Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,82
over the next few weeks. “Because, gods know,” I said, shaking my head in the empty car, “I don’t always do a good job of that on my own.”
Chapter Eighteen
When I woke up, it was to a new blanket of snow. We had about thirteen inches total. I huddled under the covers and opened my weather app. Snow and more snow, but it looked like we might have a warmup at the very end of December. The snow would probably stick around until then, given we were caught in a polar vortex. Grateful that I didn’t have to go to work, I set my alarm again for eight and ducked back under the covers for another hour’s snooze.
After a shower, I dressed, did my makeup, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I stood in front of the refrigerator, staring inside until I decided that I wanted waffles. But I didn’t want to make waffles. On a whim, I texted Killian.
want to go out to breakfast with me?
Less than a minute later, he replied. sure! i’d love to. can we take your car? mine was making weird noises yesterday and i think i need to take it into the shop.
come over and we’ll head out.
When I answered the door, I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I kiss him? Just say hello? We were in that state where I wasn’t sure just exactly where we were in the relationship. Were we boyfriend and girlfriend? We weren’t lovers yet, but we were headed that way.
But Killian took care of that. The moment I opened the door, he swung his arms around me and gave me a sound kiss, getting snow all over me.
I laughed. “That’s the warmest and yet the chilliest greeting I’ve had in a long time. Come on in.”
He stamped the snow off his boots. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat,” he said, his eyes sparkling. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out his hand, holding his closed fist out to me. “I brought you something.”
I stared at his hand. “It’s not a spider, is it? I’m an arachnophobe. I had someone do that to me once, trying to cure me of my phobia.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “Who would do something like that? No, woman, I’m not cruel. Hold out your hand.”
Curious, I held my hand beneath his and he dropped something cool into my palm. It was a beautiful quartz crystal.
“How lovely,” I said, holding up the spike to the light. It was almost clear, with only a few fractures inside, and they sparkled with rainbows. The spike was about three inches long and bigger than my thumb.
“I found it in the house and thought that you might like it,” Killian said.
I set the crystal on the coffee table, smiling. “I love it. Thank you. Are you ready? I’m starved.” I slipped into my jacket and grabbed my purse. We ducked through the falling snow to my car. I stopped at the door, turning my head up to catch the snowflakes on my tongue.
Killian laughed. “It feels like we should be looking around for a bald kid and a kid carrying a blanket!”
I stuck out my tongue at him. “I’m not Lucy, all right?”
But I went back to catching snowflakes on my tongue. As we settled in the car, I said, “Rowan Firesong found us a buyer for the property. He’s agreed to buy it, tear down the asylum, and build a tall fence around the entire piece of land. That’s the best we’re going to get in this case. We can’t even free the spirits who were absorbed by the elemental. They’re so merged with the creature that they’ll be there forever.”
“Who is this benefactor? And what’s the catch? I’ve found very few people are that altruistic unless they have a tremendous amount of money and a conscience, and the two don’t always go together,” Killian asked, looking out the window as we headed for Lucky’s.
I paused, then said, “What do you know about vampires?”
Killian jerked his head away from the window to stare at me. “Oh no, you don’t mean—”
“Yeah, I do. Apparently one of the vamps in town owed Rowan a huge favor and she called in her marker. I’m not sure what she did to be able to command a favor that huge, but he agreed.”
After a moment, Killian sighed. “I don’t trust vampires. I’ve never met one that didn’t have his own agenda at the bottom of any supposed good deed.”