Page 9 of Lunar Diamonds (Celestial Magic #1)
RILEY
I got thrown to the side, my shoulder connecting with the window painfully hard.
At least it wasn’t my head.
The car came to a stop, my insides shaken like a cocktail shaker in an aggressive tumble dryer. A nasty surge of nausea threatened to send the contents of my stomach up my throat.
“Pissing hell!” Aaron yelled.
The shade jumped onto the hood, red eyes blazing rubies in the night. I yelped, panic constricting my breathing.
Not again. Not again. Not again.
“What’s happening?” Drake called.
“You will…die…” The shade collapsed, its body twitching. “I will… I will…” It exploded in a puff of shadows, dark spirals vanishing into the sky.
I rubbed my shoulder, pain pulsing in the bone. Broken? That’d be the real cherry on top.
Screw cherries. They were the worst part of a Bakewell tart.
“Anticlimactic,” April said. “Bloody hell. I think a bit of pee came out.”
“Same,” Aaron echoed.
That happened quite often, shade burnout. It came from them being close to any Radiance Pulse bursts but avoiding the main blast. Kind of like fallout. This one must have been lurking around Coldharbour’s city limits, getting sicker by the hour.
Thank Hecate for that mercy.
“Is everyone alright?” Drake asked.
Why does he care?
Why wouldn’t he?
Oh, go away.
“Shut up,” Alice warned.
Drake shut his trap.
After April checked for damage, she gave the all-clear and we took off again, finally reaching the north end of Coldharbour. We whizzed past the train station, navigating the hilly streets of the city, the buildings a blend of brutalist concrete, brick, and some newer glass towers scattered here and there.
In no time, we reached the steep, curved road leading up to the cliff-top mansion—the House of Aurora. A grand and Gothic spectacle at the heart of astonishingly manicured gardens, lights gleaming in the windows like yellow jewels in the night.
No witchcops up here.
This relic has nothing to do with me…
Moon. Sun. Star. A triplet. Were they really saying I was a sacred witch? Which one? The Moon?
I drew blood from biting my bottom lip too hard, my toes curled tightly in my shoes.
I can’t do this.
A huge, wrought iron fence surrounded the grounds, a set of tall gates between two ornate pillars. Floodlights pinged to life, illuminating the immediate area. A cluster of Hecate Crystals grew at the foot of the left pillar, shimmering away in the bright light.
The moon is brighter than everything here… I looked up at the big rock in the sky, my teeth releasing my lip.
So pretty…
The car waited for a few seconds while the gates opened. A whirring sound tore me away from the moon. I rubbed my eyes, hoping to see my flat before me after awaking from this nightmare.
Nope. Still in the car.
My stomach flipped as we moved up the long driveway, my nerves shot to merry hell by the time we pulled up outside the massive wooden doors with a set of stairs leading up to them.
One of those doors was open, a woman standing there beneath an overhead light.
Erin Lovell. A famous shimmer witch who’d served as the secretary of House Aurora.
She wore a silver cardigan over a white top and black jeans, gray hair falling around her dark-brown face in messy waves.
Aaron got out of the car first, opening my door for me. “Welcome to Aurora Mansion, sir.”
I stared up at the vastness of the mansion, the darkness of the stone, the creepiness of the gargoyles around the edges of the slanted rooftop. Cold winds blowing in from the sea only heightened an unsettling atmosphere.
Moonlight shimmered on the surface of the dark sea, the lights of ships blinking on the horizon. I shivered in the bitter air, my jacket far too thin against the elements.
I want to go home.
I’d been up here a few times in my life to have a look at the symbol of failure.
The failure of my family.
The Bramble siblings moved around me, gesturing me toward the stairs to meet the woman.
Damn.
Erin Lovell offered me a tired smile. With bags that big, the poor thing clearly needed to get her Sleeping Beauty on.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Croft,” she said, her voice slightly dry, wrapped in fatigue.
That was more like it. Croft, not Aurora.
“I am Erin Lovell,” she continued. “I apologize profusely for how this transpired. This isn’t how I wanted to meet or find you.”
“It’s okay,” I answered, scratching my left palm. “Thanks for…having me.” I don’t know why I said that.
She gestured toward the door. “Come inside, have some tea.”
The freezing caress of the night started getting the better of me. Tea sounded wonderful.
But I hesitated. If I crossed that threshold, then everything would change forever. Because no matter how much I clung to denial, the voice of that blue orb echoed in my mind.
“Moon. Mine. Moon. Mine.”
I had to know more.
I had to face this. Armed with a cup of tea, of course.
With a deep breath, I placed my right foot on the first step.
A car engine sounded behind us, its headlights beaming up the dark driveway.
“That was quick,” Alice said, leaning against the car. “Didn’t he say he’d be back in the morning?”
“I texted him about Riley,” Erin responded.
“Here cometh the supermodel,” Aaron said with a chortle.
“Supermodel?” I questioned.
I heard the gates opening.
Aaron patted me on the back. “Buckle up, buddy. You’re about to meet Isaac Davenport.”
What. The. Hell. Isaac Davenport was a fashion icon. A true supermodel and one of the biggest stars on the planet. A shimmer witch who rose to stardom five years ago, becoming the talk of every town. Nina loved him, the inside of her locker was plastered with various iconic shoots, showing off his perfect body.
Goodness, I wished I looked like him.
“What is he doing here?” I asked, my nerves prickling.
It hit me before Erin confirmed it.
Isaac Davenport was an Aurora.
And my brother.