Page 103 of Of Shadow and Moonlight

“When you first brought me here, I immediately felt... I don’t know how to explain it. It just felt so familiar, but I’ve never been here before.”

He didn’t answer and left me in silence for a moment as he finished filling a plate for me. He handed the plate of food out to me and I took it.

His eyes lowered. “I...”

My brows rose as I lifted my eyes to him.

“I brought you here, hoping it might trigger something. A memory.”

I blinked. “How?”

“You remember the memory you saw of Elena? Of us training?”

I nodded.

“That was Moonhaven.”

“Yeah, I remember you mentioning the name.”

His eyes drifted over to the remains of the houses that had deteriorated long ago, almost reclaimed by nature. As my eyes settled on the remains, the sun set over the mountain ridge and slowly cloaked them in darkness.

Realization dawned on me, and I looked to Damien.

His saddened eyes turned to me, and he nodded. “This is all that remains of Moonhaven now.”

I didn’t have words for the sorrow that sank into me, but I couldn’t understand why. Was it the part of me that was Elena that felt such deep pain? Then I remembered what Damien had told me, of what had befallen Moonhaven.

“That’s why you brought me here...”

He finished plating his own food. “I’d hoped that maybe bringing you here might awaken your memories. It didn’t work, or at least we weren’t here long enough for it to happen.”

I smiled. “Sorry about that. My clumsiness has a way of ruining plans.”

“It didn’t ruin my plans entirely.” A wicked grin tugged at his lips. “Your clumsiness led to other things I enjoyed.”

My heart leapt, my body tightening and loosening in various places as my mind raced with the thoughts of us on his living room floor, and I couldn’t disagree with him.

“Shall I eat, or are you planning some other form of entertainment?” I asked, tilting my head lazily, letting the words leave my tongue in as sultry a manner as I could.

He inhaled. “That depends on what form ofentertainmentyou’re referring too.”

I took a bite of my chicken. “I don’t know. You’re the one with the plans.”

He laughed but proceeded to eat. “Don’t worry,mea luna. I only planned to enjoy dinner with you under the stars, amidst candlelight.Entertainmentcan come later.”

I smiled. “Well, I won’t tempt youmilord.”

His eyes flashed, and I bit back the urge to laugh as I ate my food, feigning any notion that I’d said something out of the ordinary.

How I loved to tease him.

* * *

“Thank you.”

Damien cocked an eyebrow as we pulled into the driveway, the street lamps lighting the streets. “For what?”

“For… everything. For finding me when I didn’t even know that I needed you. For showing me how fulfilling life can be. For... saving me, and not just from... Marcus.” I couldn’t find the right words to show him just how much he meant to me. “I wasn’t in a good place in my life when you found me.”