Page 15

Fifteen

DRAVEN

F ucking fuck. I was going to kill Elm the next time I saw him. The only reason I’d come to this damn thing was because he’d roped me into it, and now I was stuck here without him.

But when Elspeth had implied I couldn’t handle the competition, that I was afraid of losing to her—I couldn’t walk away.

So here I was, watching Thea Moonflower open up a simple wooden box, everyone else bracing their legs like they were ready to run.

My gaze shifted back and forth. “What’s going on?”

Elspeth lifted her chin. “Have you never played moon ball?”

I blinked. I’d never even heard of it.

Thea snapped the box closed, and everyone groaned. “We have to tell him the rules,” she said, then gave me an apologetic smile. “My daughters usually aren’t this competitive.” She eyed Elspeth. “Well, one of them is, but this game tends to bring out the competitiveness in all of us.”

“So what is the game?”

Thea tapped the box. “When you open the box, the moon ball will escape.”

“And we have to catch it?” I asked .

Elspeth snorted. “We have to run from it. Keep it from tagging us. It tags you, you’re out. Last person standing wins and gets bragging rights and the honorary trophy until next time we play.”

I crossed my arms. “Trophy?”

Auggie flounced over to a cabinet, then opened it and pulled out a decorative glittery wand with ribbon tied around it and a big fluffy ball on the top. It looked ridiculous. And damnit, I wanted it.

“So who’s the reigning champion?” I asked.

“Elspeth.” Auggie made a face. “Only because she shoved me right into the moon ball last month when we played.”

I shoved up my sleeves. “Are we allowed to run anywhere in the cottage?” My gaze flicked toward the wooden set of stairs leading up to the second floor. I’d never even stepped foot in this place because every time I tried, the damn thing attacked me.

“Not upstairs,” Adelaide said. “This room only.”

I nodded, having a hard time not watching Elspeth. She rolled up the long sleeves of her dress, then her hands fell to her sides, curling into fists.

Thea once again opened the tiny wooden box, a silver ball rising into the air with a half moon on it.

Everyone began moving at once as the ball zipped around the room trying to find its target. Auggie dove behind the little island in the kitchen while Prue squeezed herself under the rickety coffee table. Adelaide grabbed a book and held it up as the ball flew toward her.

“My book!” Prue yelled, emerging from under the coffee table and lunging for her older sister. The ball hit her arm, and she wrenched the book from Adelaide, who was smiling smugly.

She’d baited her sister.

The ball rose higher in the air, and I whipped around to see Thea brandishing the broom, ready to bat it away. If I stayed out of the chaos, maybe I could go undetected, keep the ball from finding me. My gaze landed on the kitchen table right when Elspeth dodged for it.

I moved fast, running and diving under the table, slamming into Elspeth.

We both rolled onto our stomachs, shoulders pressing into each other.

“Get your own hiding spot.” Elspeth shoved her shoulder into mine .

“I did,” I said. “I got here first. You’re the one encroaching on my space.”

“It’s my house,” she said loftily.

“Actually, it’s mine.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

She stared at me, mouth agape. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.

“Get off of me!” Auggie yelled from somewhere in the cottage, shrieking.

I sighed. “I own the cottage. I bought it when my sister and I moved here, hoping to rent it out to someone. But...”

“But what?” she asked.

I hated admitting this to her. “It wouldn’t let me enter. Wouldn’t let me come anywhere near it. Anytime I tried, the damn thing attacked me.”

Something like triumph flashed in her eyes. “Really? Well it appears we owe you rent.”

Fuck. Elm was going to kill me. He’d said they weren’t well off, that he suspected they didn’t have the gold to pay for a roof over their heads.

“No,” I said.

“I insist,” she said back.

“You’re doing me a favor. By living here, cleaning it. Making it habitable. After you leave, I’m hoping the cottage will be more amenable to guests living in it.”

“Oh.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, then.”

“You cheated!” Auggie shrieked.

“It’s not cheating if you’re the one who dove in front of the ball,” Adelaide replied.

“Because you baited me!”

I didn’t know Adelaide well, but she seemed too mild-mannered and shy to be engaging in this kind of behavior. Maybe there was more to her than met the eye.

“All my sisters can get cutthroat during this game,” Elspeth explained, turning her face toward me so our noses were inches apart.

