Page 43 of Seduced By Moonlight

“Yeah, that’s not weird at all,” Kayden said.

“I know, right? Anyway, I went back to the bar and the bartender immediately warned me about her. He told me she was the high priestess of the Sisters of the Crescent Moon, and that Marianna Crescente was evil. Like, seriously. And damn powerful.”

“So she either smelled something on you, or something about you triggered her interest,” Mika mused.

“Lucky me,” Lance muttered.

Kayden glanced into the back seat at Mika, then turned slowly to look at Lance. “Actually, she sniffed all three of us tonight. Remember? Then made some comment about that being interesting. So I think it’s safe to say it wasn’t Lance, himself, but something she smelled on the three of us.”

Mika rubbed his forehead. “Great, now all we need to do is figure out what the hell she smelled on us.”

“What does it matter what she smelled?” Lance asked.

Kayden glanced away from Lance and looked out into the darkness. “Because I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of her.”

“He’s right, Lance. If a high priestess took an interest in us, even briefly, there’s a reason,” Mika said. “We need to understand why.”

“Maybe she caught wind of one of our recent jobs?” Lance speculated. “The last one was for the dragons.”

“Or perhaps it’s something more inherent about us,” Kayden suggested, his voice carrying an edge of anxiety now. “Like some latent power or ancient lineage we’re not aware of.”

Mika leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know, now that you mention lineage, my grandfather always hinted at our family being tied to some pact or something from centuries ago. I never paid it much mind, figured it was just stories.”

“A pact?” Lance asked skeptically.

“Legends or not, everything in the supernatural world has roots,” Kayden pointed out. “Magic thrives on such bonds and legacies. Maybe Marianna sensed something residual on us.”

“So, what, we’re supposed to dig into our family trees now?” Lance scoffed.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Kayden reasoned.

The quiet hum of the car filled the quiet as they fell silent. Uncomfortable with where his thoughts were leading him, Kayden shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Lance navigated through the dark streets.

“Got to say, that doesn’t feel right,” Kayden finally said.

“I agree. I mean, we can still look, but I agree with Kayden. That doesn’t feel like the right path,” Lance said.

“It does appear to involve just the three of us, though.”

“We need to get ahead of this,” Kayden said. “First things first, we stop going out on the town—”

Lance groaned.

“—and gather information on Marianna Crescente and her Sisters of the Crescent Moon.”

Lance laughed. “Well now, glad to hear you say that because, um, I already started. And don’t yell at me! Yes, I know that look, Kayden. That’s yourabout to yellface. I was going to tell you about this and what I was doing. Eventually.”

“Dammit, Lance, we’re supposed to be family. Family doesn’t hide shit like this!” Kayden glared at Lance. And he was not yelling. His voice just carried really well in the truck cab. That’s all.

“I said I was going to tell!”

“Might I point out he said eventually?” Mika asked helpfully from the back seat.

“Shut up,” Lance snapped.

“You’re just mad because you know I’m right. And you shut up.”

“We’ll circle back to that in a minute. Lance? You said you had already started collecting information. What did you mean?” Kayden asked.

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