Page 46 of Lunar Diamonds (Celestial Magic #1)

RILEY

I popped up at the train station on wobbly legs.

“What the hell?” I collapsed, landing hard on my backside.

A train approached the platform, a few people directly ahead of me.

Dad? The shade was my dad?

My guts roiled, heavy nausea keeping me on the ground. The pain in my temples spread behind my eyes, which watered with grief. Stinging, ready to flood this station.

My dad. A shade. But… But no. No, no, no. This wasn’t possible. He… He?—

“The Moon!” a woman yelled.

The train rumbled past me, slowing to a stop.

I saw him , flung over a big guy’s shoulder. Drake. Despite the sack over his head, the rest of him was unmistakable, his minty scent exclusive to him.

“Stay where you are!” the same woman commanded, shadow magic in her hands.

Rhianna Kingwood, her bob fluttering in the breeze, her mean eyes glued to me.

And her cronies had Drake.

Rhianna laughed. “How is it this easy?”

Vile piece of crap.

Adrenaline kicking in, I jumped to my feet. Seeing Drake in that position stoked a rebellion against my emotions. I stomped a heavy boot on the internal anguish, saving it for later. Shaking, terrified out of my mind, battle-ready.

Fight now, cry later.

I pulled her toward me and threw her over the station roof. My turn to laugh as she squealed, a satisfying thud following.

Unfortunately, I knew that wouldn’t be the end of her. Not by a long shot.

Her crony barked her name, dropping Drake and darting off to help her.

I pulled Drake toward me before he hit the ground, catching him in my arms, and falling back on my arse again. I gritted my teeth against the impact, brain rattling in my skull.

Drake lay across me, snoring and heavy.

I pulled the sack off his head and touched his face, tears breaking free. Tremors cracked my walls, colliding with my sparkle. Any moment now, I’d fall apart.

Dad. Drake. Pressure, pressure. Too much, my body and soul unable to bear its weight.

How the hell am I here? a smaller voice wondered.

The bond broke. Right? I’d felt it.

That stitch throbbed under my ribs, as if in response.

“Get me the fucking Moon!” I heard Rhianna bellow.

Time to go.

I cast about me, planning our escape. The exit was too far away. A time waster. Rhianna would catch up to us in no time.

“This train is ready to depart,” the robotic station voice announced.

Instantly, I scrambled from under Drake, getting to my feet. I dashed into the empty carriage, pulling Drake toward me.

“Please mind the closing doors.”

The door closing alert beeped, Drake sliding across the gray floor to bump into my legs.

I crouched down to him as the doors closed, the train pulling away.

“Why did you leave me?” I whispered, heat pricking my eyes.

I swallowed to clear a lump in my throat, the things I’d crushed rising once again.

The train gathered speed, rocking gently as it made its way out of Coldharbour.

What now? What the hell was my plan? I had no phone, no money, and my jumper hung open from the shade’s slicing.

Dad. Drake. Pressure, pressure.

Oh, damn.

I slumped forward, burying my face into Drake’s chest.

Hecate give me a sign. Any damn sign to point me in the right direction.

“Please…” I breathed into the man stealing the threads of my heart. “Please show me the way.”

“Riley?”

Slowly, I lifted my head to see the speaker.

The blue figure stood there, fully in the shape of my father. His body flickering like it was on fire, the black eel stretched down his left leg.

“Dad?”

“Son…” he said. “Moon… Son. My son.” He reached out a hand. “Son… Give me… Give me. Give me…”

I got to my feet, tears and snot running down my face. “What happened to you?”

“She… She… Moon get me back. Give Moon…” He pointed at me. “Mine. Mine. Mine.”

“She? Who? I don’t understand.”

He vanished as the train sped into a tunnel.

I wiped my eyes and nose. “Dad?” I walked forward. “Dad?”

No answer.

“Dad?”

The train rocked harder. I listed sideways, grabbing a seat for support. “Dad?”

My waterlogged brain couldn’t take much more. Hot tears rolled free, my throat closing around a barbed lump.

“Riley?” I turned in response to Drake’s groggy voice.

He sat up, rubbing at his head, those dark and haunting eyes on me. “Are you alright?”

I ran to him, launching myself into his arms, scraping my knees in the awkward dive. He bore the brunt of my barreling, locking his reassuring strength around me.

“Easy,” he said. “Easy.”

I cried into the crook of his neck, my anguish a flood.

He held me tighter, kissing the side of my head. “I’m sorry.”

So sturdy. So minty. So frustrating.

But my mental fortitude collapsed. I didn’t want to talk or rant, only cry and be held and think about everything later.

Or maybe never.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he spoke with such hurt in his gorgeous voice.

And then a thought hit me. A radical, terrible idea.

We can run away…

Leave this behind, find a village with a vacant bookshop. Live out my dream and make my comic book ambitions work. Get him that publishing deal, live in a bubble of utter fabulousness.

Forever.

But guilt whacked me around my sense of duty. That dream was on hold, maybe for good. I wasn’t the Riley of a week ago.

I was The Moon. Better than this sobbing mess on the floor of a train carriage.

I had to fight.

I had to be strong.

Give me five minutes…

The opening of the door between carriages sounded behind me, followed by hurried footsteps.

“Fuck!” Drake bit out, moving quickly.

What the hell?

“You can’t get rid of me that easily!” Jonathon Aurora roared.

I spun in time to see the magic on his hands, his body covered in blood and dirt.

Oh. Crap. The surprise skewered me with an icy spear.

Did he climb out of his grave?

This isn’t happening…

“I’m The Moon!” he declared, soil spilling from his mouth. “And I’ll rip your fucking insides out!”

Damn him.

Damn him.

Damn him.

Rage descended on me again, dragging me to my feet. “You will stay dead.”

This vile man didn’t get to live. Whatever he’d done to pull this off was about to come crashing down. I’d stop him. Even if I had to kill him a thousand times over. More than that. Anything to obliterate him from existence.

Jonathon laughed, taking three steps toward me before freezing. “Oh, dear.” He clutched his heart, dirty tears leaking from his eyes. “Not yet.” He grunted, baring his teeth at me.

I got ready to slam him into the window, my power thirsty for a smackdown.

“Soon…” he muttered, his other hand curling into a fist. More liquid mud oozed from his nose, his eyes going wide. “I’ll see you soon…”

The arsehole exploded, mud and blood splattering the carriage, some of it reaching my feet.

I blinked at the mess, trying to comprehend what’d just gone down.

Drake slid an arm around my waist. “You alright?”

My anger vanished, leaving me numb and trembling. “I… I don’t know.”

The train exited the tunnel, daylight flooding the carriage.

“Riley?” Drake spoke gently into my ear. “Talk to me.”

But I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. All I could do was watch the bloody mud of my uncle drip from the ceiling, my mind sinking deeper into the numbness.

Hecate, hear my prayer…

Please give me a damn clue on my next move! Cheers and thanks!

“Riley?”

In lieu of a godly answer, I pulled Drake into a hug. At least I wasn’t alone in this. To hell with being mad at him. I just wanted his arms around me.

He held me so tightly he made me weep.

“I’m here, Riley. I’m not going anywhere.”

Were those happy tears breaking free?

Wow. Hadn’t shed those in a while.

The story continues in…

Lunar Desires (Celestial Magic 2)

Releasing July 31 st , 2025!