Her brown eyes reminded me of the color of mahogany, dark and rich. Nothing plain about them. In fact, I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought her to be plain, dull. She was anything but. She shook her bangs from her forehead.

“So how did you win last time?” I asked right as Thea shrieked, and the thwack of her broom echoed around the room. The ball whistled over our table.

A sinister smile spread across Elspeth’s face. “By being even more cutthroat.”

She jumped out from under the table, and I peeked my head out to see her running full speed toward Adelaide.

“Don’t you dare!” Adelaide tried to back away, but she ran into the wall.

The ball followed Elspeth, barreling toward the two sisters, and right before it was about to hit Elspeth, she ducked, and it bounced into Adelaide’s chest.

Elspeth turned with a smile, one that might’ve rivaled the sun. Her luminosity struck me as I stared at her, as I couldn’t stop staring at her.

“Draven, get your head in the game!” Auggie yelled. “Elspeth cannot win again.”

Fuck. I jumped out from under the table, the ball hovering between me and Elspeth. Elspeth had her hands out, legs bent, as she circled around the couch.

“Just you and me, Darkstone,” she said, a gleam in her eyes.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said.

“Don’t let her distract you,” Thea called.

She and Elspeth’s sisters all leaned against the kitchen counter, watching.

Elspeth straightened, and the ball perked up, flying in a straight line toward her. She dove out of the way, landing on the couch. “Excuse me,” she said to her family. “Whose side are you on?”

“Clearly Draven’s,” Auggie said.

“We’re sick of you winning,” Prue added.

That brought a smile to my face. Maybe these Moonflowers weren’t so bad after all. The ball rose higher, getting ready to nosedive into Elspeth. She rolled off the couch right as the ball hit the cushion and bounced up into the air and toward me. I spun around to avoid getting hit, then grabbed the broom Thea had been using, raising it high.

The ball flew toward me, and I held up the broom, batting it right toward Elspeth. She sucked in a breath, backing up and ducking. The moon ball flew right over her head before coming to an abrupt halt. Elspeth’s back was to me, and she began taking a few slow steps backward. The ball just hovered, so neither of us knew its next move.

Then it lunged, and Elspeth whipped around to run. An idea formed in my head, and before I could think too much on it, I moved. I crashed into Elspeth, tackling her to the floor and waiting. Waiting.

“What are you doing?” She beat her fists against me.

I closed my eyes and hoped I was right, that the ball was over us right now.

“Good game,” I whispered in her ear before rolling off her and onto the ground right as the ball bounced into her stomach.

Everyone broke into cheers and ran toward me, pulling me up and enveloping me in some kind of family hug.

“You did it!” Prue looked up at me with admiration in her eyes.

Thea patted my shoulder. “You can come to game night any time you’d like.”

The Moonflowers let go of me as Elspeth glared, now standing. “Beginner’s luck, I guess.”

Auggie handed me the wand. “It’s yours until the next full moon.”

I twirled it, Elspeth’s eyes darkening. I was enjoying this far too much. “So you’re a sore loser, then? Good to know, Moonflower.”

She stalked toward me, hands balled into fists. “You can’t take the wand.”

I raised a brow. “Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t belong to you,” she ground out.

“I think it does since I’m the one holding it, and according to the rules of moon ball, I get to keep it until next month.”

“There won’t be a next month.” She stopped in front of me, fire blazing in her eyes. “You’re not invited back.”

“Elspeth,” Thea hissed, round cheeks reddening as she gave me an apologetic smile. “She doesn’t handle losing well. Last time she lost she threw a potion bottle.”

Elspeth rolled her eyes. “For the last time, I dropped it.”

Everyone murmured their disagreement.

“Like I said, sore loser.” I grabbed Elspeth’s hand, the contact sending an unexpected jolt through me. I peeled open her fist and placed the wand in it. “But if it makes you feel better to take the wand, then it’s yours.”

I walked over to grab my coat and shrugged it on.

“Oh, are you leaving so soon?” Thea asked. “We normally play three rounds.”

“I should be going.” I brushed past Elspeth, then turned. “Thank you for the game night.”

I walked out into the dark forest, the cold wind gusting past me, and all the way home, I thought about Elspeth Moonflower and how competing against her was the most fun I’d had in a long time.