Page 3 of Dancing Moonbeam

Elvine glanced around. “This does seem like a cute little place.”

Cute? Raidh wouldn’t go that far, but it was laidback. He would have been better off in a bustling city, a place he could more easily hide.

He glanced at the building next to them. Bluebird Café. That explained the coffee and bread smell.

Maybe he could go inside and ask where he was, grabbing some bread and coffee while he was at it.

An idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. He turned to Elvine, hiding his smile. “I need you to go back, anyway. You have to keep tabs on my father and let me know if he decides to come after me.”

“You want me to spy?” Elvine’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I love snooping!”

That was the damn truth. It was how she knew Raidh had come to the human realm.

Though her love for prying into other people’s business had saved their butts over the centuries, and it had helped them find out a lot of juicy gossip about the fae in their realm.

Scandalous stuff that could make their jaws drop or have them snickering like maniacs.

“Just call me.” Raidh tugged lovingly on a tuft of her thick blue hair. “Don’t keep popping into this town, or you might get caught leaving our realm.” Which would, in turn, get Raidh caught. Elvine’s family was the complete opposite of Raidh’s. They didn’t care if she had a phone or the two were best friends. Honestly, Raidh was surprised he’d been allowed to be friends with Elvine considering the Sparklenests were “lower-class” fairies.

Something his father cared a great deal about.

Something Raidh didn’t give a rat’s butt about.

“I’ll go back,” she agreed reluctantly, giving him a stern look that was as fierce as a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. “But if you ignore my calls, I’ll be all over you like...like...” She twisted her lips like she was grasping for a comparison. “Like green on cheese!”

“What?” Raidh burst into laughter, the sound filling the air, blending with the chirping of birds and the low murmur of conversations from people passing by.

“No, no, more like grease on a pig!” she exclaimed with a serious expression. “Or honey on a hot biscuit!”

“I get it.” Raidh chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender. Leave it to Elvine to come up with such bizarre comparisons. “I promise I’ll answer my phone, Captain Spy Master.”

Great, now Raidh wanted some bacon and a warm biscuit with honey on it.

She hugged him. “Stay out of trouble. You’re my best friend, dewdrop. I would be devastated if anything happened to you.”

He felt the same way. That’s why he was sending her back. “Best friends forever, tulip,” he said. “And don’t get caught spying.”

“Have I ever?” She gave him a mischievous grin.

Raidh was doing this to keep her safe, so why did he feel so guilty sending her away?

When she slipped around the side of the building, Raidh felt truly alone. With a sigh, he walked into the café, surprised at how cozy it felt. He heard a spoon clinking on the side of a mug, and he glanced around. Customers were scattered around the tables and sitting on the couches. Not only could he smell coffee but an undertone of lemon.

The lemon cake under the dome on the counter would be his guess.

He walked across the dark wood floors, glancing at the chalkboard behind the counter where the day’s specials were listed in neat handwriting.

“Excuse me,” Raidh said to the barista as he heard the muted roar of motorcycles outside.

The guy behind the counter turned, piercing Raidh with his dark gray eyes. “What can I get for you?” he asked with a warm smile.

The scent of wolf reached Raidh. Okay, so this town had at least one shifter resident. “You wouldn’t happen to have a phone charger, would you?”

“Let me see your phone.” He held out his hand.

Raidh hesitated to give it over to a complete stranger. It was his only lifeline to Elvine.

“I’m Ajax, by the way, owner of this café. I charge phones behind my counter because the chargers keep growing legs and walking out of here,” he said.

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