Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Luther shouldn’t be quite so surprised that she’d done well. He’d already seen for himself that she was a very resourceful young woman, and nothing seemed to shake her. But of course, he was a little nervous. His aunt could tear down even the strongest warrior.

The thief hadn’t budged. She’d looked his aunt in the eye, acted like a man in response to her offered hand, and even then didn’t care that everyone had laughed. So many people in the room had written her off at that moment.

Not him.

The instant she’d taken his aunt’s hand in her own, he had felt a warmth bloom in his chest that was undeniable. She cared about what his aunt thought, and the way she held the old bat’s hand had made it very clear that Luna wanted to take care of her.

He’d never seen a woman like that. Too many of the fluttering butterflies around them only cared what people would think of them. They didn’t think of others, only themselves and how they were perceived.

Luna never stopped surprising him. Halfway through the night, his chest started hurting every time he looked at her, and he couldn’t quite figure out why. Luther continually rubbed at it, trying to ease the muscle that bunched between his ribs. But maybe it wasn’t muscular after all.

She made her way back to his side, all strength and confidence radiating off her in waves like her red curls, which had only gotten larger throughout the night. “I’m going to get some air,” she murmured.

And just like that, she disappeared from the crowd.

He looked around at his family and their friends. When had they all seemed so dull? Every bit of their clothing wasn’t nearly as vivid as Luna’s hair. Their words were too quiet and not said with enough intention. The more he looked at them, the less he liked being around them.

On the tail of that thought came the realization that he didn’t have to be around them if he didn’t want to be. So he stopped.

Luther glided through the crowd as if he were walking on a cloud. The ties and chains which had held him in place for so long all snapped at the same time. He was released from his torment, released from all his responsibilities. All because a single woman called to him like a moth to a flame.

Where had she gone? His flame haired thief disappeared all too easily for his liking, though he realized there was nothing he could do to stop her. She’d slipped into his life in much the same way. A sneaking shadow who wanted to steal from him, and then became a rather important part of his life.

The balcony. That was the only place he knew around here that would give her some privacy. Air, she’d said. And he could only assume she was out there looking at the stars while trying to get her heart rate back to normal.

Luther stepped onto the balcony off the dining room and all the breath whooshed out of his lungs. He’d never seen her in starlight like this, and maybe it was the wine from the party talking, but he’d never seen her so beautiful. With moonbeams dancing off her shoulders and tangling in the long locks of her hair, she looked like some goddess of old that he’d stumbled upon.

He wanted to worship at her feet.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” he breathed as he closed the door behind him. “But I realized air sounded better than being in that stuffy room with my relatives for a moment longer.”

“Why?” She looked over her shoulder, eyes curious and relaxation dripping through her tones. “I have my own reasons for not wanting to embarrass you. But you come from those people. That life.”

“Just because I was born into it doesn’t mean that I like them all that much.” Luther strode across the balcony until he stood beside her. He braced his arms on the railing and looked up at the stars, leaning as though he didn’t feel like his entire life had turned upside down. “They wouldn’t understand anything that I’ve gone through, anyway.”

“I suppose not.” She leaned as well, mimicking his pose. “That took a thief and the daughter of a witch.”

He chuckled. “I suppose it did.”

Quiet settled between the two of them, and unlike in the room he’d just left, the quiet felt nice. They weren’t trying to think of something else to say or how to keep the conversation going.

They were looking at the moon.

His wolf lifted its head and stared up at the glowing orb through his eyes as well. The happiness he felt in that moment was a lovely mixture of his own and the beast’s. When had he ever felt the creature be happy? Never. It hated that sliver of moon, which meant it was still trapped inside his body and couldn’t seek the freedom that it desired.

He felt her eyes on him the moment before she asked her question. “Do you feel something even when the moon is like this?”

“Always. It calls to me.” He cleared his throat, then shook his head. “No, that’s not quite right. I remember sitting in church for the first time when I was a boy, and the priest kept talking about how God is a feeling. You can sense him when you’re in holy places or whatnot. Even as a child, I didn’t think I could ever feel God. Not until I looked up at the moon and that was when I felt it.”

He didn’t know how to explain it other than that. He touched a hand to his chest, right over his heart. That was where he’d felt it then and where he felt that power even now. A tugging. A sensation of not being alone and that he was perfect the way he was.

Why hadn’t she said anything?

He glanced over to see her staring up at the moon, a curious expression on her face. Almost as though she were desperately trying to feel what he felt. “My mother used to worship the moon goddess. She called her Cerridwen, although some people think the goddess is a white sow, not the moon.”

“Did she now?” He wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything about her life before all this. “Your mother was a pagan, you said?”

“Descendent of the ancient Celts. She followed the old ways, although many wanted to hang her for it.” She shrugged. “And then they did. I couldn’t even see her before they took her away. All that remained was a single letter she’d scratched while they were banging on her door. She’d sent me off into the woods to collect mushrooms. I came back to a house that had been torn apart and a letter hidden underneath a secret floorboard with a bag of food to keep me alive.”

“Good lord.” His heart clenched at the mere thought.

She’d been a child. A little girl with a plume of red hair who wanted her mother. She’d wanted to be hugged and held like every other little girl he’d met in his life. And instead, she’d been given a life of hardship and turmoil.

“What happened after that?” Luther asked, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“I ended up on the streets like every other lost child without parents. Took a while for me to give up, but when I did, I knocked on the door of the Church. Made the mistake of telling them who my mother was and what had happened. After that, it was years of trying to exorcise the demons out of me.” Another shrug. “They wanted to break us, my sisters and I. They thought we were witches like our mothers. I was the biggest, even then. They tried to train me to be a warrior, but I wasn’t very good at it. All those singing jewels. They’re rather distracting, you know.”

