Page 92 of Lunar Desires
But she did mention something about Aunt Janet following her heart more than her head, led by love. Or, as Juliet put it:
Dragged by the chains of romance. She’s a puppy on a leash and I’m sick of it. Where is my sister thefighter? What happened to The Star who beat the Winchester Coven in our early days? I miss her so much.
What am I going to do?
I didn’t know the Winchester Coven. Probably some arseholes gunning for power of whatever back in the day.
Short paragraphs of misery followed. Seven years were missing, jumping to the year of House Aurora’s downfall.
God, how was this helpful to read? A study in what not to do? Yeah, cheers. As if my own internal anguish wasn’t enough, I had to read about my mother’s?
Mother. Mum. God, it didn’t feel right to think or say. Which made zero sense when I called Johnathon and Janet uncle and aunt respectively. Why not the same for Juliet?
I guess I wasn’t ready to let go of Emily Croft being my mum.
It took a few more minutes of leafing through the diary to find a section about Juliet’s love for Disney.Cinderellawas her favorite, a film to temporarily escape the sorrow of a broken heart in the dark days after her fall.
She longed for her own fairytale, to escape this hell.
Then came some stuff about Dad. How she’d met him on Coldharbour’s main beach one late February night.
Went walking on the beach to think. Wandered to Rainbow Mile, sat on a bench to watch the lights. They are always so pretty.
Erin says I should not walk on the beach alone. But the sea and the wind help so much. So what if someone spots me? Let them spit at me. Let them spew their hatred. It isn’t anything I haven’t heard before.
Anyway, I met a wonderful man, thanks to my walking. He asked to join me on the bench. And I let him, despite the risks. I get so lonely, and his face is so gorgeous. He offered me some of his rum-and-raisin fudge he bought from Frankie’s Fudge. Delicious. Like his blue eyes.
We chatted until sunrise. About everything. By Hecate, it felt so good.
His name is Daniel.
I think I’m smitten.
I think I’ve found my prince.
You’re not the only one, Cinderella!
So, they met at Coldharbour’s main seafront—Rainbow Mile. Cute.
The diary skipped ahead a few months.
I’m pregnant. I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a mother.
But it’s wrong. I shouldn’t bring children into this.
Daniel says we can run away, that he’ll leave his wife. But how can I let him? And I hate myself for breaking up a marriage.
Still, I love him so much. I wish we could run away and raise our children together.
A somber weight hunched my shoulders, forcing me to take a moment before turning the next pages.
Triplets! In Hecate’s name! I am pregnant with the next generation of Aurora witches!
A few pages later.
My boys. How can I be a mother to such sacred sons when I’m covered in shame?
Crap. That hit hard. As did the next part.
