Page 34 of Seduced By Moonlight

“I honestly can’t think of a reason not to,” Celine said.

“Then fine. Let it out.”

Celine nodded as she raised her hands. “No problem.”

Ward watched as Celine basically carved a hole in the ward, and the raven quickly flew through it. With another wave of her hand, she closed the hole.

“It can’t open that hole you just made to let it out, can it?” Ward asked.

“No reason to think that it could,” Celine said. “It’s a shifter, not a magic user.”

“Well, that was fun,” Luna said. “At least now we know the new wards are strong.”

Emmett made some stupid sexual joke about the wards not being the only thing strong. Luna groaned as Tank snickered. She bumped Emmett with her wing, sending him stumbling, then playfully punched Tank on the shoulder.

Ward walked beside Celine and Rihanna, asking questions about what they thought happened to that shifter. Rihanna glanced over her shoulder as they left the area.

Once they got back to the castle, Ward said goodbye to them and returned to his room so he could keep searching for inspirational pictures.

Just before daylight, he realized the usual restlessness he’d been feeling had disappeared.

CHAPTER TEN –KAYDEN

AS CONSCIOUSNESS slowly seeped back into Kayden’s groggy mind, he groaned and shifted under the sheets. It couldn’t be time to get up already. Wearily, he reached for his phone on the nightstand. The bright screen nearly blinded him as it displayed the time in bold numbers.

He groaned again as he realized it was already late Saturday afternoon. Working nights sucked. The damn sun would set in just one short hour.

Rolling out of bed, he headed for the bathroom and took care of business. After washing his hands, he ran a comb through his hair, then brushed his teeth.

He must’ve slept deeply because, swear to God, every joint in his body cracked and popped as he moved. It was hard to believe he was only in his late thirties, since he felt like he was twice that age this morning. Evening.

Whatever the hell it was.

But the promise of coffee kept him moving. Walking into the kitchen, he gestured with his hand, causing the coffee pot to levitate into the air. With his powers, he opened a cabinet and guided a mug toward the coffeemaker, both items floating effortlessly in mid-air.

After fixing himself a cup, he returned the pot to where it belonged. Grabbing his coffee out of the air, he took a hesitant sip to test the temperature. “Mmm, perfect.”

Taking a bigger gulp, he wandered into the living room, flicking on the lights with a wave of his hand. As he sank onto the couch, the TV flickered to life.

Pulling the warm mug closer, Kayden watched a pretty newscaster speaking into a camera.It appears that a few gang members were found dead in the most dangerous area of town under suspicious circumstances. There are whispers that one of the deceased had their internal organs liquefied.

Kayden sighed. “That doesn’t sound like a paranormal was involved. Not at all. Shit, isn’t there a spider lady living here?”

The channel changed to another news station.

He scowled at the caption. “Drought in half the country. Fire in the other. But climate change isn’t a real thing, right?”

The channel switched again.

“Aaaand more human gun violence.”

He hated that, but it didn’t surprise him. It was a sad reality that he was all too familiar with, living in America.

Once more, the channel changed. “And oh look, more bad news.”

Feeling his mood dip, he put the TV on an all-day weather channel. It wasn’t a foolproof choice, but it was certainly better than watching the constant barrage of bullshit.

The world didn’t stop just because he’d checked out for a few hours to sleep, but damn. There was nothing but bad news, bad news, and more bad news. That’s why he stuck to home improvement shows and movies. Anything to avoid the stress of current events.

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