He hadn’t even thought of that. The room he’d brought her into had been dripping with gemstones and wealth. “Was it bad?” He swallowed hard. “Being in the room with all my family?”

“I’ve gotten good at ignoring their singing.” She smiled at him, although the expression didn’t quite reach her eyes. “They want to be stolen, you know. For some strange reason, necklaces and rings hate to stay on the same body. They all want to be passed from person to person because eventually, people stop admiring them. They want something new and then they put the ring in a box and never take it out again.”

So that was why she felt such a connection to them. Luna was the ring that had been put in a box that no one wanted to take out. She wasn’t... He refused to let her become that to him. Not when she had suffered so much.

His hands dangled next to hers off the balcony. With the tiniest movement, he shifted his fingers until their pinkies touched. “I think it’s magical that you can hear them sing. It’s really wonderful.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to think that.” She moved too, tucking her pinky underneath his own. Almost like they were holding hands.

A knot in his chest loosened. Just a bit. Enough so that he felt as though he could breathe again, like he hadn’t taken a deep breath for years.

Luther blew out a long breath. “Well, I’m glad it wasn’t too distracting for you. I know it’s difficult to walk into a room of my family and hold your own. But you did.”

“I know.” She reached between her breasts and drew out a single ring with a ruby the size of a coin. “Although I’ll be honest, I still lean on my old habits. Should I give this back?”

He recognized the ring. His great uncle wore it because he swore it had magical healing powers, and the old man rarely went anywhere without it.

Grinning, he took the ring from her fingers. He had a feeling, no matter how many times he exposed her to his world, that she’d always be a thief. “I’ll leave it on the table before he leaves. He’ll be none the wiser.”

“Sorry.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and curled her finger around his a little tighter. “Old habits.”

“Surprisingly, I don’t mind.” Luther didn’t know when he’d accepted her odd habits, but he didn’t care that she’d stolen something from his great uncle. If it made her happy, she could take a thousand other things from that room and he’d swear up and down that he had no idea where anything went off to.

She was happy right now, and that’s all that mattered.

“We should probably get back inside,” she murmured. But her finger didn’t let go of his. “Thank you for coming out to check on me. It almost feels like we’re friends, even though we’ve had a rather tumultuous history.”

His stomach clenched. “We are friends. Truly, Luna. I find you a remarkable woman and I count myself lucky that you fell through my ceiling.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Well. I’m glad to have you as a friend, too, Luther. It’s good to know people in high places. Just in case I find myself back in a cell after all this is said and done.”

He wouldn’t ever let her rot in a cell like so many thieves did. But then again, Luther realized he didn’t intend to let her go. He wanted her to stay here with him. With his ridiculous family while she stole jewelry and he had to find creative ways to put that jewelry back on their hands or necks.

This night had become more fun than any other night he could remember. Losing that felt as though he had lost a future that he would give his left arm to have.

She slipped her hand away from him and then moved back into the crowd. Luna stood a head taller than everyone else in there, but she still smiled with a warmth that charmed everyone. They no longer cared that she was a giant.

They cared that she looked at them. Talked to them. Gave them attention so they could return and claim they’d made a friend of her.

Eventually, however, the night had to come to a close. Luna said her goodbyes in the dining room while Luther walked his family out. All of them left, some staggering after drinking far more of the wine than they should. But his aunt remained behind.

Her curled fingers clutched his bicep as she was ready to leave. “Luther, a word if you don’t mind.”

Here it was. This was the moment when she’d remind him that he had a duty to his family and to his title. He couldn’t marry a woman like Luna, though at least he was trying. And for some strange reason, he was already angry at his aunt for even thinking that he couldn’t marry Luna. Sure, she wasn’t like them. That was part of her charm. Part of the reason why he’d felt more alive in the past week than he had for most of his life. Combined.

“What is it, Aunt?” he asked, hoping that his words weren’t too short.

“That woman. Luna. She’s rather different from us, don’t you think?”

Damn it, he’d been right. He’d known what his aunt would say, and that stung. “She is. I think that’s what makes her interesting, though.”

This was the first time he’d ever stood up to his aunt. Luther always bowed to whatever she wanted in his life because he needed her money, and the sudden courage to tell her how he felt made him feel stronger. Like a better man.

He straightened his shoulders and towered over her. Every inch the werewolf that his father had made him. He wasn’t only an earl, he reminded himself. The power of the moon ran through his veins, and maybe he wasn’t a celt like Luna, but he damned well still worshiped it.

His aunt lifted a brow, staring him down with that courage that had gotten her through a lifetime of hardship. “Settle down, boy. I know you find her interesting and I do as well. I think she’s good for you, Luther. You’re acting more like a man than you ever have, rather than the shadow of the boy your father made you.”

All the bravado whistled out of him like she’d stuck a pin into his chest. “Excuse me?”

“I know you thought I would deny you the right to marry her, but I know a love match when I see one.” His aunt released her hold on his arm, stuffing her hands into the folds of her skirts. “I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t warn you that the world won’t be easy for the two of you. People will look at her and laugh, or perhaps they’ll point. Your children will be regarded as unfit. This path you’ve chosen isn’t an easy one. Not just for you, but for her as well.”

“I know that.” He did, and it hurt his very soul to know that even if this turned into something real, like he desperately hoped it would, that Luna would suffer for it. Either way, she would suffer. “All I want is for her to be happy.”

To his horror and shock, tears gathered in his aunt’s eyes. She patted his cheek before whispering, “I always feared you’d turn out like your father. He was a cold man and he never once saw the treasures of his own life. I’m so glad you grew up to be like your mother. She was a gem in a world full of fake pearls.”

And with that, his aunt left. As though she hadn’t ripped his heart out with her wrinkled hands.