Page 42 of The Wild Moon
“It’s nonsense, of course,” Aaron continued. “No evidence of any city out there has ever been found. The Mayans, Incas, and Aztec are all south, very south, orextremelysouth of here. No Indigenous tribes ever formed actual cities, as we would think of them.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, my mind elsewhere. “Tell me, Aaron. Why were you at the fights last night?”
He shrugged. “Heard you were in town. Wanted to see why.”
I considered my response. Aaronseemedgenuine. I was having a hard time finding any sort of lie or maliciousness to his responses. It felt like he meant everything he said. Of course, he could just be an excellent liar. It’s not like I had an excessive amount of experience at successfully figuring out when I was being lied to.
So, I would have to go out on a limb and either trust him or thank him for coming and move on. Which would provide me with precisely zero answers. Beyond that, he and my dad had apparently worked together.
Not enough.
“My father is missing,” I said, deciding to lay my cards on the table.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron said tightly, a troubled look creasing his beautiful face.
I decided I didn’t like it when he wasn’t happy. A face that beautiful deserved to smile. My brain started to wander, thinking up different ways I could make him grin. Fun ways. Intimate ways.
I chugged more water, surprised to see that it had been refilled. This waitress was a star.
My mind momentarily distracted from creating a porno with Aaron, I focused back on therealissue at hand. Which most definitely was not my lack of a sex life. Though that seemed like itwasbecoming more of an issue the closer we got to the next Wild Moon. I couldn’t recall having ever been this perma-horny before.
It would get me in trouble if I didn’t do something about it, but I simply didn’t have the time to care. I had to worry about Johnathan and his psycho father tracking me down, not to mention find my father. Oh, and I needed to keep paying the bills while I was at it. Sex just wasn’t on the priority list.
“What do you want from me?” Aaron asked.
“I want you to help me find Shuldar,” I said without a clue in the world as towhy. But as I said it, it felt right. I needed to go there. Don’t ask me why. I hadn’t gotten that far, but as soon as Aaron had brought it up, I’d felt a pull to the northeast. To the mountains where Shuldar was supposedly hidden, lost to the centuries.
“It’s pointless,” Aaron said, rolling his shoulders to settle the shirt back into place. “We’ve searched for it for years and came up with nothing. That’s not likely to change now. It’s a wild goose chase, Dani.”
My name sounded like chocolate on a rainy day coming from his mouth, but I couldn’t let my body get distracted by his sinfully delicious everything. Not right now, at least.
“I need to find it,” I said, leveling my gaze at him.
“I don’t work for free,” Aaron said. “Your father had a benefactor that paid me.”
“Shit,” I muttered. Lars must have been the one putting up the funds. There was no one else. Unless my father had more shady connections that I didn’t know about, which seemed a lot more feasible now than it had twenty-four hours ago.
“Money upfront,” Aaron added quietly. “I’ve been stiffed too many times.”
“How much?” I heard myself ask.
He named a figure.
I choked again, this time on air. “You’re nuts! That would take me weeks to amass. At least!”
Aaron shrugged, tugging the suit tight against his shoulders as he did. I tried not to stare.
“Will the same benefactor–he never would mention who it was–bankroll you?” Aaron suggested. “Or maybe your father or mother left you some money?”
I shook my head. “They disappeared without a trace. Both of them, and I’ve been throwing my money at trying to find them.”
Aaron was silent for a moment. “Don’t beat yourself up over that,” he said quietly, reaching sideways to rest a hand on my forearm.
I nearly threw myself at him. His touch was cold but enticing at the same time. I wanted more, but something told me I shouldn’t. He was dangerous. Tempting, but a man to be wary around.
“There’s nothing wrong with what you’ve been doing,” Aaron told me, slowly withdrawing his arm, not without a bit of sadness on my part. “From what I know of your father, it’s not like him to up and disappear.”
“It’s not like either of them,” I said. “Something happened, and I don’t know what.”
