Page 5 of Blood Moon

That had eventually morphed into the black market, thanks to my brother and his shrewd thinking.

There were very few rules to my time-traveling abilities, and the ones that existed didn’t really matter for our purposes. The limitations I had were that I could only go back in time, with the exception of returning to my time. According to what I believed to be a legend written in the book, my male ancestors had the gift of traveling to the future. It hadn’t said what the determining criteria were for that, and I had no idea who those descendants would be after all the centuries. There wasn’t a lot of documentation on that in the little journal. All it mentioned was that my supposed ancestor and her brother were children of Chronos.

It wasn’t a “gift” for noble causes with a bunch of moral stipulations. In a way, there was a darkness to it. Each time I traveled in time, I had to keep myself focused and exercise self-control like I’d never had to in my life. Traveling through time had a strange effect on me. It essentially acted like an extremely powerful aphrodisiac, and when I got back, I wanted to fuck.

Badly.

My brother and I had tested a ton of things. The only thing we hadn’t done was significantly change history and try to see if I could bring him with me. The way traveling seemed to nearly rip me apart at times, I didn’t want to chance it. Though we considered it once when we were both smashed, I’m glad we didn’t. I could never live with myself if anything happened to my brother because of me or my “magic fairy dust,” as he called it.

Could I travel from the privacy of my balcony? No. Though our building had been around for many years before we took possession, it hadn’t been there forever. Also, I couldn’t imagine landing on some poor unsuspecting soul’s balcony in the past and having to find my way down or explain why I was over one hundred stories up and needed to go through their home.

Awkward.

Unfortunately, it was more than that. In order to create a portal that I could be sure to return through, I needed to be grounded to the earth.

As it was, I’d ended up in some very precarious situations in the past. Before I learned more about what I could do, I’d been impulsive and reckless—and had to fight wanting to have sex with some questionable people. It was what ultimately led to my education in history, art history, and historical architecture. It not only helped to know where and when to find things, but it was imperative that I had some inkling of where structures were located in the places I was going.

“The sculpture will be on display this evening, in nineteen twenty-three, from seven this evening until midnight. After tonight, in nineteen twenty-three, it disappeared,” Peter explained as we leaned over to look at the images scattered on the desk in front of us.

The corners of my lips lifted mischievously as I glanced over at him. “Perhaps because I got to it.”

Peter chuckled. “Perhaps. Either way, if we can acquire this item, there will be more business from this client.”

“It’s kind of ugly,” I mused with a curl of my lip.

He snorted. “That it is, but I don’t really give two shits what it looks like, or what this Mr. X does with it once we get paid.”

Peter acted like it was about the money. We had more money than we could spend in two lifetimes. Like me, it was more about the thrill and the challenge when it came to objects like this one. Comic books and random objects were easy. One-of-a-kind pieces were another thing altogether.

Not that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy my standard of living. I was fully aware that I was high maintenance. There were few men who could accept that I didn’t need their money, but nor was I trying to be their sugar mama.

“Why haven’t you started dating again?” he quietly asked.

My shoulders fell a little. It was like he could read my mind. Then again, maybe as my twin, he could.

“Please. How would I explain disappearing? How would I know that they loved me for me and not what I can give them?”

“They aren’t all like Mar?—”

I slapped my hand over his mouth. “Don’t even say his name.”

He effortlessly peeled my fingers away. “Are you sure you don’t want me to have him taken care of? It’s not too late.”

A boisterous laugh escaped me before I could stop it. I threw my arms around my brother and hugged him. “I’m fine, and he’s not worth it.”

He dropped his head to kiss the top of my head. “Tink, there isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do for you. You’re the only family I have now, and you’re my baby sister.”

He was right. After our parents disappeared shortly after our twenty-second birthday, it was just us. Yes, we had some distant family, but none we were close with. We’d searched for years. I’m pretty sure Peter still did.

My forehead rested on his sternum, then I looked up at his towering six-foot-three height. “By less than three minutes, Petya,” I argued with a grin, using the childhood nickname our Russian nanny had used for him.

The fondness in his gaze was reserved solely for me—most people only saw the serious or scary side of my brother. I wasn’t a fool; I knew my brother was into way more than just acquisitions, but he kept me far away from his other dark dealings.

“I still entered this world before you, making me the older brother. Besides, I’m twice your size.” He shot me a smug smile that had me shaking my head. He wasn’t lying. I was tiny, and I always had been. “Besides, if you don’t start dating, how will you find your ‘fated mate?’”

He made little quote motions with one hand, and I rolled my eyes. That was one part of this whole magical mess that I didn’t believe.

“I need to go,” I announced as I pushed at his chest and stepped back.

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