Page 26 of Fool Moon First Aid

This is awkward, and it’s definitely not because of the three male shifters cramming themselves into the car. The real source of my awkwardness isn’t the confined space or the fact that after they manage to squeeze in, Eloise waves me off with a smirk. Her smirk isn’t just any smirk—it’s full of sass and loaded with more snark than necessary, the kind that only someone with her sharp cheekbones and twinkling eyes can pull off. Yes, a smirk can absolutely ooze sass.

But the real awkwardness? Oh, it’s something else entirely. It slams into me the moment Eloise, with her impish grin, hands my phone back. I spot a group text with numbers from the three hulking men now squishing me in this tiny car, but that’s not the kicker. No, it’s the tab she’s left open on my phone that sends my nerves into a tailspin.

Ancient Spiritkin Incantations: The Lore of Lunar Bonds.

Trying to look unaffected, I reach for another spring roll from the greasy paper bag on my lap and stuff it into my mouth. Ethan, with his broad shoulders and arms that look like they could bench press a small horse, somehow wedges himself into the driver’s seat. His dark hair is a tousled mess, and there’s a ruggedness to his jawline that’s more appealing than it has any right to be. There’s something sexy about a guy with muscles like his making a normal-sized sedan look like a child’s toy.

“What’s that?” Ethan asks, his deep voice drawing my attention to his piercing green eyes. They are the kind of eyes that see right through you. I quickly shove my phone under my thigh, my heart racing with a mix of fear and excitement.

“Nothing,” I lie, hoping my voice doesn’t betray the pounding of my heart.

Ethan leans in, his face now dangerously close to mine. His cologne is a heady mix of earth and spice, enveloping me in a scent that feels like a warm embrace. I can’t help myself, leaning in a bit just to feel his heat. Our proximity is now alarmingly intimate. A slight, amused lift of his lips tells me he’s aware of the effect he’s having on me.

He says just one word, and it sends a shiver through me. “Lie.”

“You can smell it, can’t you?” I ask, trying to sound casual, despite the spring roll muffling my words.

His gaze, intense and unyielding, lingers on my lips for a moment that feels like an eternity before I manage to tear my eyes away, needing to look anywhere but at him.

A sigh of relief escapes me as Ethan finally leans back, but my moment of peace is fleeting.

“Food?” Tyler’s head, with its mop of curly blond hair, pops up between us. His proximity overwhelms me, and his scent, fresh and crisp, fills my senses, making it hard to think.

Groaning, I palm his face, feeling his stubble against my hand, and shove him back. “Back off before you’re launched through the window,” I snap out, covering up how his scent is actually driving me crazy.

Tyler’s eyes, a striking, unnatural shade of green, are alight with mischief. They are the kind of eyes you’d expect on a creature of the night, not your average guy, but then again, these men are anything but average.

Just in time, Brody, the quiet one with the soulful brown eyes and an air of calm that’s as soothing as it is mysterious, grabs Tyler by the collar and pulls him back. “Still hungry?” he asks me, his voice a gentle contrast to the chaotic energy in the car.

Do I lie? Do I play the delicate flower and say I’m not hungry, or do I just go for it and possibly freak them out with my real appetite? Oh, the sweet, delicious irony.

“What do you have in mind?” I ask, turning around to face Brody in the back. For a normal human, it would be cramped, but as it is, only one of us is human. And Brody barely fits. I can’t tell if the scent of leather is from the car or one of them. I’m doing my best not to focus on their absurdly handsome faces. It’s like being in a cologne commercial.

“Ava.” Ethan’s voice cuts through my thoughts, edged with a hint of impatience. I notice he’s still idling in the lot, the overhead lights casting shadows across his sharp jawline. “Are you hungry?”

Meeting his intense blue gaze, I shoot back, “Ethan,” trying to mimic the deep, gravelly tone of his that seems to vibrate right through the car’s interior.

“Face forward,” he commands, his large hand gripping the steering wheel, the other casually resting on the shifter. The muscles in his forearms visibly tense. “I’m not moving this car until you turn around properly.”

Rolling my eyes, which I’m sure he catches out of the corner of his eye, I face forward, fidgeting with my seat belt. It clicks and unclicks, the mundane sound covers the racing of my heart. Shifters, with their brooding looks and overprotective nonsense, really are a different breed.

“Tacos,” I say softly, feeling a wave of nostalgia. I remember my mom’s kitchen, always warm with laughter and the smell of spices. No one makes tacos like she did. Damn, I miss her.

“Tacos it is,” Ethan says, his voice softer now. He shifts gears, the car lurches forward, and we’re finally off, leaving the dimly lit parking lot behind.

“This isn’t weird to you guys?” I ask, still not looking at them. It’s odd, me sitting in the front passenger seat, playing passenger princess, while they sit crammed in the back like a pack of oversized puppies. “Feels a bit like a kidnapping, doesn’t it?”

“Technically, you’re coming with us to pick up your snake,” Brody points out from the back seat. His attempt to reassure me doesn’t quite cut it.

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to this than I’m getting. “That’s not the whole story,” I insist as Ethan takes us out of town, the car’s headlights cutting through the darkness. Is their taco spot some kind of secret hidden in a moonlit clearing?

Silence falls over us. This is usually when most girls would start panicking, but I’m not, and that’s kind of alarming. Shouldn’t I be more freaked out? These three guys, with their intense stares and alluring scent, managed to persuade not just a cop but also my best friends to let me go with them.

Hindsight’s a real kicker, isn’t it? I’m feeling like I’m living in a horror movie, the kind where I’m the clueless girl who practically invites the killer over.

“You guys aren’t planning to murder me and offer me up to some moon god, right?” I lean forward, trying to spot the moon through the windshield, but it’s hiding behind a veil of clouds.

“You think we want to kill you?” Tyler bursts out laughing at my outlandish idea. His laughter is infectious, filling the car and almost making me forget my question.

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