Page 2 of Shadow of Spring (Wild Haven 2)

He’s dressed casually tonight. With his sweatshirt currently on me, the tattoos that adorn his arms are on display. I wish I could hold him down to examine every single one, but that would probably be awkward.

“You’re quiet tonight.”

I shoot him a dumbfounded look. “It’s been a really long day.” Aspen Street, the main thoroughfare of Wild Haven Island, is empty. Small, locally owned stores, including Rhys’s bar and Miri’s store, line the cobbled street. This time of night, it has the air of a ghost town.

“Normally, you’re talking my ear off.”

“Yeah, well, nothing is normal about tonight.”

Archer stops walking and raises his brows. “Are you mad at me?”

Archer is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He’s the same age as me, twenty-seven, which means I’ve spent years watching every classmate drool over him. His blond hair is cropped short on the sides and longer on top, and it’s usually swept back and perfect, but tonight he looks uncharacteristically disheveled. It’s unusual for him. We both have that in common, the need to present a perfect exterior picture so that no one notices how big of a mess the insides are. He has the warmest gray eyes that almost always sparkle with good humor and a smile that can actually make the temperature go up a few degrees in a room.

Fine, that’s not true, but he is the embodiment of a golden boy. Right now, I don’t want to get lost in his good looks and charm, so I turn away and start walking again.

“You have to stop antagonizing Rhys. What is going on with you guys? He’s your best friend, and now, suddenly, the two of you are at each other’s throats whenever you’re within ten feet.”

Archer’s smile flattens, and we walk to the end of the block before he answers. The soft glow of streetlights shines down on us, the empty sidewalks making it feel like we’re the only two people left on the island.

“We’re just not seeing eye-to-eye right now.”

I roll my eyes, but don’t say anything. This isn’t the first time the two of them have gotten into a little tiff. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s to stay out of it. Their fights are usually about something idiotic. Once, they were reading the Guinness Book of World Records and had an actual fight over whose birth year had more shark deaths. They didn’t speak for three days. They were fifteen at the time.

“Are you okay? After everything that happened tonight?” Archer asks as we circle around the back of my building. There are stairs outside that lead up to my apartment. It’s barely midnight, but it’s eerily quiet. The festival had a very abrupt and panicked ending earlier when Davis’s dad was found splayed out and gutted in front of the library.

My library.

My stomach churns when I think about having to pass the scene of the crime in the morning on my way to work. The thing is, I don’t think that’s what Archer is asking me about. He means am I okay with Miri and Davis forming the bond?

I pull my keys out of the small crossbody bag that’s also holding my phone and wallet. I take my time, thinking over my answer. Needing the support, I lean against the brick wall of my building.

“The alternative is too horrible to imagine, so I guess I have to be okay with it.” The other option being that Miri or Davis might have been killed.

Archer takes a step closer, and my skin tingles even though he’s not touching me. “Those aren’t your only two options.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what it feels like. What do you want me to say? That I'm scared to death? That I nearly had a panic attack back in the bar thinking about whether we’re all going to get messed up by the Axis like our parents were?” The cold from the brick soaks into me, even through the layers of Archer’s sweatshirt and my shirt.

“Luna.”

I close my eyes at the sound of Archer’s nickname for me. It breaks something in me every time he uses it. It started as a silly joke when we were thirteen. Everyone always says Archer is sunny. He’s the personification of the brightest star in the sky. He’d been talking to Ezra after school one day.

“Dude, how are you always so freaking happy? I swear there’s a screw loose in your head because no one is always in a good mood.” Ezra was complaining about a teacher, or a crappy grade and Archer told him to forget about it.

“It’s because I’m perfectly balanced.” He draped an arm over my shoulder and yanked me to his side in a one-armed hug. My insides melted into a puddle. “You see, I’m the sun and Lena here is really Luna, goddess of the moon. She’s dark so I can be light.”

Ezra rolled his eyes, and I swooned.

We’d been studying Greek and Roman mythology at the time. I know that’s where it came from, but it always brings a rush of warmth when he calls me by that name.

Archer’s fingers brush over my forehead, pushing back an imaginary strand of hair, and I startle. My eyes flutter open and my mouth parts in silent surprise as his touch travels over the crest of my cheek. He’s exponentially closer to me than he was a moment before. One heavy breath and our chests will be touching.

“You’re allowed to be worried.” Archer’s voice is low and quiet. It’s intimate and the air between us is charged. It grows darker by the second, as if clouds are passing over the moon.

“Are you worried?” I lick my bottom lip, my mouth feeling dry as Archer moves fractionally closer.

His gray eyes search my face, lingering on my lips and making my stomach flip before confusion washes over me. It’s like Archer is looking, really looking, at me. Seeing more than his friend, his best friend’s sister, for the first time. His body curves over mine, and my head falls back to the wall so I can look him in the eye. He’s so much taller than me.

If he’s ever been this close to me, it wasn’t on purpose. Right now, he looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing.

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