Page 30 of Seduced By Moonlight

As he spoke, his crew began packing up their tools and equipment with practiced efficiency.

Ward made his way over to where Kayden was standing. “That’s it?”

“For now. Remember to get me that stuff I need for the samples as quickly as possible, Ward,” Kayden said.

“I definitely will.”

“Let’s tentatively plan to start Wednesday evening,” Kayden said. “That should give me plenty of time to get everything ready for you to review.”

“Wednesday evening it is.”

“See you then. And thank you for the doughnuts. Tell your chef we appreciated them.”

“I will.”

Kayden walked to his truck, then waved as he got inside. As he drove away from the castle, the rearview mirror framed the looming silhouette of Ward in the moonlight.

The drive back to town was quiet, the only sound being the hum of the truck’s tires. His mind replayed the night’s events, flipping through each conversation, each glance.

There was an undercurrent he couldn’t quite grasp, a puzzle whose pieces didn’t seem to fit just right. What had Ward been so worried about?

And why had his tension evaporated after seeing who was on the crew tonight? It felt like something—or someone—was missing who Ward had expected to see. Or thought he’d see. And Ward had been relieved that hehadn’tfound whatever he’d been looking for.

Ugh. Kayden did not need this drama.

He arrived home and ate dinner. Or breakfast? Or was it an early lunch? Good grief, he was already confused, and he’d barely started this night shift. He tried to focus on his food, pushing thoughts of mysterious tensions aside.

After floating his dishes to the sink, he used his power to rinse and stack them in the dishwasher. Done in the kitchen, he moved to the living room and dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh.

He pulled out his laptop and began typing up a summary of today’s work, trying to capture every detail while it was still fresh in his mind.

After he was done, he closed his laptop and decided to watch TV for a while, maybe do some chores too. A dish towel moved from room to room, dusting, while the vacuum ran through the house. Clothes folded themselves in the laundry room.

Around three in the morning, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, he contemplated every interaction from that night once more—each word and glance was under scrutiny now. Apparently, Ward’s worries had been resolved, and everything was now okay.

Kayden wished he felt the same.

CHAPTER NINE –KAYDEN

REACHING THE grand hall, Ward found Celine and Rihanna already waiting for him.

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” he said as he approached them.

“No problem,” Celine replied.

Rihanna gave him a small smile. “Let’s see what we can do about those wards.”

Together, they walked toward the eastern boundary of Ward’s land, where he felt the wards were the most vulnerable due to its proximity to dense forests—an ideal hiding spot for anyone wishing to avoid detection.

As they walked, Rihanna used a ball of light to help lighten their path as she explained her plan to enhance the wards using a combination of her unique powers blended with some old protective runes that Celine had researched recently, along with modern day technology.

“To really seal it off,” Rihanna said as they reached their destination, “we’ll integrate these enhancements directly into existing lines of power running below.”

Celine opened her laptop, the ball of light drifting over, and showed them a map she had created of ley lines intersecting across their land. “If we boost here and here”—she pointed out specific spots on the map—“it should maximize coverage.”

Ward nodded in approval, observing how effectively both witches were handling this crucial task. A sense of pride swelled within him—not just for their skill, but also their dedication to safeguarding the clan’s territory.

They began their work under the dim glow of the moonlight and several glowing balls of light, Rihanna chanting softly as she drew symbols in the air and Celine configuring the digital map to guide their efforts.

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