute to see if I can find anything else.”

Isaac released my arm, his eyes on the ceiling. “This place feels wrong.”

Agreed.

He looked around with Alice, leaving me close to Drake.

The scrying witch crouched with both hands on the ground. Deep in concentration, his brow furrowed into a frown.

I waited for the next part, as still as the rock around us.

“There.” Drake stood suddenly, placing a clawed hand on the wall. His fingers sank into the rock, a series of clicks following.

“Be careful,” I said, my stomach knotting.

Six blue runes shimmered to life, forming a circle around his hand. Each one was different in shape with small writing at its center. The outline of a door drew itself around the runes—a rectangle, the lines a shimmering blue.

“What does it say?” Alice asked.

“It’s Latin,” Drake said, pulling his hand free. Five indents remained in the rock.

He blew on his fingers, waving his hand as if he’d been burned.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, taking his hand to check him over.

No damage. No burns. Only his lovely copper skin, blocked from mine by my damn gloves.

“I’m fine,” he replied softly.

I met those dark eyes, receiving a pleasant jolt in my chest.

Not. Now.

I gave him back his hand. “Good.”

“Thanks for caring.” He smiled, the move threatening to buckle my knees. Almost. I retained a sense of professionalism, staying focused on the task at hand.

“Can anyone read Latin?” I asked, clearing my throat after.

Isaac thrust his arm in the air. “Fluent.”

There went my jaw making friends with the floor again.

“Don’t look so flabbergasted,” my brother said with an eyeroll. “It’s just a thing I know.” He got to reading. “Okay. It translates like this: And so comes the light of the moon to claim the precious prize.”

“This feels like a trap,” Alice said. “Step away. Now.”

She was right. This place made no sense, screaming “magical trick.”

Perpetrated by our uncle?

The runes began to move, rotating like a dial on a safe.

“Step back!” Drake grabbed me, dragging me away from the door.

A ripple of silvery magic passed over the door, the sound of griding gears rumbling behind it. Slowly, the door opened. The cave shook under my feet, pebbles and tiny rocks trembling under the quake.

“We’re leaving right now,” Alice ordered.

The door stopped, revealing a shimmering veil of silver light. Beyond it was a figure, only its silhouette visible. Thin, arms straight down at its sides, shoulders slightly hunched.

A strange tickle passed through me, my toes curling inside my boots.

“The diamonds await,” the figure spoke with a voice wrapped in distortion. “The Moon is here. Step forth. Find them.”

Look how pretty that veil glimmered. Like moonlight, the only thing standing in my way to increase my power.

They belong to me. Diamonds. Diamonds. Diamonds. Mine.

Dad gave me a diamond ring. He knew I was one special boy. Knew all about my destiny. His son, The Moon. Shining moon of hope and magic. Chosen. Born to be something greater.

My brain whined, shoving Dad away. He wasn’t welcome right now. He left me and lied to me and gave me a diamond and it didn’t make any sense.

Special.

Special boy.

I can be amazing if I step through the door.

The figure beckoned me forward, a blurry finger curled in invitation.

“Let’s go back and think this through,” Alice cut in.

“Good idea,” Isaac agreed.

“Riley?” Drake’s voice, so rich and yummy. But even he couldn’t break my curiosity. My hunger spiked as if I stood before a banquet, the temptation undoing me.

My diamonds. My diamonds.

That tickle inside me wouldn’t stop. I took a step forward, increasingly mesmerized by the veil, the figure, the proximity of my diamonds.

Alice bleated on about leaving. Too dangerous. Let’s investigate. Translation: delay, delay, delay. Why? What did that achieve when the diamonds were right there? She heard the figure. They all had. We couldn’t mess around any longer. Drake found the diamonds, and here they were. Ripe fruit on a tree, ready to be plucked.

I licked my lips.

Tickle, tickle on my skin….

Power. Power. Power.

“Riley?” Drake again.

“Yeah?” I responded.

“What are you thinking?”

“We need to leave, sir,” Alice implored.

I sighed, seeing sparkly jewels in my mind. “Diamonds.”

“You’ll have them soon,” the Bramble sibling replied.

Soon? Who did she think she was to tell me that? Lesser witch. Jealous she couldn’t have the power all to herself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Raining on my parade because of her shortcomings.

The figure waved both its hands.

Did it agree with me? Did it smell the stink of jealousy right here in this briny cave?

They wouldn’t stop me. None of them would stop me.

I summoned my power of illusion, weaving a lie for their eyes and minds. Let them leave, let them believe I’d given in to being marched away from my destiny.

The magic stopped, done. I heard the fake me agree to leave, following them out.

Bye, bye…

The figure dipped its head.

Tickle, tickle…

I strode toward the door, inches away from passing through the veil.

“What are you doing?”

Isaac. Damn.

I spun. “You’re supposed to be leaving.”

He folded his arms. “Your bullshit illusions don’t work on me. Now, get away from the?—”

A grip like iron closed around my arms. Cold and brutal. Two hands shifting between silver and shadow.

Oh. Crap.

Tickle, tickle.

Big mistake.

“Riley!” my brother cried.

A sharp slap of reality struck me too late.

I’d been tricked.

Well done, idiot!

The figure dragged me through the veil.