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“Actually you might be able to. We’re looking for a spot in the mountains near here. The—”
“Cave where the moon touches the earth, in the eye of her mountains.'” The bartender rolled her eyes. “You and every other bloke. And let me guess, you can’t tell me what you’ll find there.”
Draven remained silent, eyeing the woman with suspicion. His poker face really was something to marvel at, all solid lines and mystery. Flora, on the other hand, was freaking out about the fact they weren’t the only ones who’d come looking for the moonstone.
“Don’t look at me like I am the crazy one,” the bartender scoffed, wiping the bar in front of them. “You aren’t the first and I’m sure you won’t be the last looking for whatever it is you seem to think you’ll find. Hopefully you come back, though. You’re too pretty to die in them woods.”
“Die?” Flora squeaked. There were plenty of reasons for her to die in Lune, but she didn’t think obtaining the stone was on the list. When Draven relayed where the stone was, he’d used a line from an old story she’d been told as a child about the cave. She didn’t know where it actually was in relation to Lune, only that it was nearby.
The bartender shrugged, but the way the corner of her mouth turned up told Flora she was enjoying every minute of Flora’s worry. “Well I assume the ones who don’t come back through town are dead. I suppose they could have left in the middle of the night when no one would see them.”
Not likely. Nothing was ever that simple. Not in her life and not in the supernatural world.
“Do you know anything about the area they head to?” Draven asked.
“Only the legends that we’ve been told.”
“The Moon Thieves,” Flora murmured.
“You know about the Moon Thieves?” the bartender asked sharply.
Draven’s brows knitted together as he waited for her to answer. It wasn’t that she’d purposely avoided telling him the story, but she didn’t think it was important.
She nodded. “I didn’t think the story was important. My mother used to tell me about the Moon Thieves that lived in the woods behind our house. I wasn’t allowed to go out and play after dark. It’s said the Moon Thieves protect their treasures in the woods. They dance under the moonlight, their treasure growing under its light and anyone who wanders too close to their treasure or seeks to steal from them will be sucked into their lair and either tortured or killed. Legend says you will want to die.”
“You remember this from when you were four?” he mocked, and although it came across as playful, there was a hint of anger in voice.
“I remember everything,” she whispered. She’d never considered how it might be weird that she remembered so much from when she was so young. It had always just been a part of her, both a blessing and a curse.
Draven tensed beside her and exhaled a heavy breath. He turned to the bartender, ordered a round of shots to be delivered to the table and thanked her before handing Flora her drink.
“Draven, I—”
He shook his head and nodded his head toward where Mateo and Kade sat at a booth.
Silently Flora followed his lead. She wanted to explain that she hadn’t kept things from him intentionally. He’d made it very clear in the Porsche that he needed her honesty, and she’d denied him that yet again. Not that she’d purposely done it, which he’d know if he let her explain.
When they reached the booth, she slid in next to him. She’d barely set her drink down when Draven pulled her in close against him and wrapped his arm around her. A gasp escaped her and before she could react, he was nuzzling his nose against her hair and lowering his mouth to her ear. Flora tried to pull away but he kept a firm grip on her.
“Mateo and Kade can hear me, but I don’t want anyone else to,” he whispered.
She looked to where Mateo and Kade sat across from them, and they gave her a slight nod.
Draven spoke softly. “Just answer yes or no. Do you think the moonstone could be what the Moon Thieves are guarding in the legends?”
Flora thought on this notion. It made sense that it could be the moonstone they were guarding. But it was just a legend. A story to keep children from wandering into the woods at night.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t—”
“Yes or no, Flora,” Draven growled against the shell of her ear. The weight of it sent a shiver through her and sparked the need to defy him.
She knew he was angry with her for withholding information, but to then chastise her with his growly bullshit when she tried to explain? It was irritating as all hell.
“Do you remember anything else about them?”
Flora chewed her bottom lip and nodded, but didn’t say anything more, even though she wanted to add a few choice words.
Draven nipped her ear. “Good girl.” His voice dropped even lower.“I love it when you defy me, but I love it even more when you obey.”
