Page 15 of In the Light of the Moon

It wasn’t the right time, anyway. We had a few months, but per his instructions, she was next.

So, tasked with tracking her, I stayed just on the edge of the invisible barrier. I was the strongest I’d ever been—I could run faster and scent better than I ever could before. But I couldn’t push past whatever magic they’d put around their house.

My head tilted in curiosity while she crouched near a fallen log. A cluster of mushrooms, bright orange even in the dimming light, were tucked where I could barely see. She seemed to be inspecting it, the female destined forhim.

I crept along, trying my best to stay just out of the warded area while keeping her in my sights. She kept taking these walks, but there seemed to be no real purpose behind them. Just wandering, observing, and sometimes, she’d turn her ear down like she was trying to listen. I wondered if she heard the earth as we did. The songs and the flavors and the colors. Humansusually didn’t notice, and even we hadn’t been opened to all of it until recently.

I sat back on my haunches, mind wandering to what I was going to have for dinner. How I could try to get out of this next time. Hunting out here would be no problem, but the energy closest to her house made me wary of letting my guard down enough to eat. And dragging any kill back to safety felt like too much trouble. At that point, I might as well just scrounge for something in the fridge.

The female walked behind a cluster of trees, and though I could smell her, she was no longer visible. Remembering my orders, I adjusted, trying to catch sight of her brown skin and black hair amongst all the brown and black around her.

My body seized, and I couldn’t help lowering to the ground, whine escaping out of my nose. I slunk back, away from the direction she’d gone until the sensation subsided. That was another thing he didn’t want to listen to me about. That the witches were guarding this part of the land somehow. No one knew enough about them to know how to combat it or how to get around to where we could gather enough information to know when to take her.

Buthesaid we were favored. That we were chosen for this land because of the sacrifices we were willing to make. Why our claim to the land superseded all others.

What I’d had enough sense, or fear, to not ask aloud was how we were favored but unable to enter this part of our territory. Why we kept having to prove ourselves. But I wasn’t Leader, and everyone was witness to the brutal takeover a few years prior.

He was a good leader, a great, strong one. And if this was what he thought was best, then I would follow.

I still smelled her, and going in the direction I’d memorized now, I could just see the lights from the little white house in thedistance. She’d had enough of her evening hike, it seemed, and was going home.

As soon as I heard the door close, I began to head in the direction of my own home. It wasn’t too far if I ran through the forest, which I was doing now. To run on this land that was ours was the best feeling in the world. To be free and know that we had the forest on our side,himon our side—I’d never felt more pride than I did to be part of this.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Sylvie

Josie leaned over the bar counter to get the bartender’s attention, reaching out her arm but to no avail. The music was a bit too loud for my tastes, and it was crowded for a Wednesday night. But before I could get too irritated, I watched her lift up to kneel on the barstool and nearly climb over the bar herself.

When one of the other cashiers asked to switch shifts with me, I’d felt excited for my extra weeknight off and immediately told Josie. With school and work, I hadn’t been able to see her as much as I liked to, and she immediately suggested we go out.

My lower back was starting to ache a little, sitting twisted in the barstool, and more and more people were pressing into the small dive bar. I drummed my fingernails on the sticky counter, happy to let Josie take care of getting our orders in. Though I usually didn’t mind a night of drinks and chatting, the noise of the place was pressing a little too close on my nerves. I knew Josie sensed it, having been a bit pointed in her encouraging that she just wanted to stay a little while longer, so I just pressed on.It would feel better once we were tucked into a less busy corner or something.

“Hey!” She shouted over the noise, and the tall woman finally looked our way. Josie put on a wide smile, resting her chin on her fist, and I watched the bartender roll her eyes and smile.

“What can I get you, Josie?”

My friend looked over at me, and I mouthed to her my usual. “Ah, a glass of pinot noir for her, and chardonnay for me,” Josie called over and was met with a quick nod.

My leg jumped to the beat of the song playing, and I tried my hardest to not look at my phone. Josie was chatting pleasantly, ass still in the air, with a bespectacled man beside her, and they shared an easy laugh. Now, I was fairly sociable, but Josie made friends practically everywhere she freaking went. It was a little bewildering, but I was used to it by now.

The bartender poured our drinks quickly and heavily, placing them before us on two square napkins.

We both started reaching for our wallets, me digging through my oversized purse and Josie reaching in her pocket, but before we could pull our cards out, a deep voice rumbled softly beside me.

“It’s on me.”

I knew that voice. The huskiness of it sent an irritating shiver down my back. Like a delectable chill in the way that I felt heat flood my face in reaction. I felt the phantom scrape he gave me that night I found him, healed and invisible now.

“Thanks,” Josie said with impressed brows raised and the start of a cheshire grin before she looked at me then back toward him. I didn’t want to turn around, but it was as if his presence was pulling at my chest. Not even daring me to swivel in my seat, but demanding it.

His hair was wet. That was the first thing I noticed, especially since the air outside had begun to cool substantially withOctober almost upon us. But his pale skin wasn’t even flushed. The loose curls of his hair hung limply over his brow, and the line of creamy white strands was neat and sharp at the nape of his neck. I fixed an unimpressed look on my face to hide my frustration with myself. I shouldn’t notice him enough to spot details like that.

After that irritatingly exciting glimpse of him at the grocery store, I continued my outright avoidance of Orion. Besides the sharp pang when I caught sight of him, it was fairly easy to fill my time with other things. My coursework had ramped up considerably, as had my lessons with Granna.

I made my way into the forest each evening that I didn’t have to work. It felt more alive to me, then, with the last rays of the sun just reaching the forest floor. The winding ways between the trees were still carved into my memory from when I traipsed the land as a little girl. Every time, I felt a deep sense of belonging, almost of love, that followed me with every step. And with that comfort and my longstanding familiarity, I searched and listened, knowing how deep to go and where to find the best wild berries and clusters of mushrooms. There were still no whispers, something I still hadn’t admitted to Granna. But maybe they would come.

Vinny’s was still dull as always, and I’d decided to more seriously look for another job before Josie and I made our way to the bar for the night. Something about it had really grown stale, or stale enough for me to recognize that I wanted something better if I could find it. Josie gave her resounding agreement when I told her, and somehow that gave me the push to stand firm in the decision.

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