Page 73 of Lunar Desires
“Hope,” Erin answered. “Hope and pray.”
Only gets you so far,I thought.
The screen went into rest mode, going dark. I returned the phone to her, trembling like a mouse in a cat’s crosshairs.
“Do you both need a moment before we continue?” Erin asked.
“No,” Isaac and I answered at the same time.
“I’m sorry there isn’t anything else to tell you,” Erin spoke so softly.
Silence fell over the living room. What else could we say? We were powerless, running on empty, unable to gain any leads in this mystery. Seeing his lovely face and knowing he’d been brought up by werewolves didn’t help. We needed an in of some kind.
Damn. I guess all we really could do was pray.
Hecate, please keep him safe…
“Aaron?” Erin said, finally breaking the silence. “If you would, please.”
Subject changed.
He nodded, leaning forward to pick up a plastic box from the floor. Inside were three stones resembling hexagons. One green, one red, one purple. They reminded me of the crystal candy constantly hyped up on social media.
Pink fae magic ignited in his hands, curling around the box.
“What are those?” Isaac asked first, his head finally lifted.
“These are from Faerie,” Aaron answered. “The Rainbow Stones, to be exact. I managed to identify them about twenty minutes ago.”
“Our brother’s amazing,” April said, praising his penchant for identifying objects.
Most fae were proficient in one magical skill, while some were blessed with greater powers—such as a Faerie monarch or whatever. We’d briefly touched upon fae magic in school, most of the lessons were about the fae threat from three centuries ago, my ancestors having taken down a rather vile lord with the deadly gift of causing earthquakes. The scars from those times remained in the west of England. Gouges in the earth, deep as hell, known as Fae’s Wrath. They were a popular tourist hotspot just north of Devon, a reminder of my family’s glory days of not screwing up.
“They’re ancient and fae in origin,” Aaron continued. “I’m talking pre-dinosaur stuff, from what I’ve sensed. Annoyingly, there’s no record of them in Fae Archives. It’s like they don’t exist.”
“Or shouldn’t,” Ollie said.
Non-fae weren’t permitted to access the Fae Archives. The website actually knew if you were fae or not, instantly shutting down if you tried.
Aaron continued, his right hand flat on the box. Pink magic filled his eyes as he spoke, looking a little unsettled. “They are filled with the essence of life and death.” He took a heavy swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
I shivered at the prospect.
“Although they are fae in origin, they cannot be used by a fae. Instead, they are to be gifted to a non-fae in exchange for a price or after some sort of deal is made. All very dodgy and weird.” He took a few seconds to continue, his nose twitching as he did more of his thing. “After a deal is made, the stones splitthe life of the non-fae into seven parts. One part must stay with the deal maker as leverage, while the other six go forth to achieve their goal.” He frowned. “Which is gross and terrifying in equal measure.”
My skin itched as this sank in, my teeth chewing going at my bottom lip again. “That red stone. I saw it on the ground after…”
After you killed him again…
Those screams, the brutality of throwing him into the burning car—it all smashed into me. Crushing, haunting. Awful.
I drew the circle on my palm, refusing to fall apart.
Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
Aaron continued. “The red and green stones were both found at the spot he attacked you. The purple we discovered after we exhumed his grave earlier. The body’s still there. That part of him is as dead as the other two you encountered.”
What. The. Hell. Uncle Jonathon had made a deal with a fae to up the ante in his quest to get my powers?
